RTHK: Ferdinand Marcos Jr set for huge win

The son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos was set to address hundreds of thousands of supporters on Saturday on the final day of presidential election campaigning, as polls showed him heading towards a landslide win.

Victory in Monday's election would cap a decades-long effort to rehabilitate the Marcos legacy after the patriarch was deposed and the disgraced clan chased into US exile.

But the prospect of Ferdinand Marcos Jr moving back into the presidential palace has alarmed rights activists, church leaders and political analysts who fear he could rule "without constraint".

The Marcoses' remarkable return from pariahs to the peak of political power has been fuelled by public anger over corruption and poverty that persisted under governments that followed the dictatorship.

Hundreds of thousands of red-clad Marcos supporters on Saturday amassed on a dusty wasteland overlooked by a gleaming luxury casino resort -- a stark reminder of the country's vast income gap.

Wielding national flags, they gathered before a stage featuring an enormous screen of the smiling candidate as Filipino reggae, hip-hop and pop played at deafening levels.

Mary Ann Oladive, a 37-year-old call centre worker, said she hoped Marcos Jr would bring unity to the country.

"We hope for greater opportunity and jobs. We trust him, we hope that after the election they will give us a better future in the Philippines," she said.

Ten candidates are vying to succeed President Rodrigo Duterte in the landmark elections seen by many as a make-or-break moment for Philippine democracy.

Polls indicate Marcos Jr will win more than half the votes, which would make him the first presidential candidate to secure an absolute majority since his father was ousted in 1986.

Analysts warn such an outcome would lead to weaker democratic checks and balances, more corruption and a fresh attempt to overhaul the 1987 constitution -- which could include scrapping the one-term limit for presidents.

Previous administrations, including Duterte's, have tried to amend the constitution but they lacked sufficient support in Congress to push through changes.

The latest poll by Pulse Asia Research showed Marcos Jr on 56 percent -- 33 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival Leni Robredo, who narrowly beat him in the 2016 vice-presidential race.

Such a winning margin would give Marcos Jr the power to "govern the way Duterte wanted to", one long-time observer of Philippine politics told AFP.

"That is without constraint," he said.

Robredo's recent poll bump has raised hopes among progressive supporters that their volunteer-driven campaign could yet deliver an upset.

There was a carnival atmosphere in the capital's financial district on Saturday as hundreds of thousands of Robredo fans wearing her pink campaign colour and waving flags and balloons packed out avenues, dancing to live Pinoy pop blaring over loudspeakers.

In a rousing speech, Robredo told her supporters there was "always hope" and declared "victory awaits us".

First-time voter Charmaigne Ang, 18, said the election was "very important".

"Our next six years of life will depend on it," Ang, 18, told AFP. "Surveys are not a basis of who will win."

But pollster Ana Maria Tabunda of Pulse Asia Research gave Robredo little hope.

"Our error margin is only plus or minus two percentage points -- given the large gap, it's not going to be affecting the results," Tabunda told AFP.

Allegations of dirty tricks marred the last week of a bitter presidential campaign, as Marcos Jr warned of vote-rigging while Robredo accused him of being a "liar".

Marcos Jr has run a tightly-controlled campaign, skipping televised debates with rivals and largely shunning media interviews to avoid own goals before election day.

A massive and well-funded social media misinformation campaign targeting a mostly young electorate with no memory of his father's violent and corrupt rule has also sought to rewrite the family's history. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-05-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Vietnamese rice exports surpass US$1 billion

Vietnams rice exports during the initial four months of the year has rebounded impressively with the export value exceeding US$1 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Most notably, the price of local rice remains at a higher level than that of regional peers such as Thailand and India.





April alone witnessed the nation export approximately 550,000 tonnes of rice worth US$273 million, thereby bringing the total volume in the opening four months of the year to 2.05 million tonnes worth US$1 billion. This marks a rise of 4.4% in volume, but a decline of 6% in value against the same period last year.

Despite suffering a drop in value, the nations rice price remains at a higher level than in other countries.

Furthermore, after rising to US$425 per tonne in mid-April, Vietnamese 5% broken rice fell to US$415 per tonne, equivalent to the Marchs average price.

Elsewhere, the Philippines continues to represent the largest consumer of Vietnamese rice with a 42.6% market share.

In particular, strong import growth was recorded in Ivory Coast, which saw an increase of 76% compared to last years corresponding period.

According to figures given by the MARD, Vietnamese rice exports are anticipated to pick up over the coming months, with stronger demand from markets such as China, Bangladesh, Iran, and Sri Lanka.
As Australians, when we remember Gallipoli, we do not glorify or celebrate war. War is not glorious; it is hideous and calamitous. It comes at a terrible cost

These were the words of my husband as he addressed the community of Jondaryan, a small farming town west of Toowoomba. He paused as the beating rotors of Australian and Singaporean helicopters from the local Army barracks approached in formation. The catafalque party of four young cadets stood guarding the flag; the faces of young boys stern and still as the sound and wind accosted us all.

The sounds of Anzac Day; the solemn silence, the whisper of hymns, and the solitary bugle that pierces the morning were suddenly juxtaposed with a fearsomereality of the deafening sound of war.

as a nation, we have chosen not to focus on great military victory or mightAnzac Day remembers the bravery and sacrifice all the more vividly for the fact that the Gallipoli campaign ended in defeat. We remember that our soldiers fight and die not because victory is assured, but because it isnt.

As a defence family, my children and I are well versed in the ceremony of Anzac Day; but perhaps more than ever, my children understood. It is easy in childhood to simplify war as the good guys vs the bad guys,the thrill of guns and uniforms, but the reality is far from it.

As my six-year-old son read through the hundreds of namesthe young men from this small country town, who humbly volunteered their lives to do what they truly believed was right; as he looked up at his father on the podium, slouch hat and uniform not so different from those the Anzacs were issued; he realised, as we all did, that the battles were the tragic a symptom of a broken world, and noneare immune to its effect.

The cultural identity of Australia and New Zealand alike is often described by the Spirit of the Anzacs.But what is this spirit we are encouraged to embody in our own lives?

Humility

While Many nations approach the wars of the past with great pride over victory, but we have chosen to consider with humility the great loss of war. We sing the hymn, like a prayer our soldiers prayed in the trenches more than one hundred years ago;

Abide with me: fast falls the eventide,

The darkness deepens: Lord, with me abide;

When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out lifes little day;

Earths joys grow dim, its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around I see;

O thou who changest not abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes,

Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;

Heavens morning breaks and earths vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord abide with me.

It was not long into the campaign that our Anzacs realised that their enemies were no different; brothers in a foreign land. After months in stalemate, they might have resigned themselves to the likelihood of death; giving up all hope. Instead, perhaps better than any of us; in the midst of the fearful sound of gunfire and the solemn still of dawn, the Anzacs understood the greatest love; if their flesh was to be thrown into battle, it would be spent on hope.

Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends

(John Chapter 15, verse 13)

The Spirit of the Anzacsis a term so often used, but less often understood, but if one thing is certain, in the face of death, they chose love over fear.If we as a nation are to embody the Spirit of the Anzacs, we neednt look further than the love of Christ; who laid down his life for no earthly gain, but for love; for the joy set before him, endured.
I was listening to a sermon by Steve Harvey where he spoke on having the ability to ask God for the things you want, and focusing on the acts of asking, believing and working hard for those things.

By embodying the characteristics of hard work, determination, faith, and prayer, these ultimately lead to the blessings He has for each one of us.

Steve Harveys main message was focused on the principle of you have not cause you ask not, referring to the act of proactively asking God for the things you want.

This message coincides with the verse in Matthew chapter 13 verse 12 that says, Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

He starts off by illustrating a core memory where he had nothing, and he had to go fishing for food. One day, while he was fishing, a man told him to let the caught fish go and to move on, as he didnt own the land he fished on.

It was in that moment that he decided to ask for the things he wanted from God, and he declared that one day he would own his own land. Through years of praying, seeking, scouting, and hard work, he ended up owning almost 300 acres of land in Denton County, Texas.

He was bold in his requests, and as such, he was blessed with more than what he originally asked for.

Bold prayers

Steves message to all followers of Christ is to be bold in prayer and ask God for what you want. He explains to the viewers that when you ask for it, you have to believe for it. Ask for it. Believe for it. Work for it.

My parents are a perfect example of this message. Through years of financial hardship, raising four hyperactive and creative children, small business development, and accomplishing university degrees, they pushed through all of it faithfully, whilst constantly asking for the blessing and believing that God would help them achieve it.

Two Corinthians chapter five verse seven says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

Now my parents are successful business owners, have their degrees, have raised four kids who have all gone on to follow in their footsteps, and have not once wavered on their faith.

God honoured my parents hard work over the years, and they received their blessings in abundance.

It is a challenge to work for the things you want, but if you put in the hard yards, God will pull through with the rest.

Its up to you

Steve Harvey explained it perfectly when he said, Getting what you want is up to you. How you get it is up to God.

This is exactly the way we should be looking at asking and receiving the blessings God has for us.

It is up to me on working towards getting what I want, praying, putting in the hard work, and focusing on my goal. But how I get there is entirely up to God.

A loved one of mine has been praying for a new job and a fulltime career for almost a year now. He put in the hard yards, worked where he could while he waited for the opportunity to arise, but he never stopped praying, working hard, and thanking God for the blessing He had up ahead for him.

The journey was a challenge and there were many obstacles that looked more like mountainous hurdles and detours.

Despite the unexpected and often tiresome path that God had led him on, He ultimately took him on a journey of character and resilience building, andthat faith development has made him a stronger and more faith-filled man.

My loved one did receive his blessing and has since started a new job in a new town where God was able to bless him further with a home, and a new car  all of which we thought would not happen in the short amount of time between the opportunity arising and the day he started his new job.

But God is the God of miracles, He is so good and so faithful in honouring our prayers.

Mark chapter 11 verse 24 says, Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Accept the blessing

Now, although asking for, believing, and working hard for the things you want is an important trait for each Christian to embody, there is also the challenge of accepting the blessing.

I know what you may be thinking; why would accepting a blessing be hard?. I can tell you now, sometimes when the blessing arrives, it is hard to believe and to accept.

We may feel like we dont deserve it when it finally comes. But it is important that we learn to accept the blessing as a gift from God, especially after asking for, believing for, and working hard for it all this time.

If God has brought us all this way, and we have upheld our faith, then consider this the blessing to which you have received from God and thank God for honouring your prayers.

He wants to bless us, we only have to ask for it, believe for it, and work for it faithfully.

Proverbs chapter ten verse 22 says, The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

1 John chapter five verse 15 says, "And if we know that he hears uswhatever we askwe know that we have what we asked of him."

Steve Harveys sermon - https://fb.watch/cHFIexxF_h/
We may be watching the breakup of the United States if Roe v Wade is overturned as indicated by the leaked draft memo of a pending Supreme Court decision.

We have to go back to 1857, to the Dred Scott decision, to see how devastating a court decision could be. Prior to that decision, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required every state, including Northern states, to assist in the return of runaway slaves. Of course, Northern States were loath to oblige, and the South was furious about this. Northern interference was cited as one of the reasons for the Souths secession, indicating two things:

1) The South, despite its claims, did not care about states rights, when it applied to Free States.

2) The real issue of the Civil War was slavery, as also indicated by Vice-President Alexander Stephens inaugural cornerstone speech.

The Dred Scott decision said that a slave was not freed when entering a free state, nor could he be. Couple that with the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, and what that meant was that slaves, as slaves, could be brought to every state of the Union, without an alteration of status. Effectively, the Supreme Court had forced the institution of slavery upon the North.

Dred Scott (public domain image)

Realizing that, the full horror of the Dred Scott decision becomes clear. Free States were jurisprudentially declared null and void. One could bring his slaves to Massachusetts, so any pretense of a Free State was lost. The South had won in the courts. Again, so much for Southern appreciation of states rights.

And a similar situation is what America will soon face regarding Roe v. Wade.

Essentially, we are faced with a cultural crisis of biblical proportions. As the prophet Amos declared;

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Even in democratic republics, there has to be a consensus about some fundamental principles; there has to be some bedrock ideas that are not up for debate, or else the society will fly apart from centrifugal opposing forces. And that is what we are facing now.

The right of women versus the rights of unborn babies: and neither side will yield one inch, but rather will assert their position to the utmost.

For example: Pro-abortion states allow late term abortions, making child rights a joke.

Simultaneously, states have criminalized substance abuse  even drinking alcohol - during pregnancy, thus obviating womans rights altogether.

Currently, 21 US states have policies requiring that pregnant women who consume alcohol be reported to child services, 20 consider the women liable for child abuse, and five recommend civil commitment. - Quartz

Where do you draw the line? Obviously, no one wants a child born with fetal alcohol syndrome, but should taking one drink be criminal? The laws are not clear. As alcohol is most harmful during early pregnancy, how does one deal with cases where the woman is not aware of her early pregnancy?

So, America has conflicting laws. Northern (usually liberal) states make the womans right paramount to the exclusion of any babys rights. And conservative states often do the opposite.

And then there is California, which has liberal abortion laws and strict-substance-abuse-during pregnancy laws. Apparently, the baby is not a person, worthy of protection, when it comes to abortion, but is a protected person when it comes to the mothers drug use. This introduces an odd problem: the law all but impels a drug-addicted woman to abort to avoid criminal charges.

Apparently, society cannot agree on the basics, and unless this is settled, the country will eventually break up.

Some anti-abortion states are considering making it illegal to drive out of state for an abortion.

A proposal that could be debated in the Legislature as soon as next week seeks to make it illegal to aid or abet abortions outlawed in Missouri, even if they are performed in other states. - PBS

Not only is the law unenforceable, but it has Missouri acting as an independent country, making illegal an activity that is allowed in another state, even if done within that other state. At that point, the interstate commerce law and the Constitution will be ripped to shreds. The union is dissolved.

And what will states do now that Amazon promises to fly employees to another state to have an abortion?

Amazon.com Inc ... the second-largest U.S. private employer, told its staff on Monday it will pay up to $4,000 in travel expenses annually for non-life threatening medical treatments including abortions ... - Reuters

What if a company incorporated in an Abortion State is required to provide such travel services to employees in its branches in Pro-Life States, by law (One could see New York passing such legislation.), while at the same time the Pro-Life State makes it illegal to tender such assistance (As Missouri seems to be considering)?

Consider that New York insurance companies (in what was then a Free State) sold property insurance policies for slaves to Southern slave owners. What if New York insurers are required to pay for travel expenses for Missourians seeking an abortion in Manhattan? Will Missouri prosecute the company?

There is no happy solution to any of this.

Why? Because society cannot agree on the basics.

Roe v. Wade was a disaster in 1973. It forced all states to be Abortion States, just as the Dred Scott decision forced all states to be Slave States. A proposed national Abortion Rights law by the Democrats would be just as devastating. That would be Dred Scott III, as Roe v. Wade was already Dred Scott II.

The country would unravel.

Mike Konrad is the pen name of a writer who wishes he had paid more attention in his Spanish class, lo those many decades ago.
This writer recently was invited to participate in an online tele-workshop about the "pedagogy of kindness." The invitation linked the recipients to an article about the pedagogy of kindness written about three years ago. In that article, the author contrasted certain prevalent approaches to education with the approaches of the kindness pedagogy that she advocates.

One such opposition was between the teacher as adversary and the teacher as compassionate. She portrayed this in either/or terms. She had begun teaching with an adversarial mindset but has transitioned to a compassionate or kind mindset.

By presenting this dichotomy, it seemed that she was ignoring the advice given so wisely by Aristotle about 2,400 years ago: that the ethical person should seek the Golden Mean between the extremes of Excess and Deficiency. In this case, the Excess would be Adversarial, and the Deficiency would be Compassionate. The adversarial would be an excess because it would ignore individual learning distinctives such as attention span, cognitive focus, and restlessness. The Deficiency would be at the Compassionate end of the spectrum which puts the meeting of the students' needs at the forefront of education, thus over-emphasizing the subjectivity of the student at the expense of learning itself, which is not subjective. Learning how to read, to understand geography, to multiply, etc. is not subjective activity. Each discipline requires the commitment of the student, which includes his attention, willingness to follow directions, innate aptitude, and zeal to know that which, on his own, he would be unable to learn. Therefore, the Golden Mean in this case would be Responsibility. The person seeking virtue and guided by reason would seek the Mean of Responsibility as part of the general task of developing habits of virtue.

Other oppositions were also established by the proponent of the pedagogy of kindness  those between compassion for students and dehumanizing students and between meeting needs of learners and obsessing about goals of understanding. This overemphasis on the meeting of needs has moved to the forefront of many thinkers for two reasons. First, Marxism, with its principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs," has increasingly permeated the thinking of many people who should know better. For example, the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, composed at the founding of the U.N. after WWII, has the word "rights" in almost every sentence. Yet their latest major document, Agenda 2030, is replete with references to "sustainability" and "needs" throughout, with the word "rights" relegated only to one use in Section 19 out of 91 sections.

Additionally, needs were emphasized by the progressive-but-not-avowed-Marxist Abraham Maslow in the 1940s with his much touted "values hierarchy of needs." Under this programmatic approach to understanding the human condition, there is a hierarchy, with physical needs at the bottom and the meeting of higher "needs" (supposedly) like moral values and creativity occupying a higher (but smaller) place on his pyramid (really a triangle).

John Dewey's educational philosophy added another dimension to this needs-based approach. His philosophy requires adjustment of the child to the social order, development of happy and capable workers for the industrial society that had emerged at the end of the 19th century in the USA, and constant work to enhance the dynamics of classroom cohesion. You, the reader, are undoubtedly aware of the irony that this false philosophy of classroom and social adjustment has produced some of the most disruptive classrooms in the world, especially in our large urban areas.

The philosophy that pulls and pushes against this needs-based pap and sap was developed to its highest point by the great Protestant Swiss educator, Johann Pestalozzi, who published How Gertrude Teaches Her Children in 1801, subtitled "an attempt to help mothers to teach their own children and an account of the method." Pestalozzi thereby does not make a false dichotomy between love (his is a treatise for mothers, who love their children more dearly than any teacher possibly could) and the desire of the responsible parent to bring his child to an understanding of the world in which he is living, and a knowledge consistent with nature, with his immediate environment, with the nature of knowledge itself and reading, and with the logic inherent in the known world. Thus, in a practical sense, Pestalozzi  within the context of a mother's selfless love  seeks to address the practical application of the philosophical understandings of such luminaries as John Locke, Rene Descartes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant.

Although not specifically under the rubric "kindness," the very fact that his theory of education is for mothers shows his attempt to have an educational methodology consistent with maternal nurturing and love. Unfortunately, "kindness" today for many people is within a Benjamin Spock, post-WWII perspective, expanded to include whole language instead of phonics as well as "new math" instead of memorizing multiplication tables and focusing on the requirements of simple logic. Pestalozzi focuses on the whole person of the child, but with a somewhat different idea of "whole person" from today's philosophizing, which tends to sentimentalize a non-assertive love and time-outs for uncooperative children as the source of kindness.

Today, I was talking to a neighbor whose three-and-a-half-year-old son had a bubble gun. He was shooting bubbles at me, and I played along. Then he was squirting his bubbles at my gym bag. His mom told him to stop. When she said to stop, he started squirting bubbles into my gym bag. She told him to stop again, but he did not stop any more than the first time. The gun simply ran out of bubble-making liquid. Then they continued on their walk. Was she kind because she told him to stop? Or would it have been more "kind" for her to have reached down and taken his bubble gun when he twice refused her directive?

Now imagine this child multiplied many times over as learners. The teacher tells them to take their seats, but instead, one of the students stands on the table (this happened in one second-grade class where I was the sub thirty years ago). What is the kind thing to do vis-a-vis learning in this situation?

In a letter, Pestalozzi answers the question of the relation of the child's needs to his learning. An article about Pestalozzi states, "[A]s long as 'man' and, by extension, the educator, wishes 'well' and demonstrates this to the child, the child will in turn listen carefully; but, the child does not do this for you, master, nor because of you, educator, the child does so for himself/herself[.] ... [T]his goodness must be good in itself because of the nature of the goodness itself, and must appear this way in the child's eyes." Notice, dear reader: he says "because of the nature of goodness itself," not because the child's needs are met in terms of putting his "problems" first.

Those who support a "pedagogy of kindness" should be asking a Socratic question: what is the definition of kindness? Our starting point for a good educational philosophy should still be the assumptions of Pestalozzi, published 221 years ago.

E. Jeffrey Ludwig is a Harvard Master Teacher who, when teaching high school, was selected four times for Who's Who Among America's High School Teachers. He now teaches philosophy in an urban university setting. He has been publishing articles at AT since July 4, 2010.

Image: jarmoluk via Pixabay, Pixabay License.
As a rule of thumb, all dictators are worried at the end of their rule about the future and who will gain power after them. Their attempts are geared towards somehow putting their children in their place in order to continue their rule. This is also true of Ali Khamenei, who is currently the undisputed dictator in Iran. Accordingly, he has tried to assign to the throne his son Mojtaba in the last months of his life. But given the kind of dictatorship that rules Iran, it's a little more complicated than other dictatorships like Syria, where Hafez al-Assad installed his son after his death.

On the one hand, Iran is no longer a monarchy where he can assign his son, Mojtab, as his successor, and on the other hand, according to the constitution of the same regime, which stipulates that the leader must be elected by the Assembly of Experts, he cannot nominate his son as his successor. Moreover, Mojtaba is much, much lower in rank in terms of the level of religious knowledge and education than other mullahs to be recognized as the Supreme Leader by them. This has made it more difficult for him to succeed his father. But in order to eliminate these contradictions, Khamenei has been implementing for some time his plan to solve these problems step by step.

In the first step, in order to make sure that the Assembly of Experts would not oppose Mojtaba's nomination, he was able to select the majority of its members from among the faithful using the Guardian Council filter, which is responsible for determining the eligibility of candidates for the Assembly of Experts. The Guardian Council, which has 12 members, is practically all selected by Khamenei himself. According to the law, the members of this council are six clerics and six lawyers, of whom six clerics are selected by the leader and six lawyers are selected by the head of the judiciary. But the head of the judiciary himself is assigned by Khamenei. In other words, six lawyers are indirectly selected by the head of the judiciary at Khamenei's behest.

In the next step, Khamenei put aside all considerations in the last election in order not to face any problems in the government and the presidency, and conjured up from the ballot box Ebrahim Raisi, (someone not qualified for the presidency at all), by removing all possible rivals. The reason for this was that Raisi, known in Iran as the executioner of 1988, was one of the decisive figures in the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners that year. As a result, there is no doubt about his affiliation with Khamenei and the fact that he had to obey the ayatollah and his son Mojtaba for his own survival. And it is not the case that, for example, previous presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or Hassan Rouhani, after a while, could somehow oppose Khamenei. On the same token, we saw that Raisi, by selecting most of his cabinet ministers from the commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, showed that he came to carry out Khamenei's orders and only to suppress the people and not to serve people. In this way, Khamenei was relieved of his worries about the government and the presidency.

The next step in this direction was to place his men in the parliament. In the last election, Khamenei again used the leverage of the Guardian Council -- responsible for determining the eligibility of parliamentary candidates -- by removing candidates he thought might cause problems for him. This way, he was able to enter most of his men into the parliament and make it a homogenous collection of his pieces. He also handed over the position of parliament speaker to Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, one of the former commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and known as Chomaghdar (Club-Bearing Thug).

I t is noteworthy that Qalibaf, when appointed as the mayor of Tehran, was involved in corruption and grand thefts of billions by handing over government lands or special favors to those around him. He is known by Iranians as a notoriously hated person. As a result, Khamenei was relieved that the parliament would not oppose Mojtaba's succession either.

Khamenei's only concern is from two institutions.

First is the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (RGC). Khamenei had to take another step in reining them by obtaining the consent of their commanders. Although all the commanders were criminals and corrupt people, they were included in economic affairs, and large parts of Iran's economy under Mojtaba Khamenei were handed over to them. It should be noted that these commanders, in addition to being involved in large-scale theft and corruption, are also involved in the blood of the Iranian people. For example, they deliberately shot down a Ukrainian airliner in January 2020, killing 176 innocent passengers and aircrew. In order to prevent possible U.S. attacks in the retaliation for the IRGC missiles on US forces at Iraq's Ain al-Assad base or to suppress the Iranian protests in November 2019, IRGC shot and killed 1,500 people in the streets of Irans cities in 2-3 days.

Second, clerics outside of Khamenei's control who, in terms of religious knowledge, consider themselves even higher than Khamenei himself. Khamenei is trying to buy them with money and property. But when Khamenei dies, they may not accept Mojtaba's leadership for fear of the peoples rage.

Considering Khamenei's actions, it seems that all the contradictions and problems for Mojtaba Khamenei replacing his father have been resolved, but in reality, this is not the case at all -- because Iranian society is now like a powder keg awaiting a spark to explode and destroy the entire ruling system. If this spark is not struck at the time of Khamenei, of course, all the data indicate that this spark will not be long delayed -- but the death of Ali Khamenei will definitely strike this spark immediately.

Khamenei himself knows this better than anyone else, which is why, as stated at the outset, he is extremely concerned. He knows that everything he has sown will soon be destroyed by the storm and flood of disgruntled and enraged people.

Cyrus Yaqubi is a Research Analyst and Iranian Foreign Affairs Commentator investigating the social issues and economy of the Middle East countries in general and Iran in particular.

Image: thierry ehrmann
Much has been written this week about the pro-abortionists plans to picket the homes of the six Republican-appointed justices over the egregiously leaked Alito draft overturning Roe v. Wade. Those criticisms, which I summarize below, are certainly valid. If we had an attorney general who cared about enforcing the law, hed seek injunctive relief and criminal penalties for such conduct. If AG Merrick Garland fails to do so, the attorney general of Virginia, Jason S. Miyares, may step in to preclude any such protests in his state. But I think the rowdies got their ideas from Chief Justice Robertss strange role in the ObamaCare case mandate challenge and in the Left's success in rampaging and terrorizing the country after the death in custody of George Floyd.

When I want a good legal analysis, one of the first places I turn to is the Volokh Conspiracy, and in particular, the lucid and persuasive analyses by Professor Eugene Volokh. This week he explains why picketing the judges residence with the intent to influence them violates federal law. (And the intent is to influence, obviously because this is just a draft, not a final, opinion.)

The relevant statute is 18 U.S.C. Sec.1507 which reads:

1. Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or 2. with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, 3. pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or 4. in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or 5. with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, 6. shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

Previous courts recognizing that the State has a legitimate interest in protecting its judicial system from such bullying tactics and maintaining a fair and orderly administration of justice have ruled that such outside influence may be banned without interfering with constitutional rights of free speech and assembly."

Interestingly, this section was amended by the crime bill of 1994, which removed the $5,000 limit on fines for violating this section, a law which James Freeman notes was passed with the support of Senator Joe Biden and co-sponsored by then-representative Charles Schumer.

These days, the supremely oleaginous Schumer said that Supreme Court justices wont know what hit them if they supported anything like the Alito draft overturning Roe. (He later said he regretted that clearly threatening remark but never apologized for it.)

Indeed, it seems that Schumer is not alone in thinking that if you dont like the way a ruling is going you can bully judges into changing their minds.

Democrat representative Karen Bass on ABC stunned T.J. Holmes of that network with remarks like this:

Im glad it was leaked, because now maybe, just maybe, the justices will rethink this as they see the outrage spread across the country. We know that -- or at least we are hearing, that some vote took place, but we also know in the process before a final decision is made there could be other drafts. We have to see that the Chief Justice is going to do. So, maybe, it provides a little bit of hope that this will not ultimately be the decision of the Supreme Court.

If that is not an admission of an attempt to influence the Supreme Court justices in the discharge of their duty, what is?

The Chief Executive -- Joe Biden -- has said nothing to dissuade such conduct and his spokesperson Jen Psaki mumbled some mush about peaceful protesting when asked directly about the presidents position.

The threats are so serious that Justice Alito was this week forced to skip a scheduled public appearance.

Given the attorney generals history of partisanship, absent an indication from the White House that they want him to act, he wont. Laws dont enforce themselves and subservient government officials dont usually grow spines.

On the other hand, three of the targeted justices live in the Virginia suburbs and Virginia has both a relevant law banning such intimidation of the judiciary and an attorney general less pusillanimous than Garland.

Virginia Code Section 18.2-418 states: It is hereby declared that the protection and preservation of the home is the keystone of democratic government; that the public health and welfare and the good order of the community require that members of the community enjoy in their homes a feeling of well-being, tranquility, and privacy, and when absent from their homes carry with them the sense of security inherent in the assurance that they may return to the enjoyment of their homes .that the practice of picketing before or about residences and dwelling places causes emotional disturbance and distress to the occupants; that such practice has as its object the harassing of such occupants; and without resort to such practice, full opportunity exists, and under the terms and provisions of this article will continue to exist, for the exercise of freedom of speech and other constitutional rights Police can arrest protesters at Supreme Court Justices homes in Virginia. Virginia Code 18.2-419: Any person who shall engage in picketing before or about the residence or dwelling place of any individual, or who shall assemble with another person or persons in a manner which disrupts or threatens to disrupt any individuals right to tranquility in his home, shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor. Each day on which a violation of this section occurs shall constitute a separate offense. Last, Virginia courts are given the power to stop all protests at a Virginians home. Better yet, courts have the power to award punitive damages against any protester who violates this Virginia law. Again, Section 419: Notwithstanding the penalties herein provided, any court of general equity jurisdiction may enjoin conduct, or threatened conduct, proscribed by this article, and may in any such proceeding award damages, including punitive damages, against the persons found guilty of actions made unlawful by this section. The left is blowing through the firewalls of decency. They have promised protests at Catholic churches this weekend. They have vandalized other churches. They have behaved like other monsters throughout history who despise democratic institutions. There is no doubt more unhinged behavior to come. At least in the Commonwealth of Virginia, consequences can follow.

Indeed, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin just ordered the state police to monitor protests at the homes of Supreme Court justices.

Justice Clarence Thomas said that the Court will not be bullied. Chief Justice Roberts angrily deplored the attempt to do so.

Unfortunately, the idea that such tactics work can, in my view, be laid at the feet of Justice Roberts himself. In the face of ginned-up public support in the major media for Obama and ObamaCare, he clearly changed his mind on the constitutionality of the mandate in ObamaCare, calling it a tax -- something that every lower court that heard the health-care cases rejected. Something that the Congress rejected -- having explicitly called it a regulatory penalty.

It was widely believed at the time that Roberts did this legal macarena because he was cowed by the fear of the crowd. And as the Wall Street Journal observed at the time, there is evidence of his shake and shimmy in the opinion itself:

One telling note is that the dissent refers repeatedly to "Justice Ginsburg's dissent" and "the dissent" on the mandate, but of course they should be referring to Ruth Bader Ginsburg's concurrence. This wording and other sources suggest that there was originally a 5-4 majority striking down at least part of ObamaCare, but then the Chief Justice changed his mind. The Justices may never confirm this informed speculation. But if it is true, this is far more damaging to the Court's institutional integrity that the Chief Justice is known to revere than any ruling against ObamaCare. The political class and legal left conducted an extraordinary campaign to define such a decision as partisan and illegitimate. If the Chief Justice capitulated to this pressure, it shows the Court can be intimidated and swayed from its constitutional duties. If this was a play to compete with John Marshall's legacy, the result is closer to William Brennan's.

Every kid on the playgrounds I grew up on knew that if you showed fear before bullies, theyd be stealing your lunch money next. Roberts' inexplicable kowtow on ObamaCare in my view only encouraged more of these bullying tactics today.
The express purpose of the Arab League's Resolution 1547 was to weaponize displaced Palestinian Arabs against Israel. This is incontrovertible and damning evidence that every single organization and business that is involved in the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement is at best a stooge and enabler, if not a willful participant, in an international fraud that abuses the trust of the entire international community to support the agenda of terrorists.

Here is what the Refugee Affairs Department of the PLO, whose Israel-free map of "Palestine" is self-explanatory, doesn't want you to see because they removed it from their website while forgetting that Archive org kept a backup that features a picture of the terrorist Yasser Arafat. Google translates this as follows. "The Political Affairs Committee affirming the previous decisions of the League Council in this regard, recommends that the governments of member states consider creating job opportunities for Palestinian refugees residing in their territories with sympathy, while preserving their Palestinian nationality as a general principle."

The Algemeiner article therefore contends accurately, "Arab countries just want to keep the Palestinian refugee problem alive to be used as a weapon against Israel." This makes every single participant in the BDS movement, and every supporter of the so-called Right of Return, a useful idiot at best for this agenda and a willful enabler at worst. The charter of Hamas reinforces even further that supporters of BDS are enablers for genocide of Jews, apartheid treatment of Christians, and violence against women, LGBT people, and those Hamas deems to be the wrong kinds of Muslims.

Hamas calls for genocide of Jews and libelously accuses Muslims of sharing the depraved ideology that Hamas calls Islam. "The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!"

Hamas calls for apartheid treatment (dhimmitude) of Christians under Islamic rule. "The term used is 'Dhimam,' the plural of 'Dhimma,' the very word in Islamic tradition, which defined the status of Jews (and Christians) under Islam. These People were protected and safe if they paid a special Capital tax and recognized the hegemony of Islam." BDS supporters who accuse Israel of apartheid are themselves enablers of apartheid.

Hamas says quite openly that the depraved ideology it calls Islam has the right to conquer land by force, thus putting it into the same camp as Nazi Germany, the Stalinist Soviet Union, and Putinist Russia. "The Holy land is regarded, like all lands conquered forcibly by Islam, as unalienable property belonging to the Muslim public." King Jan Sobieski III (Vienna, 1683, where Janissaries were trampled into the dirt by the Winged Hussars), Herbert Kitchener (Omdurman, 1898 where Mahdists were gunned down with modern artillery, trampled by the Twenty-First Lancers, and shot by Winston Churchill), Charles Martel (Tours, 732), and Prince Eugene of Savoy (Zenta, 1697) knew what to do with Islamists who believe they have the Allah-given right to rule the world. It's the same thing the Allies did with Nazis who believed the same thing.

Kitchener (Omdurman, 1898 where Mahdists were gunned down with modern artillery, trampled by the Twenty-First Lancers, and shot by Winston Churchill), Charles Martel (Tours, 732), and Prince Eugene of Savoy (Zenta, 1697) knew what to do with Islamists who believe they have the Allah-given right to rule the world. It's the same thing the Allies did with Nazis who believed the same thing. The Palestinian Authority as well as Hamas sanction discrimination and even violence against LGBT people. This makes the entire BDS camp complicit, whether through ignorance or intention, in violent discrimination against LGBT people.

Domestic violence against women is socially acceptable in "Palestine." "...the law has continued to allow men who murder, assault and rape women in the Palestinian territories to receive significantly reduced sentences." The deep concern of all the "woke" leftists in gender studies and diversity studies departments for the rights of women and LGBT people ends where the Third World in general and "Palestine" in particular begin.

Muslims and mosques are not immune from the terrorists' mindless violence. Terrorists ruined Ramadan this year for peaceful Muslims by bringing rocks and other weapons into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, apparently played soccer while wearing shoes in the mosque, and started violence that resulted in damage to the mosque.

BDS supporters are also enablers of school shooters, Seder bombers, pizza shop bombers, child murderers, and the murderers of the Fogel family.

Vladimir Putin, who is engaging in his own long litany of war crimes including attacks on civilians, rape, torture, and forced displacement of Ukrainians, welcomed Hamas to Moscow.

Remember that an enabler is not an accomplice or an accessory, but rather somebody who whitewashes and otherwise excuses the behavior of the violent criminals involved. As but one example, somebody who says of a battered woman that "she fell down the stairs" or "she provoked him" did not participate in the crime, and is not guilty of a crime unless he makes the indicated statements under oath, but the enabler is still a lousy specimen of a human being.

The enablers of Hamas and its agenda are similarly the absolute dregs of our society and should be treated as such at every opportunity. William Jacobson of Cornell Law School and Legal Insurrection filed an apparently unsuccessful complaint against the ASA for ultra vires (outside its charter or scope) activities with the IRS. I have reported some 501(c)(5) unions on these grounds as well but the IRS has not so far revoked anybody's tax exemption for ultra vires. I also searched the websites of some BDS-supporting 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entities including but not limited to Black Lives Matter Global Network and found what could be construed as efforts to influence an election, of which the IRS takes a very dim view. Tax exemptions have been pulled for this reason. The web pages in question, including a BLM tirade against Donald Trump prior to the 2020 election along with Patrisse Cullors' video calling for his ouster, have of course been reported.

This IRS document suggests however that ultra vires could indeed be cause for revocation: "An organization must pursue the exempt activities it promised in its IRS application for exemption." It might therefore still be worthwhile to compare the charters and mission statements of 501(c)(3) professional and religious organizations, and 501(c)(5) unions, as reported to the IRS on Form 990, to their actual behavior and file Form 13909 is there is an obvious discrepancy.

Ben & Jerry's social responsibility claims meanwhile went out the window when it was found to be selling sugary dog treats that cost more per ounce than pure peanut butter. Florida's Ron DeSantis called on FSU to pull its organizational membership in MESA. The bottom line is however that all BDS supporters are, at best, useful idiots for Hamas terrorists whose agenda includes genocide of Jews and mistreatment of others not like themselves. They must be viewed in the same light as Russian trolls who whitewash and excuse Vladimir Putin's war crimes in Ukraine, and treated as enablers, whether due to ignorance or malice, for the enemies of civilized Humanity.

Civis Americanus is the pen name of a contributor who remembers the lessons of history, and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way. He or she is remaining anonymous due to the likely prospect of being subjected to "cancel culture" for exposing the Big Lie behind Black Lives Matter.

Image: Montecruz Foto
Starting on the day he was illegitimately inaugurated, Joe Biden began his joint operation with the drug cartels that control the border between the US and Mexico. By stopping the building of the border wall (and leaving the paid-for supplies to rust in the desert) he declared the border open to all comers, luring thousands of naive migrants wanting a better life to risk their lives to get here.

YouTube screengrab

But the opened border was open as well to the cartels that traffic in drugs and humans, especially young girls. Biden effectively went into business with the most brutal, barbaric people on the planet. These criminal organizations long ago discovered that they could double the massive profits they rake in from drug smuggling by trafficking human beings.

Joe Biden joined forces with the most lethal criminal organizations on day one of his presidency. He invited disaffected migrants from around the world to flock to our southern border; they would be welcomed he said and indeed they have been, all two millions-plus of them.

Thousands of those that come and are welcomed into the US, unvetted, are young men traveling alone. Many thousands of others are unaccompanied children. What happens to them when they arrive? Well, no one knows exactly; they are welcomed at the border, given smart phones, hotel rooms, and cash for travel. Often the young girls are separated from their families if they were traveling with their families.

Meanwhile, our homeless citizens, many of whom are veterans, are treated like vermin, left to live and die on the streets of major cities run by Democrats. The city of San Francisco is a case in point; it has been utterly degraded by leftist policies that promulgate drug use and ignore the mental illness and criminal behavior of these people who live on the streets and have destroyed the quality of life in the neighborhoods they inhabit.

The lefts live-and-let-die attitude may well be the death of us all. The cities that ignore their homeless are the same cities that refuse to charge and imprison violent offenders who are wreaking death and injury on those cities streets. Since he took office, Biden has, and continues to exacerbate the decline of Americas once civil society.

Check in to any legitimate site that tells the truth about what is occurring at the border and one will learn that the women and children who make the trek from Central America, through the Darian Gap in their devastatingly dangerous goal to reach the US, and you will learn that on the journey the women and young girls are repeatedly raped and otherwise sexually abused.

Once they arrive, they are put on planes and busses and shuttled to parts unknown in the middle of the night. Once here, the public has no idea what happens to them; their families owe money to the coyotes who got them to the border. They are expected to pay back that money. Often there is no information on the children but for a phone number in their pocket; the coyotes phone number. Into whose custody are they delivered? Most likely to one of the many NGOs of questionable ethics that are raking in the big bucks for what? Housing these people or selling them?

There is something so terribly rotten within this administration, within the Democrat party and the Republican swamp dwellers, that they are willing participants in the abuse and trafficking of children. They are obsessively committed to making abortion legal and free up to and even after the birth of a full-term baby. Apparently Catholic Biden approves of this along with most activist Democrats; Psaki was asked and she affirmed that fact. Abortion is the hill on which they are willing to die. Here is a paragraph from blogger DiploMad, a retired foreign service officer:

Speaking of depressing, the Democratic party back home has shown its destructive malice once more. Over the years, I have written many times about the Democratic Party obsession with killing and abusing children. They want unfettered abortion, infanticide, and normalizing of pedophilia. They want children bombarded with sex from kindergarten on up. Their response to the leak from the Supreme Court is further evidence of the progressive obsession with killing children, especially black children. Yes, the Democrats hold up as their hero the racist eugenist Sanger who founded Planned Parenthood in order to kill black babies and eliminate black people from American life. This is, of course, all of piece with their war on the police which results in thousands of dead black youths in our cities. There is something criminally insane with the world's oldest political party.

Mark Crispin Miller has a column up titled What do the FBI, our free press and the #MeToo movement have in common? They all could not care less about the rape of children. Good point. Someone else asked on Twitter Would you like to know how Im positive that the FBI protects high-profile pedophiles? They raided Epsteins private island, confiscated computers, hard drives various electronic devices, along with 20,000 images from his mansion in Manhatten [sic] and didnt make a single arrest.

Is it any wonder then that the DC establishment, Democrats and establishment Republicans, are not at all concerned by the Biden administrations joint venture with the Mexican drug cartels and their massive program of human trafficking? Do they worry about the tons of fentanyl pouring over the border and killing tens of thousands of people? No; its who they are. They do not value individual human beings; we are only pawns in their game of power and never-ending quest for personal wealth. They are adherents of Stalins view that The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions is a statistic.

The Biden administration is secreting these unaccompanied children into cities throughout the nation. Why is where they are being sent a secret? The obvious answer is that whatever is being done to them is criminal. With Biden in the White House, the true nature of the Democrat party and its fellow travelers in Congress have been exposed for all to see.

Even with his diminished mental capacity, Joe Biden has done terrible damage to this country and the tens of thousands of migrants he has imported for a variety of purposes, among them cheap labor; they will all become serfs in the literal sense.

Most devastating however is allowing the cartels to operate freely within our borders for the illicit abuse of children. Most disgusting of all is that Biden seems to revel in his reign of terror over these young victims. In closing, the words of Albert Einstein: The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who dont do anything about it.
Karine Jean-Pierre makes history this week as the first woman "of color" and the first open lesbian to become the official spokesperson for the leader of the free world.

Unfortunately, another characteristic that sets her apart from previous White House press secretaries is her malicious radical activism, which reached its low point when she made fictitious allegations against a moderate, bipartisan pro-Israel organization.

In an article for Newsweek in 2019, Jean-Pierre congratulated Democratic presidential candidates who boycotted the annual conference of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, and castigated Democrats who attended:

You cannot call yourself a progressive while continuing to associate yourself with an organization like AIPAC that has often been the antithesis of what it means to be progressive. In 2015, AIPAC spent tens of millions of dollars trying to defeat the Iran nuclear deal crafted by President Obama. The deal was historic in its attempt to create and maintain peace[.]

She also condemned AIPAC for inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under whose leadership "Israel might have committed war crimes." (What are the chances Biden's new press secretary has ever used the term "war crimes" with regard to Iran's involvement in the slaughter in Syria and Yemen, or its funding of atrocities committed by Hamas and Hezb'allah?) She went on to claim, without evidence:

[AIPAC's] severely racist, Islamophobic rhetoric has proven just as alarming. The organization has become known for trafficking in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric[.] ... Some Democratic members of Congress ... attended the conference and proceeded to bash the freshmen congresswomen who paved the way in identifying AIPAC as the obstacle to progress that it is.

Why would President Biden choose to be represented by someone so far out of the mainstream?

Or was she really mainstream all along, in tune with hostile anti-Israel Obama-Biden policy and rhetoric that was not widely reported?

Jean-Pierre's depiction of AIPAC as a hate group  and her glorification of anti-Semitic congresswomen  can be traced to her background as chief public affairs officer of the far-left, anti-Israel organization MoveOn, which took part in a 2015 conference call in which President Obama vilified the pro-Israel lobby. The Times of Israel reported that in the conference call, "Obama warned that Congress might be swayed by the '20 million dollars of advertising paid for by lobbyists'  a monetary figure he repeated throughout the conversation. The figure is identical to the amount that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was believed to be prepared to devote to its effort to oppose the deal[.]"

"When you have a bunch of folks who are big check writers to political campaigns, and billionaires who give to super PACS ... this opportunity could slip away," Obama warned.

This emphasis and re-emphasis on AIPAC's millions threatening to undermine Obama's deal sounded a lot like what Rep. Ilhan Omar would later tweet about the Jews and their money negatively influencing U.S. policy. (And the $20 million figure Obama repeatedly invoked was dwarfed by the $150 billion he released to the terrorist regime of Iran, plus the additional billion-plus in cash he showered them with afterward.)

A month after the Newsweek op-ed, far in advance of the 2020 election, proIran deal MoveOn announced its support for the re-election of Reps. Tlaib and Omar  the first two official endorsements for 2020 by Jean-Pierre's organization. That's two congressional districts out of 435. Either they incredibly picked those two districts at random, or they were sending a message: "Take that, Jews!"

Was Biden's choice of a defamer of AIPAC and Israel as a senior adviser, chief of staff to Kamala Harris, and now the White House press secretary careless or deliberate? Either way, it's further proof that the radical "anti-Zionist" wing of the Democrat party has taken over.

Democratic leaders and the media were silent about Obama's depiction of pro-Israel activists as enemies and can be expected to similarly protect Biden's new press secretary.

Did Jean-Pierre cross the line into anti-Semitism in her attack on AIPAC?

The definition of anti-Semitism drafted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, adopted by the US State Department, includes "making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews."

Jean-Pierre's astonishing, unsupported accusations of racism leveled at a predominantly Jewish organization dedicated to the survival of the Jewish state match the IHRA definition in that they are mendacious. They are also demonizing  why else would someone disseminate mendacious allegations against a minority group if not to demonize them?

It's unlikely Jean-Pierre will ever be pressured to step down for any reason. Perhaps a White House reporter will challenge her to provide examples of AIPAC's "severely racist, Islamophobic rhetoric"  but that appears unlikely, too.

Image: NBC News via YouTube.
Electric vehicles have been pushed hard as a solution to the worlds faux climate emergency, but in India they have turned into killing machines. Many EV bikes and scooters have been bursting into flames across the country. The frequency of such incidents has increased considerably since spring 2022.

In my home state of Tamil Nadu, a man and his daughter were killed when their EV scooter caught fire. You might think it as a one-off incident, but that is not the case.

In March, an EV bike (from the brand Ola) parked in a busy commercial area caught fire. A Twitter user shared a video where the vehicle can be seen consumed by the fire from its lithium-ion battery and circuits. Another video from Chennai (formerly known as Madras), shows an EV scooter of the same brand going up in flames, the fourth such incident in the city in as many days.

A stern warning of penalties has been issued by the government.

Several mishaps involving electric two wheelers have come to light in last two months, said Indian Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. It is most unfortunate that some people have lost their lives and several have been injured in these incidents. We will soon issue quality-centric guidelines for electric vehicles. If any company is found negligent in their processes, a heavy penalty will be imposed and a recall of all defective vehicles will also be ordered Companies may take advance action to recall all defective batches of vehicles immediately.

While some EV makers have responded to the warning, local law enforcement has filed charges against others. PURE EV, one of the many brands afflicted by fires, was booked by the Nizamabad police for negligence and safety for life after an explosion killed a person and injured two others.

In view of the recent fire incidents involving our vehicles in Nizamabad and Chennai, PURE EV has decided to recall 2,000 vehicles from the models ETrance Plus and EPluto7G of the concerned batches, the company said in a statement.

Okinawa Autotech -- a best-seller in India -- recalled 3,215 of its EV scooters. But that did not stop the subsequent massive explosion and fire that engulfed an entire showroom full of its products. Elsewhere, an Okinawa EV scooter caught fire while the vehicle was being ridden.

Last month, 20 electric scooters from Jitendra EV caught fire as they were being transported in a truck.

Some suggest that these fires could be due to extreme summer heat in India. However, the problem is not exclusive to tropical regions.

In Paris, the use of 149 electric buses was suspended after two caught fire. Dramatic footage shows buses in a ball of fire, a sight that would make any municipality inclined to withdraw such vehicles from fleets.

Some underground parking lots in Germany are banning electric and hybrid cars for obvious reasons. Often, lithium-ion battery fires are difficult to extinguish because the addition of water produces hydrogen and lithium-hydroxide, increasing the intensity of the blaze.

In the future, electric and hybrid cars will no longer be allowed to park in the underground car park, said Michael Kuhnlein from the civil engineering department The fire brigade cannot extinguish such vehicles; they have to let them burn out.

So to the longstanding concerns about inhumane conditions of mining lithium and other minerals for EV production, we add the direct threat that EVs pose to users and the general public. We are killing people in reaction to the irrational hysteria of a climate cult.

Vijay Jayaraj is a Research Associate at the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, Va., and holds a Masters degree in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia, England. He resides in Bengaluru, India.

Image: Russianname
First go after babies in their wombs, and now justices in their homes. The logic of attacking the justices comes inevitably out of the logic of Roe. As Aristotle showed us, logically valid reasoning based on false premises leads to false conclusions and wrong actions: "illogic" in practice. So we now see yet another result of the logic of Roe, and Casey even more. Here it helps to see its source  not from great sages like Socrates and Confucius, or prophets like Moses, Jesus, or Muhammad, but from the existentialist thought of Jean-Paul Sartre and his enamorata Simone de Beauvoir, French public intellectuals postWorld War II. Sartre set out the principles, and Beauvoir applied them in her book The Second Sex, the wellspring of contemporary women's liberation.

In his "first principle of existentialism", Sartre skipped over plants and animals and compared humans to an inanimate object:

Consider ... a book or paper-cutter. One cannot postulate a man who makes a paper-cutter but does not know what it is used for. For the paper-cutter, [its] essence ... precedes existence. Now if we conceive God as Creator ... the concept of man in the mind of God is like paper-cutter in the mind of the artisan. But in atheistic existentialism, which I represent ... there is at least one being in whom existence precedes essence, a being who exists before he can be defined by any concept, and this being is man. ... This means, first of all, that man exists ... and only afterwards defines himself ... [since] he himself will have made what he will be. Therefore, there is no human nature, since there is no God to conceive it ... man is what he conceives himself to be ... after his thrust into existence.[1]

Beauvoir, a better writer, put the same point succinctly: "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman."[2] She did not say 'becomes more a woman,' but says simply "becomes a woman," because she is not really a woman from birth, even though born with a female body. Likewise, we are not born a human, but create our own essence. So what is a man at first? A sort of "locus of freedom" to choose and act  and, in acting, to create his own essence. This is the illogical but powerful idea still very much with us.

The most powerful and widespread result of Sartrism is in the area of sexual morality. Sartre's "first principle" that "existence precedes essence" is a fundamental but usually unrecognized source of the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, the mainstreaming of homosexuality in the 1990s, the endorsement of "gay marriage" by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015, the distinction between psychological gender and physical sex, and the consequent idea of one changing one's gender at will.

As often in their relationship, Beauvoir's actions were more personal and hazardous, Sartre's more self-serving. In his novel, The Age of Reason (1945), Sartre's main character pays for an abortion for his mistress. In 1971, Beauvoir signed the Manifesto of the 343 prominent French women who publically admitted they had had abortions and called for its legalization. Since existence precedes essence, and the human essence is created by one's actions, although it is sad to terminate what might have been a human, what was killed had not yet acted enough to attain a human essence.

The next year, this Sartrean inference provided a central but unacknowledged foundation for the reasoning of the American Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade (1973). The so-called "fetus" (a misuse of the Latin term when the nature of the thing is dropped, since the "fetal" pigs one dissected in high school biology were still pigs) was thought not yet to have performed actions sufficient enough to constitute it a human worthy of legal protection. So when had it done enough?

At this point the Court committed a logical blunder. That point is birth, the justices said. But even on Sartrean principles, this conclusion is nonsense. For the process of birth is not an action taken by the fetus. It is the mother who is acting, pushing the "fetus" out. The "fetus" is being acted upon, a passion or undergoing in Aristotelean terms, the opposite of an action. So if a thing's action is what creates its essence, and birth is not an action performed by the "fetus," birth cannot possibly add something to make it human. It is simply being moved from one place to another, from inside to outside the mother, which results in its first cry, which is indeed its own action, but not its first action, and it does not make it human. In their rush to judgment, then, the Court were not even logical Sartreans. Their desires got in the way of their own logic, a mistake typical of Sartre and Beauvoir, and their current intellectual progeny.

The call for attacking the justices in their homes, then, simply follows the illogic laid out by Sartre seven decades ago. Those styling themselves most free and up-to-date are simply slaves to an outworn theory and, as slaves, are doing great harm.

R.E. Houser taught philosophy and logic for 40 years and was awarded the Aquinas Medal "for eminence on philosophy" by the American Catholic Philosophical Association in 2019. His Logic as a Liberal Art: An Introduction to Rhetoric and Reasoning is now available.
Federal law makes it illegal to picket near a judges home because an honest legal system cannot be subject to physical intimidation. Nevertheless, on Saturday night, a large crowd of angry protesters gathered in front of the homes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. No doubt, the mob felt protected from the law thanks to Jen Psakis refusal to say that the administration disapproved of this mob behavior. It remains to be seen whether Attorney General Merrick Garland will care.

It's interesting to contemplate why the protesters picked those two particular justices. Clarice Feldman suggests (accurately, I believe) that they understand that Chief Justice Roberts can be intimidated into changing his position. As for Justice Kavanaugh, while he refused to back down from his confirmation hearing despite the vile statements Christine Blasey Ford made about him, its been clear since he came to the Supreme Court that he's a wishy-washy conservative. Perhaps hes always been that way but he also seems to have been cowed by the experience. Leftists smartly chose the weakest links.

The inestimable Justice Clarence Thomas made a preemptive strike: The Supreme Court, he said, will not be bullied into giving [protesters] the outcomes you want. Moreover, he scolded protesters as addicts of a sort: We are becoming addicted to wanting particular outcomes, not living with the outcomes we dont like.

As a side note, when it came to Justice Kavanaugh, the protesters had an advantage: His own neighbor, a teacher (of course) named Lacie Wooten-Holway organized the protest! Wooten-Holway takes abortion seriously, having had two already.

Image: Protesters outside of Justice Kavanaughs house. Twitter screen grab.

Also, as someone who describes having been sexually assaulted, shes totally bought into the narrative that Kavanaugh assaulted Blasey Ford (never mind the massive holes in Blasey-Fords testimony, as well as the fact that Blasey-Fords best friend, who was allegedly there when it happened, denies the story). Wooten-Holway sounds like a troubled soul and a terrible neighbor.

Lately, Wooten-Holway has been conducting a protest in front of Kavanaughs house (or, at least, what she thought was Kavanaughs house). And on Saturday night, she was joined by a much larger group of protesters.

Around 100 mostly White, female protesters started their little campaign of terror at Chief Justice Robertss home, drawing coat hangers on the pavement. They then went to Justice Kavanaughs home.

While at the two houses, they chanted Keep abortion safe and legal, which is a far cry from the Clinton-era change of Keep abortion safe, rare, and legal. More worrisomely in terms of the threats to the judges safety, they also chanted Pro-life is a lie! You dont care if people die. Thats the kind of rhetoric that leads to violence.

A group of abortion extremists have gathered in protest outside what is said to be Justice Kavanaughs house.



pic.twitter.com/ndlxVZ3zXx   : gabrielsavage (@gbrlsvg) May 8, 2022

The energy is markedly more negative outside Kavanaughs house. The anger has become much more palpable than outside any other justices house. pic.twitter.com/zY2OY34hcA  Douglas Blair (@DouglasKBlair) May 8, 2022

The scene in front of Chief Justice John Roberts house pic.twitter.com/vJVxxFoMNO  Douglas Blair (@DouglasKBlair) May 7, 2022

What the protesters are doing is blatantly illegal. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1507 explicitly bans picketing in or near a building or residence occupied or used by [a] judge, for the purpose of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge...in the discharge of his duty. That, of course, is exactly what the protesters are doing.

Considering that theyre breaking a quite explicit law, the protesters dont seem particularly worried about the consequences they might face. Maybe thats because Jen Psaki, on her last day as Bidens press secretaryshell now join MSNBC and will be replaced by someone whos literally in bed with CNNmade it clear that the administration thinks these protests are a fine idea (and note how Psaki erroneously says theres nothing, such as a law, to stop them):

Doocy: "Activists posted a map with the home addresses of the Supreme Court justices. Is that kind of thing this president wants?"



PSAKI: "I don't have an official U.S. government position on where people protest." pic.twitter.com/kpqF1FUGVF  Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 5, 2022

Doocy: "These activists posted a map with the home addresses of the Supreme Court justices. Is that the sort of thing this President wants?"



Psaki: "I think the President's view is that there is a lot of passion."



Disgusting that the White House is refusing to condemn this. pic.twitter.com/i5ErEBZ25X  Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) May 5, 2022

The saying is that a fish rots from the head. Bidens administration is demented, leftist, corrupt, and lawless, and thats exactly whats showing up on the street in front of two Supreme Court justices houses. This is a very dangerous situation, both for the judges and their families and for America as a whole. The rule of law is really the only thing that separates a functioning country from either anarchy or tyranny.
Many people believe that the Obama-Biden administration is using (and will be using) the war against Russia in Ukraine to acquire political capital, even though the war does not concern the USA at all. They are 100% right in the first part of their statement but dismally wrong in the second part.

This war concerns the civilized world in the most direct way, which is why 40 nations participated in the Ramstein Air Base meeting on April 24 and have formed an anti-Russia worldwide coalition. The Democrat ruling elite are whatever you would like to call them, but they are by no means stupid: they would never join an unpopular war!

The war against Russia in Ukraine today is, in fact, World War IV. Russia started it to take revenge for the loss of World War IIIthe Cold War (exactly as Germany started World War II as revenge for losing World War I). Putin clearly andwhat is importantopenly formulated Russias goals in his notorious speech in Munich (2007).

The next year Russia attacked Georgia (grabbing a significant part of its tiny territory) and, because there were no serious Western reactions, in 2014 Russia invaded and annexed Ukrainian Crimea. Again, the Obama administration did not respond appropriately so Russia invaded two Eastern Ukrainian regions (Luhansk and Donetsk).

During Trumps presidency, Putin did not dare to move but, as soon as Biden was established in the White House, Russia started preparing for a big war against Ukraine. His ultimate goal isnt to destroy the Ukrainian state; its to liquidate Ukrainians as a nation. (In the Russian narrative, Ukrainians are under-Russians, or unfinished Russians.)

Bidens semantic discussion about the differences between incursion and invasion of Ukraine gave Putin the green light. The Democratic administration did everything for Putin to win: from signaling that his incursion would be tolerated to the indecent move of the American embassy out of Kyiv on February 14 (ten days before the invasion; the embassy is still not in Kyiv, as far as I know) to the even more indecent proposal for Zelensky to flee the country.

The Bidenites wanted Ukraine delivered to Putin on a silver platter. Let it be emphasized: Biden has a weighty personal reason to want to destroy Zelenskys government because the Ukrainians possess documents that constitute evidence of both Bidens financial and political misdeeds in Ukraine. Unfortunately for Biden, the Ukrainian bravery, Zelenskys firmness, and Russian incompetence thwarted his plans.

As well, cowardly, sleeping Europe suddenly woke to see the Russian bear attacking. Especially alarmed were Poland and the Baltic states, but also Finland and Sweden, and even Germany (whose government has been bought and wrapped by Russia, with Bidens blessing). Great Britain, although not immediately threatened, has an intelligent and strong leader who is capable of foreseeing a couple of next steps, so it took drastic measures to supportthat is, to armUkraine.

Image: Democrats and President Zelensky. YouTube screen grab.

The Bidenites, meanwhile, followed Lenins slogan: If you cannot stop a hostile movement, try to head it! (I grant them the independence of this discovery: I dont think they read a lot....) They rushed to make a show of their support. Pelosi in Kyivwhat can be more disgusting and treacherous! But the reality being what it is, Bidens Democrat administration must do whatever is within its reach to manifest support for democracy against barbarism.

Ukraine is not a paragon country (i.e., a democratic nation without corruption and well organized). Theres no doubt that fundamental criticisms could be leveled at her government and the leading elites. Currently, though, this is irrelevant. Ukraine is valiantly fighting against the worst enemy our civilization has seen since Hitler and Stalin.

During WWII, the Allies actively helped, and strongly collaborated with, the Stalinist Soviet Uniona country that was politically and morally hardly any better than Nazi Germany. But the main goal was to annihilate Hitlers Germany and, to achieve this goal, one had to accept Stalin. The Allies had quite a different problem interacting with the USSR after the victoryhere the Allies (mostly because of President Roosevelt, a Democrat) made a terrible mess. This scenario should not be repeated now.

The last problem is Putins nuclear blackmail. If he succeeds with this, he will attack Europe and his blackmail will reach another, higher level. Sooner or later Russia, if it wins in Europe, will come after North America, exactly as Hitler had planned. Therefore, its suicide to show fear. Today, Russia is weak enough but, in 10 years (if she still exists in the same shape), she will be much stronger. That will probably be with the Wests help. Germany and France were selling Russians the parts and pieces for their missilesin spite of official sanctionsup to the end of this February.

In sum, we must understand that we, all of the West, are fighting WWIV against a rogue Communist-Nazi-Mafia country. We must be fearless if we do not want the Russian nuclear blackmail to continue. Most importantly, we must see through the Democrats maneuvering. They will go through the motions to look like genuine defenders of democracy, even as they go out of the way to violate the Constitution, destroy democracy in America, and establish an American version of a communist state.

They are traitors to the Constitution and America and must be treated as suchno matter what they do in Ukraine. This said, the war in Ukraine must be won!
Sadiq Khan will travel to the US this weekend to bang the drum for Londons tourism and tech industries.

The mayor of London will fly to New York, before making his way to San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles in a bid to boost Londons tourism industry.

Mr Khan told the PA news agency that he also hopes to use the trip to attract investment to the capital.

He will also discuss pandemic recovery with senior politicians.

London was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, losing 7.4 billion of international tourist spend in 2020 alone.

Mr Khan will launch his new 10 million tourism campaign in New York, alongside mayor Eric Adams.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on a previous visit to New York (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

He will then meet representatives from Google and LinkedIn in San Francisco, before travelling to Los Angeles to promote Londons film industry.

Sadiq Khan told PA that London has had a horrible two years.

Whats really important is that we encourage international tourists back to our city. We will encourage tourists, we will encourage business, we will encourage investment, he said.

We are the greatest city in the world, but we have had a horrible two years.

The lack of tourists in 2020 meant we lost about 7 billion.

We want them back, we need them back.

He added that he intended to use the trip to bang the drum for London.

Were doing four regions in four days, New York, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Los Angeles, he said.

Its really important that I bang the drum for London, thats what I intend to do.
The world is currently embroiled in "Cold War II"  and has been for a while  and the path ahead is lined with the geopolitics of nuclear weapons, says one historian.

"And we've now forgotten so much of that history that we don't realize that Cold War II began some time ago," Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Niall Ferguson recently told Yahoo Finance's Andy Serwer at the Milken Institute Global Conference (video above).

"Cold War II is different, though, because in Cold War II, China's the senior partner, and Russia's the junior partner," Ferguson explained. "And in Cold War II, the first hot war breaks out in Europe, rather than Asia. This is a bit like the Korean War was, in 1950, where suddenly discovering that cold wars sometimes run hot, but this time, Ukraine is the battlefield."

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting on the sideline of the 11th edition of the BRICS Summit, in Brasilia, Brazil November 13, 2019. (Sputnik/Ramil Sitdikov/Kremlin via REUTERS)

During the first Cold War between communist U.S.S.R and the capitalist U.S., the conflict became "hot" during the Korean War in 1950. The Korean War was a significant point as the two countries fought a proxy war in the peninsula at the 38th parallel. The Soviet Union and China supported the communist North Korea, and the U.S. supported South Korea. The peninsula remains divided today.

In terms of the ongoing war in Ukraine, "it's very important that we understand that this is part of a cold war because nuclear weapons are involved," Ferguson added. "This is not the kind of war we saw after 9/11, against regimes, Saddam Husseins, or the Taliban, which were actually very poorly armed. We're dealing here with Russia, and the fact that Russia has nuclear weapons radically alters the dynamics and creates much greater risks than the wars that we saw after the first Cold War."

The latest UK update of the Russia-Ukraine war. (Source: UK Defence)

Ukraine, NATO, and nukes

Ferguson highlighted two key geopolitical aspects of the war in Ukraine: The West's failed promise of Ukraine joining NATO and Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons after the first Cold War.

Countries who joined NATO at the end of the first Cold War  such as former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact countries  "are all thanking God that they were let into NATO, because that's the thing that makes them feel safe," Ferguson said. "Ukraine's problem is not that we made it a NATO member. Its problem is that we didn't. We promised, in 2008, that Georgia and Ukraine could be in consideration for NATO membership, and that was an insincere promise. There was never any serious effort to make that happen."

Ferguson stressed that the "the worst possible thing that we can do is to talk about NATO membership without delivering it. That was what made Ukraine so vulnerable."

NATO in Erupe. (Reuters)

Furthermore, since Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in 1994 as part of the Budapest Memorandum, the geopolitical situation becomes even more sensitive  and also a lesson for other countries.

"One of the most interesting consequences of this war is that all around the world people are going to realize: 'We need nuclear weapons,'" Ferguson said. "'Look what the Ukrainians did. They gave them up, and now they are in a terrible state.' So the end of the era of nonproliferation is upon us. Whatever happens in Ukraine, we will see rapid proliferation of nuclear weapons all around the world, and that is going to make the world a much more dangerous place than at any time since the end of the last Cold War."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking from the city of Borodyanka in a video release on May 8, 2022. (screenshot/Ukraine government)



Aarthi is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. She can be reached at aarthi@yahoofinance.com. Follow her on Twitter @aarthiswami.

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LOS ANGELES (AP)  A San Francisco judge tossed out former President Donald Trumps lawsuit challenging his permanent ban from Twitter.

U.S. District Judge James Donato said Friday that Trump failed to show Twitter violated his First Amendment right to free speech. Free speech rights dont apply to private companies and Trump failed to show Twitter was working as a state actor on behalf of Democrats.

The amended complaint merely offers a grab-bag of allegations to the effect that some Democratic members of Congress wanted Mr. Trump, and the views he espoused, to be banned from Twitter because such content and views were contrary to those legislators preferred points of view, Donato wrote. But the comments of a handful of elected officials are a far cry from a rule of decision for which the State is responsible. Legislators are perfectly free to express opinions without being deemed the official voice of the State.

Trump sued Twitter, Facebook and Googles YouTube in July 2021, claiming they illegally censored him.

The platforms suspended Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, in which his followers violently stormed the Capitol building in an attempt to block Congress from certifying Joe Bidens presidential win. The companies cited concerns he would incite further violence.

The ruling comes as Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man, is in the process of purchasing Twitter for $44 billion. The deal has raised questions about whether, Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist would reinstate the former president.

Trump, who has continued to repeat lies about his 2020 election defeat in speeches, has started his own social network, Truth Social. He said last week that he wouldn't rejoin Twitter if given the chance.

The suit had sought to reinstate Trump's account, which had roughly 89 million followers, and those of five others who claimed they were also censored by Twitter. The group had sought unspecified damages and class action status on behalf of others removed from the platform.

Legal experts had predicted the lawsuit would fail but suggested Trump would milk it for political purposes. Trumps political action committee immediately began raising money after the lawsuit was announced last year.

The lawsuit had also sought a declaration that Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act was unconstitutional.

The act says providers such as Twitter can moderate services by removing obscene posts that violate their standards and cannot be held responsible for content posted by others.

Trump had only shown a vague and speculative allegation that he believed he would not have been banned if Twitter wasn't granted immunity by Section 230, Donato said.

Donato gave Trump another opportunity to amend his complaint. Trumps lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday after the leak of a draft opinion in an abortion case showed the court's conservative majority is poised to overturn Roe vs. Wade. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Now that weve had a moment to digest the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe vs. Wade, one thing is clear: Words have lost their meaning.

The courts three newest justices, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, all said under oath during their confirmation hearings they believed that the two major rulings upholding the federal right to abortion  Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood vs. Casey  were settled law.

Casey, testified Gorsuch, "is settled law.

Roe, testified Kavanaugh, is settled as a precedent of the Supreme Court. ... It has been reaffirmed many times over the past 45 years.

Roe, testified Barrett, is a precedent of the Supreme Court entitled to respect under the doctrine of stare decisis.

Were the nominees prevaricating? Thats debatable, but theyve certainly opened themselves to ridicule.

They knew that if they were honest they wouldnt get the job, which I think is perjury, said late-night TV host Stephen Colbert. But what do I know? Im not a Supreme Court justice. Im not a good enough liar.

It should be obvious by now that none of this trio ever considered Roe and Casey settled law, and they certainly did not respect the doctrine of stare decisis  Latin for to stand by things decided  otherwise they would not have signed on to a draft opinion that tosses out a right that has improved or saved the lives of millions of women who have exercised it over the past half-century.

Another word that seems to mean nothing to the courts conservative bloc: liberty.

Liberty is a capacious term, writes Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. in the draft opinion. As Lincoln once said: 'We all declare for Liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing.' "

Well, if liberty can mean so many things, then I guess it really means nothing at all. (Unless we are talking about allowing discrimination in the name of religious liberty, in which case Alito can say exactly what it means.)

Alitos underlying message is its illegitimate to protect rights that arent laid out clearly in the text of the Constitution, said David Gans, director of the Human Rights, Civil Rights & Citizenship Program at the Constitutional Accountability Center, a think tank and legal advocacy organization dedicated to a progressive interpretation of the Constitution. This is an opinion that is incredibly dismissive of a precedent that is bedrock. The writing exudes hostility.

No kidding.

Until the latter part of the 20th century, writes Alito, there was no support in American law for a constitutional right to obtain an abortion. Zero. None.  Abortion had long been a crime in every single State. (Legal scholars say he is dead wrong about that.)

But why did so many states enact abortion bans in the mid-19th century?

Religious bigotry was one factor. White Protestant lawmakers worried about the declining white Protestant birth rate in comparison to the high birth rates of Catholic immigrants. They worried about "Catholic hordes" and their presumed loyalty to the pope.

And sexism, of course, was another factor. They believed abortion was a repudiation of a womans highest calling: motherhood. Alito is dismissive of these arguments. "Are we to believe that the hundreds of lawmakers whose votes were needed to enact these laws were motivated by hostility to Catholics and women?" he asks, as if such a thing is inconceivable.

In a law review article published in March, Gans wrote that in 1871, the American Medical Assn. described a woman who wanted an abortion as someone "unmindful of the course marked out for her by Providence," who "overlooks the duties imposed on her by the marriage contract. She yields to the pleasures but shrinks from the pains and responsibilities of maternity."

Many of the personal liberties we now consider fundamental are what Gans calls rights of heart and home  like abortion and interracial and same-sex marriage  and are not enumerated in the Constitution. They find their justification in the 14th Amendments equal protection clause. The 14th Amendment was written after the Civil War specifically to protect the rights of once-enslaved Americans who were being revictimized by a raft of restrictive, racist laws in Southern states. Fresh in memory were the horrors of slavery, where families were ripped apart and women were forced to bear children born into slavery. Among the legislators intentions, said Gans, was the protection of bodily integrity and the integrity of the family.

When they debated it, said Gans, members of Congress who wrote the 14th Amendment talked about the right to have a wife, children and family. What definition of freedom doesnt include these things?

People who worry that overturning Roe and Casey is just the beginning of an American dark age for liberty are right to be alarmed. Alitos draft opinion, Gans said, is written in a way that emboldens more attacks on core precedents that guarantee fundamental rights.

We cant take anything for granted.

Just before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for then-Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn criticized the landmark 1965 Supreme Court ruling that legalized access to contraception as constitutionally unsound. (She also included the 2012 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the legality of the Affordable Care Act in her list of unsound decisions.)

And dont forget another landmark decision, Obergefell vs. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2015 by a sliver on a 5-4 vote. Two years ago, after the court refused to hear an appeal from a Kentucky county clerk who cited her religious beliefs as the reason she would not issue marriage licenses to gay couples, Justices Clarence Thomas and Alito issued a blistering statement against Obergefell itself.

By choosing to privilege a novel constitutional right over the religious liberty interests explicitly protected in the 1st Amendment, and by doing so undemocratically, the Court has created a problem that only it can fix, they wrote. Until then, Obergefell will continue to have ruinous consequences for religious liberty.' "

How might the court want to fix that?

Oh, Im sure you can guess.

@AbcarianLAT





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
(Reuters) - A U.S. grand jury on Saturday indicted a man for terrorism and other charges stemming from an April 12 gunfire and smoke bomb attack that injured 23 people on the New York City subway.

The indictment in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York charged Frank James, 62, with a terrorist attack and other violence against a mass transportation system plus a count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

If convicted on the terrorism charge James could be sentenced to life in prison.

Defense attorneys representing James did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

James is accused of setting off smoke bombs and opening fire inside a New York City subway car in Brooklyn, striking 10 people with gunfire and setting off a round-the-clock manhunt.

Thirteen others were injured in the frantic rush to flee the smoke-filled train, police said.

He was taken into custody some 30 hours later in lower Manhattan, about 8 miles (13 km) from the scene of the assault, after authorities determined his whereabouts with the help of tips from residents, some of whom posted sightings on social media, police said.

James, a Bronx native with recent addresses in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, had previously been charged with a criminal complaint filed by law enforcement over the attack. The more formal indictment came after prosecutors presented evidence to a grand jury.

Authorities accuse James of setting off two smoke bombs inside a subway car moments before opening fire on fellow passengers with a semi-automatic handgun. The gun, purchased in 2011, was later recovered from the scene, along with three extended-ammunition magazines, a torch, a hatchet, a bag of fireworks and a container of gasoline, according to police and court documents.

The attack followed string of violent crimes unnerving passengers in the America's largest metropolitan transit system, including instances of commuters being pushed onto subway tracks from station platforms.

The motive remained unclear. An FBI affidavit referred to a number of YouTube videos James posted addressing statements to New York City's mayor about homelessness and the subway system.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by David Gregorio)
A bombing raid on a Ukrainian school where people were sheltering is a possible war crime, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said.

Dozens are feared dead after the school in Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine was bombed and caught fire on Saturday.

The Foreign Secretary said she was horrified and added that Vladimir Putins regime in Moscow would be held to account.

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

Around 90 people were thought to have been sheltering at the school but just 30 have been rescued.

Ms Truss tweeted: Horrified by Russias latest attack on a school in Luhansk, resulting in the deaths of innocent people sheltering from Russian bombardment.

She said the deliberate targeting of civilians and infrastructure amounts to war crimes and we will ensure Putins regime is held accountable.

Her comments came as G7 leaders including Boris Johnson and Joe Biden prepared for talks with Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky.

The UKs Ministry of Defence suggested Russian forces were struggling because of the high casualty rate among Moscows commanders.

A defence intelligence update said: Difficulties in command and control, as well as faltering Russian performance on the front line, have drawn senior commanders onto the battlefield, likely to take personal leadership of operations.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine  08 May 2022 Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/d9OZdgCPKz  #StandWithUkraine  pic.twitter.com/dGuAeC1DIh  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) May 8, 2022

This has put them at risk of being targeted, with disproportionately high losses of Russian officers in this conflict.

This has resulted in a force that is slow to respond to setbacks and unable to alter its approach on the battlefield, the update said.

These issues are likely to endure given the relative lack of operational command experience of the officers promoted in place of those killed.

The UK has pledged an extra 1.3 billion in military support to Ukraine, in a dramatic escalation of assistance for Mr Zelenskys forces as they fight the Russian invasion.

It is the highest rate of UK military spending on a conflict since the height of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 1.3 billion, drawn from the UKs reserves, includes 300 million of military kit promised by Mr Johnson earlier this week, such as anti-battery radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment and night vision devices.

Equipment provided to Ukraine already includes Nlaw anti-tank missiles (UK MoD Crown copyright/PA)

The Prime Minister will host a meeting of arms companies later this month to discuss increasing production in response to the demand created by the conflict in Ukraine.

Officials said the announcement would help support the British arms industry, which could benefit from the global shift away from reliance on equipment from sanctions-hit Russia.

The Prime Minister said: Putins brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine, it is also threatening peace and security across Europe.

The UK was the first country to recognise the scale of the threat and send arms to help the Ukrainians defend themselves.

We will stand by that endeavour, working with our allies to ensure Ukraine can continue to push back the Russian invasion and survive as a free and democratic country.

In the process, we are bolstering our own security and economy, turbocharging the development and production of cutting-edge defence equipment here in the UK.

A defence source told the PA news agency the money represented an initial amount, suggesting greater sums could be required in future.

This initial funding is a welcome move to get support to Ukraine as they defend against continued Russian aggression, the source said.
The use of the bulldozer as a weapon is not new

NewsOn May 1, Labour Day, the administration of the Union Territory of Chandigarh deployed the ubiquitous bulldozer to flatten the homes and hearth of 4,000 working class families in the name of making the City Beautiful slum-free. (Representational Image/PTI)

The bulldozer has been very much in the news recently as the bludgeon of choice to destroy the homes and livelihoods of people in areas hit by communal strife in New Delhi and various parts other parts of the country. In fact, the Supreme Court had to intervene to stay the use of the bulldozer that was being vigorously deployed to remove what was being described as a routine drive to remove illegal encroachments.

On May 1, Labour Day, the administration of the Union Territory of Chandigarh deployed the ubiquitous bulldozer to flatten the homes and hearth of 4,000 working class families in the name of making the City Beautiful slum-free. The dictum seems to be, rather than remove poverty just annihilate the poor.

The use of the bulldozer as a weapon is not new. Invented in 1904 by grain harvester manufacturer Benjamin Holt as a diesel-powered traction machine that could traverse terrain too mushy to support horse-drawn or wheeled tractors, it soon brought about a transformation not only in the agribusiness business and construction industry but in military affairs as well. Holts track-drive contraption became the impetus that led to the origination of the first prototype of the military tank called Little Willie.

When Adolf Hitler seized power in Germany in 1933 and gave his personal architect Albert Speer a carte blanche to virtually demolish Berlin and build a new capital called Germania for his one thousand-year Reich, the omnipotent bulldozer got deployed to flatten Jewish neighbourhoods that were soon levelled in record time.

Thousands of average Berliners also felt the bite of the bulldozer. From 1936 onwards, they were forcibly rehoused to make way for the new city. Jewish citizens were moved to poky places. Then they were ghettoised before being transported to concentration camps. Project Germania, therefore, had a critical role to play in enabling Nazi authorities to carry out the Holocaust with Jewish homes being pulverised much before the pogroms against them formally commenced in the November of 1938. When the deportation of Jews from Berlin began in August 1941, Speers department was a prime beneficiary, seizing and plundering 23,765 apartments occupied by Jews by the end of October 1942.

Throughout Second World War, as the Final Solution against Jewry unfolded, the bulldozer repeatedly came into play against their home and hearth except where the real estate was so expensive and in chic neighborhoods that it made more sense for the Nazi warlords to simply expropriate them for personal use.

After the assassination of the Nazi Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia (present-day Czech Land) on June 4, 1942, in Prague by Czech partisans, the village of Lidice was first flattened using artillery and then bulldozed to try and wipe it of the face of the earth. The villagers crime, they harboured the partisans.

Ironically, history inevitably comes a full circle. The ominous bulldozer has also become the weapon of choice for the Israelis to flatten Palestinian homes. The Palestinians have been fighting since 1948 to try and have a homeland of their own promised to them by the United Nations Partition Plan of Palestine in 1947 before the British made haste in 1948.

As far back as November 2004, Human Rights Watch documented and aggressively campaigned to stop the sale of American-made bulldozers to Israel as they were being used to obliterate Palestinian homes. An American company called Caterpillar manufactures a bulldozer, referred to as the D9 and tailored to military specifications. It would sell its product to the Israelis pretty much as a weapon under the aegis of the US Foreign Military Sales Program. After the bulldozers would arrive in Israel, they were further armoured by the state-owned Israel Military Industries Ltd. The armoured D-9 would then weigh more than 64 tons, stand 13 feet tall and measure 26 feet long with front and rear blades.

A Human Rights Watch report, entitled Razing Rafah, documented the methodical use by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of the D9 bulldozer to perpetrate illegal demolitions throughout the Palestinian-occupied territories. The IDF annihilated over 2,500 Palestinian homes in 2000-04 in the Gaza Strip alone, most of them in complete violation of even military preconditions mandated by global humanitarian law. Nearly two-thirds of those homes bulldozed were located in Rafah, a town and refugee camp on Gazas southern border with Egypt. The Israeli military employed the Caterpillar bulldozer to raze the homes of more than 10 per cent of the population in Rafah. The IDF wrecked above 50 per cent of Rafahs roads and ripped open in excess of 40 miles of water and sewage pipes with a rapier attached to the bulldozers back known as the ripper.

In 2018 again, human rights groups again denounced transnational building companies for their role in the destruction of Palestinian villages including Khan al-Ahmar. Caterpillar, JCB and LiuGong heavy equipment not limited to bulldozers were deployed to pulverise Palestinian homes. Israeli courts declined to proscribe this perversity. Amnesty International characterised the courts decision as sanctioning a war crime.

Given that between 1992 when we established normal diplomatic relations with Israel and now, hundreds of our law enforcement officers have gone to Israel on training visits and exchange programmes, it is evident that the bulldozer syndrome has got hardwired into the institutional hard drive of our system.

In 2003, the United Nations had commenced developing standards for conglomerates dubbed UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights. The text stipulates that companies must abjure from engaging in or benefiting from defilement of international human rights or humanitarian law. It further caveats that companies shall further seek to ensure that goods and services they provide will not be used to abuse human rights.

The time has come to build a countrywide movement against those Indian and foreign companies whose bulldozers and other heavy equipment like JCBs are used in utter contempt and violation of the law of the land for the perverse and malafide objectives of promoting hate and bigotry by pointedly targeting certain sections of our people. Also, hold those officers to account who carry out illegal orders of their political masters.
Justice Anoop Chitkara took up Bagga's petition in an urgent hearing at his residence just before midnight

: BJP leader Tajender Bagga at his residence after being released by police, at Janakpuri in New Delhi, Saturday, May 7, 2022. (PTI Photo)

Chandigarh: In a reprieve for Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Saturday night directed that no coercive step be taken against the Delhi BJP leader after he sought a stay on the arrest warrant issued by a Mohali court earlier in the day.

Hours after the Mohali court issued the arrest warrant in connection with a case registered against him by the Punjab Police last month, Bagga moved the high court challenging it.

Justice Anoop Chitkara took up Bagga's petition in an urgent hearing at his residence just before midnight.

"No coercive steps till May 10," said Bagga's counsel Chetan Mittal on the high court order.

Notably, on May 10, the high court is to take up Bagga's petition, seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him last month.

Mittal said that the court stayed the arrest warrant.

The hearing took place for around 45 minutes, said Mittal.

Earlier in the day, the court of Judicial Magistrate Ravtesh Inderjit Singh issued the arrest warrant against Bagga in connection with a case registered last month.

The Punjab Police had booked Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga on the charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation. The case was registered on a complaint of AAP leader Sunny Ahluwalia, a resident of Mohali.

The FIR registered on April 1 referred to Bagga's remarks on March 30, when he was part of a BJP youth wing protest outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Bagga was booked under relevant sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place etc), 505 (whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report) and 506 (criminal intimidation), of the Indian Penal Code.

Bagga was arrested by the Punjab Police from his Delhi home on Friday, stopped in Haryana while being taken to Punjab and brought back to the national capital by Delhi Police hours later.
The Modi government was not satisfied with removing Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir

The delimitation exercise in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is part of the Narendra Modi governments plan to reconstitute the controversial land into what it considers is a favourable mode to India. This was preceded by the removal of the erstwhile states special status under Article 370 of the Constitution, which was provisional. But right from the days of Syama Prasad Mookerjee and the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, Article 370 had been a bone of contention. It was also a part of the core agenda of the 1980-born Bharatiya Janata Party, along with the building of the Ram temple on the site of the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, and the enactment of the Uniform Civil Code in place of the personal laws of different communities, including Muslims.

The Modi government was not satisfied with removing Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir. In August 2019, Union home minister Amit Shah did two more things  demoting Jammu and Kashmir to the status of a Union territory and separating Ladakh from the state and constituting it as a separate Union territory. The BJP and the Modi government were only too aware of the dangers of trifurcation of the state, which would have created three separate units  Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh. The RSS had way back in the late 1990s mooted the idea of a trifurcation of J&K and the Atal behari Vajpayee-led BJP had then shot down the idea. So, the Modi government bungled when it separated Ladakh, and made a late correction by holding itself back from separating Jammu and Kashmir.

It is not very clear whether the Modi government has a Kashmir policy as such, though the general sense is that it would want to reduce the political importance of the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, and the delimitation exercise is part of that thinking. If that was indeed the intention, the separation of Ladakh and making Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh into two separate Union territories appear to be futile exercises. Similarly, the delimitation move, which has the trappings of a rationalisation of the existing system, again appears to be an aimless exercise.

In the new delimitation exercise, the difference in strength between the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, with 96 per cent Muslims, and the Jammu region, with 66 per cent Hindus and 34 per cent Muslims, has been narrowed, with Jammu gaining six seats and going up to 43, and Kashmir getting an extra seat and reaching 47. The new provision in the reconfiguration of the constituencies is the creation of nine Scheduled Tribes (ST) constituencies, with six in Jammu and three in Kashmir. The ST category of constituencies is again a bid to break the so-called Muslim domination. The fact is that Hindus in Jammu think of themselves as Dogras, and those in the Kashmir Valley as Kashmiris. Of course, the Gujjars and Bakarwals, the ST segments, think of themselves as Gujjars and Bakarwals. It is in Pakistan, and the BJP look at the Kashmir issue as a Hindu-Muslim one. It will be wrong to dismiss the religious aspect of the issue in terms of the 1947 Partition, but Kashmir politics has not played out on religious lines. Whatever their bitter regional rivalries, the Kashmiris and Dogras are only too keen to hang together.

Union home minister Amit Shah has also been saying that the UT status for Jammu and Kashmir is a temporary measure, and when conditions improve  there is again no clarity on what those conducive conditions are  the statehood of J&K will be restored. It may even be possible that once the Assembly elections are held, then Jammu and Kashmir might regain its statehood.

The mathematical elegance of dividing equally the 90 Assembly seats into the five parliamentary constituencies, with each getting 18, can well serve as a model for the rest of the country whenever a nationwide delimitation exercise takes place. But beyond that, it does not add much value. The attempt to break the Jammu-Kashmir geographical and political divide by combining Anantnag in the Kashmir Valley with Poonch and Rajouri is not exactly a clever one. It is just administrative juggling. The regional differences in Jammu and Kashmir are indeed revealing. The Poonch and Rajouri folk do not identify themselves either with Kashmir or with Jammu. The people who live in Doda again defy identification with either of the two big entities. And the Kashmiris themselves do not consider Doda as Kashmiri, one of the reasons that in the eyes of the people of the Valley, Ghulam Nabi Azad is not a full-fledged Kashmiri!

It is most likely that Prime Minister Modi and home minister Shah will go into a self-congratulatory mode in the belief that they have handled the long-festering Kashmir problem well. This would be an illusion.

Jammu and Kashmir has been a part of India ever since Maharaja Hari Singh had signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947, though there is the quibble about whether it was done before or after the arrival of the Indian troops, and the whole-hearted and full-throated support of the then popular leader of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah, who spoke eloquently in the state Assembly and in the United Nations as a member of the Indian delegation about Kashmir being an integral part of India. So, the removal of Article 370, the bifurcation of the state, its demotion to the UT status, and the delimitation move have not added an iota of credibility to the fact of Jammu and Kashmir being an integral part of India.

The interesting question remains whether the surgical political operation in Jammu and Kashmir, including the delimitation, will change the nature of politics in the Union territory. The BJP does want to gain an upper hand and find allies in new parties that it wants to nurture in the Kashmir Valley, in place of the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It is always a good sign if new players emerge but the BJP, an old party, wants to orchestrate the political drama. As of now, there are smaller parties in the Kashmir Valley and the BJP wants to patronise them, but these small parties do not promise anything new and significantly different. The Assembly elections, however, which will be held under the new configuration, is something to look forward to.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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As you can probably tell, this 1982 Suzuki Katana GS1000SZ is far from being stock, and it really doesnt take an experts eye to reach that conclusion. Upon meeting its current owner back in 2009, the Japanese icon was little more than a non-running project in terrible condition, so the following three years were spent transforming it into the snazzy restomod you see above.For starters, a seamless blanket of two-tone paintwork was laid over the bikes angular outfit, while its saddle has been reupholstered and the frame, powder-coated. Those three-spoke wheels were transplanted from a Suzuki Bandit, and their rims are cloaked in Michelins grippy Pilot Power 3 rubber.Additionally, the Bandit had also donated its double-sided swingarm, which is now mated to a modern pair of piggyback shock absorbers from YSS. Up front, suspension duties are handled by higher-spec inverted forks whose origin is said to be a 1996 MY GSX-R750 . Ample stopping power is the product of scalloped aftermarket brake discs and premium Nissin calipers at both ends.Heading over to the cockpit area, we find Koso dials, a Vortex top clamp and aluminum clip-ons wearing adjustable control levers. The old-school Katana saw its air-cooled 998cc inline-four engine fitted with 34 mm (1.3 inches) Mikuni Flat Slide carbs and K&N air filters, as well as a stainless-steel four-into-one exhaust system from MotoGP Werks catalog. Now then, what if we told you that Suzukis pearl could, in fact, be yours?The revamped 82 MY GS1000SZ weve just inspected is heading to the auction block at no reserve, and you might be able to snatch it for less than five grand if you act swiftly! In case that sounds like an exciting proposition, then we encourage you to place your bids on Bring a Trailer sooner rather than later, because the auctioning deadline is set for Tuesday, May 10.
At the rate things are going, the number of F-35s in operation, especially the ones in American hands, will quickly surpass that of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the most successful modern fighter aircraft there ever was, at least as far as numbers made go.Back in February, weve seen just how fast the manufacturing of components for the F-35 is going, with one of the suppliers of components for the plane, BAE Systems, announcing the production of the 3,000th vehicle management computer (VMC), and 1,000 active inceptor system (AIS).The USAF made no secret of the fact this machine will form the backbone of its fleet, with a total of over 1,700 F-35A variants being planned to enter service over the next few years. The F-35 came to be in 2006, but was only ready for service in 2016 for the USAF, which makes the rapid pace of deployment even more extraordinary.The F-35 quickly rose to star status among military aviators, and its commonly featured in the USAFs releases. One of the most recent adventures of the plane family was snapped on camera in mid-April, and recently released by the military branch.Its the main image of this piece were talking about, showing two F-35A Lightning IIs deployed with the 48th Fighter Wing, which is stationed at the British base in Lakenheath, as they were headed over the North Sea for a refueling mission. Alongside them flew a KC-135 Stratotanker of the 100th Air Refueling Wing from RAF Mildenhall in the same country, and that provided the perfect platform for this Photo of the Day to be taken.We not only get to see the two birds in their natural environment, looking all serious and deadly, but also the pilot of the closest one, as he waves happily for the camera.
AMG

But before we dive into the qualifying session, let's have a look at what happened in FP3. Ocon had a difficult start to the day, as he crashed in the same corner as Sainz did on Friday. The French driver suffered a massive shunt, which he describes as the biggest one of his racing career.Reportedly, the impact was as strong as 51G. That's the same level experienced by Max Verstappen last year in his Silverstone crash. There have been some discussions regarding the lack of a Tecpro barrier in that corner, but a conclusion has yet to be reached.Sergio Perez was the fastest driver of FP3, even though his best lap was slightly slower than what he had achieved on Friday. Charles Leclerc was 0.194 seconds slower, so he claimed P2. Max Verstappen was the only other driver to go faster than 1:31 for this session, and so he got away with third overall.Both Mercedes-Petronas F1 drivers struggled with a lack of rear grip and porpoising yet again. Toto Wolff was certainly not happy to see Hamilton and Russell finishing in P15 and P17 at the end of FP3.But everyone was eager to see how the qualifying session would unfold. Ultimately, this is what decides the line-up for the main event of the weekend. With Ocon not being able to go out on track just yet, only 19 drivers took part in the qualifying session.Nicolas Latifi was the slowest driver in Q1, as he was almost 2 seconds behind the leader - Charles Leclerc. So his qualifying efforts came to an end after just 10 laps in total, as he wouldn't be given a chance to move on to Q2. Alexander Albon , Zhou Guanyu, and Kevin Magnussen would suffer the same fate. As soon as Q2 started, it became clear that several drivers might just secure the first 1:28 lap of the weekend. Charles Leclerc was the closest man to do so, as the Ferrari driver had a fast lap of 1:29.130.But Red Bull driver, Max Verstappen, had the same goal in mind. His fastest lap was 1:29.202. This time, a total of 5 drivers were knocked out of the qualifying session. If you need to understand how fast these guys are, just look at their fastest laps and compare them.Pierre Gasly was the last driver to be granted permission to move on to Q3, with a time of 1:30.128. Fernando Alonso was not so lucky, as he was just 0.032 seconds slower. The slowest driver in Q2 was Mick Schumacher.Looking at his fastest lap, he would have needed to improve by 0.296 seconds to make it into Q3. The other three drivers that failed to move on from Q2 were: George Russell, Sebastian Vettel, and Daniel Ricciardo. With the start of Q3, everyone started pushing the limits of their cars and skills even further than before.As a result, a total of three drivers dipped below the 1:29 mark. Charles Leclerc put on a stunning performance, with a time of 1:28.796. He is this weekend's poleman, but that doesn't mean he's out of the woods just yet. Carlos Sainz was 0.190 seconds slower in Q3, but that was good enough to have him sitting in P3.Meanwhile, Max Verstappen was right on his tail: 0.005 seconds, to be more exact! Sergio Perez will be starting the race from fourth place. One of the most surprising events, though, was seeing Valtteri Bottas ahead of Lewis Hamilton , albeit by just 0.150 seconds.Scuderia AlphaTauri 's Team Principal, Franz Tost, must be pretty proud of his drivers. Both Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda put on a strong performance in qualifying, claiming P7 and P9! Lando Norris will be starting the race from P8. Lance Stroll was the only driver in Q3 that didn't manage to dip below 1:30, but that still puts him in tenth on the grid.Esteban Ocon will have a difficult mission ahead, as he has to work his way up from P20. Today's race starts at 3:30 PM (EDT), so be sure to tune in if you're curious to see who the first-ever Miami GP winner is going to be!
Inside its double cradle framework, the 1985 Honda VF700F Interceptor hosts a liquid-cooled 698cc V4 powerplant, which is accompanied by a five-speed gearbox and a hydraulically-operated wet multi-plate clutch. The carbureted mill comes equipped with dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and a quartet of Keihin inhalers.At about 10,000 rpm, this bad boy will go about producing up to 81 wild ponies, along with a peak torque output figure of 45 pound-feet (61 Nm) at 8,500 spins. The engines oomph is routed to the rear 18-inch D.I.D hoop by means of a drive chain, thus enabling the Interceptor to complete the quarter-mile jog in 12.6 seconds at 108 mph (174 kph).When it comes to suspension, Honda s fiend relies on telescopic TRAC anti-dive forks and a single shock absorber with rebound adjustability. These modules allow 5.5 inches (140 mm) of wheel travel at the front and 4.1 inches (105 mm) at the rear end. On the other hand, optimal stopping power is promptly generated by twin slotted brake rotors up north and a solo unit down south.The VF700Fs gas tank can hold as much as 5.8 gallons (22 liters) of distilled hydrocarbons when filled to the brim. If the fuel chamber is full and all the other vital fluids are added, the retro samurai will tip the scales at 534 pounds (242 kg). Well, thats just about everything you need to know about this machine, so lets cut to the chase.In the photo gallery above, you may see a well-preserved 85 MY Interceptor thats going under the hammer with approximately 10,600 miles (17,000 km) on the clock. The gemstone awaits your bids at no reserve on Bring a Trailer, where it will remain listed until Tuesday, May 10. As it stands, this classic head-turner is going to change hands in exchange for a mere $3,000.
While Google Maps is an all-in-one navigation app that offers everything from step-by-step guidance to offline maps, Waze relies on its community engine to provide super-accurate navigation that helps avoid traffic jams, speed traps, accidents, and so on.So when something isnt working as expected in one of them, many people are tempted to switch to the other.This is whats happening lately with Google Maps, as the app is freezing on Android Auto. And as a result, some people out there are considering a potential migration to Waze, just to be sure they have a navigation companion in the car.First and foremost, its important to know that only Google Maps seems to be suffering from this freezing bug, so its pretty clear the problem doesnt reside in Android Auto.Its something that is almost certainly related to Google Maps, so this is where the Mountain View-based search giant needs to look to come up with a fix.Then, the freezing takes place when users enable the navigation.In other words, once the app loads and a destination is provided, Google Maps for Android Auto freezes. The audio keeps working, though, so only the UI appears to be stuck. Force-closing the app and relaunching it brings Google Maps back to normal, yet resuming the navigation causes the same freeze once again.At first glance, the culprit is none other than the satellite mode bundled with Google Maps.The navigation is freezing only when the Google Maps navigation uses this mode to display the map, as otherwise, everything is running properly.Someone on the Google forums explains that on some very rare occasions, the Google Maps freezing could also occur with other viewing modes.I've done some experimenting and it freezes most commonly (like 90%+) when Satellite view is on, and you enter a destination. As soon as the display does that quick turn around from overview of route to 3D driving view, the screen freezes. The audio continues, and using the OEM head unit home button twice to jump out of AA view and back fixes it for a time, they say.Given the one to blame is the satellite mode, you have two different options.First of all, you can very well switch to Waze, at least until a fix is provided. As said earlier, some of the users struggling with the glitch are indeed considering a move to the other Google-owned navigation app, even though, at some level, such a thing isnt necessarily a very convenient solution if features like offline maps are essential for your daily experience.Second of all, you can just disable the satellite mode. Because this is the mode that causes the freezing, simply disabling it on Android Auto should bring things back to normal.To turn it off, tap the settings icon in Google Maps on Android Auto and then disable the satellite view to return to the default mode in the navigation app. Of course, the navigation overall should feel more or less outdated now if youve been using the satellite imagery for quite some time, but this is pretty much the only way to continue using Google Maps without the said freezing.Unfortunately, Google is yet to acknowledge the glitch at this point, so we dont even know if a fix is at least in the works. New updates go live regularly, so well keep you up-to-date if you notice any improvement on this front.
This week, the Fiji authorities gave permission to the U.S. Justice Departments Task Force KleptoCapture and the FBI to seize Amadea, a 2017 Lurssen megayacht owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, also known as the gold king. Fiji had detained the $325 million vessel on behalf of the U.S. last month, but ownership still had to be verified.Once that was confirmed (Kerimov owned Amadea since 2021), FBI agents boarded the vessel , which is now locked behind guarded gates at a private wharf. Onboard, they discovered documentation that links Kerimov to fraudulent activity in the U.S., including [causing] dollar transactions to be routed through U.S. financial institutions for the support and maintenance of the Amadea.With Amadea now under U.S. control, authorities are looking to bring the vessel into American waters, ABC.net reports. They cant do that for now, because Amadea is stuck in Fiji until an appeal on the hearing is made. Once its overruled, Amadea will be allowed to sail out of Fiji and into the U.S., and the U.S. government will be able to auction it off.In the meantime, though, it has to pay for its running costs, which amount to $25 million to $30 million per year. As with any asset seized for federal forfeiture, the cost to seize, maintain and dispose is commensurate with the value of the underlying asset, a DoJ spokesperson tells the media outlet. When the United States decides to pursue an asset for forfeiture, the costs mentioned above are bore by the Government.Like with Tango , a smaller and cheaper superyacht that was seized by the U.S. in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, depending on how the fraud case against the owner plays out and for how long, the state might end up paying more than the ships worth in total running costs.
That's exactly what a not unsubstantial section of real estate is dedicated to on the museum's second floor. A phenomenal sculpture devised in part by mankind, and in part by dear old mother nature. What it is on a base level is two antique American bikes entombed in a tree whose species originates on the opposite side of the world. The tree in question is called Ailanthus altissima, otherwise known as "chouchn" in Mandarin Chinese or " tree of heaven" in English.As for the bikes, they belonged to a farmer's family in rural Ohio . One is a Dayton model from, at the latest, the late 1930s. The other is a Schwinn , from a Chicago-based manufacturer still in business today, although not in Chi-town anymore.Whatever lives these two bikes lived before being encased in a living sarcophagus is not really known. What is known and plain to see is that old mother Earth seemed to have not cared one bit that there was a few pounds of metal and rubber in the way of this tree.The slow and methodical growth of the tree simply started to overlap the two bicycles as they nourished off the Ohio spring and summer soil with gusto and meticulous resiliency, resembling one of the scenes from "The Blob" monster movie of the late 1980s, where the alien creature consumes human beings whole. Except for this time, taking place over a period of decades instead of a few minutes or so of classic body horror.Well-defined indentations of where the tree rose through the ground and overlapped its growing flesh around the frames of both bikes are clearly visible. One can only assume the shade provided by this very same tree that encased these two bikes could have ironically spared them from the worst effects of decades worth of harsh Ohio seasonal changes.It's all a part of a strange pseudo-parasitic relationship going on between these two metal bicycles and this naturally grown tree. While the sturdy frames of the Dayton helped the outermost main branch stay upright and tall, the tree saves the bikes from succumbing to rust conditions that destroy bikes many times younger. All the while, the word "Dayton" is still clearly visible, engraved onto the very sprockets which mount to the foot pedals. A very common design practice for bikes 90 years ago.The fact these two bikes and the section of tree that binds them all together survived being cut down and transported all the way to Pittsburgh in one piece is somewhat remarkable in its own right. But what strikes us most of all which this exhibit is how tasteful all the decorations. Hanging over the sculture is a handwritten sign detailing a shortened explanation of the key details.Surrounding the sculpture itself is a collection of antique bicycle repair and maintenance items, the likes of which largely haven't been seen since the days these bikes were still contemporaries. Everything from decades-old oil cans to small hand tools to even a pair of never-worn workman's gloves from the Raliegh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England, U.K.Of course, it is entirely possible to take a normal, everyday chainsaw and in half an hour or so, have both of these very rare bikes out of their tomb, and into the workshop inside the museum for a full restoration. But one thing you'll come to find about Craig Morrow, the owner, and curator of the Pittsburgh Bicycle Heaven, is that he's a lover of all things art and music, alongside his love of bikes.He knew full well what a one-of-a-kind and nearly impossible-to-replicate piece of artwork he had on his hands when this piece wound up in his museum as one of its star attractions. It's just another reason Bicycle Heaven is currently the number one rated museum in Pittsburgh, even with the Andy Warhol Museum just a stone's throw away.Check back for more from our trip to Pittsburgh's Bicycle Heaven right here on autoevolution.
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Three Curious Weather Phenomena of Oregon Coast: Manzanita, Cape Blanco, Headland 'Hats'

Published 05/02/22 at 9:05 PM PST

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast)  Weather on the coastline often seems like the region's way of unfriending you: getting all gray and blustery just before you head out for a day at the beach. (Photo above: Cape Blanco, courtesy Manuela Durson - see Manuela Durson Fine Arts for more)

While there's no way to beat that, aside from watching Oregon coast weather closely, there are some rather astounding elements to the region's meteorology that you've likely never heard of. Weather does some curious things out here. Here's three funky facts:



Headlands Wearing Hats

You might see it a lot along the entire Oregon coast, and then again it may be only periodically spotted. It depends.





Headlands along the coast have a habit of what some have nicknamed wearing a hat, which means there's clouds covering a headland. The more common sight is when there's cloud cover just low enough to wrap around places like Tillamook Head near Seaside or Humbug Mountain on the south coast.

The less common sight is where there's clouds covering only the headland and the ocean is clear. It's a bit bizarre, actually. Meteorologists don't have an official name for this, simply nicknaming it cape clouds.

It comes down to a few different weather parts coming to together at the same time, starting with cool air revving up the beach until it hits a headland. Then dewpoint conditions have to be in the right range, and this cool air becomes a cloud, according to Tyler Kranz with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Portland.

If the air is unstable, it won't flow over the headland but instead stall at the top in the form of clouds, becoming a cloud system all its own while the rest of the beaches and ocean around it are clear.

Hence this hat-adorned headland concept. There's a lot more to the science of it, however. See more Unique, Rare Oregon Coast Phenomena: When Headlands 'Wear a Hat' And Why.

Cape Blanco Affects Weather



Courtesy Bureau of Land Management

Cape Blanco may not be the highest of the headlands around, but this south Oregon coast landmark is the farthest west of all but one place in the U.S., and thus it would seem to have a mighty hand in the weather down there.

That's not quite true, but there is a meteorological line here that divides some kinds of weather just north and south of the outcropping. Weather forecasts out of the Medford office of the NWS often show something different for north of Blanco and south of it, especially in the offshore waters. Wind speeds, whether or not there's a small craft warning, and maybe it's a bit warmer or cooler on either side.

According to NWS meteorologists Dan Weygand and Brian Nieuwenhuis, this is pretty complex, but the biggest factor in these differences is a surprise: it's the height of the coastal mountains south of here that have the biggest influence. It's a coincidence that Blanco is at that dividing line. The peaks are higher as you get into Curry County, and these cut off the east winds to some degree.

With less east winds, one kind of pattern or another can get enhanced south of that coast range divide. Blanco is an element in the famed Chetco Effect, which can leave Gold Beach and Brookings in much higher temps than any other coastal town.

Yet the headland itself does play a part by somewhat sheltering Port Orford from high winds at times.

The full range of effects is rather mind-boggling: How Cape Blanco is a Dividing Line in South Oregon Coast Weather

Manzanita a Little Warmer

Perhaps the weirdest little factoid about Oregon coast weather is that Manzanita can be a bit sunnier more often than its neighbors Rockaway Beach and Cannon Beach.

Sunset Vacation Rentals owner Amy VanDyke has been claiming this for awhile:

When I go north to do shopping in spring/summer/fall it's foggy in Seaside, Cannon and north beaches, she said. When I go south to head home: foggy. Until I get right past Oswald West then....... aaaaahhh. sunshine and clear blue skies. Same happens south. Manzanita is tucked in enough that the fog doesn't reach us.

We here at Oregon Coast Beach Connection had our doubts, but then we talked to Kranz at the NWS. It's something you can see for yourself sometimes at the Neahkahnie Overlooks: a diagonal line of clouds stretching from the mountain's tip to Nehalem Bay, but leaving Manzanita cloudless.

The absolute short of it: the coastline bends eastward here, and Neahkahnie blocks what are usually north winds, but it also changes the winds. There's this whole eye-opening action of clouds hitting the north face of the mountain, Cape Falcon and the higher terrain just north of here, then warming and drying up as the winds come down the south side. This literally warms up the air coming into Manzanita, and both dynamics keep the marine layers at bay. Thus, Manzanita is known as a kind of Banana Belt for the north coast. See Manzanita Is Indeed 'Banana Belt' of N. Oregon Coast - Science Behind It.

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Obvious and the Hidden at Cape Kiwanda: Deep Inside the Oregon Coast Landmark

Published 05/08/22 at 2:55 AM PST

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Pacific City, Oregon)  Where the Three Capes Tour begins (or ends, depending on how you think of it), the southern end starts off with one of these famed capes. In fact, if you're heading up Highway 101 on the north Oregon coast, just before that fork leading west or north, Cape Kiwanda's Haystack Rock suddenly looms in the distance. (All photos Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

The rock, Kiwanda's sort of geologic companion, juts up over the trees, almost appearing to float. It seems massive and even a little foreboding from this angle  but it's a brief glimpse. Soon you've ducked into the forest along the road to Pacific City and it doesn't emerge again until you're in town and can see the bulk of Cape Kiwanda itself. It's just one of many subtle surprises in this area.

If you're thinking this name of Haystack Rock is familiar, yes, there's an even more famous one at Cannon Beach. The little startler the Oregon coast has in store for you is that there's a third one down in Bandon.

Once in Pacific City, the natural wonders spring up all over.





There's plenty here that's obvious: the wondrously sweeping cliffs of Cape Kiwanda, tidepools at low tide, and the numerous quaint shops and eateries. Get up on top of the cape and it's like a vast alien landscape  like maybe Star Trek: Strange New Worlds should start filming here. It's beautiful and freaky at the same time.

Something few know: Cape Kiwanda is disappearing. But its rate of erosion would be much worse were it not for Haystack Rock. It deflects some of the wave action. Just What is Cape Kiwanda on Oregon's Coast? And Why It's Falling Apart

Kiwanda's sand dune top towers over everything, with ragged, wind-worn trees scattered over this monstrosity. Fun but odd geologic fact: these massive sands are fed by the big dunes complex to the north at Sand Lake.

These days, the cape is a bit more fenced off than it used to be, a safety measure implemented by state parks because of all the accidents incurred. People couldn't stop jumping the barriers that were already there. However, the new fencing layout allows for awe-inspiring views and photo opps than before, letting you catch glimpses of some of the cape's more dramatic textures and shapes. New Beach Driving Restrictions, Fencing At Oregon Coast's Cape Kiwanda





Head north along the cape and you'll see the complexity of the place: a series of islands that are chunks of the cape that have broken off.





Whale watching atop Kiwanda is also prime.





However, for less populated fun and frolic, hit the unmarked State Park one mile north of the Kiwanda's parking lot (a small road darting down the hill on the west side of the highway.) There, you'll find a small outcropping with basalt columns that look a bit like ruins, and a few indentations in the rock to make for great cuddling or hiding from the wind.

In winter, if sand levels get low enough, you can see the eerie-looking remnants of a ghost forest here, small stumps some 4,000 years old.

Then, for some real alone time, walk south, towards the much less-seen north side of the cape, and encounter more natural wonders along this immaculate stretch of sand. From down below, those islands form a kind of canyon filled with chaotic, mesmerizing sea water.

This part of Cape Kiwanda is a truly singular experience: but it requires almost a mile worth of walking.

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Paula Stout has opened a new insurance office after one year in business.

The ribbon cutting took place April 26 to celebrate the opening at 1401 Green Ave. in Orange.

"All of us at Paula Stout Agency truly value the long term relationship with our clients, and are proud to give families, individuals and businesses the personal attention required when it matters most," Stout said in a news release from the Greater Orange Area CHamber of Commerce. "When claims arise, we realize that it can be very stressful and will do everything possible to assure timely and complete recovery."
A Southeast Texas dump truck driver may have to haul a heavy punishment for allegedly injuring a driver in a crash he left in Port Arthur.

The Jefferson County grand jury has indicted Timothy James Brady, 59, of Orange on the charge of accident involving injury or death. He could face up to two years in jail or a $10,000 fine for the state jail felony offense.

Court documents show Brady was indicted in connection to an incident that occurred on March 4, which allegedly resulted in the injury of Joseph Sollowin III.

A state trooper with the Texas Department of Transportation received a call shortly before 5 p.m. on that day for a two-vehicle crash, the probable cause affidavit said.

A Volvo Dump Truck had driven away from the scene, the affidavit said.

On the way to the crash, the trooper said the license plate number for the dump truck was called into the Port Arthur Police Department by a witness of the crash.

The other vehicle in the crash was a small Mitsubishi Mirage car. The driver received medical services on the side of the road for a laceration to the leg. He denied to be taken to the hospital.

The driver was able to describe to police a red dump truck with a U-shaped back end. He also told police the dump truck had Johnny Dreams written on it.

The skid marks started in the right-hand lane of (Texas 73), police said. Upon investigation, we were able to locate the driver of the dump truck and have him come back to the scene.

The alleged driver, now identified by police as Brady, arrived back on the scene in the dump truck.

Brady stated that he was driving the dump truck and saw the car had spun out in front of him, police said. Brady stated that the Mitsubishi had moved into his lane, the left lane, and lost control. The skid marks seen in the roadway had started in the right lane of travel.

After an inspection of the truck we were able to identify new paint transfer on the tire and front bumper of the dump truck that matched the color of the Mitsubishi, police continued.

The dump truck also matched the description provided by the cars driver to police, the affidavit said.

Based on the evidence gathered of the paint transfer, the positive description of the dump truck by the other driver involved, the matching license plate, and Brady stating that he was driving the truck at the time of the crash, I place Brady under arrest for Accident Involving Injury.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  An inmate died after an apparent assault at a state prison, the Alabama Department of Corrections confirmed this week.

Marcus Terrell Grubbs, 39, died Wednesday from injuries sustained during an apparent inmate-on-inmate assault with a weapon, a prison system spokeswoman wrote in an email. The assault occurred at Kilby Correctional Facility in Montgomery.
BEIRUT (AP)  Thousands of Lebanese living in nearly 50 countries cast their early ballots Sunday in the countrys closely watched parliamentary elections, days after a similar vote was held in 10 predominantly Muslim nations.

About 195,000 Lebanese had registered to vote Sunday in 48 countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, European Union member states and several African nations.

The vote in Lebanon takes place May 15.

Among those voting Sunday are many Lebanese who fled the country over the past two years during a historic economic meltdown. The downturn has been blamed on decades of corruption and mismanagement by the political class that has been running the small nation since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

Parliamentary elections are held once every four years and the last vote in 2018 gave majority seats to the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its allies.

The vote this year for the 128-member legislature is the first since the economic and financial crisis began in October 2019 leading to nationwide protests. It is also the first vote held since the massive Aug. 4, 2020 blast at Beiruts port that killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and caused widespread damage in the capital.

In the United Arab Emirates, dozens braved the Persian Gulf heat to wait in long lines at the Lebanese consulate in Dubai on Sunday.

Although many of the Lebanese had emigrated to the Arab financial hub to escape their countrys mounting crises, the atmosphere was joyous as voters snapped selfies showing off inky fingers and blasted patriotic pop music.

This is not change, said Kamal Shehadi, an executive driven to Dubai by Lebanons government corruption, voting on Sunday for environmentalist and private sector candidates. Its the march of a thousand steps, and this would be step four or five if were lucky to get a few of our people elected.

In other countries, divisions between Lebanese surfaced.

In France, several voters almost came to blows when one shouted at two supporters of President Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, which is politically allied with Hezbollah.

You have brought the country to collapse. You have no honor or national sentiments, the man screamed. The tense standoff mirrored divisions at home, where Lebanese are deeply fragmented along sectarian and ideological lines.

Little change was expected from the vote as mainstream political parties and politicians remained strong going into the vote while opposition figures are fractured. Western-backed mainstream parties are hoping to strip the parliamentary majority from Hezbollah, while many independents are hoping to break through traditional party lists and candidates.

A registered 194,348 voters will cast their ballots at 192 polling stations around the world, many of them at Lebanese diplomatic missions.

During Friday's vote, 59.45% of the registered 30,929 voters cast their ballots, according to Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib.

Lebanons parliament is equally divided between Christians and Muslims. The new legislature will elect a new president after President Michel Aouns term ends in October.

After official results are out following next week's vote in Lebanon, the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati will become a caretaker administration until the president calls for consultations with newly elected legislators to name a new prime minister.

More than 70% of the countrys 6 million inhabitants, including 1 million Syrian refugees, now live in poverty as a result of the economic crisis, which was described by the World Bank as one the world's worst since the 1850s.

The crisis made tens of thousands lose their jobs while the Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value since the meltdown began.
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The war in Ukraine has wracked the countrys southern coast as Russian forces fire cruise missiles at the city of Odesa and bombard a steel mill in the port of Mariupol where Ukrainian civilians and fighters had sought safety
The stepmother of a missing New Hampshire girl accused of lying that the child was living with her to collect welfare benefits has been released from jail on bail
Managing editor for innovation

Larry Parnass joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant, CommonWealth Magazine and with the Reuters news service.
A Tale of Two Mothers

Quick question. What is the name of Moses mom? Most people dont know the answer because when we are first introduced to Moses, we know she was there but we dont know her name. You have to go to Numbers 26:59 to find that her name is Jochebed.

When you read the story of Moses birth in Exodus 2, you learn that he was born during a time when every male Hebrew boy was thrown into the Nile and killed. His mom tried to hide him, but after three months she couldnt hide him anymore. So, she did something interesting. Jochebed put him in a basket and placed him in the reeds along the banks of the Nile river. The place that was marked as a place of death, became the place Moses got life.

As the story goes, Pharaohs daughter finds Moses and takes him as her son. Moses sister was following the scene and asked Pharaohs daughter if she should get someone to nurse the baby and Pharaohs daughter said yes. Guess who she went to get? You got it: Jochebed. She was able to nurse her son and when he got older, he became the son of Pharaohs daughter.

Hannah, Samuels mother, was married but could have no children. This situation tormented her. You can read about it in 1 Samuel 1. In her distress, she cried out to God and he blessed her by giving her a son, whom she named Samuel (which means asked of God or heard by God). Hannah made a promise that if God gave her a son, she would give him to the Lord all the days of his life and that is what she did. Samuel went on to become one of the great prophets in Israel.

Two very different stories, yet two very incredible moms. And both of their stories and choices mattered. I want to share with you three important ways these moms mattered and also why you matter.

Photo credit: Getty Images/monkeybusinessimages
Sunnyside's 34th annual Cinco de Mayo Festival, planned for May 6-8, was cancelled due to a gang-related shooting situation at approximately 4:45 p.m. Friday, according to Cmdr. Scott Bailey.

Event organizer A&A Promotions has made the decision to cancel the Cinco de Mayo Festival, after consultation with the Sunnyside Police Department. "Regrettably, there was no way we could have prevented the actions of those involved," said the organizers. "But we can protect our community. Therefore, we have decided to move forward with the cancellation."

According to a release from the Sunnyside Police Department, a single shooter fired multiple shots at a rival gang member within the crowd inside the carnival section of the Cinco de Mayo festivities.

Immediately following the shooting, several Sunnyside Police officers were seen in pursuit of suspects near the Sunnyside Library, 621 Grant Ave. The officers established a perimeter in the 600 block of Harrison Ave, where Washington State Patrol and Yakima County Sheriff's Office were also assisting.

The Yakima Regional SWAT was requested to assist with the juveniles barricaded in the building. "At this time the Regional SWAT team is conducting a search warrant at this residence on Harrison. They are asking the occupants to exit the house safely, without getting hurt. They're giving the occupants plenty of chances to come out and give themselves up before officers enter the house," said Sergeant Hernandez.

Prior to the arrival of the Yakima Regional SWAT team, four juveniles exited the residence and surrendered without incident. The fifth juvenile exited just before SWAT made entry to the residence and was taken into custody. Two additional subjects were detained near the area of the event.

A search warrant at the residence has resulted in at least one firearm being recovered.

There are now five identified gunshot victims  one adult and four juveniles  with the youngest being seven years old. The adult has been identified as Travis Allen, 35, of Vancouver. He has been flown to Harborview Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the leg.

According to the report, one juvenile victim sustained a gunshot wound to the face and received surgery at Astria Sunnyside Hospital. The status of the other two victims is unknown, but none of the wounds have been described as life threatening.

The Sunnyside Police Department is currently investigating the incident. The juveniles taken into custody have since been released to their parents while the investigation continues.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact the Sunnyside Police Department at 509-836-6200.
BOISE - Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden has sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas expressing the states objections to DHS plans to establish a so-called Disinformation Governance Board.

The letter calls into question the ongoing lack of clarity surrounding the boards focus, as well as the associated First Amendment issues.

Our nations solution to discord is not to terminate debate, but rather facilitate it, Wasden writes. The citizens of the State of Idaho ask you to cease all activity related to the formation of this unclear, intrusive, and likely unconstitutional extension of the Federal Government.

The letter reinforces Americas long history of allowing citizens to speak freely and question decisions of their government without having their speech be considered disfavored by the federal government. Wasden also extolls Idahos history of pushing back on such federal overreach and surveillance of its own citizens.

In addition to Mayorkas, the letter was also sent to members of Idahos congressional delegation as well as leaders in the state legislature.

The full letter is attached to this story.
BOISE, Idaho  For abortion-rights advocates and foes alike, the looming end of Roe v. Wade has brought an emotional wallop in a state where virtually all abortions could soon be a crime.

The leak of an apparent draft majority opinion  though not a final ruling  by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the 1973 Roe decision came as a shock to even some longtime anti-abortion activists.

David Ripley, executive director of Idaho Chooses Life, has been working to halt abortion for three decades. Even he could scarcely believe his eyes when the leaked majority opinion by Justice Samuel Alito was published by Politico this week.

The reality of this actually happening is kind of overwhelming, to tell you the truth. Joy and exhilaration is part of it for sure, Ripley said. Im just praying the court finishes what it started.

For abortion-rights advocates, long under siege in the conservative state that had already enacted multiple abortion restrictions, this weeks news struck hard.

It was a feeling of just utter devastation, said Mistie DelliCarpini-Tolman, Idaho state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, who said she was making dinner with her family Monday when her phone started blowing up with texts.

One hundred percent of people who are pregnant will have to flee the state to access health care, which is as dystopian as you can get, said DelliCarpini-Tolman.

A trigger law signed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little in 2020 would ban abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe, the law will take effect 30 days later. Health-care providers would face felony charges punishable by up to five years in prison for violations.

That could send more than 1,600 Idaho women annually to clinics hundreds of miles away in Walla Walla, Spokane, Eugene and other sites in Washington and Oregon  the nearest states that would still offer legal abortions, said DelliCarpini-Tolman, citing 2020 figures on abortions in Idaho.

DelliCarpini-Tolman said abortion-rights advocates and health-care providers have been planning for the demise of legal abortion in the state and will work with allies in Washington and Oregon to ensure that Idahoans seeking abortions can still affordably obtain them.

She said the ending of legal abortion in the state will fall heavily on people of color. People with means  mostly white women  will almost always get abortions, she said.

Unlike in Washington, where the Supreme Court news prompted outraged rallies and news conferences with top politicians, the scene in Boise was relatively quiet on Tuesday. Only small groups of abortion-rights protesters waved signs and chanted at the state Capitol and the Ada County Courthouse. A larger march and rally here is planned for May 14.

In his office at the Capitol on Tuesday, Idaho House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, called the leak of the Supreme Court opinion shocking. But he welcomed the substance of the seemingly imminent decision.

Idaho has long been a pro-life state, said Bedke, a leading candidate for Idaho lieutenant governor this year. We believe in the sanctity of life, and so I dont know how this changes much. I mean, it may, but its no secret that Idaho collectively has been a very pro-life state.

But DelliCarpini-Tolman said even in the conservative state, most people reject abortion bans. She cited a 2019 poll commissioned by abortion-rights backers that found 65% of voters agreed it is important for women in Idaho to have access to all of the reproductive health options available, including abortion.

DelliCarpini-Tolman predicted that the possible end of legal abortion in the state will generate backlash. She said abortion-rights supporters will redouble efforts to make the stakes clear in political races.

I dont view this as the end. This is a moment in the movement. We cannot back down, she said.

Ripley, the anti-abortion activist, said even as he welcomes the end of Roe, he understands that it may deepen Americas political fissures.

It is going to cause an earthquake in the culture, he said, pointing to two or three generations who have grown up under the understanding that abortion is a constitutionally protected right and was of no greater concern than getting a boil lanced.

Its going to be very shocking and difficult for people to get their mindset around this, Ripley said.
Editors Note: This is the third of three-part series

Sens. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, and C. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, both won reelection two years ago with more than 70% of the vote. But now theyre facing off in the GOP primary for a single Senate seat in the new District 14.

Thayn is the chairman of the Senate Education Committee and is finishing his fifth Senate term after three terms in the House. Grow, the lead sponsor of the since-voided 2021 bill to sharply restrict ballot initiatives and of far-reaching but unsuccessful legislation to prevent Idahoans from legalizing marijuana or other drugs, is completing his third Senate term.

Both are prominent members of the Senate, but thanks to redistricting, voters in the new District 14, which includes both the Eagle area in Ada County and all of Gem County, must choose between the two. They also have a third choice in the GOP primary, Katie Donahue, a medical cannabis advocate from Emmett.

In the general election, the GOP primary winner will face Libertarian Robert Imhoff of Eagle and Constitution Party candidate Kirsten Faith Richardson of Emmett; no Democratic candidate filed for the seat.

Heres a look at backgrounds and the top issues of each of the candidates in the contested GOP primary:

STEVEN THAYN

Thayn, 68, holds a political science degree from Boise State University and also earned his teaching certificate there, which hes currently re-upping. A former public school teacher, hes also a farmer who owned and operated a dairy for 18 years and was first elected to the Legislature in 2006. He substitute-taught this fall at public elementary, middle and alternative schools, and has focused in his legislative career on school choice.

Ive carved out a niche that no one else has, Thayn said. Im the leader in school choice within the public school system.  My opponent is very good on taxes and budgets, but what I say about that is thats what Republicans do. Republicans dont do education. Most of the Republicans you have do education are trying to undermine it, not build it.

Thayn counts as his top accomplishments Idahos fast-growing advanced opportunities program, which pays for high school students to earn college credit. He also touts a self-directed learner bill he pushed through this year. An emerging thing in education is these public school-affiliated micro-schools or learning communities, Thayn said. Theres a real desire amongst a group of parents that they want more hands-on, but they dont want to home-school.

Thayn and his wife, Sherry, have lived in Gem County for more than 60 years; they have eight children and 28 grandchildren.

He lists his top three issues as education, especially focusing on parental choice; aiming poverty programs at helping the poor gain the economic skills they need to become self-sufficient; and respectful dialogue with the intent of empowering people to solve their own problems.

C. SCOTT GROW

Grow, 74, is a former small business owner, business consultant and partner in a CPA firm. He served two terms on the Meridian School Board, now West Ada, and he and his wife raised eight children and have numerous grandchildren. Since 2005, Grow has been a general authority, a high-ranking role, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He holds an accounting degree from Brigham Young University.

First appointed to the state Senate in August of 2018, he subsequently was elected twice to the seat. Grow serves on the joint budget committee and is vice-chair of the Senate Local Government & Taxation Committee.

On his campaign website, Grow promises to use his three decades of small business and accounting experience to help rebuild Idahos economy, lower taxes, reduce traffic congestion and manage growth. Among his accomplishments in office, he touts the largest transportation budget in Idahos history, including the extension of Highway 16 from Highway 20/26 to I-84.

He lists his top three issues as protecting Idaho taxpayers while maintaining the fiscal integrity of the state; continuing to adequately fund education, while assuring that public education teaches patriotism and basic Idaho values; and transportation.

KATIE DONAHUE

Donahue describes herself as a rare disease warrior. She has been an advocate for decriminalization of medical cannabis, as she copes with several serious medical conditions.

Donahue describes herself as a wife and mom living in Emmett, Idaho, who believes every voice holds unique value in making Idaho a beautiful home for all.

She lists her top issues as mental health, education, and government overreach.

CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING

According to records from the Idaho Secretary of States office, here are the most recent figures for campaign fundraising and spending by these candidates since Jan. 1, 2021:

Grow has reported raising $39,312, and spending $32,397. Thayn has reported raising $15,426, including $3,226 in loans to his campaign, and spending $7,224. Donahue, who is serving as her own campaign treasurer, hasnt reported any fundraising.
Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, don't know much about history.

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Obstacles get in the way of e-tax payments

The launch of e-tax was expected to facilitate tax declaration and tax payment, but some firms are still finding it difficult to fulfil their financial duties via the online portal.



A representative from FK Trading Ltd. revealed that his firm filed the tax forms for the financial year 2021 early this year, but later found that it had made mistakes related to the income tax of Q4/2021.

A VECC factory. The firm underlined the delay in tax code assigning as a setback for its delivery. (Photo: nhipcaudautu.vn)



The firm filed an additional tax form under Circular 80 to correct the mistakes but the portal said the tax form took effect in Q1/2022 instead of Q4/2021.



It repeated the procedures with another tax form under Circular 92 but this time it was unable to submit the form to the portal.



The Vietnam Electric Cable Corp. (VECC) complained that the delay in tax code assigning had added time to its delivery.



We send invoice data to tax authorities in the morning but it is not until the evening that we are assigned tax codes. We have had to put delivery on hold to wait for the codes, the firm said.



VECC also noted that some of its partners refused to accept its e-invoices with seven first digits of zero, citing that Circular 87 does not recognise such invoices.



Regarding the VAT cut from 10 percent to 8 percent, a printing firm was confused about the tax rates applicable to its business.



The firm said it had issued invoices with VAT rates of 10 percent for its backdrop products but its customers are at odds with such rates, claiming that the rates must be 8 percent.



Which rate is applicable to our products? the firm asked.



The situation is more complicated for Huong Thanh Binh Trading Construction Ltd. (HTB), which is subject to a non-resident VAT rate of 2 percent and will not receive a tax refund for its overpaid tax until 2023.



"Around 80 percent of our construction materials are levied VAT rates of 10 percent. Meanwhile, we are required to issue invoices with VAT rates of 8 percent. That means we overpay VAT," explained the firm.



The firm requested that it either be eligible for a tax refund or exempt from non-resident tax. Otherwise, double taxation would worsen its financial situation.



In response to the case of FK Trading Ltd., representatives from Ho Chi Minh City's Tax Department affirmed that tax forms under the Circular 92 are suitable for tax declaration for the tax period before January 1, 2022.



"FK has filed the correct tax forms. Regarding the portal's refusal, the firm should contact the tax declaration unit for technical support," they said.



For the case of VECC, the representatives held that the delay in tax code assigning was due to technical errors. Taxpayers are recommended to call relevant units any time they encounter the errors.



"Invoices with the seven first digits of zero are valid, so it is compulsory for the partners to accept the firm's invoices," they added.



Concerning the tax rates on the printing firm, the representatives revealed that most input materials in the printing industry are subject to VAT rates of 10 percent.



Meanwhile, printing products are taxed at 8 percent under Decree 15. That means the firm is required to issue invoices with VAT rates of 8 percent and the ensuing differential amount is deductible.



In regard to the construction firm HTB, the Deputy Director of the tax department Nguyen Tien Dung admitted that non-resident VAT is one of the major taxes in the construction industry.



He revealed that the tax had been adjusted down to 1 percent since early 2022.



"We welcome requests from firms and we will send the requests to higher tax authorities so the latter may change tax policies to keep up with the times," he said.
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NEW YORK (AP)  One of the more striking pieces of journalism from the Ukraine war featured intercepted radio transmissions from Russian soldiers indicating an invasion in disarray, their conversations even interrupted by a hacker literally whistling Dixie.

FILE - This image released on Thursday, April 14, 2022 by Ukraine's Defense Ministry reportedly shows Russian military vehicles heading toward Izyum, on a blown up bridge in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. News organizations are using sophisticated new technologies to transform the way they conduct investigations. Much of it is publicly available, or open-source material from mobile phones, satellite images and security cameras, but it also extends to computer modeling and artificial intelligence. A reporting form that barely existed a decade ago is becoming an important part of journalism's future. (Ukraine Defense Ministry via AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP)  One of the more striking pieces of journalism from the Ukraine war featured intercepted radio transmissions from Russian soldiers indicating an invasion in disarray, their conversations even interrupted by a hacker literally whistling Dixie.

It was the work of an investigations unit at The New York Times that specializes in open-source reporting, using publicly available material like satellite images, mobile phone or security camera recordings, geolocation and other internet tools to tell stories.

The field is in its infancy but rapidly catching on. The Washington Post announced last month it was adding six people to its video forensics team, doubling its size. The University of California at Berkeley last fall became the first college to offer an investigative reporting class that focuses specifically on these techniques.

Two video reports from open-source teams  The Times' Day of Rage reconstruction of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the Post's look at how a 2020 racial protest in Washington's Lafayette Square was cleared out  won duPont-Columbia awards for excellence in digital and broadcast journalism.

The Ukraine radio transmissions, where soldiers complained about a lack of supplies and faulty equipment, were verified and brought to life with video and eyewitness reports from the town where they were operating.

At one point, what appears to be a Ukrainian interloper breaks in.

Go home, he advised in Russian. It's better to be a deserter than fertilizer.

The Times' visual investigations unit, founded in 2017 and now numbering 17 staff members, is absolutely one of the most exciting areas of growth that we have, said Joe Kahn, incoming executive editor.

The work is meticulous. Day of Rage is composed mostly of video shot by protesters themselves, in the heady days before they realized posting them online could get them into trouble, along with material from law enforcement and journalists. It outlines specifically how the attack began, who the ringleaders were and how people were killed.

Video sleuthing also contradicted an initial Pentagon story about an American drone strike that killed civilians in Afghanistan last year. Looking to us for protection, they instead became some of the last victims in America's longest war, the report said.

There's just this overwhelming amount of evidence out there on the open web that if you know how to turn over the rocks and uncover that information, you can connect the dots between all these factoids to arrive at the indisputable truth around an event, said Malachy Browne, senior story producer on the Times' team.

Day of Rage has been viewed nearly 7.3 million times on YouTube. A Post probe into the deaths at a 2021 Travis Scott concert in Houston has been seen more than 2 million times, and its story on George Floyd's last moments logged nearly 6.5 million views.

The Post team is an outgrowth of efforts begun in 2019 to verify the authenticity of potentially newsworthy video. There are many ways to smoke out fakes, including examining shadows to determine if the apparent time of day in the video corresponds to when the activity supposedly captured actually took place.

The Post has seen the kind of impact that this kind of storytelling can have, said Nadine Ajaka, leader of its visual forensics team. It's another tool in our reporting mechanisms. It's really nice because it's transparent. It allows readers to understand what we know and what we don't know, by plainly showing it.

Still new, the open-source storytelling isn't bound by rules that govern story length or form. A video can last a few minutes or, in the case of Day of Rage, 40 minutes. Work can stand alone or be embedded in text stories. They can be investigations or experiences; The Times used security and cellphone video, along with interviews, to tell the story of one Ukraine apartment house as Russians invaded.

Leaders in the field cite the work of the website Storyful, which calls itself a social media intelligence agency, and Bellingcat as pioneers. Bellingcat, an investigative news website, and its leader, Eliot Higgins, are best known for covering the Syrian civil war and investigating alleged Russian involvement in shooting down a Malaysian Airlines flight over Ukraine in 2014.

The Arab Spring in the early 2010s was another key moment. Many of the protests were coordinated in a digital space and journalists who could navigate this had access to a world of information, said Alexa Koenig, executive director of the Human Rights Center at the University of California at Berkeley's law school.

The commercial availability of satellite images was a landmark, too. The Times used satellite images to quickly disprove Russian claims that atrocities committed in Ukraine had been staged.

Other technology, including artificial intelligence, is helping journalists who seek information about how something happened when they couldn't be on the scene. The Times, in 2018, worked with a London company to artificially reconstruct a building in Syria that helped contradict official denials about the use of chemical weapons.

Similarly, The Associated Press constructed a 3D model of a theater in Mariupol bombed by the Russians and, combining it with video and interviews with survivors, produced an investigative report that concluded more people died there than was previously believed.

AP has also worked with Koenig's team on an investigation into terror tactics by Myanmar's military rulership, and used modeling for an examination on the toll of war in a neighborhood in Gaza. It is collaborating with PBS' Frontline to gather evidence of war crimes in Ukraine and is further looking to expand its digital efforts. Experts cite BBC's Africa Eye as another notable effort in the field.

As efforts expand, Koenig said journalists need to make sure their stories drive the tools that are used, instead of the other way around. She hears regularly now from news organizations looking to build their own investigate units and need her advice  or students. Berkeley grad Haley Willis is on the team at The Times.

It feels, Koenig said, like a major shift has happened in the past year.

Browne said the goal of his unit's reporting is to create stories with impact that touch upon broader truths. A probe about a Palestinian medic shot by an Israeli soldier on the Gaza strip was as much about the conflict in general than her death, for example.

We have similar mandates, the Post's Ajaka said, which is to help make sense of some of the most urgent news of the day.
How much of the battery supply chain Australia can wrench from the grip of Asia, the EU, US and UK is unclear, however, some companies are promising to undertake different parts of production in Australia. Loading Those nations are executing well-funded, comprehensive strategies to build their strategic positions, ORourke said. Their strategies seek to buy direct from the mine, or buy the mine, resulting in a lost opportunity for Australia. High price cycles for lithium have given confidence to three projects near Perth, including a partnership between Australian miner IGO and Chinas Tianqi Lithium, promising to refine lithium concentrate into battery-grade lithium hydroxide. About 200 people work at Tianqis plant to refine the product, which is lighter to ship and sells at a higher price to downstream manufactures. We have recently seen strong support from government [for] modern manufacturing and downstream production, IGO chief Peter Bradford said. We will need commitment at a state and federal level to be continued through the cycle.

Australian companies further along the supply chain exploring more advanced processing and even manufacturing cells for large-scale batteries describe an uphill battle to get private and government financing. Manufacturer VSPCs pilot plant in Wacol, Brisbane, where its working to commercialise cathode active materials for battery use. Lithium Australia subsidiary VSPC is currently working at a Queensland site to commercialise cathode active materials  a component of the part of the battery with a positive symbol and among the final manufacturing stages before the lithium goes into a battery. We recently applied for grant funding to support the development of a small scale commercial facility for our process here in Australia, and we were unsuccessful, executive director Andrew Skalski said. The federal governments not been walking the talk at the moment.

Skalski said unless the operation became commercially viable in Australia, the company would look at moving production to the US. The window of opportunity is small, he said. Energy Renaissance founder Brian Craighead. Credit:Steven Siewert Also uncertain is whether a handful of companies can bring large-scale battery cell manufacturing onshore without a local automotive manufacturing sector to supply. McKinsey and Company says, based on past developments in other industries, global competition between battery cell manufacturers will eventually boil down to between 10 and 15 players. Meanwhile, the CSIRO says cell manufacturing in Australia wont be competitive with China, although opportunities exist for local and niche manufacturing. Energy Renaissance will in coming months move into a purpose-built plant at Tomago, in NSW, where it plans to be the first large-scale battery manufacturer in Australia in 2023 and later expand to other states. The easiest, least path of resistance here would be to sell wool and buy back jumpers, and we must not repeat that mistake from the past, the companys founder, Brian Craighead, said.

He has ruled out competing globally to manufacture batteries for EVs but is promising large-scale batteries for the electricity grid and for industries including defence, public transport and agriculture. The company is working on storage for two off-grid dairy farms in Victoria, and views South East Asia as its biggest market. Well quickly become the smallest customer but well be important because were local and they can bank on us, Craighead said. We give [mineral processors] three, four or five years of certainty in orders. And thats enough for them to get their financial case up and running. While the company has received around $2.5 million in government funding for manufacturing, Craighead said raising capital was the biggest hurdle. Were basically entirely funded by people that are believers, he said. We could have been up and running two or three years earlier if wed had more support. Magnis Energy Technologies, an ASX-listed company, has a subsidy with a majority stake in a lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing site in New York state and is considering replicating the plant in Queenslands Townsville.

The company received $3.1 million from the Queensland government for a feasibility study in 2018 but Magnis chair Frank Poullas says plans for the $3-billion site now depend on further private and government investment. Loading We have all the raw materials in the country, it makes sense you can have that circular economy with lithium-ion batteries locally. But were not receiving the support, Poullas said. I believe a battery manufacturing plant could become an enabler for other manufacturing, like the production of vehicles in Australia. Manufacturing, now less than 10 per cent of the Australian economy, has been declining since its peak in the 1960s. Ai Group head of industry development and policy Louise McGrath said a small domestic market and not being on a major trade route limited the sector. Manufacturing has become more complex and niche, and its less volume based, McGrath said. Most products that require scale are not going to be made in Australia.
The corporate watchdog says it has witnessed a sharp drop off in the number of social media savvy traders working to orchestrate pump and dump schemes since its crackdown last year on these groups.

The ASX was plagued in late 2021 by a series of pump and dump schemes, which involved co-ordinated moves by groups of investors to push up the value of a stock before dumping the shares in the hope that they will make a profit.

These schemes proliferated in the day trading boom that took place during COVID-19 and continued even as restrictions began to be loosened.

The schemes, which can be illegal, were being pitched to members of groups on social media sites such as Reddit and encrypted messaging platforms such as Telegram.
Sculpture by the Sea has seeded a new outdoor sculpture trail linking towns impacted by the devastating 2020 bushfires.

The Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail stretches 100 kilometres from Adelong to Tooma via Batlow, funded from the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund.

Harrie Fashers The Last Charge at Adelong. Credit:Fiona Dalessandro

The permanent trail snakes along a bucolic back road off the Hume Highway, where it is hoped that it will encourage cultural tourism and assist the regions recovery.

Sculpture by the Sea founder David Handley said more than a quarter of the 20 or so sculptures were new, the rest had been seen in earlier iterations of its famous Bondi cousin.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size In this wrap of the latest reviews around Sydney, the ACO dazzles with a familiar Mozart work and Son of Byblos continues playwright James Elazzis exploration of the jagged interface between Lebanese and Australian culture. MUSIC

Australian Chamber Orchestra 

City Recital Hall, touring until May 23 As the applause dies down from a whizzbang performance of Mozarts D major Divertimento, artistic director Richard Tognetti turns to the audience with a sheepish grin and says, The last time we played that we were only 12. Its a throwaway comment, but it makes the point that Mozart, in general, and this Divertimento, in particular, is repertoire on which all string players cut their teeth. And, by extension, that it is music this band have grown up with, have lived with, have lived on. Music they can own. Principal violist Stefanie Farrands brings a gruff poetry to the Sinfonia Concertante. Credit:Nic Walker They can give the allegro a dazzling shine, float through the andante with an ease that belies the skill involved, and play the presto ad libitum, switching between pizzicato and spiccato, plucked, bowed, fast and even faster, rattling out notes as payback for youthful diligence. When it comes to the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola (with principal violist Stefanie Farrands), Tognettis sense of ownership is more heavy-handed. While Farrands brings a gruff poetry to this highlight of the viola repertoire, Tognetti indulges in louche portamento and loud, blunt phrasing. Its almost like hes playing the yokel as a foil to Ferrands elegance. The result makes for an engaging, if sometimes distracting, dialogue.

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Benjamin Brittens Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge is a work that could have been written for the ACO. (It was, in fact, written for the Boyd Neel Orchestra in 1937.) It is a perfect showcase for the expressive range and virtuosity of this superband, from the exuberance of the Aria Italiana to the yearning crunch of the Funeral March to the gripping precision of the closing fugue. The concert opens with the Australian premiere of Brittens Elegy for Strings, written when the composer was 15. Its hard to hear much more than imaginings of the voice that Britten would eventually develop, but it is already charged with a precocious grasp of complexity and a magpie mind for exciting sounds. - Harriet Cunningham THEATRE

Sons of Byblos 

Belvoir Downstairs Theatre, until May 21 Silent action can be worth a thousand words. The most complete piece of theatre in this new play comes when Claire, a lesbian intent on marrying a stray man, removes her street clothes and, helped by Carol, her aunt, dons a stunning ivory bridal gown. Both women are moved in different ways and for different reasons, but their emotions converge in a simple infatuation with the beauty of the dress. Not a word is exchanged. Theres a lesson there because playwright James Elazzi is prone to putting lines into his characters mouths that could have been left unsaid, whether to maximise the truth of the dialogue or to intensify the storytelling by making the audience work a little harder. From left: Simon Elrahi, Kate Bookallil, Deborah Galanos, Violette Ayad and Mansoor Noor Simon on the set of Son of Byblos. Credit:David Hooley

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This tendency to overwrite is exacerbated by the actors being much too loud when their characters are angry  which is often  in Belvoirs tiny Downstairs Theatre. Acting, after all, is much like playing a musical instrument, and the performances must be geared to the size and acoustics of the venue. Director Anna Jahjah (for Brave New Word Theatre Company) staged the wedding-dress scene perfectly, but she should have coaxed her actors into finding comparable (or greater) intensity without resorting to such ferocious volume. Its like the difference between making music in a stadium and a bar. Son of Byblos continues Elazzis exploration of the jagged interface between Lebanese and Australian culture that he began with Lady Tabouli and continued with Queen Fatima. As with the former, this story centres on the difficulties of coming out as gay in a conservative Australian-Lebanese household. But, unlike the earlier plays, Elazzi is less concerned with making us laugh than with making us feel. Hes devised a storyline and characters to draw us in, and Jahjah has assembled a cast capable of completing the job. Whats missing is a consistent understanding that greater restraint might actually make the audience feel more. Mansoor Noor as Adam and Deborah Galanos as his mother. Credit:David Hooley Mansoor Noor plays Adam, the soured apple of his fathers eye and the darling of his mothers heart  except they dont know his main hobby is having casual sex in public toilets. Nor do they understand why he wants to design websites rather than install wardrobes or work in an office. Adams father (Simon Elrahi) has a simple philosophy that a man must be able to survive in life; be self-sufficient. He helps his son obtain better jobs than stacking fruit, and cant begin to understand why these efforts arent appreciated. Elrahi is especially convincing as the character riding the steepest learning curve. Loading Adams mother (Deborah Galanos) still dares to dream beyond the drudgery of feeding her men; dares to define a corner of her life that is her own by taking tango lessons. Claire (Kate Bookallil), meanwhile, has always been Adams confidant, until she shot off to Lebanon and came home engaged to a seemingly random man, abruptly ending a loving lesbian relationship. And Angela (Violette Ayad), a dentistry student whose only flightpath from her family home is via marriage, is a rekindled flame in Adams flirtation with bisexuality. Most of the play is presented as a series of duets, with the scenes between Adam and each parent often especially effective. The centrepiece, however, comes when all five characters congregate for the only time to dine, and its the weakest link. The double-meaning-laced dialogue feels contrived, lacking the best of Elazzis wit, and the confrontations overheat too rapidly. Yet, theres an undeniable truth to the scenes culmination when Galanos silently cries.

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BC: I had 30 years of neutrality. It was drummed into me at the ABC and I couldnt have run a program like Insiders with any credibility for 18 years, without that neutrality. But now I can express myself quite freely, and no longer have to adhere to that discipline. Fitz: Well, seeing as you can be totally candid now, was your favourite part of Insiders when David Marr would mercilessly skewer Gerard Henderson? Barrie Cassidy hosted Insiders for almost two decades. Credit:SMH BC: (Laughs heartily) I enjoyed that enormously, and was probably guilty sometimes of inciting it. But the marvellous thing about them would be that they would play it up on camera and a lot of it was very sincerely articulated. But in the green room afterwards, even if they went on with the debate, it was in the right spirit and they would often share a cab back to the airport. And I think politics in Australia could do with a bit of that spirit right now. Fitz: In 2017, you said, the Liberal Party is in a world of pain right now, and its not Pynes fault, and its not Turnbulls either. Its the fault of an ideologically obsessed, uncompromising and destructive conservative right wing ... Tony Abbott is running amok. How would you characterise the Libs right now?

BC: I would say that there is something quite fundamental going on within the Liberal Party, just as I identified in 2017. Their gradual movement to the right has now picked up pace, both through its membership and through its policy embraces. The moderates have been marginalised since Turnbull left, and thats what led to the rise of the independents. They have quite cleverly chosen sophisticated, intelligent women to take on moderates because in their view, the moderates have failed themselves and failed their party by falling silent on issues like climate change and other social issues. You know, when Tina McQueen, federal vice president of the Liberal Party, said at the beginning of the campaign that two of their own moderate members were quite expendable, that with a couple of lefties gone we can get back to our core philosophy, that in itself demonstrates just how far to the lunar right they have gone. Prime Minister Scott Morrison keeps smiling in the face of evidence he is not much liked. Credit:James Brickwood Fitz: Can you tell me something about Scott Morrisons Prime Ministership you do admire? BC: I absolutely admire his tenacity, and if the Libs make any recovery at all through the campaign, it will be because of that. He must be getting feedback that hes not liked  and there is evidence of that everywhere. And yet, in the face of that, every day he comes out with an apparently sunny disposition. The question is whether he will be able to keep up the rhetoric with that same conviction over the next two weeks. Fitz: If Albanese makes it to the Lodge, what sort of a PM do you think he will make?

BC: I dont often say that there should be a focus on personality because we tend to overdo that in election campaigns, but I think there should be one this time. First because Scott Morrisons character is a real issue and, second, because Albanese is largely untested, and I just wonder whether a Labor Government will be different than a Labor Opposition, because what I see in opposition is a party that is so skittish on so many issues. I think thats disappointing. I would hope if he makes it, he and his government will be bolder. Fitz: Are you surprised by Albos gaffes? Is he nowhere near as slick as you thought hed be? How much damage is it doing to him? BC: I was surprised by the first because I would assume virtually every politician would instinctively know that. Had to be a brain fade. But having said that a gaffe doesnt wipe out three years of far more significant issues determining the election result. Fitz: On the matter of the character of Scott Morrison being an election issue, it has been said of that hes a horrible, horrible, person, a complete psycho with a reputation for telling lies, a hypocrite and a liar ... and thats just his fellow Liberals and Nats. Do you think he is all of the above?

BC: I dont know him well enough to make those sorts of judgments. Its interesting that a lot of those people who have made those judgments know him well, and thats a problem for him. I think I tend to judge him more on what I hear him say publicly. And around integrity issues, I was absolutely gobsmacked that he would say as he did the other day, that he doesnt want politicians to have to live with the fear of being investigated by the public service. That is really putting it on the line. And it demonstrates how strongly he has been against a proper integrity commission all along. Why should politicians fear the scrutiny of public servants when theyre distributing taxpayers money? Fitz: What do you say to the accusation against the Independents funded by Climate 200 that theyre a party by another name? BC: I think its ridiculous. They are independents by name and by nature. There is a degree of coordination but they are all separately independent. Theyll make their own judgments when they get to the power. What I do take issue with is a suggestion that Independents holding the balance of power with some somehow create chaos in the power. I dont believe that for a second. I think the two parties deserve this. Now, I think weve reached a time in our history, where neither of the major parties really deserve majority government. And if theyre going to be influenced by a group of sophisticated, professional, well-credentialed women who will hold some influence in the centre, then it might put some spine in their back on [doing the things that need to be done like tackling] climate change. Election night, March 1983: Barrie Cassidy interviews Bob Hawke for the ABC in the tally room. He would soon be working for prime minister Hawke as press secretary. Credit:Fairfax Media Fitz: Among your many roles was being Bob Hawke chief media man. It is said that no man is a hero to his valet, and though you were far more than that, having seen him up close for so many years, when he was strong, when he was vulnerable, when his guard was down, when he was in his socks on a Sunday morning, did you feel like this bloke really is one out of the box?

Loading BC: Yes. And I saw him in a lot less than his socks. What I admired about him was that he wasnt a day-to-day manager of politics. He was into policy and he set out his own agenda and aggressively argued for it. And the things that most wound him up were racism and bigotry. And I think that instilled a fundamental mindset into me. Scott Morrisons problem is that he manages issues on a day-to-day basis and lives politics in the moment. He was asked at one point what he wanted his legacy to be and he said he wasnt into legacies. And that said to me, that he wasnt into big ideas. And what Australia needs right now, is big ideas. Joke of the Week Putin dies and goes to hell, but after a while, he is given a day off for good behaviour. So he goes to Moscow, enters a bar, orders a drink, and asks the bartender: Is Crimea ours? Yes, it is.

And the Donbas? Also ours. And Kyiv? We got that too. Satisfied, Putin finishes his drink, and asks: Thanks, how much do I owe you?

Five Euros. Quotes of the Week You see, I know I can count on Penny and Richard, Katy and Jim and so many others to make the arguments for Labor. But whos he got? Alan Tudge and Peter Dutton. The unspeakable and the unthinkable. And then of course, Barnaby Joyce, the inexplicable. - Anthony Albanese. If any one of these anti-Liberal groupies wins, were not going to form the next government. Thats the truth of the matter and thats the reality. If anybody is elected in a seat we now hold at the expense of a sitting Liberal ... then that will play a major role in destroying the Liberal government. - John Howard. Dont say he didnt warn you! Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year. Now that would really have been a real coup. - President Joe Biden to an audience of 2600, at the annual Washington Correspondents Dinner.

We had a horrible plague  and two years of COVID. - Biden, on a roll. This bloke is all tinsel, no tree. Nothing is real about this bloke. Except his ability to let you down. - Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese on the Prime Minister. I would argue that weve had a minority government for a long time, and that the current Liberal government is a minority government to the Nationals, and has been held to ransom by the National Party. And its policies have been driven to the right by the National Party. - Dr Monique Ryan, Independent for Kooyong, in her debate with the Federal Treasurer and Kooyong incumbent, Josh Frydenberg. You are a member of the British royal family. We are never tired, and we all love hospitals. - According to Tina Browns latest book on the royals, the Queens grandmother, Queen Mary, once said this to a relative. The unintended consequences of an ill-thought-through integrity commission, I think are very dangerous. I understand the interest there is in this, I understand why people want it. But I also know that if you get it wrong it could cause a lot of damage ... I am trying to prevent a massive mistake. - Scott Morrison on the dangers of setting up a federal ICAC. You cant make this stuff up!

I dont wish Mr White suffering. I do wish that Mr White be met with justice for the 33 years, four months and 22 days and counting since he took my brothers life. - Becca Johnson, sister of Dr Scott Johnson, in her victim impact statement to the court, as Dr Johnsons killer, Scott White, was sentenced for his death. You know this flood is in all of our bodies. You need to understand the ongoing magnitude of this epic disaster. Its not over. Every fibre of government these days wants to click back into business as usual as quickly as possible. There is no business as usual. This is still a crisis, and we need to recognise that and everything that we do needs to be informed by that basic fact. - Lawyer Mark Swivel to the inquiry leaders at the first public hearing in Lismore about the 2022 Northern Rivers floods. The inquiry is examining the preparedness of NSW to deal with major flooding events, while considering gaps in the emergency response that left inundated residents in the states north to be rescued by private boats. I had to lose about 16 pounds [7.25 kilograms]. I havent eaten carbs and sugar in about three weeks. - Kim Kardashian about what she went through so she could wear Marilyn Monroes famous Happy birthday, Mr President dress to this years Met Gala in New York. The economy has proven to be resilient and inflation has picked up more quickly, and to a higher level, than was expected. There is also evidence that wages growth is picking up. Given this, and the very low level of interest rates, it is appropriate to start the process of normalising monetary conditions. - RBA Governor Phil Lowe RBA Governor Phil Lowe after lifting the official interest rate to 0.35 per cent, the first rise since November 2010. He confirmed there will be more rate rises ahead. To those buffoons who have repeatedly described this commission as a kangaroo court, I would say three things. First, it is deeply offensive to the hardworking staff of the commission. It undermines the institution. Second, there are vast differences between the functions of the commission and a court. Those differences are readily accessible, and there has been much written about those vast differences. To describe us as a kangaroo court is not just misleading, but untrue. To make uninformed comments that this commission is a kangaroo court has the real capacity to undermine the commissions work, and just as importantly, public confidence in public administration. - Stephen Rushton, SC, one of three Independent Commission Against Corruption commissioners, to an NSW parliamentary inquiry, taking an extraordinary swipe at the agencys critics  including Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Forged in the furnaces of contested regional geopolitics and an Australian election campaign, debates about the security agreement between Solomon Islands and China are red hot.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has delivered a series of biting speeches blasting Australia for what he says is hypocrisy, disrespect and foreign interference. Meanwhile, Washington and Beijing are trading diplomatic barbs over the agreement, accusing each other  either by implication or directly  of imperilling regional security.

China deal ... Solomon islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. Credit:AP

On the hustings, Australias major political parties have used news of the security agreement to bludgeon each other. Labor has accused the government of monumental foreign policy failure, which it has said is unrivalled in the Pacific since World War II. The Coalition says the development is a striking demonstration of our dangerous times, which it claims the ALP is constitutionally unfit to navigate.

Despite rhetorical sound and fury, both Labor and the Coalition are on shaky ground in their over-egged efforts to make political mileage off Beijings security agreement with Honiara.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has dismissed warnings from Scott Morrison that minority government results in chaos, insisting that crossbench MPs can enhance democracy.

In distancing himself from the prime ministers comments that a federal minority government would be unruly because it would need crossbench support on a deal by deal basis, Perrottet said that was not his experience in the NSW Parliament.

Perrottet also stressed he was determined to clean up NSWs culture of pork-barrelling, with an expectation all taxpayer-funded grants should be administered fairly.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has downplayed concerns that minority government causes chaos. Credit:Edwina Pickles

The NSW Coalition is in minority in the lower house, needing 47 MPs to govern outright, but has only 45 and relies on the support of the crossbench. It also does not control the upper house.
As well as his smart tuxedo and shiny shoes, her husband is wearing his $26,000 wedding band, cufflinks worth $8000 and a gentlemans steel Breitling chronograph Navitimer wristwatch which retails for about $11,000. Melissa Caddick and Anthony Koletti sporting his and hers diamond sapphire jewellery. Caddicks is worth $250,000, Kolettis has been valued at $8360. Had their date night been a few weeks earlier, Caddick alone would have been sporting more than a million dollars from the proceeds of her crimes, the podcast Liar Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions reveals. In late May 2018, lot 658 at Bonhams rare jewellery auction in Hong Kong featured a flawless single-stone diamond ring diamond weighing 6.03 carats. Described in the brochure as a true rarity in what is already a rarefied world, this stunning diamond ring fetched a whopping $620,000.

The ring Melissa Caddick bought with her parents money was pictured in a catalogue when she later sold it. The vendor was none other than Melissa Caddick, who had fraudulently used her parents money to complete the $590,000 purchase of the diamond the previous year. With the costs associated with the sale taken out, Caddicks victims forked out $124,000 for the privilege of the fraudster sporting the bauble on her finger for a year. When the corporate regulator ASIC and the federal police raided Caddicks Dover Heights house in November 2020, they took 48 separate pieces of jewellery worth more than $2 million. There was also a $100,000 necklace that Caddick had bought, but hadnt yet collected, from jeweller Stefano Canturi.

However, there remains the mystery over the whereabouts of several Argyle diamonds worth millions of dollars that Caddick claimed to own. A certified diamond wholesaler told the podcast that, when she offered Caddick a rare Argyle diamond worth about $1 million, Caddick replied saying she had already spent her jewellery investment budget for the year. She then texted the dealer a photo of three Argyle diamonds which she said she had bought in 2017 and 2018. Rare Argyle diamonds worth millions of dollars that Melissa Caddick claimed to own. One of them caught my eye because it was a blue diamond, the diamond dealer said. Theyre very rare. Theyre also very, very expensive ... multiple millions of dollars.

Caddick said she planned to hold on to the diamonds for a couple of years and then sell them. When it was revealed that Caddick had vanished within hours of the raid on her house, the diamond dealer reported Caddicks Argyle diamonds to the police because of their extraordinary value and the ease of getting them out of the country. The dealer told police that airport scanners cannot detect diamonds because they dont X-ray. Anthony Koletti and Melissa Caddick on the ski slopes. Credit:Facebook Bruce Gleeson, the court-appointed receiver tasked with selling Caddicks assets, has not located any Argyle diamonds.

Gleeson suggested that, just as Caddick left a non-existent Aspen apartment in her will, its not inconsistent with her behaviour for her to be lying about owning millions of dollars worth of rare diamonds. Investigators from ASIC have estimated Caddicks spending on luxury goods in the 18 months from December 2017 included: $229,277 at Dior, $187,650 at Canturi Jewellers, $52,548 at Cosmopolitan Shoes, $48,588 at Chanel, $45,600 at Farfetch, $17,777 at Louis Vuitton, $39,575 at Net-A-Porter, tens of thousands at other stores including a luxury department store on New Yorks Fifth Avenue, and personal expenses estimated at $291,744. Caddick is also estimated to have spent about $500,000 a year on overseas travel over the course of her fraud. Among spending uncovered in the podcast are details of $108,586 spent at Flight Centre, $63,002 on trips to Fiji, $35,151 on Aspen plus $34,223 on renting an apartment in Aspen, $37,283 in New York, $55,609 with Qantas.

Loading One expense of $43,273 was spent on a whim after arriving in Aspen as Caddick decided the snow wasnt good enough, so the family decamped to the Canadian resort of Whistler instead. Experts have told the podcast that Caddick might have had a shopping addiction or what is known as compulsive buying disorder. Perfectionism, dishonesty, insecurity, and the need to gain control have been linked to the disorder.
The Coalitions challenger for Labors most marginal Queensland seat has been referred to the Australian Federal Police after the electoral commission raised concerns about possible electoral fraud.

The Australian Electoral Commission confirmed on Sunday morning it had referred Vivian Lobo, the LNPs candidate for the Labor-held seat of Lilley, to the AFP following its own investigation.

The Australian Electoral Commission has referred LNP candidate for Lilley Vivian Lobo to federal police. Credit:Facebook

On his nomination form, Lobo allegedly gave the AEC a residential address in Lilley in which he had not been living.

On Friday, the lawn appeared freshly mown and sheets were hanging in the windows, but no furniture or household goods were visible inside.
But elections are about the future. Albanese used the national stage to talk up Labors agenda, focusing on areas such as childcare and renewable energy. Columnist VERDICT: Albanese win The Labor leader used the word plan an awful lot and he clearly had one for this debate  to turn each question into an opportunity to talk on his own terms.

Albanese connected his policies to ordinary peoples lives. Morrison failed to do so, and his question time-style heckling didnt work for TV, even though it clearly rattled his opponent. A particularly excruciating moment came when Morrison was asked about his well-publicised failure to connect with female voters. He froze for a moment before trying to rattle off a statistic about victims of domestic violence, and getting it wrong. It felt as if he was just trying to form random sentences with women as the noun. Albanese struggled to keep pace with Morrisons quick and ready interjections to his answers. But he was able to articulate a narrative for a Labor government and flung forward to the future, which was ultimately more convincing than Morrisons efforts to talk up his record.

Senior journalist VERDICT: Albanese win It is doubtful any of us are wiser about the relationship between transmission costs and electricity prices after a lengthy and testy exchange between the two leaders on this wonky issue, but we certainly saw sparks fly. This has to be a good thing for Albanese, who needs to convince undecided voters that he has the personal wattage required to be prime minister. A notable aspect of this debate is how comfortable the Opposition Leader appeared on what the government hoped would be its electoral strong suits: the economy and cost of living. Morrison got his licks in: his description of Labor being ready to hit the ground reviewing captures the sense that Albanese is promising little to get in The Lodge and, perhaps more worryingly, intends to honour that pledge. But, given the ground he is trying to make up, it didnt feel that the PM did enough.

Federal health reporter VERDICT: Albanese win Albanese exploited the governments weaknesses on integrity, climate and cost of living while giving the fewest concrete promises possible. Morrison attacked the Opposition Leader for announcing more reviews than policies, accusing his opponent of hiding in the bushes.

Albanese appealed to voters to trust him on health, while unveiling few major policies and promising that a better future is within our reach. He pledged to deliver stronger Medicare, including cheaper medicines, matching the governments own promise to lower Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme costs, and pushed Morrison to admit he was wrong to say the COVID-19 vaccine program was not a race. Albanese said Labor would fix the aged care crisis and make a supporting submission to the Fair Work Commission wage case, while conceding aged care providers would be given flexibility around nurse ratios. Morrison did not mention aged care. If Labor wins, voters will have to wait and see what wider reforms Albanese will pursue.

Foreign affairs and national security correspondent VERDICT: Albanese win Morrison was fighting the last war, while Albanese was not adequately across the detail. Albanese gave the more polished performance and had a stronger narrative on cost of living, wages, childcare, power prices and treatment of women. The detail didnt match the narrative, though. Morrison spoke excessively about the past three years, rather than his plan for the next term. While he was more across the facts, his delivery was at times sloppy.

Nowhere was the lack of substance in this campaign more evident than in the debate over national security. Theres no difference between either party, yet they both sought to make cheap political points: Morrison attacked Albanese over a speech Labor deputy leader Richard Marles gave in China, while Albanese lashed Morrison over the sale of the Port of Darwin and the Solomon Islands-China security deal. Albaneses attack landed, but he didnt explain what Labor would do differently. Economics correspondent VERDICT: Draw

Anthony Albanese found his voice in a debate dominated by shouting as both he and Scott Morrison sought to dominate the airtime. Albanese happily interjected and pointed out inconsistencies in Morrisons arguments on unity, climate targets and more as the debate ranged from the cost of living to plans for the future and trustworthiness. Morrison sought to point out Labor flip-flops on housing, and we found out that Albanese thinks negative gearing is good, actually, after abandoning the policy last year. If there was a prize for shoutiest politician, Albanese won. But what of actual policy? Morrison pointed to the Coalitions record: lower power prices over the course of the Coalitions near decade in charge, and $250 payments to pensioners.
We will give every peso so that our lives will be better, said the 57-year-old former human rights lawyer, who narrowly defeated Marcos in the separate vice-presidential race in 2016. Dont be afraid because we are many. Thank-you for joining me to fight for our country. As vice-president Robredo fell out with Duterte after criticising his war on drugs. Now vying for the top job she finds herself against a powerful Marcos-Duterte alliance, with the presidents daughter Sara the prospective VP on the favourites ticket. English teacher Hannah Macatao, biologist Glenn Gamus and Daryl Field, an architect, at the Robredo rally on Saturday. Credit:Chris Barrett Robredo lost her husband Jesse, a former cabinet minister, in a plane crash in 2012, and she was introduced on Saturday night by her three daughters after the youngest, 22-year-old Jillian, sang to the huge crowd.

Red tagged as a communist sympathiser during the campaign and the victim of other disinformation tactics, Robredo has tried to combat Marcos potent social media machinery with an army of volunteers making house-to-house visits. She has also pledged more transparency in government in the Philippines, where corruption has been so entrenched for decades its become a way of life. Shes the cleanest of all the candidates. She has proven time and time again that she is a woman of integrity, said Timothy Blandura, a 24-year-old IT worker at the Robredo rally with his brother Tam, 17, and parents Teodulo, 64, and Esperanza, 53. Teodulo, a trainer of electrical linemen, said he has told his sons about the era of rule under Ferdinand Marcos snr, which was marked by rights abuses and the alleged fleecing of as much as $US10 billion ($14 billion) before the family fled into exile in Hawaii when he was deposed in 1986. The Blandura family - Tam, 17, Timothy, 24, Esperanza, 53, and Teodulo, 64 show their support for Robredo. Credit:Chris Barrett [Marcos jnr] is also liable. He is one who took advantage of the ill-gotten wealth. He is a beneficiary, Teodulo Blandura said.

The blood of Marcos is in him. He is the son. We have a saying in the Philippines: whatever the tree, so is the fruit. Appearing on stage with his wife Liza and three sons, Marcos also drew an enormous audience for his last campaign outing in Manilas bayside Paranaque City on Saturday. His team reported the crowd was a million strong, a figure that could also not be confirmed. The setting for the feverish gathering on a dirt block of reclaimed land was a far cry from that of Robredos rally on the streets of the capitals financial district. Ferdinand Marcos jnr dances on stage during his last campaign rally in bayside Manila on Saturday night. Credit:AP But it was representative of a contest that has emerged in some ways as a clash of class, with Robredo a champion of the educated and middle class and Marcos harnessing broad support across those on lower incomes and the poor.

Analysts say his appeal is based on the presentation of his late father as a great statesman to a public unhappy with years of rule by the Liberal Party, who they identify with elites and oligarchs. Political commentator Edmund Tayao said Dutertes triumph in 2016 demonstrated voters were tired of an elite brand of politics and polling suggested Robredos team would pay the price for looking down their noses at those in the Marcos camp. When they campaign they present themselves as if they are the only ones who are competent, the moral choice, and all the other choices are bad, Tayao said. Instead of convincing other voters who are not necessarily with them from the very start, it turns off the voters really. Robredo is running as an independent, not for the Liberal Party, as she did six years ago. But she still chairs the party, so there is no escaping the affiliation. University students Jancee Moradillo and Mark Janson at the final-day Marcos event in the capital. Credit:Chris Barrett

Mark Janson, an 18-year-old first-year student at Cavite State University south of Manila, admitted he had been left disillusioned by the Robredo teams approach. I also attended some Leni rallies, he said at the Marcos event. The problem is when I attended and she had campaign rallies like this, all she did was to speak bad about Bongbong. But shes never actually talked about what her plan is. Loading Josie Cosa, a retiree from Las Pinas outside Manila, is behind Marcos because of his heart. Ive felt his love for our country, she said. To have a peaceful country you have to be unified  especially the rich people, the oligarchs. But English teacher Hannah Macatao, a Robredo devotee, believes many on the Marcos side are actually allergic to facts now.
In a clear reference to Putin, Zelensky added: The one who is repeating the horrific crimes of Hitlers regime today, following Nazi philosophy, copying everything they did - he is doomed. Even as Putin spoke, Russian forces pushed forward in their assault on Ukraine, seeking to capture the crucial southern port city of Mariupol as Moscow celebrates its Victory Day holiday. Russian servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Monday, May 9, 2022, marking the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II. Credit:AP But Ukraine staged its own propaganda coup, hosting a concert on Sunday night by U2s frontman Bono and guitarist The Edge in Kyivs subway, even as US First Lady Jill Biden paid a surprise visit to her Ukrainian counterpart, Olena Zelenska. Determined to show success, Russian troops were pummelling the Azovstal steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making what appeared to be their last stand to save Mariupol from falling.

The mill is the only part of the city not overtaken by the invaders. Its defeat would deprive Ukraine of a vital port and allow Russia to establish a land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014. Russian military vehicles roll across the red Square ahead of Vladimir Putins speech. Credit:AP The Ukraine General Staff warned on Monday morning Kyiv time of a high probability of missile strikes and said that in Russian-controlled areas of Zaporizhzhia, Russian troops were seizing personal documents from the local population without good reason. Ukraines military alleged Russian troops were seizing documents to force residents to join in Victory Day commemorations. A Russian-controlled area of Zaporizhzhia, near the nuclear plant. Credit:AP Zelensky warned the anniversary, which marks Russias triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945, could bring a renewed onslaught.

They have nothing to celebrate, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the United Nations, said of the Russians, speaking on CNN. They have not succeeded in defeating the Ukrainians. They have not succeeded in dividing the world or dividing NATO. And they have only succeeded in isolating themselves internationally and becoming a pariah state around the globe. Battles were being waged on multiple fronts, but Russia was closest to victory in Mariupol. Ukrainian fighters in the steel mill rejected Russian-set deadlines for laying down their arms as attacks continued by warplanes, artillery and tanks. Lieutenant Illya Samoilenko, a member of the Azov Regiment, said a couple hundred wounded soldiers were in the plant. He declined to say how many able-bodied fighters remained. Fighters lack lifesaving equipment and are having to dig by hand to free people from bunkers that collapsed under shelling. Surrender for us is unacceptable because we cannot grant such a gift to the enemy, Samoilenko said.

The last of the civilians who had taken shelter with fighters at the plant were evacuated on Saturday. Bono and The Edge performed for 40 minutes ina Kyiv metro where people sheltered during the first weeks of the war and praised Ukrainians fighting for their freedom from Russia. Your president leads the world in the cause of freedom right now ... The people of Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, youre fighting for all of us who love freedom, Bono told a crowd of up to 100 gathered inside the Khreshchatyk metro station. Bono rallied the crowd between songs during his performance, riffing on his 1984 song Pride (In the Name of Love).

This evening, 8th of May, shots will ring out in the Ukraine sky, but youll be free at last. They can take your lives, but they can never take your pride, he said. Irish singer-songwriter Bono with Taras Topolia, a Ukrainian band leader and now a serviceman in the Ukrainian Army, and guitarist The Edge perform at a metro station in Kyiv. Credit:AFP Bono and The Edge, on acoustic guitar, performed U2s With Or Without You and Angel of Harlem on the platform of the metro station. They were joined by Ukrainian band Antytila and its frontman Taras Topolia, in his army uniform, for the Ben King standard Stand by Me. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US first lady Jill Biden also made surprise visits to Ukraine on Sunday (Kyiv time).

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walking with Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn (right) in Irpin, Ukraine, on Sunday. Credit:AP Trudeau toured the northern town of Irpin, which had been heavily damaged by Russias attempt to take the capital of Kyiv at the start of the war. Biden held a Mothers Day meeting in western Ukraine with first lady Olena Zelenska. She travelled under a cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old war against Russia. I wanted to come on Mothers Day, Biden told Zelenska. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine. US first lady Jill Biden (left) greets Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, outside School 6, a public school that has taken in displaced students in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, on Sunday. Credit:AP

Oil pledge Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged on Sunday to phase out or ban the import of Russian oil as they met Zelensky for online talks. The meeting was a show of unity for Ukraine on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys World War II surrender in 1945. Cutting out Russian oil supplies will hit hard at the main artery of [Russian President Vladimir] Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the G7 countries  the US, Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan  said in a statement. A destroyed house in Malaya Rohan, a village retaken by Ukrainian forces on the outskirts of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine. Credit:AP
He has already shifted most of the focus of its war to eastern Ukraine, pulling back its forces from near Kyiv to annexe the Donbas region and liberate the industrial port city of Mariupol. The West has put Russias death toll since February 24 at as many as 20,000  which is 5000 more than its armed forces suffered in Afghanistan over 10 years. It is regarded as an unprecedented level of attrition in modern warfare. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, walks through a scene depicting a Berlin street after capitulation in 1945 during a visit to a St Petersburg exhibition in 2020. Credit:AP But, despite the steep cost in lives for both the Ukrainian and Russian sides, the Kremlin has doubled down on invoking twisted historical parallels to World War II to justify its invasion. The Ukrainian government, Putin says with scant supporting evidence, is openly neo-Nazi and pro-Nazi or controlled by little Nazis.

It has cut through at home. A sinister slogan 1941-1945: We can do it again has been increasingly seen around the country, often plastered on the bumper stickers of the overzealous, since Russias initial invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. I think he will try to move from his special operation, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told LBC Radio last week. Hes been rolling the pitch, laying the ground for being able to say, Look, this is now a war against Nazis, and what I need is more people. I need more Russian cannon fodder. A Russian tank of the First Ukrainian Army rolls along a street in Gleiwitz, German Silesia, following the capture of the city by Soviet Forces, on February 5, 1945. Credit:AP Ukrainian intelligence has claimed there are even plans to hold a Victory Day parade among the smouldering ruins of Mariupol, severely battered in the Russian onslaught. In a statement, which has been rejected by the Kremlin, Kyiv said: For this purpose, the city is urgently cleaning the central streets from rubble, bodies of dead and unexploded Russian ammunition.

A large-scale propaganda campaign continues, during which Russians will be shown stories about the joy of local residents from meeting with the invaders. Some have speculated that Russian authorities might even parade captured Ukrainians  with Putin copying Stalin, who in July 1944 enraged Hitler by parading around 57,000 German prisoners of war through the Russian capital. A Russian self-propelled artillery vehicle Msta-S rolls during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade. Credit:AP British military historian Sir Antony Beevor said Russia under Putin remains a prisoner of its past. In an interview promoting his forthcoming book, Russia  Revolution and Civil War, 1917-1921, the best-selling author said like Stalin and Hitler, Putin wanted to be feared.

I would argue that no country is as much a prisoner of its past as Russia, as Putins distorted vision of history reveals, he said last month. His obsession with the Great Patriotic War against Hitlers Germany has indeed contributed to extraordinary blunders in its invasion of Ukraine and to a strange repetition of mistakes from the past. Beevor said Putin is determined that his legacy should be the rebuilding of the Russian Empire as it was during Soviet times. Troops march during a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade. Credit:AP Convinced that the liberal West is decadent and weak, he believed shock-and-awe would achieve his ends. It was exactly what Hitler thought in 1941 before invading the Soviet Union, when he said: Kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will collapse. That is the mistaken mindset of the dictator more than that of the professional general. In both cases, atrocities aroused a far fiercer resistance, not surrender.

Long-time Kremlin watchers say the Nazi slurs recent emergence shows how Putin is trying to use stereotypes, distorted reality and his countrys lingering World War II trauma to justify his invasion of Ukraine. Loading Putin began referring to Ukraine as fascist in 2014  long before his February invasion  in an attempt to frames Russias neighbour as a continuation of the Nazi era. Scholars of genocide and Nazism from around the world said in an open letter after Russian tanks rolled across the border in February that the rhetoric was factually wrong, morally repugnant and deeply offensive. While Ukraine had far-right groups, they said, none of this justifies the Russian aggression and the gross mischaracterisation of Ukraine.

But the war in Ukraine has weakened the Russian military so dramatically that fewer soldiers and armoured vehicles will take part in the countrys Victory Parade in Moscow. There will be fewer tanks and self-propelled artillery vehicles, with an estimated 10,000 personnel, compared with 12,000 last year. And unlike most years, no foreign leaders have been invited to the parade. Just 131 vehicles are expected to take part in the procession, which is considerably fewer than the Kremlin rolled out last year. A planned flyover of the parade with jets in a Z formation  Russias symbol for victory  will be done with outmoded MiG-29 fighters, not the countrys state-of-the-art Sukhoi fighter jets. Before the celebrations, Nikolai Patrushev, considered by many to be Putins most influential adviser as head of his security council, gave a major interview to the government news outlet Rossiyskaya Gazeta. He offered little commentary about the current military operation  apart from predicting the disintegration of Ukraine into several states  but provided a portrait of the Kremlins view of the world beyond May 9. Western governments, he argued, would continue to aim for the humiliation and destruction of Russia. He predicted a revival of Nazi ideas in Europe, mainly because of the arrival of so many Ukrainian refugees. The radicals, he said, have already found a common language with European fans of Hitler.

Loading While Putin has again threatened to deploy nuclear weapons, the USs most senior intelligence figure said this week there was no practical evidence that Russia was planning to deploy nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine. CIA director Bill Burns, who took up the role last year, said that Putin was stewing in a very combustible combination of grievance and aggression, but had not yet moved to deploy the most severe weapons in Russias arsenal. Burns warned that the second phase of the war  concentrated in Ukraines east  was at least as risky and perhaps even riskier than the first phrase. He told a Financial Times conference that Putin was in a frame of mind in which he doesnt believe he can afford to lose; so the stakes are quite high.
ANZs institutional business has won Best Bank for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Sustainable Finance in the annual Australian Corporate Treasury Association (ACTA) awards, based on the recent large corporate relationship banking study conducted by Peter Lee Associates.

ANZs expertise in ESG and sustainability demonstrates our leadership in supporting customers as they embrace opportunities in the transition to net-zero, said Tammy Medard, ANZ managing director for Institutional Australia. This result reflects the dedication and talent of our team, and the trust our customers put in us to help them solve problems and realise their ESG ambitions.

Peter Lees acknowledgement cements our position as a leading environmental sustainability bank in the region, supporting customers as they embrace opportunities in the transition to net zero emissions, said Katharine Tapley, ANZ head of sustainable finance. We saw record growth in the last financial year, completing 81 deals with a transactional volume of about $119 billion in multiple currencies across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, and the US.

ANZ boasts a dedicated sustainable finance team with technical sustainability expertise and extensive experience across multiple banking products and industry sectors operating globally across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and London.

ANZ also recently partnered with ESG investment and advisory firm, Pollination, deepening the expertise and solutions on offer for customers transitioning to net-zero.
AFTER STEVE: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul

Author: Tripp Mickle

Publisher: William Morrow

Price: $29.99

Pages: 495

Between 2001 and 2010, Apple launched the iPod, the iPhone, the MacBook Air and the iPad; each redefined its product category. Of these, the iPhone was the most important. Its obvious superiority forced every other company selling expensive phones to copy Apples design or collapse (Nokia, BlackBerry and Palm were gutted within years.)

Steve Jobs, Apples co-founder and animating spirit, died in 2011, leaving the firm in the hands of Jony Ive, the British-born designer-savant, and Tim Cook, a child of Alabama whod become a master of supply chains and production costs. After Steve, by the Wall Street Journal reporter Tripp Mickle, covers Ive and Cooks careers, and how they and the company changed after they took over.

The book traces the evolution and end of the partnership, involving a compendious review of public sources and over 200 interviews with current and former Apple employees and advisers; the cast of characters runs to four pages. Some of this technique is in response to Apples culture of omerta  apparently, neither Ive nor Cook agreed to speak to the author for attribution.

Both men helped save a sinking Apple in the 1990s  Ive first, overseeing the design of a new line of computers with candy-coloured transparent cases. When the iMac launched in 1998, Jobs unveiled Ives creation by pulling a sheet off it, as if it were a sculpture, saying, It looks like its from another planet, a good planet with better designers. Those eye-catching iMacs improved the companys public perception, staff morale and bottom line all at once. Apple was saved. Now it just had to grow.

That same year, Jobs tapped Cook to rework Apples inefficient production line. Cook, whod previously run the supply chain for Compaq, was famously demanding and detail-oriented. When his staff presented a plan to increase inventory turnover from 25 times a year to 100 to save money on spoiling parts, Cook calmly asked, How would you get to a thousand? Joe OSullivan, who was running operations when Cook arrived, said, I saw grown men cry.  He went into a level of detail that was phenomenal.

Perfectionism isnt enough to create a great product, however. After Jobss death, home automation, health care devices, self-driving cars, televisions and various headphones were all explored, and some launched. But for most of Ives remaining tenure, the centrepiece of Apples device work  and therefore of Mickles book  would be the Apple Watch.

Apples wealth underwrote Ives perfectionism. Leather for the wristband was sourced from tanneries across Europe; countless hours were poured into the design and manufacture of the customised winding crown. Determined from the beginning to make ultra-expensive versions, Ive requested  and got  a new 18-karat alloy that was twice as durable as ordinary gold.

As Ive acquires more control than he had over the iPhone, the watch shifts from a useful screen on your wrist into a fashion object. Meetings with the Vogue editor Anna Wintour, a product event in Paris and the creation of a $17,000 model run alongside gradually reduced expectations for its health tracking and battery life. By the time it finally launches and sales fall short of projections, the reader has seen it coming, one decision at a time.

In contrast, Cook faced a welter of events. He was called before Congress over taxes. He had to apologise for poor performance in the earliest iteration of Apple Maps. In 2014, Cook made history in Bloomberg Businessweek, writing, While I have never denied my sexuality, I havent publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: Im proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me. He was the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to come out. And of course, in 2018, he became the first leader of a public company worth a trillion dollars. Then two trillion. Then three.

Mickle builds a dense, granular mosaic of the firms trials and triumphs, showing us how Apple, built on Ives successes in the 2000s, became Cooks company in the 2010s. Ive, long since knighted, becomes increasingly captivated by opportunities outside Apple and goes part time in 2015. Finally, in 2019, Ive leaves for good.

In the epilogue, Mickle drops his reporters detachment to apportion responsibility for the firms failure to launch another transformative product. By the end, the sense that the two missed a chance to create a worthy successor to the iPhone is palpable.

Its also hooey, and the best evidence for that is the previous 400 pages. Its true that after Jobs died, Apple didnt produce another device as important as the iPhone, but Apple didnt produce another device that important before he died either. Its also true that Cook did not play the role of CEO as Jobs had, but no one thought he could, including Jobs, who on his deathbed advised Cook never to ask what Steve would do: Just do whats right.

What happened after Steve was that Cooks greatest opportunities were in Apples future, Ives in its past. When the Next Big Thing turned out to be services  iCloud, Apple Music, the App Store  built on top of the Last Big Thing, Cook adapted brilliantly. He took Jobss advice and did what was right, but in ways that put less of a premium on the kind of work Ive was best at. The moral of that story is there is no moral.
Union home ministry has granted security clearance to that is planning to relaunch commercial operations in the next few months, according to an official document.

The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium is currently the promoters of . The airline in its old avatar was owned by Naresh Goyal and had operated its last on April 17, 2019.

Last Thursday, the airline conducted its test to and from the Hyderabad airport in a step towards obtaining the air operator certificate.

A letter sent by the civil aviation ministry to the airline on May 6 informed it about the grant of the security clearance by the Union home ministry.

The letter, which has been accessed by PTI, said, it is "directed to refer to your application to convey security clearance for change in shareholding pattern of the company/firm, for scheduled operator permit, on the basis of security clearance received from the Ministry of Home Affairs".

Last Thursday's test flight was conducted to prove to aviation regulator DGCA that the aircraft and its components are operating normally.

After the test flight on Thursday, the airline has to conduct proving flights after which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will grant the air operator certificate.

Proving flights are similar to commercial flight with DGCA officials and airline officials as passengers and cabin crew members on board.
Gear and gear products manufacturer Shanthi Gears Ltd has reported a 29.72 per cent rise in its profit for the quarter ending March 31, 2022 at Rs 12.22 crore, the company said on Sunday.

The Tamil Nadu-based company and a group firm of diversified conglomerate Murugappa Group had registered net profits at Rs 9.42 crore during corresponding period last year.

For the year ending March 31, 2022, total net grew by 110.5 per cent, to Rs 42.47 crore, from Rs 20.17 crore registered year ago. Total income for the quarter under review grew to Rs 105.92 crore from Rs 74.74 crore registered corresponding quarter previous year.

For the year ending March 31, 2022, total income of the company went up to Rs 346.12 crore, from Rs 223.81 crore registered last fiscal.

The company, a subsidiary of Tube Investments of India Ltd, in a statement said it continues to focus on - revenue growth, profitability, Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) and free cash flow.

During the year, the company recorded revenues of Rs 337.1 crore while for the quarter ending March 31, 2022 it was at Rs 103.6 crore. The Return on Invested Capital improved to 36 per cent in this financial year from 15 per cent in the previous year.

The company said it generated free cash flow of Rs 34.1 crore during the financial year. Shanthi Gears in FY22 received orders worth Rs 386 crore the statement 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.)
LUSAKA (Reuters) - Resources has offered to step up investment in Zambia's Konkola Mines (KCM) and implement several social responsibility programmes if it resumes control of the local firm, a company letter sent to the government showed.

Zambia's previous government put KCM into the hands of liquidator Milingo Lungu in May 2019, triggering an ongoing legal dispute with Resources, KCM's parent company.

The government accused of failing to honour licence conditions, including promised investment. Vedanta has repeatedly denied KCM broke the terms of its licence.

In a leaked letter addressed to Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe, the authenticity of which was confirmed by a local company executive, Vedanta chief executive Sunil Duggal said the company is committed to investing an additional $1 billion towards capital mine development and other infrastructure to boost KCM's output.

"The above commitments by Vedanta will be included in a Framework Agreement to be entered into between KCM, Vedanta, ZCCM-IH and (the government)," the letter dated May 5 reads.

ZCCM-IH is the government's mining investment company.

Duggal said the protracted dispute between Vedanta and the government was not benefiting any of KCM's stakeholders and it was necessary to quickly reach a mutually beneficial solution.

Kabuswe and Presidential spokesman Anthony Bwalya could not immediately be contacted for comment.

Vedanta was committed to paying KCM suppliers, specifically small suppliers owed up to $220 million at the point the Provisional Liquidator was appointed, Duggal said in the letter.

The company also committed to increase salaries by 20% across the board.

"The agreement will be auditable on a bi-annual basis by an independent firm to verify all parties' compliance with their commitments under the Framework Agreement," the letter, which is copied to President Hakainde Hichilema, reads.

Vedanta Zambia Corporate Communications Director Masuzyo Ndhlovu said the letter was sent in reaction to comments by the mines minister regarding the conditions under which KCM could be returned to Vedanta.

"Our group CEO gave an outline of the conditions for Vedanta's return to KCM Plc. The content is authentic and was addressed to the minister," Ndhlovu told Reuters.

(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

(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 Union Textile Ministry has convened a meeting on Monday in New Delhi to discuss the price capping of raw jute, where officials of the West Bengal Labour Department, the Indian Mills Association as well as the Commissioner would be present, industry sources said.

The development comes after BJP MP Arjun Singh criticised the policy of the Centre, and accused the commissioner of crippling the industry by retaining the raw jute price cap at Rs 6,500 per quintal.

"The Union textile secretary has called the meeting at 3 pm at Udyog Bhavan (New Delhi). West Bengal labour secretary, IJMA chairman and the Jute Commissioner will be present during the consultation.

This is the first meeting by the ministry with all major stakeholders since the price capping was imposed from September 30 last year," one of the sources told PTI.

Bengal government officials said State Labour Secretary Barun Kumar Ray and IJMA Chairman Raghav Gupta have confirmed their presence at the meeting.

There is a strong possibility of an amicable resolution," a former IJMA official said.

Around 2.5 lakh workers are reportedly employed in jute mills in the districts of Howrah, Hooghly and North 24 parganas.

Singh, the BJP MP from Barrackpore, had threatened to carry out protests at various mills of his constituency to highlight how the Centre's policies are hurting farmers and workers.

He had also supported West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's demand to remove the price cap on raw jute in the open market, as the current market-driven prices favour farmers.

The Jute Commissioner, however, had said that the price cap was finalised after looking into all aspects, including the farmers' interest.

The regulator also said the price was Rs 2,000 more than the minimum support price.

(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 Eastern Army Commander, Lieutenant General R.P. Kalita visited and took stock of prevailing situation along the border.

The Army Commander visited forward areas in where he was briefed by senior Commanders on ground about the prevailing situation along the border.

During his interaction with the troops, the Army Commander complimented the soldiers for their professionalism, dedication and commitment for maintaining round the clock vigil in inhospitable terrain and adverse climatic conditions.

shares over 220 km borders with and around 98 km with Nepal.

Earlier, Lieutenant General Kalita arrived at Sukna, Siliguri on May 5 on a three day visit to the Trishakti Corps.

He was briefed by Lieutenant General Tarun Kumar Aich, General Officer Commanding, Trishakti Corps on the prevailing situation and operational preparedness of the formations.

--IANS

sc/shs

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Asserting that the state offers a congenial environment for businesses to flourish, Haryana's Deputy Chief Minister on Sunday said that the state attracted investments worth Rs 28,000 crore in the past 12 months.

Chautala, who also holds Industries and Commerce, Excise and Taxation and Civil Aviation portfolios, said a heli-hub will be set up in Gurugram and it will be the first-of-its-kind in the country and will be built near Dwarka Expressway on about 25 acres.

"We have sent a proposal to the Centre in this regard, he said.

This will improve the helicopter connectivity, it will prove useful for business, leisure and pilgrimage purposes, Chautala told a news conference here.

"Big companies are pumping in their investments in . During past one year, the state has attracted nearly Rs 28,000 crore investment," he said, referring to investments flowing in the state.

He said auto major Maruti Suzuki is setting up a new plant over 900 acres of land at Kharkhoda in Sonipat district.

ATL company's battery manufacturing unit is coming up in Gurugram district. In the next year, the plant will be operational, he said.

The government had allotted 140 acres of land to e-commerce major Flipkart for setting up its largest fulfilment centre in Asia, in Patli Hajipur in Gurugram, he said.

Grasim is setting up a paint manufacturing unit in Panipat over 80 acres of land, he said. Besides, more investments were in pipeline including in cement manufacturing, he said, while adding "big units which are coming will generate thousands of jobs".

He said the government had recently approved an aerospace and defence production policy which will "give a big thrust to the aviation sector in the state".

Meanwhile, to honour the martyrs, the government is naming government schools in villages after them, he said.

New roads of PWD will also be named after martyrs. By August 15, in all 22 districts, the jawans who have laid down their lives in the line of duty, government schools will be dedicated in their name, said Chautala.

Replying to question on his party JJP's alliance with coalition partner BJP, Chautala said the alliance was going strong.

"We have successfully run government for two and a half years and will successfully complete our full term and then successfully contest the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls, he said.

About the crop procurement process, he said so far 100 per cent lifting of wheat that has come to the mandis has been completed and about Rs 7,330 crore was paid directly to farmers.

This time the arrival of wheat decreased by 50 per cent as compared to the last year, he said.

Mustard this year was sown additionally over 1.5 lakh hectares, but only eight farmers came to mandis for selling the crop as the crop was majorly purchased by private players.

Wheat procurement will continue till May 15 in big mandis while in small mandis it will remain open till May 10, he informed.

On GST collections, Chautala said Haryana may be smaller state than UP, but its GST collections are almost at par with a difference of about Rs 800 crore only, it may overtake them in tax collections in near future.

Haryana registered an increase of 16 per cent in FY 2021-22 over the previous fiscal. Last year, GST collections were over Rs 30,000 crore in the state compared to Rs 35,390 crore (FY 2021-22).

Haryana SGST collection last year was Rs 11,959 crore which has increased to Rs 15,115 crore, he said.

Haryana is among the states to have requested extension of the compensation mechanism under the GST beyond June 2022.

Overall GST collection target in the current fiscal has been set at Rs 40,000 crore, he said.

A special team to prevent GST tax evasion, increased monitoring through various measures has also led to increase in collections, he said.

Talking about the new excise policy 2022-23, he said in the last two years, the government took several steps, which succeeded in preventing leakages and increased excise revenue.

Using new technology, CCTVs have been installed in all the distilleries, bottling houses, warehouses, he said.

Last year around Rs 6,400 crore revenue was collected, which this time reached Rs 7,938 crore (FY 2021-22), he said, while adding this year the government has set a target to take the excise revenue to Rs 9200 crore.

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The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, has established a research group to develop technologies for manufacturing products at extra-terrestrial locations and address the existing gaps in this sector in India, according to officials.

According to the team, India is a leader in developing and applying technologies for manufacturing launch vehicles and satellites.

However, the near future will require technologies that will enable manufacturing products and assemblies in space and at extra-terrestrial locations for use both in space and to bring it back for use on earth, they said.

The researchers aims to address these challenges by developing a broad range of manufacturing technologies, including 3D printing of metals and functional optical polymers, water-less concrete using martial soils, diamond single crystals, solar cells, and metal foams, they said.

The research group to develop technologies for Extra-Terrestrial Manufacturing (ExTem) will be working on the first ever Microgravity Drop Tower Research Facility established in India, which has been created at the Centre for Combustion Research and Development at IIT, Madras, and is one of six drop towers around the world.

"The human endeavour to explore space like never before, including creating settlements in faraway locations, will require extensive time for humans to spend on-board a spacecraft just to reach there.

"Such long term human space missions are feasible only with reduced earth-reliance and this mandates capability to manufacture and fabricate needed products in space, in orbit, at extraterrestrial locations and recycle materials effectively," Sathyan Subbiah, Principal Investigator of the ExTeM Research Group at IIT Madras, told PTI.

The ExTeM research group has been setup as part of the Institute of Eminence (IoE) initiative.

"The centre is currently conducting several drop tower experiments to test manufacturing processes such as 3D printing of various engineering materials (metals, polymers), metal foaming, and diamond coating among others, to enable manufacturing in outer space.

"In addition, the lure of micro-gravity and the advantages it offers to control, and tailor material structures cannot be ignored," he added.

The manufacturing technologies needed for space will differ substantially from the earth-based ones owing to the constraints posed by limited space, limited power, micro-gravity influence, and limitations to track process inputs and outputs and to effectively recycle by-products.

"The race to space, with a vision to inhabit and exploit the extra-terrestrial (outside earth) spaces is the key focus among the scientific community in this century. The hurdles likely to be faced are high cost of transporting resources from Earth and limited availability of resources at ET.

"To overcome these challenges, we need the extraterrestrial manufacturing (ExTeM) capability, to maximize the energy and material resources utilization available," he said.

It is envisaged that such processes will be used to manufacture products in the future to be made commercially by private firms using specially designed manufacturing factories floating in orbit around the earth or at any extra-terrestrial locations, the researchers claimed.

Amit Kumar, co-principal investigator of the research group said, "Scientific research and development need to be conducted under microgravity conditions for addressing the above challenges encompassing safety (example, fire safety), understanding natural fluid and material behaviours, including under energy-driven processing conditions.

"Of the various methods used for obtaining microgravity conditions, drop towers offer a ground-based microgravity platform."



"Cost-effectiveness, short turnaround time and high quality microgravity make drop tower ideal for sustained microgravity experiments at least at the first level and therefore easily accessible to the academic and space organizations equally," he added.

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The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala on Sunday came down heavily on the Centre over the increase in the LPG cylinder rate, saying the BJP-led NDA government will end up shutting down the household kitchens across the country.

Slamming the central government's decision, the Left party urged the people to protest against the price hike.

"By increasing the price of LPG cylinders regularly, the union government will end up shutting down kitchens across the country... The price hike amounts to challenging the people of the country who are trying to bounce back from the crisis induced by COVID-19 pandemic. The state secretariat of the CPI(M) urges people from all sections of the society to strongly protest against the price hike," the party said in a statement.

The CPI(M) accused the union government of cutting down on subsidies provided for common people and said it has 'written off' corporate tax worth over a lakh crores.

"The union government which claims that there was no fund to subsidise the cooking gas, has written of Rs 1.45 lakh crore corporate tax last year alone. Their attitude is to help the corporates even at the cost of shutting down household kitchens," it said.

Recalling that one of the major election promises of the BJP in 2014 was to rein in the fuel prices, the ruling party alleged that it has failed to do so.

The CPI(M) state secretariat noted that the price of the cooking gas was Rs 405 when the BJP came to power at the Centre and now it has gone beyond Rs 1,000.

"The subsidy for consumers has also been stopped for some time now. Recently, the price of commercial LPG cylinders was also increased. The petrol and diesel rates are also being hiked regularly. Similar is the situation with the price of Kerosene, which was Rs 18 in 2020 and has now increased to Rs 84," it added.

Cooking gas LPG prices were on Saturday hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder, the second increase in rates in just over six weeks following the firming of international energy rates.

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US-based Sikhs For Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was booked under anti-terror law UAPA and other penal offences on Sunday after Khalistani banners were found put up and graffiti scrawled on walls near the main gate of the assembly complex in Dharamshala, police said.

Amid some pro-Khalistan activities in parts of Himachal and other neighbouring states and the announcement of June 6 as Khalistan referendum day, the state police chief also ordered the sealing of the border and beefing up state-wide security at sensitive and crowded places.

The state border has been sealed to regulate movements of suspicious elements across it and keeping a strict vigil there, police said.

Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu said Pannun has been booked as the main accused under section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and sections 153 A and 153 B of the India Penal Code, besides section 3 of the HP Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1985.

While section 13 of the UAPA pertains to the offence of inciting or abetting terror acts, sections 153 A and 153 B of the IPC deal with the offences of promoting communal or sectarian divides and animosity.

Kundu said the FIR against Pannun and others was lodged on the complaint of Ram Chand alias Ajay Kumar of Kaned village under Dharamshala tehsil of the Kangra district.

In a statement here on Sunday evening, the DGP said, "Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the general counsel to Sikhs for Justice has been made the main accused in the case.

DGP also set up a seven-member Special Investigation Team to expeditiously investigate the case involving the putting up of Khalistani banners and scrawling of pro-Khalistan slogans and graffiti over the outer walls near the main gate of the Himachal legislative assembly complex Tapovan in Dharamshala.

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President will visit to inaugurate the permanent campus of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Nagpur, on Sunday, said a press release by President's Secretariat.

The President will inaugurate the campus at 10:00 am on Sunday.

"The President of India, Shri will visit tomorrow (May 8, 2022) to inaugurate the permanent campus of Nagpur at Dahegaon Mauza, MIHA, Nagpur," said the statement.

While Nagpur tweeted, "Inauguration of Nagpur New Campus at MIHAN at the hands of Hon. President of India Shri on Sunday, 8th May 2022, 10:00 AM. Hon'ble Chairman, Board of Governors, IIM Nagpur Shri CP Gurnani will also be gracing the occasion.

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Punjab and Haryana directed late Saturday night that Punjab Police cannot take any coercive action against the Delhi leader till the next hearing on May 10.

In a respite against the arrest warrant issued by a Mohali court on Saturday evening, the order came as a relief for Bagga who may not be taken in the custody by the Punjab Police till May 10.

Justice Anoop Chitkara passed the order while hearing a petition challenging the arrest warrant for Bagga issued by the Mohali court.

Advocate General Anmol Rattan Singh said that Punjab has taken a strong objection to the matter being taken up at midnight, saying that it was not so urgent.

He further submitted that the main petition was filed on April 6 this year, and none stopped the petitioner from filing an application under section 438 CrPC for a grant of anticipatory bail, which is a statutory provision.

Singh also contended that by filing an application for a stay of the arrest warrant and requesting the matter to be heard at such an off time, the petitioner is tainting the judicial system and it should not be permitted.

Punjab Police sought a non-bailable warrant against Bagga from a local court. There is no stay regarding the arrest of the accused in the present FIR nor any anticipatory bail application moved by the accused, said the Punjab Police officials.

Notably, Bagga reached his residence in Delhi on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday after he was "rescued" by the Delhi Police. He had later claimed that the Punjab Police had barged into his home in large numbers and arrested him "as they do it with a terrorist".

Earlier in April, Bagga had claimed that the Punjab Police officials reached his home while he was in Lucknow. He had alleged that the Delhi police weren't informed by the Punjab Police.

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Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Sunday demanded a probe into the in Jodhpur and Karauli in .

Alleging that the administration and the police were working under pressure, he warned that if justice was not ensured in the matter, they would take to the streets.

"A probe will show that there must have been some connections between the two incidents," he told reporters.

Referring to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's allegations against the BJP over these clashes, the Union minister said a probe would make it clear who were behind these incidents.

"What happened in Jodhpur on Monday night and Tuesday were very unfortunate and some people deprived the rest of the festive spirit. Now the question is who were these persons who robbed the city of peace and harmony?" Shekhawat said.

Tension broke out in Chief Minister Gehlot's constituency Jodhpur on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, over the installation of Islamic flags on the Jalori gate circle, a roundabout alongside the statue of freedom fighter Balmukund Bissa, as members of the other community alleged that a saffron flag, which they had put up there ahead of Parshuram Jayanti, had gone missing.

The issue snowballed into stone-pelting and clashes.

In relief to the citizens, internet services were resumed in Jodhpur at 4 pm on Sunday.

The administration has also decided to give further relaxation in curfew from 7 am to 7 pm on Monday.

More than 250 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence in Jodhpur.

The violence in Rajasthan's Karauli had taken place on April 2 when some people allegedly threw stones at a bike rally on the occasion of Hindu New Year. Several vehicles and shops were set on fire. More than 35 people were injured in the violence.

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Vice President M. on Sunday emphasised that a progressive, modern India must have a police force which meets the democratic aspirations of the people and called for a renewed thrust to implementing reforms in the police forces.

Addressing a gathering after releasing the book titled 'The Struggle for in India' written by former IPS officer Prakash Singh, the Vice President stressed the need to upgrade the skills of policemen to effectively tackle the 21st century crimes such as cybercrimes and economic offences which require special investigative expertise due to their sophisticated and often transboundary nature.

The Vice President highlighted issues that need to be addressed on a war footing, including filling up of the huge number of vacancies in the police departments and strengthening the police infrastructure in tune with the requirements of modern age policing.

Stressing that the behaviour of policemen towards the common man should be courteous and friendly, the Vice President said, "A visit to a police station should be a hassle-free experience for a person who goes there seeking help. The first thing to reform for this is the attitude of the police - they must be open-minded, sensitive and receptive to each individual citizen's concerns."

Noting that is a highly important and sensitive subject, the Vice President said that although there have been various attempts at introducing reforms over the years, progress has not been made to the desired extent.

He called for a political will in the states to properly implement the reforms, according to the Supreme Court guidelines. Naidu said that over the years following Independence, the police force was perceived to be increasingly politicised with significant erosion in values and practices.

"Instead of being seen as a people-friendly force, it was seen as being elitist and power-friendly," he observed.

Referring to the instances of misuse of police force during the infamous Emergency, Naidu said that it was used with impunity to suppress human rights and imprison thousands of people, including all the political opponents of the ruling dispensation.

He also appreciated the Prime Minister's call for making the police a SMART force --standing for a force which is Strict and Sensitive, Modern and Mobile, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive, Tech-savvy and Trained.

Calling for reforms in all walks of public life, including politics, legislatures and judiciary, Naidu stressed the need for speedy disposal of criminal cases against politicians and civil servants to retain people's trust in the system.

--IANS

ssb/dpb

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As many as 60 people were feared to have been killed in the Russian bombing of a village school in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, the regional governor said on Sunday.

Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces dropped a bomb on Saturday afternoon on the school in Bilohorivka where about 90 people were sheltering, causing a fire that engulfed the building. "The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the rubble was cleared, and, unfortunately, the bodies of two people were found," Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

"Thirty people were evacuated from the rubble, seven of whom were injured. Sixty people were likely to have died under the rubble of buildings."

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians in the war, which Moscow denies. In the ruined southeastern port city of Mariupol, scores of civilians have been evacuated from a sprawling steel plant in a week-long operation brokered by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an address late on Saturday that more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the Azovstal steelworks and authorities would now focus on trying to evacuate the wounded and medics. Other Ukrainian sources have cited different figures.

The Azovstal plant is a last hold-out for Ukrainian forces in a city now largely controlled by Russia, and many civilians had also taken refuges in its underground shelters. It has become a symbol of resistance to the Russian effort to capture swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine. Russian-backed separatists said on Sunday a total of 182 civilians evacuated from the plant had arrived at a temporary accommodation point in Bezimenne, in the area they control.

Those who wished to go to areas controlled by Ukraine were handed over to U.N. and ICRC representatives, they said. In the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia, about 230 km (140 miles) northwest of Mariupol, dozens of people who had fled the port city and nearby occupied areas on their own or with the help of volunteers waited to be registered in a car park set up to welcome evacuees.

"There's lots of people still in Mariupol, who want to leave but can't," said history teacher Viktoria Andreyeva, 46, who said she had only just reached Zaporizhzhia after leaving her bombed home in Mariupol with her family in mid-April.

"The air feels different here, free," she said in a tent where volunteers offered food, basic supplies and toys to the new arrivals, many of whom were traveling with small children.

Victory day

In an emotional address on Sunday for Victory Day, when Europe commemorates the formal surrender of Germany to the Allies in World War Two, Zelenskiy said that evil had returned to Ukraine with the Russian invasion, but his country would prevail.

Russian President calls the invasion he launched on Feb. 24 a "special military operation" to disarm Ukraine and rid it of anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West. Ukraine and its allies say Russia launched an unprovoked war.

Mariupol is key to Moscow's efforts to link the Crimean Peninsula, seized by Russia in 2014, and parts of the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk that have been controlled by Russia-backed separatists since that same year.

Putin sent Victory Day messages to separatist leaders in Luhansk and Donetsk, saying Russia was fighting shoulder to shoulder with them and likening their joint efforts to the war against Nazi Germany. "Victory will be ours," Putin said, according to a Kremlin press release on Sunday. U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders were to hold a video call with Zelenskiy on Sunday in a show of unity ahead of Russia's Victory Day celebrations on Monday.

Underlining Western support for Ukraine, Britain pledged to provide a further 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support and aid, double its previous spending commitments.

Putin will preside on Monday over a parade in Moscow's Red Square of troops, tanks, rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles, making a speech that could offer clues on the future of the war. Russia's efforts have been stymied by logistical and equipment problems and high casualties in the face of fierce resistance.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said on Saturday that Putin was convinced "doubling down" on the conflict would improve the outcome for Russia.

"He's in a frame of mind in which he doesn't believe he can afford to lose," Burns told a Financial Times event in Washington on Saturday.

Fighting continues

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Sunday its forces had destroyed a Ukrainian navy ship near Odesa with a missile strike overnight, and had destroyed four Ukrainian warplanes, four helicopters and an assault boat in the past 24 hours.

Ukraine said its forces had repulsed nine Russian attacks in Donetsk and Luhansk, destroying 19 tanks and 20 combat vehicles. The Luhansk governor said Ukrainian forces had retreated from the city of Popasna, which has been the focus of intense fighting. "Everything was destroyed there. Our troops retreated to more fortified positions," he told Ukrainian television.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia's republic of Chechnya, said earlier his soldiers had taken control of most of Popasna. Reuters could not independently verify the claims made by any of the parties to the fighting.

(Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv and Reuters bureaus. Writing by Michael Perry and Estelle Shirbon Editing by William Mallard and Frances Kerry)

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A San Francisco judge tossed out former President Donald Trump's lawsuit challenging his permanent ban from .

US District Judge James Donato said Friday that Trump failed to show violated his First Amendment right to free speech. Free speech rights don't apply to private companies and Trump failed to show was working as a state actor on behalf of Democrats, the judge wrote.

The amended complaint merely offers a grab-bag of allegations to the effect that some Democratic members of Congress wanted Mr Trump, and the views he espoused,' to be banned from Twitter because such content and views' were contrary to those legislators' preferred points of view,' Donato wrote.

But the comments of a handful of elected officials are a far cry from a rule of decision for which the State is responsible.' Legislators are perfectly free to express opinions without being deemed the official voice of the State.'



Trump sued Twitter, Facebook and Google's YouTube in July 2021, claiming they illegally censored him.

The platforms suspended Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, in which his followers violently stormed the Capitol building in an attempt to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden's presidential win. The companies cited concerns he would incite further violence.

The ruling comes as Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man, is in the process of purchasing Twitter for $44 billion. The deal has raised questions about whether, Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, would reinstate the former president.

Trump, who has continued to repeat lies about his 2020 election defeat in speeches, has started his own social network, Truth Social. He said last week that he wouldn't rejoin Twitter if given the chance.

The suit had sought to reinstate Trump's account, which had roughly 89 million followers, and those of five others who claimed they were also censored by Twitter. The group had sought unspecified damages and class action status on behalf of others removed from the platform.

Legal experts had predicted the lawsuit would fail but suggested Trump would milk it for political purposes. Trump's political action committee immediately began raising money after the lawsuit was announced last year.

The lawsuit had also sought a declaration that Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act was unconstitutional.

The act says providers such as Twitter can moderate services by removing obscene posts that violate their standards and cannot be held responsible for content posted by others.

Trump had only shown a vague and speculative allegation that he believed he would not have been banned if Twitter wasn't granted immunity by Section 230, Donato said.

Donato gave Trump another opportunity to amend his complaint. Trump's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Canadian Prime Minister has made a surprise visit to Ukraine amid Russia's war on the country.

Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne and Irpin Mayor Olexander Markushyn announced Trudeau's visit to Irpin, which had been damaged by Russia's attempt to take Kyiv at the start of the war. Markushyn posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeau is the latest Western leader to come to Ukraine to offer their support to the country.

His office later confirmed the visit, saying in a statement the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canada's unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:



Dozens of Ukrainians feared dead after Russian strike on schoolJill Biden makes surprise Mother's Day visit to Ukraine, meets first lady thereEurope's farmers stir up biogas to offset Russian energyWith Ukraine's ports blocked, trains in Europe haul grainFollow all AP stories on Russia's war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine___OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:UZHHOROD, Ukraine U.S. first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting with the nation's first lady, Olena Zelenska, as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.

Her visit follows recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, as well as a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

The first lady traveled by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod from a Slovakian village that borders Ukraine.

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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school sheltering about 90 people in its basement, while Ukrainian troops refused to surrender at a besieged steel plant that Moscow's invading forces sped to seize before Russia's Victory Day holiday.

The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturday's bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said.

Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

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KYIV, Ukraine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the German parliament speaker during her visit to Kyiv on Sunday, discussing further defense assistance as well as sanctions against Russia, Zelenskyy's press office said in a statement Sunday afternoon.

According to the statement, Zelenskyy told Brbel Bas, the President of the Bundestag, that Ukraine expects strong and confident leadership from Germany when it comes to helping Kyiv beat Russian aggression.

He noted the recent adoption by the Bundestag of a resolution calling on the German government to expand and accelerate the provision of heavy weapons to Ukraine. He also expressed confidence in Berlin's official support for granting Ukraine E.U. candidate status.

We really appreciate that on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation itself, and in what for us is such a trying time of war, the President of the German Bundestag Brbel Bas came to support Ukraine, said a post published Sunday afternoon on Zelenskyy's Telegram channel.

The Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for those who died in World War II, marked on May 8 and 9, is an annual day of remembrance designated by a 2004 U.N. resolution.

In an interview with the German newspaper Rheinische Post, Bas called her meeting with Zelenskyy very good and friendly, adding that she had come to Ukraine because she felt it was important to me to personally express Germany's solidarity with Ukraine to him.

She added that Germany will do everything in its power to support Ukraine, including backing its efforts to join the European Union and providing aid to help with rebuilding.

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MARIUPOL, Ukraine To demonstrate success in time for Russia's key Victory Day holiday on Monday, the Russian military worked Sunday to complete its takeover of the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which has been under relentless assault since the start of the war.

The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making a last stand is the only part of the city not under Russian control.

All the remaining women, children and older civilians who were sheltering with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. The Ukrainian troops rejected deadlines given by the Russians who said the defenders could leave with their lives if they laid down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, a Ukrainian National Guard battalion holding the steel mill, told an online news conference Sunday that the site was targeted overnight by three fighter jet sorties, artillery and tanks.

We are under constant shelling, he said, adding that Russian infantry tried to storm the plant -- a claim Russian officials denied in recent days - and to lay landmines. Palamar said there was a multitude of casualties at the plant.

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant.

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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine Sparks fly as a circular saw slices into metal, while welders nearby work feverishly to the sound of blaring heavy metal. Upstairs, sewing machines clatter as women mark patterns on cloth being shaped into bulletproof vests.

An old industrial complex in the southeastern Ukrainian riverside city of Zaporizhzhia has become a hive of activity for volunteers producing everything from body armor and anti-tank obstacles to camouflage nets, portable heating stoves and rifle slings for Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russia's invasion. One section specializes in vehicles, armor-plating some, converting into ambulances. Another organizes food and medical deliveries.

With front lines all across Ukraine, some sections of the operation, such as the stitching of bulletproof vests, are working around the clock in shifts to meet demand. Crowdfunding has brought in enough money to buy steel from Sweden, Finland and Belgium, which is lighter than local steel, organizers say, a crucial quality for body armor.

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KYIV, Ukraine After rescuers evacuated the last civilians from the besieged steel mill in Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that work would continue Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to organizations to try to secure safe passage for the fighters remaining in the plant's underground tunnels and bunkers.

The Ukrainian leader was expected to hold online talks Sunday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from other Group of Seven countries. The meeting is partly meant to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germany's 1945 surrender.

___



KYIV, Ukraine Explosions echoed again Sunday across the major Black Sea port of Odesa, which Russia struck with six cruise missiles on Saturday, while rocket fire damaged some 250 apartments, according to the city council.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, the May 9 holiday when Russia celebrates Nazi Germany's defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a video address Sunday marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism.

The black-and-white video, published on social media, showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, one of the Kyiv suburbs pummeled before Russian troops withdrew from the capital region weeks ago.

Every year, on May 8, along with the whole civilized world, we pay our respects to everyone who defended the planet against Nazism during World War II, Zelenskyy said, adding that prior generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow to never allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.

(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.)
Relatives of the missing in Cuba's capital desperately searched Saturday for victims of an at one of Havana's most luxurious hotels that killed at least 27 people. They checked the morgue, hospitals and if unsuccessful, they returned to the partially collapsed Saratoga, where rescuers used dogs to hunt for survivors.

A leak was the apparent cause of Friday's at the 96-room . The 19th-century structure in the Old Havana neighbourhood did not have any guests at the time because it was undergoing renovations ahead of a planned Tuesday reopening after being closed for two years during the pandemic.

On Saturday evening, Dr Julio Guerra Izquierdo, chief of hospital services at the Ministry of Health, raised the death toll to 27 with 81 people injured. The dead included four children and a pregnant woman. Spain's President Pedro Sanchez said via Twitter that a Spanish tourist was among the dead and that another Spaniard was seriously injured.

Cuban authorities confirmed the tourist's death and said her partner was injured. They were not staying at the . Tourism Minister Dalila Gonzalez said a Cuban-American tourist was also injured.

Representatives of Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA, which owns the hotel, said during a news conference Saturday that 51 workers had been inside the hotel at the time, as well as two people working on renovations. Of those, 11 were killed, 13 remained missing and six were hospitalised.

Gonzalez said the cause of the was still under investigation, but a large crane hoisted a charred gas tanker from the hotel's rubble early Saturday.

Search and rescue teams worked through the night and into Saturday, using ladders to descend through the rubble and twisted metal into the hotel's basement as heavy machinery gingerly moved away piles of the building's facade to allow access. Above, chunks of drywall dangled from wires, desks sat seemingly undisturbed inches from the void where the front of the building cleaved away.

At least one survivor was found early Saturday in the shattered ruins, and rescuers using search dogs clambered over huge chunks of concrete looking for more. Relatives of missing people remained at the site while gathered at hospitals where the injured were being treated.

A desperate Yatmara Cobas stood outside the perimeter waiting for word of her daughter, 27-year-old housekeeper Shaidis Cobas.

My daughter is in the Saratoga; she's been there since 8 am (Friday), and at this time I don't know anything about her, Cobas said. She's not at the morgue, she's not in the hospital. The mother said she had gone everywhere seeking answers from authorities, but coming up empty.

I'm tired of the lies, she said.

Gov Reinaldo Garca Zapata said Saturday evening that 19 families have reported loved ones missing and that rescue efforts would continue.

Lt Col Enrique Pena briefed Comandante Ramiro Valdes, who fought alongside Fidel Castro, on the search efforts at the site. Pea said the presence of people had been detected on the first floor and in the basement and four teams of search dogs and handlers were working. He did not know if the victims were alive or dead.

I don't want to move from here, Cristina Avellar told The Associated Press near the hotel.

Avellar was waiting for news of Odalys Barrera, a 57-year-old cashier who has worked at the hotel for five years. She is the godmother of Barrera's daughters and considers her like a sister.

Neighbours were still in shock a day after the .

I thought it was a bomb, said Guillermo Madan, a 73-year-old retiree, who lives just metres from the building, but was not injured. The three-decade resident of the neighbourhood was cooking and watching television when he heard the . My room moved from here to there. My neighbour's window broke, the plates, everything.

Katerine Marrero, 31, was shopping at the time. I left the store, I felt the explosion, she said. Everyone started to run.

Although no tourists were reported injured, the is another blow to the country's crucial tourism industry.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic kept tourists away from Cuba, the country was struggling with tightened sanctions imposed by former US President Donald Trump and kept in place the Biden administration. Those limited visits by US tourists to the islands and restricted remittances from Cubans in the US to their families in .

Tourism had started to revive somewhat early this year, but the war in Ukraine deflated a boom of Russian visitors, who accounted for almost a third of the tourists arriving in last year.

A 300-student school next to the hotel was evacuated.

The emblematic hotel had a stunning view of Cuba's centre, including the domed Capitol building about 110 yards (100 m) away. The Capitol suffered broken glass and damaged masonry from the explosion.

The hotel was renovated in 2005 as part of the Cuban government's revival of Old Havana and is owned by the Cuban military's tourism business arm, Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA. The company said it was investigating the cause of the blast and did not respond to an email from the AP seeking more details about the hotel and the renovation it was undergoing.

In the past, the Hotel Saratoga has been used by visiting VIPs and political figures, including high-ranking US government delegations. Beyonce and Jay-Z stayed there in 2013.

Garcia Zapata said structures adjacent to the hotel were being evaluated, including two badly damaged apartment buildings. Diaz-Canel said families in affected buildings had been transferred to safer locations.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador arrived in Havana for a visit late Saturday. He was scheduled to meet with Diaz Canel Sunday morning and return to Mexico Sunday night.

(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 many as 60 people were feared to have been killed in the Russian bombing of a village school in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, the regional governor said on Sunday.

Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces dropped a bomb on Saturday afternoon on the school in Bilohorivka where about 90 people were sheltering, causing a fire that engulfed the building.

The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the rubble was cleared, and, unfortunately, the bodies of two people were found, Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Thirty people were evacuated from the rubble, seven of whom were injured. Sixty people were likely to have died under the rubble of buildings. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians in the war, which Moscow denies.

In the ruined southeastern port city of Mariupol, scores of civilians have been evacuated from a sprawling steel plant in a week-long operation brokered by the United Nations and the Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an address late on Saturday that more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the Azovstal steelworks and authorities would now focus on trying to evacuate the wounded and medics. Other Ukrainian sources have cited different figures.

Biden meets leaders; discusses war

US President met with his counterparts and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday to discuss Russia's war in and new measures to punish Moscow.

Biden, who has lauded unity among the Group of Seven large economies in standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was scheduled to meet by video conference with his fellow leaders at 15:00 GMT from his home in Delaware, where he is spending the weekend. A White House official said the meeting was underway.

The White House said the leaders would discuss adding to the sanctions that Western countries have imposed on Russia since its February 24 invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday vowed that as in 1945, victory will be ours as he congratulated former Soviet nations on the 77th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II. Meanwhile, US sanctioned Russian TV stations.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that "evil has returned" to Europe, comparing Russias invasion to Nazi Germany during an address commemorating .

"Decades after World War II, darkness has returned to Ukraine, and it has become black and white again," Zelenskyy said in a video address, in which he was filmed standing in front of destroyed residential buildings.

"Evil has returned, in a different uniform, under different slogans, but for the same purpose," he added, in the video showing archive footage of and black and white footage of Russias invasion.

The Ukrainian leader accused Russia of implementing a "bloody reconstruction of Nazism," in his country using "its ideas actions, words and symbols."

He said Moscows army was replicating Nazi "atrocities" and giving justification that "aims to give this evil a sacred purpose."
Group of Seven (G7) nations committed on Sunday to ban or phase out imports of Russian and the United States unveiled sanctions against Gazprombank executives and other businesses to punish Moscow for its war against Ukraine.

The move represents the latest attempt by the West to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin for his country's invasion of Ukraine and the deadly aftermath that ensued.

President joined G7 leaders in a video conference call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss the war, support for Ukraine, and additional measures against Moscow, including on energy.

"We commit to phase out our dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian .We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion," G7 leaders said in a joint statement.

"We will work together and with our partners to ensure stable and sustainable global energy supplies and affordable prices for consumers." Meanwhile the United States unveiled sanctions against three Russian television stations, banned Americans from providing accounting and consulting services to Russians, and imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials.

The measures leveled against Gazprombank executives were the first involving the giant Russian gas exporter as the United States and its allies have avoided taking steps that might lead to disruptions of gas to Europe, Russia's main customer.

The sanctioned Gazprombank executives include Alexy Miller and Andrey Akimov, according to a statement from the U.S. Treasury Department

"This is not a full block. We're not freezing the assets of Gazprombank or prohibiting any transactions with Gazprombank," a senior Biden administration official told reporters. "What we're signaling is that Gazprombank is not a safe haven, and so we're sanctioning some of their top business executives ... to create a chilling effect."

Biden, who has lauded unity among Western leaders in standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, met by video conference from his home in Delaware, where he is spending the weekend.

The meeting comes ahead of Russia's Victory Day celebrations on Monday. Putin calls the invasion a

"special military operation" to disarm Ukraine and rid it of anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West. Ukraine and its allies say Russia launched an unprovoked war.

The United States and Europe have imposed crushing sanctions on Russia since its invasion, targeting banks, businesses and individuals in an attempt to squeeze the Russian economy and limit resources being used to advance the war.

Eight executives from Sberbank, which holds one-third of Russia's banking assets, were added to the latest U.S. sanctions list. Moscow Industrial Bank and its 10 subsidiaries were also added.

"Taken together, today's actions are a continuation of the systematic and methodical removal of Russia from the global financial and economic system. And the message is there will be no safe haven for the Russian economy if Putin's invasion continues," the official said.

The new export control restrictions were aimed at directly degrading Putin's war effort, including controls on industrial engines, bulldozers, wood products, motors, and fans. The European Union is moving in tandem with additional controls on chemicals that feed directly into the Russian military effort, the official said.

Limited Liability Company Promtekhnologiya, a weapons maker, was sanctioned, along with seven shipping companies and a marine towing company. The White House also said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would suspend licenses for exports of special nuclear material to Russia.

The sanctioned television stations are directly or indirectly state-controlled, the White House said, and included Joint Stock Company Channel One Russia, Television Station Russia-1, and Joint Stock Company NTV Broadcasting Company.

Americans will be prohibited from providing accounting, trust and corporate formation, and management consulting services to Russians, though providing legal services is still permissible.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Lisa Shumaker)

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Indian Ambassador to Abhay Kumar held talks with Madagascar's Mining Minister Rakotomalala Herindrainy Olivier and discussed the prospect of a partnership in the .

The meeting was held on Friday. Taking to Twitter, the Indian Embassy in wrote, "Ambassador Abhay Kumar met H.E. Rakotomalala Herindrainy Olivier, Hon'ble Minister of Mines and Strategic Resources of today. They discussed the opportunities for cooperation in the between and Madagascar."

Notably, Madagascar has rich mineral reserves, including copper, iron and manganese ores, nickel, graphite, rock salt, niter, pyrites, gold, rare earth, antimony, ilmenite, tin, asphalt, coal, and petroleum. Madagascar is also rich in precious and semi-precious stones: ruby, sapphire, emerald, aquamarine, beryl, tourmaline, topaz, garnet, cordierite, rose quartz, amethyst, and citrine. Decorative stones found are marble, silicified wood, and jasper.

Two Indian companies active in the of Madagascar are Tirupati Graphites and APC Drilling. Japan Sumitomo group and South Korea's Komir have invested about 8 billion USD in the Ambatovy mine which produces around 60,000 tonnes of nickel and 5600 tonnes of cobalt every year. It is one of the largest nickel mining entities in the world.

imports many thousand tonnes of nickel every year which is a key ingredient in EV batteries. Madagascar can be a source of nickel and cobalt import for as well as coal and gold.

Kumar also met Madagascar's Minister of Transport and Meteorology M Rolland Ranjatoelina on Thursday and discussed the possibility of starting a direct flight between Mumbai and Antananarivo.

"Ambassador Abhay Kumar met M Rolland Ranjatoelina, Hon'ble Minister of Transport and #Meteorology of Madagascar today. They discussed the possibility of starting a direct flight between #Mumbai and #Antananarivo," Ambassador Abhay Kumar said in a tweet on Thursday.

Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot and has plants and animals which are not found elsewhere in the world.

Madagascar remains unexplored by Indian tourists, an island nation just six hours away in the Indian Ocean next to Mauritius.

Visa is available for Indian tourists on arrival in Madagascar and there are many places to visit across the country from Baobab Alley to dancing lemurs to singing whales and pristine beaches.

Madagascar is a traveller's dream. It is well known for dark night skies for Astro-tourism. All the major constellations visible from the Southern Hemisphere are visible in Madagascar.

A direct flight between India and Madagascar can help the people of Madagascar to avail world-class health, educational and financial services in India and can promote tourism between the two countries.

India is the fourth largest trade partner of Madagascar.

A direct flight between the two countries can promote trade and commerce and people-to-people relations between the two countries. Madagascar has a large Indian diaspora who have family roots in Gujarat.

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will become the first nation to ground flights on Monday as surging prices for aviation fuel make business unprofitable.

Airline operators will discontinue operations nationwide until further notice, their union said in a statement. Its the latest sign of the widespread impact that Russias invasion of Ukraine is having, although one carrier, Ibom Airlines Ltd., opted out of the cessation, citing obligations to customers.

The war has caused massive disruption to energy markets with Russian feedstocks used to produce and diesel becoming untouchable for many parts of the world. China has also cut its oil product export quota, limiting supplies. The loss of 3.2 million barrels a day of refining capacity in the pandemic years also doesnt help.

Nigerias 23 airlines say they have been subsidizing flights for the past four months and can no longer absorb the costs after the price of aviation fuel more than tripled to 700 naira ($1.68) per liter.

makes up a significant proportion of input costs for airlines.

Any change in expenses can drive up ticket prices that could put travelers off, especially in price-sensitive markets.

Many of the airlines are running at a loss already, said Victor Enwezor, vice president operations at Lagos-based tour operator Leisure Afrique Any further price hike will kill their business, he said by phone.

This summer, global demand is set to rise by more than a third as air-travel ramps up, surpassing six million barrels a day, according to the latest forecast from BloombergNEF.

Grounding flights may hurt Africas biggest economy, where the Monetary Fund already forecasts growth will slow this year and next.

Its not clear what the solution is. In March, following meetings with the government, the Nigerian National Petroleum Co. agreed to grant licenses to airlines to import fuel to boost supply and possibly bring down costs.

That hasnt changed the situation. High Jet-A1 prices have pushed up the unit cost per seat for a one-hour flight in the West African nation to an average of 120,000 naira, 71% higher than the cheapest option, the union said. Many operators are caught in a bind: increasing prices too much will cut customer numbers and still wont cover costs.

Cost of aviation fuel has continued to rise unabated, thereby creating huge pressure on the sustainability of operations and financial viability of the airlines, the union said. The airlines can no longer absorb the pressure.

In a statement, Ibom said that having been paid by customers in advance for flight bookings we are bound by contract to deliver the services already paid for, to avoid exposing the airline to the risk of avoidable litigation.

Nigerias aviation ministry is engaging stakeholders in positions to provide succor to the airlines, to find ways to ameliorate the situation, Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika said in a statement on the ministrys Facebook page.

We wish to appeal to the airline operators, even in the difficult situation, to consider the multiplier effect of shutting down operations, on Nigerians and global travelers, Sirika said. We are greatly concerned about the difficulties being faced by the airline operators.
cut for buyers in Asia as lockdowns in China weigh on demand, countering uncertainty around Russias supplies as the Ukraine war drags on.

is lowering prices for the first time in four months. The state-controlled company dropped its key Arab Light crude grade for next months shipments to Asia to $4.40 a barrel above the benchmark it uses, from $9.35 in May. Thats in line with a Bloomberg survey of refiners and traders from late April that forecast a $5 decrease.

Aramco also lowered all grades for the north west Europe region and almost all for the Mediterranean. Prices for U.S. customers were kept unchanged from May.

raised its crude to record levels in the past two months after prices surged above $100 a barrel when Russia invaded Ukraine. Russian exports have already fallen and may drop further as the European Union moves closer to formally sanctioning energy supplies from the country.

While the war has tightened the global oil market, Beijings Covid Zero strategy has lead to Chinas largest demand shock since the early days of the pandemic. Consumption of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel last month was expected to slide 20% from a year earlier, Bloomberg reported on April 22.

Chinas Strategy

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang warned in a statement on Saturday of a complicated and grave employment situation as the government tries to contain Covid. Chinas leaders doubled down on their strategy last week, warning against any attempts to question the approach even as economic activity contracts amid factory closings and supply-chain disruptions.

Still, the worlds biggest independent oil trader said on Sunday that Chinas measures were working as far as stopping the spread of the virus is concerned.

Its obviously a terrible situation for citizens of Shanghai and entire parts of Beijing have been told to work from home, Mike Muller, Vitol Groups head of Asia, said Sunday on a podcast produced by Dubai-based Gulf Intelligence. But it hasnt spiraled or snowballed into something really, really dramatic. Therefore people have not worsened their demand-loss projections from China.

Aramcos decision comes days after OPEC+, led by and Russia, agreed to continue increasing crude output only gradually, adding 432,000 barrels a day to the market in June. The 23-nation group has struggled to meet even that modest target.

Saudi Arabia sends more than 60% of its crude exports to Asia, with China, Japan, South Korea and India being the biggest buyers.
Nationalist Sinn Fein has won the most seats in the legislature for the first time in history, media reported on Saturday.

According to Sky News, Sinn Fein has won 27 seats in the 90-seat Assembly, pushing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) with 24 seats into the second place and becoming the first nationalist party to take control of Northern Ireland's legislature.

The broadcaster noted that the DUP had lost ground among unionists due to its reaction to Brexit and North Ireland trading arrangements. This split the vote between three unionist parties.

Ireland was separated into and Southern Ireland by an act of the parliament in 1921. In 1922, Southern Ireland became the Irish Free State, which in turn became the independent Republic of Ireland in 1948. remained part of the United Kingdom.

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on Saturday cancelled the leave of security forces with immediate effect after the declaration of a state of emergency in the island nation.

The Ministry of Defence divulged the information about the cancellation of the leaves, reported Daily Mirror.

The crisis-hit on Friday declared a state of emergency after the crippling strike and protest over the external debt for the second time in five weeks.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence said that some protesters have begun to disregard law and order, disrupting the work of the police and security forces.

The Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Public Security have informed the public to act as responsible citizens with utmost intelligence and patience during this difficult period to maintain law and order in the country.

"It must be stated that we all respect the democratic right of the people of to peacefully express their agitations and protests within the democratic framework," the Defence Ministry said.

Sri Lanka is struggling with acute food and electricity shortages, forcing the country to seek help from its neighbours. The recession is attributed to foreign exchange shortages caused by a clampdown on tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The country is unable to buy sufficient fuel and gas, while the people are being deprived of basic amenities as well.

The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

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The decree for women to must cover their faces in public might further strain engagement with the community.

Raising concern over the hijab decision, Assistance Mission in (UNAMA) in a statement said, "Information they have received suggests this is a formal directive rather than a recommendation, and that it will be implemented and enforced," reported Pajhwok Afghan News.

"This decision contradicts numerous assurances regarding respect for and protection of all Afghans' human rights, including those of women and girls, that had been provided to the community by representatives during discussions and negotiations over the past decade," added UNAMA.

UNAMA said that it will immediately request meetings with the de facto authorities to seek clarification on the status of this decision.

UNAMA will also engage in consultations with members of the community regarding its implications, reported Pajhwok Afghan News.

The Taliban on Saturday ruled women must cover their faces in public, according to a decree from the group's supreme leader, calling the all-encompassing burqa the ideal face covering, reported Pajhwok Afghan News.

A decree from Taliban supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhunzada was read out at a press conference in Kabul by a spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

A woman's father or closest male relative would be visited and eventually imprisoned or fired from government jobs if she did not cover her face outside the home, reported Pajhwok Afghan News.

"These assurances were repeated following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, that women would be afforded their rights, whether in work, education, or society at large," said UNAMA.

"The international community has been eager for signals that the Taliban are ready for positive relations with the wider world. The decision six weeks ago to postpone secondary schooling for Afghan girls was widely condemned internationally, regionally, and locally. Today's decision by the Taliban might further strain engagement with the international community," it added.

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The government pledged an additional 1.3 billion pounds in support to Ukraine during this financial year to help the country counter Russian forces in the ongoing conflict, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other G7 leaders met virtually with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday.

The meeting came on a day, which is being marked across Europe as VE Day or Victory in Europe Day that ended World War II on May 8, 1945. The additional funding will go towards electronic warfare equipment, a counter battery radar system, GPS jamming equipment and thousands of night vision devices, among other kit pledged by Johnson earlier.

[Russian President] Putin's brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine it is also threatening peace and security across Europe, said Johnson.

The was the first country to recognise the scale of the threat and sent arms to help the Ukrainians defend themselves. We will stand by that endeavour, working with our allies to ensure Ukraine can continue to push back the Russian invasion and survive as a free and democratic country. In the process, we are bolstering our own security and economy, turbocharging the development and production of cutting-edge defence equipment here in the UK, he said.

The extra 1.3 billion pounds comes from the Reserve, funds the UK government said it has set aside for the most pressing emergencies.

This latest commitment is in addition to the UK's current package for Ukraine that totals well over 1.5 billion pounds. The support already provided includes around 400 million pounds in humanitarian aid and grants and unlocking over 700 million pounds in additional World Bank lending through loan guarantees.

The situation in Ukraine continues to cause immense suffering with every day bringing new, tragic stories of Putin's brutality, said UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

We are unwavering in our support for the people of Ukraine and this extra 1.3 billion pounds will ensure we continue to provide the necessary and operational support they need to defend themselves against Putin. The UK is at the forefront providing economic, humanitarian and defensive support to Ukraine and we are working tirelessly to bring an end to this conflict, he said.

The latest announcement is also said to help support the defence industry in the UK, with Johnson and UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace set to host a meeting of leading defence companies later this month to discuss ramping up production in response to increased demand created by the conflict in Ukraine and a global shift away from Russian-made weaponry.

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British Chancellor of the Exchequer has confirmed an additional package for Kyiv in the amount of 1.3 billion pounds (USD 1.6 billion), The Sunday Times reports.

The funds will be taken from the Treasury's emergency reserves and will come in addition to the United Kingdom's existing 1.5 billion-pound support to Ukraine, the newspaper said on Sunday.

Sunak confirmed the additional aid following pressure from UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, The Sunday Times said.

Russia launched its special military operation in on February 24, after the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. Russia said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarize and "denazify" .

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the goal is to protect the people of Donbas, "who have been subjected to abuse, genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years." In response to Russia's operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have been supplying weapons to .

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The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has called for the provision of seeds and fertilizers to farmers in conflict-affected northern Ethiopia ahead of main rainy season.

"Seeds and fertilizers need to urgently be available for farmers across conflict-affected northern Ethiopia to support the Meher planting season (Ethiopia's main rainy season) which is just weeks away," UNOCHA was quoted as saying Xinhua news agency.

It said the overall humanitarian situation in northern Ethiopia remains dire, as the UN continues to closely work with all stakeholders to scale up much needed assistance in Tigray, Afar, and Amhara regions.

"The food and nutritional security in conflict-affected communities across northern Ethiopia will be further impacted if seeds and fertilizers are not availed on time to farmers ahead of the harvest season," UNOCHA warned.

Ethiopia's main rainy season, which covers the period from June to September, contributes to the production of about 85 percent to 95 percent of the food crops of the country, according to government figures.

UNOCHA warned that failure to provide seeds and fertilizers would result in a third consecutive poor agricultural season in the conflict-affected areas.

"The implication of a third consecutive poor agricultural season will be devastating on the lives and livelihoods of the conflict-affected population," it said.

In the Tigray region, UNOCHA said, some 60,000 metric tons (MT) of fertilizer, 50,000 MT of improved crop seeds, 40,000 liters of pesticides and 34,000 liters of fungicides are needed. In addition, vaccines, drugs and equipment are also required for at least 12 million livestock.

In the Amhara region, 3.3 million farmers are in need of at least one type of agricultural intervention; out of these, 2.6 million farmers are targeted for multiple types of agricultural interventions.

The UN estimated that more than 9 million people now need food assistance in conflict-affected parts of northern Ethiopia.

Humanitarian aid is recently heading to the Tigray region, albeit insufficient according to the UN, after the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) agreed to a conditional cessation of hostilities and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid into the region.

The TPLF and the Ethiopian National Defense Force, backed by allied forces, have been engaged in an 18-month conflict that has reportedly left tens of thousands of people dead and millions of in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

The Ethiopian parliament designated the TPLF as a terrorist organisation in May 2021.

--IANS

int/shs

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The election of Sinn Fein as the biggest party in Northern Ireland's Assembly is a historic moment -- the first time an Irish nationalist party, rather than a British unionist one, has topped the voting.

With all but two of the assembly's seats filled Saturday, Sinn Fein has won with 27 seats out of 90. The Democratic Unionist Party, which had been the largest for two decades, has 24 seats and the Alliance Party, which defines itself as neither nationalist nor unionist, has 17.

WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?



The outcome is hugely symbolic. A party that aims to unite with the neighbouring Republic of Ireland has a mandate to take the reins in a state established a century ago as a Protestant-majority region within the United Kingdom.

It's a major milestone for a party long linked to the Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group that used bombs, bullets and violence to try to take out of U.K. rule during decades of unrest.

More than 3,500 people died in 30 years of violence involving Irish republican militants, Protestant Loyalist paramilitaries and the U.K. army and police.

A 1998 peace accord ended large-scale violence and now has a government that splits power between British unionists and Irish nationalists.

The arrangement has often been unstable, but has endured.

WILL SINN FEIN NOW GOVERN NORTHERN IRELAND?



The result gives Sinn Fein the right to hold the post of first minister in Northern Ireland's power-sharing government, with the DUP taking the deputy first minister role.

But it's unlikely a government will be set up smoothly soon.

Under Northern Ireland's delicate power-sharing system, the posts of first minister and deputy first minister have equal status, and both posts must be filled for a government to be formed.

While Sinn Fein is ready to nominate its Northern Ireland leader Michelle O'Neill as first minister, the DUP says it will not follow suit unless there are major changes to post-Brexit border arrangements that it says are undermining Northern Ireland's place in the U.K.

WHAT DOES BREXIT HAVE TO DO WITH IT?



Britain's decision in 2016 to leave the European Union and its borderless free-trade zone has complicated Northern Ireland's position.

It is the only part of the U.K. that has a border with an EU nation. Keeping that border open to the free flow of people and goods is a key pillar of the peace process.

So instead, the post-Brexit rules have imposed customs and border checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. -- a border in the Irish Sea, rather than on the island of Ireland.

Unionists say the new checks have created a barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. that undermines their British identity.

The largest unionist party, the DUP, is demanding the arrangements, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, are scrapped.

Britain's Conservative government says the arrangements cannot work without unionist support, and is pressing the EU to agree to major changes. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has threatened to unilaterally suspend the rules if the bloc refuses.

But the U.K.-EU negotiations have reached an impasse, with the bloc accusing Johnson of refusing to implement rules he agreed to in a legally binding treaty.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?



The Northern Ireland Assembly must meet within eight days so the newly elected legislators can take their seats.

Assembly members will then choose a Speaker, followed by the nomination of ministers, starting with the first and deputy first ministers.

If, as seems likely, no executive can be formed because the DUP refuses, ministers from the previous government will stay in power and basic governance can continue though ministers are barred from making major or controversial decisions.

If there is still no executive after 24 weeks, a new election must be held.

IS IRISH REUNIFICATION LIKELY?



Irish unity did not play a big role in this year's Northern Ireland election campaign, which was dominated by more immediate worries, especially a cost-of-living crisis driven by the soaring costs of food and fuel.

But it remains Sinn Fein's goal, and party leader Mary Lou McDonald says a referendum in Northern Ireland could be held within a five-year framework.

The 1998 Good Friday peace deal stated that Irish reunification can occur if referendums support it in both Northern Ireland and the republic.

In Northern Ireland, such a vote would have to be called by the British government, if at any time it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland.

There are no set rules for deciding when that threshold has been met.

Complicating the picture is the fact that Northern Ireland's identity is in flux, with a growing number of people -- especially the young -- identifying as neither unionist nor nationalist.

That is reflected in the strong showing of the centrist Alliance Party.

There are growing calls for the power-sharing rules to be changed to reflect the move beyond Northern Ireland's traditional religious and political divide.

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on Saturday reiterated that he would "never have agreed" to any US demands for military bases in in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last August.

He made these remarks while addressing overseas Pakistanis in a video message, reported Dawn.

He said that the US after evacuation from Afghanistan wanted bases in in order to "conduct (counter attacks) from here in case there was any terrorism in Afghanistan" -- something he said he found "absolutely unacceptable".

Imran said had already lost 80,000 lives in the US-led 'war on terror' and still its sacrifices were never appreciated, with many US politicians blaming it instead, reported Dawn.

"First they blamed us, then they didn't appreciate us, our country and tribal areas were destroyed and now (they) are again asking for bases. I would have never agreed to this and the problems (between us) started from there."

It is pertinent to mention that Imran, in an interview in June 2021, had categorically said that Pakistan would "absolutely not" allow any bases and use of its territory to the US for any sort of action inside Afghanistan.

His comments today were similar to the ones he made in a recent podcast where he said that the US was "asking for bases here to stop terrorism in Afghanistan", reported Dawn.

In today's video address, said the US wasn't used to Pakistan's government "making independent decisions". He said he wanted Pakistan's foreign policy to be for its own benefit instead of pursuing someone else's objectives.

Imran, who was voted out of the top office last month via a no-confidence movement, which he alleges was masterminded by the US through the help of local players over his pursuance of an independent foreign policy.

"The problems started here," he said, adding that Pakistan's relationship with China and visit to Russia were also a "problem" for the US.

Imran alleged that the "conspiracy" to topple his government started after he refused the demand for military bases and was aided by local abettors.

He said that by July and August of last year he had understood that "something was happening". Imran said the "bigger conspiracy" than his government being toppled was in who replaced him as he lashed out at the current government and branded it a "corrupt mafia", reported Dawn.

Imran criticized the members of the coalition government, claiming that "powerful local forces" had prevented their convictions in the cases against them.

He said that in his experience, Pakistan's "ruling elite is corrupt, soft and slaves" and would not survive without the US, reported Dawn.

"To place such people over us is a conspiracy against the future of this country and also its disrespect."

He thanked overseas Pakistanis for staging rallies and protests in his support after his ouster and called on them to participate in social media campaigns to spread awareness about the alleged conspiracy and write to their politicians and public representatives to hold them to account and question if they would allow such a move in their own country.

Imran also urged overseas Pakistanis to contribute and donate to the PTI's fundraising campaign for its protests and rallies, saying that a "little bit of your support" would go a long way in helping the party, reported Dawn.

"Time will prove that this will be the defining moment in Pakistan when the nation will be free of such thieves and traitors and we will venture towards the dream of a new Pakistan."

"I have never seen such awareness and unity in the public as today. I only saw it during the 1965 war and I still remember how the whole nation had united," he said.

He said the nation had come together on not accepting servitude or the "imported" government -- referring to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's coalition government.

Imran predicted a massive turnout for his planned march to Islamabad on May 20.

(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 Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) has a plan to contest the Assembly elections in due next year end, its founder Chandrashekhar Azad said here on Sunday.

He said the party will soon take out a 'Nyay Rally' in all 33 districts of and a state-level rally will be taken out in capital Jaipur as well.

"The party has a plan to contest the Assembly election and it will be revealed at an appropriate time. We feel that people will recognize us as an alternative to the BSP whose supporters have been betrayed," Azad told reporters.

The Bhim Army chief was referring to the outrage among the supporters of Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 2019 after all six BSP MLAs, who had won the 2018 Assembly polls, defected to the ruling Congress.

"The ruling government has not been able to provide justice to the Dalits. People from the exploited and marginalised sections in are unhappy. Sometimes they vote for the BJP to defeat the Congress and at times vote for the Congress to defeat the BJP, but they are always cheated," he said.

The party will take out a 'Nyay Rally' in all 33 districts of the state to make people aware about the issues, including the protection of rights of the people belonging to "the exploited sections, he said.

Azad also criticised senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot over the recent communal clashes in Jodhpur, saying the "chief minister couldn't even save his home district".

(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 two-day tour of Union Home Minister on May 5-6 begs the question whether it will help the state unit of the to restructure its scattered organisational network.

The question also arises on whether Shah gave a clear message to the state party leaders to stop the infighting and work unitedly to boost the falling morale of the party workers.

Political observers feel that only time can tell whether the minister's visit will ultimately help the Bengal unit of the or not. However, these observers admit that Shah utilized these two days as a seasoned politician in giving clear messages to his party workers in the state.

At public programmes, Shah gave strong anti-Trinamool Congress and anti-state government messages clearly aimed at boosting the morale of the party workers and leaders. However, in a closed door meeting with top leaders from West Bengal, the Union Home Minister gave a clear message that being in the opposition the saffron leaders will have to fight their own battles instead of depending on Article 355 and 356 or on the Central Bureau of Investigation.

In that closed door meeting, Shah reportedly told his partymen that the Union government cannot act in whatever manner it wishes to against an elected state government which came to power just a year back and that too with such a huge majority. However, at the same time, he assured the state BJP leaders that he would come to more often.

Political analysts feel this assurance is a subtle message to the state leadership that if they can build up a counter-attack strategy against the Trinamool, the central leadership of the party will not hesitate to stand by the state leadership.

According to senior political analyst Rajagopal Dhar Chakraborty, Shah as a seasoned politician knows quite well that the use of Article 355 or 356 can be counter-productive for the party in in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"So, despite war cries at public programmes to boost the morale of the party workers, he did not forget to remind the state leaders about the reality that the Trinamool Congress has to be countered politically."

Trinamool Congress state general secretary and party spokesman Kunal Ghosh too feels that any initiative on Article 355 and 356 will result in the total wipeout of the BJP from the state in the next elections.

Political analyst Amal Kumar Mukherjee pointed out that a seasoned politician always knows the difference between boosting the morale of the grassroot workers through vocal tonic on the one hand and reminding the senior leaders of the party about the political responsibilities, on the other.

"The Union Home Minister seems to know this very well and has used his political experience throughout his tour. He boosted the morale of the party workers at public programmes and also reminded the state leaders about their political responsibilities," he said.

However, state BJP leaders are more excited about the war cries by at different public programmes.

"The Union Home Minister has a clear idea of what is going on in West Bengal. Now one of our party workers has been killed when the Union Home Minister is in the state and the latter had to rush to the spot curtailing other programmes to meet the family members of the victim. We are confident that he will take the necessary steps," said BJP's national vice president and party MP, Dilip Ghosh.

BJP youth wing leader Arjun Chaurasia died under mysterious circumstances and his body was found hanging on May 6.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
president J P Nadda will visit on Tuesday on a two-day tour of the state.

Nadda will address a booth-level convention at Suratgarh in Sriganganagar district under the Bikaner division of the state on Tuesday, a statement said here on Sunday.

The president subsequently on May 11 inaugurate the party's office in Hanumangarh district, besides digitally inaugurating such offices in nine other districts of the state, it added.

BJP's general secretary and state in-charge Arun Singh and party's state president Satish Poonia will hold a meeting with party officials at Suratgarh in Sriganganagar and at Hanumangarh on May 9 to discuss preparations for the BJP president's visit, the statement said.

The two leaders will also inspect the venues for Nadda's programmes, it added.

Both leaders will also accompany Nadda in the booth convention and inauguration programs of district offices on May 10 and 11.

Arun Singh will leave for Sriganganagar on Sunday from New Delhi and Satish Poonia will leave for Suratgarh from Jaipur and will reach there on May 9.

(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 all the speculations and names doing the rounds for its Presidential nominee, the may nominate a candidate either belonging to the Other Backward Class (OBC) or a woman to win their support in the run-up to the 2024 general elections.

The OBC and are the largest constituents of the country's population.

A lot of theories like a candidate from Schedule Tribe (ST), Schedule Caste (SC) or from south India are playing in the political circles, and by all probability, the BJP-led NDA will nominate a candidate with an eye on the 2024 Parliamentary elections.

Amid the demand of caste-based Census, political parties know that OBC constitutes over 40 per cent of the country's total population, while account for nearly half of India's population.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has on several occasions said that are the new votebank of the .

sources said that the party might nominate either an OBC or a woman for the post of President or go for a woman OBC candidate.

"Lots of names are doing the rounds and every name has its own weight, but it is important to consolidate OBC and women votes by nominating a Presidential candidate from among them," the sources said.

A party insider said that among all the social equations, a Presidential candidate from the SC community is unlikely as current President belongs to the community.

"It is most unlikely that a leader from the SC community will be given a chance this time. Among all, the OBC and women are most preferred right now for Presidential candidate," he said.

The OBCs are a major force in all the states, from Uttar Pradesh to Maharashtra. In the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, despite the exit of some OBC leaders from the party, BJP received overwhelming support from the community.

A senior party functionary told IANS that almost all the parties, including BJP's alliance partner JD-U, have demanded caste-based Census to win the confidence of the OBC community, and by nominating a Presidential candidate from among them, the party will surely win their support in the next Lok Sabha polls and the upcoming state elections.

When asked who, the person quoted above said, "It could be anyone from the community from any part of the country."

"Both women and OBC are independently the largest chunk of voters in the country. The party will either woo them individually or together by nominating an OBC woman candidate for the post," a senior party functionary said.

Currently, the names of Anusuiya Uikey, Tamilisai Soundararajan and Arif Mohammad Khan, presently the Governor of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Kerala, respectively, and Draupadi Murmu, the former Governor of Jharkhand, are doing the rounds for the Presidential nominee of the BJP.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a reprieve for Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Saturday night directed that no coercive step be taken against the Delhi BJP leader after he sought a stay on the arrest warrant issued by a Mohali court earlier in the day.

Hours after the Mohali court issued the arrest warrant in connection with a case registered against him by the Punjab Police last month, Bagga moved the high court challenging it.

Justice Anoop Chitkara took up Bagga's petition in an urgent hearing at his residence just before midnight.

"No coercive steps till May 10," said Bagga's counsel Chetan Mittal on the high court order.

Notably, on May 10, the high court is to take up Bagga's petition, seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him last month.

Mittal said that the court stayed the arrest warrant.

The hearing took place for around 45 minutes, said Mittal.

Earlier in the day, the court of Judicial Magistrate Ravtesh Inderjit Singh issued the arrest warrant against Bagga in connection with a case registered last month.

The Punjab Police had booked on the charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation. The case was registered on a complaint of AAP leader Sunny Ahluwalia, a resident of Mohali.

The FIR registered on April 1 referred to Bagga's remarks on March 30, when he was part of a BJP youth wing protest outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Bagga was booked under relevant sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place etc), 505 (whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report) and 506 (criminal intimidation), of the Indian Penal Code.

Bagga was arrested by the Punjab Police from his Delhi home on Friday, stopped in Haryana while being taken to Punjab and brought back to the national capital by Delhi Police hours later.

(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 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda on Saturday asked the Delhi unit of the party to step up attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Nadda was briefed about the Punjab Police action against Delhi leader Tajinder Bagga.

The chief also asked the Delhi leaders to highlight the shortcomings of the .

Nadda on Saturday held a meeting with senior party leaders, including Delhi chief Adesh Gupta, national vice president Baijayant Jay Panda, general secretary (organisation) Delhi Siddharthan.

"Nadda was briefed about the Bagga episode and the action taken by the party on the matter," said sources.

"Details of the organisational works in the upcoming days were also discussed and a detailed roadmap was prepared," sources said.

On Saturday midnight, Punjab High Court held a hearing and directed the state police not to take any coercive action against Bagga until the next date of hearing, South Bengaluru BJP MP Tejaswi Surya said.

Bagga said that the registered an FIR against him on the basis of a "trimmed" video from his remarks on a television show where he had sought an apology from for his speech on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the Delhi Assembly.

(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.)
Delhi Chief Minister and convener on Sunday said his party would not ally with other outfits as it intended to partner with 130 crore people of India.

Speaking on 'Aam Aadmi Party and its role in 2024 Lok Sabha elections as part of a lecture series organised to mark the golden jubilee of the Nagpur edition of daily Lokmat, Kejriwal also said that he didn't want to defeat anyone in but sought to make India the number one country in the world.

He said the will usher in progress by constructing hospitals and schools.

"Many people ask me with whom will we do a alliance. I do not know how to do . I don't understand alliances of 10 and 20 parties to defeat anyone. I don't want to defeat anyone, I want the country to win. I will only enter into an alliance with 130 crore people of the country to make India number one in the world," he said.

Without naming the BJP, the Delhi chief minister said a "huge party" was currently vociferously supporting hooliganism, engineering riots, and taking out welcome processions for rapists.

"The country cannot progress with this type of hooliganism. If you want hooliganism and riots you can go with them, but if you want to progress, schools and hospitals you can come with me. Let us ally with 130 crore common people," he asserted.

Kejriwal said the AAP's focus was not on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls but on working for the country, adding that people like him had come after leaving their careers to serve the country.

India must become the number one country in the world as soon as possible, Kejriwal said, adding that he wanted to play an important role in this quest.

Countering the charge of indulging in freebie politics, the Delhi CM said that money meant for public welfare used to be consumed by corruption, and his government, by stopping corruption and saving money therein was giving people free electricity and other amenities.

Highlighting the AAP's work in Delhi in the education sector, Kejriwal said government schools had a pass percentage of 99.7 per cent in Class XII exams, leaving private schools way behind.

"A total of 4 lakh students left private schools and joined government schools in Delhi. These include rich people as facilities provided in government schools are not available even in private ones," he said.

In the last three years, 450 government school students were getting admissions annually to the prestigious IITs, the Delhi CM said, adding that such developments rather than gave him satisfaction.

Vijay Darda, chairman, editorial board, Lokmat Media Group, spoke about how his group helped people amid COVID-19 with many staffers also succumbing to the infection.

He also expressed hope that Nagpur will one day become the capital of a separate Vidarbha state.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, on April 28, told a visiting European Union (EU) delegation that there has been no major incident of in the past seven/eight years under the Democratic Alliance government in India, reported a daily.

There have been some isolated incidents, and in these, the Narendra Modi government has taken strong and effective action against the perpetrators, without consideration of religion, caste or community, Naqvi was quoted as saying.

He said this during a discussion with a six-member delegation that included the EUs Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore on the human rights situation in India.

Naqvis response came after the delegation expressed concerns about a letter written by 108 former civil servants on April 26 to Prime Minister Modi on rising violence against minorities in India. The letter mentioned the recent demolition drives conducted by the ruling party to demolish illegal structures which mostly belonged to the Muslim community.

Naqvis claim is not consistent with facts.

The first example of a major is the riot that broke out between supporters of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and ones opposing the law in North East Delhi between February 23, 2020, and February 26, 2020. The violence claimed 52 lives and injured 545, according to a March 18, 2020, Rajya Sabha reply.

The Crime Records Bureau, which collects and maintains the number of cases of riots registered under Section 147 to 151 of the Indian Penal Code, showed 5,415 reported between 2014 and 2020.





Source: IndiaSpend
With just two months to go for the Presidential polls, the camp has started its calculations. The common aim of all parties is to fight against the BJP by getting their candidate elected unanimously.

In a latest development, the (AAP) is now engaged in discussions with other parties, leaving aside the Congress, on the possible strategy for the Presidential elections.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal recently met the leaders of Trinamool Congress and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to discuss the poll strategy.

It is noteworthy that Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee had met Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi recently. According to sources, during the meeting, she offered to field a non-Congress candidate for the Presidential elections.

According to Mamata Banerjee, regional parties such as the Samajwadi Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Nationalist Congress Party and many others can support her candidate for the presidential polls.

In the last Presidential elections, the Congress had fielded Meira Kumar as its candidate.

According to sources, there is a minimum possibility of disagreement between the Opposition parties if NCP chief Sharad Pawar agrees to be the candidate in the Presidential elections. Considering the political experience and stature of this veteran leader, AAP, Trinamool Congress and Congress, everyone is expected support Pawar.

At present, the AAP is in consultation with other parties to discuss the scenario which would emerge in case Pawar refuses to contest the polls.

Currently, the AAP is considered as the strongest rival to the Congress among the Opposition parties. It has not only defeated the Congress in Punjab, but is also preparing to face the grand old party in Haryana. On the other hand, it is well-known that the Trinamool does not want to support the Congress candidate in the Presidential elections.

However, on this issue, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, "Nothing can be said right now. We will finalise the strategy before the elections. Right now, I will only say that the Opposition will give a strong fight."

The term of President Ram Nath Kovind will end on July 24.

Just months before the Presidential polls, the results of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur gave a big relief to the BJP. However, the Punjab results provided a good margin to the AAP.

It is noteworthy that the total vote value of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and legislative Assemblies for the Presidential elections is 10,98,903. At present, the BJP and its allies have more than 5.36 lakh vote value. The BJP may have to take the help of its allies as well as parties like YSRCP and BJD for about 6,000 to 8,000 vote value.

The vote value for the MPs and MLAs for the Presidential elections has been fixed on the basis of the 1971 census. The vote value of the MLAs of every state varies due to the population there. Whereas the vote value of each Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha member is fixed at 708.

Due to the largest population of Uttar Pradesh, the value of its MLAs is the highest. On the other hand, the AAP will benefit from its victory in Punjab -- which helped the party increase its tally in the Rajya Sabha as well.

--IANS

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(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 Tibet Airlines with 113 passengers and nine crew members aborted its takeoff before bursting into flames at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport on Thursday morning. There were no deaths among those onboard, but 36 people were injured during the evacuation, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Flight TV9833 is an Airbus A319 aircraft, which has been in service for nine and a half years

May 12, 2022 08:22 PM
Hyderabad: One of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhis greatest, but mostly unknown, achievements was to set up the panchayat raj system in the country, said former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar.

The Congress leader, a former MP and diplomat, delivered a lecture titled Democracy and Decentralisation in the city on Saturday.

Tracing the history of how the panchayat raj system was established, Aiyar said Mahatma Gandhi had wanted the system but Dr B.R. Ambedkar was against it. When the Constitution was drafted, it had only a single line on panchayat raj, Aiyar said.

Aiyar said after most state governments did not implement the system properly. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru came up with a model panchayat raj Act. But, after Nehrus death, the system became defunct in five to 10 years.

Rajiv Gandhi, when he was Prime Minister, toured nearly every part of rural India with an aim to firmly establish panchayat raj. Aiyar, who was joint secretary at the Prime Ministers Office and Rajiv Gandhis schoolmate and friend, accompanied him on these tours.

Rajiv wouldnt consider who was in power. In Andhra Pradesh, he travelled with NTR to understand the rural governance system while in Karnataka he was very impressed by Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde, who was against the Congress. He mixed all his experiences to produce the amrit of the panchayat raj system, and he made it constitutionally obligatory, Aiyar said.

Aiyar said there were 2.5 lakh village panchayats, and 34 lakh people were elected to them of whom 14 lakh were women. India has more elected women than the rest of the world put together, but they are all poor and from SC/ST categories. Its a tragedy that this great achievement is so little known because women of upper classes dont get adequate representation in the Assembly, he said.

Mohan Guruswamy, former adviser to the finance ministry in the Vajpayee government, who spoke at the event, said one of the governments biggest expenditures was the high salaries of government employees due to which not enough people were employed to work in grassroots governance.

Guruswamy said the share of government expenditure in local government in India had remained at 11 per cent in spite of all the talk of decentralisation. When I travel, after I go just 5 km on the highway, I immediately see there is no government, and there this plastic everywhere  in the drains and on the streets, he said.

He described an incident which he said showed the attitude towards decentralisation. When he was working in the government, he had presented a paper on decentralisation to the CMs of all states. After the presentation, then Chief Minister of Gujarat Keshubhai Patel had remarked If we implement all of this, who will come to us?, Guruswamy said.
VIJAYAWADA: Conveying his greetings to mothers on the International Mothers Day, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said, A mothers love is eternal and divine. Remembering his mother, Y.S. Vijayalakshmi, on the occasion of Mother's Day, he shared an emotional message on Twitter about mothers love.

A mothers love is eternal and divine. There can be no greater gift for my mother who has given me the gift of life, than to work towards the empowerment of all the mothers in AP (sic), the Chief Minister wrote on Twitter.

In a separate programme on the occasion of International Mothers Day, NTR district collector S. Dilli Rao felicitated mothers at his camp office at Vijayawada on Sunday. He said that the mother was the living god and everyone must salute to their mother.

He said that the mother was the first guru to every child, as she taught culture, virtues and morals to her children right from childhood. He said that in Gods creation the place of the mother is indefinable.

There is a saying that God cannot be present everywhere, and so He created mother, Dilli Rao said. The Vedas say Matrudevobhava, equating mothers God, he said. The mothers lap is the first school for every child. A mother always struggles for the success of her children.

Dilli Rao performed padabhivandanam to P. Kusuma Kumari, B. Hymavathi and others and presented them with new clothes and bouquets.
Today, I met with grassroots worker organizers to thank them for their leadership in organizing unions. From the Amazon Labor Union to IATSE at Titmouse Productions, these folks are inspiring a movement of workers across the country to fight for the pay and benefits they deserve. pic.twitter.com/QZwdUEX3Xp  President Biden (@POTUS) May 5, 2022

Rachel Gitlevich, a worker from Titmouse New York, was one of the leaders in attendance and invited to a follow-up discussion with Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. Attendees discussed how they organized their unions and what kinds of resistance they faced along the way. Other attendees included workers from Amazon, Starbucks, REI, the Baltimore Public Library, and Paizo.

After their meeting, Harris tweeted:

We are in a new era of the labor movement with unprecedented interest in labor unions. Today, with @POTUS and @SecMartyWalsh, I met with grassroots labor organizers who are fighting for better wages, benefits, and respect for workers. pic.twitter.com/S20A1fXdHo  Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) May 5, 2022

The Animation Guild president Jeanette Moreno King also tweeted her support.

Rachel Gitlevich, an animator and new 839 member from the Titmouse New York negotiating team, was invited to the White House to meet President Biden! Her passion for workers' rights in the animation industry makes me proud that she is representing TAG Local 839 https://t.co/grWWq5QLLf  Jeanette Moreno King (@PresidentTAG839) May 5, 2022

In a statement shared with Cartoon Brew, Gitlevich spoke about her experience of organizing at Titmouse:

It is really a testament to how much Washington cares about this issue that they even bothered to have this meeting. The point of this meeting is to inspire workers across the country to organize. I got an opportunity to talk to [Amazon labor organizer] Chris Smalls, and I asked him, How did you organize 8,000 employees? We were 114. The formula was identical to what we did at Titmouse. The language was identical to what we did at Titmouse. Labor organizing is just 1-on-1 conversations and meeting people where theyre at. How do you get a person from the point of, Im scared, this is risky to I can do this. Thats the biggest hurdle. So by having this meeting at the White House, hopefully that pushes somebody over that hurdle.

Gitlevichs union organizing took place at Titmouse New York, whose founder and president Chris Prynoski told Cartoon Brew:

It was so cool to see photos of Rachel in the White House yesterday! As supporters of the union movement, we are proud of the Titmouse artists and support them as we move into the future together!

President Biden has said in the past that he intends to be the most pro-union President leading the most pro-union administration in American history. To that end, he assigned Harris to chair a task force which promotes organization and encourages union membership.

The White House visit comes as the #NewDealForAnimation movement continues to thrive. A number of animation workers across the country, and north of the border, have already voted in favor of unionizing.

The Animation Guild has had five groups of production workers vote to unionize within the past few months. Those votes represented the first time production workers at any U.S. studio had done so in recent history. And just this week, it was announced that editorial employees at Bento Box had voted to join up with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and its post-production local, the Motion Picture Editors Guild.

UPDATE: This story has been updated with comments from Rachel Gitlevich and Chris Prynoski.
Photo: The Canadian Press Rescue teams remove debris from the site of a deadly explosion that destroyed the five-star Hotel Saratoga, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 6, 2022. A powerful explosion apparently caused by a natural gas leak killed at least 18 people, including a pregnant woman and a child, and injured dozens Friday when it blew away outer walls from the luxury hotel in the heart of Cubas capital. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Rescuers in Cubas capital searched Saturday to find survivors of an explosion that killed at least 25 people and devastated a luxury hotel that once hosted dignitaries and celebrities, including Beyonce and Jay-Z.

A natural gas leak was the apparent cause of Fridays blast at Havanas 96-room Hotel Saratoga. The 19th-century structure in the citys Old Havana neighborhood did not have any guests at the time because it was undergoing renovations ahead of a planned Tuesday reopening after being closed.

The death toll rose to 25 Saturday, according to Orestes Llanez, coordinator of the Havana city government, according to the official Cubadebate news site. He said 22 had been identified, 18 residents of the capital and four from elsewhere in Cuba.

He said searchers has managed to reach the hotel's basement in the hunt for possible survivors.

At least one survivor was found early Saturday in the shattered ruins of the hotel, and rescuers using search dogs clambered over huge chunks of concrete looking for more. Relatives of missing people remained at the site overnight. Others gathered at hospitals where the injured were being treated.

I dont want to move from here, Cristina Avellar told The Associated Press near the hotel, whose outer walls were blown away by the explosion, leaving the interiors of many rooms exposed.

Avellar was waiting for news of Odalys Barrera, a 57-year-old cashier who has worked at the hotel for five years. She is the godmother of Barreras daughters and considers her like a sister.

Although no tourists were reported injured, the explosion is another blow to the countrys crucial tourism industry.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic kept tourists away from Cuba, the country was struggling with tightened sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump and kept in place the Biden administration. Those limited visits by U.S. tourists to the islands and restricted remittances from Cubans in the U.S. to their families in Cuba.

Tourism had started to revive somewhat early this year, but the war in Ukraine deflated a boom of Russian visitors, who accounted for almost a third of the tourists arriving in Cuba last year.

The hotels lower floors appeared to have suffered most of the damage from Friday's blast. The missing walls made it possible to distinguish mattresses, pieces of furniture, hanging glass, tattered curtains and cushions covered in dust.

Dr. Julio Guerra Izquierdo, chief of hospital services at the Ministry of Health, said at least 74 people had been injured. Among them were 14 children, according to a tweet from the office of President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Cubas national health minister, Jose Angel Portal, told The Associated Press the number of injured could rise as the search continues. Fire Department Lt. Col. Noel Silva said rescue workers were still looking for a large group of people who may be under the rubble.

The shattered hotel remained cordoned off as workers under the glow of emergency lights operated heavy machinery to lift huge pieces of wall and masonry and trucks left the site loaded with debris.

Rescuers declined to answer questions because the authorities had ordered them not to to avoid confusion.

A 300-student school next to the hotel was evacuated. Havana Gov. Reinaldo Garcia Zapata said five of the students suffered minor injuries.

The emblematic hotel had a stunning view of Cuba's center, including the domed Capitol building about 110 yards (100 meters) away. The Capitol suffered broken glass and damaged masonry from the explosion.

The hotel was renovated in 2005 as part of the Cuban governments revival of Old Havana and is owned by the Cuban militarys tourism business arm, Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA. The company said it was investigating the cause of the blast and did not respond to an email from the AP seeking more details about the hotel and the renovation it was undergoing.

In the past, the Hotel Saratoga has been used by visiting VIPs and political figures, including high-ranking U.S. government delegations. Beyonce and Jay-Z stayed there in 2013.

Garcia Zapata said structures adjacent to the hotel were being evaluated, including two badly damaged apartment buildings. Diaz-Canel said families in affected buildings had been transferred to safer locations.

Photographer Michel Figueroa said he was walking past the hotel when the explosion threw me to the ground, and my head still hurts.... Everything was very fast.

Worried relatives of people who had been working at the hotel showed up at a hospital to look for loved ones. Among them was Beatriz Cespedes Cobas, who was tearfully searching for her sister.

She had to work today. She is a housekeeper, she said. I work two blocks away. I felt the noise, and at first, I didnt even associate the explosion with the hotel.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was scheduled to arrive in Havana for a visit late Saturday and Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said the visit would still take place.
Photo: The Canadian Press A group of paddlers, Steve Lambert, left to right, Isabelle Bertazzo, Charles Burchill and Ryan Burchill travel down the Seine River with a large statue of a floating hand between the boats in Winnipeg on Saturday May 7, 2002. The statue disappeared after it washed off the bank of a swollen river in Winnipeg earlier this week has been rescued, thanks to a group of canoeists and kayakers who set out Saturday to find it. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Charles Burchill **MANDATORY CREDIT**

A statue of a hand that disappeared after it washed off the bank of a swollen river in Winnipeg earlier this week has been rescued, thanks to a group of canoeists and kayakers who set out Saturday to find it.

Charles Burchill, an avid Winnipeg paddler, said word got out that the fibreglass hand which stands taller than a person, was no longer on the bank of the Seine River in Winnipeg.

Paddlers said the statue has been on the bank not far from the city's Perimeter Highway for more than a decade on the property of a museum worker who saved the former exhibit from the garbage.

"I think it's one of those things that everybody, when they paddle down that end of the river, looks for. It's a landmark that's kind of fun to see on the shore," Burchill said in a phone interview Saturday.

Flood watches and advisories have been in effect in Manitoba for a couple of weeks, although the spot where the statue sits is downstream from where Seine River passes through a channel underneath the Red River Floodway. When flows get strong on the Seine, much of the excess water gets channelled off into the floodway, regulating the flow further downstream.

Still, Burchill said the river had been higher than usual earlier this week, likely tipping the hand over and carrying it off. How far it had gone was unknown, he said.

On Saturday morning, two canoes and two people on open-topped kayaks launched on the Seine River to look for it. Burchill said they got about 600 metres downstream, where they spotted the giant hand floating against a downed tree.

"The hand was right on top of the surface, so it was quite easy to spot, but we did need to go up around a couple of corners, so you wouldn't have been able to see it from normal walking paths or from the small number of houses that are along the shore," Burchill said.

Initially, the paddlers thought they would be able to pull the hand to shore and transport it overland, or maybe hoist it atop one of their canoes and carry it back to its home. But Burchill said they soon discovered it weighed at least a couple of hundred pounds.

So instead, he said they rigged up ropes so they could tow it between two canoes in a way that it wouldn't get damaged by bumping against the canoes or trees.

It took about an hour of paddling upstream, but they finally reached their destination, where the statue's owner greeted them and they hauled it back to its normal display position.

"I think right after we left there was a group of people  I'm hoping  walking the Seine River and I think one of their hopes was to see the hand," Burchill said.

"So we kind of timed it just right, to get it back before anybody came looking."
Photo: Oleksandr Markushyn Justin Trudeau, Chrystia Freeland and Melanie Joly meet with the mayor of Irpin, Ukraine, Oleksandr Markushyn.

UPDATE:12:55 p.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an unannounced visit Sunday to Ukraine, where he reopened the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv and expressed unwavering support for the embattled country.

Trudeau met Volodymyr Zelenskyy in person for the first time since Russia began its invasion in late February, appearing with the Ukrainian president at a news conference.

He announced new Canadian military support for Ukraine, including drone cameras, satellite imagery, small arms, ammunition and funding for demining operations.

Canada is giving $25 million to the World Food Program for food security in Ukraine and will remove trade tariffs on all Ukrainian imports coming to Canada for the next year, Trudeau said.

In addition, Ottawa is levying new sanctions on 40 more Russian individuals and entities  oligarchs and close associates of the regime and the defence sector, all complicit in Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine, he said.

Canada is also providing money to support and protect women's organizations, human rights defenders and civil society, Trudeau added.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly joined Trudeau on the trip.

They began the day in Irpin, a city badly damaged during Russia's attempt to take Kyiv early in the war.

Trudeau told a news conference he witnessed the resilience of Ukrainians as people rebuild their shattered world.

"It was a true inspiration to see people step up to defend their lives, defend their community, defend a bright future for themselves, for the families in the country they love," he said.

"It is clear that Vladimir Putin is responsible for heinous war crimes. There must be accountability. Canada will support Ukraine as you seek justice for your people who Russia is killing and brutalizing."

Canada began scaling down its diplomatic presence in Ukraine in late January as intelligence warned of an impending Russian invasion.

Representatives from most western countries fled Ukraine as the war erupted, but more than two dozen have already gone back, even as the conflict drags on.

Several of Canada's G7 allies have already returned to Kyiv  France and Italy the third week of April, and the United Kingdom as of last week.

On Sunday, Trudeau, Freeland and Joly arrived at the embassy in Kyiv with a heavily armed security detail.

Larisa Galadza, Canada's ambassador to Ukraine, joined them in a flag-raising ceremony. They ended up raising the flag at the side of the building after the first flagpole chosen turned out to be broken.

"I think its a testament to how the Ukrainian people have been so strong and resilient," Trudeau said.

"And having our Canadian flag fly over the streets of Kyiv once again is just another testament to the strength and solidarity of Canadians and Ukrainians, and how we continue to be with them.

The Canadian Press was made aware of Trudeau's trip on the condition it not be reported until it was made public, for security reasons.

The Associated Press reported that Jill Biden made a surprise visit to the western part of Ukraine today to meet Olena Zelenska, the first lady, for Mother's Day.

Other world leaders have travelled to Kyiv in recent weeks to show solidarity with Ukraine, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also went to Kyiv last week.

The public itinerary for Trudeau posted Saturday suggested he would be in the National Capital Region Sunday and taking part in a meeting of G7 leaders on the situation in Ukraine. However, the itinerary was updated Sunday to note Trudeau's presence in Kyiv.

The visit took place as dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead after a Russian bomb destroyed a school sheltering about 90 people in eastern Ukraine.

The governor of Luhansk province said Sunday that 30 people were rescued from the rubble of the school in the village of Bilohorivka but the rest probably didn't survive.

Elsewhere, more explosions rocked the Black Sea port of Odesa.

Ukrainian soldiers making a last stand at a steel mill in the besieged city of Mariupol said they wouldn't surrender following the evacuation of civilians from the sprawling site.

UPDATE: 9 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Sunday, where he reopened the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv.

Trudeau is also scheduled to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in person for the first time since Russia began its invasion.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly joined Trudeau on the trip.

"The prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canada's unwavering support for the Ukrainian people," Cameron Ahmad, a spokesman for Trudeau, said in a written statement Sunday.

Canada began scaling down its diplomatic presence in Ukraine in late January as intelligence warned of an impending Russian invasion.

Representatives from most western countries fled Ukraine as the war erupted, but more than two dozen have already gone back, even as the conflict drags on.

Several of Canada's G7 allies have already returned to Kyiv  France and Italy the third week of April, and the United Kingdom as of last week.

On Sunday, Trudeau, Freeland and Joly arrived at the embassy in Kyiv with a heavily armed security detail.

Larisa Galadza, who is Canada's ambassador to Ukraine, joined them in a flag-raising ceremony. They ended up raising the flag at the side of the building after the first flagpole chosen turned out to be broken.

The Canadian Press was made aware of Trudeau's trip on the condition it not be reported until it was made public, for security reasons.

The Associated Press reported that Jill Biden made a surprise visit to the western part of Ukraine today to meet Olena Zelenska, the first lady, for Mother's Day.

Other world leaders have travelled to Kyiv in recent weeks to show solidarity with Ukraine, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also went to Kyiv last week.

The public itinerary for Trudeau posted Saturday suggested he would be in the National Capital Region Sunday and taking part in a meeting of G7 leaders on the situation in Ukraine.

The visit is taking place as dozens of Ukrainians are feared dead after a Russian bomb destroyed a school sheltering about 90 people in eastern Ukraine.

The governor of Luhansk province said Sunday that 30 people were rescued from the rubble of the school in the village of Bilohorivka but the rest probably didn't survive.

Elsewhere, more explosions rocked the Black Sea port of Odesa.

Ukrainian soldiers making a last stand at a steel mill in the besieged city of Mariupol said they wouldn't surrender following the evacuation of civilians from the sprawling site.

UPDATE: 8 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made an unannounced visit to Ukraine today amid the Russian invasion.

The Prime Minister's Office says Trudeau will meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to show Canada's support for the Ukrainian people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, along with Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, joined Trudeau on the trip.

Photos posted by the mayor of Irpin, Urkaine, a suburb of Kyiv, shows Trudeau, Freeland and Joly meeting with Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn.

The Canadian Press was made aware of Trudeau's trip on the condition it not be reported until it was made public, for security reasons.

The Associated Press reported that Jill Biden made a surprise visit to the western part of Ukraine today to meet Olena Zelenska, the first lady.

Other world leaders have travelled to Kyiv in recent weeks to show solidarity with Ukraine, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also went to Kyiv last week.

"The prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canada's unwavering support for the Ukrainian people," Cameron Ahmad, a spokesman for Trudeau, said in a written statement Sunday.

The public itinerary for Trudeau posted Saturday says he is in the National Capital Region and taking part in a meeting of G7 leaders on the situation in Ukraine.

Photo: Oleksandr Markushyn Justin Trudeau meets with the mayor of Irpin, Ukraine, Oleksandr Markushyn, right.

ORIGINAL: 6:35 a.m.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting with the nations first lady, Olena Zelenskyy, as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, Biden told Zelenskyy. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

The first lady traveled by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian village that borders Ukraine.

The two came together in a small classroom, sitting across a table from one another and talking before reporters before they met in private. Zelenskyy and her children have been at an undisclosed location for their safety.

Zelenskyy thanked Biden for her courageous act and said, We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day -- even today.

The school where they met has been turned into transitional housing for Ukrainian migrants from elsewhere in the country.

The visit allowed Biden to conduct the kind of personal diplomacy that her husband would like to be doing himself.

President Joe Biden said during his visit to Poland in March that he was disappointed he could not visit Ukraine to see conditions firsthand but that he was not allowed, likely due to security reasons. The White House said as recently as last week that the president would love to visit but there were no plans for him to do so at this time.

The meeting came about after the two first ladies exchanged correspondence in recent weeks, according to U.S. officials who declined to provide further details because they were not authorized to discuss the ladies private communications.

As she arrived at the school, Biden, who was wearing a Mothers Day corsage that was a gift from her husband, embraced Zelenskyy and presented her with a bouquet.

After their private meeting, the two joined a group of children who live at the school in making tissue-paper bears to give as Mothers Day gifts.

Jill Bidens visit follows recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, as well as a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Her visit was limited to western Ukraine; Russia is concentrating its military power in eastern Ukraine, and she was not in harms way.

Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, she toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and other relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel, where a priest intoned, We pray for the people of Ukraine.

Before that, in Kosice, Biden met and offered support to Ukrainian mothers in Slovakia who have been displaced by Russias war and assuring them that the hearts of the American people are behind them.

At a bus station in the city that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center, Biden found herself in an extended conversation with a Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children because she cannot understand it herself.

I cannot explain because I dont know myself and Im a teacher, Victorie Kutocha, who had her arms around her 7-year-old daughter, Yulie, told Biden.

At one point, Kutocha asked, Why? seeming to seek an explanation for Russias decision to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Its so hard to understand, the first lady replied.

The 24-hour facility is one of six refugee centers in Slovakia, providing an average of 300 to 350 people daily with food, showers, clothing, emergency on-site accommodations and other services, according to information provided by the White House.

Biden also dropped in at a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students.

Slovakian and Ukrainian moms were brought together at the school for a Mothers Day event while their children made crafts to give them as gifts.

Biden went from table to table meeting the mothers and kids. She told some of the women that she wanted to come and  say the hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine.

I just wanted to come and show you our support, she said before departing for Vysne Nemecke.

In recent weeks border crossings are averaging less than 2,000 per day, down from over 10,000 per day immediately after Russias invasion on Feb. 24, and a large portion of that flow is daily cross border traffic.

Biden is on a four-day visit to Eastern Europe to highlight U.S. support for Ukrainian refugees and for the allied countries such as Romania and Slovakia that are providing a safe haven for them.

She spent Friday and Saturday in Romania, visiting with U.S. troops and meeting with Ukrainian refugee mothers and children.

With her trip, the American first lady followed the path of prior sitting first ladies who also traveled to war or conflict zones.

Eleanor Roosevelt visited servicemen abroad during World War II to help boost troop morale. Pat Nixon joined President Richard Nixon on his 1969 trip to South Vietnam, becoming the first first lady to visit a combat zone, according to the National First Ladies Library. She flew 18 miles from Saigon in an open helicopter, accompanied by U.S. Secret Service agents.

Hillary Clinton visited a combat zone, stopping in Bosnia in 1996. Four years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, Laura Bush went to Kabul in 2005 and Melania Trump accompanied President Donald Trump to Iraq in December 2018.
Photo: The Canadian Press A family who fled from Myrne in a towed car work on repairing it upon their arrival to a reception center for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Sunday.

Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb destroyed a school sheltering about 90 people in the basement as Moscow's invading forces kept up their barrage of cities, towns and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine.

The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturday's bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said.

Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

Since failing to capture Ukraine's capital, Russia has focused its offensive in the Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014 and occupy some territory. The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition due to the Ukrainian military's unexpectedly effective defence.

To demonstrate success, the Russian military worked to complete its conquest of the besieged port city of Mariupol, which has been under relentless assault since the start of the war, in time for Victory Day celebrations on Monday. A sprawling seaside steel mill is the only part of the city not under Russian control.

All the remaining women, children and older civilians who had been sheltering with Ukrainian fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. The troops still inside have refused to surrender; hundreds are believed to be wounded.

After rescuers evacuated the last civilians Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that the focus would turn to extracting the wounded and medics. Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that work would also continue Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The Ukrainian government has been reaching out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the estimated 2,000 fighters remaining in the plant's underground tunnels and bunkers. Zelenskyy acknowledged the difficulty, but said: We are not losing hope, we are not stopping. Every day we are looking for some diplomatic option that might work.

The Ukrainian leader was expected to hold online talks Sunday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from other Group of Seven countries. The meeting is partly meant to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys 1945 surrender.

Elsewhere on Ukraine's coast, explosions echoed again Sunday across the major Black Sea port of Odesa, which Russia struck with six cruise missiles on Saturday. Authorities offered no immediate damage reports.

The Odesa city council said four of the missiles launched Saturday hit a furniture company, with the shock waves and debris badly damaging high-rise apartment buildings. The other two hit the Odesa airport, where a previous Russian attack destroyed the runway.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, the May 9 holiday when Russia celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

In neighbouring Moldova, Russian and separatists troops were on full alert," the Ukrainian military warned. The region has increasingly become a focus of worries that the conflict could expand beyond Ukraine's borders.

Pro-Russian forces broke off the Transnistria section of Moldova in 1992, and Russian troops have been stationed there since, ostensibly as peacekeepers. Those forces are on full combat readiness, Ukraine said, without giving details on how it came to the assessment.

Moscow has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the Black Sea and to create a corridor to Transnistria. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.

In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days and has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Ukraine targeting Russian-held Snake Island in a bid to impede Russias efforts to control the sea.

A satellite image taken Sunday morning by Planet Labs PBC showed smoke rising from two sites on the island. On the islands southern edge, a fire smoked next to debris. That corresponded to a video released by the Ukrainian military showing a strike on a Russian helicopter that had flown to the island.

A Planet Labs image from Saturday showed most of the islands buildings, as well as what appeared to be a Serna-class landing craft, destroyed by Ukrainian drone attacks.

The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian counteroffensive near Kharkiv, a city in the northeast that is the countrys second-largest, is making significant progress and will likely advance to the Russian border in the coming days or weeks, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

The Washington-based think tank added that the Ukrainian counteroffensive demonstrates promising Ukrainian capabilities.

However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from Luhansk province's embattled city of Popasna, Haidai, the regional governor, said Sunday.

In a video interview posted on his Telegram channel, Haidai said that Kyivs troops had moved to stronger positions, which they had prepared ahead of time.

The Russia-backed rebels have established a breakaway region in Luhansk and neighbouring Donetsk, which together make up the Donbas. Russia has targeted areas still under Ukrainian control.

All free settlements in the Luhansk region are hot spots, Haidai said. Right now, there are shooting battles in (the villages) of Bilohorivka, Voivodivka and towards Popasna.
Photo: Brendan Kergin

A man has died following a stabbing at Vancouver's CRAB Park.

Andrew Wadden, a 45-year-old Vancouver resident, was stabbed just before 10:20 a.m. on Saturday, May 7, according to a police press release. Police and emergency medical crews were subsequently called and Wadden was found alive with life-threatening injuries.

Despite their efforts, he succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

Police have charged Eric Kim in connection with the incident; he faces second-degree murder charges.

Witnesses are still being sought, and anyone else with information about the incident. The Vancouver major crimes section can be called at 604-717-2500.
Photo: The Canadian Press The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on Friday April 13, 2018. The RCMP says in a statement that officers responded to a report of a stabbing near Glen Elementary School. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Police say one man has died following a stabbing in Coquitlam on Sunday.

The RCMP says in a statement that officers responded to a report of a stabbing around 12:40 a.m.

It says the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say one person has been arrested and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team will assist with the investigation.
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for more unity among EU countries in terms of sanctions against Russia.

"The European Union should be in a united position. They don't have it with respect to certain sanctions. For those sanctions the European Union introduced, we are thankful to them.

However, they have to be thankful to themselves because the role of Russia against Ukraine, it's a war against the values that Ukraine defends, and these values are the values of the European Union countries," Zelenskyy said in an interview with Fox News on Saturday.

He also criticized the United Nations and the UN Security Council for their alleged ineffectiveness in preventing hostilities.

"I'm open to saying about that organization [UN], especially on such high level, that it doesn't work," Zelenskyy said.Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for more unity among EU countries in terms of sanctions against Russia.

"The European Union should be in a united position. They don't have it with respect to certain sanctions. For those sanctions the European Union introduced, we are thankful to them.

However, they have to be thankful to themselves because the role of Russia against Ukraine, it's a war against the values that Ukraine defends, and these values are the values of the European Union countries," Zelenskyy said in an interview with Fox News on Saturday.

He also criticized the United Nations and the UN Security Council for their alleged ineffectiveness in preventing hostilities.

"I'm open to saying about that organization [UN], especially on such high level, that it doesn't work," Zelenskyy said.

In contrast, he praised the role of Washington as a strong global leader, particularly in what concerns the anti-Russia sanctions campaign.

"So far, I think that the United States of America is the accelerator of the sanction policies and I think they do more than any other country. And this is the way it should be because they are the most powerful country right now. I see the same support with respect to sanctions from the United Kingdom," Zelenskyy said.

On Sunday, US President Joe Biden is expected to attend a virtual G7 meeting chaired by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The G7 leaders will be joined by Zelenskyy and will discuss the latest developments in Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, the operation's global impact and the efforts to support Ukraine by imposing severe costs on Russia, according to the White House.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the sixth package of sanctions against Russia this past Wednesday, which needs to be unanimously approved by member states to take effect. Among other things, it suggests banning Russian oil imports, which Hungary and Slovakia have repeatedly said they are not ready to do immediately and would request exemptions.

EU ambassadors were given until the end of this week to reach an agreement on issues related to the bloc's planned oil embargo, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday.

(ANI)
Simmering fight over abortion rights lays bare divide in U.S., adds fuel to political polarization

Xinhua) 12:47, May 08, 2022

*Supporters of abortion rights have taken to the streets to express anguish and anger in widespread demonstrations, while individuals and groups against the practice have also been vocal about their views, with rancorous battles taking shape between Democrats and Republicans.

*Dozens of pro-choice activists stood against the fence on Friday afternoon, holding posters and chanting slogans amid rain showers, with no presence of anti-abortion advocates.

*Analysts predicted abortion would become a key topic in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections in November. In addition, the draft's language has sparked concern that the Supreme Court could reconsider and even reverse other established rights in the nation.

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Xinhua) -- A bombshell leak from the Supreme Court -- a draft majority opinion suggesting an overturn of a landmark decision that guarantees abortion rights -- is shaking the United States, as heated debates over the issue, which has long been contentious, are polarizing the nation.

Supporters of abortion rights have taken to the streets to express anguish and anger in widespread demonstrations, while individuals and groups against the practice have also been vocal about their views, with rancorous battles taking shape between Democrats and Republicans.

The fight over abortion rights has laid bare the deep-seated divide in the United States, poised to add fuel to its political polarization and have far-reaching consequences.

"UNPRECEDENTED" LEAK

The Supreme Court has voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion in the United States, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by Politico, which published the internal document on Monday night.

The draft opinion "is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of" Roe v. Wade and a subsequent 1992 decision -- Planned Parenthood v. Casey -- that largely maintained the right, Politico wrote in the scoop.

"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," Alito argued in the draft labeled as the "Opinion of the Court." "We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled ... It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives."

The Supreme Court confirmed the authenticity of the draft on Tuesday but underlined that "it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case." Justices circulate draft opinions internally as a routine and essential part of the Supreme Court's confidential deliberative work.

Jonathan Peters, a media law professor at the University of Georgia, tweeted that the U.S. Supreme Court -- the highest court in the federal judiciary -- "has kept its secrets and has kept confidential its internal processes and deliberations," adding that "leaking a full draft majority opinion does seem to be unprecedented" though leaking in general is not unprecedented "but still very rare."

Chief Justice John Roberts denounced the leak, saying that he had directed the court's marshal to launch an investigation. "To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed," Roberts said in a statement. "The work of the Court will not be affected in any way."

The leak came as the Supreme Court was considering Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, an appeal case that involves a Mississippi law banning all abortions over 15 weeks gestational age except in certain circumstances. A ruling is expected by the end of the court's term in late June or early July.

The justices could change their votes in the days or weeks leading up to the decision's release. But Neal Katyal, former acting U.S. solicitor general, pointed out that "the tentative vote seems strong" and Roberts, considered the court's swing vote, is "irrelevant" if five other conservatives, including Alito "hold with their tentative votes."

MAJOR SHOCKWAVES

Alito's 67-page draft opinion, accompanied by a 31-page appendix containing various state statutes criminalizing abortion, would effectively eliminate abortion protections at the federal level and hand authority over abortion access to the states if such a ruling was ultimately handed down, sending shockwaves through Washington, D.C. to the rest of the nation.

Tall metal barriers have been erected outside the Supreme Court Building, also known as "The Marble Palace," after consecutive days of demonstrations staged in front of the property. D.C. police also activated its civil disturbance units, which include officers specially trained for crowd management and unrest.

Dozens of pro-choice activists stood against the fence on Friday afternoon, holding posters and chanting slogans amid rain showers, with no presence of anti-abortion advocates.

Protesters have also massed in many other major cities, including New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. A coalition of progressive and reproductive rights groups is planning nationwide protests next week.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) issued a citywide tactical alert after a group of protesters took over the streets of downtown on Tuesday night, injuring one officer. According to LAPD Chief Michel Moore, the crowd began throwing rocks and bottles when officers attempted to disperse them.

Democrats on Capitol Hill are seeking to codify abortion rights protections. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Thursday that the chamber "is going to vote on legislation to codify a woman's right to seek abortion into federal law."

Such effort is likely to fall short in a evenly-divided Senate, given its 60-vote requirement for advancing a bill. A similar measure was blocked by the chamber at the end of February, with one Democrat joining Republicans in voting against it.

Photo taken on May 6, 2022 shows the U.S. Supreme Court and a barrier fence in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Reactions from Republicans to the stunning revelation focused on criticizing it as damaging to the Supreme Court as an institution. "This lawless action should be investigated and punished to the fullest extent possible," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell demanded during a floor speech earlier this week.

While abortion restrictions and bans have been introduced or enacted in multiple states run by Republicans, Democratic governors and attorneys general have sought to defend access to abortion at least in their states.

GREATER CONSEQUENCES

The Guttmacher Institute, a U.S.-based organization that supports abortion rights, estimated that 26 states are either certain or likely to ban abortion if the Supreme Court overturns or dismantles Roe. Legislators in 13 states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, have already prepared for that possibility with "trigger laws" on the books.

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 57 percent of Americans oppose a ban on abortions after 15 weeks; 58 percent say abortion should be legal in all or most cases; and 54 percent say the Supreme Court should uphold Roe, compared with 28 percent who say the ruling should be overturned.

In a statement, U.S. President Joe Biden called for the election of "more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority," saying that he believes "a woman's right to choose is fundamental."

Analysts predicted abortion would become a key topic in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections in November. In addition, the draft's language has sparked concern that the Supreme Court could reconsider and even reverse other established rights in the nation.

Photo taken on May 6, 2022 shows the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Members of the international community also warned against the threats to abortion rights for women in the United States and everywhere.

A spokesperson for United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted that the UN chief "has long believed that sexual and reproductive health and rights are the foundation for lives of choice, empowerment, and equality for the world's women and girls."

"The tragedy about this whole leakage from the Supreme Court, unfortunately, now may make the Supreme Court overly political as one of the last institutions that were seen as sacrosanct," Harlan Ullman, senior advisor at the Atlantic Council, lamented Thursday during a panel discussion hosted by the Brookings Institution.

"So I'm really concerned that the image of this is going to have far greater consequences than whether or not Roe v. Wade is changed or kept," Ullman continued. "And this is just another sign of these divisions that are present in America."

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Bianji)
The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance on Saturday seized a $700 million yacht allegedly owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Ukrainian forces reportedly destroyed a second Russian ship.

Italian authorities discovered significant commercial and business connections between the owner of the Scheherazade and influential members of the Russian government, and individuals sanctioned by the EU in connection with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The mega yacht Scheherazade was spotted by Italian authorities in the Tuscan port of Marina di Cararra being renovated, per ABC News. Italian officials recommended that the EU council have the owner included in the list of Russians sanctioned.

Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that Ukrainian forces claim to have sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea following the destruction of the ship Moskva last month. It was supported by a video of what seemed to be a Bayraktar drone strike on a vessel anchored at Snake Island.

Heavy black smoke rising overhead was seen in the satellite photos of the aftermath of a suspected Ukrainian drone attack on Russian positions on Snake Island.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defence posted a message on Twitter mocking Russian forces: "The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on 9 May this year will be held near Snake Island - at the bottom of the sea," the ministry tweeted.

Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 destroyed another Russian ship. This time the landing craft of the "Serna" project. The traditional parade of the russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island - at the bottom of the sea. pic.twitter.com/WYEPywmAwX  Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 7, 2022

Russian Forces Drops Bomb on a School

In the village of Bilohorivka in Ukraine's Luhansk region, Russian forces bombed a school wherein civilians take shelter.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai says Russia has dropped a bomb on the school following the destruction of the town's bomb shelter earlier, according to Sky News. The school's basement was the last place for people to shelter from the Russian attacks.

Gaidai reported on Facebook that about 90 people were in the basement when the bomb went off. Around 30 people have been rescued from the wreckage.

As of present writing, the Russian defense ministry has yet to issue a statement regarding the incident.

Read Also: Russia's Victory Day Will Showcase Putin's 'Doomsday' Threat to the West

Over 300 Civilians in Azovstal Steel Plant Rescued

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated, in his nightly message on Saturday, that more than 300 citizens have been rescued since the beginning of evacuations from the besieged Azovstal steel plant.

The first phase of the evacuations, which began just over a week ago, came to a close which Zelensky is thankful for.

The Ukrainian head of state reported that there were over 300 people were saved, including women and children, per Sky News.

"I am grateful to the teams of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations for helping us carry out the first phase of the Azovstal evacuation mission, " he said.

The second phase of evacuations for the wounded, medics, and soldiers is now being planned by authorities.

According to Zelensky, as of Saturday, the Russian army had destroyed or damaged approximately 200 cultural heritage sites in his country.

Amid the growing suspicions of a battle between the remaining fighters and the Russian army, Ukraine authorities request that the humanitarian agency Doctors Without Borders evacuate and provide medical assistance to the wounded fighters of Mariupol and Azovstal, per France 24.

Related Article: Is Putin Dying? Journalist Raises Fears About Health Status of Russian President

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Police received a call from dispatch that there was a couch located in middle of the roadway on Dupont Parkway. Upon arrival, police removed the couch and placed it on the shoulder. Police also observed a white Honda Accord 50 yards beyond the location of the couch with its hazard lights on. Police spoke with the driver who told police she hit the couch. She said by the time she saw it in the roadway she was unable to avoid a collision and struck it. There was one passenger in the vehicle, a man. Police asked both if they wanted to be seen by EMS and both said no. Police observed right, front-end damage to the bumper of the car, as well as to the right headlight. The woman provided police with her insurance information and police gave her a complaint card and told her to provide the information to her insurance company.

* * *

Police spoke with a man and woman near the Boys & Girls Club. They said they got into a verbal argument because the man found text messages on the womans cell phone for another man. Police asked both if at anytime did the verbal argument become physical and they both replied "no". Police observed both looking for any marks or bruises that would indicate a physical altercation occurred before police arrived. Police didn't locate anything on either and didnt see any signs of fear or distress coming from either one. The man told police they were going back to his mother's home who resides on 4th Avenue and they both left.

* * *

An anonymous caller told police a gold sedan was parked in front of a port-o-potty on Tennessee Avenue and there was a man in the car. Police arrived and the man said he worked with Byrdline Construction and was waiting there to start working at an address on Alabama Avenue at a later time in the morning. The vehicle the man was in did have the business information displayed on a decal on the back of his car. It was determined that there was no criminal activity taking place.

* * *

A man told police he parked his vehicle in the parking lot at Hampton Inn at 400 Chestnut St. at 6 p.m. and when he returned early the next morning his drivers-side window was down and things were stolen out of his vehicle. There were no signs of forced entry or damage to his vehicle. He said he probably forgot to roll his window up. His silver Apple laptop and six suitcases full of clothes were stolen. The suitcases were different colors: two black, one gray, one red, one blue and one purple. He didnt know the specific brand of the suitcases. His Apple laptop is worth $1,400 and the six suitcases with the clothes inside of them are worth $2,000.

* * *

A woman on Meadow Lane told police at about 7 a.m. she went outside and started her vehicle to warm it up. She returned back into the house to get her son and purse. When she came back outside her car was gone. She said it is a black 2018 Chevy Equinox. She didnt see who took the car and was unsure which direction they went. OnStar was not active on the vehicle. The car was entered into NCIC. Police later found the car on Doolittle Street. It was towed by Mostellers to CPD Property for processing. The car was removed from NCIC.

* * *

Police were called to U-Haul at 2022 Broad St. on reports of catalytic converter thefts. While on scene, the officer was also notified of a theft of a battery (approximately $200). The suspects, two white males and a white female, were seen on video taking the battery out of a U-Haul truck parked on the lot. One man was riding a bicycle with a cart on the back of it and appeared to have some tools. The video was not good enough quality to send identification pictures out.

* * *

A man on Kirby Avenue told police he didnt want a woman to be there anymore and she wasnt allowed back. He said they were arguing and he wanted her gone. The woman said she was leaving and wouldn't go back. There was no physical altercation. The woman was trespassed.

* * *

A man told police he was traveling north on Highway 153 approaching Shepherd Road when a white pickup truck with a dump bed driven by a black male was showering rocks onto the roadway. He couldnt tell if the rocks that hit his windshield came up off the roadway or from the bed of the truck. He said he called the trucks company and spoke with a man who was rude and uncooperative.

* * *

An employee at Chick-fil-A at 5830 Brainerd Road told police she laid her phone down in her work area and she got distracted by a customer. About 15 minutes later she realized the phone was gone. She said a man had walked close by where the phone was and she suspects he grabbed it but she's not sure. She can see the places where her phone was taken since then.

* * *



A man told police he left his 1999 Toyota Tacoma pickup near the boat ramp at the Riverpark at 4301 Amnicola Hwy. While he was away from his truck in his boat, someone cut the catalytic converter from the truck and took it. He didnt know the cost to have it replaced. He looked for a park ranger and could not locate one.

* * *

A woman at Publix at 5928 Hixson Pike said her 2014 black Toyota Corolla had sustained a large scratch, almost like keying, down the drivers side. It started in front of the wheel and ran down the drivers door.

* * *

An officer responded to a report of a truck driver throwing a hammer into the road on Highway 153. The officer arrived and spoke to the man who was operating a tow truck and appeared visibly shaken. He said he was working hooking up the vehicle he was going to tow and a car veered toward him and he was afraid they would hit him. He said he threw down his hammer out of fear and frustration but recovered it and was fine now.
On April 30, the day before the mother-daughter duo famously known as The Judds were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame with Ray Charles, Naomi Judd unexpectedly died after struggling with Hepatitis C and mental health issues. She gave birth to her daughter Wynonna at age 17 and, after a rough start that included several years on welfare, the iconic duo won five Grammy Awards, nine Country Music Association Awards and charted over 20 hits that made it to Billboards hot list, 14 becoming No. 1 country hits.

The Judds are regarded as one of the greatest performers in country music history with Naomi remembered as a being a strong advocate for mental health.

Naomis other daughter, Ashley, is an actress, a noted humanitarian and a United Nations Ambassador. For Mothers Day, Ashley wrote an opinion piece in the Nashville Tennessean that is not only a tribute to her mothers legacy but a salute to mothers the world over.

* * *

HONOR MY MOTHER BY MAKING MOTHERHOOD SAFE & HEALTHY

By Ashley Judd

(NOTE: This opinion piece appeared in the Nashville Tennessean on May 6, 2022)

This Sunday is abruptly, shockingly, my first Mothers Day without my mama.

She died just hours before her peers at the Country Music Hall of Fame could demonstrate to her how much they esteem her. She died just days before my sister and I could show her again how much we love and honor her.

It wasnt supposed to be this way. I was supposed to visit her on Sunday, to give her a box of old-fashioned candy, our family tradition. We were supposed to have sweet delight in each others easy presence. Instead, I am unmoored. But my heart is not empty. It is replete with gratitude for what she left behind. Her nurture and tenderness, her music and memory.

Motherhood happened to her without her consent

Perhaps its indecorous to say, but my heart is filled with something else, too. Incandescent rage. Because my mother was stolen from me by the disease of mental illness, by the wounds she carried from a lifetime of injustices that started when she was a girl. Because she was a girl.

My mama was an extraordinary parent under duress: She showed my sister and me the power of having a voice and using it, and there has been no greater lesson. But motherhood happened to her without her consent. She experienced an unintended pregnancy at age 17, and that led her down a road familiar to so many adolescent mothers, including poverty and gender-based violence.

Forgive me if my grief isnt tidy. When I think about my mother, I am awash in the painful specifics. Its a little easier, this Mothers Day, to think about mothers in the collective, to wonder whether we value them.

Every day, more than 800 women die in pregnancy and childbirth from causes for which solutions are affordable and achievable. In 2018, I traveled to South Sudan with UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, and I sat with women whose bodies were mangled from childbirth. They suffered obstetric fistula, a devastating injury that causes pain and incontinence but is easily preventable and treatable.

As mothers, were they being valued?

Now consider the women in our own communities who return to work before their bodies have fully recovered from creating life. Do we value them? Our country, the richest in the world, has one of the highest maternal death rates in the developed world  with Black and indigenous women two to three times more likely to die.

And thats talking only about medical causes of maternal death. Let me tell you what else kills pregnant women: violence and despair. A study last year found that some of the top causes of death among pregnant women in the United States were homicide, suicide and overdose.

But the risks do not start and end with pregnancy. UNFPA data shows that, in countries with available data, nearly a quarter of women cannot say no to sex. Nearly a quarter cannot make their own decisions about health care. So often, motherhood happens because of violence, because of neglect, because schools and health systems fail to provide reproductive health information, because they fail to teach the right of individuals to make their own choices about sex and contraception.

To the women who support abortion rights, it's time to make a stand. This ends now. Mother's Day is (today), so this is for single moms and the families they're building

I am not a biological mother. I wanted to devote my time and resources to children who live in poverty and suffering, who languish in refugee camps and wait in brothels to come of age when men will begin to rape them. I never took my bodily autonomy for granted, aware this right is denied to hundreds of millions of girls and women, especially the poorest and those facing discrimination and racial injustice.

We see it in the most disadvantaged places. And we see it in our own country.

Motherhood should always be a choice. Does that sound radical to you? Does that sound like I wish my sister and I hadnt been born? If thats what you think, I will gladly direct my incandescent rage at you.

How much could we, as a society, possibly value motherhood when it is assumed to be an inevitability? When we accept as normal that women and girls will drop out of school and the workforce because they are expected to take on the unpaid labor of child care? When we fail to protect girls from poverty and violence?

It's OK not to be OK. Erasing stigma of mental illness is a big step toward healing.

My mama was a legend. She was an artist and a storyteller, but she had to fight like hell to overcome the hand she was dealt, to earn her place in history. She shouldnt have had to fight that hard to share her gifts with the world. This Mothers Day, I choose to honor my mama for the person she was, a mother and so much more. And I ask you to honor your own mother, if you are lucky enough to have her. Honor her for more than her labor and sacrifice. Honor her for her talents and dreams. Honor her by demanding a world where motherhood, everywhere, is safe, healthy  and chosen.

-- Ashley Judd is a humanitarian, writer and actor, and has served as a United Nations Population Funds Goodwill Ambassador since 2016.

* * *

* -- LOVE CAN BUILD A BRIDGE: Wynonna and Naomi Judd CLICK HERE.

* -- MOMMA HES CRAZY: Wynonna and Naomi Judd CLICK HERE.

* -- WHY NOT ME? Wynonna and Naomi Judd CLICK HERE.

* -- LOVE IS ALIVE  Wynonna and Naomi Judd CLICK HERE.

royexum@aol.com
Vietnam Veterans of America National President Jack McManus was in Chattanooga for the 73rd annual Armed Forces Day Parade on Friday.

Mr. McManus is originally from New York City. He joined the Air Force in 1965 where he served until 1969. He was assigned to Operation Ranch Hand in Vietnam.

Mr. McManus now resides in North Carolina with his wife Jackie where he operates several businesses.

Mr. McManus said, It was an honor to be part of Chattanoogas Armed Forces Day observance and attend the parade and luncheon.

The businessman was invited to Chattanooga by Charlie Hobbs, president of the Chattanooga Chapter, Vietnam Veterans of America, chapter 203.
Solid pitching and some timely hitting helped top-ranked Tennessee salvage a game in Lexington with a 7-2 victory over Kentucky in Saturday's series finale on another rainy day at Kentucky Proud Park.



The pitching duo of Drew Beam and Redmond Walsh held the Wildcats to two runs (one earned) on six hits while the Big Orange bats busted out for seven runs on nine hits, including two homers, after struggling in the first two games of the series.



Seven different players recorded a hit for UT in the shortened seven-inning game, led by multi-hit efforts from Drew Gilbert and Cortland Lawson , who both finished with two hits and combined to score three times while also driving in a pair of runs.



The Vols (42-6, 20-4 SEC) wasted no time getting on the board, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to a pair of hits by Jorel Ortega and Gilbert. Ortega singled up the middle with one out and came all the way around to score on a double to center field by Gilbert with two outs.



The Wildcats(26-21, 9-15 SEC) answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the third to tie the game at one after Alonzo Rubalcaba and Chase Estep started the inning with back-to-back doubles. Beam buckled down to record three straight outs following the doubles to limit the damage and keep the game tied heading into the fourth.



A solo homer off the bat of Lawson put Tennessee back in front in the top of the fifth. The Vols' No. 9 hitter lined a ball over the fence in right field for his 10th big fly of the season to give the Big Orange a 2-1 lead.



Kentucky quickly responded with a run in the bottom of the inning to tie the game once again. Estep singled to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt and eventually scored on a groundout by Jacob Plastiak to tie the game at two. Walsh did well to limit the Cats to just a single run in the inning after entering the game with runners on the corners and nobody out.



The Big Orange made the Wildcats pay for an error and a walk in the sixth inning, as Luc Lipcius came up with the biggest hit of the series for UT, driving in a pair of runs with a chopper that bounced over the first baseman's head and into right field, giving the Vols a 4-2 lead.



Lipcius flashed the leather later in the inning, making a great defensive play to help Walsh get out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth to keep the two-run lead intact. UK threatened with runners on the corners and two outs, but Lipcius made a diving stop to snag a sharply hit ground ball before stepping on the bag at first for the final out of the inning.



Jordan Beck put the game away with a no-doubt, three-run blast to left field in the top of the seventh to give the Vols a five-run lead, which was plenty for Walsh, who retired the Wildcats in order in the bottom of the inning to finish off the win and improve to 3-1 on the year.



UP NEXT: Tennessee returns to the friendly confines of Lindsey Nelson Stadium for four home games next week, starting with a midweek contest against Bellarmine on Tuesday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m. before hosting No. 16/22 Georgia in another Thursday-Saturday series.


Chattanooga's Cameron Hill, in its heyday, was a magical place.

A smaller image of Lookout Mountain just to the south, it rose dramatically just above downtown Chattanooga.

The town's earliest homes were either on the lower slopes of Cameron Hill or the hill just across Market Street from it.

Talk about convenience, you were just steps away from the bustling city streets - jobs and shopping and the seats of government - in between the two hills.

Boynton Park at the steep northern peak had the most dramatic view of river and mountains and sky in all directions.

Several antebellum homes long stood on Cameron Hill, and they were occupied by the generals who came to town during the Civil War. The columned Rathburn-Nottingham house was long a gracious center of hospitality. The Hooper house was one of the town's oldest residences. The Cabins that Thomas Crutchfield Sr. resided in while building the Crutchfield House hotel long stood on West Eighth Street.

Beginning in the 1870s, such an assortment of architectural styles of all types began to sprout up on Cameron Hill. It was a truism that the higher you went up the hill the finer the homes.

But there were some majestic ones on the lower slopes as well - the brick Whiteside mansion that dated to just after the Ross's Landing days, the home of the world famous publisher Adolph Ochs on West Fifth Street, and dozens more of every conceivable style built by the physicians and the successful entrepreneurs of the town. Scattered in between were smaller but substantial homes occupied by the mill workers, the railroad engineers and the bookkeepers.

The creme de la creme was at the very top on the East Terrace. D.P. Montague's Italianate mansion was the only home in Chattanooga with its own pipe organ and the grounds were landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted's firm. Capt. Hiram Chamberlain had the grandest view from the south end of the Terrace at his sprawling stone mansion. H. Clay Evans, who came close to being vice president and to being the Tennessee governor, entertained presidents at his delightful home in the middle of East Terrace.

With many of the mansions split up into apartments and many of the properties not kept up, there came a plan in the 1950s to tear them all down and to slice off the top of Cameron Hill at Boynton Park. Despite the protests of many, it was followed through.

Today, few photographs of the original Cameron Hill have survived. Thankfully, in recent months Tony St. Charles graciously shared photos taken by his father, Pat St. Charles, Jr., who was hired by the Chattanooga Housing Authority to perform appraisals for the West Side Redevelopment Project.This amazing collection of some 375 Cameron Hill homes has inspired a new examination of Cameron Hill and a search to discover who were the delightful characters who lived there.

Chattanoogan.com today begins a series of articles letting you know what we found out about the once-magical Cameron Hill.
90 Day Fiance Season 9 has brought fans some dynamic couples. One of these couples is Jibri Bell and Miona. Jibri met Miona in Serbia while performing with his band, Black Serbs. The couple frequently spoke about visiting New York and Los Angeles together. However, when Miona arrived in the United States, she discovered that she and Jibri would be living in South Dakota indefinitely. Learn why Jibri lives in South Dakota.

Jibri and Miona in Studio for TLCs 90 Day Fiance Season 9 | TLC

90 Day Fiance Season 9 explains why Jibri lives in South Dakota

Jibri has stood out since the premiere of 90 Day Fiance Season 9 with his bright-colored suits and cowboy hats. He seems perfectly content in his hometown of Rapid City, South Dakota. However, fans cant help but wonder what a world-traveling musician is doing in a small town in South Dakota.

During an interview with Rapid City Journal, a newspaper from his hometown, Jibri opened up about his childhood in South Dakota. He said that he and his mother, Mahala, moved from Chicago to Rapid City when he was only five years old. They moved to be closer to his aunt and uncle. However, he said that growing up in South Dakota wasnt always easy, especially as a bi-racial child.

It was really hard for me to find my voice in Rapid City, said Jibri. Especially as somebody whos a bi-racial black kid growing up in South Dakota. There was only a couple of us, and I really, really had a hard time.

90 Day Fiance Season 9, Jibri and Miona | TLC

90 Day Fiance star Jibri Bell opens up about his childhood

Jibri admitted that, while navigating his life as a teen in South Dakota, he started skipping school and getting into fights. Eventually, he went to the Human Services Center in Yankton, South Dakota  a licensed specialty hospital and the states only public psychiatric hospital. He was also frequently in the Pennington County Juvenile Detention Center.

When he was 16 years old, Jibris mother sent him to STAR Academy, a juvenile correctional facility located in Custer, South Dakota. Jibri said that it was during the bus ride to the facility that he decided to change his life.

I just was like, Yeah, I dont want this lifestyle, I dont want to get in trouble. I dont want to be this person,' said Jibri.

He served almost 90 days at STAR before returning to his high school in Rapid City. But it wasnt until he met his high school best friend and bandmate, Daveed, a refugee from Serbia, that Jibri started coming into his own. He and Daveed formed their band, the Black Serbs, and theyve been performing ever since. With Daveed, Jibri traveled to Serbia for the first time. During one of his trips to Serbia, Jibri met Miona.

How did Jibri and Miona meet?

During the same interview, Jibri shared how he and Miona met. He said that he was performing with the Black Serbs at the EXIT Festival in Serbia when he met Miona. Jibri noticed her in the crowd at one of his concerts, and the two started traveling together shortly after. Before long, Jibri proposed to Miona, and the rest is 90 Day Fiance Season 9 history.

RELATED: 90 Day Fiance: All the Red Flags in Miona and Jibris Relationship
The Green Berets actor John Wayne had an abundance of respect for those who put their lives on the line for the United States. This certainly became apparent in his movies, but it also bled into his personal life. Wayne once confronted some USC students heckling a young marine, which led to The Green Berets.

John Wayne plays Col. Mike Kirby in The Green Berets

John Wayne as Col. Mike Kirby | Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images

The Green Berets follows a cynical reporter named George Beckworth (David Janssen), who is against the Vietnam War. However, he is sent to cover the conflict and must tag along with a group of Green Berets. He meets a tough man named Col. Mike Kirby (Wayne), who leads the team through a top-secret mission. They intend to kidnap an important enemy commander, but nothing is as simple as it seems.

The Green Berets is a financially successful Wayne feature, but it didnt settle as well with critics. The pro-war messaging offended a lot of reviewers. Nevertheless, his fan base continues to celebrate the passion that the actor had for veterans and the country overall.

John Waynes explosive encounter with USC students inspired The Green Berets

Scott Eymans John Wayne: The Life and Legend takes a look at how The Green Berets came to exist. He explained that the genesis of the movie comes from an encounter that the actor had on the USC campus. The actor was on the college grounds to discuss a benefit for a childrens hospital and saw some students protesting the Vietnam War. However, an incident really got his blood boiling.

What got my goat was that these students were heckling a young marine, a corporal, who was going by and heading for his car, Wayne recalled. He walked with his back straight as a rod, and he wore his uniform with pride. Then I noticed that where his right arm should have been there was only an empty sleeve which was neatly folded and pinned back.

Wayne continued: Turned out he was one of the Ninth Marine Brigade which were the first ground troops America sent to Vietnam. He had a chest full of medals and ribbons and said his drill instructor had taught him to ignore impolite civilians. He said, You dont give them the satisfaction of noticing them. I waved to him as he drove away.

And my blood was boiling, Wayne said. I ran over to the students and I was just so angry, I drummed my fists into their goddamn table and I said, You stupid bastards! You stupid f***ing a**holes! Blame Johnson if you like, blame Kennedy. Blame Eisenhower or Truman or f***ing goddamn Roosevelt. But dont you blame that kid. Dont you dare blame any of those kids. They served! Jesus, the kid lost his arm. I mean what the hell is happening to this country?

The actor wanted the movie to be as American as apple pie

John Wayne in The Green Berets. While visiting the troops in Vietnam, he was given a silver friendship bracelet presented by a Montagnard Strike Force unit. He wore the bracelet the rest of his life. More on his travels to Vietnam here: https://t.co/Kd7G2koaw7 pic.twitter.com/RNeiToDZEx  John Wayne Official (@JohnDukeWayne) December 30, 2018

Eyman continued that the first concrete sign of Waynes The Green Berets was a letter written on December 29, 1965. The actor wrote to director George Stevens expressing his interest in making a feature film about the Vietnam War. He knew that Stevens son worked for the government and would need their help to make this picture possible.

It will have the scope, integrity and dignity required by the subject matter, Wayne wrote. Our film about the exciting new unit fighting in Vietnam will be as American as apple pie and as harshly against the beard and sandal brigade as possible.

RELATED: John Wayne and R. Lee Ermey Once Appeared in a Coors Light Beer Commercial Referencing 2 Iconic War Movies
The list of guest stars who appeared on That 70s Show is impressive, but the main cast made the beloved TV series what it was. So, what are Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama, and the rest up to these days? Here are the details.

What was That 70s Show about?

That 70s Show cast | Annamaria DiSanto/WireImage

Written by Mark Brazil, Bonnie Turner, and dozens of others, That 70s Show revolved around a group of teenage friends in the fictional Wisconsin town of Point Place.

From 1998 to 2006, the lighthearted comedy entertained viewers through its amusing dialogue and antics. One recurring scene involved the circle. The teens sat around a table and got high on marijuana while doing their best to solve lifes challenges.

That 70s Show cast then and now

Topher Grace

Topher Grace, who portrayed the teenage Star Wars fanatic Eric Foreman to perfection, was born Christoper John Grace in New York City on July 12, 1978. He changed his first name because he disliked the nickname Chris, his IMDb bio notes.

Aside from starring in a few school plays, Grace had little acting experience when he landed the part of Foreman. He appeared in every episode of the first seven seasons of That 70s Show but left to focus on film during the last season. However, he returned for the 2006 series finale, Us Weekly explains.

After That 70s Show ended, Grace appeared in several notable movies and TV series, including BlacKkKlansman, The Big Wedding, and Black Mirror.

Today, Grace and his wife, actor Ashley Hinshaw, stay busy raising two kids in a 4,000-square-foot 1940s home in La Canada, California. When not making movies, the 43-year-old actor hosts the Minor Adventures podcast.

Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis, who appeared as Jackie Burkhart in every episode of That 70s Show, was born Milena Markovna Kunis in the former Soviet Union in 1983 and immigrated to LA with her family when she was 8 years old. Her first acting gig was in the 1995 independent short Make a Wish Molly.

While playing Burkhart, Kunis was also the voice of Meg Griffin in the animated series Family Guy. After That 70s Show wrapped, she starred in several successful movies, including Black Swan and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Today, Kunis is married to her That 70s Show co-star Ashton Kutcher. They have two kids and live in a French Neoclassical mansion on a six-acre spread perched above Beverly Hills, Architectural Digest reports.

Ashton Kutcher

Born Christopher Ashton Kutcher in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on February 7, 1978, the 6-foot-2 actor played the handsome goofball Michael Kelso throughout the series. At one point, Kutcher planned to be a biochemical engineer, but winning the Fresh Faces of Iowa in 1997 set him on a different path.

On September 24, 2005, one year before That 70s Show ended, Kutcher married G.I. Jane actor Demi Moore. The couple separated in 2011 and divorced in 2013. Some months before the dissolution was final, Kutcher became romantically involved with his That 70s Show co-star Mila Kunis.

Today, Kunis and Kutcher have been married for a decade and are raising their children, Wyatt and Dimitri, in an exclusive section of LA.

Laura Prepon

Laura Prepon portrayed Donna Pinciotti in all 200 episodes of That 70s Show. Born March 7, 1980, the New Jersey native began acting as a teen and worked as a fashion model in Europe before landing the part of Pinciotti.

Today, Prepon and her husband, Six Feet Under actor Ben Foster, live in New York with their two kids  Ella and Foster.

Danny Masterson

Born on March 13, 1976, in Long Island, New York, Danny Masterson played the bushy-haired teen Steven Hyde on That 70s Show. After the series, Masterson acted in numerous TV series and music videos. Notably, he played the 1960s Yippie activist Jerry Rubin in the 2011 film The Chicago Eight.

Masterson married entertainer Bijou Phillips on October 18, 2011. They have a daughter, Fianna Francis.

Sadly, Masterson ran afoul of the law and was charged with numerous counts of sexual assault in June 2020. The 5-foot-10 actor is scheduled to stand trial in August 2022, Rolling Stone reports.

Wilmer Valderrama

Miami native Wilmer Valderrama portrayed foreign exchange student Fez in all 200 episodes of That 70s Show. Since the series ended, Valderrama has appeared in various movies and TV series, including The Ranch, where he appeared with That 70s Show castmates Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson.

That 70s Show revival will include nearly all of the original main cast

Most of That '70s Show's main cast will be making guest appearances on the upcoming spin-off series That '90s Show, including Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Wilmer Valderrama. https://t.co/sgAEeepOon pic.twitter.com/q52NOKPlDK  IGN (@IGN) May 1, 2022

Today, most of the That 70s Show cast members, including Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp, who played Red and Kitty Foreman, are rehearsing for a Netflix spinoff series.

Reportedly titled That 90s Show, the new series will feature all former characters except for Hyde. Danny Masterson will not be a part of the revamped show.

RELATED: Wilmer Valderramas Daughters Unique Name Has a Special Meaning
Nothing quite speaks to viewers more than a period drama. Shows like the Outlander, Vikings, and The Last Kingdom have a certain appeal to fans who cant seem to get enough of them. The Last Kingdom is currently streaming its fifth season and features a talented cast. One actor, Alexander Dreymon, plays the fan-favorite Uhtred, who is torn between two factions. The actor recently revealed he can relate to his character, saying, I always feel like the foreigner.

Alexander Dreymon | Jim Spellman/Getty Images

Alexander Dreymon relates to Uhtred

Uhtred had a rough childhood, having been taken away from his ancestral home at such a young age. Being sold to slavery also didnt help the situation, but the silver lining came when he won the favor of Earl Ragnar. This, however, doesnt make things easier for him as we see him battling with decisions relating to his birth home and where he was raised.

Dreymon, who has held on to the role of Uhtred since 2015, recently spoke to Muscle and Fitness about the role and how he manages to stay in shape to portray the character. When asked why he likes his character, Dreymon said, I relate to him because I grew up in so many different places, and I always feel like the foreigner, and I think its the same for him. He always has to battle to prove himself.

Dreymons real name is Alexander Doetsch. The star was born in Germany but grew up in France, Switzerland, and the United States. He studied in Paris and trained to be an actor at the Drama Center London.

Will there be another season of The Last Kingdom?

Something's changed

Season 5 lands on our shores on March 9th. Are you ready? #TLK5 #TheLastKingdom pic.twitter.com/jX5q410urF  The Last Kingdom (@TheLastKingdom) February 9, 2022

The Last Kingdom began shooting in November 2014, with the first season airing on October 10, 2015. The series moved to Netflix in its third season, which aired in November 2018. It took a brief hiatus airing the fourth season on April 26, 2020, after which a long hiatus followed. The fifth season started airing on March 9, 2022.

This season is scheduled as the shows last, but thats not to say that it will be the last time fans will see their favorite cast. According to National World, Netflix has commissioned a two-hour movie titled The Seven Kings Must Die to act as the sequel to the drama. The showrunners have described the movie as a standalone epilogue to the popular show.

The Last Kingdom is a major hit

The Last Kingdom is based on Bernard Cornwells series of novels called The Saxon Stories. The beloved series follows the lead, a boy born Osbert but later named Uhtred after his elder brother with the same name (Uhtred), his father, and other noblemen are killed by the Danes.

Uhtred is captured alongside a girl named Brida and is taken to work for Earl Ragnar. The Earl grows fond of Uhtred and adopts him raising him as Uhtred Ragnarsson. Time passes, and one night before the Earls daughter is to be married, fellow Danes attack them and burn Ragnar to death.

Brida and Uhtred survive and flee the home. Uhtred vows to avenge Ragnars death and hopes to reclaim his birthright from his uncle, who is determined to keep it to himself. Throughout the series, Uhtred comes face to face with the choice of betraying the kingdom of his ancestors or those who raised him. His allegiance is constantly tested as he continues in his quest for justice.

The series stars Dreymon as Uhtred, Emily Cox as the Saxon Brida, and David Dawson as King Alfred. Tobias Santelmann appears as Ragnar the Younger while Rune Temte plays Ubba. Other cast members include Julia Bache-Wiig, Mark Rowley, Peri Baumeister, and David Schofield.

RELATED: The Last Kingdom: The Best Fan Predictions for Season 5
Ree Drummond makes a boring Caesar salad a little more special with the addition of a pizza restaurant favorite. The Pioneer Woman star makes simple garlic knots that replace croutons and amp up the flavor.

Ree Drummond and Stephen Colber | Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images

Ree Drummonds Caesar salad is on the menu at her pizza place

Drummond demonstrated how to make her easy Caesar salad on an episode of The Pioneer Woman featuring recipes from her P-Town Pizza restaurant in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

You never know where life is gonna take you. Ladd and I just opened a pizza place in our small town and it has been so much fun, she said. So I thought it would be great to share some of my favorite recipes from our pizza restaurant.

Drummond continued, We dont just have pizza at P-Town, we also have great salads. People really seem to like the Caesar. It happens to be my favorite. Its really fresh and flavorful  but then adds a special touch. We put garlic not knots on top of it.

The Food Network host added, You heard me. We really know how to celebrate the healthiness of a salad  we top it with a fried dough.

Ree Drummond makes an easy Caesar salad dressing

Drummond started by making a salad dressing. Every Caesar salad needs a great dressing, she said.

The Pioneer Woman star combined anchovy paste, minced garlic, Dijon mustard, lemon zest and juice, Worcestershire sauce, and mayonnaise in a food processor and pulsed together the ingredients. She added egg yolks and blended the mixture again and, while the machine was running, she slowly drizzled in olive oil. Drummond added grated parmesan, salt, and pepper, and gave the dressing another blend.

She cut romaine lettuce, placed it in a bowl, and added half of the dressing. This is actually almost identical to the dressing that Ive made my whole life, Drummond said. But I added some mayonnaise to give it a little bit of creaminess.

She tossed the dressing with the lettuce and added shaved parmesan on top. Caesar salad and I go way back, the Food Network host noted. It happens to be the thing I most order from hotel room service whenever Im traveling.

She added, I really like to generously coat the leaves in dressing. Theres nothing worse than getting a Caesar salad and being disappointed by how little dressing there is. Just wait until you see this salad with the garlic knots on top.

The Pioneer Woman star makes easy not knots to top the salad

After plating the salad, Drummond moved on to making the fried dough not knots. She explained, Now, these just look like simple little balls of dough but dont let them fool you. They are absolutely going to turn into the best little things youve ever tasted.

She made an easy pizza dough, pinched off pieces, and rolled it into balls, then fried the not knots in a large pot of oil. Drummond removed them from the oil and placed them on a paper towel-lined sheet pan.

Drummond coated the knots with garlic butter and grated parmesan cheese, then placed the fried dough on top of the Caesar salad. You cannot believe how delicious these not knots are, she said. You can also do a sweet version of the not knots and just toss them in cinnamon sugar.

The Pioneer Woman star served the remaining knots with a pizza sauce for dipping. These make a great little snack for kids if theyre having friends over, she said. A great snack for you if youre home by yourself and just want to indulge.

The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.

RELATED: The Pioneer Woman: Ree Drummonds French Bread Pizza Is the Perfect Weeknight Dinner
The Biden administration supports the Central Intelligence Agency in furnishing Russian tips to bypass the Kremlin's only monitoring. Reports of dissent in Moscow are increasing, and the US spooks want to get the information.

Kremlin Does Not Want American Interference

This intelligence outfit advised Russian citizens to use social media to share information with the agency as the invasion of Ukraine keeps going, reported the Express UK.

All details about websites linking 'Project TOR' motivate citizens to download the browser, allowing user activity from tracking and surveillance.

CIA is giving Russian-language instructions to those against the government's unjust war so that they can connect with the US. As explained by the CIA's global mission, people can contact them safely from anywhere.

According to CIA officials, concerned Russians are attempting to engage the CIA, who want to provide a safe way to contact them.

This service's goal, according to officials, is to gain more information about Russian information and secrets not gained from usual channels.

Remarks by the CIA representative say the global mission allows these individuals to contact them anonymously from anywhere.

Furthermore, those concerned must not download the browser to personal devices because it becomes traceable to their identity, according to the Central Intelligence Agency that the Biden administration will use.

Read Also: Vladimir Putin's 'Girlfriend': 5 Things To Know About Alina Kabaeva

How To Pass Information Anonymously

If it can't be used on one of these devices or the browser can't be installed safely, you must first set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) before contacting the CIA.

One way to avoid getting a visit from the FSB is not to use a VPN that uses a provider in Russia or China and other nations calling the US its enemy.

Via the VPNs, which are not Chinese or Russian encrypted from monitoring is advised by retired intelligence officer Dan Hoffman who worked in Moscow, noted India A2Z.

He added that Russian-based information should not be taken at face value. Warning that the FSB, the successor of the KGB, will be looking for activities against the Kremlin.

Since the start of the Ukraine incursion, there have been reports more VPN downloads have been detected online. There are more downloads based on the Top10 VPNs because the Kremlin does not tolerate internet dissidence and banning over 1,000 websites.

Not all information is useful for the US spy agency that utilizes the reporting service to get the data from Russians who want to share the info.

Ex-CIA officer John Sipher told the Washington Post that the CIA's new service is an indicator many people are attempting to get to through US intelligence in less than secure ways.

He added that it is appropriate to provide means for first contact that is smarter than going to the US consulate is safer or approaching a US citizen on the street.

Central Intelligence Agency operations are part of the Biden administration and its alleged to destabilize Russia via means that undermine Vladimir Putin's government.

Related Article: Sweden Disappoints NATO by Not Joining Due to Mistrust of the US-Led Military Block That Shuns Neutrality

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The Pioneer Woman opened up about what it was like growing up. Ree Drummond says her mom is great, but she didnt appreciate the rules she had to follow when she was a teenager. Heres what Drummond shared about her upbringing.

Who is Ree Drummonds mom?

The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond with her family | Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Pioneer Woman Magazine

Drummonds mother is Gerre Schwert. The Food Network star loves when her mom comes to visit The Pioneer Woman show. The last time Schwert stopped by was last year, and she showed home cooks how to make her top secret pizza. (Heres the secret to Drummonds pizza sauce.)

Drummond shared a sweet message on Instagram about her mothers visit. She joked about letting her mom take over from now on while she sits in the corner and eats cheese.

My mom came to film with the kids and me today! says Drummond. We had a blast. She did really great! In fact, I think Ill just sit back and film her cooking next time. Ill be the Jabba the Hutt on the other side of the island, holding the camera, hunched over the counter, unconcerned with what top Im wearing, Spanxless, eating cheese. I feel thats my real identity and I somehow accidentally wound up in front of the camera many years ago?

Drummond described the time with her mom as wonderful. She was happy to see her because she hadnt been able to spend much time with her due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So wonderful to spend time with my mom today! says Drummond on Instagram. She moved back to Oklahoma last spring right before COVID landed. So, we havent been able to hang out much over the past year. Looking forward to lots of good times ahead!

Ree Drummond didnt like her moms teenager rules

During one of her shows, Drummond spoke about what it was like to be a teenager. She says her mom had a lot of teenager rules she didnt like.

Theres kind of a little energy in the air today because my mom is coming, and we all love G so much, says Drummond on The Pioneer Woman show. My moms name is Gerre. The kids have always called her G. And shes just kind of walking, talking, breathing, sunshine everywhere she goes.

Although Drummond says her mother is sunshine, she had a tough time accepting the rules when she was younger. She didnt always think her mom was bright and sunny.

I didnt necessarily think that when I was a teenager, and she was giving me rules, confesses Drummond. I didnt like those teenager rules at all. But Ive come to appreciate her now that I have teenagers. And its all about rules in our house. Boy, Im really diving into the history of adolescence! jokes Drummond. (Check out some of the behind-the-scenes secrets revealed by Drummonds family.)

The things Ree Drummond loves about her mom

Drummond took a moment to list the things she loves about her mother. One thing she appreciates is her moms personality.

Shes nice to everyone, says Drummond. Shes always got a smile on her face. She speaks in sort of a sing-song voice. Shes always optimistic. Shes a fun person to be aroundunless youre a teenager, she jokes.

RELATED: The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond Cooks These 4 Recipes the Most for Her Family

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The 90 Day Fiance franchise is full of parents who are always there to help their children  even if the situation involves supporting them moving to another country to marry someone theyve known for a week. In honor of Mothers Day 2022, lets look back at the top five most supportive moms in 90 Day Fiance history.

Anna and Alina on 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way | discovery+

5. Chantels mom, Karen Everett

Karen Everett will stop at nothing to protect her children  Winter Everett, Chantel Everett, and River Everett. As fans saw on 90 Day Fiance, Karen supports her daughter, Chantel, through the ups and downs of her marriage to Pedro. However, if anyone messes with her children, the claws come out. Not only is she supportive, but shes also very entertaining. Her antics have helped the family get their own spinoff, The Family Chantel.

In one iconic scene, Karen started taking off her jewelry in preparation to confront Pedro and his sister Nicole Jimeno. And saying the iconic line, Things are about to get a lot more stupider. Karen has her childrens backs like no one else, even if that sometimes means secretly hiring private investigators.

4. Colts mom, Debbie Johnson

Debbie Johnson is Colt Johnsons 69-year-old mom from Las Vegas, NV. She raised her son Colt Johnson on her own after his father died early on. And she has been there for Colt ever since, even supporting him through his many failed romances. While Colt takes care of his mother financially by moving her into his home, she takes care of him by being his confidant.

In 90 Day Fiance Season 6, Debbie iconically stood up to Colts first wife, Larissa dos Santos Lima, for disrespecting her son. This often led to many fights between Larissa and Debbie, but she never backed down. When Colt got involved with rebound, Jess Caroline, Debbie defended Colt even when he was in the wrong. Despite sometimes being a little stubborn, Debbie is a ride-or-die mom, and Colt is lucky to have her.

3. Kalanis mom, Lisa Faagata

One of the most maternal mothers in the history of 90 Day Fiance is Kalani Faagatas mother, Lisa Faagata. When Kalani revealed that she was pregnant after a vacation to their homeland, Samoa, her mom never judged her. Despite having her doubts about the relationship, Lisa did nothing but support her daughter financially and emotionally.

Lisa Faagata, Kalani Faagata and Asuelu Pulaa, 90 Day Fiance | TLC

Lisa not only supported Kalani in her plan of marrying her fiance and baby daddy, Asuelu Pulaa, but she even sponsored him to come to the US on a K-1 visa. And after Kalani became pregnant again, Lisa was there to help her raise her children when she became overwhelmed and put Asuelus family in their place like a boss. Its clear where Kalani takes after her mother when it comes to being a great mom.

2. Alinas mom, Anna Shaimardanova

When Alina Shaimardanova decided that she would go (mid-pandemic) to Turkey to marry a man she only knew in person for a few weeks, her mother, Anna, expressed her concern. Ultimately, Anna supported her daughter, despite having concerns he was in a cult and was going to harvest her organs.

Alinas mother, Anna, on 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way | discovery+

However, when Alina opened up about how her fiance, Steven Johnson, wasnt being honest with her, mama bears claws came out. During one iconic meal during 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 3, Anna didnt hold back while confronting Steven for his hypocrisy and the way hes been treating Alina. She advised her daughter to ditch lying Steven and come home to Russia. But when her daughter decided to marry him anyway, she supported him in a loving, gentle way only a mother can.

1. Arielas mom, Janice Weinberg

Ariela Weinbergs mom, Janice Weinberg, is a retired nurse from Princeton, New Jersey. She continually goes to great lengths to help her daughter navigate her relationship with Biniyam Shibre. In 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 2, Janice traveled with her pregnant daughter to help her settle into her new life in Ethiopia. She has a natural way of assisting Ariela without meddling in her business.

In The Other Way Season 3, Janice supported her daughter again by traveling with her daughter to Kenya. Once there, she even mediated Ariela and Biniyams marriage by speaking to them both separately. We all need a mom like Janice.

Fans can watch more of Janice in the new season of 90 Day Fiance Season 9. New episodes air Sundays at 8 pm EST on TLC and discovery+.

RELATED: 90 Day Diaries Update: Mike Youngquist Moves In With His New Roomie Mom Trish
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Gov. Glenn Youngkin says police monitoring Supreme Court justices homes after doxxing

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the states police are monitoring the protests planned for this week outside the homes of Supreme Court justices who were doxxed by pro-abortion activists as they are poised to release their decision in a Mississippi abortion case.

The governor is aware and Virginia State Police will monitor the situation, The Epoch Times quoted the governors spokeswoman Macaulay Porter as saying in an email. VSP will assist federal and local law enforcement as needed to ensure the safety of our citizens, including Supreme Court justices, who call Virginia home.

Pro-choice group Ruth Sent Us, which is named after the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, recently posted a map with the addresses of six justices, three of whom live in Virginia, encouraging people to protest outside their homes. The other three justices live in Maryland.

Google Maps had removed the map as of Sunday. This map is no longer available due to a violation of our Terms of Service and/or policies, it said on the groups website.

ANNOUNCING: Walk-by Wednesday, May 11, 2022! says the groups website. At the homes of the six extremist justices, three in Virginia and three in Maryland. If youd like to join or lead a peaceful protest, let us know.

Appointed by Republican presidents, some of these justices are set to overturn the Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade decision, which usurped state law on abortion and legalized the practice nationwide.

One of the three justices who live in Virginia is Justice Samuel Alito, a George W. Bush appointee who wrote the recently leaked draft majority opinion.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would join Alito to form a majority, said Politico, which published the draft opinion.

The pro-abortion group also called for protests outside Catholic churches on Sunday.

The New York Post noted that the planned protests could be illegal.

According to 18 U.S.C. 1507, which relates to Obstruction of Justice, anyone who has the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the tent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer and pickets or parades in or near a court building or residents occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness or court officer will face a fine or imprisonment of one year.

Also raising concerns about the intimidation tactics, The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote, Everyone has the right to protest, but assailing the families of judges at home is a blatant attempt at intimidation. If the leaker wanted to mobilize public hostility to the Court, he is succeeding.

They added, The threats against the Court are enough that a fence has gone up around the Supreme Court building, and new security has been laid on. A violent act by a fanatic cant be ruled out, and this warrants the attention of Attorney General Merrick Garland. Federal law makes it a crime to threaten federal judges, and that includes threats of vigilantism.

The WSJ editors also noted that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has not criticized the pro-abortion group's call for protests or the leak of the draft opinion. What happened to President Bidens concern for declining public trust in government institutions? they asked.
Mike Pence urges Biden to speak out against disruption at churches, potential violence against justices

Former Vice President Mike Pence said in a media interview that President Joe Biden should speak out forcefully against the planned demonstrations at Catholic churches amid the fallout from the recent leaking of an initial draft majority opinion that could overturn the U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade.

President Biden should speak out forcefully, make it clear that those who support his view on abortion, on the Supreme Court, let their voice be heard, but heard peacefully and respect the law, Pence told The Daily Wire in an interview Saturday.

The pro-abortion group Ruth Sent Us, which describes itself as a group working to force accountability using a diversity of tactics from the 6-3 extremist Supreme Court, is urging abortion supporters to stand at or in a local Catholic Church Sun May 8 as a show of support for Supreme Court precedent that has legalized abortion nationwide.

A video accompanying a May 3 tweet calling on abortion advocates to stage protests inside churches shows pro-abortion protesters dressed in "Handmaids Tale" costumes yelling abortion on demand and without apology at churchgoers as they storm through the pews of a Catholic church.

Pence added, The president of the United States is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America. And he ought to make it very, very clear that anyone who would engage in violence or threaten violence or disrupt religious services would be held to the strictest account.

The push for protests at Catholic Masses comes after Politico published a leaked draft opinion regarding the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health. According to the leaked initial draft, five of the nine Supreme Court justices voted to uphold a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15-week gestation.

Pence also responded to White House Press Secretary Jen Psakis refusal to criticize the pro-abortion groups call for protests.

At a White House press briefing last week, Psaki was asked, A Catholic church was just vandalized with pro-abortion slogans in Colorado. It just happened recently. Is the White House aware of that, first of all?

Psaki responded, Ive not seen that report. Obviously, we dont condone vandalism. We condone peaceful protest, and thats something certainly were encouraging with everybody who feels passionate.

When asked, What would you say to those vandals going after  targeting Catholic churches, especially when it involves Roe? Thats what theyre basically focusing on, Psaki said, Again, we dont condone vandalism. We condone peaceful protest.

Psaki added, I think its important to note that 60 percent or 70 percent, depending on the poll you look at, of the American people do not want Roe to be overturned.

Pence said, I dont accept that. Americans can be passionate without breaking the law. And theres no excuse for violence against persons or property in the name of any political causes.

Psaki was also asked, These activists posted a map with the home addresses of the Supreme Court justices [who live in Virginia and Maryland]. Is that the kind of thing [President Biden] wants to help your side make their point?

Psaki responded, Look, I think the presidents view is that theres a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness from many, many people across this country about what they saw in that leaked document. We obviously want peoples privacy to be respected. We want people to protest peacefully if they want to  to protest. That is certainly what the presidents view would be.

The initial draft opinion for Dobbs, which is not final and could change, did not receive the support of six extremist Catholics. While opinion author Justice Samuel Alito is Catholic, as are Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, who also backed the draft opinion, the fifth justice who supported the draft opinion, Neil Gorsuch, is Episcopalian.

Although Chief Justice John Roberts is Catholic and part of what Ruth Sent Us describes as the 6-3 extremist Supreme Court, he did not sign onto the draft opinion.

Another video posted Tuesday by Ruth Sent Us featured protesters dressed in "Handmaids Tale" outfits declaring: For 2,000 years, the Catholic Church has been an institution for the enslavement of women.

In the tweet, the group declared: This is what Mothers Day should look like in Catholic and Evangelical Churches nationwide.

The Catholic Church is among the most outspoken critics of abortion, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines abortion as gravely contrary to the moral law.

In a statement, Joshua Mercer, communications director of the group CatholicVote, alleged a pattern of anti-Catholicism among the Ruth Sent Us activists.

If they wanted, they could have just focused on the issue of abortion, he said, recalling their characterization of several Supreme Court justices as extremist Catholics.

Instead they chose to highlight the Catholic faith of some of the pro-life justices.

Ruth Sent Us derives its name from the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who consistently voted to strike down abortion restrictions as unconstitutional throughout her 27 years on the bench.

Pence called the leak of the draft opinion a despicable act.

But I hope and pray that the draft opinion becomes adopted as the majority opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States and we send Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history where it belongs, he said.
What can we do for those who say that 'there is no God?'

Some people believe that the world is governed by chance, not by God, and that morality is man-made, not divine. This ideology did not start today. David identified atheists and called them fools: The fool says in his heart, There is no God. This verse in fact occurs in two passages in the Psalms (14:1 and 53:1).

It is obvious that one of the characteristics of fools is that they do not believe in the existence of God. Their statements do not literally deny the existence of God but give them the impetus to continue in their wicked ways. These people are not only foolish but wicked as well. Theyve come to believe that God does not exist and that they are not accountable to Him at the end of their journey here on earth. This belief has given them the license to live freely and do what pleases them.

The unfortunate thing is that more and more people are joining them. Are they possessed by the devil? I do not think so because even the devil and his demons know that God exists: You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe  and shudder! (James 2:19). What could make man deny the existence of his creator?

It is obvious that the devil cannot outrightly tell anyone not to believe in God but can bring about circumstances and events that can create doubt in the mind of believers. So many in the Church nowadays claim that God exists, but do not revere or fear Him. When the custodians of the Gospel are playing games and politics with God, how do we expect followers and unbelievers to take Christianity seriously? As it is written: Gods name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you (Romans 2:24).



In addition to this, when church leaders are robbing congregants in the name of God, what kind of testimony is that to the unbelieving world? In my country, many people are leaving the church because they have been shortchanged by their pastors. There is a trending news item about a pastor in Nigeria who is selling rapture tickets at the rate of $751 to Christians who want to go to Heaven. The world sees this and turns its back on the Church.

Hermeneutical perversion of the Word of God is another factor that contributes to the growth of atheism. When worldly messages are regularly preached, and fake promises are made to worshipers, people tend to be disillusioned. And when lies are dished from the pulpit, believers are inevitably pushed down the road of apostasy.

Most people who say that there is no God do not know what they are doing. Christians should emulate Christ and pray for them on a regular basis and ask God to forgive them. Instead of condemning and attacking atheists, we should regularly intercede for the mercy of God to triumph over the judgment that they are inflicting on themselves. A little act of Christian kindness and love of Christ can go a long way in making atheists see the presence of God in our lives. Instead of getting into drawn-out arguments with them, we should kindly and respectful engage with them.

Jesus died for all, and salvation is for all. Too many image-bearers of God are being destroyed for lack of knowledge. For us to attract atheists to the saving knowledge of Christ, we must regularly intercede for them, show them love and kindness and tell them the truth about our God.
Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization to be held in South Korea in 2024

The Lausanne Movement will hold its next global gathering in Seoul, South Korea, in September of 2024, marking the 50th anniversary of when the movement held its first meeting.

Known as the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, the 2024 event is expected to bring together thousands of Christian leaders worldwide.

Lausanne Movement CEO Michael Oh made the announcement on Wednesday during a meeting of faith leaders at the Incheon campus of Onnuri Community Church.

In the announcement, the Lausanne Movement stated that it believes the meeting will be a pivotal moment in Christian history with the Fourth Lausanne Congress being hosted in Seoul by Korea, Japan, and the broader Asian church, in close partnership with leaders from across Asia.

The global church is at a critical point in needing to consider both its unity and witness in the world as we seek to achieve the vision of seeing the Gospel reach every person, disciple-making churches for every people and place, Christ-like leaders in every church and sector, and kingdom impact in every sphere of society, stated the organization.

Seoul 2024 will be a celebration of the gospel and our loving, forgiving, and gracious God who has invited us to join his mission in the world  Our prayer is that the world would look beautifully different in the years and generations ahead because of Seoul 2024.

Lausanne traces its origins to July of 1974 when the Rev. Billy Graham organized a multiday gathering in Lausanne, Switzerland, which was attended by approximately 2,300 Christian leaders from around 150 countries.

Originally known as the First International Congress on World Evangelization, the theme for the 1974 gathering was Let The Earth Hear His Voice.

Since that inaugural gathering, two additional Lausanne congresses were held in Manila, Philippines, in 1989 and then in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2010.

The Cape Town gathering reportedly had approximately 4,000 Christian leaders present, representing nearly 200 nations and thousands more participating virtually.

The movement would eventually adopt a popular modern Church statement of faith during follow-up meetings known as the Lausanne Covenant.

We are deeply stirred by what God is doing in our day, moved to penitence by our failures and challenged by the unfinished task of evangelization, stated the Introduction of the Covenant.

We believe the Gospel is Gods good news for the whole world, and we are determined by his grace to obey Christs commission to proclaim it to all mankind and to make disciples of every nation.
Islamic militants kill 8 Christians, including children, in Nigeria

Radical Islamic militants killed at least eight Christians, including children younger than 5, and wounded several others in an attack in Nigerias Borno state, according to reports.

A picture from the scene shows two deceased victims, each appearing to be young children, lying side by side, said the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern about the attack in Borno states Kwal area.

ICC added that one of its representatives met with a 2-year-old gunshot wound survivor whose mother was killed in the attack.

According to various reports, the attackers were Islamic Fulani herdsmen or militants from the Islamic State West Africa Province.

The attackers had AK-47 rifles and shouted, Allah Akbar [Allah is the greatest] while firing indiscriminately, according to ICC, which said a community member who was given intel about a possible attack had issued a security alert.

In response to this warning, an ICC representative went to the community before the attack began and rescued 15 children, whom he hid in his home beyond the scope of the assailants, the watchdog said.

Despite an early warning, we told government officials, but they kept silent and allowed Fulani militants to kill us, a leader in the community was quoted as saying. The government is silent over the killings in my region because we are Christians, not Fulani Muslims.

There has been an increase in attacks by suspected Fulani radicals against farming communities in Nigerias Middle Belt states in recent years that have reportedly led to thousands of deaths.

Weapons are being made available to militants in Nigeria through war-torn Libya. And in the countrys Northeast region, the terrorist groups Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have killed thousands and displaced millions in recent years.

In a report released last year, the Anambra-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) estimated that about 10 million people had been uprooted in northern Nigeria, where extremist violence was most severe, from July 2009 to July 2021.

The report added that about 2,000 Christian schools were attacked during that time.

The atrocities included massacres, killings, mutilations, torture, maiming, abductions, hostage-taking, rape, girl-child defilements, forced marriages, disappearances, extortions, forceful conversions and destruction or burning of homes and sacred worship and learning centers, Intersociety reported.

Intersociety said the mass violence had resulted from the propagation of radical Islamism.

The Nigerian government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, who comes from a Fulani background, attributes the violence in the Middle Belt states to decades-old farmer-herder clashes. However, Christian human rights advocates have accused the government of overlooking religious elements and not doing enough to protect Nigerian citizens.

Last year, the U.S. State Department removed Nigeria from its list of countries of particular concern for tolerating or engaging in egregious violations of religious liberty after it was placed on the list in 2020 by the Trump administration. The removal of Nigeria from the list drew backlash from some human rights activists.

Many have raised concerns about what they perceive as the governments inaction in holding terrorists accountable for the rising number of murders and kidnappings, which some groups warn have reached the level of genocide.

ICC identified Nigeria as one of its 2021 Persecutors of the Year.

Nigeria is one of the deadliest places on Earth for Christians, as 50,000 to 70,000 have been killed since 2000, the ICC Persecutor of the Year report states.

Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, reported that at least 4,650 Christians were killed between Oct. 1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021. That is an increase from 3,530 the previous year. Additionally, more than 2,500 Christians were kidnapped, up from 990 a year earlier.
Quantum mechanics is more than quarks and molecules because it also includes effects on DNA causing changes. These molecular interactions are responsible for significant changes in the double helix of life. The molecules of life are accurate when multiplying, but it's got mistakes whose outcome is varying mutations.

Physics at an Evolutionary Level

A group composed of physicists and chemists from the University of Surrey utilizes advanced computer simulation to show that errors in trying to replicate that happens because of quantum physics bleeding into living systems, reported Science Daily.

Protons are subatomic particles that connect two strands of the Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) double helix. Also, hydrogen atom nuclei glue holds the molecules of bases together. The twisted components of the double helix are held by hydrogen as well. James Watson and Francis Crick discovered it in 1952 based on Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins' work.

DNA bases usually have definite bond pair (A, C, T, and G) and never changes. A will be paired with T, and C will bond to G normally. Their molecule has a defined shape that determines a strict pair, but alterations of hydrogen bonding are there. It will be a mistake to allow a random link that will be a mutation in the double helix of life.

Despite the research by Crick and Watson that generally outlined the process before, this changed with the use of supercomputers to get to its reality, noted EurekAlert.

This research program in the amazing new field of quantum biology has disclosed that the alteration of DNA bonds is far more prevalent than initially assumed via quantum mechanics.

Read Also: Climate Change Influences Human Evolution Since the Days of the First Hominid Until the Existence of Modern Man

Protons that jump spontaneously for either side of an energy barrier occur, resulting in the unzipping of the two stands as the genes copy themselves. At this point, the protons will cause a mismatch that might be a mutation.

The study was posted in the journal Nature Communications Physics; they were based at The Leverhulme Quantum Biology Doctoral Training Centre and used an open quantum methodology to discover what causes protons to jump between Genetic material.

But, most bizarrely due to tunneling, a well-known, almost mystical quantum process that is like a phantom passing through a solid wall. Originally believed that quantum behavior cannot occur in a living cell's complex environment.

Life Molecules Are Affected

An assertion by the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger forwarded in his 1944 book What is Life? Because living systems behave differently than living matter, quantum mechanics can play a role. Schrodinger's approach tends to be made official by this latest research.

Based on the study, the local cellular environment, which behaves like spread out waves, is thermally activated and stimulated through the energy barrier.

Protons actively tunnel into the double helix resulting in randomized placements on the strands, which causes an error in paring or mutation.

Dr. Louie Slocombe said the changes caused by the protons change the double helix structure into a variation. These modified bases called 'tautomers' stay after the genetic material cleavage and copy as mutations.

Prof Al-Khalili remarks that Watson and Crick predicted these quantum mechanical effects in genetic material about 50 years back.

Dr. Sacchi added that biologists expected tunneling of protons in simple organic systems, but most affected in the unseen realm are ignored, and the study proves that nothing is absolute.

Quantum mechanics does affect DNA which explains the randomness of the mutations in the living cell.

Related Article: Blueprint for Life Could Have Started From Asteroids Hitting the Protean Earth Billions of Years Ago

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Franklin Graham condemns Biden's insinuation that abortion rights come from being 'a child of God'

Evangelist and prominent conservative Christian Franklin Graham has criticized President Joe Biden's recent insinuation the right to abortion comes from being a child of God."

As the contentious issue gains a renewed prominence in American politics ahead of an anticipated U.S. Supreme Court decision and the leak of a draft opinion, Biden spoke on the abortion issue Wednesday during a speech at the White House.

His speech came two days after Politico published a leaked draft opinion in the Supreme Court case of Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, suggesting that a majority of justices support overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

In Dobbs, the justices consider the constitutionality of Mississippis 15-week abortion ban.

This is about a lot more than abortion, Biden warned, adding that it reminds him of a debate he had decades earlier with Robert Bork, who then-President Ronald Reagan nominated to serve on the Supreme Court in 1987. Borks nomination was ultimately defeated, making him the most recent Supreme Court nominee voted down by the Senate.

Bork believed the only reason you had any inherent rights was because the government gave them to you, Biden said. I said I believe I have the rights that I have not because the government gave them to me, which you believe, but because Im just a child of God, I exist.

Rev. Franklin Graham, the CEO of Samaritans Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, condemned Biden, saying the president implies that the right to an abortion comes from being a child of God.

Mr. President, thats just not true, Graham stated in a tweet Thursday. Being a child of God does not give you the right to take the lives of the innocent. Abortion is a sin  simply put, its murder.

Yesterday @POTUS Biden said that the right to an abortion comes from being a child of God. Mr. President, that is just not true. Being a child of God does not give you the right to take the lives of the innocent. Abortion is a sinsimply put, its murder.https://t.co/T9TUO5D0DC  Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) May 5, 2022

Biden suggested that the draft opinion in Dobbs becoming the final ruling would lead to a slippery slope.

What are the next things that are going to be attacked? the Democrat asked, arguing that the "MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that's existed in American history."

The president specifically mentioned the 1965 case of Griswold v. Connecticut, which struck down a Connecticut law banning married couples from obtaining contraception and is widely seen as setting a precedent for Roe v. Wade by creating a right to privacy.

Griswold was thought to be a bad decision by Bork and my guess is by the guys on the Supreme Court now, Biden said, rejecting the idea that there is no right of privacy.

Biden seemingly compared a decision in the Dobbs case to states passing laws proclaiming that children that are LGBTQ cant be in classrooms with other children due to the way the decisions written.

Biden had previously expressed displeasure at the draft opinion in Dobbs on multiple occasions leading up to his comments Wednesday.

When asked about the draft opinion before boarding Air Force One en route to Alabama Tuesday, Biden said the rationale used to reach a decision overturning Roe would affect every other Supreme Court decision relating to the notion of privacy.

If the rationale of the decision as released were to be sustained, a whole range of rights are in question  a whole range of rights, he said. And the idea were letting the states make those decisions, localities make those decisions would be a fundamental shift in what weve done.

Justice Samuel Alito, the author of the leaked draft opinion in Dobbs,wrote that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right.

Alito maintained that nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.

Biden indicated that he was not prepared to leave abortion law to the whims of the American people.

In a statement Tuesday, Biden described a womans right to choose as fundamental because Roe has been the law of the land for almost 50 years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned.

He vowed to work to pass legislation that codifies Roe at the federal level. The legislation in question, the Womens Health Protection Act, has already passed the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives but failed to pass the Senate. The Senate has scheduled a second vote on the measure for Wednesday.

A decision overturning Roe would leave the issue of abortion up to each state.

Twenty-one states have bans or stricter restrictions on abortion that would go into effect in the absence of Roe. Meanwhile, 16 states have codified the right to abortion into state law and 10 states that have not codified the right to abortion will see no significant changes in their abortion laws. Three states may have their abortion laws determined in referendums in the near future.
'I am valuable': Republican Senate candidate reveals she was conceived by rape

A Republican Senate candidate has been publicly sharing her personal story as a child conceived in rape as the issue of abortion takes center stage following the release of a draft U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

Kathy Barnette, a candidate for the Republican nomination for the open Senate seat in Pennsylvania, posted a video on her Twitter page Tuesday titled It wasnt a choice. It was a life. A tweet accompanying the video read: Im the byproduct of rape. My mother was 11 when I was conceived. In the world the Left desires, I would have never been born.

Im the byproduct of rape. My mother was eleven when I was conceived.



In the world the Left desires, I would never have been born.



We need leaders with a steady hand to direct our nation through these difficult discussions.



Help me by sharing my story:https://t.co/JNGw8gNts0pic.twitter.com/lqzufvxzQR  Kathy Barnette (@Kathy4Truth) May 3, 2022

In the video, Barnette recalled how after seeing her birth certificate for the first time, she discovered that her mother was just 12 years old when she gave birth to her. That just really struck a chord in me because I realized just how young my mother was when something so horrible had visited upon her, an emotional Barnette said. Even to this day, its a very hard word to say but my mother was raped.

Barnette added that her father, who raped her mother, was 21 years old. Barnettes mother, Mamie Jo, appears in the ad and described her experience as devastating before explaining that her mother told her, youre pregnant, so were going to get through this.

She helped me get through it, Mamie Jo added. I dont want to use the word choice. She was going to be born. I didnt have a choice to say, youre going to live or Im going to abort you. That wasnt a choice for me, and I thank God it wasnt a choice for me.

Barnette explained that discovering the circumstances that led to her conception gave her a greater appreciation for my mother and helped me to forgive a lot of the mistakes someone at that age, having gone through such trauma, would have made in their own parenting.

She further maintained that it definitely made me become very adamant about the sanctity of life, of all life, regardless of their conception, regardless of how they arrived.

I am valuable; Im worthy and my life has purpose, she added. Barnette lamented that even among Christians, even among staunch conservatives, an exception to the rule of being pro-life for many is in the case of rape.

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

After highlighting her marriage and two children, Barnette proclaimed that none of this would have happened if the exception to the rule had applied. Barnettes mother offered a similar view, opining, Regardless of how old you are and how the child was conceived, that child deserves a chance.

If I hadnt made that choice, where would I be at right now? she asked. Without my daughter.

Barnette noted that her mother still experiences trauma from her rape, stressing that the trauma has already been inflicted and that the child should not be inflicted with the consequences that squarely belong on the one who inflicted the trauma. She also declared that aborting me would not have eased the trauma that my mother suffered. Aborting me would not have allowed me to be in a place today where I can now take care of my mother.

Im eternally grateful that they chose to allow me to be born, Barnette declared.

Her Twitter post featuring the ad came one day after a draft Supreme Court majority opinion in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health was leaked. In the draft opinion, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade and the 1992 Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which created and upheld a right to abortion, respectively, must be overruled.

The content of the draft opinion, which is not final, generated outrage among supporters of Roe and pro-abortion advocates. One of the most common arguments against reversing Roe and allowing each state to make its own laws on abortion involves concerns that women who have been raped will have to raise a child against their will. Barnette is not the only child conceived through rape to passionately reject the premise that women should be free to abort their children if they were conceived through rape.

Christian Post columnist Ryan Bomberger identified himself as the 1 percent used to justify 100 percent of abortions in a 2019 article. He expressed gratitude that my biological mother was raped, yet she rejected the violence of abortion, enabling him to be adopted and loved instead. Bomberger echoed Barnettes analysis on the value of children conceived through rape, signaling support for the radical notion that we all have equal and irrevocable worth regardless of how our lives began.

According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls taken of the Pennsylvania Republican Primary, Barnette has the support of 10.8% of Republican primary voters, coming in third behind businessman Dave McCormick and television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz. The most recent poll of the race, conducted from April 1113 by the Trafalgar Group, measured Barnettes support at 18%, slightly behind Oz and McCormicks respective support at 23% and 20%.

Before April, most of the polls showed Barnette as one of several candidates with support in the single digits. The primary election for Pennsylvanias Senate race is scheduled for May 17. Whoever wins the Republican primary will face off against a Democrat in Novembers Senate race, most likely Lt. Gov. John Fetterman or Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa. The seat is open, as incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Toomey has decided to forego running for re-election.

Barnette previously ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020, seeking to represent Pennsylvanias 4th Congressional District. She lost to incumbent Democrat Madeleine Dean by 19 points in a district President Joe Biden carried by 24 points in the 2020 presidential election. If elected to the U.S. Senate, she would become the first African American Republican woman to serve in the chamber.
'We are increasingly no longer safe': Seminary head sounds alarm on record rise in murder rates

The head of a prominent American seminary who served as both a lawyer and judge is warning that a surge in murders among Americans  particularly in the black community  since the defund the police movement began is yet another sign that America is in dire need of spiritual revival.

Judge Phil Ginn, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, pointed to federal government data released last fall that found that murders jumped by roughly 30% between 2019 and 2020 in the largest single-year increase on record.

And among the black community, the murder rate rose more than 32%.

Ginn, who served for over a decade as a superior court judge in North Carolina's 24th Judicial District, told The Christian Post this week that he thinks reductions in police funding are a significant factor in increased crime. But he believes that the end result of defunding the police is more of a socioeconomic issue than it is a racial issue.

He identified one of the ways to address the increase in crime as pouring additional monies to adequately fund the police and boost their presence in crime-ridden neighborhoods.

But Ginn also urged policymakers to look at early intervention into particularly the lives of young people, who need to see both a deterrent for crime, but also a redemptive avenue of being able to become a productive member of society.

Ginn contends that while COVID certainly played a part in the crime increase, too many folks are quick to blame the pandemic. Describing the pandemic as a convenient place to hang our hat, he doesn't believe it "tells the whole story.

The first real test of any government is how well it protects its citizens," he stated. "The foremost right given to us by Almighty God as acknowledged in our Declaration of Independence is that of Life. When people are not safe in their homes or in their communities, then all the other rights simply dont matter. The truth is that we are increasingly no longer safe in America.

If you feel secure in your community, its simply because the violence and the lack of respect for life has not reached you  yet!" he added.

When asked to elaborate on that stark warning, Ginn replied: When I say that the lack of a feeling of safety has not reached into all neighborhoods as [of] yet, I simply mean that there will be a continuing spillover of violent activity from larger cities into more urban and rural areas.

At some point, there is a law of diminishing returns for criminals, which simply means that you cannot keep robbing, assaulting and robbing the same people over and over again within the confines of a small geographical area, he stated.

Also, as the rule of order evaporates from our country as a whole, a more chaotic climate continues to grow and spread. Ultimately, if unchecked, this will lead to a despotic government obtaining power under the guise of keeping people safe.

Ginn expressed concern that faltering respect for law and order fuels the rise of what he calls intercultural crime.

You see that also when police officers are wounded or killed in the line of duty, or they are accused of excessive force during an arrest, said Ginn. As the lack of respect for the laws of this country [grows], then we should expect to witness more of these intercultural crimes, which I believe is already beginning to take place.

FBI Director Christopher Wray discussed a significant jump in police murders as part of an overall increase in violence against police in 2021 during an appearance on CBS 60 Minutes last week.

Wray reported that in the last year alone, officers were being killed at a rate of almost one every five days.

FBI data reveals a nearly 60% increase in police killings in 2021, including the murders of 73 officers.

Violence against law enforcement in this country is one of the biggest phenomenons that I think doesnt get enough attention, Wray told 60 Minutes."

The FBI director said many of the officers who fell victim to the violence were killed in ambushes or while out on patrol simply because of their position as police officers.

Wearing the badge shouldnt make you a target, Wray asserted in the interview.

Ginn warns that the crisis is much bigger than just one community and calls upon the church of Jesus Christ to step up and step out to reach those who may seem to be furthest from help.

Christians need to learn to be Christ-followers, he stressed. There have been many programs created through Christian channels to not only prevent crime, but also to help in the rehabilitation of those caught in the web of crime with an emphasis on the victims of crime first and then the accused secondarily."

Ginn encouraged churches to provide programs for evangelism, discipleship, literacy, real mental health assistance, job training and life skills with real-life jobs at the end. He concluded that while only God can change the heart of an individual, Christians must be about getting our hands dirty and not totally relying on a government who seeks to do good without God in a very bumbling way.
Detransitioner says Planned Parenthood gave her max dose of male hormones, led to hospitalization

A formerly trans-identifying woman visited Planned Parenthood when she was 18, and, after about an hourlong appointment costing $200, a nurse practitioner prescribed her a high dosage of testosterone.

Helena Kerschner began identifying as a boy when, at 15, she started browsing Tumblr, a social networking site that allows users to post content to a short-form blog. In that online environment, there were many teenagers who, like her, suffered from depression or eating disorders. To cope, many latched onto the idea that they were in the wrong body, and users often encouraged one another to experiment with their gender identity.

Though Kerschner tried to acclimate to identifying as a male by doing things like using the boys restroom, she later began to regret her decision. One major factor that made her realize she had made a mistake was the negative side effects she experienced from taking testosterone.

For me, it was mostly psychological; I wasnt on it for long enough for it to have any long-term physical effects, Kerschner said during an interview on Tim Pools podcast.

But it really destabilized me, and another piece of context is that the people who prescribed me it prescribed me four times the dosage that I should have started on, she continued.

Kerschner was given testosterone after one appointment at Planned Parenthood, although she did not disclose the location for privacy reasons. She said employees talked with her for about 20 minutes before she sat down with a nurse practitioner.

She says, OK, were gonna start you on like, 25 milligrams, Kerschner recalled. And then I say to her, Well, I think that I need more because my hips are big. So I think I have extra estrogen, and Im gonna need more testosterone to look like a boy.

According to Kerschner, the nurse didn't protest and instead asked how high of a dose she wanted. The teenager asked how high of a dose she could get, and the nurse gave her 100 milligrams of testosterone before sending her out the door.

Planned Parenthood staff didn't request any bloodwork or medical records before prescribing her testosterone. All she needed to show them was $200, she added.

As a result of taking the testosterone, Kerschner said that she started experiencing a wide spectrum of emotions. For example, instead of feeling sad or nervous, as most people do when something bad happens, she recalled how she would instantly feel rage and the desire to punch somebody.

The testosterone and the rage attacks were so intense that I ended up actually hurting myself. So I had to be hospitalized twice for these reasons, she said.

In terms of why she had such a reaction to the testosterone, Kerschner said it was because her female body wasn't designed for taking in an infusion of cross-sex hormones.

Your brain and your body is meant to work on the hormones that you are meant to produce, she said. Youre not going to be a mentally or physically healthy person if youre taking a bunch of testosterone as a woman or a bunch of estrogen and suppressing your testosterone as a man.

As the International Society for Sexual Medicine reports, in addition to physical side effects, women who are prescribed testosterone can experience mood swings and feelings of anger or hostility. It adds, "Doses prescribed for men are not appropriate for women."

Kerschner also noted that children who take puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones are at risk of becoming sterilized.

According to consent documents obtained in 2020 by the California Family Council from Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, giving experimental puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to youth can cause infertility. The hospital has even warned patients and parental guardians that infertility is a side effect for children who are prescribed such drugs.

The former trans-identifying woman said that, while her parents did not support her decision to transition, other adults like the guidance counselor and psychologist at her school encouraged it. Kerschner recalled that she told the counselor she feared she would kill herself if she did not transition.

I was really going through it; I had a lot going on in my life. And I interpreted it all as its because Im trans, she said. But really, the problems were much deeper, and it wasnt all about being born in the wrong body.

A 2018 American Academy of Pediatrics study and a 2016 study published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology suggest that large percentages of children with a history of gender dysphoria have a mental health or neurodevelopmental condition. However, more research into this potential link is necessary before a definite conclusion can be made.

For Kerschner, transitioning did not ease the psychological issues she was experiencing at the time. Instead, she said it definitely just derailed my life.

I feel, honestly, grateful for the experience because its taught me a lot about the world and about myself, Kerschner, now 23, said during an interview with Tucker Carlson that aired on Fox News last month.

But I really feel afraid for these other young girls who, like myself, they might not be  you know, I consider myself lucky that I was able to get out of it unscarred medically, but theres so many young people who cant say the same, she continued.

According to a February post on Kerschners Substack, at 19, she stopped taking hormones and began the process of getting [her] life back on track.

Last February, a Planned Parenthood employee spoke out against the corporations practice of dispensing cross-sex hormones in an interview with journalist Abigail Shrier. The employee claimed she never saw them deny patients cross-sex hormones.

In 2020, a mom went undercover at Planned Parenthood and was given a six-month testosterone prescription within a half-hour visit. She went undercover because the clinic had prescribed testosterone to her gender-confused daughter without knowing her medical history.
Americans' struggle to find right spouse is putting nation at risk: study

The United States might have hit its lowest marriage rate in more than 100 years in 2020, but the popularity of reality television shows such as Married at First Sight and new research show that its not a lack of desire among adults to get married that is causing the slump, but a struggle among many to find the right partner. And this struggle could put the nation at risk in the long run.

New data show that a decline in the marriage rate goes hand in hand with a decline in the fertility rate. Researchers are now warning that without appropriate interventions, a continuous slide in the nations fertility rate will lead to the aging and shrinking of the U.S. population, a decline in productivity and instability in financing old-age programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

When fewer women are married, fewer babies are born. In fact, about half of the decline in fertility since 2008 can be attributed to changes in marital composition, according to an analysis by Lyman Stone, Wendy Wang, director of research at the Institute for Family Studies, said in the recently published research brief.

Gallup research shows that since 2015, less than 50% of U.S. adults have been registered as married, a decline over the years from a consistent 64% between 1978 and 1983. Since the Great Recession in 2007, marriage and fertility rates have been consistently declining.

According to data cited in Wangs brief, marriage significantly impacts fertility rates because women who are married have a higher fertility rate than unmarried ones. In 2020, for example, the birth rate for married women was 81 per 1,000 between the ages of 15-44. It was just 39 per 1,000 for unmarried women of the same age.

She noted that an American woman is expected to have about 1.6 children in her lifetime, which is well below the population replacement level of 2.1 children per woman.

Simply put, other things being equal, if the marriage rate had remained the same since 2008, the U.S. fertility rate would have been around replacement level, Wang said.

However, a YouGov survey by the IFS and the Wheatley Institution shows that the top reason people cite for not having the number of children they desire is, I am still looking for the right spouse/partner.

Some 44% of Americans ages 18-55 who desire to have children (first or more) stated this reason compared to 36% who cite financial reasons, and 25% who blame their lifestyle and career choices.

Finding the right spouse/partner is especially important among childless adults. A majority of childless adults who want children (60%) cite this as a reason for their unmet fertility desire, compared with 16% of parents who want more children, Wang noted.

Only 37% of childless adults cited financial reasons for not having children, while 28% pointed to their lifestyle or career choices for not having children.

In "The Puzzle of Falling US Birth Rates since the Great Recession" by Melissa S. Kearney, Phillip B. Levine and Luke Pardue, published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives earlier this year, researchers noted that they saw no signs that the trend in falling fertility rates would change anytime soon and suggested that changing cultural norms are driving the decline.

While the decline is concentrated among women in the under 30 age group, the decline is generally widespread across demographic subgroups, which gives reason to suspect that the dominant explanation for the aggregate decline is likely to be multifaceted or society-wide. We see no indication in the data that there is likely to be a reversal of these trends in the near future, the researchers noted.

If period-and location-specific factors generally cannot explain declining birth rates, perhaps the cause has to do with changes in the cohorts of women moving through their childbearing years. Shifting priorities among more recent birth cohorts  potentially driven by changes in preferences for having children, aspirations for life, and parenting norms  would represent a more universal, harder-to-quantify factor that may be the key driver of the decline in birth rates in the United States (and elsewhere), they said.

This line of explanation is potentially related to a concept referred to by demographers as the second demographic transition. Our conclusion briefly considers the societal consequences for the United States of a declining birth rate  such as reduced productivity growth and instability in the finances of programs to support the elderly like Social Security and Medicare  and what might be done about it, the researchers added.

Wangs brief suggested that government assistance that incentivizes having more children could help the declining fertility rates. She noted that nearly half of parents who desire more children, 49%, and 43% of childless adults who want children say a child allowance, such as $300 per child per month, would make them more likely to have children.

According to Kearney, Levine and Pardue, pronatalist policies that make it more affordable for families to have children, such as subsidized childcare, parental leave policies and child allowances or tax credits, wont solve the current fertility challenges.

The evidence about pronatalist policies that have been implemented and evaluated in the United States and in other high-income countries suggests that these types of policies lead to modest increases in birth rates in the short-term but are unlikely to lead to sustained higher birth rates, the researchers said.

We see no particular reason to believe that a pronatalist public agenda will have much effect on birth rates (although, of course, some parts of that agenda may be desirable for other reasons). Thus, the most appropriate way to address declining US birth rates may be to address its two main symptoms directly: that is, a greater emphasis on technological improvements, along with investments in human capital and productivity-enhancing infrastructure, and a greater emphasis on putting the finances of Social Security and Medicare on a secure basis for the long-term, they explained.

The US economy and political system will need to contend with these issues if the recent, sustained decline in birth rates is not reversed.
God isn't finished with you yet!

As Ive come across people over the years, many are amazed at our familys story. Our ministry and musical outreach have been so large for so long, including the careers of Rebecca St. James and for KING & COUNTRY. People are curious how these two entities came out of one family and how we all came to be who and what we are today. They want to know how it is weve worked and stayed together through obstacles and detours most normal families dont encounter. There isnt one response I can think to give.

Our journey has been filled with a variety of faith-stretching occurrences that could only have been orchestrated by God, both in their inceptions and in His miraculous outcomes. But for me, as a mum who loves Jesus, I am convinced that nothing we have accomplished or overcome would have happened without His divine intervention and our commitment to follow His lead, regardless of how unusual or against the flow His plan seemed.

It is now 30 years since David and I left Australia for the United States. Back then, with six young children and one on the way, we had no idea of what was before us. We were just putting one foot in front of the other one day at a time. Little did we know the plans God had for us and the journey He would take us on! But we have seen Him. We have known Him. He has been right beside us, loving us, providing for us, opening and closing doors, and blessing us. And since then, our family has grown.

Each of our children, except Libby, is now married. And we currently have 13 grandchildren, which takes our family to 28 members. We are a family that still works together, vacations together, and plays together, and as you can imagine, we have pretty loud, fun, and active celebrations. We can also still be a hard family to be a part of, particularly for introverts. We definitely arent perfect by any means  we make mistakes and hurt each other as all families do  but we mostly give love, grace, and acceptance as a general rule. David is a true patriarch, and I am the matriarch of the whole rowdy bunch.

I am passionate about family, especially about mothers. It breaks my heart to see families torn apart  the family is the foundation of culture, and the center point of the family is the mother. She holds everything together. A mother, through her children, impacts the world of tomorrow, and yet her role is not hugely respected by society. It is also not recognized for what it is  the most difficult job on the planet. But while its the most difficult, it is also the most rewarding and godly role.

About 11 years ago I was asked by a younger mum, Heather Rae Houle, from our local church to participate in a mothers mentoring group that met once a week. So I decided to try it, and I have been mentoring ever since.

Heather and I call our model for mentorship MUMlife Community. The "mum" in MUMlife is an acronym for mothers uplifting mothers. It is based on Titus 2, which has the older mothers coming alongside the younger mums to encourage them on their journeys. Weve recently launched the MUMlife Community Podcast which enables us to reach and encourage mothers all around the world. Only God! I feel quite stretched by God in doing the podcast because I have always loved being behind the scenes.

Im definitely not a front person; it has been fine for me to push the kids out into the limelight while I stay safely ensconced in my safe, comfortable environment. But God doesnt want any of us to stay in our safe zone, including me. He wants us to continue to grow and live out our lives  that means our entire lives  for His purposes.

I have also known deep down for a long time that a book needed to be written about our family story, and I knew it was me who needed to write it. As I contemplated the thought, I knew I wanted to share not just our story but how amazing God is in our story. It all starts and ends with Him. After praying for the right time to actually do it, I felt the nudge about a year ago that the time was ripe. And now my memoir, Behind the Lights: The Extraordinary Adventure of a Mum and Her Family, is out in the world.

At the same time, God has also been pushing me into doing more speaking. I have so enjoyed remaining anonymous and unrecognized, and Im afraid that comfortable space is disappearing. Moving forward, I know God will give me the strength I need to rise to these new endeavors, and I firmly believe that if He has called me to them, then He will be faithful to give me what I need to be obedient. I will simply do what Ive always done, and that is to take things one day at a time.

When Im not podcasting or writing, David and the farm have been and will continue to be my happy place. I am surrounded by open fields and the beauty of life, which entails some of my friends. We have 10 horses, of which quite a few are retired, as well as 2 donkeys, 6 goats, 2 pigs, and 6 alpacas.

It doesnt matter what age you are. God not only has a plan for your life but also a purpose. You may be in the prime of youth, or you may be older like David and me. If you still have breath in your lungs, then God is not finished with you  you have meaningful contributions to make to your family, your church, and the community.

The faithfulness and favor God has shown me  shown all of us  is the same faithfulness He shows to anyone who fully commits their life to Him. It is my hope that from our story, you will be inspired to step outside of your box and embrace Gods plans for you without fear or hesitation. When you do, His peace will carry you no matter what you face, the same way it has carried me.

Adapted from Behind the Lights: The Extraordinary Adventure of a Mum and Her Family by Helen Smallbone (K-LOVE Books, 2022).
Remember the mothers fleeing a war zone this Mother's Day

Mothers are a special breed of human being. History is filled with stories of mothers who defied kings, survived famine, resisted terrorists, and faced down bullies to protect their families. Mothers take on governments, drunk drivers, school boards, and drug dealers to ensure their children are safe, fed, educated, and treated fairly.

Every Mothers Day, moms around the world are honored or pampered. Yet their mothers instinct continues to work to protect their young. On Mothers Day, as on every other day of the year, mom is ready to stand up to any adversary that would harm her family.

This year, I cant help but think of the Ukrainian mothers who are fighting for their families in ways that would terrify most. Trapped in a war they did not anticipate; many have taken up arms to fight. Others are watching kids with one hand while saving lives with the other. And millions fled to get their children to safety. Most left their husbands behind.

Hani Moskovitz was a social worker in her local community until she fled Ukraine with her three children (all under the age of 11). She was also responsible for an orphanage in her town.

At 5:00 a.m. I heard loud sounds of explosions, but I thought it was just a dream, Hani told me. Families in the community started calling me around 7:00 a.m. asking for advice on what to do. I started packing an emergency suitcase for every kid.

Hani, despite having three children of her own to look after, helped organize an emergency evacuation of 60 children from this orphanage so they could get to the border with Moldova. From there, they would jump onto a flight to Israel funded by our organization, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

On a ten-hour bus ride through a war zone, Hani ensured every single child in her care made it out of Ukraine alive.

As we learn of these mothers who are suffering so much, I encourage every family to give their mother special honor this Mothers Day. And I encourage every mother to take a day to hug your family tight. Remember what is happening to families less fortunate than yours.

Another mom, Marina, fled with her 11-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. I left everything escaping from the bombings in Odesa, she said when she arrived safely in Moldova. My husband could not come with us. I do not know when I will see him again.

As she faces an uncertain future, Marina said, "I'm trying to remain strong for the kids, so I don't let them see me cry.

As we spend time with our families, lets also reflect on what a miracle it is just to be able to give birth. We can reflect on the story of Vika, just 21 years old and 22 weeks pregnant when the war began.

Vika and her husband, Roman, were booked on a flight to Israel on February 20. It was postponed. Within a day, another flight became available, but then Vika had a positive COVID test result.

At first, Vika had no idea that this delay would jeopardize her unborn childs life. On February 24, early in the morning, she heard the sounds of explosions in their neighborhood. Roman opened the window and said, Its a bomb. We were attacked!

The two jumped into their old car and started driving west. They tried to stay off the main roads to avoid the constant shelling. They drove for hours, too afraid to slow down or stop. Eventually they found a guest house filled with refugees and spent the night. The next morning, the bombing began again, and they raced on.

They made it out alive, and now Vika is just praying that she can experience the miracle of birth and raise a child far from those who seek the destruction of her community.

These experiences of others remind us not to take our families for granted. And they remind us of the sacrifices and the horror many moms will endure to protect those they love.

Lets celebrate the heroism of mothers this Sunday, particularly the ones trying to get their family out of a war zone. Thank God he made mothers, who are some of the strongest human beings on earth.
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UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations chief says he is appalled at the reported attack on a school in the Ukrainian town of Bilohorivka, where many people were apparently seeking shelter from fighting.

A U.N. spokesman said Sunday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be spared under international law.

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric says: This war must end, and peace must be established in line with the Charter of the United Nations and international law. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners in Ukraine will continue supporting those whose lives have been shattered by war.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Dozens of Ukrainians feared dead after Russian strike on school

 Patriotism, unease mix in Russia ahead of big Victory Day celebrations

 G-7 leaders call Ukraine's president, vow to ban or cut back on Russian oil imports

 Jill Biden makes surprise Mother's Day visit to Ukraine, meets first lady there

 Ukrainian volunteers work to craft body armor, camouflage nets for soldiers

Follow all AP stories on Russias war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  More than 170 people have been evacuated from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after weeks of shelling and fighting as Russia attempts to take over the port city.

Thats according to a Sunday statement by Osnat Lubrani, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine.

The evacuees have been taken to Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeastern Ukraine. Lubrani says more than 600 people have now been evacuated from the Mariupol area.

The most recent evacuation was the latest effort to rescue people from tunnels beneath the Azovstal steel mine, where Ukrainian fighters are trying to hold off Russian attackers.

The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been coordinating the evacuations.

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KYIV, Ukraine  U2 frontman Bono performed in a Kyiv subway station that serves as a bomb shelter on Sunday, showing his support for Ukrainians trying to fend off the Russian invasion.

The Irish singer has tweeted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited us to perform in Kyiv as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and so thats what weve come to do.

Bono, alongside guitarist the Edge, sang the Ben E. King song Stand By Me in the Khreschatyk metro station. He was joined by another singer in Ukrainian military fatigues.

He also visited Bucha, a town outside Kyiv where hundreds of bodies were found after Russian troops withdrew last month. The town is considered a possible war crimes site.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys surrender in 1945.

Cutting out Russian oil supplies will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement.

We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies, they added.

Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.

We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community, they said.

U.S. President Joe Bidens call with the G-7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.

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ROME  Italian Premier Mario Draghi told fellow G-7 leaders during a meeting via video call that a sixth package of sanctions must go forward against Russia.

His office shared details of the call in a Sunday evening statement. Draghis office says he told other world leaders at the same time, we must make every effort to help reach as soon as possible a cease-fire and to give new thrust to peace negotiations.

He also pressed for continued commitment by the G-7 grouping to help poor countries at risk of a food crisis. Exports of grain from Ukraine and Russia cover much of the needs of other nations, especially in Africa. The war is threatening Ukraines grain production, and the fighting in and around Black Sea ports makes food shipments impossible.

The premiers office says the G-7 leaders reiterated their committment to diversify energy sources to reduce dependent on Russian supplies. Italy, heavily dependent on Russian natural gas when the war began, has since secured several agreements for alternative gas supplies from other countries. But Hungarys objections last week to proposed sanctions on Russian oil have complicated European Union efforts.

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WASHINGTON  The United States has announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

The penalties include cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian and more restrictions on Russias industrial sector. Those additional restrictions included cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

The U.S. also says the Group of Seven leading industrialized powers have committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil. The U.S. announced its own ban on Russian oil and energy products in March but the U.S. had few Russian energy imports compared to Europe.

The new round of sanctions will hit three of Russias most popular television stations  Channel One Russia, Russia-1 and NTV -- which the U.S. says have been forefront of spreading misinformation about Russia invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. says it has imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials and issued a new visa restriction policy that applies to Russian military officials and authorities suspected of human rights abuses or corruption.

The U.S. also sanctioned 27 executives from Gazprombank, a bank that facilitates sales by Russias energy giant Gazprom.

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KYIV, Ukraine  The Ukrainian army said Sunday that Moscow was focusing its main efforts that day on destroying airfield infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine, in order to prevent Ukrainian air forces from operating effectively.

At least five explosions were heard in the key Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa on Sunday, according to reports in local news media. Odesa, Ukraines third-largest city and a cultural center of deep significance to both Ukrainians and Russians, has so far been largely spared in the ten-week-old war.

Multiple photos and videos appeared to show trails and clouds of smoke in the sky above the city. Local media also reported that at least one missile had been shot down. As of Sunday afternoon, there have been no reports of casualties, although one newspaper claimed that civilian infrastructure had been damaged.

According to a Facebook post Sunday on the profile of Ukraines General Chiefs of Staff, Russia also ramped up operational and tactical aviation activity in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.

The Kharkiv regional administration says three people were killed in shelling of the town of Bogodukhiv, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

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IRPIN, Ukraine  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made a surprise visit to Ukraine amid Russias war on the country.

Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne and Irpin Mayor Olexander Markushyn announced Trudeaus visit to Irpin, which had been damaged by Russias attempt to take Kyiv at the start of the war. Markushyn posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeau is the latest Western leader to come to Ukraine to offer their support to the country. Later in the day he raised his countrys flag at Canadian Embassy in Kyiv.

His office later confirmed the visit, saying in a statement the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraine and Canada will return to work on expanding the Free Trade Area Agreement between them, with a view to finalize it within weeks, the Ukrainian economy ministry announced Sunday following an online meeting between top trade officials.

The meeting between Ukraines first deputy minister for the economy, Yulia Sviridenko, and Canadas international trade minister, Mary Ng, coincided with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to Kyiv on Sunday afternoon.

Ukraine's Economy Ministry said Sviridenko expressed hope for Canadas support in overcoming the food crisis sparked by the blocking of Ukrainian seaports. Sviridenko also said that the abolition of Canadian duties on Ukrainian goods  a step previously taken by the E.U. and the U.K.  would be an important move towards boosting the Ukrainian economy.

This will help exporters increase the volume of produce leaving the country, and thereby strengthen the Ukrainian economy and the defense of our state, the ministry statement quoted her as saying.

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UZHHOROD, Ukraine  U.S. first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting with the nations first lady, Olena Zelenska, as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.

Her visit follows recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, as well as a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

The first lady traveled by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod from a Slovakian village that borders Ukraine.

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WASHINGTON  A U.S. official says the top American diplomat in Ukraine has temporarily returned to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the capital  an announcement tied to V-E Day.

The official says the return of the acting ambassador, Kristina Kvien, fulfills a pledge that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made to Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during the Americans recent visit to Kyiv with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The official says the return of select U.S. diplomats to the embassy is a testament to Ukraines success, Moscows failure, and our effective and enduring partnership with the government and people of a sovereign, democratic, and free Ukraine.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the developments before an official announcement.

Its not clear when the U.S. embassy will fully reopen. Video showed a convoy of American vehicles drive into the embassy on Sunday afternoon.

 AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington.

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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school sheltering about 90 people in its basement, while Ukrainian troops refused to surrender at a besieged steel plant that Moscows invading forces sped to seize before Russias Victory Day holiday.

The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturdays bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said.

Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

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KYIV, Ukraine  The Norwegian parliament speaker joined the slew of top Western officials meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and other leaders in Kyiv on Sunday.

According to a statement by the Ukrainian presidential press service, Zelenskyy thanked Masud Gharakhani, president of the Norwegian Storting, for Norways transfers of defensive weapons to Ukraine, as well as its financial support and humanitarian aid.

Speaking in Kyiv on VE Day, Gharakhani said:

Today, my country celebrates the day when we managed to regain our democracy and independence after the Second World War. Unfortunately, your country is again facing aggression and violence.

Gharakhani also joined his Ukrainian counterpart, Ruslan Stefanchuk, in laying flowers at the Kyiv memorials to those who died in World War II and the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war.

In addition, he met with Ukraines premier Denys Shmygal, who later said on Twitter that the two had discussed defense, energy support to Ukraine and that the Norwegian proposed the joint creation of rehabilitation centers for veterans in Ukraine.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraines foreign minister says he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Dmytro Kuleba made the comment Sunday on Twitter.

He added: New stiff U.S. sanctions on Russia are coming. Discussed ways to unblock Ukraines food exports and ensure global food security.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the German parliament speaker during her visit to Kyiv on Sunday, discussing further defense assistance as well as sanctions against Russia, Zelenskyys press office said in a statement Sunday afternoon.

According to the statement, Zelenskyy told Barbel Bas, the President of the Bundestag, that Ukraine expects strong and confident leadership from Germany when it comes to helping Kyiv beat Russian aggression.

He noted the recent adoption by the Bundestag of a resolution calling on the German government to expand and accelerate the provision of heavy weapons to Ukraine. He also expressed confidence in Berlins official support for granting Ukraine E.U. candidate status.

We really appreciate that on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation itself, and in what for us is such a trying time of war, the President of the German Bundestag Barbel Bas came to support Ukraine, said a post published Sunday afternoon on Zelenskyys Telegram channel.

The Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for those who died in World War II, marked on May 8 and 9, is an annual international day of remembrance designated by a 2004 U.N. resolution.

In an interview with the German newspaper Rheinische Post, Bas called her meeting with Zelenskyy very good and friendly, adding that she had come to Ukraine because she felt it was important to me to personally express Germanys solidarity with Ukraine to him.

She added that Germany will do everything in its power to support Ukraine, including backing its efforts to join the European Union and providing aid to help with rebuilding.

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MARIUPOL, Ukraine  To demonstrate success in time for Russia's key Victory Day holiday on Monday, the Russian military worked Sunday to complete its takeover of the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which has been under relentless assault since the start of the war.

The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making a last stand is the only part of the city not under Russian control.

All the remaining women, children and older civilians who were sheltering with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. The Ukrainian troops rejected deadlines given by the Russians who said the defenders could leave with their lives if they laid down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, a Ukrainian National Guard battalion holding the steel mill, told an online news conference Sunday that the site was targeted overnight by three fighter jet sorties, artillery and tanks.

We are under constant shelling, he said, adding that Russian infantry tried to storm the plant -- a claim Russian officials denied in recent days - and to lay landmines. Palamar said there was a multitude of casualties at the plant.

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant.

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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  Sparks fly as a circular saw slices into metal, while welders nearby work feverishly to the sound of blaring heavy metal. Upstairs, sewing machines clatter as women mark patterns on cloth being shaped into bulletproof vests.

An old industrial complex in the southeastern Ukrainian riverside city of Zaporizhzhia has become a hive of activity for volunteers producing everything from body armor and anti-tank obstacles to camouflage nets, portable heating stoves and rifle slings for Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russias invasion. One section specializes in vehicles, armor-plating some, converting others into ambulances. Another organizes food and medical deliveries.

With front lines all across Ukraine, some sections of the operation, such as the stitching of bulletproof vests, are working around the clock in shifts to meet demand. Crowdfunding has brought in enough money to buy steel from Sweden, Finland and Belgium, which is lighter than local steel, organizers say, a crucial quality for body armor.

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KYIV, Ukraine  After rescuers evacuated the last civilians from the besieged steel mill in Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that work would continue Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the fighters remaining in the plants underground tunnels and bunkers.

The Ukrainian leader was expected to hold online talks Sunday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from other Group of Seven countries. The meeting is partly meant to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys 1945 surrender.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Explosions echoed again Sunday across the major Black Sea port of Odesa, which Russia struck with six cruise missiles on Saturday, while rocket fire damaged some 250 apartments, according to the city council.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, the May 9 holiday when Russia celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a video address Sunday marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russias invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism.

The black-and-white video, published on social media, showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, one of the Kyiv suburbs pummeled before Russian troops withdrew from the capital region weeks ago.

Every year, on May 8, along with the whole civilized world, we pay our respects to everyone who defended the planet against Nazism during World War II, Zelenskyy said, adding that prior generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow to never allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.
Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz and a delegation of officials from the Sister Cities discussed this week's meeting in Washington as he and members of the Laredo delegation met with key federal officials and discussed the Binational River Park project and the expansion of the World Trade Bridge.

Members of the delegation met with leading officials from the Department of State Rachel Poynter, Charles Small from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Ambassador Ken Salazar, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Aneal Estenoz and two Texas senators.

For the World Trade Bridge Expansion, the delegation submitted their application the previous Friday but filed a hard copy during the trip and discussed the expansion and benefits it would have on Mexico-U.S. trade at the Laredo port.

Amid the press conference, Saenz indicated federal officials he met with during the trip offered multiple grant opportunities for the park project including the RAISE Discretionary Grants, the INFRA Grant and the Bridge Discretionary Grants. Saenz believed the conversation with the officials would prove fruitful in the future.

According to the city, Port Laredo facilitates over $200 billion in trade annually, and Saenz said it contributed over $700 million a year to the U.S. Treasury in trade custom duties and related fees. The data was presented to the respective federal officials, including U.S. Director for Customs and Trade Affairs Leah Liston, about the potential increase the expansion would have on the $700 million treasury funds.

They also highlighted the 2021 export and import numbers, stating that motor vehicle parts, diesel engines, gasoline and other fuels saw $10.1 billion, $4.4 billion and $4.3 billion generated, respectively. The top imports were motor vehicle parts, passenger vehicles and tractors, with $18.5 billion, $10.2 billion and $7.1 billion, respectively.

Laredo Interim City Manager Samuel Keith Selman said the overall expansion was simple: a northbound bridge to the right of the southbound bridge would forgo a chokepoint before the U.S. inspection and instead see a northbound lane heading to the upcoming fast lanes. With approximately 15,000-18,000 truck crossings daily, the expansion was presented as a way to not only increase the economic potential of Port Laredo but was marketed as an investment by the government to increase their treasury.

A diagram shows a new bridge slated for construction with an expansion of the original bridge, with Selman saying if the permit is granted, it would not interrupt the bridge proceedings as it would remain untouched.

As for the Binational River Park Project, according to councilmember Mercurio Martinez, the vision came when Salazar experienced the relationship between Nuevo Laredo and Laredo firsthand. This ultimately led to the idea of a never-before-made binational park that has since seen the city contract Overland Partners to helm the design.

He continued to say the park is akin to the River Walk in San Antonio, and that it was ultimately passed up by a previous Laredo city council. With the success of the River Walk, Martinez said the proposed 6.2-mile park was a vision not to let slip away. It would be a multifaceted project including river clean up, improving the river vega and restoring the Chacon Creek area with a $52 million federal grant.

Its a bold vision, a big vision. And yes, we have issues within our community, but we also must not lose focus on our mission, he said.

Some of the goals the park would have were outlined by the architects including the restoration of the ecology of the environment surrounding the river, embracing cultural identity, promoting economic vitality, enhancing safety and being a symbol of binational cooperation and affection.

According to Selman, the project is still in its initial stages. Much of the logistics revolving around the park such as this are still unknown, which is why the delegation went to present the project to the different federal agencies.

An unknown of concern right now is funding and if the cities will be paying for part of the project which was penned by a federal official. Previous discussions had mentioned the UN would potentially be paying for the project, with talk of a price tag of at least $100 million.

Selman referenced the Overland Partner presentation, and that it was suggested the city apply for grants such as the Outdoor Restoration Legacy Partnership and the Parks in Urban Areas that would net millions for the project.

Elia Guevara, representing Nuevo Laredo Mayor Carmen Lilia Canturosas Villarreal, said Nuevo Laredo is keen on the binational topic and the impact it will have on improving the river's condition. She said the restoration of the river is a major factor in the development of the binational park.

A NADBank grant was announced in February stating they will commit up to $200,000 in grant funding through its technical assistance program to COMAPA for a study to provide a needs assessment of the operation and sustainability of the facilities and develop preliminary engineering for the projects.

Nuevo Laredo Director of Public Works Ignacio Quinones-Pena said they are doing everything possible to not dump wastewater into the river and ensure Dos Laredos have a clean and healthy river.

We must continue to work together as one city, one culture, one river and soon one park and two nations, he said.

A recent presentation by Overland Partners stated the park would pave the way for better quality of life, water maintenance and be an economic boon in terms of tourism money.

We do know the river is your sole source of drinking water, as it is for Nuevo Laredo, and the park helps ensure that the clean water is protected, Overland Founder Richard Archer said. Talking with folks in your water treatment and public works, they said that a clean river will significantly reduce the cost of cleaning the water in the city.
On a Sunday evening in February, Bea Trottas 94-year-old mother started having trouble breathing at her home in the northwestern corner of the state. She felt exhausted.

An ambulance drove her 30 minutes to the nearest emergency room, at Sharon Hospital, where she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Her heart wasnt pumping enough blood to keep her body functioning.

When Trotta arrived at the hospital to meet her mother, staff told her the case was too complex to be handled there. If her mother wanted treatment, theyd have to transfer her to another facility that could provide a more advanced level of care.

That was my wake-up call. It was like, Oh, were losing our medical facility. Were losing the life-saving hand to reach out and help us, Trotta said.

Across the country, hospital mergers are changing the ways in which people access health care. Most hospitals are no longer independent but instead part of larger health systems that own multiple facilities. In Connecticut, two systems  Yale New Haven and Hartford HealthCare  are on the brink of owning more than half the 27 hospitals in the state.

In 2000, Connecticut had 23 independent hospitals. Today, the state has six.

Hospital consolidation contributes to service cuts

When hospitals merge, they decrease costs by cutting duplicative services. The Office of Health Strategy currently has three pending proposals to cut services. A spokesperson acknowledged the agency is concerned with the number of the proposals currently filed to terminate services.

Nuvance Health, which owns seven hospitals across western Connecticut and the Hudson Valley, has filed to eliminate the birthing unit at Sharon and terminate inpatient psychiatric services at Norwalk. Hartford HealthCare is awaiting final approval from the state to cut labor and delivery at Windham Hospital, about 40 minutes from Hartford.

But, those only account for the cuts formally on file with the state. In other cases, hospitals have made changes without seeking state permission.

Nuvance plans to replace the intensive care unit at Sharon with what's known as a progressive care unit, which can't handle the same complexity of care. According to physicians in the area, the hospital has already started transferring some patients in need of the most critical care  like Trotta's mother  to other hospitals, even though the change hasn't received state approval.

Others have effectively terminated services for years without approval by dubbing them suspensions, stating that they have no intention to permanently close the units. Suspensions, unlike terminations, previously didn't require state approval.

In March 2020, Gov. Ned Lamont issued an executive order allowing hospitals to temporarily shut down services to increase capacity for COVID patients. The order expired in May 2021, at which point any suspended services should have resumed. But at least two hospitals have not done so.

Under the waiver, Trinity Health of New England, which owns three hospitals in Connecticut, suspended birthing services at Johnson Memorial in Stafford two years ago. Services have remained shuttered ever since, but Trinity claims it will reopen the unit once it can find appropriate staffing.

OHS has opened an investigation into the suspension.

Prospect Medical Holdings, a Los Angeles-based company that owns 16 hospitals across the country including three in Connecticut, also took advantage of the COVID waiver. The company notified the state that it would shut down surgical services, among others, at Rockville General Hospital. As of February 2022, surgical services had not yet resumed, and OHS issued a $118,000 fine for the violation, which the company has appealed.

In emailed comments, a spokesperson for the hospital said that certain services have resumed and that the temporary suspensions at the hospital were done in accordance with requirements set out by the Office of Health Strategy.

John Brady, executive vice president of AFT CT, a union that represents health care professionals, said multiple members have told him that surgeries aren't happening at the hospital. Additionally, Rockville closed its intensive care unit and replaced it with a progressive care unit without notifying the state. This is the same change Nuvance filed to make at Sharon Hospital.

The legislature just passed a measure that seeks to prohibit long-term suspensions by specifically defining a termination of services as any stoppage of service lasting more than 180 days.

Service cuts hit communities hard

When health systems buy up community hospitals, they often say the new affiliation will bring benefits that only a large system can offer, like access to new services and highly trained specialists.

Residents of Windham say that's what happened with the formerly independent Windham Hospital after Hartford HealthCare acquired it in 2009.

They led the community to believe that they were going to bring in telehealth service to augment what we had  that they would have specialists and whatnot, be able to [conduct visits] by video conference to help our hospital do better, said Brenda Buchbinder, a resident of Willimantic and member of a community group called Windham United to Save Our Healthcare.

Buchbinder said Windham underwent cosmetic upgrades when HHC first took over, suggesting the large health system was investing in its newest acquisition.

But in 2015, Hartford HealthCare announced the conversion of Windham's intensive care unit to what's known as a progressive care unit, which can't handle the same complexity of care. At the time, the state didn't require a certificate of need because the company stated the change did not entail a termination of services, a claim that the hospital's doctors strongly disputed at the time, according to public documents.

Now, HHC is moving forward with plans to close the hospital's labor and delivery unit. Buchbinder said those moves directly contradict the promises made to the community.

Nowhere did they indicate that they were going to be consolidating and regionalizing services away, said Buchbinder.

Hartford HealthCare said its ownership has brought Windhams patients access to additional resources they wouldnt otherwise have, including a new ambulatory care building and behavioral health facility.

Hospital systems often claim that consolidation will bring increased quality of care, in addition to more resources. Academic researchers and economists have found otherwise.

It is supposed to improve access to services, to improve quality for people seeking health care, and that is not what happens, said Ruqaiijah Yearby, professor of health law at St. Louis University, who studies racial disparities in health care.

In fact, experts disagree on how to measure hospital quality in the first place, making it impossible to understand the impact of consolidation on quality of care.

Big changes in rural markets

Rural hospitals face a particularly complicated situation. Sparked by financial challenges, the pace of rural closures began accelerating in 2010 and peaked in 2020. Getting acquired by a large health system could provide a way for some to avoid permanent closure.

From the perspective of the health care executives, eliminating a financially struggling unit provides immediate cost savings. A service cut makes even more sense if another facility within the system provides those same services.

While regionalizing health care services in this way improves the bottom line for hospitals, it leaves patients farther away from the medical care they need, sometimes unexpectedly.

Before Trottas mother ended up in the ER at Sharon, shed never considered theyd need to go anywhere other than the local hospital in an emergency.

We always took for granted that if you needed [care], you could just go to Sharon Hospital. I mean, its just been such an institution in this community for so many decades, Trotta said.

But things had changed in Sharon. Several months before Trottas mother arrived at the ER, Nuvance had begun transitioning Sharons ICU to a progressive care unit. Unlike an ICU, a PCU doesn't handle patients needing intubation or, like Trottas mother, around-the-clock cardiac monitoring or close nurse observation.

That night in February, Trotta's mother had a choice: Stay put at Sharon without the care she needed or travel for treatment.

At that point, she realized the seriousness of her condition  that she was faced with life or death, said Trotta. (Trotta requested that her mothers name not be included in this story for privacy reasons.)

Today, only one of Connecticuts four rural hospitals remains independent  and its not likely to stay that way.

Sharon, Windham and Johnson Memorial have been acquired by large health systems. And last year, Connecticut's last rural independent hospital  Day Kimball in Putnam  announced plans to become part of Covenant Health, a nonprofit Catholic system based in Knoxville, Tenn.

Service cuts have followed these acquisitions. The cuts would have a particularly devastating impact on the states rural labor and delivery landscape.

If the suspension remains permanent and the proposed closures receive state approval, only one of Connecticut's four rural hospitals would offer birthing services. Windham and Litchfield counties would be left with one labor and delivery unit each, and Tolland County would have none.

Brittni Scavotto, who lives in Canaan, is expecting her second child and plans to give birth at Sharon Hospital, as she did with her first. Nuvance plans to discontinue labor and delivery at Sharon this year, and Scavotto is due this summer. The hospital system cited underutilization and continuing low birth rates as reasons for shuttering the unit.

Scavotto rejects that claim, saying she's observed a resurgence of young families in the area, particularly since the start of the pandemic.

It's not that young families aren't here. And it's not that we're not having babies. We are here. We are having babies. It's just that Nuvance does not want to fulfill that need in this community, she said.

In emailed comments, Nuvance said that closing the unit was a difficult decision but added, If Sharon Hospital is going to remain sustainable and continue to serve our patients into the future, we know we cannot maintain an underused Labor & Delivery unit.

The company confirmed that the unit will continue operating until the closure receives state approval.

Who feels it the most?

Poorer communities, as well as Black, Native American and Latinx communities, are more likely to encounter service cuts, advocates say.

At Windham Hospital, only 8 percent of birthing patients have commercial insurance, according to public documents Hartford HealthCare provided to the state. Such a low percentage suggests they represent some of the neediest residents in the state.

The documents also revealed that 70 percent of people who gave birth at Windham identified as Hispanic or Latino. In Connecticut, Latinx residents are the most likely of any racial or ethnic group to be uninsured.

With minimal Spanish-language media in the state, Windham town council member Rose Reyes said the Latinx community may remain unaware of the closure  which could present risks for people in labor who might be turned away.

We dont know how much the Latino community doesnt know. No one has gone out and surveyed them. No one has gone out and knocked on those doors to get that feedback recently, she said.

Bea Trotta also fears that her friends or neighbors might show up at Sharon Hospital in an emergency, only to find the care they need isn't available.

When they get to the hospital, are they going to be faced with the same reality that I was? Its like, OK, well, now youre at the hospital, but its not over.

After the ordeal at Sharon back in February, Trotta's mother decided to transfer to Saint Francis in Hartford, nearly 50 miles away. She spent three days in the hospital and another two weeks at a rehabilitation facility.

In March, she turned 95 years old, celebrating over eclairs with her two daughters.

This is the second in a two-part series examining the consequences of the consolidation of hospital systems through mergers and acquisitions.
US Supreme Court associate justice Clarence Thomas says the court cannot be bullied into forming a ruling favoring the preference of some as reproductive-rights protests persist after a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the Roe v. Wade landmark decision.

"We can't be an institution that can be bullied into giving you just the outcomes you want," Thomas told a group largely comprised of lawyers and judges Friday at the 11th Circuit Judicial Conference in Atlanta, NBC News reported.

The 73-year-old justice noted that the events from this week are "a symptom" of such concern.

"We are becoming addicted to wanting particular outcomes, not living with the outcomes we don't like," the associate justice said.

At the same conference, per NPR, Chief Justice John Roberts called the leak of the draft ruling "absolutely appalling."

The Court Confirms Authenticity of Leak Document

The court confirmed the legitimacy of the leaked document published by Politico earlier this week, and Roberts ordered a probe.

The draft opinion obtained by the media outlet is a comprehensive denunciation of the 1973 ruling that established federal constitutional protections for abortion rights.

The court issued a statement on Tuesday in which Roberts blasted what he called "betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations."

He emphasized that "it will not succeed," and the Supreme Court "will not be affected in any way."

According to the court, the leaked draft opinion does not reflect the court's final position.

An initial draft majority opinion penned by Justice Samuel Alito stated that the United States Supreme Court has voted to abolish Roe v. Wade which gave people the right to access abortion legally all across the country.

Anti-abortion activists are planning to get around progressive prosecutors who have promised not to enforce abortion offenses if Roe is reversed, while abortion rights advocates are concerned that overeager law enforcement officials will aim at the most vulnerable communities in states that forbid abortions.

Read Also: China: Xi Jinping Issues Strong Warning to Doubters, Haters of Strict COVID-19 Policy

Consequences if the Reversal of the Ruling Pushes Through

The Roe v. Wade ruling of 1973 and following court decisions secured a nationwide right to abortion until fetal viability, which occurs about 23 weeks into a pregnancy. The conservative Supreme Court appears to be on the verge of eliminating such safeguards, though its decision will be finalized in June when a formal judgment is announced.

If Roe gets finally reversed, abortion is likely to become a major issue in federal and state elections and municipal elections where the procedure's new legal setting will be implemented, as per a CNN report.

According to Katie Glenn, the government affairs counsel for the anti-abortion group Americans United for Life, prosecutors can come up with "policy determinations and then are potentially held accountable to voters" if voters are not satisfied with the results.

"Certainly politicians are people and they're vote counters, and so I think that there's going to be an element of reading the room as far as what the local community wants," Glenn said.

Even before the leaked draft hinted that the Supreme Court was on the edge of reversing Roe, some state and local prosecutors pledged not to prosecute abortion-related crimes if the precedent gets overturned.

Related Article: German Outlet Censors Video of Ukrainian Evacuee From Azovstal Plant Criticizing Azov Nazis, Kiev

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP)  Campaigns to legalize recreational marijuana use and allow ranked-choice voting in Missouri on Sunday both turned signatures they'd gathered to get the measures on ballots.

In order to get a proposal on the ballot, campaigns need to collect enough voter signatures from six of the state's eight congressional districts.

This year campaigns need to collect about 170,000 voter signatures by Sunday's deadline.

The recreational pot campaign, Legal Missouri 2022, had already collected nearly twice the required number of signatures by mid-April, and it turned in more than 385,000 signatures.

The Better Elections campaign group said it submitted more than 300,000 signatures with its petition Sunday.

Campaigns typically collect more than enough signatures to balance out invalid signatures from voters who misidentify which congressional district they live in.

Here's a rundown of the ballot measures:

RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

Adults age 21 and older could buy and grow weed for personal consumption as early as this year if voters approve the amendment.

Backers of the ballot proposal are highlighting a provision that would erase past weed-related convictions for nonviolent offenders and those whose conviction didn't include selling to minors or driving while high. Local NAACP chapters, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, criminal defense lawyers and other civil rights advocacy groups endorsed automatic expungement, and it could broaden support for the initiative among Republican criminal justice advocates. Seven other states with legal recreational marijuana have also adopted automatic expungement policies.

Marijuana sales would be taxed at 6% under the Missouri measure. The tax is estimated to bring in more than $46 million during the first full year the amendment is in effect and close to $70 million the following year. Revenues would be earmarked for veterans' homes, drug treatment programs and public defenders.

Cities and other municipalities could enact local sales taxes on recreational marijuana up to 3% or enact local bans on non-medical weed sales by a public vote.

Missouri lawmakers pitched similar legislation that would legalize recreational marijuana in law, without enshrining it as a right in the state Constitution. But pot policies have failed to gain traction in the GOP-led Legislature for years, and time is running out before lawmakers' May 13 deadline to pass bills.

Legislative proposals include a lower 4.2% tax on recreational marijuana sales and would set the money aside for deputy sheriffs, the state's police training oversight agency, small business loans and a work training program.

ELECTIONS

Candidates from all parties would be listed on primary ballots beginning in August 2024, meaning both voters could pick from both Republicans and Democrats without requesting a party-specific ballot. The top four candidates with the most votes would move on to the general election, when voters could either pick only their favorite or rank the candidates from first to last.

The measure also would require statewide vacancies to be filled by special elections. Current law allows the governor to fill open statewide seats. Republican Gov. Mike Parson, for example, appointed the current treasurer, attorney general and lieutenant governor due to a series of vacancies, although all three were later elected by voters.
PHOENIX (AP)  Phoenix police have asked the public for help in locating a man sought in the strangulation death of a woman who was found not breathing on a city bus, Phoenix police said.

Police identified Joshua Bagley, 26, as a suspect in the death Friday of Diane Craig, 41, who died at a hospital after being found on a bus at about 8 a.m. with signs of strangulation.
Bandar Aljaloud/AP

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Saudi Arabias octogenarian monarch underwent a colonoscopy on Sunday, state-run media reported, just weeks after he had the battery of his pacemaker changed.

The report in the official Saudi Press Agency first said only that King Salman, 86, was admitted to King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the Saudi port city of Jiddah for medical tests, without elaborating.
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On April 12, the League of Women Voters assembled regional educators at Creative 360 to discuss the state of education in the Great Lakes Bay Region following two pandemic years.

Panelists shared their perspectives on a wide range of successes and challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jay Janner, MBR / Associated Press

(Bloomberg) -- Austin residents voted to decriminalize low-level marijuana possession and ban police from using no-knock warrants, a win for a liberal group that pushed the ballot initiative in Texas capital.

The measure received 85% support, according to unofficial results posted by county election officials Saturday. The rules, which the city council must codify into law, prohibit police officers from issuing citations or arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana except in very limited circumstances and will require that officers executing search warrants announce their presence before entering homes.
ZZ Top pulled into the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium Wednesday evening for a rocking performance. The band has been together for over five decades and sold over 30 million records across 15 studio albums. The loss of long-time bassist Dusty Hill in 2021 did not stop the band as his spot o
It is that time of the week again! Ready for this week's rundown of the top stories here on iTech Post?

Two this week's top stories are Apple related while another two are space tech-related stories. If you are interested to see a photo of the far side of the Moon or to learn about a modified Boeing 747 that has been fitted with a telescope, you should keep reading this rundown.

What are we waiting for? Let's get on with it!

Ever felt lazy to go out of your house just to have your iPhone repaired? Well, that should not be a problem now because the tech giant has launched its self-service repair option.

While it does sound very convenient and practical, it is definitely not something you should get into without knowing a couple of things to keep in mind. An example of which is knowing what components and tools to purchase and where to buy them.

You may or many not have heard of Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, otherwise known as SOFIA, of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). To simply put, it is an observatory on a plane. Specifically, it is a modified Boeing 747 fitted with a telescope.

NASA has announced that they are retiring SOFIA this year after hundreds of successful missions it completed. Its operation is scheduled to end on Sept. 30.

Related Article: #ThisWeekOnITP: Microsoft's April 2022 Patch, NASA's Failed Attempt to Fuel Artemis 1, and More!

Employees of Apple were certainly not shy to let the company know about what they think of the work-from-home policy to be implemented. In fact, a group of employees have written an open letter directed to the executives of the company as a response to the policy.

If you are wondering what exactl the policy is, Apple is not allowing its employees to work remotely for more than two days each week.

Ever wondered what the far side of the moon looks like?

A number of studies and space missions have been conducted involving our Moon in the last couple of years, but the first photo of its far side was actually taken decades ago. In fact, the first photo was taken way back in 1959 by NASA's Luna 3 spacecraft.

This week's top news here on iTech Post is none other than the arrival of Tesla's new swivel screen!

The car company's Model X and Model S electric vehicles (EVs) will sport the swivel screen on its center console. Specifically, this applies to the Model S sedan and Model X SUV crossover.

The arrival of the swivel screen means that owners can now tilt their vehicle's infotainment system any which way they want.

Read Also: #ThisWeekOnITP: Google Embraces Woke Culture, What You Need to Know About the iPhone 14, and More!
Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung, second from right, poses with with U.K. Minister for the Pacific and the Environment Zac Goldsmith, second from left, and U.K. Ambassador to Korea Colin Crooks, left, during their meeting at the group's headquarters in central Seoul, May 6. The meeting took place on the occasion of Goldsmith's Korea visit for the World Forestry Congress held from May 2 to 6. Courtesy of Shinhan Financial Group



By Yi Whan-woo



Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung met with U.K. Minister for the Pacific and the Environment Zac Goldsmith and discussed the role of financial services companies of the private sector in tackling climate change and protecting biodiversity, the company said Sunday.



It said the meeting took place last week on the occasion of Goldsmith's attendance at the World Forestry Congress 2022 in Seoul.



The congress is the world's largest forestry-related event, held every six years. The British minister was in charge of issues related to forest preservation when the U.K. hosted the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference, or COP26, in Glasgow in November 2021.



"Minister Goldsmith has been drawing solidarity from various interest groups around the world, such as governments, investors and enterprises, on running global campaigns and raising funds for environmental protection," Shinhan Financial Group said in a press release.



It said that Cho introduced a wide range of efforts being made by Korea's second-largest banking group in tandem with the U.N campaign on green growth and sustainable development.



The chairman touched on the progress of the company's "Zero Carbon Drive" vision after it was announced in November 2020 that it would fulfill the U.N.'s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.



Shinhan Financial Group was the first in East Asia's financial industry publicly to announce its commitment to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to zero.



The company has observed criteria outlined by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a U.N.-convened alliance of global banks, in its push to reduce the carbon footprint resulting from its direct operations or energy consumption by 46 percent by 2030, and 88 percent by 2040, compared to the 2020 level.



Additionally, the company seeks to cut carbon emissions 28 percent by 2030 and 69 percent by 2040 across its portfolios associated with loans, investments, underwriting and other business activities involving the group's corporate customers.



Cho highlighted Shinhan Banking Group as a signatory to the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative (FI) since November 2021. The FI is a global partnership established between the UNEP and the financial sector.



According to the banking group, Goldsmith was impressed by its "leading role to spread environment-friendly finance and climate action in accordance with global criteria."



The minister went on to say that the environment will recover more quickly if financing for biodiversity protection is expanded on the international level.



Cho voiced a similar view, saying, "The more we work together, the better environmental protection can be achieved."



"As a responsible private banking group, the company will continue to seek various ways to solve challenges on carbon neutrality and biodiversity at the same time," he added.



Meanwhile, U.K. Ambassador to Korea Colin Crooks accompanied the minister at the meeting.


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EU alliances with Japan and South Korea have been highlighted amid the protracted war in Ukraine, as they are among the few Asian nations to have slapped sanctions on Russia. gettyimagesbank



EU seeks to bolster relations with economies in Indo-Pacific



By Kim Bo-eun



HONG KONG  The European Union (EU) appears to be increasingly reaching out to economies in Asia, as the world's largest trading bloc reassesses its economic ties with China and seeks greater engagement with the Indo-Pacific region.



The EU Council, composed of government ministers from each EU country, endorsed its Indo-Pacific strategy in October and has been accelerating moves to bolster ties with economies there.



In a time of escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing, Brussels is weighing the risks of relying so heavily on China in its supply chains.



EU alliances with Japan and South Korea have also been highlighted amid the protracted war in Ukraine, as they are among the few Asian nations to have slapped sanctions on Russia.



Late last month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Japan, rather than top trading partner China, during his first official trip to the Asia-Pacific region.



Without explicitly referring to China, Scholz has flagged the risks of supply chains being concentrated in a single country.



The EU also has concerns about China's stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine  Beijing has refused to condemn Moscow's aggression.



President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, also issued a joint statement in February saying there was "no limit" to the friendship between their two countries. This subsequently set off alarms in the West following Russia's invasion, as some feared it could result in China providing military aid to Russia, or might perhaps help it evade sanctions.



Beijing could face secondary sanctions if those situations came to fruition, but this would be equally damaging for its key trading partners, including the EU.



European Council President Charles Michel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are expected to visit Tokyo this week for an EU-Japan summit, and this would mark their first trip to East Asia since they assumed leadership of the EU before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Japan is the EU's second-largest trading partner in Asia after China.





South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol presides over a meeting with his transition committee in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
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The incoming government of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to announce an extra budget proposal estimated at some 34 trillion to 36 trillion won ($26.8-28 billion) later this week in its efforts to support merchants hit hard by the pandemic, officials said Sunday.







The finance ministry plans to unveil details about this year's second extra budget this week after Yoon takes office Tuesday, according to government officials.







The now-dissolved transition team earlier said the new government aims to spend 33.1 trillion won or more to fully compensate micro business owners for their losses.







During the election campaign, Yoon promised to spend around 50 trillion won for the compensation program. The team calculated the amount of planned support after subtracting the 16.9 trillion-won extra budget created in February from Yoon's proposal.







The transition team estimated the self-employed saw their operating profits fall a combined 54 trillion won between 2020 and 2021 due to the government's tight antivirus curbs.







Since 2020, the Moon Jae-in government has drawn up seven supplementary budgets totaling 134 trillion won to cope with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has provided a combined 35.1 trillion won to pandemic-hit merchants, far below their estimated business losses.







The finance ministry said it plans to curtail nonessential expenditures and tap reserves to fund another extra budget. But a debt sale appears inevitable, given the potential size of the budget.







Korea's national debt is expected to reach 1,075.7 trillion won this year, marking the first time for it to exceed the 1,000 trillion-won mark, according to government estimates.







The debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to rise to a record high of 50.1 percent this year, and the fiscal deficit is likely to reach 70.8 trillion won, equivalent to 3.3 percent of GDP. (Yonhap)


The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
Congratulations, neweurope.az got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site:

Neweurope.az scored 70 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 3.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 25 May 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

neweurope.az is very popular in Facebook. Furthermore its facebook page has 29378 likes.

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FACEBOOK PAGE LINK FOUND FACEBOOK PAGE www.facebook.com/Nedvijimost.az?ref=hl DESCRIPTION  -     +994505200060 +994124401222 www.realestate.com.az LIKES 29378 PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT 36 PAGE TYPE Local business TIMELINE PAGE TIMELINE

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Twitter account link

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Stainlesssteelstore.com scored 46 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 20 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the stainlesssteelstore homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. The total number of people who shared the stainlesssteelstore homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the stainlesssteelstore homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if stainlesssteelstore has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the stainlesssteelstore homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the stainlesssteelstore homepage on Twitter + the total number of stainlesssteelstore followers (if stainlesssteelstore has a Twitter account).

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Twitter account link

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North Korea's official news agency and other state media outlets remained silent Sunday about a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) that the country fired the previous day in its latest saber-rattling ahead of the inauguration of South Korea's incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol.







The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang's official mouthpiece, usually begins its morning news cycle with reports on major events that happened the previous day, such as leader Kim Jong-un's activities or major weapons testing.







But on Sunday, the KCNA made no mention of the SLBM launch, which, according to South Korea's military, was carried out Saturday afternoon in waters off the North's eastern coastal city of Sinpo, the North's main submarine shipyard.







The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, and other media outlets also remained silent on the launch.







The missile test, which marked the North's 15th show of force this year, came just three days before Yoon takes office as president with a North Korea policy widely seen as more hawkish than that of outgoing President Moon Jae-in.







It was the second time in less than a week that North Korean state media outlets have not carried a report on a major weapons test. Last week, state media carried no reports after the North fired what is believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), spurring speculation the launch ended in failure. (Yonhap)


Thanks to an ongoing "megadrought" in that part of the USA, the skeleton found a week ago in a metal storage container along the receding shoreline of Lake Mead the reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States about 40 miles east of Las Vegasis the remains of a victim of what appears to have been a mob hit, according to Las Vegas police.





The remains belong to the victim of a gunshot wound several decades back. Source: Daily Mail







The barrel was discovered about 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon by people walking along the shoreline of Lake Mead  Americas largest man-made reservoir. They saw the corroded, rusted barrel embedded in mud, Lieutenant Spencer said. While the sun shined on nearby boaters floating in the water, they peeked their heads inside and discovered a skeleton.



The barrel was found last Sunday along Lake Mead. Source: Daily Mail





Witnesses called the National Park Service, which responded and confirmed that the contents were in fact human remains, Lieutenant Spencer said. The National Park Service then called the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which is investigating.



Investigators plan to scan missing-person cases from the 1980s to search for clues, Lieutenant Spencer added. The investigation could take years because the police are starting at square one, Lieutenant Spencer said.



Spencer said that investigators have already set to work identifying the victim.



"In the 1980s, we did not have any of the DNA databases, so there was no DNA collection," Spencer said, adding that if DNA can be extracted from the bones, the required genealogy work will be extensive.



Since 2000, the elevation of Lake Mead has dropped by nearly 150 feet because of drought and climate change, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority. This period is now the driest two decades in 1,200 years and is considered a megadrought.



Recent conditions have resulted in more significant water level declines. On Sunday, the Southern Nevada Water Authority issued mandatory summer water restrictions.

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Witnesses called the National Park Service, which responded and confirmed that the contents were in fact human remains, Lieutenant Spencer said. The National Park Service then called the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which is investigating.Investigators plan to scan missing-person cases from the 1980s to search for clues, Lieutenant Spencer added. The investigation could take years because the police are starting at square one, Lieutenant Spencer said.Spencer said that investigators have already set to work identifying the victim."In the 1980s, we did not have any of the DNA databases, so there was no DNA collection," Spencer said, adding that if DNA can be extracted from the bones, the required genealogy work will be extensive.Since 2000, the elevation of Lake Mead has dropped by nearly 150 feet because of drought and climate change, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority. This period is now the driest two decades in 1,200 years and is considered a megadrought.Recent conditions have resulted in more significant water level declines. On Sunday, the Southern Nevada Water Authority issued mandatory summer water restrictions. The barrel was discovered about 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon by people walking along the shoreline of Lake Mead  Americas largest man-made reservoir. They saw the corroded, rusted barrel embedded in mud, Lieutenant Spencer said. While the sun shined on nearby boaters floating in the water, they peeked their heads inside and discovered a skeleton.

The man (though some reports claim the sex has not been identified yet) died from a gunshot wound sometime in the mid-1970s or early 80s. The timeframe for the murder apparently is based on the sneakers found on the skeleton, which were sold and manufactured by Kmart in the mid to late '70s.Las Vegas Metropolitan Police released a statement confirming previous comments that the death of the man in the barrel is being investigated as a homicide"We're going to expand our time frame of the murder to the middle to late 1970s to early '80s," Homicide Lt. Ray Spencer of the Las Vergas Metropolitan Police told the Las Vegas Review Journal.Since the victim was killed in the 1970s-1980s in an area near Las Vegas, where mob-connected casinos dominated the Strip, investigators will definitely not rule out that the killing may have been Mafia-related, Lieutenant Spencer said.Experts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, will help them identify the remains and determine the age of the barrels metal, Lieutenant Spencer said.The barrel was found embedded in mud along Lake Mead's shoreline, which has been receding because of drought and climate change, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The current period is described as the driest two decades in 1,200 years.The drop in the lakes water level could result in other bodies being found at the lake.Rangers with the National Park Service find one or two bodies at Lake Mead every year, according to reports.According to reports, the skeleton was visible via a corroded opening in the rusted metal barrel. The victim's shirt and belt were still clinging to the skeletal frame. The barrel was exposed as the lake's water level continues to plummet amid an ongoing drought."Had the lake never receded, we would never have discovered the body," Lt. Spencer said.Spencer told the Las Vegas Review Journal that the barrel could have been dumped into the lake over the side of a boat.
Coffee is bad for you, say a lot of people, because anything that feels good has to be bad for you. Caffeine is a drug, and drugs are bad, right? And so some people, seeking to keep their bodies pure, strip coffee from their diets and plan to live till a hundred.

We don't have any real evidence that drinking coffee shortens your lifespan, and it's possible that the opposite is true, with caffeine appearing to reduce the risks of getting various diseases. This is despite a whole lot of experiments that started out with the idea that coffee is bad for you, including one famous one from back in the 18th century.

King Gustav III of Sweden taxed coffee heavily and eventually even totally banned it. He believed coffee hurts people, in some ill-defined way, and he commissioned an experiment on two twins to prove this. Each of these men were on death row, and the king commuted their sentences in return for the following demand: One of them must drink three pots of coffee every day for the rest of his life, while the other would drink tea. The tea drinker, hypothesized the king, would long outlive the coffee drinker.

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This experiment was ahead of its time in many ways. It largely predated the whole concept of clinical trials. The idea to focus on twins, to exclude any differences due to genetics, was particularly inspired, since this also predated the entire scientific concept of genes (though people have always suspected something like genes exist, based on how we look like our parents). Still, the experiment was doomed never to produce useful data. Even picking twins, it's impossible to control all the many variables that affect lifespan, and no experiment with a sample size this small can tell us much of anything.
CHICAGO (AP)  Abortion rights protesters rallied in cities around the United States on Saturday, vowing to fight to ensure that abortion remains a legal option for women nationwide.

Hundreds gathered in Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and other cities days after a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion was leaked to the public suggesting the court is poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide. The draft opinion, which comes amid nearly 50 years of federal abortion protections, could change before the ruling is finalized in coming weeks.
Nearly two years after his death, the estate of Fotis Dulos has been declared insolvent, meaning most creditors, including his mother-in-law, will not get paid and there will be no money left for his five children, court documents show.

He was a fellow who had lots of debts and no assets, said attorney Richard Weinstein, who represented Gloria Farber in two lawsuits she won against her son-in-law. I feel very badly we were unable to recover more for the family.

Farber has been caring for the five children since her daughter vanished on May 24, 2019. Jennifer Dulos has never been found, but police said she is presumed dead based on evidence they found in the garage of her New Canaan home, according to arrest warrants.

Fotis Dulos died by suicide in January 2020, weeks after he was charged with his estranged wifes murder. His ex-girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, and his former attorney, Kent Mawhinney, have each pleaded not guilty to charges in the case.

While Fotis Dulos estate has $395,687 in assets, it owes $548,280.75 in expenses, according to Farmington Probate Court records.

Attorney Christopher Hug will be paid $189,525 for settling the estate and attorney Paul Knierim, who represented Hug, will receive $98,326, court documents show.

It is unlikely that any creditors will be paid beyond the two attorneys, nearly a dozen professionals who provided services to Hug to deal with the estate, and state and federal taxes owed by Fotis Dulos, court documents show.

According to court documents, Hug stated that in addition to the $367,000 needed to pay those who worked to settle the estate, there were $64,962 in expenses for Fotis Dulos last sickness, $17,707 in unpaid state taxes and $98,343 in unpaid federal taxes.

Hug and Knierim, who declined to comment when reached last week, have agreed to cut their fee by nearly $100,000 to help settle the estate, court documents said.

But dozens of other professionals and entities who were notified that the estate was insolvent are not on the list to be paid, including attorney William Murray, who represented Fotis Dulos in the Farber lawsuits.

Others on the list who will not be paid, according to court documents, include electricians and other home building contractors, several attorneys who represented Farber and the children, and a number of health care providers, including the University of Connecticut Health Center, where Fotis Dulos was taken after being found unconscious at his home on Jan. 28, 2020.

Assets of the estate include an individual retirement account worth $194,791 and $137,500 returned by criminal defense attorneys Norm Pattis and Kevin Smith, who received a $250,000 retainer from Fotis Dulos to represent him in the murder charge weeks before his death, according to court documents.

The return of a portion of the retainer was the subject of a lawsuit Hug filed against Pattis and Smith in 2021. The settlement requires all parties involved in the lawsuit to not discuss the Jennifer Dulos case for 40 years.

A mediator used to settle the retainer claim cost the estate $5,650, court documents show.

The estates assets also include two motorcycles determined to be worth $8,050; furniture and equipment worth $39,205; a BMW and a trailer worth $12,630; the contents of a safe deposit box worth $8,330; and two personal checking accounts that had $92.70 and $179.65, court documents show.

The accounting of the estates assets and debts states that a friend of Fotis Dulos gave his sister, Rena Dulos Kyrimi, $7,000 to bury him in Greece. Fotis Dulos had given the friend the money to hold before his death, according to court documents, which do not reveal the persons name.

Nearly all of the properties Fotis Dulos was in the process of developing when his wife vanished went into foreclosure before his death, court documents show. Several banks foreclosed on those properties with none of the proceeds from the sale of the parcels going to his children, according to court documents.

After her daughter vanished, Farber filed for foreclosure on the home at 4 Jefferson Crossing in Farmington, where Fotis Dulos was living when he was arrested. Farber was granted ownership of the home and sold the property last year for nearly $1.9 million.

But Weinstein said Farber will not see the $1.9 million a judge awarded his client six months after Fotis Dulos death. Farber was awarded the judgment after filing two lawsuits against her son-in-law for unpaid business loans her family provided to help support his real estate development company, Fore Group.

The ownership of a property at 545 Deercliff Road in Avon is still being contested, with Harry Masiello, a long-time friend of Fotis Dulos contending in a lawsuit that he loaned the Fore Group money to develop the property. Farber has also filed a claim in that foreclosure case, which is still pending.

Farmington Regional Probate Judge Evelyn Daly declared the estate insolvent in November at Hugs request. Daly will need to approve Hugs final accounting before anyone is paid, according to court documents.

Hug is expected to submit the paperwork by March, probate court officials said.
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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Saturday and bombarded a besieged steel mill in Mariupol, hoping to complete their conquest of the port in time for Victory Day celebrations. Officials announced that the last women, children and older adults had been evacuated from the mill, but Ukrainian fighters remained trapped.

In a sign of the unexpectedly effective defense that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military flattened Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days and has become a symbol of resistance.

Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv, even as it remained a key target of Russian shelling.

The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition that has killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed large swaths of some cities. Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Russias holiday on Monday celebrating Nazi Germanys defeat 77 years ago, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged people to heed air raid warnings.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Zelenskyy and his people embody the spirit of those who prevailed during the Second World War. He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to twist history to attempt to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine.

As war again rages in Europe, we must increase our resolve to resist those who now seek to manipulate historical memory in order to advance their own ambitions, Blinken said in a statement as the United States and United Kingdom commemorated the Allied victory in Europe.

The most intense fighting in recent days has been in eastern Ukraine, where the two sides are entrenched in a fierce battle to capture or reclaim territory. Moscow's offensive there has focused on the Donbas, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014.

The governor of the Luhansk region, one of two that make up the Donbas, said a Russian strike destroyed a school in the village of Bilogorivka where 90 people were seeking safety in the basement. Gov. Serhiy Haidai, who posted pictures of the burning rubble on Telegram, said 30 people were rescued. The emergency services later reported that two bodies had been found and more could still be buried under the rubble. Rescue work was suspended overnight but was to resume on Sunday.

Haidai also said two boys aged 11 and 14 were killed by Russian shelling in the town of Pryvillia, while two girls aged 8 and 12 and a 69-year-old woman were wounded.

Moscow also has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the sea and create a corridor to the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, long home to Russian troops. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.

On Saturday, six Russian cruise missiles fired from aircraft hit Odesa, where a curfew is in place until Tuesday morning. Videos posted on social media showed thick black smoke rising over the Black Sea port city as sirens wailed.

The Odesa city council said four of the missiles hit a furniture company, with the shock waves and debris badly damaging high-rise apartment buildings. The other two missiles hit the Odesa airport, where the runway had already been taken out in a previous Russian attack.

Air raid sirens sounded several times early Sunday, the city council said.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Ukraine targeting Russian-held Snake Island in a bid to impede Russias efforts to control the Black Sea. An image taken early Saturday by Planet Labs PBC showed that most of the islands buildings had been destroyed by Ukrainian drone attacks, as well as what appeared to be a Serna-class landing craft against the island's northern beach.

The image corresponds with a Ukrainian military video showing a drone striking the Russian vessel, engulfing it in flames. Snake Island, located some 35 kilometers (20 miles) off the coast, figured in a memorable incident early in the war when Ukrainian border guards stationed there defied Russian orders to surrender, purportedly using colorful language.

In Mariupol, Ukrainian fighters made a final stand against a complete Russian takeover of the strategically important city, which would give Moscow a land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, annexed from Ukraine during a 2014 invasion.

Satellite photos shot Friday by Planet Labs PBC showed vast devastation at the sprawling Azovstal seaside steel mill, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the city. Buildings had gaping holes in the roofs, including one under which hundreds of fighters were likely hiding.

After rescuers evacuated the last civilians Saturday, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that the focus would turn to extracting the wounded and medics: Of course, if everyone fulfills the agreements. Of course, if there are no lies.

He added that work would also continue Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The situation at the plant has drawn the worlds attention, with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross desperately trying to organize evacuations.

In recent days, fighters inside described bringing out small groups of civilians who had been hiding there for weeks. The fighters said via social media that both they and the Russians had used a white flag system to halt fighting in order to get civilians out.

But Russian forces have intensified fire on the mill with mortars, artillery, truck-mounted rocket systems, aerial bombardment and shelling from the sea, making evacuation operations difficult.

Three Ukrainian fighters were reportedly killed and six more wounded during an evacuation attempt Friday. Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, said his troops had waved white flags, and he accused Russian forces of firing an anti-tank weapon at a vehicle.

It remains unclear what will happen to the estimated 2,000 fighters at Azovstal, both those still in combat and the hundreds believed to be wounded. In recent days the Ukrainian government has been reaching out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for them. The fighters have repeatedly vowed not to surrender.

Zelenskyy said officials were trying to find a way to evacuate them. He acknowledged the difficulty, but said: We are not losing hope, we are not stopping. Every day we are looking for some diplomatic option that might work.

Russian forces have probed the plant and even reached into its warren of tunnels, according to Ukrainian officials.

Kharkiv, which was the first Soviet capital in Ukraine and had a prewar population of about 4 million, remained a key target of Russian shelling in the northeast. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Saturday that the Russian military also hit large shipments of weapons from the U.S. and other Western countries with Iskander missiles in the region. His claims couldnt be independently verified.

But Western military analysts said Ukrainian forces were making progress in securing positions around the city. The Ukrainian military said it retook control of five villages and part of a sixth, and that Russian forces destroyed three bridges on a road northeast of the city to try to slow Ukraine's advance.

A Washington-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said in its most recent assessment that Ukraine may be able to push Russian forces out of artillery range of Kharkiv in the coming days, providing a respite for the city and an opportunity to build the defenders' momentum into a successful, broader counteroffensive.

Overnight, a Russian missile destroyed a national museum in the Kharkiv region dedicated to the life and work of 18th-century philosopher and poet Gregory Skovoroda, the local council said. It posted photographs on Facebook showing the building engulfed in flames.

Zelenskyy expressed outrage at the missile attacks on the museum and on Odesa, where almost every street has something memorable, something historical. He said Russian forces have destroyed or damaged about 200 cultural heritage sites.

Every day of this war, the Russian army does something that leaves you speechless, he said. But then the next day it does something that makes you feel this way in a new way.

___

Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
WESTPORT  Nearly one year ago, the town settled a case with a developer who had been attempting to get a housing project built on Hiawatha Lane Extension for 18 years.

Previously the town worked alongside the neighborhood against this development for nearly two decades, but now a group of homeowners have taken matters into their own hands following the settlement. Three homeowners filed a civil action lawsuit seeking an injunction against the project, owned by Summit Saugatuck LLC.

The settlement between the town and developer eliminated one of the five proposed buildings on the property, taking the total number of units from 187 down to 157, and added some three bedroom units to the project. The town also got to keep its moratorium on applications for projects filed under 8-30g, a state statute which allows developers to skirt local zoning laws in the case that 30 percent or more of its housing stock is considered affordable housing.

The homeowners filed suit in September 2021 and are waiting for a decision from the Judge Marshall Berger of Hartford Superior Court on whether the case will go to trial or end with a summary decision  a decision from the court without a full trial.

The judge said he needed to go back to his chamber to think about it, according to Hiawatha Lane resident Carolanne Curry. That was nearly 90 days ago. The judge has 120 days to make a decision, according to attorney Joel Green, who is representing the homeowners.

It's in the hands of a judge for a decision, attorney Timothy Hollister, who is representing the developer, said.

The homeowners case centers on single-family deed-restrictions that were established when the homes were initially conveyed to occupants nearly 70 years ago.

It is our position that all of the lots are encumbered with a restriction that limits the development to single family homes, Green said. We believe that the evidence that all of the deeds and history shows that all of the deeds included that restriction.

Summit argues that the deed restrictions are not one uniform common plan that can keep them from developing a multi-family housing project. They cite that nine of the 16 conveyed lots were not subject to a one-family housing restriction following a 1956 Westport Probate Court decision, according to court documents.

Green said he is looking forward to the decision.

We have been patient for many years, so I don't mind, Curry said.

The towns settlement with the developer also included stipulations for fire safety and does not allow Summit to submit any future 8-30g applications on site.

Green said he did not think this case would set a broader reaching precedent for other 8-30g cases in state, since this case largely rests on a particular subdivision that is unique to this case.

Commissioners raised concerns about additional traffic the project would create at the meeting in May 2021. There have been town-wide traffic issues in recent months leading to a slate of 10 traffic meetings, one in each of the towns districts.

mike.mavredakis@hearstmediact.com
OXNARD, Calif. (AP)  A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of shooting his girlfriend, the woman's father and the family dog at their Southern California home, authorities said.

Officers responding to reports of a family disturbance found the 27-year-old woman and her 61-year-old father with gunshot wounds Saturday at the residence in Oxnard, police said.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Washington loves a whodunit. And the latest one comes with the stunning plot twist of a leak from the famously buttoned-up Supreme Court.

The publication this past week of a draft opinion that said Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion in the United States, was wrong from the start and should be overruled, has set off sleuthing from every corner of the capital.

Who could possibly be behind such a glaring breach of trust? Why did that person choose to leak the draft? Why did that person choose a reporter from Politico? Who will investigate the matter? Will there be consequences? What will the court's ultimate opinion say?

Washington, by nature, abhors a vacuum. So the two months before the court actually issues a final ruling will be filled with guesses, surmise, false starts  and maybe even the truth about who is behind the leak.

Its an intrigue in the tradition of Watergates Deep Throat  one of Washington's best-kept secrets for more than three decades; of Iran-Contra, with classified documents spirited out in a secretary's undergarments; of Primary Colors, a roman a clef about a certain Southern governor.

The Trump era provided almost an entire genre. Among them: an unidentified whistleblower's complaint about Donald Trump's phone call with the president of Ukraine and the writings of Anonymous, a senior administration official who only stayed anonymous for about two years after he wrote an opinion piece and subsequent book slamming the president.

The Supreme Court leak is "up there with the most important disclosures of this century and the last century  maybe ever, said Danielle Brian, executive director of the private Project on Government Oversight. It ranks, certainly, with the Pentagon Papers and Wikileaks and Deep Throat.

While leaks spout daily in gossipy Washington, the explosive revelation of a draft opinion that would overturn the 1973 decision creating a nationwide right to abortion has captivated the city.

The hunt for the high court leaker is afoot. Chief Justice John Roberts has ordered an investigation into what he called an egregious breach of trust. Amateur detectives have been eagerly trading theories on social media.

Is it even possible to keep this kind of secret in Washington anymore?

Of course not, said Eric Dezenhall, a crisis communications expert who has watched decades of leaks play out in the capital.

Very few people who leak truly just keep it to themselves, Dezenhall said. There's always a conversation that says, You have to swear not to tell anybody this  and that's the beginning of the end.

He added that there's often a psychic  and financial  incentive to make oneself known as a figure in history.

The endgame is a book deal, a movie deal, being on TV," he said.

Even when leakers are circumspect about their doings, there's the dicey matter of digital footprints, which make it far easier for leak hunters to track down modern sources of information than it was in the past.

The way some sources have been able to maintain their anonymity has been really impacted by the age of surveillance and technology tracking, so it's possible that we will find out who it is, said Brian, who laments a reflexive instinct within government to go after leakers and clamp down on information.

Big secrets in Washington have a way of eventually coming out, one way or another.

The identity of Deep Throat, the source who guided Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in the Watergate investigation, wasn't known until 2005, when a 91-year-old former FBI official, W. Mark Felt, revealed that he was the one who used to meet the reporters in an underground parking garage at 2 a.m. to share tips about how to unravel wrongdoing by President Richard Nixon and his allies. A Post editor had dubbed him Deep Throat after the 1972 porn movie of the same name.

The secret identities of many other truth tellers, leakers and whistleblowers of different stripes have been shorter-lived.

Anonymous  whose 2018 New York Times opinion piece and later book bashing Trump left the president fuming and on the hunt for the leaker  chose to reveal himself six days before the 2020 election, when Trump was seeking reelection.

When he stepped out of the shadows, Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security chief of staff, called Trump a man without character and urged other former administration officials to find their conscience" and speak up, too.

In 2019, it was a CIA officer's whistleblower complaint about Trump's phone call with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy that led to the president's impeachment. The whistleblower's identity was kept confidential under federal laws that protect whistleblowers from retaliation. But conservatives widely circulated speculation about the officer's identity.

In January 1996, a fictionalized account of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign by an anonymous author set off a hunt for the writer who seemed to know so much about the inner workings of the political operation.

Six months later, journalist Joe Klein confessed to being the author after the Post fingered him through handwriting analysis of an annotated manuscript it had obtained. Klein said he had kept his name off the book, his first novel, because he was not sure it would be any good. He ended up with a movie deal.

Military analyst Daniel Ellsberg, who in 1971 leaked a secret study that laid bare America's misguided involvement in the Vietnam War, publicly identified himself as the source of the Pentagon Papers a few weeks after the Times and Post published articles that touched off a massive legal battle over the free press. Ellsberg was charged with theft, conspiracy and violations of the Espionage Act, but his case ended in a mistrial when evidence surfaced about government-ordered wiretappings and break-ins.

The drama swirling around the Supreme Court leaker is amplified by conjecture about motivation. Was it someone trying to head off a final opinion overturning Roe? Or someone trying to do the opposite  shore up justices who had initially voted to overturn Roe but might be getting cold feet?

Depending on the politics of the readers, the leaker has been alternately labeled a cultural hero or villain. Some speculators, on reflection, have switched theories mid-debate. The White House wants people to focus less on the leaker and more on the potential implications of the draft opinion itself.

The idea that the leak was designed to ensure the final opinion would track with the first draft "might be too Machiavellian by half, Dezenhall postulates. It was probably exactly who you think it is  somebody who wanted to screw this thing up.
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BRIDGEPORT  Mayor Joe Ganim pledged his commitment to ensuring all women feel supported and heard in their positions after two high profile women in municipal government raised questions this week about gender equality among his staff.

It has come to my attention that there are women in the administration that may be feeling they are not valued or heard equally to their counter parts, Ganim said in a statement to Hearst Connecticut Media. I am committed to ensuring that all women feel supported and heard in their positions. My administration, with the support of labor relations and human resources, strives to ensure that the City of Bridgeport is a workplace of diversity, equity and inclusivity.

The mayor was responding to comments from Constance Vickers, who on Wednesday left her job as his liaison with state lawmakers at the Capitol in Hartford, and from City Council President Aidee Nieves.

Vickers, in an interview with Hearst Connecticut, said she accepted a private sector offer for a different challenge and a little bit more work/life balance. But, as the third prominent woman to depart a key role within the administration in the past four weeks, she also questioned whether women in Bridgeport government are supported, empowered and relied upon to make key decisions.

Vickers exit followed those of the mayors communications director of five years, Rowena White, and Tyisha Toms, a city attorney who was a possible contender to run the municipal law department but instead is joining Norwalks legal team.

Meanwhile, Nieves told Hearst Connecticut that City Hall is losing well-qualified women because they are not treated and valued the same as male colleagues.

Male leaders  and this is not just speaking just to our mayor  male leaders across the country feel when women are in these types of positions, they look for a second opinion sometimes. They dont trust in their perspective, Nieves said. The male perspective is the dominant perspective.  He (Ganim) values them, but its not as valued as if it was (his male advisers/staffers).

We accept these comments as valued feedback, Ganim responded.

Hearst Connecticut also reached out to Janene Hawkins, Ganims chief administrative officer who, with Chief-of-Staff Daniel Shamas, plays a major role overseeing all municipal departments and mayoral initiatives. She did not respond.

A prominent young Democratic activist in local and statewide politics, Vickers was hired as the citys director of legislative affairs in March 2019. She concluded that three-year stint when the General Assemblys 2022 session in Hartford ended Wednesday.

Besides her duties as a conduit between local and state governments, Vickers had other responsibilities including playing a key role in last years distribution of federal coronavirus relief grants to Bridgeport small businesses and nonprofits.

Shes a hard worker for the city and has a lot of relationships in Hartford and the city itself, Nieves said. Shes a trusted person within the community. Shes worked on a lot of campaigns. Shes a grassroots person. ... Its really a loss.

Though she did not cite being dissatisfied working for Ganim as a reason for accepting different employment, Vickers, when asked to comment on her resigning so soon after White and Toms, responded, If women are leaving the administration at a higher rate than men, especially if they are Bridgeport residents, I would think that the root of that would be analyzed.

Are we elevating women into decision making positions? Are we empowering and supporting women in their work? Are women present and actively engaged in meetings where decisions are made? Vickers said. If the answer to any of these questions is no, then I would sincerely hope that this would be addressed intentionally and swiftly. The same questions should be asked about people of color. As a majority Black and Brown community, our administration should reflect that.

Nieves and other council members recently complained that Toms gender, youth and ethnicity  she is Black  made her a rarity among the older white men who dominate the legal department.

Nieves, whom Ganim helped reelect to the council last year, said the mayor needs to foster stronger relationships between himself and the women in his administration where they feel they are valued for their hard work and commitment. She used the word fidelity  that Ganim needs to display more trust in and support for female staffers and that lack of fidelity is one reason for the departures.

It speaks to the plight of women in positions of authority and positions where their voice is supposed to be on a level playing field and its really not, she said.

She cited as examples other high-profile female personnel who left in recent years  health directors Maritza Bond and Lisa Morrissey and mayoral aide Alma Maya  and also referenced current Acting Police Chief Rebeca Garcias professional struggles.

Nieves rose to Garcias defense this past winter when Ganim, facing a firestorm of criticism and national media attention over the police departments handling of the untimely deaths of two Black women, said he was extremely disappointed in the forces leadership and placed the two officers involved on paid leave while Garcia was on a planned vacation.

She has been continuously disrespected as a woman in leadership and undermined, Nieves had said, arguing the acting chief was being made a scapegoat for the administrations slow reaction to the controversy.

Garcia in a February letter to the mayoral-appointed police commission wrote internal investigations had already been opened on the two officers in question and that she was not consulted about the decision to suspend them either before or during her time off.

Nieves had expressed similar sentiments about how Morrissey was treated under Ganim when, in January 2021, Morrissey abruptly took a similar job in New Milford  less than eight months after being hired to run Bridgeports health department in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She was not part of the political establishment and continually had to prove herself to both the council and employees and was undermined on her powers, Nieves complained at the time. Her management style is not something the city could get accustomed to. Its a shame. It doesnt look good for the mayor or city.

White declined to comment. Morrissey did not respond to a request for comment, and Bond, who in early 2020 left Bridgeports health department for New Havens and is running for secretary of the state, could not be reached through her campaign.

Maya, however, did respond, and agreed with the concerns voiced by Vickers and Nieves.

Yes, there is an issue with the women (not) being treated equally to the men in Ganims City Hall, Maya said.

A former town clerk, Maya helped elect Ganim in 2015 and was a co-leader of his transition team. She was hired by the mayor as a senior adviser and then made neighborhood outreach coordinator. She eventually left City Hall and in 2019 supported Democratic state Sen. Marilyn Moores unsuccessful bid to unseat Ganim.

Maya recalled the dissatisfaction she felt soon after joining the Ganim administration. She said though she held the title of adviser, the mayor never asked for her advice and she was not included in meetings.

But, Maya added, perhaps it was less about her gender and more that she has an independent streak.

I have to be honest with myself  Im not a good soldier, she said.
The temple courtyard at Yonghwa Temple is decorated with colorful lanterns. / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington





By Dale Quarrington







More often than not for Buddha's Birthday, I'll visit larger temples like Tongdo Temple right here in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, or Samgwang Temple in neighboring Busan.







There's nothing quite like visiting a large, historic temple like Tongdo Temple on the biggest Buddhist holiday of the year. There's just something special about a temple that's nearly 1,500 years old and rich in both tradition and ancient temple structures that adds a certain transcendent depth to one's experience.







A close second is the colors, lights, and pageantry that a temple like Samgwang Temple puts on display during its Buddha's Birthday celebrations. With over 40,000 paper lanterns, mechanical lotus flowers and dragons, and the larger-than-life temple structures, it's hard to deny the aesthetic beauty that envelopes Samgwang Temple on Buddha's Birthday.







However, with all that being said, and because of the COVID-19 numbers being what they are, I decided to play it a bit safer. Instead of visiting those prominent temples that would be packed with visitors, I decided to go to three local temples in my area, following the Korean tradition known as Samsasunrye ("Three Temple Pilgrimage"). This is an older tradition that is less commonly practiced these days, but it still seems to be prevalent in regions that have a higher Buddhist population like North Gyeongsang Province, South Gyeongsang Province and Busan.







A pink paper lantern at Gwaneum Temple / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington





The number three is sacred in Buddhism. Not only does it represent the Three Jewels of Buddhism, known as "Sambo" in Korean, which represents the Buddha, the Dharma (teachings) and the Sangha (community), it also embodies the idea of completeness. The number three is also considered to be auspicious, as best represented in Buddhist pagodas, which are most commonly formed as three-story structures. More specifically, and as for the Samsasunrye, it's completed by those people that want to achieve something.







The first of the three temples I visited was Yonghwa Temple here in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. Established in 1471, Yonghwa Temple is related to Mireuk-bul (Future Buddha) because Mireuk-bul will be born under a dragon tree when he returns to Earth. However, beyond this, there is very little known about the temple. It is beautifully situated next to the Nakdong River below the towering Mount Obong (533 m) to the east.







Yonghwa Temple is a simple temple with just three buildings: the Daeungjeon, the Sanshingak (Mountain Spirit Hall) and the Yosa (monks' living quarters). Of the three temple buildings, it was the Daeungjeon main hall that drew my attention first. Housed inside the hall is the Stone Seated Buddha of Yonghwa Temple, which is Korean Treasure No.491. The stone statue was originally located in a temple in neighboring Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, but it was moved to Yonghwa Temple in February 1947. The statue dates back to the mid-Unified Silla Dynasty (668-935). It sits atop a beautiful stone lotus pedestal and it's surrounded by a stunning stone mandorla (an almond-shaped enclosure that encircles the body of the Buddha). Engraved on the stone mandorla are flames, flowers and clouds that help depict the light that emanates from the Buddha's body.







The stone seated Buddha of Yonghwa Temple / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington





After visiting the shamanistic Sanshingak, I was off to visit my next temple when a member of the temple staff offered me a handful of free rice cakes. It was a perfect way to end my visit to Yonghwa Temple.







Second on my three-temples pilgrimage was a little further up the mountainside, and a little further away from the Nakdong River basin. The more modern Garam Temple was a little busier than Yonghwa Temple, but still nowhere near as busy as a larger temple. The entrance was lined with staff and families that regularly attend Garam Temple. Along the way, I was offered tea, which went well with the rice cakes that I had received at Yonghwa Temple. Because morning services were ongoing when I visited Garam Temple, I decided to wander around the compact temple grounds and take in all of the artwork at the handful of temple buildings. Of note were the vibrant and descriptive Palsang-do (The Eight Scenes from the Buddha's Life Murals) that surround the Daeungjeon. Also of note were the beautiful views of the neighboring mountains and the Nakdong River. With a little more elevation than Yonghwa Temple, Garam Temple offers a beautiful, scenic view across the longest river in South Korea.







The view from the main hall at Garam Temple / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington





The last of my Samsasunrye journey was Gwaneum Temple. Not far from my home, and in back of row upon row of apartments, is this urban temple. In fact, Gwaneum Temple seems to be squeezed between apartments and the near-vertical slopes of Mount Obong. It is related to Gwanseeum-bosal, who is the Bodhisattva of Compassion. More recently, this temple has undergone renovations. Both the landscaping and the temple structures have experienced a beautiful makeover. While the main hall structure is more modern in design and less traditional, the Samseonggak (Three Saints Shrine) behind the main hall allows for some beautiful views across the sprawling cityscape from the heights of the shrine hall. Also housed in this more traditional temple shrine hall is a pleasing three-in-one shaman mural dedicated to the three most popular shaman deities found in Korean Buddhism: Chilseong (Seven Stars), Sanshin (Mountain Spirit), and Dokseong (Lonely Saint).







The Samseonggak at Gwaneum Temple / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington





My little adventure to these three temples on Buddha's Birthday was really rewarding. It had been a long time since I had last visited three temples in one day during Buddha's Birthday celebrations. Besides realizing that you don't need to go to the oldest and most aesthetically pleasing of Korean Buddhist temples, I realized that immersing myself in the immediacy of my temple travels and experiences was reward enough. And I hope everyone else was able to get out there and enjoy some of the Buddha's Birthday celebrations here in Korea, as well.









Dale Quarrington has visited over 500 temples throughout the Korean Peninsula and published three?

. He runs the popular website, "

."


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UZHHOROD, Ukraine (AP)  Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

She became the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during the war, while Zelenskas public appearance was her first since since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility.

Zelenska thanked Biden for her courageous act and said, We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day -- even today.

The first ladies met at a school being used to temporarily house Ukrainian migrants. Zelenska arrived first and waited in her black SUV until Biden arrived in similar fashion. The women stepped out of their vehicles and embraced, with Biden  who wore a wrist corsage for Mother's Day  handing over a bouquet of flowers before they entered the school.

The women came together in a small classroom, sitting on either side of a wooden table and greeting each other in front of reporters before they met in private. Zelenska and her two children have been staying at an undisclosed location for their safety.

The visit allowed Biden to conduct the kind of personal diplomacy that her husband would like to do himself.

President Joe Biden said when he visited Poland in March that he was disappointed he could not cross the border and go into Ukraine to see conditions firsthand but that he was not allowed, likely due to security reasons. The White House said as recently as last week that the president would love to visit but there were no plans for him to do so at this time.

The meeting came about after Jill Biden expressed interest in visiting the region, including the school where she and Zelenska met, and settled on the idea of spending Mother's Day with Ukrainian moms, said Michael LaRosa, the first lady's spokesperson.

He said the Ukrainian government informed the United States that Zelenska would like to meet, if possible, and that a meeting was finalized in recent days. The first ladies also had recently exchanged correspondence, according to U.S. officials who declined to provide further details because they were not authorized to discuss those private communications.

After meeting privately for about a half hour, the first ladies joined a group of children who live at the school in making tissue-paper bears to give as Mother's Day gifts.

LaRosa described their conversation as more of a personal mother-to-mother exchange and said Biden was interested in how Zelenska was coping through that lens.

He said Zelenska told Biden that she was able to hold her children's hands every night even though she could not be with her husband.

The Bidens spoke by telephone afterward, he said.

Bidens visit followed recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, and a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Her visit was to western Ukraine; Russia is concentrating its military power in eastern Ukraine, and she was not in harms way. On the same day as Biden's visit, a Russian bomb flattened a school in eastern Ukraine that had been sheltering about 90 people in its basement, with dozens feared dead. Also Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine to meet with the president and "reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people, according to his office.

Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, Biden toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel, where a priest intoned, We pray for the people of Ukraine.

And before that, at a school in Kosice, Biden offered support to Ukrainian mothers in Slovakia. She assured them that the hearts of the American people are behind them.

At a bus station in the city that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center, Biden found herself in an extended conversation with a Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children because she cannot understand it herself.

I cannot explain because I dont know myself and Im a teacher, Victorie Kutocha, who had her arms around her 7-year-old daughter, Yulie, told Biden.

At one point, Kutocha asked, Why? seeming to seek an explanation for Russias decision to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Its so hard to understand, the first lady replied.

Biden also dropped in at a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students. Slovakian and Ukrainian moms were brought together at the school for a Mothers Day event while their children made crafts to give them as gifts.

She went from table to table meeting the mothers and kids, telling some of the women that she wanted to come and say the hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine.

I just wanted to come and show you our support, she said before departing for Vysne Nemecke.

Biden is on a four-day visit to Eastern Europe to highlight U.S. support for Ukrainian refugees and for allied countries such as Romania and Slovakia that are providing a safe haven for them.

She spent Friday and Saturday in Romania, visiting with U.S. troops and meeting with Ukrainian refugee mothers and children.

With her trip, the American first lady followed the path of prior sitting first ladies who also traveled to war or conflict zones.

Eleanor Roosevelt visited servicemen abroad during World War II to help boost troop morale. Pat Nixon joined President Richard Nixon on his 1969 trip to South Vietnam, becoming the first first lady to visit a combat zone, according to the National First Ladies Library. She flew 18 miles from Saigon in an open helicopter, accompanied by U.S. Secret Service agents.

Hillary Clinton visited a combat zone, stopping in Bosnia in 1996. Laura Bush visited Afghanistan twice, in 2005 and 2008, during the U.S.-led war there. Melania Trump accompanied President Donald Trump to Iraq in December 2018.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that the name of Ukraine's first lady is Olena Zelenska, not Zalenska.
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  Syrian President Bashar Assad met with Iranian leaders in Tehran on Sunday, Iranian and Syrian media reported, marking his second trip to major wartime ally Iran since Syrias civil war erupted in 2011.

Nour News, a website close to Irans Supreme National Security Council, reported that Assad met Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi. It said the leaders praised the strong ties between their nations and vowed to boost relations further. Assad was reported to have left Tehran for Damascus later on Sunday.

Everybody now looks at Syria as a power, Khamenei told Assad in the meeting, according to Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to the country's powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The respect and credibility of Syria is now much more than before."

Assad, for his part, said that strong relations between Iran and Syria served as a bulwark against American and Israeli influence in the Middle East.

America today is weaker than ever, Syrian state news agency, SANA, quoted Assad as saying. We should continue this track, he added, praising Iran's help in Syria's fight against terrorism.

In an apparent reference to a recent string of deadly attacks in Israel by Palestinian assailants, Assad also said that the Palestinian cause has again captured the world's attention because of the sacrifices of the Palestinian resistance.

Iranian media published photos of Assad shaking hands warmly with Khamenei and grinning beside Raisi.

Assad has rarely travelled abroad since his government's crackdown on Syria's civil unrest in 2011 led to a devastating civil war and made him a global pariah.

He has visited key patrons Russia and Iran, and made his first trip to the United Arab Emirates since the conflict earlier this year  the clearest signal yet that the Arab world is willing to re-engage with the once widely shunned president as Arab states seek to blunt the expanding influence of their Shiite foe in Syria.

Tehran has given the Syrian government billions of dollars in aid and sent Iran-backed fighters to battle alongside his forces  assistance that, along with Russian air power, has helped turn the tide in Assads favor.

The Tehran visit marked Assad's first trip to the Iranian capital in over two years. The visit was not announced beforehand.

Police were out in force at major thoroughfares and intersections in Tehran on Sunday.
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LONDON (AP)  Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys surrender in 1945.

Cutting out Russian oil supplies will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement.

We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies, they added.

Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.

We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community, they said.

U.S. President Joe Bidens call with the G-7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.

Italy Prime Minister Mario Draghis office said in a statement that the G-7 leaders reiterated the commitment to diversify energy sources, reducing. dependence on Russian supplies. Italy, heavily dependent on Russian natural gas when the war began, has since secured several agreements for alternative gas supplies from other countries. Draghi is scheduled to meet with Biden in Washington on Tuesday.

The U.S. also announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. They include cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian, and piling additional restrictions on Russias industrial sector, including cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

The White House announced the new sanctions ahead of the May 9 Victory Day, when Russia traditionally celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with huge military parades.

Putin is expected to talk about what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine and address troops on Red Square on Monday.

The U.S. and European allies were seeking to offer counter-messaging that Putin is further isolating Russia from the rest of the world and doing enormous harm to the Russian economy.

The new round of U.S. sanctions will hit three of Russias most popular television stations in Russia  Channel One Russia, Russia-1, and NTV  that the U.S. has said have been at the forefront of spreading misinformation about Russias prosecution of the invasion.

The Biden administration said the new sanctions prohibiting U.S. accounting and consulting firms from doing business in Russia will help thwart Russian companies and elites from getting help to obscure their wealth and evade an avalanche of sanctions that have already been enacted.

The U.S. also said it imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials and issued a new visa restriction policy that applies to Russian military officials and authorities.

The U.S. sanctioned 27 executives from Gazprombank, a bank that facilitates sales by Russias Gazprom, one of the largest natural gas exporters in the world, with Europe. The sanctions are the first time that the U.S. has hit the bank that plays a critical role Russias considerable gas exports, but the move stops well short of the full blocking sanctions that the U.S. has hit other big Russian banks.

Ahead of the call, U.K. officials said Britain will provide an extra 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support to Ukraine to help the nation defend itself against Russian forces.

The funding, which comes from British government reserves, includes 300 million pounds of military kit promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this week, such as radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment and night vision devices.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Ukraine Sunday, touring the northern town of Irpin, which had been heavily damaged by Russias attempt to take the capital of Kyiv at the start of the war. The mayor on Sunday posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeau's office later said the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

Jill Biden also made an unannounced visit on Sunday, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting in western Ukraine with first lady Olena Zelenska. Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old war with Russia.

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a televised address that Sunday was a May 8th like no other.

He said Germany has worked hard to own up to its actions during World War II, reconciling with both Russia and Ukraine and committing itself to the concept of never again. But Russias barbaric invasion of Ukraine in February has brought war back to Europe, Scholz said, a prospect that once seemed unthinkable.

Freedom and security will prevail -- just as freedom and security triumphed over lack of freedom, violence and dictatorship 77 years ago," Scholz said in his address.

German Bundestag President Barbel Bas, the second highest-ranking German official after the president, met Sunday with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and attended a memorial event honoring the anniversary of the end of World War II.

We really appreciate that on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation itself, and in what for us is such a trying time of war, the President of the German Bundestag Barbel Bas came to support Ukraine, said a post published Sunday on Zelenskyys Telegram channel.

___

Madhani reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Emily Schultheis in Berlin contributed to this report.

___

Follow all AP stories on the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
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BRIDGEPORT  Two days before the fifth anniversary of Jayson Negrons death, family, friends, and activists gathered at a Fairfield Avenue art gallery to honor his memory  and pledge to continue fighting in his name.

Negron, 15, died shortly after 5 p.m. on May 9, 2017 after being shot by a Bridgeport police officer while behind the wheel of a stolen car.

The officer, James Boulay, was found to be justified in pulling the trigger after an investigation by Waterbury States Attorney Maureen Platt.

Negrons family filed a federal lawsuit against Boulay, the city, and former Police Chief Armando Perez in May 2020 challenging the conclusions of the prosecutors investigation and saying the police department fosters an environment of grossly negligent, reckless, and deliberately indifferent conduct among cops.

More than 30 people gathered at the Nest Arts Factory on Saturday, where a collage of pictures covered a wall showing family pictures of Negron early in life to the day he died, and of the many protests and demonstrations connected to the case.

Every picture is a story and a memory that we hold of Jayson, his sister, Jazmarie Melendez, said during an interview at the event. Every smile and moment that we reflect on is what were missing. At the core, we really just miss somebody that was so loved and was robbed of so much time.

His mother, Natasha Tosado, said her grief hasnt gotten any easier as time goes by.

It gets harder. Because as the years go on, you start to envision what he would be doing, she said. It is so hard.

Melendez said that the city has repeatedly tried to settle the lawsuit  offering increasing amounts of money to the family to drop the case  but said the family has refused and opted for a trial.

We said no because thats not what this is about, Melendez told those gathered Saturday. Money is not going to bring Jayson back. We need justice for his life.

She said the case is headed to trial by the end of the year and called on supporters to show up in court when it does, citing the heavy presence of off-duty police at the arraignment Tuesday of Brian North, a state trooper charged with manslaughter for shooting Mubarak Soulemane in West Haven after a police pursuit.

They have so many cops coming from all different towns coming to support that white cop, Melendez said. We need to come down like that. We need to be flooding that courthouse. As soon as we get a court date we need to really be there.

North was the first Connecticut police officer to be charged in connection with a line-of-duty shooting in 17 years. Melendez called the troopers arrest a good step forward, but said we have to see what happens. Just because they brought charges against him doesnt mean theyre going to follow through either.

She said the police accountability law passed by the state legislature in 2020 didnt go far enough with respect to qualified immunity for police officers.

I want things like that to be at the forefront and we need people pushing that way, but without removing qualified immunity, Im not sure what that bill was, because thats the problem, she said.

Beyond the lawsuit, which seeks damages and a declaratory judgment that Negrons civil rights were violated, the family wants Boulay, whose lawyer did not return a message seeking comment, fired and decertified as a police officer.

Boulay shot Negron after a pursuit May 9, 2017.

On that day, an undercover Bridgeport police officer called in a stolen Subaru Forester, spotted in the area near Walgreens at 1000 Park Ave.

When responding officers got to the area and saw the vehicle, they tried to pull it over, but the driver, later identified as Negron, turned into the Walgreens parking lot with officers following and drove through the lot before turning left into oncoming traffic on Fairfield Avenue.

Boulay, the passenger in a two-man Bridgeport police cruiser, got out of the car and approached the drivers side of the Subaru with his gun drawn before shooting one of the cars tires because, he said, Negron was using the vehicle dangerously.

Platts report said Boulay then opened the drivers door and reached in to try to pull Negron out before the teenager tried to move away from the officer, putting the Subaru into reverse and stepping on the gas pedal.

The states attorneys report said the door of the Subaru hit Boulay, who then fired his weapon into the vehicle, shooting Negron several times.

Medics pronounced Negron dead at the scene. An autopsy summary released by Platt indicated that Negron would have needed surgical intervention within minutes of the shooting in order to survive.

According to a status report filed by the lawyers in the federal lawsuit last month, depositions of eight witnesses, including Boulay and Perez, had been completed, and several more were scheduled.

The status report says that the parties to the case estimate a trial would take three to five days and that settlement is currently unlikely.

Lawyers representing the city and Boulay did not respond to messages seeking comment.

In an email Friday, the familys attorney, Alex Taubes, said, We look forward to proving our claims in court, declining to comment further.
MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP)  Frederick Riefkohl was the first Puerto Rican to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy. A World War I hero who led a successful showdown with a German submarine. And a World War II ship commander who retired as a rear admiral  he even has his own Wikipedia page.

But Riefkohl did not receive the Medal of Honor, Americas highest award for valor in combat, to commemorate his WWI gallantry.

Why? The former Merritt Island resident may have been unfairly discriminated against by military brass because of his island heritage, a team of Great War researchers says.

Riefkohl is one of 214 WWI minority veterans identified thus far by the Valor Medals Review Project, a Congress-authorized study spearheaded by Park University near Kansas City, Missouri.

Park University officials say this is the first such systematic review of minority veterans of the Great War. Research will continue until 2025, when documentation supporting Medal of Honor nominations will be forwarded to the Department of Defense for possible action, including posthumous awards.

Obviously, a huge example was Melvin Morris when he was awarded  what was it, 30 years later, 40 years later?  the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Vietnam, he said.

All veterans  regardless of their race, color or creed  do service and sacrifice. And all need to be recognized  without reference to their race, color or creed  for that service and sacrifice, he said.

Melvin Morris waited for 44 years

Morris, a Black retired Army sergeant first class who lives in Port St. John, waited more than 44 years to receive his Medal of Honor.

Back in September 1969, Morris charged into machine-gun fire and destroyed four enemy bunkers with hand grenades while retrieving the body of a fallen team commander near Chi Lang. He was shot three times in the process, but he survived.

President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Morris during a March 2014 ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Morris had previously been bestowed the Distinguished Service Cross, the Armys second-highest commendation.

In 2015, a life-sized bronze statue of Morris was unveiled at Riverfront Park in Cocoa. The Civilian Military Community Foundation raised funds for the statue.

The Valor Medals Review Project is studying WWI African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Jewish American and Native American service members who may have been unfairly denied the Medal of Honor because of their racial or religious background.

To qualify for the review, WWI minority veterans must have received the Armys Distinguished Service Cross or Navy Cross, which rank one level below the Medal of Honor; the Croix de Guerre avec Palme, Frances highest award for valor; or an archivally documented Medal of Honor recommendation.

Minority veterans who exhibited the highest acts of valor during WWI deserve to be recognized with the Medal of Honor, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, said in a 2019 news release announcing the review.

We cannot erase the discrimination minority service members faced, but we can make sure their heroic deeds are acknowledged and honored, said Blunt, who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland.

Fond of adventure, weakness for jolly

Unlike most of the minority troops in the Valor Medals Review Project, Weber said Riefkohl is relatively famous.

Born in 1889 in Maunabo, Puerto Rico, Riefkohl became the first Puerto Rican to graduate from the Naval Academy in 1911.

Fritz is from Puerto Rico and Boston, but his ideas and accomplishments are not confined even to these limits, said an entry in Lucky Bag, the Naval Academy yearbook.

He has the Southerners fighting blood, held in check by New England conservatism, the Westerners fondness of adventure, and the American college mans weakness for all thats jolly, the entry said.

After WWI, he served aboard an array of ships and held a variety of posts. He was commanding the cruiser USS Vincennes when she was sunk by Japanese naval forces during the 1942 Battle of Savo Island in World War II.

Riefkohl retired from the Navy as a rear admiral, then moved to southern Merritt Island in 1947 with his wife, Louise, to spend their golden years.

The Cocoa Tribune reported that the couple purchased a grove of mango, avocado and citrus fruit trees, then built a beautiful estate there off South Tropical Trail. Their home was filled with furnishings gathered from around the globe during his Naval career. He also served as an officer with the Indian River Yacht Club.

Riefkohl died in September 1969 at age 80 at Patrick Air Force Base Hospital. He did not have any biological children, Weber said.

A breakdown of the 214 WWI troops qualified for review by the Valor Medals Review Project from the Army, Army Air Corps, Marine Corps, Navy and Navy Air Corps:

105 Jewish Americans

73 African Americans

23 Native Americans

12 Hispanic Americans

One Asian American

Medal nomination downgraded

George S. Robb, a 1912 Park University graduate and namesake of its WWI research center, was a white U.S. Army first lieutenant who led the 369th Infantry Regiment during the Great War. Nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters and the Harlem Rattlers, this Black regiment was comprised of New York Army National Guardsmen from Harlem.

Robb later received the Medal of Honor for leading his platoon while severely wounded. However, Westcott said Robbs nominating form in the National Archives also included a nomination for 369th Infantry Regiment Sgt. William Butler of White Plains, Maryland.

Butler rescued five captured American troops in August 1918 by counter-attacking a group of 25 Germans, killing four of them, near Maison-de-Champagne, France.

Butlers (Medal of Honor) nomination was downgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross. George Robb is Caucasian. Mr. Butler is an African American, Westcott said.

New York University history professor Jeffrey Sammons discovered the Robb-Butler nominating form a few years ago while researching the Harlem Hellfighters, helping prompt the Valor Medals Review Project.

Butler is now one of the 214 WWI troops up for review.

America has a sacred bond with those who swore to defend her, and there is no more powerful manifestation of that covenant than the Medal of Honor, the Valor Medals Review Project website says.

The gravity of these awards means their rarity must be jealously safeguarded; they can never be allowed to be diluted in the name of making a political point, the website says.

Every hero from the Great War whose deeds warrant the award receives it, regardless of the circumstances of their birth or the color of skin.
Malagasy official thanks China for supporting African countries in agricultural development

Xinhua) 12:49, May 08, 2022

The secretary-general of the Malagasy Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Fanja Raharinomena, removes rice seeds during a demonstration session on the huller machine in Mahitsy, a town northwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar, May 6, 2022.(Photo by Sitraka Rajaonarison/Xinhua)

ANTANANARIVO, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The secretary-general of the Malagasy Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Fanja Raharinomena, has thanked China for its commitment to supporting African countries in developing their agricultural sector.

Raharinomena described China as "a pioneer in hybrid rice research in the world" and thanked "the Chinese government for its commitment to supporting African countries and particularly, Madagascar, in the development of agriculture."

During a visit Friday to the demonstration fields of hybrid rice varieties funded by the Chinese government in Mahitsy, a town northwest of the Malagasy capital, Antananarivo, she said the development of the rice sector is a "pillar of food self-sufficiency in Madagascar."

"Hybrid rice gives a yield of up to 11 tons per hectare, whereas conventional rice produces only five tons per hectare, with the use of improved practices and techniques under the right conditions," Raharinomena told Xinhua.

"It can contribute to a rapid increase in the level of rice production," she said.

Raharinomena admitted that technical and financial challenges hamper large-scale production of hybrid rice in Madagascar.

Madagascar enjoys a humid tropical climate, with abundant sunshine and water resources -- the right conditions for rice cultivation, but inadequate infrastructure, obsolete agricultural technologies, and lack of investment have prevented the country from producing enough rice to meet local demand, having to import hundreds of thousands of tons every year.

In May 2019, China's National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center opened an office in Madagascar, and one of its main tasks was to breed various hybrid rice varieties based on the island state's diverse ecological environment, and to enhance food security on the African continent.

In partnership with the Chinese national center, the Indian Ocean Trading Company (STOI) has been popularizing hybrid rice in Madagascar since 2017 by giving inputs to farmers.

Tovonanahary Rabetsitonta, CEO of STOI, told Xinhua that Malagasy farmers earn a profit margin of five times more by growing hybrid rice than cultivating conventional varieties, though "not all hybrid rice seed varieties are suitable for Madagascar."

Thanks to cooperation with the Chinese center, he said, the best adapted varieties of hybrid rice have been identified for different regions in the country, with a yield of 10 tons to 12 tons per hectare, Rabetsitonta said.

Photo taken on May 6, 2022 shows the demonstration fields of hybrid rice varieties in Mahitsy, a town northwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar.(Photo by Sitraka Rajaonarison/Xinhua)

Photo taken on May 6, 2022 shows the demonstration fields of hybrid rice varieties in Mahitsy, a town northwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar.(Photo by Sitraka Rajaonarison/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Bianji)
Incoming National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han. Yonhap



The incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government will reassess North Korea's nuclear missile threats as soon as it takes office and come up with fundamental countermeasures, the incoming national security adviser said Saturday following the North's test of an apparent submarine-launched ballistic missile.



Kim Sung-han issued the statement hours after North Korea launched the missile off its east coast, saying the crisis management center of the new presidential office discussed details of the launch, which "violated U.N. Security Council resolutions," with top security officials of the incoming government in real time.






There is no disguising the historic importance of this election result for Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole. For we now have two parts of the UK where political parties avowedly dedicated to its break-up hold the whip hand.

In Scotland the SNP, which wants independence, consolidated its power last week. And in Northern Ireland, for the first time, Sinn Fein was the clear winner of the Assembly elections. As a result, alarm bells should be ringing because our cherished Union has nevAer been under greater threat.

It is vital, therefore, to address the core issue at the heart of the Northern Irish election results  the Brexit deal Protocol.

Julian Smith, pictured said: 'There is no disguising the historic importance of this election result for Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole. For we now have two parts of the UK where political parties avowedly dedicated to its break-up hold the whip hand'

A victorious Michelle O'Neill, centre, pictured with Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald and newly elected MLA Emma Sheerin, right. Sinn Fein are now the largest party in Northern Ireland

Unionists  who are still a powerful force at the Stormont parliament, albeit with their seats split between two parties  remain deeply worried about the arrangement and want significant changes before they return to government in Belfast. They may appear intractable but their concerns need to be addressed, with Brussels engaging with Northern Ireland political parties directly. After all, Northern Ireland politics has long been built on compromise and fudge. And we now need the biggest fudge of all  on the Protocol. This would involve banishing East/West checks for goods transported between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and kicking some of the more difficult regulatory issues into the long grass.

But for the sake of the people of Northern Ireland, getting their politicians back into government as fast as possible must be the next focus. There are so many bread-and-butter issues to sort out such as the cost of living and the need to set a budget.

The UK backs Northern Irelands unique power-sharing arrangement which, under the Good Friday Agreement, protects the two communities and their interests.

As for the threat to the Union, thanks to successful devolved government plus financial support from the UK, we should make the case to those tempted by constitutional change and show them that they are better in the UKs tent than outside it.

It must also be stressed that defence and security issues are other big reasons why support for the Union must stay strong  not only in Northern Ireland but in Scotland, too.

Crucially, we need to restore better relations with the Dublin government after Brexit left tempers and relationships frayed.

Achieve these goals and we can show that there is no need for any change from the status quo and the United Kingdom  the most successful political union in history  can remain intact.

Julian Smith is Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon.

Boris Johnson is warned the UK faces its greatest threat for centuries as Sinn Fein's Vice President - once described as 'the representative of Gerry Adams on Earth' - wins power at Stormont

By Brendan Carlin

Boris Johnson was warned last night that the UK was facing its greatest threat for centuries as Sinn Fein achieved a historic win in Northern Ireland.

In a dramatic end to the Stormont elections, the republican party overtook the Democratic Unionists (DUP) to be the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

With Sinn Fein on 27 seats out of 90, the partys Vice President Michelle ONeill will now be entitled to become Northern Irelands First Minister, an unprecedented move for a nationalist politician. She hailed a new era in the politics of the province.

With Sinn Fein on 27 seats out of 90, the partys Vice President Michelle ONeill will now be entitled to become Northern Irelands First Minister, an unprecedented move for a nationalist politician. Ms O'Neill, left, is pictured with former Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, centre and former Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams

But former Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith said last night that the result, coupled with the SNPs victory in Scotland, means our cherished Union has never been under greater threat. We now have two parts of the UK where political parties dedicated to its break-up hold the whip hand.

Mr Smith urged Brussels to engage directly with politicians in Belfast to reform the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol which sets up a border in the Irish Sea for some goods entering the province.

However, there were also fears of a fresh UK showdown with Brussels over the Protocol which has been at the heart of the Stormont election campaign.

Government sources told The Mail on Sunday that EU Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic had privately said Brussels will never change its negotiating mandate.

Former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith, pictured, fears for the future of the union

Mr Sefcovic is said to have informed Foreign Secretary Liz Truss that he did not believe the EU would ever go beyond its existing stance on the post-Brexit arrangements.

Last night, a Foreign Office source branded the move incredibly disheartening and appeared to reaffirm threats that London would act independently to reform the Protocol. The source said: Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have always been clear that action will be taken if solutions cant be found. Sinn Feins victory had been widely predicted after splits among Unionists who have held sway at Stormont since Northern Ireland was formed in 1921.Yesterday evening, the republican party finally achieved its goal after it reached the 27 seats  two more than the DUP could win. Ms ONeill said her partys triumph was a defining moment for our politics and for our people.

She added: This has been an election of real change. I will lead the Sinn Fein team to Stormont on Monday, ready to get the Executive [the devolved Northern Ireland government] up and running right away.

For many years it was said that Ms ONeill was groomed by leading Republican figures such as Martin McGuinness and she has been described as the representative of Gerry Adams on Earth. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis also encouraged the parties to form an Executive as soon as possible. The people of Northern Ireland deserve a stable and accountable local government that delivers on the issues that matter most to them.

But the DUP has previously warned that it would not join a power-sharing government led by a Sinn Fein First Minister if the UK and EU have not secured a breakthrough on changing the Protocol.

Sinn Fein can now nominate a First Minister but cannot take up the office unless the DUP, the biggest unionist party, agrees to nominate a Deputy First Minister. With 88 of the 90 assembly seats declared last night, the DUP was on 24 while the Alliance Party was finishing strongly with 17  more than doubling its tally in 2017. The Ulster Unionist Party was on nine and the Social Democratic and Labour Party on seven. Last night, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon congratulated Sinn Fein on a historic result. She tweeted: I wish Michelle & her colleagues  & all Northern Irelands elected representatives  the very best for what comes next.

Before the final result, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald had warned that her party would push for an Irish unification referendum on both sides of the border within five years.

Boris Johnson is warned the UK faces its greatest threat for centuries as Sinn Fein's Vice President - once described as 'the representative of Gerry Adams on Earth' - wins power at Stormont

By former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith

Boris Johnson was warned last night that the UK was facing its greatest threat for centuries as Sinn Fein achieved a historic win in Northern Ireland.

In a dramatic end to the Stormont elections, the republican party overtook the Democratic Unionists (DUP) to be the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

With Sinn Fein on 27 seats out of 90, the partys Vice President Michelle ONeill will now be entitled to become Northern Irelands First Minister, an unprecedented move for a nationalist politician. She hailed a new era in the politics of the province.

With Sinn Fein on 27 seats out of 90, the partys Vice President Michelle ONeill will now be entitled to become Northern Irelands First Minister, an unprecedented move for a nationalist politician. Ms O'Neill, left, is pictured with former Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, centre and former Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams

But former Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith said last night that the result, coupled with the SNPs victory in Scotland, means our cherished Union has never been under greater threat. We now have two parts of the UK where political parties dedicated to its break-up hold the whip hand.

Mr Smith urged Brussels to engage directly with politicians in Belfast to reform the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol which sets up a border in the Irish Sea for some goods entering the province.

However, there were also fears of a fresh UK showdown with Brussels over the Protocol which has been at the heart of the Stormont election campaign.

Government sources told The Mail on Sunday that EU Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic had privately said Brussels will never change its negotiating mandate.

Former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith, pictured, fears for the future of the union

Mr Sefcovic is said to have informed Foreign Secretary Liz Truss that he did not believe the EU would ever go beyond its existing stance on the post-Brexit arrangements.

Last night, a Foreign Office source branded the move incredibly disheartening and appeared to reaffirm threats that London would act independently to reform the Protocol. The source said: Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have always been clear that action will be taken if solutions cant be found. Sinn Feins victory had been widely predicted after splits among Unionists who have held sway at Stormont since Northern Ireland was formed in 1921.Yesterday evening, the republican party finally achieved its goal after it reached the 27 seats  two more than the DUP could win. Ms ONeill said her partys triumph was a defining moment for our politics and for our people.

She added: This has been an election of real change. I will lead the Sinn Fein team to Stormont on Monday, ready to get the Executive [the devolved Northern Ireland government] up and running right away.

For many years it was said that Ms ONeill was groomed by leading Republican figures such as Martin McGuinness and she has been described as the representative of Gerry Adams on Earth. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis also encouraged the parties to form an Executive as soon as possible. The people of Northern Ireland deserve a stable and accountable local government that delivers on the issues that matter most to them.

But the DUP has previously warned that it would not join a power-sharing government led by a Sinn Fein First Minister if the UK and EU have not secured a breakthrough on changing the Protocol.

Sinn Fein can now nominate a First Minister but cannot take up the office unless the DUP, the biggest unionist party, agrees to nominate a Deputy First Minister. With 88 of the 90 assembly seats declared last night, the DUP was on 24 while the Alliance Party was finishing strongly with 17  more than doubling its tally in 2017. The Ulster Unionist Party was on nine and the Social Democratic and Labour Party on seven. Last night, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon congratulated Sinn Fein on a historic result. She tweeted: I wish Michelle & her colleagues  & all Northern Irelands elected representatives  the very best for what comes next.

Before the final result, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald had warned that her party would push for an Irish unification referendum on both sides of the border within five years.
The House of Lords authorities have been asked to review the loopy loophole that lets peers take a leave of absence while retaining their perks, I can reveal.

Lord Mann, who was a Labour MP until 2019, has written an official request for an inquiry following questions raised in this column over leave taken by Lords (Peter) Goldsmith, (Greg) Barker, (Robert) Skidelsky, (Seb) Coe, (James) Palumbo, (Alan) Sugar and Baronesses Scotland and Vadera, the latter last seen in the chamber in 2011.

Peers on leave keep their title, can use official stationery and entertain up to five guests in the subsidised facilities  treating the Lords like a private members club.

One new member of the Leave of Absence Club, I can reveal, is Lord (John) Browne of Madingley, who was ennobled by Tony Blair in 2001

Though barred from voting or sitting in the second chamber, the sacrifice isnt too great for those peers who rarely engaged in legislating before taking time away to spend more time with their bank balance. Crucially, they no longer have to declare their business interests.

In his letter, Lord Mann wrote: To have so many on leave of absence creates some worrying concerns about the reputation of the Lords. He suggested that such peers just relinquish their membership of the House.

One new member of the Leave of Absence Club, I can reveal, is Lord (John) Browne of Madingley, who was ennobled by Tony Blair in 2001. Sun King Browne quit as boss of oil giant BP  but not the Lords  in 2007 after being exposed repeatedly lying in witness statements to stop this newspaper publishing details about his business activities. The tip-off came from Brownes former lover who he met through a male escort agency  not, as he claimed to the High Court while jogging in the park.

Browne never went to prison  unlike Tory peer Lord (Jeffrey) Archer  but became a government adviser on leadership.

Until recently, he maintained extensive energy business interests with oligarchs he would have met when taking BP into Russia, and chaired the UK arm of Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

Despite pressure for politicians to cut all ties with Russia over the Ukraine war, Browne remains a trustee of a Moscow museum alongside oligarchs Roman Abramovich and Viktor Vekselberg.

He also chairs an energy firm operating in China and chairs the advisory board of Schillings, the law firm which represented him during his failed attempt to injunct the Press. But his other interests will now remain a mystery as he no longer has to register them. Last night Browne told me the leave he took in January has nothing to do with new transparency rules brought in that month, requiring peers to declare how much they are paid by foreign government-linked firms.

He was simply now not in a position to make an active contribution to the work of the House  where he last voted in 2013 and last spoke five years ago.

No amount of Rees-Moggs passive aggressive sorry you were out when I visited notes placed on their desks will help

While Jacob Rees-Mogg cajoles civil servants back to their desks, its a different story for MPs support staff. Parliamentary authorities have decided they can continue working from home and still claim wfh tax breaks  because the (Labour and SNP) governments in Scotland and Wales still have their coronavirus restrictions in place. And no amount of Rees-Moggs passive aggressive sorry you were out when I visited notes placed on their desks will help.

If the Lords is a gentlemens club, the Commons increasingly looks like a frat house. A week after an MP quit over twice watching porn, I can reveal a number of staff have been banned for three months for tailgating  allowing tipsy uninvited guests through the security gates. Sir Charles Walker, chair of the Administration Committee, and head of security Alison Giles have been dishing out the punishments on a first-strike basis  having earlier warned MPs and staff to stop sleeping in their Commons offices after boozy nights out. Just another day in the weird world of Westminster.
Advertisement

Now less than a month away, the Platinum Jubilee presents a right royal opportunity for London's hotels to cash in on the nation celebrating the Queen's 70 years on the throne.

One five-star hotel, the swish Corinthia in Whitehall Place, has created a two-night stay during the bank holiday that is so luxurious any member of the Windsor family might fancy checking in.

The catch? The break comes with an eye-watering 48,000 price tag, based on two sharing the luxury residence's royal penthouse suite.

So, what do you get for 16,000 per person per night? The hotel promises those jetting into London's airports a chauffeur-driven transfer in a Rolls Royce Phantom, and any travel fatigue can be ironed out with butler-served cocktails on your very own suite balcony.

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The five-star Corinthia, in Whitehall Place, has created a 'royal experience' two-night Platinum Jubilee package costing 24,000pp for a two-night break, which includes a stay in the luxurious royal penthouse suite

Serving up dinner during the glitzy mini-break - available from June 1st to June 11th - will be top chef Tom Kerridge, with The Great British Menu's Nick Beardshaw also on hand to create gourmet dishes

Beats an Uber! Guests checking in will get a Roll Royce Phantom transfer from the airport and a private butler assigned when they check in - with Middle East and US tourist apparently showing interest in the luxury break, according to a source at the hotel

And one of the nation's most famous chefs, Tom Kerridge, will cook up a storm for those booking the glitzy package.

Also in the offing is ESPA spa treatments, a pimped-up traditional afternoon tea with finger sandwiches 'adorned with caviar and gold leaf' served with 'specially blended Canton tea' and flutes of vintage Krug Champagne.

There's access to private guided tours of the city, including a two-wheel adventure on heritage brand Brompton bikes and a Champagne breakfast in bed.

The lavish stay, available on dates between June 1st and June 11th, ends with a late check-out so guests can 'enjoy a relaxing lunch on your private terrace before departing with your luxury hamper filled with memories of your very Royal experience.'

THE CORINTHIA HOTEL'S ROYAL EXPERIENCE: WHAT 48,000 BUYS GUESTS CHECKING IN The London property promises guests checking in for its royal experience a host of premium perks including cocktails while watching Trooping the Colour and a Champagne breakfast in bed British Afternoon Tea: Guests are served by a private butler and will enjoy finger sandwiches adorned with caviar and gold leaf, fine pastries created by the hotel's head pastry chef, hand-made scones with Devon clotted cream and English strawberry jam. To drink there's 'rare specially blended Canton tea' and a vintage bottle of Krug Champagne

Guests are served by a private butler and will enjoy finger sandwiches adorned with caviar and gold leaf, fine pastries created by the hotel's head pastry chef, hand-made scones with Devon clotted cream and English strawberry jam. To drink there's 'rare specially blended Canton tea' and a vintage bottle of Krug Champagne Cocktails while watching Trooping the Colour: Those checking in on Thursday June 2nd can sip cocktails 'served in the finest crystal and canapes adorned in gold' while enjoying the historic fly-by

Those checking in on Thursday June 2nd can sip cocktails 'served in the finest crystal and canapes adorned in gold' while enjoying the historic fly-by Spa treatments: The hotel's ESPA Life team are on hand to offer massages in private treatment rooms

The hotel's ESPA Life team are on hand to offer massages in private treatment rooms Dinner by a Michelin-starred chef: Tom Kerridge and The Great British Menu's Nick Beardshaw are at the helm

Tom Kerridge and The Great British Menu's Nick Beardshaw are at the helm Champagne breakfast in bed: Before heading out on Brompton Bikes for a private Royal tour of London

Before heading out on Brompton Bikes for a private Royal tour of London Final terrace lunch: Guest will dine on their private terrace before departing with a luxury hamper Advertisement

The lavish break can be taken any time between June 1st and 11th - with the Platinum Jubilee four-day weekend starting on Thursday June 2nd

A traditional afternoon tea features finger sandwiches 'adorned with caviar and gold leaf' served with 'specially blended Canton tea' and flutes of vintage Krug Champagne

Also in the offing are ESPA spa treatments in private massage rooms and a dip in the hotel's stunning swimming pool

The hotel maintains that in spite of the stratospheric pricing for the June bank holiday stay, the fanfare break has received interest from customers both in the Middle East and the US.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, a spokesperson for the hotel defended the 48,000 price tag, saying: 'If you saw what Tom Kerridge normally charges to come into your home and cook you dinner, this is a relative bargain.'
A 50-year-old painting by an acclaimed Canadian folk artist that was given in exchange for a grilled cheese sandwich could fetch over 20,000 at auction.

Irene Demas and her husband Tony would trade dishes at their restaurant in Ontario for the work of talented individuals including bakers, craftspeople, florists and artisans throughout the 1970s.

British couple John Kinnear and his wife Audrey began regularly having lunch at the eatery, after striking a deal with Irene and Tony, that they would see them exchange food fort paintings by John and his friends.

The work by Lewis was among those Irene picked out and, nearly five decades later, it is expected to fetch over C$35,000 (22,000) at auction.

A painting of a black truck by acclaimed Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis (pictured) is expected to fetch over $35,000 Canadian dollars at auction - it was gifted to Irene and Tony Demas in exchange for grilled cheese sandwiches at their restaurant in London, Ontario in the 70s

Toastie windfall: Irene Demas and husband Tony (pictured) were given the painting by British man John Kinnear, who was a regular at their cafe

Irene admits that she would try to persuade John Kinnear to try other dishes and daily specials but he refused because he loved the grilled cheese sandwich.

She claims that in the 1970s everyone would support each other by sharing their talents within the local community.

The restaurateur revealed that she had around six pieces to choose from the day that she spotted the now valuable painting and had thought some were created by a child because of the 'bright colours and simple content'.

Irene told The Times that John felt sorry for Maud, who he met in the province of Nova Scotia.

Maud Lewis (pictured) has gained a cult following her for her paintings of rural Nova Scotia and the one-room house she shared with husband Everett

He told her that the painter is 'so poor she didn't have the right things to paint on', having to use scraps of woods and leftover paint from the fishermen's boasts.

At the time, Irene was pregnant and decided on the truck painting instead of an animal because she thought it could hang in her son's bedroom.

Maud Lewis developed rheumatoid arthritis before her death in 1970 at the age of 67, however her artwork of rural Nova Scotia and the one-room house she shared with husband Everett have continuously grown in fame throughout the years.

'It's just too bad she didn't live long enough to really reap the benefits of her art,' Irene said.

Irene and Tony were encouraged by their children to sell the artwork alongside letters between John Kinnear and Maud Lewis too fund travels.

Irene (pictured) said she and husband Tony were advised to sell the artwork by their children who think they should use the money made to go travelling

Irene added: 'My husband is 90 and I don't think I have another 50 years to hang on to it.'

The painting and two letters will be auctioned on May 14, with previous works by Maud selling for up to $65,000.

Ethan Miller who is chief executive officer and auctioneer at Miller & Miller Auctions in New Hamburg, told CBC that the truck painting is a rare example of Maud's work.

Ethan said: 'Maud Lewis is the quintessential Canadian folk artist who has overcome personal physical limitations and all kinds of challenges in her life. She followed her passion and worked hard at it.'

Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke brought attention to the poverty-stricken artist in 2016 with the biopic Maudie.

'The market has gone wild. It's very unusual to see a category double and triple in value, and Maud Lewis paintings within the last five or even three years have doubled easily,' Ethan added.
A Great Dane that measures a whopping 3 ft. 5.18 inches has been named the tallest living male dog by Guinness World Records.

Brittany Davis, from Bedford, Texas, says her pet dog Zeus hasn't stopped growing since she was given him by her brother's friend at eight-weeks-old.

A video on YouTube shows Guinness World Records confirming Zeus as the current world's tallest living male dog.

The owner said her two-year-old Great Dane has gained fame locally because of his attention-grabbing size, with vendors at the Dallas Farmers' Market giving him lots of extra treats.

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Great Dane Zeus (pictured), who lives in Bedford, Texas, with his owner Brittany Davis has been crowned the world's tallest living male dog by Guinness World Records

Brittany, who is also owner of three miniature Australian Shepherd and a cat, Penelope, explained that Zeus and the feline have a mutual understanding to stay away from each other.

She explained that the cost of feeding such a large dog is expensive with Zeus consuming twelve cups of 'Gentle Giants' large breed dog food in the morning and another six in the afternoon to help fuel his 'zoomies'.

'When he gets the zoomies, he runs around for 30 seconds and jumps up on his chair once he gets tired,' Brittany said.

She added that he occasionally has a fried egg, bully sticks, or his all-time favourite treat: ice cubes.

Brittany said owning Zeus is like having 'another person' living in their household.

Britany (pictured left) said Zeus has been big since she got him from her brother Garrett's friend at eight-weeks-old

Great Danes tend to have a shorter life span than other dogs due to their massive size, having originally being bred for hog hunting and protecting women riding in carriages.

The world's tallest dog ever on the Guinness World Record was also a Great Dane named Zeus.

The canine from Otsego, Michigan, which passed away in 2014 at age five, measured 44 inches but could reach heights of seven feet and four inches when standing on his hind legs.

Brittany admitted her newly crowned world's tallest dog Zeus, often use his height to cause mischief.

Brittany said Zeus steals any food left on the counters, eats six cups of food in the morning and another six the afternoon

'He likes to steal the babys pacifier off the counters and any food left on the counters is definitely free reign for him,' Brittany said.

She explained that dog often leaves the vet in 'amazement' and it was her family's idea to contact Guinness World Record about his astonishing height.

Brittany admitted that they didn't expect Zeus to be the world's tallest dog but said it's 'fun' to be able to tell people.

Speaking in the YouTube video, Brittany said: 'Zeus is very stubborn and doesn't do anything he wants to, but he's also very laid back.

'He loves everybody.

Brittany said strangers often ask if Zeus (pictured) can be ridden as they compare his large size to that of a horse

Previous holder: Another Great Dane, also named Zeus (pictured), from Otsego, Michigan, was the world's tallest dog ever measuring seven feet and four inches when standing on his hind legs - until his death in 2014

'When he gets excited it's about ten minutes, he runs around and then he's tired. His water bowl is the sink.

'He likes to go on walks around the neighbourhood and really likes to be the centre of attention. The comment that we hear most often for Zeus is 'wow, that's a horse'.

'Also 'can I ride him?', 'does he have a saddle'. The answer to all of those questions is no. He would not enjoy being a horse or being ridden.'

Brittany added that Zeus has brought their family joy and is always with her teenage son.

Commenters were left impressed but many admitted they wouldn't be able to afford to feed such a large dog.

One person wrote: 'Wow and wow again! He's awesome but as much as I love dogs I would not want to 'pick up' after him (it would take a three gallon trash bag!) not feed him.'

Another said: 'I can only imagine his monthly food expense.'




New COVID-19 cases bounced back to the 40,000s for Saturday, but overall, daily cases are widely seen to be on a downward trend even after the lifting of almost all antivirus curbs.







The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 40,064 new infections, including 16 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,544,398.







The tally is up from 26,714 for Thursday and 39,600, Friday.







Daily infections have been on the downward trend in recent weeks after peaking at over 620,000 in mid-March due to the fast spread of the Omicron variant.







The country reported 83 more deaths, bringing the total to 23,360, the KDCA said, for a fatality rate of 0.13 percent; while the number of critically ill patients came to 423, slightly up from 419 a day earlier.







In mid-April, Korea lifted almost all social distancing rules in a major step toward a return to pre-pandemic normalcy, after restrictions were first introduced in March 2020.







Last week, the government also removed the outdoor mask mandate after more than 18 months of implementation, except for large gatherings of 50 or more. Wearing masks indoors will be in place for some time. (Yonhap)


As the first day of a mini-heatwave began, Prince Edward might have felt a little warm in his pin-stripe suit and bowler hat - and carrying an umbrella - in Hyde Park this morning.

The Earl of Wessex, 58, joined nearly 2,000 sharp-suited attendees as he walked through the central London green space for the Combined Cavalry Old Comrades Association at the Cavalry Memorial.

The event, which honours soldiers lost in conflict since the First World War, has a strict dress code - Twenties City attire including a bowler hat - because that's the decade in which the parade first began.

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The Earl of Wessex looked sharp as he attended Combined Cavalry Old Comrades Association at the Cavalry Memorial in Hyde Park on Sunday morning

The annual parade sees cavalrymen honour lost soliders, with attendees wearing the bowler hats as a nod to dress during the Twenties when event began

Prince Edward, 58, tips his hat in memory of those lost fighting for their country since the First World War

Edward donned a black pin-stripe suit and matching bowler hat, alongside an adornment of six medals on his lapel as he arrived at the London parade on Sunday.

The annual event, which has been cancelled since the pandemic began in March 2020, was back in business today, seeing cavalrymen gathering to take part in the tribute, which honours servicemen and women who've lost their lives fighting for their country since the First World War.

The soldiers march to the Cavalry memorial, which is made from melted down metal used in enemy guns captured in the First World War. The statue shows patron saint of the Cavalry, St George.

The parade, which has been cancelled since the pandemic began in March 2020, was back in business today, with those attending looking delighted to be back in person

The soldiers march to the Cavalry memorial, which is made from melted down metal used in enemy guns captured in the First World War

Brollies aloft, the cavalrymen, wearing medals and matching striped ties, pictured walking towards the memorial

The parade, which was last attended by Prince Charles in 2019, sees the Earl of Wessex continue, alongside the Countess of Wessex, to take on major public engagements in the Platinum Jubilee year.

Last week, the pair donned wellies for a day in the Devon countryside for a farm school visit.

The Earl of Wessex, 58, joined nearly 2,000 sharp-suited attendees as he walked through London's Hyde Park

Edward and Sophie, 57, visited East Shallowford Farm, where they were introduced to pupils and staff at the farm school in Newton Abbot, which works with young people living in challenging circumstances to teach them practical farming skills.

In March, the Earl and Countess of Wessex received a mixed reception during their visit to Saint Lucia - with the Queen having been urged to apologise by Caribbean protesters seeking reparations.

Last week, the pair donned wellies for a day in the Devon countryside for a farm school visit

Edward and Sophie initially received a warm welcome to the island during a walkabout in the town of Soufriere, but were soon met by a group of around 10 protesters before a trip to a cocoa plantation.

The protests followed similar demonstrations in St Vincent and the Grenadines, where some held signs saying 'compensation now' and 'Britain your debt is outstanding'.

The earl and countess were also urged to use their 'diplomatic influence' to provide 'reparatory justice' by the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda during a visit to the country on their tour.
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Ncuti Gatwa, who was announced as the 14th Doctor Who today, is about to become a household name after landing one of the most iconic roles on UK television. It's a far cry from how his life began, born in war-ravaged Rwanda and forced to seek a new life in Scotland.

The 29-year-old was just a toddler when his family fled the genocide and moved to Dunfermline but few would have predicted the path his life would follow. Racially abused at school, the star moved to London at 21 to pursue his dreams of an acting career - but ended up so poor he was homeless for five months.

The fashion-loving actor, who has a slew of celebrity pals and is a regular on the FROW at fashion shows, was sleeping on his friend's sofas in London and borrowing money for his Tube fare to auditions after running out of savings.

The BBC revealed today that Ncuti Gatwa, 29, is set to replace Jodie Whittaker to become the 14th Doctor Who; Scottish-raised actor Gatwa, who was born in Rwanda but left the country as a young boy (Pictured: Gatwa and Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies at the British Academy Television Awards 2022 at The Royal Festival Hall on Sunday)

Gatwa (pictured at the BAFTAs) is set to become the 14th Time Lord and is the first official black actor to take on the lead role - although Jo Martin previously appeared on screen as the 'Fugitive Doctor'

Gatwa, who is best known for starring as Eric in Sex Education (pictured), followed his dreams of acting to London - but suffered poverty as his big break failed to come quickly, and was forced to sleep on friends' couches

FROW boy: The fashion-loving actor, who has a slew of celebrity pals and is a regular on the front row at fashion shows

The actor's Instagram followers shot up to 2.6million with the news that he's the latest Time Lord...and fans will find regular insights into his life, including snaps showing his love of working out

On the London party circuit: Gatwa pictured with (from left to right) Karen Elson, Nadine Leopold and Gemma Chan at Annabels in November

However, after he was cast in the role of Eric Effiong in Netflix's hugely popular Sex Education, Ncuti's star has been in the ascendant - and he's now poised to take on the biggest acting job in British television.

Gatwa will take the helm from Jodie Whittaker as the Time Lord and become the first black actor to take on the lead role in the show's history, after Jodie made history as the first female Doctor.

Jo Martin played the first black incarnation of the Time Lord in a January 2020 episode, Future of the Judoon, as Ruth Clayton, but Ncuti Gatwa has become the first black Doctor cast as the series lead.

Heaping praise on the star, Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies said: 'Ncuti dazzled us, seized hold of the Doctor and owned those TARDIS keys in seconds.'

A graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, Gatwa completed his Bachelor of Arts in Acting in 2013.

He moved to London to pursue his dream of becoming an actor, rather than following in the footsteps of his father Mr Tharcisse Gatwa, who is a journalist with a PhD in Theology.

After moving to the capital, Gatwa struggled financially and even had to borrow 10 from friends so he could afford the tube fare for auditions.

Despite previously landing a role in BBC's Stonemouth (pictured), Ncuti admits he was homeless before starring in Netflix's Sex Education. Ncuti has said that he hopes that his role in Sex Education would help people to embrace their sexuality

Ncuti has won a Scottish Bafta (pictured) and a Rose d'Or Award for his popular role in Netflix's Sex Education

'I couldn't seem to handle it all financially. I was supposed to move into a new place and it fell through,' Ncuti said.

'So for five months before Sex Education, I was couch-surfing among all my friends. I didn't have a home.

'I was homeless. The only thing stopping me from being on the streets was the fact I had friends.'

Accounts for Ncuti Gatwa's company Gemini Moon Limited show he amassed assets of more than three quarters of a million pounds last year.

Ncuti's breakout role was as Eric Effiong in Netflix's hugely popular Sex Education about socially awkward high school student Otis (Asa Butterfield) and his sex therapist mother Jean (Gillian Anderson).

Written by Laurie Nunn, it turned many of the cast into overnight stars, which proved a huge contrast to the poverty experienced by Gatwa prior to landing the role.

His character - as the gay sidekick of the shows star Otis, played by Asa Butterfield - has become one of Sex Educations most loved actors.

Ncuti admitted that he is 'a little bit scared' to join the Doctor Who franchise, as the role means 'so much to so many around the world'

Ncuti has previously appeared on screens in the Horrible Histories movie and as Nick in romantic drama The Last Letter from Your Lover (pictured)

Ncuti previously revealed that he hoped the role would help people to embrace their sexuality and give men hope that the won't be held back due to the their ethnicity.

Since his first role in an episode of the British sitcom Bob Servant, Ncuti has starred in a 2015 adaptation of Scottish author Iain Banks' novel Stonemouth and a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In 2019, he took to screens in the Horrible Histories movie then went onto land a role as Nick in romantic drama The Last Letter from Your Lover in 2021.

Gatwa shared the news alongside returning Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies after it was confirmed that he will take over from Jodie Whittaker as the Time Lord in the hit BBC series

Since winning a Scottish Bafta and a Rose d'Or Award for Sex Education, the actor has become hugely popular and now boasts an Instagram following of almost 3 million.

Alongside his 2023 debut as the 14th Time Lord in BBC's Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa will appear on screen in the upcoming live action Barbie film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

Gatwa said he was 'deeply honoured' and 'beyond excited', but admitted that he was also a 'little bit scared' to join the Doctor Who franchise.

He told the BBC: 'This role and show means so much to so many around the world, including myself, and each one of my incredibly talented predecessors has handled that unique responsibility and privilege with the utmost care.

'I will endeavour my upmost to do the same.'

Meanwhile, Davies said that Gatwa 'dazzled' in his audition, adding: 'Sometimes talent walks through the door and it's so bright and bold and brilliant, I just stand back in awe and thank my lucky stars.'
The five of us were squished into a broken bed in a country house attic, listening to raucous drunken laughter downstairs. My children were snoring gently as my husband whispered over their heads: What are we doing here?

Wed gone away for the weekend with a group of school parents and had realised too late that wed been invited solely as a viaduct to the celebrity families. I was doing the people I loved most a disservice. I knew deep down that none of us belonged in this crowd, which valued status over lifes messily glorious reality.

I am an actress and writer, but in my 30s, with three children under five, I took a career break. For the next five years, I became so consumed by fitting in with the London private school set that I became a ghost in my own life.

Being a school gate mum obliterated my ambition, my sense of humour, everything that was me. I muffled my mental dips and mounting anxiety by buying expensive dresses, saying yes to every social event and being the support staff to anyone who asked.

Salima Saxton (pictured) explains how she became consumed with the playground politics of her children's London private school, to the point where she didn't recognise herself

We had the Bluebloods, who referred to their children by names that were interchangeable with their family pets, and treated both with an exasperated resignation that they were always in ones way.

Then there were the Trusties, whose inherited wealth allowed them middle-aged, muted rebellions, but were scared stiff when they went to a Stormzy gig. They were followed around the playground by the Aspies, the aspirational mums whod disown their children if it might improve their social standing. Finally, the Agas, kindly souls afloat on gin. These were the women for whom Boden, Jools Oliver and Farrow and Balls Wimborne White were the holy triumvirate.

I hadnt come from this world. Id attended my local school in Suffolk. And as a young actress, even after roles in Jennifer Saunderss Jam & Jerusalem, Twenty Twelve and Spooks, I had to watch the pennies.

My husband had also come from a modest background, but when his business started to make money, our lives changed.

Ticking off certain holidays and schools felt like success, even as my values started to erode. There were moments when I felt things werent right. When my stomach flip-flopped if I thought Id been excluded from a mums walk or I caught myself crafting another Instagram humblebrag post about my children.

One day, my five-year-old son grabbed my hand and said: Stop talking about No-things.

He was right. I had a Cambridge degree yet here I was, wearing my insecurity as a huge smile despite struggling with a potent mix of sleeplessness and financial anxiety.

My husband called me out on my new friendships, asking if I was having some sort of slow breakdown or midlife crisis.

Alpha mum: The perfect Amanda (Lucy Punch, left) with Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin) in TVs Motherland. Salima said ticking off certain holidays and schools felt like success, even as her values started to erode

It took being ghosted in the playground for me finally to wake up. Id made the mistake of telling one mum I didnt think taking a holiday in lockdown was wise. But instead of the expected lets agree to disagree moment, it was the dynamite that blew apart our friendship. I was devastated. Id thought wed become close and I cared deeply about her.

The coup de grace was when a mutual friend asked if we could meet at my house, rather than outside school, and I realised she didnt want to be seen with me in case it pushed her down the pecking order.

What had happened to me? I sobbed to an old friend that Id become a high functioning sleepwalker, smiling brightly to mask the trepidation I felt daily at the school gates. I was acting, but not for money. My friend staged an intervention. She sent me a birthday bottle of gin with the quote: Be yourself, and the right people will love the real you  even when youre being a twit.

I took her advice and started to audition again. The night before I stepped back on set last year, I felt like I had conned my way back into a world that was no longer mine. But, after those first few moments of fear, I felt more me than Id done in years. Alongside acting in acclaimed dramas including ITVs Trigger Point, I wrote a novel, and have now co-developed a TV pilot.

Three weeks ago, we moved to the countryside. For the first time in years I feel at peace. I cant blame the other mums, nor London. It was about me. Id forgotten that true friends are there for you even when youre not wearing your high heels. They love you when youre ugly, crying into the sleeve of a grubby sweatshirt.

I love my children, but I also love my hard-fought-for career. Im not saying mums should work or not work. Im saying whatever you do, commit to yourself. If I could have a moment with my former self, Id say:  Dont forget who you are  and leave the playground games to the children.
If I had my way, this would be a male beauty special, for which my beloved, Terence, had sampled a number of products, then we praised those that had made him significantly more attractive.

Alas, I did not have my way, and Terence refuses to avail himself of anything other than Nivea (from 1.69, boots.com), bubble bath (when Im buying its Badedas, 9.45, amazon.co.uk) and Imperial Leather Soap (1.79 for four, boots.com).

He rarely even obliges me with deodorant at home, being marginally more social when leaving the house. I persuaded him into this latter courtesy via Akt Deodorant Balm (19, aktlondon.com).

These stylish sweat-busters in recyclable aluminium tubes were created by a couple of West End dancers who hated the options required to stand up to stage lights, craving something powerful, sustainable, beautifully designed and exquisitely scented.

Hannah Betts says that girls' beauty could learn a lot more from mens' beauty. The UK-based beauty expert uncovers how men are doing more by doing less

The result is an all-natural, moisturising balm that lasts all day, can be applied anywhere on the body, and comes with a swanky brass massage applicator (26).

Skin-wise, what I long for is for Terence to become a Monu man. I recently attended a bash near Cirencester, Gloucestershire, and the thing that immediately struck me was how utterly amazing the middle-aged male guests complexions were: supple, sexy  they gleamed.

For all I know, these chaps might have been drinking and smoking up a storm. However, their skin was as radiant as if they lived off kale and fresh air.

Turns out, they were all acolytes of local firm Monu (monushop.co.uk). If you havent heard of it (I hadnt), its because Monu is a salon brand, formulated by professionals for professionals. Given that its products will be used in salons, its wares need to show immediate results.

It is no coincidence that another company chaps tend to fall in love with, Dermalogica (dermalogica.co.uk), is also deployed insalon. Men dont care about the guff, or the hard sell  they just want stuff that works. Hence their devotion to straight-talking REN (renskincare.com).

Monu uses active ingredients, meaning plants, herbs, minerals and essential oils that have been proven to affect skin structure at a cellular level.

Hannah (pictured) says where the womens skincare industry has headed towards arcane chemical high-tech that can actually thin and irritate skin in the name of perfecting it, these male approaches do their faces more good by doing less

It doesnt use artificial fragrances or colours, lanolin or potentially irritation-causing sodium lauryl sulfate. Everything is made and potted at its Cheltenham HQ in small batches. Dermo-pharmacist Dr Colette Haydon, who has worked with REN, Lancome and Aromatherapy Associates, is the onhand expert. The importance of proper cleansing sits at the heart of the brand: ten different variants are available. For once, lets forget about my pashes, and ask what Monus menfolk would recommend.

Luke, a luscious-skinned 48, is addicted to the Comfort Shave (21), chock full of hydrating fatty acids, which he deploys to razor both face and scalp. He also admires the Restoring Cream Light (55.95), which is all about lifting and toning more mature skin, while adding glow.

Fiftysomething looker, Matt, relies on Mens Age Combat (37), because its rich, but not cloying, and seems to relax my wrinkles while magically tightening everything up.

When I compliment mid50s Ben on his dashing dermis, he practically passes out with pleasure.

I used to have hideous eczema and psoriasis, which would bleed, he says. Monus Recovery Balm [33.50] has been a literal facesaver, working wonders on parched patches. Ive been using it religiously for four years.

And Im obsessed with the Firming Fiji Facial Oil [26.95], which is brilliant for complexions as neurotic as mine.

Where the womens skincare industry has headed towards arcane chemical high-tech that can actually thin and irritate skin in the name of perfecting it, these male approaches do their faces more good by doing less.

In short, we girls could learn a lot from them.

All thats needed on top will be a SPF, and, behold, your man will boast a skincare stash youll want to steal.

RACE YOU TO IT

Dolce & Gabbanas Solar Glow Illuminating Powder Duo in Tender Apricot I usually dont give two hoots about packaging, but even I thrill to Dolce & Gabbanas Solar Glow Illuminating Powder Duo in Tender Apricot (55, from today at lookfantastic.com, and June 1 nationwide). The compact, with its Sicilian maiolica design, has a new spring combo: the paler, pearly apricot shade brightens, while the gleaming orange lends a summery flush. lookfantastic.com Shop

MY ICON OF THE WEEK

SIGOURNEY WEAVER

Sigourney Weaver, 72, (pictured) wore QMS Medicosmetics' Day Collagen Serum last week at the Met Gala

The 72-year-old Alien star looked cracking at last weeks Met Gala. Make-up artist Brigitte Reiss-Andersen used QMS Medicosmetics for prep, not least its Collagen Concentrate 7-days System (128, qmsmedicosmetics. com). On the night, she opted for its Day Collagen Serum (78) and Advanced Collagen Eye Lift Eye Sheet Masks (48).

MAKE-UP MAGIC

Kiko Smart Fusion Creamy Lip Crayon in 01 Rose Nacre Swipe this nourishing, pearly white pencil under your lipstick and it will instantly make lips look bigger. kikocometics.com Shop

Victoria Beckham Instant Brightening Waterline Pencil Inner Eye Liner VBs take on the make-up artist trick of using a nude pencil on inner eyelids to open up tiredlooking peepers. victoriabeckhambeauty.com Shop

MSQ Eyelash Comb Curler A curved eyelash separator for post-mascara use thats a cinch to wield by the short-sighted. amazon.co.uk Shop

Kiko Pearly Eye Base A brightening primer that improves the hold and enhances the shade of your eyeshadow. Also available in neutral. kikocosmetics.com Shop

OPV Beauty Glitter Gloss in 04 A pot of pretty, longlasting glimmer to highlight cheekbones, add shine to collarbones, or use on lips. opvbeauty.com Shop

COSMETIC CRAVING
Float on: kimono by HeartbeatInK apparel, Sandals by Ancient Greek Sandals

There are some rare people who have that effortless It-factor when it comes to fashion. Many were born long before social media but their timeless style transcends generations.

Elsa in a classic kimono, 1976

One of my favourites is Italian model-turned-jewellery designer Elsa Peretti, whose revolutionary pieces are still sold by Tiffany and who has become an Instagram icon in 2022  even though she died last year aged 80.

In the 1970s, she was the poster girl for Studio 54 decadence after arriving in New York with, she said, a black eye from my lover, who didnt want me to go. She wore her dark hair in a pixie cut, washed it in champagne to keep it glossy, sunbathed daily to top up her tan and chain-smoked.

Her life-changing collaboration with Tiffany began in 1974. Today the stores owners  luxury group LVMH  may be busy overhauling the brand, increasing its focus on high-end jewellery, but Elsas designs are still key, with pieces such as her bone cuff bracelets regularly appearing on its Instagram pages. Meanwhile, Hailey Bieber and Venus Williams both wore her designs to this years Grammys and Oscars.

My favourite pieces are among her very first  the bottle and jug necklaces I spotted watching the Netflix series about her best friend, fashion designer Halston. It was with his help that she first brokered the Tiffany deal that made her arguably the most successful jewellery designer ever. She renegotiated the deal in 2012, receiving 31 million in a one-off payment  worth every last cent, the new owners must think.

Recently, I discovered a Vogue feature from 1976 shot inside Elsas New York penthouse with her looking, as usual, effortlessly chic in a kimono (right). As the feature said, shes the only person who can arrive at a dinner party in a black cashmere jumpsuit with a rope of diamonds around her neck and look terrific carrying a brown paper bag as her evening purse.

Its incredible that Elsas legacy is still inspiring a new generation nearly half a century on. Im off to find myself a kimono and wash my hair in champagne.

Follow me on Instagram @thestylistandthewardrobe

BE MORE ELSA I like the idea of wafting around the house or poolside this summer like Elsa Peretti in a kimono, and am loving this silk design. 255, kimandono.com

The bottle necklace is my favourite Elsa Peretti. Pendant, 530, tiffany.co.uk

TRENDING NOW Its time to swap your dark sunglasses for white thick-rimmed ones. On a recent trip to LA, I noticed everyone who was anyone wearing them, and Im currently coveting this pair. 237, Balenciaga, farfetch.com

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS? Forget Cinders slippers  Copernis glass bags are the new It-accessory. They may be more art than handbag, and can barely fit a lipstick, but the A-list are crazy for them. Watch this space for where to buy one.
Boticas is one of Portugal's poorest regions. Located in the north east of the country, its population has tumbled by almost 15 per cent over the past decade, as industry has declined and unemployment has risen.

Now, however, Boticas' prospects could be on the verge of dramatic change. The area is home to one of the most substantial lithium mines in Europe, owned by AIM-listed Savannah Resources.

Savannah shares are 4.2p and should increase materially as the company develops its mine and moves towards commercial production.

Revolution: Lithium is the lightest metal in the world, just one of the reasons that it is a key component of electric vehicle batteries

Lithium is the lightest metal in the world, just one of the reasons that it is a key component of electric vehicle batteries.

Last year alone, more than 2.3 million electric vehicles were sold in Europe, equivalent to 17 per cent of all cars sold.

Experts predict persistent growth in the market for at least the next ten years, as we battle to reduce our dependence on oil and gas. That translates into booming demand for lithium  and surging prices.

The trend should prove highly beneficial for Savannah, which is targeting 200,000 tons of annual lithium concentrate production by 2025, enough to power half a million cars.

Chief executive David Archer, a plain-speaking Australian with decades of mining experience, acquired the Savannah mine in 2017.

A year later, when the group completed an initial scoping study, lithium prices were hovering at about $400 (320) a ton and Archer thought long-term prices would settle at approaching $700 a ton.

The group is expected to be one of the lowest-cost lithium miners in the world

In recent weeks, the price has rocketed to $6,000 a ton. Even if this proves short-term, most forecasters expect prices of at least $1,500 a ton for several years to come.

At such rates, Savannah could generate annual profits in excess of 120 million. The group is expected to be one of the lowest-cost lithium miners in the world, benefiting from cheap local labour and a mine which produces spodumene, a mineral that is particularly high in lithium.

Archer is also hopeful that annual production can exceed 200,000 tons as exploration develops and accelerates.

There are, however, some key steps that need to be taken before Savannah can move into commercial production.

First and foremost, Archer needs environmental approval from the Portuguese government. This has been held back by snap elections earlier in the year and ongoing bureaucracy at local and national levels.

There are, however, strong indications that the permit will be granted in the coming months. Currently, most lithium is refined in China but the West is anxious to change that and Portugal is keen to establish itself as a lithium hub for Europe.

The government backed the construction of a huge Gigafactory outside Lisbon last December and this will clearly need lithium as a feedstock, with Savannah's mine the most obvious choice.

Base: The Savannah mine is in the Portuguese region of Boticas, and the company aims to benefit the local community through jobs and financial support

Archer has also worked hard to ensure his mine exceeds environmental standards, while benefiting the local Boticas community, through jobs and financial support.

Discussions are under way with potential financial backers and Archer is aiming to move into construction in 2024 and start commercial sales a year later.

The company is already producing more than 10,000 tons a year of quartz and feldspar, used to make the decorative tiles and crockery for which Portugal and Spain are famous.

Once Savannah moves into full-scale lithium production, its mine is expected to produce up to 300,000 tons of quartz and related minerals, generating annual revenues of at least $10million.

Midas verdict: Lithium is a metal whose time has come. Savannah Resources has one of the most exciting mines in Europe, that could be up and running within three years.

At 4.2p, the shares have been held back by concerns the Portuguese government will refuse to let Savannah move into construction.

But there are strong grounds for optimism and, if all goes well, the stock could deliver substantial rewards. An attractive buy for adventurous investors.

Traded on: AIM Ticker: SAV Contact: savannahresources.com or 020 7117 2489
There was disbelief across the City when British authorities refused to expel Russian firms from the London Stock Exchange in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

But now the departure of Russian-incorporated companies is gaining new momentum thanks to none other than Vladimir Putin.

Lukoil last week announced that it would cancel its listing on the UK's premier bourse by June.

Focussed: Vladimir introduced a law that prohibited foreign listings for Russian firms

It follows a law Putin introduced in mid-April that prohibited foreign listings for Russian firms.

They can still apply for exemptions  as retail giant Magnit did last week  but it is not clear how flexible the Kremlin is willing to be.

The LSE has suspended shares in dozens of Russian firms since March, meaning the companies were not benefiting from their presence in London.

But with former FTSE 100 staple Evraz  the steel-maker backed by ostracised oligarch Roman Abramovich  being sanctioned in recent days there is growing speculation that a wave of fresh departures will follow in the coming weeks.

Plain sailing for Harbour Energy?

Harbour Energy is gearing up to release first-quarter figures hot on the heels of Shell and BP's blockbuster results.

Harbour is likely to be a better bellwether for how rising oil and gas prices are affecting groups operating in the North Sea, as it is one of the biggest UK producers.

One for the windfall tax-watchers.

Vin Murria face new M&C Saatchi deadline

Another month, another deadline for Britain's tech queen Vin Murria to table an improved bid for M&C Saatchi.

Murria, 59, has until 5pm on Tuesday to make her next move.

The AIM-listed advertising group has been on guard since her first offer via bid vehicle Advanced AdvT in January.

M&C Saatchi said it was still locked in talks with the serial entrepreneur when it announced the fourth extension to the 'put up or shut up' deadline in late April.

But Murria  the firm's deputy chair and largest investor  faces an uphill battle after the ad group put out sparkling results that showed it swung back into profit and saw revenues jump by a fifth.

Still, there could always be a fifth extension.

Argo Blockchain set to start Texas bitcoin 'mining'

A big week ahead for Argo Blockchain as its custom-built facility in Texas is due to commence bitcoin 'mining'.

Far from being a spades and shovels job, the Dickens County site houses vast amounts of energy-guzzling super-computing hardware that can access new bitcoins.

However, the timing could be better.

Mining will start in the wake of a slump that has seen the flagship digital currency fall by a fifth this year to about $36,000 (29,000).

Argo's shares have taken a hit too, dropping by more than a third. Investors will be intrigued to see if hitting the mining milestone will be enough to fend off another attack from the mysterious research outfit the Boatman Capital.
Credit Suisse is preparing a 350million claim against SoftBank, in what will be the first major UK legal dispute sparked by the downfall of Greensill Capital.

The financial titans are set to clash in a mammoth High Court battle after advisers for both parties failed to reach an agreement.

The action relates to US construction firm Katerra, which had ties to Greensill and collapsed last year.

Hit hard: Court documents show Credit Suisse claims it lost hundreds of millions of pounds after Katerra went bankrupt in June 2021 with more than $1billion in liabilities

SoftBank was a major investor in Katerra through its Vision Fund.

Court documents, seen by The Mail on Sunday, show Credit Suisse claims it lost hundreds of millions of pounds after Katerra went bankrupt in June 2021 with more than $1billion in liabilities.

SoftBank has rejected claims made by Credit Suisse.

Greensill, advised by ex-Prime Minister David Cameron and led by Australian financier Lex Greensill, built its lending business on 'supply chain financing' before imploding last year after its finances began to unravel.

As part of its controversial model, Greensill packaged up various supply chain loans and sold them to funds run by Credit Suisse.

Greensill went bust in March 2021 after the Swiss bank decided to freeze its billions of pounds worth of funds with the firm.

Its collapse sent shockwaves through clients around the world, including tycoon Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty Steel.

At the time of its collapse, Katerra blamed its 'unexpected insolvency' on former lender Greensill.

Catalyst: The legal battle between Credit Suisse and SoftBank is linked to the collapse of Greensill Capital, on which construction firm Katerra blamed its 'unexpected insolvency'

SoftBank Group and its Vision Fund are each understood to be instructing separate City lawyers.

Switzerland's second largest bank has already lodged an application in the US, demanding SoftBank hand over information which could be used in 'a planned court proceeding in England'.

The case forms part of Credit Suisse's attempt to recover some of the $10billion in funds linked to the insolvent Greensill.

SoftBank suffered losses in Greensill after it injected more than $400million into the firm just months before its collapse.

It is understood that letters before action have been exchanged between Credit Suisse and SoftBank's lawyers in the UK. The High Court claim could be filed within months.

It is understood Credit Suisse first threatened Softbank with the legal action earlier this year.

Legal advisers at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are acting for Credit Suisse.

Credit Suisse and SoftBank were both contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, Liberty Steel has been trying to find new lenders since the Greensill debacle.

Last month, its offices were visited as part of a Serious Fraud Office inquiry and audits of four of its subsidiaries are subject to an investigation by the Financial Reporting Council.
He's fresh out of high school and a part-time job at his local Woolworths - and now this 21-year-old is Scott Morrison's pick to run for a seat in Sydney's south.

John Goody is challenging Labor frontbencher Linda Burney, 65, for the electorate of Barton where he grew up, an area which folds in suburbs from Banksia to Wolli Creek.

Mr Goody would be a pathbreaking candidate given he is three decades younger than the average age of an Australian parliamentarian, which is 51.

The young man, pictured wearing braces in a recent photo, worked part time at Woolworths before landing a full-time job as an administrative assistant for employment relations company Employsure last year.

John Goody (pictured) is challenging Labor frontbencher Linda Burney, 65, for the Sydney electorate of Barton where he grew up

Ms Burney (pictured) said: 'I'm always glad to see people sticking their hand up to represent their community'

The Liberal Party website says Mr Goody's job experience means he 'knows from experience the importance of a strong economy to create employment opportunities.'

His page adds: 'As part of the Morrison Liberal Team, John will work to deliver a strong economy and stronger future for Barton, and will fight to improve local roads and transport and ensure our community has access to world class hospitals and healthcare.'

However, Mr Goody's campaign appears to have gained little traction with only two people liking his Facebook page.

One person commented: 'Is this candidate old enough to vote?' and other said: 'Yeah, like I'd put my future in his hands with his life long experience!'

Mr Goody has a mountain to climb to get elected with Ms Burney holding the seat on a nine per cent margin.

The electorate has been Labor since 1983 except from three years between 2013 and 2016 and is considered so safe that Sportsbet won't take bets on it.

A 21-year-old former Woolworths worker (pictured) is running as the Liberal candidate in a safe Labor seat

Ms Burney said: 'I'm always glad to see people sticking their hand up to represent their community.

'It gives the community a chance to choose who they think has the best experience and qualifications to represent them.'

Mr Goody would not be the youngest ever parliamentarian if he wins. Liberal Wyatt Roy won Longman in Queensland aged 20 in 2010 and held it for six years.



Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young became the youngest person elected to the senate aged 25 in 2008.

A Liberal spokesman said: 'Liberal Party candidates reflect the diverse community the Party represents.

'This includes young people who are enthusiastic, energetic, and passionate about their community, and have a strong desire to contribute to improve society.

'Regardless of their age, our candidates recognise the benefits the Morrison Government's able to deliver, and the danger a Labor-Greens coalition would present to our economy and security.

'Mr Goody works for an employment relations business and knows the importance of a strong economy to the creation of employment opportunities, which is why he is campaigning for the Morrison Government.'

The spokesman also said there shouldn't be any snobbishness about his very normal previous job record.

'Any insinuation that working at Woolworths could be considered a lesser profession is offensive the hundreds of thousands of Australians undertaking similar roles.'
The Kentucky congressman who will lead Republican investigations if the GOP takes back the House in 2022 is lining up Hunter Biden and the 'Biden crime family' as one of the main targets.

Rep. James Comer, who is primed to take over as chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, says the president's son and his business associates have many questions to answer over his foreign deals and taxes.

He says the White House will also be pressed on whether the president knew about any of the transactions and believes American voters are now coming around to the fact the Hunter scandal isn't a 'conspiracy theory' and are questioning the administration's ethics and transparency.

Comer called Hunter a 'national security risk' and a 'grifter' who has built his 'business model' on 'selling access to his father', and believes Democrats see him as an issue leading up to the midterms.

Outgoing press secretary Jen Psaki has consistently denied Biden has spoken to his son about his business deals and has referred to the Department of Justice when asked about the investigation in Delaware into tax offenses, money laundering and illegal lobbying for foreign clients.

She has also declined to answer questions on the basis he doesn't work for the Biden administration.

The Republicans are currently the minority in Congress, but dismal polls and mounting issues for President Biden and the Democrats point to them taking back at least the House in the November midterm elections.

Comer and his colleagues are ready to get to work as soon as they take charge of the committees, and are lining up Hunter, his business partners and potentially staff in the administration.

In an interview with DailyMail.com in his Congressional office at the Rayburn Building, Comer said: 'The narrative all along has been that Hunter was on his own and Joe Biden had no interest or knowledge of anything that his son was doing with respect to business.

'I think what we're seeing now is that's completely not true.

Comer also said that they have been asking for Hunter's business partner Eric Scherwin to provide information on the business dealings and his visits to the White House while Joe was vice president.

White House records show Schwerin visited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue 27 times during Barack Obama's administration in 2016.

Comer said he's heard nothing from Schwerin, but 'the more that we piece together the more it shows that there is a pattern. This is the Biden crime family.'

Rep. James Comer, who will lead Republican investigations if the GOP takes back the House in 2022 is lining up Hunter Biden and the 'Biden crime family' as the main targets

'Hunters dealings are with always with countries that don't like us and with energy and interests that would be counter to American interests.

'It's reflective in Joe Biden's policies to ban drilling in America and make it hard to get a permit to drill.

'Is Joe Biden compromised by a Ukrainian energy or Russian oligarchs or Communist China?

'These are legitimate questions. Hunter Bidens a national security risk.'

Comer also said that they have been asking for Hunter's business partner Eric Scherwin to provide information on the business dealings and his visits to the White House while Joe was vice president. White House records show Schwerin visited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue 27 times during Barack Obama's administration in 2016

'That's why we're going to continue to try to put this together. And honestly, we don't expect to get very much cooperation from the White House.

'(Americans) are starting to realize that Joe Biden had a lot more knowledge and interaction with Hunter and his business partners than they've implied all along.

'So I think the American people are starting to get even more frustrated with Joe Biden.

'Not only do they question the effectiveness of his policies now they're questioning his ethics and his truthfulness.

Comer said that if the Republicans are victorious, as predicted, in November, they'll 'certainly invite Hunter to the committee in some way.

'Whether he shows up or not will depend on where we go from there,' he admitted

'But I would say it would be a, a safe assumption that the House Oversight Committee will have several of Hunter's former business partners.

He said anyone who has had 'any major financial transaction with Hunter', will be asked to come in for an interview or testify.

Comer then expanded on the specific areas and Hunter deals the Republicans will look into if they take the gavel.

'We're concerned about what went on with the mine deal in the Congo.'

He is referring to how an investment firm founded by Hunter assisted a Chinese company in purchasing one of the world's richest cobalt mines in Congo from an American company for $3.8 billion.

The math behind Joe's missing $5.2million The president's financial filings show that he declared almost $7million more income on his tax returns than he did on his government transparency reports, raising the question: where did the extra cash come from? Joe Biden's Office of Government Ethics (OGE) filings: 2017 - May 2019 filing: Jill and Joe Biden income of $8,699,787

Income attributable to Joe Bidens company CelticCapri Corp: $7,451,727 May 2019  2020 filing: Income of $907,160

CelticCapri Corp income: $613,737 Total: $9,606,947, including $8,065,464 from CelticCapri Joe Bidens federal tax returns: 2017 Income of $11,031,309 CelticCapri Corp income: $9,636,690 2018 Income of $4,580,437 CelticCapri Corp income: $3,030,667 2019 Income of $985,233 CelticCapri Corp income: $578,178 Total: $16,596,979, including $13,245,535 from CelticCapri Tax return versus OGE difference: $6,990,032 Unaccounted-for difference from CelticCapri: $5,180,071 Advertisement

The president's son was one of three Americans who joined Chinese partners in establishing the Bohai Harvest RST Equity Investment Fund Management Company, or BHR, in 2013.

The Americans controlled 30 percent of the company and made successful investments that culminated in aiding China Molybdenum purchase the Tenke Fungurume cobalt mine in the Congo from the American company Freeport-McMoRan in 2016.

It followed Joe Biden's warnings that China could use its dominance of mined cobalt to disrupt America's development of electric vehicles, which is a focal part of his plan to fight climate change.

'We're certainly concerned about Burisma and Ukraine and we have a lot of questions regarding the oligarch, Yelena Baturina, the wife of the former mayor of Moscow, .'

In 2020, a report by Senate Republicans claimed Baturina gave $3.5 million to a company co-founded by Hunter called Rosemont Seneca Thorton as part of a 'consultancy agreement.'

Baturina is one of the handful of Russian oligarchs who have not been sanctioned by the Biden administration, sparking questions from Republicans over whether she is receiving preferential treatment.

Earlier this month, DailyMail.com also revealed Hunter flew to Moscow for a meeting with Russian oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov, 73, who is sanctioned in the UK but not the U.S.

In March, Psaki was grilled over why Baturina had not yet been sanctioned by the US over Russia's attack despite her apparent ties to the Kremlin - and whether Biden indeed was conflicted.

Psaki replied that there was 'no confirmation' of Senate Republicans' allegations and pointed out that Biden has 'continued to sanction oligarchs more than we've ever sanctioned in the past, so I'm not sure that's a conflict of interest.'

Yevtushenkov owned a company which reportedly supplied Putin's forces with drones used for deadly bombing raids in Ukraine and until last year owned key Russian defense contractor RTI.

Emails show the president's son and his business partners were courting Yevtushenkov for an investment in their real estate company in 2012 and 2013.

'The reason we're doing this isn't political,' Comer added. 'We are at a point now where we fear that the president has been compromised by Hunter's shady business deals'.

'The issue is, the Democrats know there's a Hunter Biden problem'.

'You can't compare hunter Biden to the Trump children, which they (Democrats) tried to do. The Trump children are credible business people.'

During Trump's presidency, Democrats kept pushing to have his children investigated for foreign deals and alleged connections between their business and the government, but a probe never materialized.

Republicans believe the bid by Democrats to investigate the Trump family is just one of a slew of reasons why Hunter is a legitimate target.

'Hunter Biden is a grifter. He sells access to his father. That's how he has comprised his business model,' Comer added.

'There are just too many instances now of conflicts of interest. Look at the fact Joe's brother James had SARS (Suspicious Activity Reports) filed against him. And I'm a, from a banking background.'

He says the White House needs to come clean on whether the president knew about any of the transactions and believes American voters are now coming around to the fact the Hunter scandal isn't a 'conspiracy theory' and has raised questions about the administration's ethics and transparency

In April, CBS News reported that a total of 150 of James and Hunter's transactions had been flagged as 'concerning'. These flags are known as SARS.

They underwent a review, although the outcome of those reviews has not been shared.

James Biden, 72, received $65,000 a month from the Chinese-linked consulting group throughout 2018, totaling $780,000. The cash was given to his Lion Hall Group.

Meanwhile, the same firm - which has links to China's ruling communist party - paid Hunter a cool $100,000 a month for the same year, as well as a $500,000 retainer - meaning he earned a cool $1.7 million from the firm in 2018.

'Nobody gets more than one SARS file,' Comer said. 'They had dozens and dozens. That's where the bank is concerned that you may be money laundering. You have excessive cash deposits or withdrawals.

'Dozens and dozens of suspicious activity reports filed against different bank accounts.

'There are legitimate concerns. We know Hunter is under investigation for tax evasion.

'If there's $5million that Joe Biden hasn't reported on his taxes or financial disclosure, that's a violation of federal law.'

A DailyMail.com analysis of the president's financial records reveal that he declared almost $7million more income on his tax returns than he did on his government transparency reports.

Some of that difference can be accounted for with salaries earned by First Lady Jill Biden and other sums not required on his reports  but still leaves $5.2million earned by Joe's company and not listed on his transparency reports.

Emails also revealed that Joe agreed to pay Hunter's legal fees with a Chinese government-controlled company, and the analysis sparked fresh questions over whether the president received money from a foreign venture before taking office.

'I think that the American people are starting to see that this isn't an Adam Schiff conspiracy theory against the President,' Comer added referring to the Democratic Congressman from California who has been scrutinized for pushing the debunked Steele dossier.

'This is legitimate, fact-based information. It makes Hunter a national security risk that could potentially put Joe Biden in a compromised position against both China and Russia, two countries that we're having to watch our backs with in Congress right now.'

In January 2019, Hunter's assistant Katie Dodge wrote an email to book-keeper Linda Shapero and Biden aide Richard Ruffner, saying Joe had agreed to pay his hundreds of thousands of dollars of bills

DailyMail.com obtained a copy of the abandoned laptop's hard drive and commissioned the founder of the FBI's cyber forensics unit to analyze it. Their report found the contents were genuine and there was no evidence of tampering  by Russians or anyone else

Republicans have called for a special prosecutor to be appointed to take over the Delaware investigation into Hunter.

Comer said the move would make it harder for Republicans to bring Hunter in front of the committee, but it won't stop their investigations.

'If Attorney General Merrick Garland appoints a special counsel, I don't think they will do anything more than just run out the clock. So we'll continue to probe and investigate, and when we find something that is in the best interest of the American people, we will let them know'.

In a separate interview with DailyMail.com, Comer's Republican colleague in the Senate Bill Hagerty said he would welcome the appointment of a special prosecutor appointed to help keep the Hunter probe free from White House influence.

As we have this type of corruption unfolding in the medias eye, I think Joe Biden becomes an even greater liability to the Democrat Party, he told DailyMail.com.

Hagerty said another option for a congressional probe would be to form a January 6 Committee-style special group.

I would have every official discuss this investigation in front of the committee to explain to us what they found, what the evidence is. We want to see the raw materials, he said.

I would certainly like to see it here in the Senate, under a jurisdictional committee or under a special committee, because I would love to be the one to ask: what did the President know? And when did he know it?

He also said he would not rule out Democrats joining a congressional investigation into Hunter in an attempt to create a clean break with the Bidens before the 2024 presidential election as Joes popularity plummets.

In April, Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain appeared on ABC's This Week and said the President is 'confident' that Hunter 'didn't break the law'.

During his television interview Klain vehemently denied that the White House has reached out to the Justice Department about the Delaware probe.

'Of course the president's confident that his son didn't break the law,' Klain said.

'But most importantly, as I said, that's a matter that's to be decided by the Justice Department, by the legal process. It's something that no one at the White House has involvement in.'

Klain was also asked about a recent Washington Post report that revealed entities controlled by Hunter and his uncle James Biden were paid nearly $5 million over the course of 14 months by a Chinese energy firm.

The payments allegedly began in 2017 and were made by CEFC China Energy, a company with strong ties to Beijing's communist government.

In its report the Post cited newly revealed government records, bank statements and emails obtained from Hunter's hard drive.

'Is the president confident his family didn't cross any ethical lines?' host George Stephanopoulos asked on on the show.

Klain replied, 'George, the president is confident that his family did the right thing.'

No conclusive evidence has yet emerged that Joe profited from any of Hunters business deals.

But the potential discrepancy in the presidents financial filings, and his alleged links to Hunters Chinese ventures, raise troubling questions over where the unexplained $5,180,071 came from.

The stories on Hunter and the infamous laptop - that contained multiple photos and references to his drug addiction - were confined to a handful of media outlets until the New York Times and Washington Post confirmed its authenticity earlier this year.

'We are at a point now where we fear that the president has been compromised by Hunter's shady business deals', Comer said. 'The issue is, the Democrats know there's a Hunter Biden problem'. Hunter is pictured at the White House Easter Egg roll on April 18

DailyMail.com authenticated the laptop a full year earlier, and was the first  and only  news organization to publicly verify its contents using expert analysis.

Last March, DailyMail.com hired top cyber forensics experts at Maryman & Associates to examine the hard drive to determine its authenticity.

The firm's founder, Brad Maryman, was a 29-year veteran of the FBI, served as a Chief Information Security Officer and founded the bureau's cyber forensics unit. His partner, Dr. Joseph Greenfield, is an associate professor at the University of Southern California and helped write their degree program in intelligence and cyber operations.

After an extensive analysis of the hard drive, Greenfield and Maryman produced a report for DailyMail.com detailing their findings.

'The operating system timestamps appear to be authentic, and no evidence was found to suggest that the timestamps or data were altered or manufactured,' the report said.

'No indications were found that would suggest the data was manufactured.'

Since then, DailyMail.com has revealed a series of troubling stories based on the scandalous material from the laptop that go to the heart of the FBI's probe into Hunter's alleged dodged taxes, foreign lobbying and suspected money laundering.

Over the past year DailyMail.com have published stories including:
A Ministry of National Defense honor guard rehearses for the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, set for May 10, 2022, in front of the National Assembly's main building in western Seoul, May 8. Korea Times photo by Ko Young-kwon



Incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol will shake hands and take selfies with people at the National Assembly plaza before walking up to the stage to take his oath of office, the chief of the inauguration committee said Sunday.



Yoon will step out of his car as soon as he enters the National Assembly compound Tuesday and walk 180 meters across the plaza, Park Joo-sun said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency, noting past presidents got out of their cars right in front of the stage.



The inauguration ceremony is set to begin at 11 a.m.



One boy from the southeastern city of Daegu and one girl from the southwestern city of Gwangju will be waiting for Yoon below the stage to give him flower bouquets when he arrives.



"It will be a symbol of harmony between east and west," Park said, adding that Yoon takes a special interest in children.



Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, plan to walk up to the stage holding hands with 20 people selected as "representatives of the people's hope," including John Linton, an American doctor who was granted South Korean citizenship as a "foreign special contributor"; Min Byeong-eon, a Paralympic swimmer; and Lee Jun-su, a young entrepreneur who developed a COVID-19 mask app.



The inauguration speech will last 25 minutes and is set to be finalized Sunday following multiple revisions by Yoon.



"The speech will be about rebuilding the Republic of Korea on the foundation of freedom, human rights, markets, fairness and solidarity," Park said. "It will also present the spirit of the times, which calls for becoming a nation respected by the international community as we play a responsible role."



Park said Yoon urged the committee to make sure the ceremony features lesser-known stars rather than celebrities and incorporates the theme of the presidential office's relocation to Yongsan.



Screens will be installed on both sides of the stage to broadcast the opening of Cheong Wa Dae to the public in real time.



After the ceremony, Yoon plans to skip the customary car parade and go straight to his new office in Yongsan and begin work after visiting a nearby senior citizens' community center and children's park.



He will then meet with foreign delegations at his office, including U.S. second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera, though some have been scheduled for Monday.



In the afternoon, Yoon will attend an inauguration celebration at the National Assembly and host a dinner with leading government and business officials, as well as foreign dignitaries, at the Hotel Shilla.



"We've designed the inauguration ceremony to be simple and economical, rather than glamorous, and to be held among the people," Park said. "We tried to incorporate President-elect Yoon's philosophy of leading state affairs by cooperating with and serving the people." (Yonhap)


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Villagers who face being outnumbered two to one by asylum seekers say they are still in the dark about Priti Patel's plans for a new processing centre they fear will destroy their community.

Residents in Linton-on-Ouse, which contains just 700 registered voters, have been stunned by plans to house more than 1,500 refugees at the former RAF airbase in the middle of the village.

They also speak of their concern over the lack of facilities where one shop sells mainly newspapers, there is no police presence and a 'failing' sewage system.

Speaking to the MailOnline residents also said it was the 'wrong plan in the wrong place' which will see hundreds of 'young men roaming around the village' and blamed Priti Patel for trying to turn their home into France's 'Calais Jungle'.

The news comes as the government's new asylum seekers policy will see people flown 4,000 miles away to Rwanda to have their claims processed following a 120 million deal with the African country.

Villagers are also backing the local council who is set to mount a legal challenge against the plan that will see locals 'outnumbered' two-to-one and has already instructed lawyers to prepare arguments.

The North Yorkshire village of Linton-on-Ouse. The community of around 700 could be joined by as many as 1,500 asylum seekers housed in a reception centre in a former RAF base

Villagers such as Linda Scarbro (left) and Peter Baritt (right) are concerned by the plan to house 1,500 asylum seekers. Mrs Scarbro, 68, pictured, said the plan has come out 'as a bolt from the blue' while Mr Baritt says the former RAF base should be 'returned to agriculture

Kathryn Dryden, 60, a villager for ten years, said: 'It is lack of consultation. It is the process of what the Home Office are trying to do which we consider at unlawful at this point.'

The only shop in the village, mainly sells newspapers, and is located just a one minute walk from the former RAF base

Villagers also speak of their concern over the lack of facilities where one shop sells mainly newspapers, there is no police presence and a 'failing' sewage system if the asylum seekers are put in the former RAF base, pictured

Linton-On-Ouse is located near Leeds, York and Harrogate in the north of England

The local council is set to mount a legal challenge against the plan and has already instructed lawyers to prepare arguments

Council plans legal challenge against government over plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at former RAF base in North Yorkshire village Hambleton District Council previously said in late April that it has asked lawyers to start mounting a legal challenge to the proposal. Dr Justin Ives, the council's chief executive, said the decision had been made after the Government's decision to 'press ahead' with the plans despite a 'lack of consultation' with residents. He said: 'We have been carefully listening to what local communities have been saying about the potential impact on Linton-on-Ouse, surrounding communities and our district in general. 'We now understand from subsequent conversations this week, that the Government has every intention of pressing ahead with the plans. 'In response to this, Hambleton District Council has instructed lawyers to start work on mounting a legal challenge of the Government's decision.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The asylum reception centre at Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire, will help end our reliance on expensive hotels which are costing the taxpayer 4.7 million a day. 'We are consulting with local stakeholders about the use of the site. 'The New Plan for Immigration will fix this broken asylum system, allowing us to support those in genuine need while preventing abuse of the system and deterring illegal entry to the UK.' Advertisement

Linda Scarbro, 68, a retired librarian now a volunteer guide at local historical sites, said it is 'not NIMBY-ism' and said Britain is very welcoming to those in need but said it was 'the wrong plan, in the wrong place'.

She explained: 'There has been no consultation. It has come as a bolt from the blue.

'The first I knew about it was when it was announced on the local radio. The parish council knew nothing about it, nor did the District Council.

'The key people from the village arranged a public meeting. Only a few people from the Home Office came and they declined to attend the second meeting.

'I do not care about their race or religion. It is the fact you will have 1,500 young men roaming around the village and I don't know what they are going to do.

'They are free to come and go. The Home Office cannot detain them and the airfield is not secure.

'It is just the uncertainty. We do not know what the plans are. I just think they have not thought it through because there are so many questions they cannot give us an answer to.

'I know of three houses in the village that we sold subject to contract before the announcement. Surprise, surprise, they are all back on the market now because the buyers dropped out over the asylum centre being here.

'I don't think people will be able to sell their houses. It is just wrong, totally wrong, for 1,500 single men to be put in a village of only 700.

'These people need to be in conurbations where they have access to help and support. We have four buses a day into York and the last one is at 5 o'clock.

'Obviously, a lot of the asylum seekers will have come from difficulty situations and they are going to be traumatised.

'They are going to be put into what is basically a field where nothing to do and nowhere to go. As far as I am concerned, it is not good for the village.

'It is not NIMBY-ism. Our country has always been welcoming to people in need. But it is just the wrong plan, the wrong place.'

Mrs Scarbro, who has lived in the village for nine years, added: 'Everyone is really friendly. Everyone speaks to each other.

'Everyone is very uneasy about what may happen. To be honest, I would be apprehensive about going out on my own.

'I have never felt any fears about going out walking in the village. But it is just the apprehension.'

The now shut pub, the College Arms, in the North Yorkshire village of Linton-on-Ouse where villagers are terrified of '1,500 young men roaming around the village' under the plans by the Home Office

The village of Linton-on-Ouse is usually a sleepy place, but its residents are up in arms at a government plan to house over a thousand asylum seekers, whose numbers will dwarf local residents

The RAF base (left) stands amidst an empty field, only a short five minute walk from the centre of the village. A playing field (right) in the village of Linton-on-Ouse

Mrs Scarbro, who has lived in the village for nine years, added that 'everyone is really friendly' but would be 'apprehensive' being alone in the village if the plans were to go ahead

Peter Barritt, 71, a retired transport manager, who has been to the refugee camp, Calais, known as the 'Jungle' in France, said 'It is not a very nice place. I saw all these half bricks lying in the road and was told migrants had been throwing them through windscreens of lorries to get them to stop so they could steal stuff.

'The land the base was built on should go back to the village and be returned to agriculture. I blame Priti Patel.

'Half the people around here don't even have burglar alarms and if you see a policeman you ask him if he is lost.

'If you have a wife and kids it makes it even harder if you have got a lot of young single men about. You are lucky to even see a bus around here.

'I bumped into one of the senior policemen involved and he did not even know the base was in the middle of the village. He thought it was a mile away.'

Kathryn Dryden, 60, a villager for ten years, agreed with the local council, who wants to mount a legal challenge, saying it was 'unlawful'.

She added: 'It is lack of consultation. It is the process of what the Home Office are trying to do which we consider at unlawful at this point.

'The figure of 1,500 is just a base line. It will increase. The Government is dumping them in a small rural village where they will outnumber us two to one if not more.

'We are not against supporting asylum seekers. It is the numbers, and how it is been dealt to us as a done deal. None of us knew anything about it until it was announced on the TV.

'We are hoping, a judicial review will succeed as a challenge but we have no idea. We do not begrudge asylum seekers. This is just a quiet village.

'Yet the Government has been very clear it will support asylum seekers in conurbations. They will not get that in a small village.'

The abandoned RAF base (pictured) could take as many as 1,500 asylum seekers but villagers believe more will come

A sign telling people not to enter the airbase sits in a field saying people will be arrested and prosecuted for entering without permission in a village which rarely sees police

Trevor Dawson (left), 72, a former civilian mess worker at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, is worried about right-wing groups coming to the village while retired South Yorkshire Police Superintendent Michael Brown (right), is 'fed up' with the whole idea

NHS worker Steve Krebs, 64, a villager for six years, said: 'It is the wrong place - 100 per cent. Fifteen hundred males outnumbering the villagers two to one'

Trevor Dawson, 72, a former civilian mess worker at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, who moved back to the home where his family have lived for three generations in 1993 is concerned about disorder breaking out in the new centre - as well as attracting right wing groups the village where his grandfather was the blacksmith.

He said: 'I don't know what is going to happen here. We will have to wait and see. But I am concerned about large groups of them wandering around late at night.

'There might also be fighting between different groups. We understand they will be mainly lads. I did not want to sell the house when my dad died so I came back to live here.

'Then they just announced this was going to happen. We have had a couple of meetings but what can we do except see how it goes.'

NHS worker Steve Krebs, 64, a villager for six years, said: 'It is the wrong place - 100 per cent. Fifteen hundred males outnumbering the villagers two to one.

'I have nothing against anyone seeking asylum, provided they are seeking it for the right reasons.

I have worked with people in the NHS from all sorts of backgrounds and cultures.

'But you are taking about 1,500 single males aged 18 to 40. You only need one bad apple in a community with many elderly and females.

'There will be no security. We have had right wingers in the villagers as recently as Saturday. A quarter a mile from the main gate there is a viewing area where the fence is no higher than a bush.'

Retired South Yorkshire Police Superintendent Michael Brown, 88, who has lived in the village 26 years, said: 'We are fed up with all this.

'I only came here because it was a quiet village. I am not quite sure what the outcome will be. They cannot keep them in the camp all the time.

'There is a lot to do to support 1,500 people and they cannot be bringing very much money with them, so I cannot see how it will benefit the village.

'I do not see how anyone can be favour of it that lives in the village. If Boris Johnson lived here he would be against it.'

Ministers announced last month that a new reception centre would be opened in Linton-on-Ouse seeing 1,500 asylum seekers placed in the accommodation and processing centre. According to the Home Office it 'will help end the government's reliance on expensive hotels' where tens of thousands of asylum seekers live at a cost to taxpayers of 4.7 million ($5.8 million) per day. Pictured: Left, cows graze in a field adjacent to residential properties, right is a union flag in the village of Linton-on-Ouse

Olga Matthias, a spokesperson representing residents of Linton-on-Ouse who are opposed to the proposed asylum seeker reception centre, poses for a portrait on Main Street in the village of Linton-on-Ouse, near York in northern England on May 4, 2022

Olga Matthias, a spokesperson representing residents of Linton-on-Ouse, who are opposed to the proposed asylum seeker reception centre, said: '1,500 people in a village of 700 seems to have an absence of proportionality.'

While another villager, Steve, 43, and Olga say they back the idea of housing refugees in their village, they cannot understand why the Home Office chose to send such a large number to Linton-on-Ouse.

'It's a lose-lose scenario,' says Steve. 'They have a right for a peaceful life especially after the countries these people are coming from, so they have the right to be here.'

He argues the village does not have the facilities to allow its population to more than triple and said the sewage system is already failing, there is no high-speed internet and no police presence.

Another villager Matthias also said 'there is nothing to do' in the village which had its pub close a long time ago and where the only shop does not sell much except newspapers.

There is a bus four times a day that goes to York, the nearest large city about 10 miles (16 kilometres) away, but the price of a return ticket at 6.50 is more than an asylum seeker's daily allowance of 5.66.

One local, 19-year-old Mya Aston, says that for her, the prospect of 1,500 more men walking in the streets was 'daunting'.

Another voiced concerns about how the plan might affect home prices, where the average detached house sells for nearly 350,000.

Nicola David of Ripon City of Sanctuary, a group helping refugees, said: 'Nobody wants this. Nobody. Not the far-rights, not the villagers, not refugee charities, only the Home Office wants this to happen.'

The public debate has been dominated in recent weeks by a government proposal to send asylum seekers who arrive illegally to Rwanda.

But Ms David argues that the opening of a reception centre in Linton-on-Ouse is far more problematic, she adds: 'The Rwanda [plan] was really shocking cause it's massive and it's bizarre.

'But the Refugee Council did some calculations and they reckon probably 200 people would get sent to Rwanda so that's actually quite small and there is a very strong chance it won't go ahead at all.'

She gives the example of Napier former military camp in Kent near the Channel coast, which has been used since 2020 to house asylum seekers, prompting criticism of the authorities over the squalid living conditions and migrants being held in semi-detention.

'They're constantly apologising and they're constantly [holding] public inquiries that cost a fortune [...] and now they think they can run [a centre] for 1,500 people [...] here?

'What assurance does anybody have that it's not all going to go horribly wrong? And then what happens when it does?''

One local, 19-year-old Mya Aston, says that for her, the prospect of 1,500 more men walking in the streets was 'daunting'. Pictured: A man leaves Linton Stores, the only shop in the village of Linton-on-Ouse

At the former RAF base, plans would see up to 1,500 asylum seekers placed in the accommodation and processing centre

City of York Lib Dem councillor Darryl Smalley said in April: 'The Government's Guantanamo-on-Ouse plan is sadly just a small part of the inhumane and dysfunctional plan. It's a model which has been shown to be expensive for the taxpayer and is very damaging for the mental health of asylum seekers'. Pictured: Former Royal Air Force Station, RAF Linton-on-Ouse is pictured in the village of Linton-on-Ouse

Health worker Neil Goodridge, 59, also said: 'We're a relatively liberal country and all for helping out but migrants need to be somewhere where they will have services. This is the wrong place.' Pictured: Cyclists make their way along Main Street in the village

City of York Lib Dem councillor Darryl Smalley said in April: 'The Government's Guantanamo-on-Ouse plan is sadly just a small part of the inhumane and dysfunctional plan. It's a model which has been shown to be expensive for the taxpayer and is very damaging for the mental health of asylum seekers.

'It's shocking to see the stark difference between Minister's sentiments when it comes to the suffering of those fleeing Ukraine compared with those asylum seekers desperate enough to make the dangerous journey across the Channel. It is only the accident of birth which separates us from being in the shoes of these desperate people.

'Government policy is now seemingly to make the seeking of asylum in the United Kingdom as difficult and unpleasant as possible, regardless of the cost. This is an ill-thought out, cruel and morally bankrupt ploy to reduce our obligations to the most desperate people.'

Teaching assistant and mother-of-one Jade Bov, 49, told the Sun: 'We're all a bit shell-shocked. We're just a small village with one road in and one road out. An extra 1,500 people roaming around it is going to have an impact, whatever the Home Office say.'

Health worker Neil Goodridge, 59, also said: 'We're a relatively liberal country and all for helping out but migrants need to be somewhere where they will have services. This is the wrong place.

'We're a village of 700 people and they are effectively dropping 1,500 single men here. It's an invasion for us. Down in Westminster they've thought, 'We've got a military base which is surrounded by fences'. But it isn't, it's a 760-acre open site.''

There is a bus four times a day that goes to York, the nearest large city about 10 miles (16 kilometres) away, but the price of a return ticket at 6.50 is more than an asylum seeker's daily allowance of 5.66

Home Secretary Priti Patel is Home Secretary Priti Patel is modelling the centre on Greek asylum camps where migrants undergo routine checks of their movements and have curfews. Pictured: On left, members of the public rush to attend the public meeting regarding the proposed asylum processing centre at former RAF base, and on right villagers in the hall listen to representatives from North Yorkshire police and Thirsk and Morton MP Kevin Hollinrake

Villagers argue it does not have the facilities to allow its population to more than triple and said the sewage system is already failing, there is no high-speed internet and no police presence

The Home Office has been rolling out new migration policies, including a controversial plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda, largely in response to the continued flow of migrants arriving in the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats. Pictured: Angry and scared villagers queue for public meeting to discuss the proposed asylum processing centre at former RAF base Linton-on-Ouse

Around 30 more migrants were escorted to Dover, Kent by UK officials on board Border Force cutter Speedwell on Friday afternoon

More than 750 migrants have arrived in the UK by small boat so far this month, pushing the 2022 total to 7,484

Kevin Hollinrake, Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, previously said he would 'push for these plans to be stopped'

What is the Rwanda scheme? What is the scheme? The Government announced plans to send thousands of migrants to Rwanda, in east Africa, last month. The scheme is designed to deter economic migrants by showing even if they reach the UK, they're not allowed to remain here. When they arrive in Rwanda, asylum seekers will have their claims processed and if approved, will be allowed to stay in Rwanda. They will not be allowed to return to the UK. Those who fail in their asylum applications will be deported back to their home country. Who is eligible? People arriving in the UK illegally, including in small boats and lorries, will be considered for relocation to Rwanda. It will apply to anyone who arrived in the UK from January 1, this year, and not just people arriving after the first flights have been arranged. Ministers have said the scheme is meant to be focused on single, young men, but anyone regardless of sex is eligible. The Government says families will not be broken up and unaccompanied children will not be sent. How much will it cost? The Government says the scheme will cost 120 million, but critics have predicted it would cost considerably more. Think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research pointed out that Australia's scheme has cost taxpayers around 5.2 billion since 2013. Conservative former minister Andrew Mitchell said housing asylum seekers at the Ritz hotel would be cheaper, putting the figure at 2million per person, per year. When will it start? Boris Johnson said he wanted the first flights to leave at the end of May, but this looks unlikely to happen. The scheme is likely to be challenged in court by human rights lawyers, but ministers believe it is legal under UK and EU laws. Why is it so controversial? Human rights groups, opposition MPs and backbench Tories have said the plan is cruel and expensive. Amnesty International says there are concerns over enforced disappearances, allegations of torture and excessive use of force' in Rwanda. The Government says Rwanda is a safe country with a track record of supporting asylum seekers. Opposition leader Keir Starmer branded the PM 'desperate' and said the plans were 'unworkable, extortionate and will cost the taxpayer billions of pounds'. Advertisement

In the UK migrants will be held in 'Greek-style reception centres', the first of which will be built at RAF Linton-on-Ouse.

The RAF base has lain empty since 2020, when the Ministry of Defence announced it would no longer be actively using the site.

When the RAF base was closed two years ago, 150 MoD homes at the bottom end of the village became vacant - as well as a street outside the entrance to the site.

It was expected to be sold in the coming years, but the government has now revealed a new use for the 680-acre facility.

Accommodation for asylum seekers will be set up, while a processing centre will also be built.

Under the Prime Minister Boris Johnson's new policy, Channel migrants will have to stick to strict rules or else they could lose their right to asylum.

Home Secretary Priti Patel is modelling the centre on Greek asylum camps where migrants undergo routine checks of their movements and have curfews.

The reception centres were first opened on the island of Samos in September last year, before a further two were completed on Leros and Kos two months later.

The Home Secretary reportedly praised the 'very different' approach that had been taken to address the growing migrant crisis, which included digitising the asylum process.

'If they breach the rules, it could affect their asylum claim,' a government source told the Telegraph.

'You would be told that you would have to be in by this time. That's fair rules for operating if you provide food and accommodation. The Greeks have things like timings.'

The policy is in conjunction with he Rwanda plan. The scheme is designed to deter economic migrants by showing even if they reach the UK, they're not allowed to remain here.

When they arrive in Rwanda, asylum seekers will have their claims processed and if approved, will be allowed to stay in Rwanda. They will not be allowed to return to the UK.

Those who fail in their asylum applications will be deported back to their home country.

Hambleton District Council previously said in late April that it has asked lawyers to start mounting a legal challenge to the proposal.

Dr Justin Ives, the council's chief executive, said the decision had been made after the Government's decision to 'press ahead' with the plans despite a 'lack of consultation' with residents.

He said: 'We have been carefully listening to what local communities have been saying about the potential impact on Linton-on-Ouse, surrounding communities and our district in general.

'We now understand from subsequent conversations this week, that the Government has every intention of pressing ahead with the plans.

'In response to this, Hambleton District Council has instructed lawyers to start work on mounting a legal challenge of the Government's decision.'

Dr Ives added: 'As the local authority, we are extremely disappointed by the lack of consultation and involvement on this so far and have made this clear to Government during our discussions.'

Kevin Hollinrake, Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, who is considering legal options, previously said he would 'push for these plans to be stopped'.

Following a community meeting, Mr Hollinrake added: 'This is not a secure facility and having such a large volume of young men being housed in Linton-on-Ouse is completely wrong.'

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The asylum reception centre at Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire, will help end our reliance on expensive hotels which are costing the taxpayer 4.7 million a day.

'We are consulting with local stakeholders about the use of the site.

'The New Plan for Immigration will fix this broken asylum system, allowing us to support those in genuine need while preventing abuse of the system and deterring illegal entry to the UK.'
The woman who discovered the abandoned getaway car of fugitive prison guard Vicky White and convicted killer Casey White last week says she felt unease after finding the vehicle outside her Tennessee home - mere hours after the duo escaped an Alabama prison.

'It's eerie that they were here,' College Grove resident Jackie Adams told DailyMail.com Saturday after coming across the suspicious vehicle Friday night, roughly 100 miles from the jail the pair had fled earlier that day.

Adams, 41 who drives a school-bus in the rural town, said she was coming home from one of her other jobs when she saw the then-unidentified SUV with tinted windows and no tags, which belongs to former corrections officer White.

'I went ahead and called the sheriff's office to have it towed. We know all of our neighbors and I immediately knew it wasn't anybody's car.'

The car - which contained contained Whites' jail radio, handcuffs and keys - was towed later that day, with sheriffs seemingly unaware of the vehicle's connection to then burgeoning manhunt.

For the past week, the car sat in a Tennessee tow lot.

The pair - who authorities say are romantically involved - have been on the run since, evading thousands of lawmen in the process.

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Jackie Adams - who discovered the abandoned getaway car of fugitive prison guard Vicky White and convicted killer Casey White last Friday - says she felt unease after finding the vehicle outside her Tennessee home, just hours after the duo had escaped an Alabama prison

Corrections officer Vicky White (left) fled with confessed murderer Casey White (right) from Lauderdale County prison 111 miles away hours earlier. The pair shared an intimate relationship dating back to 2020, cops say. The pair - whom are not related - are still at-large

Adams was coming home from one of her other jobs when she saw the then unidentified SUV parked outside the house. The car - which contained Whites' jail radio, handcuffs and keys - had no tags, so cops had it towed, not knowing it belonged to the at-large corrections officer

Friday morning, however, Tennessee cops made a breakthrough in their search after realizing the impounded vehicle was White's, spurring a force of US Marshals, Williamson County Sheriff's Officers, and SWAT members to circle back to Adam's property Friday morning - a week after she had reported the vehicle.

'It was pretty intense yesterday,' the school bus driver recalled Saturday to DailyMail.com. She said officers searched her property, the properties around her home, and nearby woods relentlessly into the night, for any clues as to the location of the pair - whom police believe are romantically involved.

Speaking to DailyMail.com just hours after drones and helicopters descended on the home - where they remained for hours and into the evening, according to Adams - the homeowner said she hopes that by now the duo are long gone.

'I would hope that the people arent here but I hope that they find them soon so that people around here can sleep peacefully,' Adams said, adding that the car turning up in the usually quiet neighborhood left her and others feeling on edge.

'We know everybody on our road and we watch out for each other.'

She added 'We have children and we like to trust that our kids are safe in their yards but now we can't trust that.'

Cops say Vicky White, a 57-year-old prison guard at Lauderdale County Jail in Alabama with a spotless record, helped confessed murderer Casey White - no relation - escaped custody the morning of April 29, the day she was scheduled to retire.

White, who was an assistant director of corrections at Lauderdale County, used a police vehicle to ferry Casey out of the maximum-security facility, under the guise that she was taking the con to a scheduled mental health evaluation.

The pair then switched to Vicky's orange Ford Edge - the car Adams would discover on her property hour later.

Aforce of at least 20 -25 officers with full SWAT gear and assault rifles then descended on Adams' home in small-town College Grove (pictured) to look for more clues, nearly a week after she had reported it to police

Casey White, the convicted killer who remains on-the-run with a corrections officer after breaking out of an Alabama jail last week, is shown in new photos

The College Grove resident came across the suspicious vehicle last Friday night, roughly 100 miles from the jail the pair had fled in a police vehicle they ditched before changing cars earlier that day

Authorities say the pair then drove 100 miles north to Tennessee, dumping the car outside Adams' domicile. Local officials then impounded the car, unaware of its importance to the case.

Inside the car, sheriffs Friday reportedly recovered Vicky's jail radio, handcuffs and keys, with A photo released by Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office showing an apparent attempt to spray paint part of the car green - details initially missed by deputies.

Jimmy Adams, Jackie's father-in-law, who has lived in College Grove since 1969, said Saturday that he and his family are worried that an escaped killer potentially has been hiding out in the community for the better part of a week.

Adams, 74, said that he was home watching TV when around 10:30 am Friday when the force of at least 20 -25 officers with full SWAT gear and assault rifles showed up at the property.

'It kind of shook me up a little,' the elder Adams said.

'It was a sheriff's deputy and a yard full of police cars. They asked me if they had seen any suspicious persons or knew anything about the parked and abandoned vehicle at the end of the driveway.'

Jimmy Adams, Jackie's father-in-law, who has lived in College Grove since 1969, said Saturday that he and his family are worried that an escaped killer potentially has been hiding out in the community for the better part of a week

After telling officer that he did not know anything about the vehicle, the lawmen asked if they could search the property and it surroundings, to which Adams agreed.

'All evening drones and helicopters were flying over head,' he recalled of the search that ensued.

'It made me nervous because an escaped killer was on the loose, then I realized the deal with the car. I thought they must be long gone by now.'

When asked if they had any precautions if they were to run into Casey or Vicky White, Jackie said her and her family are prepared to protect their property.

'We live in the country, we have coyotes, we have other wild animals that like to attack our farm animals. So we are prepared if need be.'

After discovering the link between the car and the at-large pair, police Friday said they were 'back to square one' in their search, which entered its ninth day Saturday.

White, an Alabama prison guard with a spotless record, is suspected of helping long-time criminal Casey White - the two are unrelated - of escaping custody one week ago on her last day of work before retirement.

However, her former employee Tyson Johnson, says that he's not surprised and that 'no one' is that White was capable of this, calling her smart and calculated.

'That's a good question, honestly I don't think she'll be found. She has calculated enough that she has thought this entire thing out,' said Johnson, who worked for White for seven years before he claims he was wrongfully terminated, of her whereabouts.

'She definitely outsmarted the sheriff, she outsmarted the administrator of the jail.'

Johnson also claims that White would often alter her appearance either physically or in photos, which may make pictures police give out to try and locate her ineffective.

'Vicky used the tanning bed a lot,' he said. 'Vicky may have been 57 years old but she looked 75. The photos that they're releasing of her, there are filters, they're all bright on the face because it's not showing the true her. A lot of people, former employees, said if Vicky dyed her hair grey and put on some old lady clothes and glasses, she could walk right by you and you would never know it.'

People reported seeing Vicky at both a department store and an adult store after the escape but employees at both stores refused to comment.

Vicky is pictured 'waddling' into the jail and opening an interior door on Friday. Casey is believed to have been in the hallway at the time

Surveillance video previously released showed Vicky helping Casey escape from the Lauderdale County Jail, where he had been incarcerated. The pair then fled together

Police believe the pair had developed a romantic relationship, and their disappearance from the Lauderdale County Jail has captivated the nation.

Rick Singleton, the sheriff of Lauderdale County, said at a press briefing Friday that the couple's escape vehicle, a rust-colored SUV, was identified outside Nashville, Tennessee, about two hours away from the jail.

'I think this was a very well thought out plan,' said Singleton. 'We're sort of at a loss.'

Singleton noted that Vicky was divorced but still living with her ex-husband, who died of Parkinson's earlier this year. He wonders if grief may have struck Vicky and led to this.

The sheriff of Williamson County, where the SUV was discovered, said in a tweet earlier Friday that 'there is NO sign the two are still in our area.'

Investigators have also learned that White had sold her home in the weeks before the escape, and had withdrawn about $90,000 in cash from several banks in the area, Singleton said.

He also noted that Vicky White had used an alias to purchase the SUV, and was likely to try to do that again.

New video released Wednesday shows Vicky and Casey driving to the Florence Square shopping center on Friday where they abandoned the sheriff's car used during the escape

On Saturday, Alabama Police released new video footage of former correctional office Vicky White checking out of hotel the morning she busted her capital murder suspect 'lover' out of jail.

Dressed in a black sweater, the 57 year-old can be seen pacing up and down the front desk of the Quality Inn in Florence, Alabama, as she waits for an attendant to come check her out.

At one point, she can been seen looking nervously over the reception desk while waiting inside the empty lobby.

The correctional officer doesn't appear to be wearing her uniform. Footage of the missing jailer was released by Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office Saturday in a bid to try and track down White and capital murder suspect Casey White - who she isn't related to.

The ongoing hunt for the company - which is reaching 10 days - is intensifying as the couple have only been spotted once since their escape.

The pair are still at large.

Former correctional officer Vicky White (pictured) was seen checking out of the Quality Inn in Florence, Alabama, the morning she was seen helping her convict 'lover' escape jail

The missing woman was seen pacing nervously in front of the desk as she waited for an attendant to check her out
The debunked Amtrak story that Joe Biden told in Ohio on Friday was the seventh time in the last year-plus - and sixth since entering the White House - that the president repeated the tale.

Biden made similar remarks on these occasions.

October 12, 2020

Then-candidate Joe Biden spoke to a small group at Cincinnati's Museum Center at Union Terminal on October 12, 2020

During an appearance on the campaign trail in Cincinnati, Ohio, then-candidate Joe Biden repeated the story about his friend, Amtrak conductor Angelo Negri.

'And so I started commuting every day back and forth, and that's how I got involved as sort of Mr. Amtrak,' Biden said.

'Because when they publish that, they keep fastidious records on how many miles you travel on government aircraft when your vice president.

'And I had traveled a little over, I think it was a 1,400,000 miles.

'It was on the front page of the paper, but I used to like to take the train home on Fridays still as Vice President because it costs a lot of money to take that small plane back.

'But in addition to that, the Secret Service felt much more secure if I wasn't on a train, but they humored me and let me go home on Fridays sometimes.

'My mom was living at my home as she was passing.

'And I remember getting on the train and a guy named Angelo Negri, I got to know their families, all the conductors and all the people all those years.

'And he came up to me and he grabbed me and he said, 'Joey.' He grabbed my cheek.

'I thought the Secret Service was going to shoot him. I said, 'No.' I said, 'He's okay.'

'It's a true story.

'And he said, 'I just read, Joey, 1,400,000 miles on Air Force Two, big deal. The boys, we were checking. We had our retirement dinner. Went up to New Jersey for the dinner. You know how many miles you traveled on Amtrak?'

'I said, 'No, Ang, I don't.'

'He said, 'Joey,' he said, 'we figure 117 days a year, 36 years, and then X number of days as Vice President, you've traveled 2,100,000 miles on Amtrak.'

'I think I hold the record, other than a conductor.'

April 30, 2021

Delivering an April 30 speech in Philadelphia commemorating the 50th anniversary of Amtrak, Biden launched into the tale of reaching 1.5 million miles on the service

Delivering a speech in Philadelphia commemorating the 50th anniversary of Amtrak, Biden launched into the tale of a certain conductor congratulating him on reaching the milestone as he traveled to visit his sick mother.

Biden said the incident occurred in his 'fourth or fifth year as vice president', or around 2014-2015, at which time the conductor he named had been retired for 20 years and had passed away, inconsistencies first pointed out by Fox News.

Biden, who served in the Senate for 36 years, famously commuted by Amtrak to Congress from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, racking up many miles on the train service.

'When I became vice president, one of the Capitol Hill newspapers estimated that I had taken more than 7,000 round trips on Amtrak over my career,' he explained in his speech on Friday.

'I think that's an exaggeration. I'm going to rely on those two conductors  one of them was a guy named Angelo Negri,' he continued, launching into the anecdote.

'There was an article, I guess my fourth or fifth year as vice president, saying Biden travels 1,300,000 miles on Air Force One [Two]. I used to  the Secret Service didn't like it  but I used to like to take the train home,' he continued.

'My mom was sick and I used to try to come home almost every weekend as vice president to see her. I got on the train and Angelo Negri came up and he goes, 'Joey, baby,' and he grabbed my cheek like he always did. I thought he was going to get shot. I'm serious. I said, 'No, no, he's a friend,' Biden recalled.

'He said, 'Joey, what's the big deal? 1,300,000 miles on Air Force Two? Do you know how many miles you traveled on Amtrak?'

'I said, 'No, Angie, I don't know.'

'He gave me the calculation and he said you traveled 1,500,000 miles on Amtrak.

'The fact is, I'd probably take Angie's word before I'd take the word of what the article said,' Biden said.

June 29, 2021

Biden told the same story during a June 29 speech at La Crosse Municipal Transit Utility in La Crosse, Wisconsin

President Biden made an appearance at La Crosse Municipal Transit Utility in La Crosse, Wisconsin, to tout his bipartisan infrastructure framework.

During his remarks, he once again told the story of being 'Mr. Amtrak.'

'Now, I know I'm 'Mr. Amtrak',' the president said.

'I've traveled over 2 million miles on Amtrak. I commuted every day. I get it.

'I know you think I'm nuts. But after my wife and daughter were killed, I decided to commute back and forth to Delaware.

'It was a 257-mile roundtrip.'

Biden continued: 'I'll tell you a real quick story. I shouldn't bore you with it.

'But, you know, the Secret Service - they're the best in the world - doesn't like you taking Amtrak because it stops too many times - the train.

'They want me flying home in the small jets that were available as Vice President.

'And that cost a lot of money, so I would go home on Fridays, you know, because my mom was passing away.

'I'd go home on Amtrak. And they published - they keep fastidious record of the miles you travel in an air- in a Air Force aircraft as President and Vice President.

'And toward the end of my term, a headline came out in all of the papers: 'Biden travels'  I think it was 1.3 or 1.7 million miles on Air Force planes.

'And so, I'm getting on the train on that Friday, and these guys who all became my family - all - the conductor.

'And a guy named Angelo Negri came up, and he goes, 'Joey, baby!'

'Grabs my cheek like that. And I thought they were going to shoot him. I really did.

'I said, 'No, no, no, no, no, no, no. He's a friend.'

'He was like, 'What the hell.'

'And he said, 'Big deal, Joey. A million' - whatever it was - 'three-hundred thousand miles. You know how many miles you've traveled on Amtrak, Joey?'

'And I said, 'No, Ang. I don't.'

'And he said, 'At that retirement dinner, we calculated it. We estimated 127 days a year, 250 miles back and forth, 3  36 years, then as Vice President.

''Joey, you traveled more on Amtrak.'

'Well, I - and when they named a station after me in my city, someone complained that Biden is using his influence.

'I said, 'Hell, they should name the whole Northeast Corridor after me.'

'I've [traveled] more than anybody else.'

September 21, 2021

President Joe Biden holds a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the Oval Office at the White House on September 21. Biden relayed the same story to the British premier

The president told the same story during a one-on-one meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the Oval Office of the White House.

At the beginning of their meeting, Biden and Johnson exchanged pleasantries and joked about their shared love of trains.

The prime minister took the Amtrak train down from New York City, where he was at the annual UN General Assembly meeting, to meet with Biden at the White House.

'They love you,' Johnson told Biden of Amtrak. 'You are a living deity on Amtrak, I can tell you.'

The president bragged how he had ridden over 2 million miles on the nation's train system.

'Well, they should. I've traveled more on Amtrak,' he said. 'If I were conductor I'd be number one in seniority.'

Biden then shared the oft-repeated story with Johnson.

'I got to tell you a quick story that has nothing to do with anything,' Biden told the British premier.

He told Johnson that 'the Secret Service didn't like me traveling on Amtrak because there were too many options for people to cause trouble along the way.

'But I insisted I do it.'

'One day,' Biden continued, 'they put in the newspaper: 'Biden travels 1 million ' - and I think - don't hold me to the exact number - I think it was - ' 350,000 miles on Air Force Two'.'

The president then told Johnson that whenever he hopped on the train home to Delaware, he was met by 'a guy, who was the number three guy from New Jersey in seniority as a conductor, [who] walked up and grabbed me and he goes like this: 'Joey, baby!' [and] grabs my cheek.

'I thought the Secret Service was going to shoot him.'

October 20, 2021

The president recalled the encounter with Angelo Negri during an appearance touting his 'Build Back Better' infrastructure plan in his native hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

In this retelling, Biden explained that when he was vice president, government officials kept track of the mileage that he traveled via air.

He then said that 'seven years into my tenure as vice president,' he was informed that he had surpassed the 1 million mile mark in flying on Air Force Two - which is the vice president's official aircraft.

According to Biden, after reaching the milestone, he was accosted by an old friend, Amtrak conductor Negri, who was adamant that his Amtrak milestone was far more impressive.

'Joey, baby!' the president recalled Negri telling him.

'I thought the Secret Service was going to shoot him.'

Biden says he told Secret Service agents: 'No, no, no, he's good. He's good.'

After Biden flew some 1.2million miles, the president claims Negri sarcastically told him: 'Big deal!'

'You know how many miles you did Amtrak?' Negri is said to have told then-Vice President Biden.

'No, Ang, I don't have any idea, pal,' Biden says he responded.

Biden says Negri told him that the president amassed more than 2 million miles on Amtrak going back to his days as a US senator representing Delaware.

December 8, 2021

In the sixth retelling, at an event in Kansas City, Missouri, Biden the encounter happened when he visited his sick mother, who died in January 2010, less than one year after he became vice president, contradicting the at least three other occasions, Biden said it happened much later in his second term.
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Matt Lauer was looked downcast during a walk in the rain in East Hampton days after Elon Musk called him and NBC out on Twitter.

On Saturday, Lauer was pictured walking across an East Hamptons parking lot wearing a matching blue hoodie, sweatpants and sneakers.

The disgraced former Today Show host made his way across the parking lot, stepping in puddles as he appears to make his way to his car, after his solo shopping trip.

Lauer was fired from NBC in 2017 following allegations of sexual harassment in the work sphere. In Ronan Farrows new book Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, former NBC producer Brooke Nevils accuses Lauer of sexually assaulting her during non consensual sex at the Sochi Olympics in 2014.

Lauer responded by saying, 'There was absolutely nothing aggressive about that encounter. Brooke did not do or say anything to object.'

There were also reports that Lauer's office came supplied with a desk button to lock the door.

On Saturday Lauer was pictured walking across an East Hamptons parking lot wearing a matching navy blue hoodie, sweatpants and sneakers

Lauer looked downcast as he made his way across the parking lot, stepping in puddles as he appears to make his way to his car

Lauer has laid low since he was fired from NBC in 2017 following allegations of sexual harassment in the work sphere. In Ronan Farrows new book Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

Lauer walks past a young man pushing an empty shopping cart as he makes his way across an East Hamptons parking lot with a hoodie on

His rare public appearance comes after he was called out by name by billionaire Elon Musk, 50, during a Twitter spat with MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan.

On Sunday Hasan, 43, told viewers of his show: 'It's easy in American discourse to talk simplistically about the far-left and the far-right as two equally dangerously fringe boxes.

'Elon Musk has done it plenty of times just in the past week.

'But here's the difference. America's far-left wants to give us free health care and free childcare. America's far-right wants to give us white supremacy and no democracy.

'And this asymmetrical polarization of U.S. politics would be laughable if it went so horrifying.'

On Monday Musk, who on April 25 reached an agreement with Twitter's board to buy the company for $44 billion, accused Hasan of 'basically saying Republicans are Nazis'

He then criticized Hasan for working for NBC who he claimed helped cover up Lauer's sexual assault.

'Same org that covered up Hunter Biden laptop story, had Harvey Weinstein story early & killed it & built Matt Lauer his rape office. Lovely people,' he added in another tweet.

Lauer's rare public appearance comes after he was called out by name by billionaire Elon Musk, 50, during a Twitter row with MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan

MSNBC host triggered Elon Musk after he said there was a worrying trend of talking 'simplistically about the far-left and the far-right as two equally dangerously fringes'

Musk, (pictured) accused Hasan of 'basically saying Republicans are Nazis' and then criticized Hasan for working for NBC who he claimed helped cover up Lauer's sexual assault

Lauer was accused of giving one woman a sex toy and an explicit note saying how he wanted to use it on her. He was also accused of showing another woman his penis in his office and played 'f***, marry or kill' in the office.

Other anonymous women are reported to have complained to NBC about Lauer's sexual impropriety, with one saying she was summoned into his office in 2001 for sex. He would also sometimes quiz female producers about who they had slept with, it has been alleged.

The news giant has laid low since his firing and was most recently spotted in public last October in the Hampton's with his daughter Romy for her 18th birthday.

Lauer, his daughter and his longtime friend-turned-girlfriend Shamin Abas, were pictured visiting Italian restaurant Tutto Ill Giorno.

There was no sign of Romy's mother, Annette Roque, who divorced from Lauer in 2017 after the sexual allegations against him became public.
CBS Chief George Cheeks tested positive for COVID just days after sitting next to President Biden and the First Lady at last weekend's highly coveted White House Correspondent's dinner.

On Friday, CBS confirmed that Cheeks had tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

'He is feeling fine and working from home,' the company said in a statement, according to The New York Times.

Biden meanwhile tested negative Tuesday, two days after the event, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki. It's not clear if Biden has tested again since.

It's yet another Covid close shave for Biden who had many members of his team recently test positive.

On April 26, Vice President Kamala Harris took a rapid and a PCR test that both came back positive. She isolated at her Washington residence and did not attend last week's White House Correspondent's Dinner. In March, Psaki came down with COVID, it would be the press secretary's second bout with the virus, after contracting it in October, according to news reports.

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden smiles and waves to the ballroom of 2,600 during the April 29 White House Correspondent's Dinner next to President Joe Biden with CBS Chief, George Cheeks (pictured far right) and Daily Host Trevor Noah (pictured far left)

CBS Chief George Cheeks stands near President Bill and the First Lady at last weekend's coveted event. Cheeks, who was negative at the dinner, tested positive for COVID on Thursday, the network confirmed

The network said Cheeks had been fully vaccinated and had received a booster shot, and had tested negative before the April 29 dinner, and was also negative on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the news outlet reported.

Cheeks sat on the dais beside First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and current White House Correspondents Association chief and CBS News' Steve Portnoy, until President Biden arrived an hour into the event.

A maskless Cheeks greeted the president and Daily Show host Trevor Noah, who was the MC of the night's festivities, and was also unmasked, with a hand shake.

After Biden spoke, the president and first lady sat with Cheeks, laughing and enjoying the night's festivities, as Noah roasted the room of 2,600 that was filled with power players, political figures, celebrities and journalists, who all were maskless at the big event.

Noah poked fun of those in attendance calling it 'the nation's most distinguished superspreader event.'

Other high-profile guests that tested positive for COVID days after the WHC dinner, were Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and several journalists, including, ABC News' Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, who also shook hands with the President and Voice of America National Correspondent, Steve Herman, The New York Times reported.

The White House did not respond to the DailyMail.com request for comment on Saturday.

A chart showing COVID-19 cases in the United States

A chart showing the number of US infections per day of COVID in April and May

A chart showingn the number of NEW COVID-19 cases per day in the United States

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) posted on their COVID Data Weekly Tracker that COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise in the United States. Although deaths continue to decrease, the United States is expected to reach 1 million deaths soon.
Top private schools have told students to wear face masks even though the mandate has been scrapped.

St Mark's Anglican Community School and Christ Church Grammar are among the schools in Perth urging students to wear face masks.

Covid cases soared since the mandate was dropped with the state recording 10,182 cases on Thursday, 9,328 on Friday and 9,243 on Saturday.

Western Australia removed its indoor face mask mandate last Friday months after the rest of the country finally dumped the hated restriction.

A number of top private schools have told students to wear face masks even though the mandate has been scrapped by the state government

St Mark's Anglican Community School and Christ Church Grammar are among the schools in Perth, Western Australia, urging students to wear face masks

St Mark's Anglican Community School sent a newsletter to parents urging students to voluntarily wear them to class, The West Australian reported.

Principal Steven Davies said there were too many important school events coming up to risk students calling in sick.

'Based on our experience this week at school, I must now say that the wearing of a mask at school is strongly recommended,' he said.

'There are some important events ahead of our students over the next few weeks, including NAPLAN for students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9; examinations for students in Years 10, 11, and 12; work placements; and various excursions/camps/expeditions for classes and groups of students.'

Christ Church Grammar principal Alan Jones wrote in his school's newsletter that several staff members had chosen to keep wearing the face masks.

'I am choosing to continue to wear a mask on campus, when indoors and in groups of people, and I know a number of students and staff who have said they will continue to wear theirs in similar situations,' he wrote.

The precautionary measure comes as Covid cases continue to soar with the state recording 10,182 cases on Thursday, 9,328 on Friday and 9,243 on Saturday

'People will choose to wear masks for all sorts of reasons: Don't want to get sick, may have a family member who is at risk, may be a close contact or they may have an important event or trip coming up and don't want to risk becoming ill.

'It is good that we have choice, we can make a sensible choice about our own health and respect the choices of others.'

Education minister Sue Ellery said several precautionary measures were still in place at schools to protect students.

Enhanced ventilation, mandatory vaccination requirements, and cleaning were among them.

She said students were allowed to wear face masks if they felt it was necessary, but it was not mandatory.
Thousands of students could miss out on graduating this year because lecturers are threatening to boycott the marking of exam papers.

Staff at 44 of the UKs most prestigious universities, including Durham and St Andrews, are set to strike before the end of the academic term in a row over pay, working conditions and pension packages.

The action, orchestrated by the University and College Union (UCU), was announced last week and is due to begin on May 23. It comes on top of up to 15 days of strike action taken by teaching staff this year.

Students told The Mail On Sunday they fear they will be unable to attend Masters courses

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: University staff have been clear that many simply cannot contemplate staying in higher education while wages fall, workloads rise, and nothing is done to address the rampant use of insecure contracts or shocking equality failings.

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Lucia Botfield, a third-year history student at the University of Nottingham, said: Im doing a news journalism Masters next year and I need a 2:1 to get on to the course. Without these grades, Ive literally no idea what will happen.

What am I doing all this work for? Why am I in the library 12 hours a day, stressing myself out, when theres a chance my exams might not even be marked and I might not be able to graduate?

The 20-year-old added: Weve had about three months of uninterrupted teaching our whole degree because of Covid and strikes  and its just annoying. They have told us nothing.

Meanwhile, undergraduates have been taking to social media to vent their frustration.

One Durham University student said the move would have an unacceptable impact, while another added: On top of strikes and the marking boycott, what am I paying for?

Higher and Further Education Minister Michelle Donelan said: Striking academics have pushed students patience to the limit and the latest plans to boycott marking and assessment are a kick in the teeth to those who have studied so hard.

After the disruption students faced through the pandemic, it is profoundly unjust for lecturers to punish them over an industrial dispute that is not of their making  and its no surprise that sympathy with their cause among students looks to have fallen away.
A mother allegedly severed her boyfriend's genitals after stabbing him and his friend to death.

Jasmine Everleigh, 44, is accused of murdering Samir Esbeck, 59, and Sarkis Abboud, 61, at a Brunswick apartment, in Melbourne, at 5.20am on Thursday.

Everleigh was in a relationship with Mr Esbeck for the past 10 years before she allegedly turned on him in a frenzied knife attack.

Mr Esbeck was allegedly stabbed and his genitals cut off before he died at the scene.

His friend Mr Abboud died while he was being rushed to hospital.

A mother (pictured, Jasmine Everleigh) allegedly severed her partner's genitals after stabbing him and his friend to death

Jasmine Everleigh, 44, is accused of stabbing Samir Esbeck, 59 (pictured), and his friend Sarkis Abboud, 61, at a Brunswick apartment, in Melbourne, at 5.20am on Thursday

Everleigh was arrested on a nearby tram, taken to hospital, and later charged with two counts of murder.

Mr Abboud's daughter Christine wrote a mournful tribute to her father.

'No one deserves this kind of pain left with them,' she wrote on Facebook.

'My father was my hero, a loving husband and brother to his family. My heart feels empty knowing I won't ever see him again... Dad, I love you.'

Security footage from several shops filmed a shirtless Everleigh walking down the street with a shirt wrapped around her left hand after the alleged stabbing.

She ran across numerous streets and down dark alleys in shoes that were allegedly covered in blood.

Police said Everleigh left a 1.5km trail of blood along several roads and a children's playground.

Just before the morning commute kicked off, the 44-year-old woman was arrested on a tram in nearby Carlton.

She was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Mr Esbeck's friend Sarkis Abboud (pictured) died while he was being transported by paramedics to hospital

Mr Abboud's daughter Christine wrote a mournful tribute to her father on Facebook

Everleigh was filmed wandering the streets allegedly covered in blood and wearing a bra following the incident

'She's undergoing medical treatment in hospital,' acting Assistant Commissioner Mick Frewen said on Thursday.

Homicide detectives launched an investigation cordoned off the apartment following the alleged double stabbing.

Trails of blood were on the pavement around the area where the stabbing occurred but police aren't looking for anyone else involved.

A strip club about 350m away from where the bodies were found was also taped off.

The tram the woman was arrested on was forensically examined while officers were also seen tracing nearby Breese Street for clues on Thursday.

Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Mick Frewen said there were multiple sites involved in the incident that would be investigated.

Police said Everleigh left a 1.5km trail of blood with droplets left on streets and a children's playground

Homicide detectives arrived at the apartment complex to investigate the alleged stabbing on Thursday

Resident Jordan Cadman described the stabbing as 'shocking' but said he did not see or hear anything.

Cassandra Lutzko, who lives in a nearby apartment complex, described the area as 'pretty quiet and chill'.

'I moved to the building about six years ago,' she said. 'Everyone's really friendly. It's a nice area.'

ABC employee and Irish migrant Jill Meagher, 29, was killed while walking home in a laneway off nearby Hope Street 10 years ago.

Ms Meagher was raped and murdered by a stranger while making the short walk back to the Melbourne apartment she shared with her husband, Tom, in September 2012.

Jill Meagher (pictured above) was a 29-year-old Irish woman living in Australia who was raped and murdered by Bayley in Melbourne in September 2012

Eerie CCTV footage was aired across Australian TV screens showing the 29-year-old being approached on the way home by Adrian Bayley - who would be later given a life sentence for her murder - in hopes the missing woman might be found safe.

Her body was found in a shallow grave north of Melbourne six days later.

Meagher had been heading home after having some drinks with friends in the early hours of September 12, 2012, when she was suddenly attacked.

The walk to Ms Meagher's home from the bar she was at was just 700m.

Bayley was on parole for other sex crimes at the time of the murder.
Vladimir Putin's private army of bloodthirsty mercenaries were last night accused of firing on innocent civilians as they tried to flee a besieged city in eastern Ukraine.

Fighters from the infamous Wagner Group have joined Russian forces for a fresh offensive in the Donbas region, launching attacks on the city of Popasna so fierce that local officials drew parellels with the siege of Mariupol, from which the last women, children and pensioners last night finally escaped.

Amid fears that Putin would ramp up strikes ahead of Russias Victory Day parade tomorrow, Serhiy Haidai, the head of the Luhansk military administration, described a terrible situation in Popasna, adding: Thats where they threw the largest number of hardware and personnel, Wagner fighters. Thats where the largest number of missile attacks, air strikes is launched.

Wagner mercenaries pose in Popasna, a besieged town in war-torn eastern Ukraine

Recent drone footage from Popasna, in the west of the Luhansk region where 50,000 people are living, shows a scene of devastation. A dramatic 22-minute video clip also shows Russian and Ukrainian soldiers firing and hurling grenades at each other from neighbouring houses before six Ukrainian defenders are captured and forced to lie face down on the ground.

Mr Haidai said civilians fleeing blackouts and water shortages, including 35 people on a bus, had been fired upon, while a 15-year-old girl from the city described having to take the wheel of a car when the driver was injured by gunfire as they sped away from Popasna.

Speaking from a hospital bed, the teenager, called Liliya, described veering across the road to avoid landmines and dead bodies. When the firing resumed, she was shot in the legs, yet managed to drive the car to safety.

We were driving and it turned out that the Russians were firing at us. Two men were injured, one very badly, the teenager claimed. I had to get behind the wheel and take them to [the nearby city of] Bakhmut.

They needed help urgently so that they would not lose a lot of blood. My mother taught me to drive a car. There were mines in a checkerboard pattern and no way to pass, but I somehow drove there. Next to the checkpoint lay the corpse of a woman. Then I turned right and we were fired on again. This time my legs were injured.

There was nothing I could do. The car stalled, I barely started it. It was not easy for me, it was very painful. But somehow I managed it. I would not leave them under fire.

According to the girl, her fellow passengers  three men and a woman  all survived.

Russia yesterday continued its aerial barrage across Ukraine. Four strikes were reported in the southern port city of Odesa, with targets including a runway and a furniture production plant. There were no casualties.

In Kharkiv, a 28-year-old civilian died in her home during heavy shelling, while in Sumy, a northern city close to the Russian border, a jet fired missiles at a Ukrainian border patrol.

In Kharkiv, near the border with Russia, a young woman, 28, was killed by shelling in her home

Ukraine is mounting its own counter-offensive near Kharkiv and yesterday claimed to have taken five villages from Putins forces. The city is the second largest in Ukraine and is strategically crucial to both sides.

Last night, Russias defence ministry said its missiles had destroyed Ukrainian aircraft in the south of the country, and destroyed Western-supplied military equipment near Kharkiv. The claims could not be verified.

In a sombre note, the director of the CIA last night said he saw no sign that Putin was prepared to back down, despite sanctions.

William Burns said the Russian president was in a frame of mind in which he doesnt believe he can afford to lose, adding: I think hes convinced right now that doubling down will still enable him to make progress.
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Incredible footage captures the moment two Ukrainian fighter jets bombed the Russian-occupied Snake Island.

Footage released on Saturday shows Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 Flankers striking facilities during a high speed bombing of Snake Island, which was seized by Russian forces earlier this year.

A Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 drone captured two Su-27s flying low over the island from the south, before dropping multiple bombs and infrared countermeasure flares, TheDrive.com reported.

The southern approach to the island was a strategic measure from Ukrainian forces because Russian defenders on the island would most likely be focused on looking north and west toward the Ukrainian coastline, according to The Drive.

Footage released on Saturday shows Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 Flankers striking Russian facilities during a high speed bombing of Snake Island

A Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 drone captured two Su-27s fly in low from the south, dropping multiple bombs as well as infrared countermeasure flares

The daring raid appeared to strike direct hits to the islands main complex and buildings above the pier.

After the initial strikes there appear to be at least two major secondary explosions, which could mean the bombs struck an ammunition or fuel stage area, The Drive reported.

The bold attack comes after Ukraine claimed a TB2 drone destroyed Russian landing ship on the island.

On Saturday Ukraine showed a video claiming to be a military drone hit on a Russian landing ship supplying a TOR anti-aircraft missile system to Snake Island.

The footage appears to show the destruction of a large Serna-type landing craft in an air strike.

'Enemy units remaining on Snake Island remain without air cover and will be destroyed and burned out like cockroaches or locusts,' said Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko.

Other reports said the landing craft had been hit by a hit by a Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 military drone.

The daring raid appeared to strike direct hits to the islands main complex and buildings above the pier

After the initial strikes there appear to be at least two major secondary explosions, which could mean the bombs struck an ammunition or fuel stage area

This satellite image taken by Planet Labs PBC shows thick black smoke rising after a suspected Ukrainian drone strike on Russian positions on Snake Island, Ukraine, in the Black Sea

The large Serna-type landing craft moments after the missile strike by the Bayraktar TB2 drone. 'Enemy units remaining on Snake Island remain without air cover', the Ukrainians said

Black and white footage showed little human figures moving around on the landing ship moments before a white flash engulfs the craft. Figures continue to move around on the craft after it is hit.

The footage also showed an attack on a building on Snake Island. What appear to be Russian personnel are seen patrolling around the building when it too is blasted from the sky.

The footage of the strike on the vessel was not dated. After the strike, people were seen moving about on the vessel.

The Serna class - Russian designation Project 11770 - is a type of 'air cavity' designed landing craft constructed for the Russian Navy. Twelve boats were built between 1994 and 2014.

Back in March, Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of the Island, located just miles from the coast of Romania.

The island is strategically important because it allows Russia to claim territorial waters stretching 12 nautical miles out to sea.

They cover important shipping channels to the port cities of Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson.

After taking the island, Russia cut off the shipping channels, isolating Ukraine from international markets and depriving its economy of vital trade revenues as it seeks to defend itself.

In March, an audio clip was shared online of an officer from a Russian military ship telling Ukrainian guards guarding Snake Island to 'lay down your arms immediately to avoid bloodshed and unjustified deaths', adding 'otherwise you will be bombed'.

The guards can then be heard talking amongst themselves, agreeing 'this is it', before they responded to the Russian navy saying: 'Russian warship, go f*** yourself.'
Former Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea holds a press conference in Gyeyang, Incheon, Sunday, to run for the parliamentary seat in the Gyeyang-B district in the June 1 by-elections. Yonhap



Lee, Ahn seek to seize party hegemony via by-elections



By Lee Hae-rin



Former presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung and Ahn Cheol-soo declared their bids, Sunday, for parliamentary seats in the June 1 by-elections, transforming the event to one of potentially high political stakes.



Lee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is the former Gyeonggi Province governor who lost the March 9 presidential election to President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol by a razor-thin margin, while Ahn Cheol-soo, the head of Yoon's transition committee, also ran for president and merged his campaign with Yoon's days prior to the election.



Lee will run for the seat representing Incheon's Gyeyang-B district, which has been vacant since former DPK Chairman Rep. Song Young-gil resigned to run in the Seoul mayoral election in April, while Ahn will run for seat representing Bundang-A district of Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, left by the Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party (PPP), the former presidential transition committee spokesperson who is now running for the Gyeonggi provincial governor post.



Lee held a press conference in the city, making his first public appearance since the disbandment of his presidential campaign committee on March 10.



In the declaration for his candidacy, Lee said that he had decided to make a frontal breakthrough after much consideration to support the DPK and will stake everything for the victory in Incheon and lead the party to win the majority of the local elections. Lee will accept the party's offer to lead the party's campaign committee Wednesday.



Ahn also declared his bid to run in the election on the PPP's ticket during a press conference at the National Assembly.



Ahn spoke of the importance of Gyeonggi Province as a major battlefield and big match in the local elections and declared he would devote himself to getting as many PPP candidates as possible elected in the region.



In his speech, Ahn said that Seongnam has turned into a "Gotham City" under the DPK's 12-year tenure, referring to the allegations against Lee that implicated him in a corruption scandal surrounding an apartment construction project in Seongnam as the city's former mayor.



"The people of Bundang district and Seongnam City are victims of the former mayor and governor's ethical and legal corruption. To change that, we need a new leadership in Seongnam City and Gyeonggi Province," Ahn said. Lee served as Seongnam's mayor for eight years from 2010 to 2018.





Ahn Cheol-soo, the head of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's transition team, declares his bid for a parliamentary seat representing the Bundang-A district in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sunnday. (Yonhap)
Inmates at one of Britains toughest jails are furious after their sugar rations were cut.

The maximum security HMP Full Sutton near York, which holds some of the countrys most dangerous criminals, reduced the daily allowance from eight teaspoons to fewer than three.

Prison chiefs previously handed over 1kg of sugar per inmate each month. But the authorities decided that prisoners should go on a health drive and now 1kg is given out every three months.

A prison source said this will be devastating news for inmates.

Prisoners at the jail include White House Farm murderer Jeremy Bamber and John Cannan, the only suspect in Suzy Lamplughs 1986 disappearance.
Fresh supplies of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) could soon be shipped into Britain from other countries to ease shortages affecting thousands of women.

This week, manufacturers will meet health officials, including new HRT tsar Madelaine McTernan, to see which products they can source from overseas, after she discussed the idea with Health Secretary Sajid Javid on Thursday.

The Mail on Sunday has found that countries in Europe and North America are not facing the shortages being seen here  so they may well have stocks to spare.

Among those meeting Ms McTernan is drugs firm Theramex, which makes various types of HRT.

Manager Tina Backhouse, who also attended last Thursdays meeting, said: We talked about bringing in supplies from other countries and thats certainly something Theramex is happy to do.

We are meeting with the Department of Health on Monday about this, and I think other manufacturers are doing the same.

Although Theramex has a good stock of its medicines, such as Bijuva and FemSeven, Ms Backhouse said it was looking at obtaining more from Poland.

The 'HRT tsar' Madelaine McTernan wants to source HRT from abroad to cope with Britain's shortages (pictured) Director General of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, Madelaine McTernan, giving evidence to the Science and Technology Committee on UK Science, Research and Technology Capability and Influence in Global Disease Outbreaks

Health Secretary Sajid Javid held a meeting with Ms Mcternan on Thursday and will meet with the Department of Health on Monday to discuss solutions to HRT shortages

Experts say that women tend to be more distrustful of HRT on the Continent due to controversial studies in the early 2000s linking it to a higher risk of cancer. More recent analyses shows the risks are much lower than was feared.

Anne Gompel, a professor of gynaecology in France, said that before a controversial 2002 study up to 40 per cent of menopausal women took HRT, but now it is just 11 per cent, adding: French women are afraid of the side effects.

In Spain, HRT can be bought over the counter, but uptake is still low because doctors are slow to recommend it. Italian gynaecologist Anna Paola Cavalieri said such attitudes were similar in her country.

In the US a 2021 study found only four per cent of menopausal woman took HRT, down from an estimated 25 per cent in 2000.

Alessandra Henderson of Elektra Health, a US menopause education website, said the UK was an incredibly forward-leaning and progressive market when it comes to the menopause.

French firm Besins Healthcare said packaging issues and red tape would make it hard to divert stocks of its product Oestrogel to the UK.

But Ms Backhouse said Mr Javid had promised to ensure the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency did everything it could to help.

She added: There was very much at attitude of, Whatever you need to make things happen quickly, we will all work with you to make that happen.

One sticking point may be price. The NHS often pays less for drugs than other national health systems because its huge size gives it buying power.

But this gives firms little incentive to shift supplies here.

However, Mr Javid told Thursdays meeting: Money is no object.

Campaigners appealed to Ministers last night to act immediately.

Katie Taylor, of the menopause group Latte Lounge, said: Theres no change on the ground. Im hearing from women cutting their patches in half, or only using half the recommended amount of gel.
Ukrainian Holocaust survivors are being helped to flee Vladimir Putin's army by a US-based charity.

Elderly people whose earliest memories are of Nazi death camps are being rescued in a 'complex and dangerous mission' and finding refuge in Israel and Germany.

Galina Ploschenko, 88, who was trapped in a retirement home in the eastern city of Dnipro, was nervous when told she would be taken to Hanover. She said: 'They told me Germany was my best option. I told them, "I hope you're right".'

Ms Ploschenko lost her aunt and two cousins in the gas chambers. Around 100 of Ukraine's estimated 10,000 Holocaust survivors have so far been taken to safety.

Ukrainian Holocaust survivors are being helped to flee Vladimir Putin's army by a US-based charity. Israel has taken in almost 300, including 100-year-old Dova Govergeviz (above), now in an Israeli care home

Bryan Stern, from Project Dynamo, says his organisation has rescued around a dozen Jewish survivors and hopes to rescue another group soon. (Pictured, damage after Russian attacks in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 7)

Mr Stern said Ivanka Trump, daughter of former US President Donald Trump, has provided 'invaluable' help to the rescue operation, which is being funded purely from private donations

Bryan Stern, from Project Dynamo, says his organisation has rescued around a dozen Jewish survivors and hopes to rescue another group soon.

Mr Stern, a US Army and Navy veteran, said: 'The irony is many of the Holocaust survivors were saved from the Nazis by the Russians. Now Russia is the aggressor.'

He added: 'They don't want to leave. Many are sick. The rescues are highly complex and dangerous.'

Mr Stern said Ivanka Trump, daughter of former US President Donald Trump, has provided 'invaluable' help to the rescue operation, which is being funded purely from private donations.

Valerie Bendersky (above), 85, was seven when he fled to Kazakhstan to escape the Nazis. 'I was fleeing from Hitler then, now I have fled from Putin,' he said from his new home in Tel Aviv

'We email all the time and I can't say enough good things about Ivanka. She has used her network of contacts to help us save the most vulnerable.'

Israel has taken in almost 300 Holocaust survivors from Ukraine. Among them is Valerie Bendersky, 85, who was seven when he fled to Kazakhstan to escape the Nazis. 'I was fleeing from Hitler then, now I have fled from Putin,' he said from his new home in Tel Aviv.

Another is 100-year-old Dova Govergeviz, now in an Israeli care home. She said: 'I thought, "Oh my God, what a nightmare! Here we go again".'

At least two Holocaust survivors have died since the war began in Ukraine.

Vanda Obiedkova, 91, died in a cellar in Mariupol, and Boris Romanchenko, 96, who survived four Nazi death camps, was killed in Kharkiv.
As calls come to remove Ed Koch's name from New York's Queensboro Bridge over his abysmal handling of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, it's been revealed that the colorful city mayor was secretly gay and terrified of being outed.

Koch, who never came out during his lifetime, was a popular NYC mayor during his three terms in office from 1978 to 1989.

But the New York Times reveals that Koch, who later became a TV personality and political commentator, was lonely in his later years after pushing away his Harvard-educated health consultant boyfriend of many years in case it affected his political career.

He even tried to cover his sexuality and tackle the gay rumors which had begin to swirl around him by dating the first Jewish Miss America Bess Myerson while running for office.

The pair known as 'the candidate and the beauty queen' became inseparable, as they attended public events, inviting tabloid speculation about an imminent engagement. Koch even referred to Myerson as his 'first lady' and playfully spoke of getting married at Gracie Mansion.

But behind closed doors, the 'master showman with plenty of chutzpah' would drop the act and tell his closest friends how lonely he was: 'I want a boyfriend,' he said.

The most serious relationship in his life was with Richard W. Nathan, a 30-something Harvard-educated health care consultant, according to on-record interviews with six people who knew about the pair.

Former Democratic Mayor Edward Irving Koch served three terms as New York City Mayor that started January 3, 1969 and ended December 31, 1977

The candidate and the beauty queen, Bess Myerson, the first Jewish Miss America strategically inseparable, their pinkies entwined at public events, inviting welcome-if-misguided tabloid speculation about an imminent engagement. Mr. Koch himself called her his 'first lady' and hinted at how lovely it might be to get married at Gracie Mansion. Ms. Myerson and Mr. Garth both died in 2014,' The Times wrote

Koch, who was 50 at the time and early in his political aspirations to become mayor, met Nathan - who was 20 years his junior - at a potluck dinner at Koch's apartment in 1976.

Nathan, who died in 1996, described their whirlwind romance as 'something thrilling,' and said privately then, 'about being courted by a powerful man.'

In his bid to run for Mayor, Nathan was asked by Koch's colleagues to leave the state, in fear it would compromise his upcoming election, which led to his involvement with Bess Myerson, the first Jewish Miss America, who was called upon to solve that dilemma.

Koch's younger sister, Pat Koch Thaler said in an interview that while the two did not discuss his sexuality, the family would have been supportive no matter what he told them, according to The New York Times.

'He didn't ask me about whether I was gay or straight or bi, and I never asked him what he was, either,' Ms. Thaler, 90, said.

She added: 'It wouldn't have mattered one way or the other.'

Koch also grew ire from many who criticized his approach to AIDS that was an epidemic while he was in office. There was not yet a cure and the disease was killing hundreds in the city daily. Critics said he didn't move fast enough to address the AIDS crisis in the 1980s or tackle spiraling crime.

He was called out for his silence during the AIDS epidemic which was was noted by some as one of his 'greatest failures,' according to a previously published article in New York Magazine.

Koch grew ire from those who criticized his approach to AIDS that was an epidemic while in office. There was not yet a cure and the disease was killing hundreds in the city. Critics said he didn't move fast enough to address the AIDS crisis in the 1980s or tackle spiraling crime

Koch marching alongside supporters of the Gay Pride parade in New York City. He never revealed publicly that he was a closeted gay man, and sacrificed love for his political ambitions

By 1984, tens of thousands of New Yorkers were infected with the AIDS virus. These New Yorkers were faced with minimal resources as the disease claimed countless lives. Many became infuriated by the Mayor's silence, his lack of support, his refusal to meet with members of the community, lack of follow-through with those he appointed as liasons, and his apparent unwillingness to spend political capital on the issue, as the epidemic took hold of his city.

Despite, championing other gay issues, the mayor was determined not to be seen as gay although many voters already had their suspicions. He wrestled with gay rights, but at times tried to show his allegiance to gay New Yorkers. While in office, he signed a landmark executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation, appointed gay bureaucrats and judges and became the first mayor to march in the city's Pride parade, the Times reported.

Nathan, Koch's former flame who had been living in California, shared their relationship to Larry Kramer, a neighbor who lived in Koch's building. Kramer had been enraged by Koch's handling of the AIDS crisis and tried to out him by telling reporters about his conversation with Nathan and urging them to write about it.

During Koch's re-election campaign in 1989, he continued to deny his sexual orientation. 'It happens that I'm heterosexual,' he said during a radio interview.

At a protest, AIDS activists descended on City Hall blasting the Mayor and responding to his recent comment and yelling: 'AIDS care's ineffectual. Thanks to Koch, the heterosexual.'

Edward Koch was described as a 'master showman with plenty of chutzpah.' He rode the NYC subways, would often ask New Yorker's 'How'm I doin? and had great tenacity for the city he loved, also endured a silent pain that only those in his inner circle knew

On Friday, a group of Democrats, who at one time were the Mayor's biggest fans, are now declaring that his name be removed from the Queensboro Bridge, according to a review of records and past statements, The New York Post reported.

Jim Owles LGBT Democratic Club, whose boss, Allen Roskoff, had resentment towards Koch over his handling of the AIDS epidemic, is one of the people working for the name removal. Others include Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Jamaal Bowman, the news outlet reported.

Manhattan Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who lobbied to have the bridge named after the former Mayor in 2011, was one of those demanding Koch's name removal.
Sir Keir Starmer KCB QC, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, is in the sort of trouble such a person really ought to know how to avoid.

After many weeks of denouncing the Prime Minister for supposed lockdown misdemeanours, he finds himself daily more deeply mired in suggestions that his own behaviour during the Covid regime was less than perfect. Such a person really should not now be under investigation by the police.

But this trouble is entirely of his own making. He has spent ages digging this pit, so that he could fall into it.

Sir Keir presumably knows that he has not been a very convincing leader of the Labour Party, or of the Opposition.

He has tried hard to distance himself from his disastrous predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, yet cannot escape the fact that he willingly served in Mr Corbyns Shadow Cabinet.

Civilised politics is damaged when leaders resort to personal attacks on their opposite numbers as a substitute for debate or criticism (file photo of PMQs)

In two years in his position he has not landed a glove on the Government. During the Covid crisis his opposition was nothing of the kind. It consisted mainly of demanding more of what the Government was already doing, rather than the riskier but more responsible course of questioning policies that, on occasion, were certainly at fault.

Sir Keir has, in fact, not managed to persuade the nation that he offers an alternative either to the worst elements of his own party or to the Conservatives. He is just there.

Perhaps this was why he chose instead to take the risky personal route of direct attacks on Boris Johnson for social gatherings in Downing Street.

And yet even as he did so, the evidence of similar behaviour on his part was in the public domain. Film of him swigging from a bottle of beer in Durham was taken a year ago, and promptly found its way on to social media. More strikingly, the Labour leaders own office knew perfectly well that a number of claims made in his defence were not accurate.

His official timetable for his Durham visit has been seen by The Mail on Sunday. It clearly shows that the beer and curry gathering at Durham Miners Hall was pre-arranged. Just as clearly it was timetabled to end at 10pm, and that there were no further engagements or work planned later, exploding the absurd excuse that the event was just a break in campaigning.

The presence of deputy leader Angela Rayner, denied by party officials, is stated right at the top of the document. How can they still say that their original claims that she was not there were merely a mistake?

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer makes a statement outside Labour Party headquarters in London on Friday, May 6

Sir Keir has been very free with his calls on the PM to resign over the supposed outrage of Partygate. But this newspaper does not believe that Sir Keir should resign over his behaviour in Durham. Instead, he should recognise that he is making a fool of himself, and politely regret his error.

The rules that he apparently broke now look increasingly ludicrous and his demands that the PM should quit look pious and idiotic. Is this really what politics has come to?

Meanwhile the operators of the Labour Party machine, supposedly so slick, need to reconsider their behaviour, too. Backbenchers and officials of all parties sometimes play a little rough in the hurly-burly of campaigns, but civilised politics is damaged when leaders resort to personal attacks on their opposite numbers as a substitute for debate or criticism.

A General Election, in which many great issues will be raised, is approaching. Can we please be sure that it will not be fought over cakes, wine, curry or beer, but over how the country should be run?
Scott Morrison says there is no evidence LGBT students have been expelled from religious schools on the basis of their sexuality.

Amid renewed debate over the government's religious discrimination bill, a signature policy the coalition took to the last election but failed to implement, the prime minister did not commit to an exact timeline for amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act.

Mr Morrison said the sex discrimination amendments preventing LGBT students being expelled on the basis of their sexuality would be addressed sequentially, after the religious bill was dealt with, but did not say how soon after.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there is 'no evidence' LGBTQ students have been expelled from religious schools

Five government MPs crossed the floor on the matter when the bill was debated earlier this year to protect LGBT students.

However, the prime minister said he had not seen reports of LGBT students being expelled.

'We've been having this conversation for about the last four years, and on each occasion, it has been presented that apparently students are being expelled ... there is no evidence of that at all, there's none,' he told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday.

'The point is it doesn't happen ... religious schools themselves don't wish to do that.'

New religious discrimination laws have been a topic of hot debate over fears LGBTQ students could be punished in religious institutions

However, he said, religious people were being discriminated against every day.

The prime minister said he had been disappointed 'politics were played' with the bill, despite his own MPs crossing the floor on the issue.

Mr Morrison earlier said the religious discrimination laws would be a priority for a re-elected coalition.

However, frontbencher Sussan Ley refused to comment on how the government would handle the bill.

'I'm not focused on what happens after the election,' she said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there was no evidence LGBTQ students were being expelled from religious schools but that religious people are discriminated against every day

'Right now, we're not painting a picture of what we might do in government after the election.'

Mr Morrison denied the government was hiding its agenda from voters ahead of the May 21 poll.

'Over the course of this election, we've been setting our policies each and every day,' he said.

The prime minister said the government's stance on the religious discrimination laws remained the same, despite it not being legislated in the last parliamentary term.

Mr Morrison will spend the rest of Sunday at a campaign rally in Melbourne alongside other Victorian MPs including Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

The treasurer is under threat of losing his blue-ribbon seat of Kooyong to independent Monique Ryan.
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Furious pro-choice protesters screamed 'you don't care if people die' while picketing the house of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

Dozens of demonstrators on Saturday gathered in the rain in DC and marched towards the homes of conservative Justices Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh in response to the leaked Supreme Court draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Images of coat hangers were chalked on the street outside the justices' homes, an apparent attempt to reinforce the pro-choice argument that overturning Roe v. Wade will not put an end to abortion, but instead will end safe abortions.

'Keep abortion safe and legal,' the pro-abortion protesters chanted while they stood in the streets holding candles and signs.

Others shouted: 'Your life is a lie!' and 'We will not go back!'

Cops stood guard outside the justices' homes and, after what appeared to be a clash with demonstrators, ordered the activists to leave. At least one officer threatened to arrest and charge the protesters for violating Maryland law.

The Supreme Court draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito and published by POLITICO, was leaked on Monday. The document revealed the court has voted to strike down the landmark 1973 ruling Rove v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States.

Protestors across the nation started assembling just hours after the opinion was leaked. Pro-choice rallies, spearheaded by organizations like Planned Parenthood, are slated to continue the upcoming week and weekend.

Liberal group ShutDown DC already has plans to host a 'Vigil for Abortion Rights' outside Alito's house on Monday.

Scroll Down For Video:

Furious pro-choice protesters screamed 'you don't care if people die' while picketing the house of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday

Protesters gathered outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house, screaming: 'We will not go back!'

Images of coat hangers were chalked on the street outside the justices' homes, an apparent attempt to reinforce the pro-choice argument that overturning Roe v. Wade will not put an end to abortion, but instead will end safe abortions

Protesters in DC hold signs arguing in favor of Roe v. Wade

Alito's draft does not necessarily represent the sentiments of other justices who did not pen the opinion, but it's been suggested that the court's 6-3 conservative supermajority, which include Justices Roberts and Kavanaugh, will likely deliver on the historic reversal.

Protestors carrying signs that read 'An abortion saved my family' and 'Abortion is Healthcare, Healthcare is a right' first arrived at Justice Roberts' home where protestors drew multiple chalk outlines coat hangers, a famous symbol of illegal abortions.

Protestors chanted 'Keep abortion safe and legal!' and 'Pro-life is a lie! You don't care if people die!'

Then as the sun went down the pro-choice advocates lit candles and marched to Justice Kavanaugh's home where they packed the streets slowing down traffic and were captured shouting multiple chants angrily.

A woman holds a pro-abortion sign while posing for a photo next to a chalked coat hanger

An officer clashes with a protester, alleging the demonstrators are violating Maryland law and could face charges

Law enforcement arrives to confront the demonstrators

Later on more protesters appeared to arrive and were heard loudly chanting: 'We will not go back!'

At one point, an officer was seen explaining to protestors that they would have to clear the area before cop cars showed up and protestors eventually dispersed, calling it a night.

The protests came after the White House said it encourages 'peaceful protests,' would not tell abortion activists to avoid the justices' homes.

The energy is markedly more negative outside Kavanaughs house. The anger has become much more palpable than outside any other justices house. pic.twitter.com/zY2OY34hcA  Douglas Blair (@DouglasKBlair) May 8, 2022

Protestors arguing with cops. They say arrests might start happening soon. pic.twitter.com/lUPHUMwdZ7  Douglas Blair (@DouglasKBlair) May 8, 2022

The scene in front of Chief Justice John Roberts house pic.twitter.com/vJVxxFoMNO  Douglas Blair (@DouglasKBlair) May 7, 2022

Police keep coming and coming. We are wery wery scary. #BansOffOurBodies pic.twitter.com/nhv7ZrAc2i  FederalFelonMouse (she/her) (@LiteraryMouse) May 8, 2022

'The president, for all those women, men, others who feel outraged, who feel scared, who feel concerned, he hears them, he shares that concern and that horror that he saw in that draft opinion,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.

She said President Joe Biden's message to those angered by the draft is to 'participate in peaceful protest'.

'Ensure it's peaceful. Have your voice heard peacefully. We should not be resorting to violence in any way, shape or form,' Psaki added.

Demonstrators in support of reproductive rights protest outside of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland

Pro-abortion protestors gathered outside the homes of Justices Kavanaugh and Roberts, holding up signs and chanting 'Keep abortion safe and legal' before cops arrived and forced them to leave

On Saturday dozens of pro-abortion protestors gathered in the rain in DC and marched towards the homes of conservative Justices Kavanaugh and Roberts

Protestors chanted 'Keep abortion safe and legal!' and 'Pro-life is a lie! You don't care if people die!' outside of Supreme Court Justice John Robert's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland

Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, who has a history of clashing with Psaki, questioned an earlier statement from Joe Biden, alleging the 'MAGA crowd' was the 'most extreme political organization' in recent history.

'Do you think the progressive activists that are now planning protests outside some of the justices' houses are extreme?' he asked the press secretary.

'Peaceful protest, no. Peaceful protest is not extreme,' Psaki answered. 'We certainly encourage people to keep it peaceful and not resort to any level of violence.'

'The president's view is that there's a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness, from many, many people across this country about what they saw in that leaked document.'

When further pressed about the planned residential protests, Psaki declined to discourage the demonstrations.

'I don't have an official U.S. government position on where people protest,' she said. 'We want it of course to be peaceful, and certainly the president would want to people's privacy to be respected. But I think we shouldn't lose the point here.

'The reason people are protesting is because women across the country are worried about their fundamental rights that have been law for 50 years, their rights to make choices about their own bodies and their own health care, are at risk. That's why people are protesting - they're unhappy, they're scared.'

In Maryland, where the protesters assembled on Saturday, it is a violation of state law to picket 'before or about residences and dwelling places' if the demonstration 'causes emotional disturbance and distress to the occupants,' according to state code.

A cop who responded to the scene also warned picketers they could face charges for violating a separate picketing law that protects judicial and government officers.

It is unclear if any protesters were arrested Saturday as officials did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

Abortion-rights protesters hold signs during demonstration outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday

Anti-abortion protesters hold a demonstration across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday

Members of the Boston Red Cloaks gather near the Park street train station on Saturday as they protest the possible overturning of Roe vs. Wade. The organization is one of several that has called for nationwide protests on May 14

Demonstrators in support of reproductive rights march to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland on Saturday

Saturday's protests seem to just be the start as liberal group ShutDown DC already plans to host a 'Vigil for Abortion Rights' outside of Alito's house on May 9.

'Justice Alito thinks he can take away our rights. But our rights are fundamentally ours. We're showing up to tell him in person,' the group said.

'The evening of Monday, May 9, we will hold a vigil for all these rights that Alito is threatening to take away. Because it's been impossible to reach him at the Supreme Court (especially now with the enormous fences), we will do it at his home,' the event description said.

'At 7:30 pm we will gather at a nearby location and walk together to his house. At the foot of his driveway, on the public street, we will light candles and speakers will share their testimony. We will hold a moment of silence for the rights we know are ours, then walk back together to the meeting location.'

In Alito's leaked document, conservative Justice Alito wrote that Roe v Wade - the 1973 Supreme Court ruling which found that excessive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional - was 'egregiously wrong from the start' and 'must be overruled'.

Alito, who was nominated to the court in 2006 by George W Bush, argues that Roe's 'reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. Far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.'

But there were few signs that the new ruling will do anything to heal those divisions, with protesters gathering outside the court in Washington DC last night.

If the ruling is overturned by the conservative-dominated court - with Republicans having a 6 - 3 majority - it would give individual states the power to decide on whether to ban abortion. The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group, has said that 26 states are 'certain or likely' to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Then as the sun went down protestors lit candles and marched to Justice Kavanaugh's home where they packed the streets slowing down traffic and were captured shouting multiple chants angrily

Protesters outside Kavanaugh's home arrived and were heard loudly chanting: 'We will not go back!'

Liberal group ShutDown DC already has plans to host a 'Vigil for Abortion Rights' outside of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's house on May 9

Abortion rights have been under threat in recent months as Republican-led states move to tighten rules - with some seeking to ban all abortions after six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant.

These include Arizona, where the Republican Governor in March signed a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy; and Idaho where the governor signed a six-week abortion ban that allows family members of the fetus to sue providers who perform abortions past that point, similar to a Texas law enacted last year.

As it stands in the US, abortion can take place until about 24 weeks into pregnancy - but the exact period varies between states. For example, Texas bans abortion after about six weeks but Florida has a 15-week abortion ban.

Just hours after the stunning leak of draft opinion emerged, hundreds of pro-choice and anti-abortion activists gathered in front of the US Supreme Court on Monday night.

Squaring off on either side of the white marble building a stone's throw from the Capitol, the pro-choice and anti-abortion groups railed at each other.

'Roe v. Wade is going to go,' anti-abortion protesters taunted, while the pro-choice crowd yelled: 'My body, my choice.'

The two groups chanted and waved placards in the plaza in front of the steps to the Supreme Court, with barriers and a few uniformed police officers barring access to the colonnaded building.

Saturday's demonstration was not the first time Kavanaugh was targeted at his home because of his stance on abortion. Demonstrators are pictured outside his house on Sept. 13, 2021

Protestors held up a sign that read 'repro freedom for all!' in front of Justice Kavanaugh's home in Maryland on Sept. 13, 2021

Dozens of protestors marched outside Justice Kavanaugh's home in September 2021

Saturday's demonstration was not the first time Kavanaugh was targeted at his home because of his stance on abortion.

Dozens of left-wing protestors gathered in front of his house in September 2021 to protest his decision to reject a challenge to Texas' controversial abortion law.

Dubbed by president Biden as an 'unprecedented assault on a womans constitutional rights under Roe v. Wade' five conservative justices, including Kavanaugh, backed the law known as the 'Texas Heartbeat Act' that bans abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is normally after six weeks and before many women even know they are pregnant.

The law makes no exceptions for rape or incest and allows Texans to report people, including Uber drivers, who help or take women to get abortions. The only exemption is if there is a danger to the woman's health.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese has unleashed a phenomenal spray at Scott Morrison just hours before the pair face off in a vital head to head TV debate.

Mr Albanese also said he doesn't care if John Howard tells everyone to vote Liberal, because the former prime minister 'would not recognise the rabble' his party has become.

Mr Howard, Australia's second-longest-serving PM from 1996 to 2007, called Mr Albanese a 'left wing inner-city bomb thrower' in a withering assessment of his leadership.

He was 'amazed' the inner-west MP made it to Labor leader as he was a 'blank piece of paper on policy' who was not up to the job of running Australia.

Asked on Sunday morning for his view on Mr Howard's comments, the Labor leader said he was 'respectfully untroubled by John Howard saying vote Liberal'.

Mr Albanese then said it was more 'amazing' to him that former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull 'can't say that people should vote Liberal, can't say that he will vote Liberal at this election'.

Anthony Albanese is pictured speaking to the media in Sydney on Sunday, May 8, 2022

'That's what's remarkable. Scott Morrison was Malcolm Turnbull's treasurer,' he said.

Mr Albanese, who earlier in the election campaign could not recall Australia's interest rare or unemployment figure, had no trouble listing Mr Morrison's Coalition colleagues who supposedly don't trust him.

He named Mr Turnbull, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, former NSW Premier Gladys Berejikilan and the retiring Human Services Minister Michael Keenan.

'They all say, the more you know (Mr Morrison), the less trustworthy he's regarded. That is what they all say,' he said.

Mr Albanese then said Mr Howard 'would not recognise the rabble that is the Liberal Party under Scott Morrison'.

'A rabble whereby you have a Liberal Prime Minister who can't visit Liberal heartland, like... North Sydney, or Warringah, or Mackellar, or Wentworth or other seats,' he said.

Mr Albanese then mentioned that Mr Howard had the late Nationals leader Tim Fischer as his deputy.

'Tim Fischer was a great Australian. I admire him so much. Scott Morrison has Barnaby Joyce,' he said.

'Not once, but Barnaby Joyce the sequel is even worse than the horror show we saw in the beginning.

Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny, daughters Lily and Abbey and his mother Marion at a Liberal Party rally in Melbourne on Sunday

Marion, Lily and Abbey at the rally

Former Prime Minister John Howard (pictured) addresses the media at a press conference in Brisbane on Thursday, April 28, 2022

'The rabble that the Coalition has become is a hindrance. Even if the Liberal Party did want to do the right thing, and they don't, that's holding them back.'

Mr Albanese then addressed comments made by Queensland LNP Senator Matt Canavan earlier on Sunday morning, calling them 'extraordinary'.

He said Mr Canavan was 'going out there and campaigning essentially against the Coalition government, again saying climate change action is nonsense, net zero is dead, saying all of those things.

'That would never have happened under John Howard, because John Howard led his party in a way that Scott Morrison never has and never will.'

Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese will debate each other on Sunday night from 8.45 on Channel Nine.
A Coalition candidate in the upcoming federal election has been has been referred to federal police over concerns of possible electoral fraud.

Vivian Lobo is contesting the north Brisbane seat of Lilley, the most narrowly Labor held seat in Queensland with Anika Wells securing a margin of just 0.6 per cent at the last election.

The Australian Electoral Commission reviewed Mr Lobo's enrolment and candidate nomination forms over concerns he was not living at his specified address.

Vivian Lobo (pictured) is running for the seat of Lilley in Queensland currently narrowly held by Labor's Anika Wells

Mr Lobo had put his address as a home in Everton Park, which is in the electorate of Lilley.

On Friday, the lawn was freshly cut and sheets were hung in the windows of the house but there was no furniture or household items inside.

The AEC confirmed on Sunday it had referred the matter to the AFP.

'There is concern as to whether the information provided by him regarding his residential address on these forms is false,' it said.

Mr Lobo said he would co-operate with the investigation.

'I enrolled in the electorate as I had signed a lease in Everton Park with the intention to move in straight away,' Mr Lobo said.

'However due to my campaign commitments and difficulty with getting tradespeople to the home, I was delayed moving in.'

Mr Lobo (pictured with his partner) said he had not yet moved into the address because of commitments to his election campaign

The coalition campaign has not said whether it will continue supporting Mr Lobo in Lilley.

living outside a nominated electorate is not illegal, but proving false information to the AEC could constitute electoral fraud.

He is the second coalition candidate to be referred to the AFP for investigation in recent days.

Isaacs candidate Robbie Beaton was referred on Thursday after he told a newspaper he did not live at the Melbourne property where he was enrolled.

Queensland Labor Senator Murray Watt said Prime Minister Scott Morrison needed to explain whether Mr Lobo would be stood down during the investigation.

'This is an extremely serious allegation to emerge in relation to a candidate in an election campaign,' he said.

Not standing Mr Lobo down would be another blow to 'a government whose integrity is already in tatters' and that failed to deliver on a federal anti-corruption commission it promised at the last election, he added.

The AEC said they had referred the matter to police after their own investigation

'This government has a terrible record when it comes to integrity. They've had rort after rort,' he said

Candidate nominations will remain as formally declared in April.

'Ballot papers have been printed and distributed across the country for early voting to begin on Monday and many postal voters have already received their postal voting packs,' the AEC said.

The seat of Lilley was previously held by formerly treasurer Wayne Swan from the 1990s until he retired in 2019.
A dog training business was flooded with bad reviews because the owner went into a coma and missed some classes - until friends and staff rallied to help.

Aline Sinclair, who runs Dogiology obedience school in Brisbane, went to hospital for four days for an elective surgery procedure in March.

But complications in the operation led to her being moved to the ICU and placed in an induced coma, resulting in some of her pre-paid group classes being postponed.

Some of those classes have resumed thanks to volunteers and staff with Ms Sinclair, in her 50s, still in hospital.

But the extraordinary situation did not stop some clients from venting frustrations over the cancelled sessions by posting bad reviews on the business's online listings.

Ms Sinclair (pictured) was placed into an induced coma and had to miss some of her dog training classes

'Whilst Aline lies in a coma, the team of volunteers have been busy trying to protect her business from unwarranted harassment,' staff wrote to the business's Facebook page on April 21.

Dogiology workers, who are part-time trainers with other jobs, said they didn't have access to every client's phone and email because the business 'was Aline's baby' and so postponed some classes.

They described Ms Sinclair as 'selfless' and 'generous'

'Aline's passion for helping dogs and families has always been at the heart of everything we do,' they said.

But they said they had to turn reviews off after some people persisted in leaving negative comments.

One man warned potential customers not to pay up-front.

'The owner claims to be sick. At this point I don't even believe it, they lie continuously, take your money then block you so they don't have to pay,' he wrote.

Staff and friends have rallied around to fundraise for Ms Sinclair's medical bills and to look after her 12 pet dogs (pictured) but some clients have demanded prompt refunds

Another woman complained her messages had been 'mostly ignored' after she heard of the owner's situation and demanded a refund.

She also complained a MyCause fundraiser to help cover Ms Sinclair hospital bills and care costs for her 12 pet dogs wasn't being used to refund customers.

'The rest of the Dogiology team are publicly fundraising money for the owner via their social media channels,' she wrote.

'But for some reason everyone involved in the business claims to be unable to refund any money to those of us who are out of pocket due to the terrible situation, but ultimately one that we are not responsible for.'

Staff said they were doing what they could to save Ms Sinclair's business.

'While Aline fights, so do we for her to wake and have a business to come home to. Her recovery is going to be long and knowing how much she is appreciated will start that healing process,' they said.

Ms Sinclair has woken from the coma but is very weak and her recovery will be lengthy (pictured)

Other clients also rallied to Ms Sinclair's defence saying they were shocked by the response of some people.

'This isn't a huge corporate business, it's a small business and with the owner in a coma. Some people have no compassion,' one client wrote.

'Absolutely appalled with the lack of compassion and empathy... The Dogiology team have been completely transparent and professional,' another wrote.

Ms Sinclair's staff said on May 1 she woke from the coma and was slowly recovering but did not yet have the strength to move or speak.

'As any of us would be, she's tired and frustrated as her body can't yet do what she wants,' they said.

'It's a lot of go slow and be patient... and eye rolls in true Aline fashion. We are grateful for the strength and compassion that surrounds us.'
By Kim Ae-ran





More than ever, now is the time we need significant consolation. This is because, no matter how hard we try, there are limiting situations that cannot be overcome by our strength. Among them, the flow of the ecosystem and nature present us with very limiting situations.



Really, we need consolation and hope. However, where can we get consolation? Churches that have spontaneously offered us strength, comfort, hope, love and salvation are emptying out day by day.



Compared to Europe, Korea is a bit better off, but more than half of the registered Catholics here are apathetic and non-practicing. Where are they going? Why are religious congregations and orders shrinking?



Through various renewal movements such as "Laudato si'" and "Sinodalitas," the Catholic Church is working hard to improve challenging limit situations, but fundamental and existential questions are still being raised.



What do you do when you are lonely, when you are sad, when you are afraid, when you are sick, when you are hurt, when you feel you are being ignored, when you feel self-pity, when everything seems to go wrong, when you are angry with yourself, when you cannot forgive yourself, when you judge yourself, when you cannot get out of your own mind, when you are stuck in the past, when you feel you are not getting any attention, when you are sensitive, when everything is grey, when an unpleasant feeling does not go away, when you feel that someone is plotting against you?



"Die kleine Trostapotheke. Weisheit fur unfreundliche Tage" (English title: "The Little Consolation Pharmacy. Wisdom for Unkind Days") written by both Anselm Grun and Ansgar Stufe gives us 18 uncomfortable difficulties and eighteen prescriptions with comforting medicines that lead us to discover our own spiritual strength to cope with limiting situations.



Like an inspiring duet, Anselm Grun gives us the healing power and psychological perspective of the related Bible passages, and Ansgar Stufe, who worked for 16 years at a missionary hospital in Tanzania, shares his rich experience as a physician and a Saint Benedictine monk.



The two authors as pharmacists hope that their stories will touch our hearts, heal our souls, comfort us in all our pain and difficulties, lift us up and thus find consolation.



Anselm Grun examines and embraces the psychological situations of people, focusing on the healing power of the Bible. And Ansgar Stufe focuses on his rich experience as a doctor and a religious monk, prescribing necessary spiritual medicines.



Containing 18 painful hardships and 18 comforting medicines, the book gives us spiritual prescriptions with four steps.



First, it invites us to accept and talk about the difficulties we face psychologically and mentally, such as loneliness, sadness, anxiety, sickness, hurt, neglect, self-pity, anger and obsession.



Second, the experiences of the two authors invite us to have a conversation within various situations.



Third, the words of consolation and the Bible passages empower us to cope with difficult situations.



Fourth, similar but different prescriptions for each subject hand over the opened prescription so that we can choose our own prescription and overcome the reality with our spiritual strength.



"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves." (Matthew 11:28-29)





The author is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul (fsp.pauline.or.kr.) living and giving the Good News to the world by means of social communication.






Beijing loyalists have anointed an ex-security chief who oversaw the crackdown on Hong Kong's democracy movement as the region's new leader.

John Lee, 64, was the only candidate in the Beijing-backed race to succeed outgoing leader Carrie Lam.

The elevation of Lee, who is currently subject to US sanctions, places a security official in the top job for the first time amid a tumultuous few years for a city battered by political unrest and debilitating pandemic controls.

Despite the city's mini-constitution promising universal suffrage, Hong Kong has never been a democracy, the source of years of public frustration and protests since the 1997 handover to China.

Its leader is instead chosen by an 'election committee' currently comprised of 1,461 people - roughly 0.02 percent of the city's population.

After a brief secret ballot on Sunday, 99 percent of those who cast ballots (1,416 members) voted for Lee while only eight voted against, according to officials.

Former security chief John Lee was the only candidate in the Beijing-backed race, with 99 per cent of those who cast ballots voting for him

John Lee ( centre left), the former number two official in Hong Kong and the only candidate for the city's top job, celebrates with his wife (centre right) after declaring victory in the chief executive election

Lee and his wife Janet wave to the crowd after he was declared the business hub's new leader earlier today

Lee waves to the crowd after declaring victory to secure the city's top job - amid a tumultuous few years for a city battered by political unrest

Lee speaking at an event in Hong Kong before the city on Friday, two days prior to his election victory

Beijing hailed the near-unanimous result, saying it showed 'Hong Kong society has a high level of recognition and approval' for Lee.

'This is a real demonstration of democratic spirit', the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said.

European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell countered that the selection process was a 'violation of democratic principles and political pluralism'.

Borrell described Sunday's result as 'yet another step in the dismantling of the "one country, two systems" principle' in which Beijing had promised Hong Kong could maintain key freedoms and autonomy.

Under President Xi Jinping, China is remoulding Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image after huge and sometimes violent democracy protests three years ago.

Beijing deployed a sweeping national security law to stamp out dissent and rolled out a new 'patriots only' political vetting system to guarantee anyone standing for office is considered suitably loyal.

Protests have been largely outlawed, with authorities enforcing an anti-coronavirus ban on public gatherings of more than four people as well as the security law

Protests have been largely outlawed, with authorities enforcing an anti-coronavirus ban on public gatherings of more than four people as well as the security law.

The League of Social Democrats - one of the only remaining pro-democracy groups - held a three-person protest before polls opened Sunday, chanting 'Power to the people, universal suffrage now'.

'We know this action will have no effect, but we don't want Hong Kong to be completely silent', protester Vanessa Chan said as dozens of police officers looked on.

While the democracy movement has been crushed, much of the population still resents Beijing's rule and chafes at the city's entrenched inequality.

Hong Kong also faces economic difficulties thanks to two years of strict pandemic curbs that have damaged its business hub reputation and left residents cut off as rivals reopen.

Lee was asked by reporters on Sunday whether he lacked a genuine mandate.

'I do understand there will be time that is needed for me to convince the people', he replied.

'But I can do that by action.'

He said he planned to build a Hong Kong that is 'full of hope, opportunities and harmony' now that authorities had 'restored order from chaos'.

So far, his campaign has been light on concrete policy details - particularly how he plans to reopen Hong Kong to both international and mainland travel at a time when China is doubling down on its strict zero-Covid strategy.

Outgoing Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam is on track to leave office with the worst approval rating in city history

Hong Kong's chief executives find themselves caught between the democratic aspirations of the city's residents and the authoritarian demands of Beijing's leaders.

Outgoing leader Carrie Lam is on track to leave office with record-low approval ratings.

According to a survey in March by the Public Opinion Research Institute, about 24 percent of the public has confidence in Lee, compared with 12 percent for Lam.

Waiting in a line outside a restaurant on Sunday, 25-year-old resident Alex Tam said he and his friends were paying little attention to proceedings.

'It's just an empty gesture', he said.

'If he didn't listen to the protesters, I don't see how he would listen to young people now, especially those who criticise the government.'

Retired businessman Yeung Wing-shun was more positive, saying he hoped Lee would guide Hong Kong with a 'firm hand', adding that he believed the new leader could bring different sectors together.

Lee will take office on July 1, the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China from Britain and the halfway point of "One Country, Two Systems".

Beijing and Lee say that formula is still intact.

Critics, including many Western powers, say it has been shredded.
Pronged dog collars are set to be banned in Queensland under new legislation put forward by the state government.

The proposed ban was announced by premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on social media on Sunday.

It will be put forward in parliament next week as part of a series of amendments to the state's Animal Care and Protection Act to crack down on animal cruelty.

Pronged dog collars are set to be banned in Queensland under new legislation put forward by the state government. (Pictured: A pronged collar around a dog's neck)

'Were passing legislation to crack down on the inhumane treatment of animals in Queensland,' the premier wrote in her post.

'We know the majority of Queenslanders support tougher penalties and regulations against cruelty to animals.'

'Thats why this week well be debating animal welfare laws in the Queensland Parliament - an issue close to the hearts of so many Queenslanders,' she added.

Agriculture minister Mark Furner clarified further details about the ban during a press conference later in the day.

The ban was announced by premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) on social media on Sunday

The metal collars inflict pain on dogs as a form of 'punishment' by tightening around their necks when pressure is applied. The blunted prongs pinch the dog's neck

'Today we're talking about changes to the use and possession of pronged collars on dogs, so they'll be banned,' Furner said.

'A very inhumane practice in the way you can train dogs,' he continued.

The metal collars inflict pain on dogs as a form of 'punishment' by tightening around their necks when pressure is applied.

The individual holding the leash is able to pull the collar, with the blunted prongs pinching the animal's neck.

Animal welfare groups, such as the RSPCA, have been staunch advocates against the legality of the collars.

Agriculture minister Mark Furner (pictured) clarified further details about the ban during a press conference. He announced the state government will be banning the use of yellow phosphorus as feral pig poison as well as the practice of cauterising horse legs

Minister Furner also announced the state government will be banning the use of yellow phosphorus as feral pig poison as well as the practice of cauterising horse legs.

The government will be giving animal inspectors more powers as well, with the possibility they'll be able to issue on-the-spot fines in circumstances involving animal cruelty.

More amendments are expected to be announced over the week.

The changes come after the Queensland government announced in December 2020 it would be conducting an extensive review into its animal welfare laws.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge reportedly want to be known by their first names and not titles after the blunderous tour of the Caribbean.

Prince William and Kate Middleton want to modernise the Royal Family after their Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas trip which was hit by public relations gaffes and protests.

This would include getting rid of bows and curtsies along with their formal titles so they would be known as simply Kate and William.

A royal source told the Mirror that a big factor has been the eight day trip which was branded 'tone deaf' to modern sensibilities.

They said: 'They want to be more approachable, less formal, less stuffy and break away with a lot of the tradition.'

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Land Rover parade during their Caribbean tour was much criticised as it was thought to echo colonialism

The source said: 'The general consensus was that the tour seemed out of date, out of touch, too formal and stuffy.

'So now it's more "Wills and Kate" instead of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge... "Just call me Wills" type of thing.

'They want to try to avoid the bows and curtsies in public, be more approachable, less formal, less stuffy, and break away with a lot of the tradition and focus on a modern monarchy.'

Royal sources also said he is 'determined' to update the institution after struggling to 'move on' from the bad press and will complete a root-and-branch review.

The news comes as the Queen moves ahead with slimming down the Monarchy and the Palace announced that only senior Royals, which do not include Prince Harry and Meghan and Prince Andrew, will be on the palace balcony for the showpiece Platinum Jubilee celebration.

A palace spokesman said: 'The Queen has decided this year's traditional Trooping the Colour balcony appearance on Thursday June 2 will be limited to Her Majesty and those members of the royal family who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of the Queen'.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex said they would attend regardless with their children for the Jubilee next month - in a bombshell announcement made just minutes after the palace's own statement.

The couple want it to be more 'Wills and Kate' and less Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after trip to Caribbean (pictured the couple's fans in Grand Bahama)

The future of the monarchy and the Commonwealth came under scrutiny after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's tour of the Caribbean where they faced intense backlash during the eight-day long tour around Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas.

It has been reported that the Duke of Cambridge had 'abrupt' talks with aides about the 'haphazard planning' of the tour.

The Mirror also claimed both William and Kate personally interviewed two 'star' people to lead a 'new-look communications team'.

The candidates, described as a man and a woman, in their 30s and both former civil servants, have since been rejected due to 'not being anywhere close to up to it'.

One source said: 'It is pretty clear that the Cambridge's need a drastic rethink. They are asking themselves whether there is enough diversity in their team  and they already know the answers.'

The modernisation move would include getting rid of bows and curtsies along with their formal titles so they would be known as simple Kate and William (the pair pictured during a visit the London headquarters of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to learn about the ongoing support for people affected by the conflict in Ukraine in April)

Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu branded the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's trip to the Queen's island realms as an 'embarrassment to the British monarchy'.

'Quite frankly these royal tours that we've seen to date are an embarrassment to the British monarchy.

'However if the royal tour was one that speaks to what many of these Afro-Caribbean nations are seeking to address, which is truth, reconciliation and justice, then you need to get on board those tours and make them work.

'If the purpose of the trip is what we've seen which is basically a continuation of representing the legacy of the British Empire, then absolutely yes these tours should just end.'

William and Kate were accused of harking back to colonial days in Jamaica in March after the pair shook hands with crowds behind a wire mesh fence and rode in the back of a Land Rover, just like the Queen did 60 years ago.

Demonstrators accused them of benefiting from the 'blood, tears and sweat' of slaves, while in the Bahamas they were urged to acknowledge the British economy was 'built on the backs' of past Bahamians and to pay reparations.

During the visit Prince William expressed 'profound sorrow' over 'abhorrent' slavery.
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A Russian school bombing killed 60 people in Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday.

Around 90 people were using the Belogorovskaya school basement in the village of Bilohorivka as a bomb shelter when the site suffered a direct hit on Saturday evening, officials said earlier today.

Confirming what many had feared, Zelensky said that 60 people had been killed in the attack.

'Just yesterday in the village of Bilogorivka, Lugansk region, a Russian bomb killed 60 people. Civilians,' the Ukrainian leader said during an address to the G7 summit by video conference.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai confirmed the attack via the Telegram messaging app on Sunday morning. At the time, Mr Haidai said emergency crews had found two bodies and rescued 30.

'Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead,' governor Serhiy Haidai wrote. Russian shelling also killed two boys, aged 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted today: 'Horrified by Russia's latest attack on a school in Luhansk, resulting in the deaths of innocent people sheltering from Russian bombardment.' She said the deliberate targeting of civilians and infrastructure 'amounts to war crimes' and 'we will ensure Putin's regime is held accountable'.

Footage and images of the school show the extent of the destruction, with large sections of the building reduced to rubble and a team of firefighters drafted in to combat the resulting blaze.

Rescuers managed to pull thirty people out of the ruins last night, Haidai said, but up to sixty more remain trapped in the basement and are thought to have been killed.

'The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the rubble was cleared, and unfortunately the bodies of two people were found,' Haidai wrote. Rescuers continued to work from the early hours, attempting to clear the remaining rubble and free any remaining survivors.

Separately, Haidai said that according to preliminary information, shelling in the village of Shypilovo destroyed a house and 11 people remained under the building's debris.

There was no immediate response from Russian authorities.

The latest devastation in Luhansk comes just one week after the Lysychansk Multidisciplinary Gymnasium, a prestigious Ukrainian school built in the 19th century, was completely destroyed in another attack.

Footage from the incident shows the shell of the historic structure crumbling as flames raged throughout its corridors and hallways.

'After the victory of Ukraine, we will make every effort to restore the gymnasium,' Haidai said last week, while former graduate Yana Goncharenko told Ukrainskaya Pravda: 'It was created more than 100 years ago by the Belgians. It was among the top 100 schools in the country. It survived two world wars and the battle for the city in 2014, but animals without morals burned it down in 2022.'

Truss tweeted today: 'Horrified by Russia's latest attack on a school in Luhansk, resulting in the deaths of innocent people sheltering from Russian bombardment.' She said the deliberate targeting of civilians and infrastructure 'amounts to war crimes' and 'we will ensure Putin's regime is held accountable'

Burning debris is seen, after a school building was hit as a result of shelling, in the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk, Ukraine, May 7, 2022

Only parts of the building remained standing after it suffered a direct hit from a Russian airstrike yesterday

Emergency crew stands amid the burning debris of Belogorovskaya school in the Luhansk region. Sixty people are believed to be trapped under the rubble and are feared dead

Rescuers managed to pull thirty people out of the ruins last night, Haidai said, but up to sixty more remain trapped in the basement and are believed to be dead. 'The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the rubble was cleared, and unfortunately the bodies of two people were found,' Haidai wrote

Emergency crew tend to a fire near a burning debris, after a school building was hit as a result of shelling, in the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk, Ukraine, in the early hours of May 8, 2022

The brutal airstrikes on civilian shelters and residential areas came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it would help investigations into Russian war crimes by documenting instances of targeted attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities.

WHO Emergencies Director Mike Ryan told a news conference yesterday that organisation has already documented 200 separate attacks on hospitals and clinics in Ukraine since the conflict began on February 24.

He confirmed the WHO would pass on the evidence to investigators, as WHO director general Tedros Ghebreyesus expressed his support for Ukraine from Kyiv on Saturday.

'My message to all the people of Ukraine is this,' he said, speaking from the government media center in the capital. 'WHO stands by you.'

Elsewhere, Russian forces kept up their barrage of southern Ukraine, hitting the major Black Sea port of Odesa with cruise missiles and bombarding the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters remained trapped underground.

Moscow was aiming to complete its conquest of Mariupol in time for Victory Day celebrations on Monday, but Putin's forces continue to face dogged resistance from defenders within the bunkers beneath the factory.

All civilians have now been evacuated from the besieged steel plant but hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers are still holding out against the Russian onslaught.

Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv.

Ukraine's military said retreating Russian forces destroyed three bridges on a road northeast of the city to try to slow the Ukrainian advance.

The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition that has killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed large swaths of some cities.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, when Russia celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

People clean an area after Russian airstrike in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 7, 2022

Smoke rises over Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, 07 May 2022, amid further Russian airstrikes

Civilians gather near buses carrying people, who were evacuated from Mariupol in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict, in the village of Bezimenne in the Donetsk region, Ukraine May 7, 2022

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his people 'embody the spirit of those who prevailed during the Second World War.'

He accused Putin of trying 'to twist history to attempt to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine.'

'As war again rages in Europe, we must increase our resolve to resist those who now seek to manipulate historical memory in order to advance their own ambitions,' Blinken said in a statement as the United States and United Kingdom commemorate the Allied victory in Europe.

The most intense fighting in recent days has been in eastern Ukraine, where the two sides are entrenched in a fierce battle to capture or reclaim territory. Moscow's offensive there has focused on the Donbas, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014.

In neighboring Moldova, Russian and separatists troops are on 'full alert,' the Ukrainian military warned Sunday. The region has increasingly become a focus of worries that the conflict could expand beyond Ukraine's borders.

Pro-Russian forces broke off the Transnistria section of Moldova in 1992, and Russian troops have been stationed there since, ostensibly as peacekeepers.

Those forces are on 'full combat readiness,' Ukraine said, without giving details on how it came to the assessment.

Moscow has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the sea and create a corridor to Transnistria. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.

On Saturday, six Russian cruise missiles fired from aircraft hit Odesa, where a curfew is in place until Tuesday morning. Videos posted on social media showed thick black smoke rising over the Black Sea port city as sirens wailed.

The Odesa city council said four of the missiles hit a furniture company, with the shock waves and debris badly damaging high-rise apartment buildings. The other two missiles hit the Odesa airport, where the runway had already been taken out in a previous Russian attack.

Air raid sirens sounded several times early Sunday, the city council said.

Meanwhile in Mariupol, Ukrainian fighters made a final stand against a complete Russian takeover of the strategically important city, which would give Moscow a land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, annexed from Ukraine during a 2014 invasion.

Satellite photos shot Friday by Planet Labs PBC showed vast devastation at the sprawling Azovstal seaside steel mill, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the city. Buildings had gaping holes in the roofs, including one under which hundreds of fighters were likely hiding.

A woman walks past a building damaged by a missile strike, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine, May 7, 2022

View shows damage inside a building after a missile strike, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine, May 7, 2022

A plume of black smoke billows after explosions, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine May 7, 2022

After rescuers evacuated the last civilians Saturday, Zelensky said in his nightly address that the focus would turn to extracting the wounded and medics: 'Of course, if everyone fulfills the agreements. Of course, if there are no lies.'

He added that work would also continue Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The situation at the plant has drawn the worlds attention, with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross desperately trying to organize evacuations.

But Russian forces have intensified fire on the mill with mortars, artillery, truck-mounted rocket systems, aerial bombardment and shelling from the sea, making evacuation operations difficult.

Three Ukrainian fighters were reportedly killed and six more wounded during an evacuation attempt Friday. Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, said his troops had waved white flags, and he accused Russian forces of firing an anti-tank weapon at a vehicle.

It remains unclear what will happen to the estimated 2,000 fighters at Azovstal, both those still in combat and the hundreds believed to be wounded. In recent days the Ukrainian government has been reaching out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for them. The fighters have repeatedly vowed not to surrender.

Zelensky said officials were trying to find a way to evacuate them. He acknowledged the difficulty, but said: 'We are not losing hope, we are not stopping. Every day we are looking for some diplomatic option that might work.'

Meanwhile, a Washington-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said Ukraine may be able to push Russian forces out of artillery range of Kharkiv in the coming days, providing a respite for the city and an opportunity to build the defenders' momentum 'into a successful, broader counteroffensive.'

Zelensky expressed outrage at Russian missile attacks that destroyed a museum in the Kharkiv region and hit Odesa, 'where almost every street has something memorable, something historical.'

He said Russian forces have destroyed or damaged about 200 cultural heritage sites.

'Every day of this war, the Russian army does something that leaves you speechless,' he said. 'But then the next day it does something that makes you feel this way in a new way.'
Boris Johnson is betting on the Red Wall to get his premiership on track after disastrous local elections with Levelling Up and Brexit set to dominate the Queen's Speech this week.

The PM suffered a body blow as the Tories lost hundreds of councillors, with a bloodbath in London and the Lib Dems making gains in traditional heartlands.

Conservatives - including a serving minister - have renewed calls for the government to cut taxes in the wake of the meltdown and with the cost-of-living crisis ramping up.

However, the immediate coup threat to Mr Johnson seems to have receded, partly because Labour failed to make inroads into the Northern and Midlands areas that delivered his historic majority in 2019.

The premier - who was heavily damaged by the Partygate row - has also been helped by police announcing they are investigating whether Keir Starmer breached lockdown rules over the so-called Beergate espisode.

Deputy PM Dominic Raab admitted in interviews this morning that he faced a 'tough fight' to hold on to his own London suburban seat at the next election.

But he told Sky News that the party was faring better in Red Wall areas and Mr Johnson 'can and will' win the next election.

Mr Johnson is hoping to shift the agenda when the new session of Parliament starts on Tuesday, promising a 'super seven' of Brexit Bills to slash red tape and 'unnecessary barriers inherited from the EU'.

There will also be a focus on Levelling Up, with plans to revive England's high streets by giving councils powers to take control of buildings for the benefit of their communities.

Boris Johnson suffered a body blow as the Tories lost hundreds of councillors, with a bloodbath in London and the Lib Dems making gains in traditional heartlands

A projected vote share by Rallings & Thrasher for the Sunday Times found that Labour was on 35 per cent after the elections, with the Tories on 33 per cent and the Lib Dems on 17 per cent

Deputy PM Dominic Raab admitted in interviews this morning that he faced a 'tough fight' to hold on to his own London suburban seat at the next election

PM faces Brexit chaos after Sinn Fein wins NI elections Boris Johnson is facing a Brexit meltdown after Sinn Fein won Northern Ireland elections for the first time - with threats of a reunification poll within five years. The Republicans sailed to what would once have been an unthinkable victory in the province overnight, with Michelle O'Neill now set to be nominated as First Minister. However, the Stormont executive looks unlikely to get up and running as the DUP - beaten into second place - has already indicated that it will not agree to take the deputy role. The Good Friday Agreement requires Republican and Unionist factions to govern jointly in order for the system to function. Completely overhauling the Brexit divorce terms has been the key demand of the DUP, who say they draw a border between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland. But talks between the UK government and the EU have been essentially stalled for months, and Brussels has insisted it will not give more ground. The standoff paves the way for months of deepening tensions and political drift in Northern Ireland, that could also poison post-Brexit relations. Deputy PM Dominic Raab renewed the vow to scrap the protocol unilaterally if there is no movement soon, accusing the EU of being 'particularly dogmatic' and saying the Government would take 'whatever measures are necessary'. Advertisement

Former Cabinet minister Damian Green told the Sunday Telegraph that the Tories must 'rediscover the virtues that appeal to natural Conservatives in strong Conservative areas', including by reducing the tax burden.

Another ex-minister John Redwood said recessions could see governments 'swept from office' and urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to reverse the National Insurance rise and suspend VAT on domestic fuel bills.

Policing minister Kit Malthouse reportedly said that he 'sincerely hopes' Mr Sunak will introduce tax cuts 'shortly'.

Mr Raab said the local election results had been 'challenging' but a 'mixed bag' for the Conservatives.

He denied the Queen's Speech would be a 'reset' for Boris Johnson's administration but told Sky News: 'What we're going to be focusing on this week is what our plans are to drive up the economy, protect the cost of living.

'We're going to be talking about reforming the agricultural sector, innovation to create cheaper, healthier food.

'We're going to be talking about areas where Britain has a real comparative advantage, tech, financial services.'

Mr Raab acknowledged the Liberal Democrat resurgence would mean he faces a 'tough fight' in his own Esher and Walton seat in Surrey.

But he insisted Mr Johnson remained the right person to lead the party: 'I'm confident that he can and will win the next election.'

A projected vote share by Rallings & Thrasher for the Sunday Times found that Labour was on 35 per cent after the elections, with the Tories on 33 per cent and the Lib Dems on 17 per cent.

According to the Electoral Calculus website, based on prospective new boundaries that would leave the Conservatives still the largest party at a general election - but 15 seats short of a majority.

Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy told Sky News: 'I think it showed that the path back to power for Labour is steep, but it doesn't have to be long and we're making progress in every region and nation now, in Scotland and Wales and in England in parts of the country where I watched us lose Labour MPs, I watched us lose good people and I wondered if we'd ever repair that damage.

'We did start to repair that damage on Thursday.'

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove suggested that a decline in home ownership may have contributed to the party's troubles in London, where flagship authorities in Wandsworth and Westminster fell to Labour after decades of Tory control.

He told the Sunday Telegraph: 'There is a particular challenge for us in London and I think that challenge in London relates to  home ownership.

'There are other factors. But I think that for young people in London, there is a responsibility on the incumbent government to address some of the factors that have made it more difficult for them to own their own home.

Raab among 10 top targets for Lib Dems at general election The Lib Dems have drawn up a list of 10 Tories most at risk from the so-called 'Blue Wall' backlash. Party leader Ed Davey said the local election results were 'amazing' and he would 'keep working' to make more gains at the general election. The targets include Deputy PM Dominic Raab in Esher and Walton, Mary Robinson in Cheadle, and Willliam Wragg in Hazel Grove. Sir Ed Davey told Sunday Morning on BBC One: 'Well, I'm not going to take the voters for granted. We've got two years before the next election, we have got to keep working. 'One thing when I go around the country, I hear that Labour councils are taking people for granted, the Conservative government are taking people for granted. I'm not going to do that. I will say that this is now a trend. We've seen in last year's local elections, Liberal Democrats making net gains. 'Then we saw the two historic by-election victories, when we beat the Conservatives in true blue Buckinghamshire, then in North Shropshire in a seat they've held for 200 years. Now we've made gains which far exceeded our expectations across the country in Scotland and Wales, big councils like Somerset, we're back in the West Country. 'So yeah, these were amazing results for the Liberal Democrats. But we're going to keep doing our job as an opposition party holding the Government to account for their appalling record on the economy and the cost of living and also on the NHS.' The list of Lib Dem targets are: Mary Robinson (Cheadle) William Wragg (Hazel Grove) Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) John Redwood (Wokingham) Alex Chalk (Cheltenham) Steve Brine (Winchester) Elliott Colburn (Carshalton & Wallington) Andrew Jones (Harrogate & Knaresborough) Bim Afolami (Hitchin and Harpenden) Advertisement

'That's one lesson that I would draw at this stage. The other one is that the Labour Party doesn't seem to have made anything like the progress outside of London, that you would expect an opposition to do if it was on course for victory.'

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said the local election results were 'amazing'. The party has drawn up a list of 10 Tories most at risk from the so-called 'Blue Wall' backlash.

They include Mr Raab in Esher and Walton, Mary Robinson in Cheadle, and Willliam Wragg in Hazel Grove.

Sir Ed Davey told Sunday Morning on BBC One: 'Well, I'm not going to take the voters for granted. We've got two years before the next election, we have got to keep working.

'One thing when I go around the country, I hear that Labour councils are taking people for granted, the Conservative government are taking people for granted. I'm not going to do that. I will say that this is now a trend. We've seen in last year's local elections, Liberal Democrats making net gains.

'Then we saw the two historic by-election victories, when we beat the Conservatives in true blue Buckinghamshire, then in North Shropshire in a seat they've held for 200 years. Now we've made gains which far exceeded our expectations across the country in Scotland and Wales, big councils like Somerset, we're back in the West Country.

'So yeah, these were amazing results for the Liberal Democrats. But we're going to keep doing our job as an opposition party holding the Government to account for their appalling record on the economy and the cost of living and also on the NHS.'

Heralding the Queen's Speech measures, Mr Johnson told the Sunday Express: 'I call them the super seven  and they will benefit families and businesses across the land by changing old EU rules that don't work for the UK.

'From data reform to gene-editing to financial services, these Bills will allow us to thrive as a modern, dynamic and independent country, and this government is getting on with the job of delivering them.'

The Queen's Speech, being delivered in Parliament on Tuesday, will be used by Mr Johnson as an attempt to show his administration is focused on people's concerns on issues including the rising cost of living following a bruising set of local elections influenced by the partygate row and the behaviour of Tory MPs.

The PM is expected to also announce the Government's plans to revive struggling town centres.

The plan to rid high streets of 'derelict shopfronts' and restore neighbourhood pride, with councils given extra powers to force landlords to rent out empty shops, will form a key plan of the Queen's Speech as Mr Johnson tries to reset his Government following damaging local election results.

Other measures will include the ability to make the pavement cafes which sprang up during the Covid-19 pandemic a permanent part of the town centre landscape.

Under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill measures to revive England's high streets, councils will be given powers to take control of buildings for the benefit of their communities.

Compulsory rental auctions will ensure that landlords make shops that have been vacant for more than a year available to prospective tenants.

Authorities will also be given greater powers to use compulsory purchase orders to deliver housing, regeneration schemes and infrastructure.

Mr Johnson said: 'High streets up and down the country have long been blighted by derelict shopfronts, because they've been neglected, stripping opportunity from local areas.

'We are putting that right by placing power back in the hands of local leaders and the community so our towns can be rejuvenated, levelling up opportunity and restoring neighbourhood pride.'

Officials highlighted British Retail Consortium figures showing about one in seven shops were vacant, with as many as a fifth empty in the North East.

Shops have been hit by high rental and business rate costs and declining demand as consumers have moved online, a trend exacerbated by the pandemic.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: 'By empowering local communities to rent out shops which have been sat empty for a year or longer, we will end the scourge of boarded up shops that have blighted some of our great towns across the country for far too long.'

The measures aimed at making a continental-style cafe culture a permanent feature of England's towns and cities will also feature in the Government's plans.

The immediate coup threat to Mr Johnson seems to have receded, partly because Keir Starmer's (pictured) Labour failed to make inroads into the Northern and Midlands areas that delivered his historic majority in 2019

During the pandemic, restaurants, pubs and bars were granted temporary powers to serve guests on pavements.

Through new legislation, these powers will be made permanent to expand capacity for businesses in the hope of boosting local economies.

The Queen's Speech is not expected to include proposed plans to ban the import of fur and foie gras.

The Times newspaper reported the measure had been dropped after Cabinet critics warned it was 'fundamentally unconservative'.

The Animals Abroad Bill is expected to include a ban on the trade in hunting trophies and the sale and promotion of travel experiences which are cruel to animals.

On Saturday, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said the Queen's Speech package would 'demonstrate to the nation that the second half of this Parliament is all about dealing with repairing the economy, recovering from Covid, the backlog of the NHS and national security'.

Other measures expected in the package include a Brexit Freedoms Bill to make it easier to remove legacy EU laws and a Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act.
A tree in a leafy suburban street has gone viral online and sparked widespread debate over its ability to coexist with powerlines.

A photo posted to Reddit taken in northern Sydney suburb of Beecroft shows the tree on Murray Farm Road in the shape of a wreath with powerlines running through it.

Arborists have found a creative solution to avoid chopping down the stunning tree, despite its close proximity to powerlines.

This stunning tree in Beecroft has won plenty of praise for its ability to coexist with powerlines

Beecroft is an affluent suburb characterised by leafy streets.

The photo of the tree was inundated with comments and plenty of praise from mesmerised viewers.

'This is a great photo. We want to thank the arborist for his hard work,' one wrote.

Another added: 'I love this, kudos to the arborists sticking to a plan.'

One arborist suggested the tree and power lines were making love.

'Nine months later the tree will give birth to a litter of light up Christmas trees,' they quipped.

One Sydneysider noted there were several other similar trees in the the area.

'I know part of the area switched from Hornsby Shire to Parramatta Council a few years ago so hopefully the new local government keeps funding this type of work,' they wrote.

Beecroft is one of the suburbs split between the two councils.

One arborist on Reddit suggested the tree and powerlines were making love. Pictured is the tree from another angle

Arborists were praised by mesmerised viewers for resisting the urge to chop the tree down

But not everyone was impressed or could understand the fuss.

'That's not a tree. That's a wreath on a stick with a rope through it,' one man commented.

Another wrote: ' I see this and immediately think about all the branches that come down in storms, causing power outages. These power lines should be buried.'

The photo sparked massive debate about underground powerlines.

'I guess even trying to run the power lines under the tree could kill it. Probably a better outcome this way,' a viewer wrote.
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Ministers today lashed Keir Starmer's 'rank double-standards' as a secret Labour Party document appeared to shatter his version of events over 'Beergate'.

Deputy PM Dominic Raab said the Labour leader's hypocrisy 'drives people crazy' after an operational note for his notorious visit to Durham suggested late-night drinks and a curry with activists was planned in advance.

The bombshell document seen by the Mail on Sunday - marked 'private and confidential' - also cast serious doubt Sir Keir's claim that he returned to work afterwards.

After the entry recording the 'dinner in Miners Hall'  which includes a note to 'arrange takeaway from Spice Lounge', a local curry house  the document simply says: 'End of visit.'

It has emerged Sir Keir - who faces a full-blown investigation by Durham Police - has pulled out of an Institute for Government event tomorrow, where he was expected to take questions. Labour declined to say why he has withdrawn.

Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy risked upping the stakes dramatically for Sir Keir this morning. She pointed out the Labour leader is a former Director of Public Prosecutions. 'He is Mr Rules,' she told Sky News. 'He doesn't break the rules.'

Ms Nandy insisted that she 'won't entertain' the idea that Sir Keir could be fined and forced to quit - after he said Boris Johnson must quit over his own Partygate penalty. 'I am absolutely confident he hasn't broken the law,' she added.

Asked if Sir Keir should quit, Mr Raab told Sky News he had demonstrated 'complete hypocrisy'. 'It's the rank double standards that drive people crazy,' he said.

'He needs to fess up and answer all of the holes in the account that he gave for that beer-and-curry event in Durham.'

He added: 'Keir Starmer looks like, I'm afraid, someone who is engaged in complete hypocrisy, complete double standards and I don't think he is going to get past that until he gives a proper account of what happened in Durham.'

Keir Starmer has been plunged into a full-scale leadership crisis after The Mail on Sunday obtained a secret Labour Party document which appears to shatter his version of events over 'Beergate'

An operational note drawn up ahead of Sir Keir's notorious visit to Durham (above), where he was filmed enjoying a late-night beer with activists, reveals the gathering had been planned in advance. The bombshell document, marked 'private and confidential', also calls into serious doubt Sir Keir's claim that he returned to work after the beers and takeaway curries

Dominic Raab lashed out at Sir Keir's 'double standards', while shadow cabinet member Lisa Nandy upped the stakes by branding her leader 'Mr Rules'

It has emerged Sir Keir - who faces a full-blown investigation by Durham Police - has pulled out of an Institute for Government event tomorrow, where he was expected to take questions. Labour declined to say why he has withdrawn

There are claims a witness present at the gathering in Durham on April 30 last year is ready to tell police the event did indeed break rules at the time.

Referencing the meet-up with Durham MP Mary Foy and her staff, the source told the Sunday Times the group 'were not working and I have not got a problem telling that to the police.

'They were just getting p****d. They were just there for a jolly. It's not something that I am prepared to defend.'

The revelations are understood to have further piqued the interest of the force, with a police source adding: 'It raises the question about what else we might not have been told the entire truth about.'

There is now growing discontent within the party, with senior cabinet figures privately acknowledging the issue has become a frustration that could drag on for weeks, according to the Observer.

Tony Blair's former chief of staff Jonathan Powell dismissed the furore this morning telling Sky News that the Tories were deploying Vladimir Putin-esque tactics.

In an extraordinary claim, he said: 'It's a bit of the sort of stuff Putin does. To try and smear someone and suggest they are all the same, there isn't any difference.

'There is a difference. Keir Starmer doesn't tell lies, Boris Johnson does. And I think people know that pretty clearly.'

Diane Abbott became the first Labour MP to suggest the leader should step down from the role if - like Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak - he is fined for breaching the rules.

She told LBC: 'I'm a loyal supporter of Keir Starmer. I'm just making the common sense point that if he gets a fixed penalty notice he should consider his position.'

The memo  which was passed to the Mail on Sunday by a whistleblower  also further undermines Labour's claims that it made 'an honest mistake' when it denied that Deputy Leader Angela Rayner was at the event: it lists 'AR' alongside 'KS' as the two senior politicians anchoring the day's proceedings.

The Labour leader  who is also under pressure from party members over his failure to make a significant UK-wide breakthrough in last week's local elections  is facing accusations of hypocrisy, having called for Boris Johnson's resignation in January when Scotland Yard launched its inquiry into claims of No 10 lockdown-breaking.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said last night: 'Being investigated or receiving a fixed-penalty notice is not a resigning matter for anyone at all  unless of course you've daily argued the case that it is just that and repeatedly called for the resignation of others. He's bang to rights and has no choice but to resign thanks to his own sanctimonious hypocrisy.'

Labour has tried to draw a distinction between 'Beergate' and 'Partygate' on the grounds that Sir Keir's event was not premeditated: when Sir Keir's transport spokeswoman Louise Haigh was asked by the BBC's Fiona Bruce on Thursday how the beer and curry evening was different to a gathering in Downing Street, she said: 'There was a big difference... he [Keir] broke to eat, and then carried on working afterwards.

'The various parties in Downing Street were pre-arranged, social events.'

But the note  a forward-planning logistics document which is referred to as an 'op note'  makes clear the beer and curry night had been planned in advance.

The note says that after a day's campaigning in Hartlepool, Sir Keir's team were due to arrive at the Radisson Blu hotel in Durham at 6.31pm, leaving by 7pm to walk to the Miners Hall.

After recording clips for the media, the note says a 1hr 20mins slot was set aside for 'dinner in Miners Hall with Mary Foy', the local Durham MP. A side note reads: 'YS to arrange takeaway from Spice Lounge'. YS is the acronym for a member of Sir Keir's private office.

The Spice Lounge curry house was closed at the time, with callers being referred to the nearby Capital Indian restaurant. Last week, the Daily Mail spoke to one of the restaurant's delivery drivers, who said he had dropped off a 'big' order of food for at least 15 people, including four bags of curries, rice and naan bread.

Sir Keir has insisted the curries were eaten during a break in work. When asked whether he had returned to work after the beer, the Labour leader said: 'Yes. And the idea that nobody works at 10 o'clock at night is absurd.'

But the memo sets out that at the end of the dinner, at 10pm, he should 'walk from Miners Hall to Radisson Blu'. Further work is not mentioned.

The Labour leader  who is also under pressure from party members over his failure to make a significant UK-wide breakthrough in last week's local elections  is facing accusations of hypocrisy, having called for Boris Johnson's resignation in January when Scotland Yard launched its inquiry into claims of No 10 lockdown-breaking

Sir Keir has insisted the curries were eaten during a break in work. When asked whether he had returned to work after the beer, the Labour leader said: 'Yes. And the idea that nobody works at 10 o'clock at night is absurd.' But the memo sets out that at the end of the dinner, at 10pm, he should 'walk from Miners Hall to Radisson Blu'. Further work is not mentioned

Historic first... We break scoop on our brilliant new Mail+ site In an historic first, The Mail on Sunday broke the story at 5pm last night on The Mail+, our new premium website where subscribers can enjoy reading the Mail newspapers and our brilliant magazines every day  AND save nearly 20 a month on the print cover price. If you already have a digital subscription, simply sign in to mailplus.co.uk to enjoy all the new benefits. At the same time, we also released details of the story on Mail Online, our world-beating, world-famous news website. The reaction was instant. 'Wowser,' Nigel Adams MP, a Cabinet Office Minister, wrote on Twitter, adding that Keir Starmer would 'need some fancy lawyer dance moves to explain this one away'. Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly added: 'Starmer claimed it was an impromptu curry. Hypocrisy and dishonesty in equal measure.' Richard Holden, Tory MP for North West Durham, said the leaked memo 'blows apart what Sir Keir Starmer has been saying all the way through'. However you read it, The Mail on Sunday is Britain's No1 newspaper for fearlessly breaking the biggest stories. Advertisement

When he was quizzed on ITV's Good Morning Britain programme last week, Sir Keir said: 'At some point, this was in the evening, everybody's hungry and then that takeaway was ordered. It was then delivered into the kitchen.

'Restaurants and pubs were closed, so takeaways were really the only way you could eat. So this was brought in and at various points people went through the kitchen, got a plate, had some food to eat and got on with their work.'

However, The Mail on Sunday has established that the Radisson Blu was serving food when Sir Keir and his party checked in at 6.31pm and continued to do so until 9pm.

At the time, lockdown laws allowed staff to meet indoors if doing so was 'reasonably necessary for work', but 'there should not be any sharing of food and drink by staff who do not share a household. Minimise self-serving options for food and drink'.

In addition, Government guidance put in place for the following month's local elections stated: 'You should not meet with other campaigners indoors. Only rarely will two people be required indoors at the same location to manage bulk delivery handling.

'You should keep these interactions to a minimum to reduce contact and follow the guidance on how to stop the spread of coronavirus at all times...'

The document also refers to four members of the 'MPL'  Met Police Liaison  who were included in the trip, suggesting they are likely to have information useful to the investigation.

Also included on the op note is the line 'Covid Alert Level: National Lockdown', and 'important note: please maintain social distancing of 2m and wear face coverings whilst indoors at all time'.

The leaked document makes clear that Ms Rayner was to play a central role in the day's events.

The party has admitted to not telling the truth about Ms Rayner's presence.

When the Mail asked the party on January 14 whether she had taken part in the event, it said: 'Angela wasn't there.' But when confronted last month with video evidence, Labour admitted: 'Angela was present', and said previous denials had been 'an honest mistake'.

A Labour spokesman said: 'Keir was working, a takeaway was made available in the kitchen, and he ate between work demands. No rules were broken.'

A party source added: 'During a fast-moving campaign, the op note doesn't always keep up with events so it would be wrong to assume that activities occurred at the times originally planned. For example, it's been documented that the takeaway was late.'

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries (above) said last night: 'Being investigated or receiving a fixed-penalty notice is not a resigning matter for anyone at all  unless of course you've daily argued the case that it is just that and repeatedly called for the resignation of others. He's bang to rights and has no choice but to resign thanks to his own sanctimonious hypocrisy'

Labour heavyweights Wes Streeting and Rachel Reeves are accused of sizing up leadership bids amid claims Keir Starmer will be in 'dead trouble' if he is fined over Beergate

By ANNA MIKHAILOVA and BRENDAN CARLIN For The Mail On Sunday

Labour heavyweights Rachel Reeves and Wes Streeting were last night accused of sizing up leadership bids  amid claims from senior Labour sources that Sir Keir Starmer will be in 'dead trouble' if he is fined over Beergate.

The two shadow Cabinet ministers have been quietly tapping up donors and drumming up support for a potential tilt at the top, party insiders said last night.

In the past year alone, Shadow Chancellor Ms Reeves has declared nearly 200,000 in donations on her Register of Interests, while Shadow Health Secretary Mr Streeting has brought in 169,000, analysis by The Mail on Sunday has shown.

Wes Streeting (pictured outside BBC HQ in February) reportedly harbours leader ambitions

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has raised nearly 200,000 in donations over the past year

Starmer loyalists have urged the Labour leader to go 'full Blair' and boot out leader rivals

Police accused of playing politics over probe delay Durham Police faced calls to explain last night why it waited until after the local council elections to reveal it was investigating Sir Keir Starmer over Beergate. The force said 'significant new information' led to it reopening the probe before polling day, but it only disclosed this on Friday afternoon after 'the conclusion of the pre-election period'. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, compared its response to that of the Met Police in London, which has fined Boris Johnson over Partygate. 'Why did Durham Police delay their announcement when the Met did not delay for Boris Johnson? The Met went straight out with it a few weeks before the local elections,' he said. Why are they behaving differently? The Met is looking at everything in a very pedantic way, whereas I understand Durham has one of the lowest levels of Covid-related sanctions in the country.' Scotland Yard has issued nearly 17 times as many fixed-penalty notices for Covid rule-breaking as Durham Constabulary. The Met said on April 21 that it would not issue any more Partygate updates until after the local elections. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: 'It's interesting that Sir Keir refused to answer questions about whether he'd been contacted by Durham Police prior to polling day. It's difficult to believe that he hadn't. What did he know and when did he know it? Friday's announcement surely didn't come as a surprise.' Commenting on the force's decision to delay news that it was reopening the probe, ITV News political editor Robert Peston said: 'Many would say this was material information for voters and withholding it was a political action. The interaction of police and politics is an utter mess.' Advertisement

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who is also expected to throw her hat into the ring, has declared 57,541 in donations over the same period.

The claims come amid mounting concern that Sir Keir's leadership will be doomed if Durham Police fine him over the alleged Beergate flouting of Covid lockdown rules last year.

To make matters worse for Sir Keir, some MPs are privately giving him until September to turn things around after failing to make real progress in the North and Midlands in last week's local elections.

However, there are also calls from Starmer loyalists that it is time for Sir Keir to go 'full Blair' and kick out MPs still loyal to former leader Jeremy Corbyn and his hard-Left agenda.

One senior party figure even raised hopes that David Miliband would now return to frontline UK politics to bolster Sir Keir's Blairite drive for power.

The beleaguered Labour leader has defiantly insisted that no rules were broken at the now notorious event last year inside the office of City of Durham MP Mary Foy at the Durham Miners' Hall.

But privately, even some senior Labour colleagues are worried by claims of hypocrisy against Sir Keir, given how he had repeatedly demanded Boris Johnson's head over Covid party breaches at No 10.

One former shadow Cabinet member said: 'The boys in blue in Durham may well catch him and he's going to be in dead trouble if he's fined.

'Keir has made this a defining Keir test  whether or not Rishi Sunak and Boris told the truth. He didn't need to make the point week after week after week. Our leadership has spent too much time on it.'

Another Labour MP said: 'By the autumn, a decision will have to be made. Someone new will need 15 to 18 months to bed in.

'We haven't cut through as much as we need to do. We're probably two years away from a General Election and there's a massive amount of work to be done.'

And yesterday Diane Abbott said Sir Keir should 'consider his position' if he is fined for breaking lockdown rules.

She told LBC: 'I think this is a lot of hype built up by the Tory press. But if he were to get a fixed penalty notice, he would have to consider his position.

'I'm a loyal supporter of Keir Starmer, I'm just making the common sense point that if he gets a fixed penalty notice he should consider his position.'

Party insiders said that potential successors to Sir Keir  including Ms Reeves, Mr Streeting and Ms Cooper  are now drawing up plans for a future leadership contest. 'They're all raising funds, talking to people,' one Labour insider said.

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He added: 'The Mandelson, Streeting and Blair types were making noises during the local election campaign that they weren't completely happy with him [Sir Keir]. But it will be for them to make the first move.'

Sources close to all three Labour frontbenchers last night dismissed the suggestion of leadership manoeuvres, stressing they were loyal to Sir Keir.

One said Mr Streeting's donations were mostly funding his Shadow Health brief and a personal adviser for his office  not a leadership bid. However, one Labour insider said privately that given Sir Keir's position, would-be replacements were right to lay the groundwork. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham  the so-called 'King of the North'  and London Mayor Sadiq Khan are also considered future Labour leaders. The two ex-MPs would first need to get back into the Commons. But there are rumours of long-serving MPs being prepared to stand down to make way for Mr Burnham or Mr Khan.

Angela Rayner's name was top of the guest list for 'Beergate', shows leaked memo - while Labour claims it made an 'honest mistake' when it wrongly denied she was present

By MAIL ON SUNDAY reporter

Labour last night faced mounting questions over its claim that it made an 'honest mistake' when it wrongly denied that Angela Rayner was present during 'Beergate'.

In January, a Labour press officer insisted that the Deputy Leader was not present at Durham Miners Hall.

But last month, after a Daily Mail investigation established that Rayner (right, in Durham) had been there, Labour admitted 'Angela was present', with a source claiming the earlier denial was 'an honest mistake'.

Angela Rayner waves at the offices of Redhills, the home of the Durham Miners Association in Durham

But the leaked document reveals that Ms Rayner  denoted by the initials 'AR'  was listed as one of the key Labour figures due to be present on April 30, 2021.

Indeed she and Sir Keir were both scheduled to film a ten-minute 'piece to camera' at Miners Hall between 7.15pm and 7.30pm.

The revelation raises uncomfortable questions over why  despite evidence in its own internal documents  Labour denied her presence then failed for months to correct the record.

Did Beergate meal break the law? Keir Starmer insists he and his team consumed curry and beer during a work break - but a dinner lasting 80 minutes was listed in his official itinerary

By MARK HOOKHAM for the Mail on Sunday

The leaked Labour memo documenting Sir Keir Starmer's visit to Durham threatens to torpedo his defence that no rules were broken.

Lockdown laws banned indoor socialising last April, when Beergate took place. Police could fine those who disobeyed the rules.

Staff could only meet indoors if doing so was 'reasonably necessary for work', but 'there should not be any sharing of food and drink by staff who do not share a household'.

The leaked Labour memo documenting Sir Keir Starmer's visit to Durham threatens to torpedo his defence that no rules were broken

Sir Keir has insisted that he and his team did not flout the rules, and that they consumed curry and beer during a break in work.

But revelations that a dinner lasting one hour and 20 minutes was listed in his official itinerary and no work after the meal was scheduled will fuel Tory claims that this was a 'social event'.

Earlier this year Durham Constabulary decided that no offence had occurred on April 30 last year.

But last week it said it had received 'significant new information' and was launching a probe. Officers must decide whether what appears to be a prearranged late-night dinner  inside and with alcohol  was 'reasonably necessary' for Sir Keir's work.

Sir Keir faces further questions about how the prearranged takeaway dinner complied with Government guidance for those fighting local elections.

It recommended: 'You should not meet other campaigners indoors. It is safer to meet outdoors, where the risk of catching or spreading Covid is much lower, but two-metre social distancing should still be maintained.'

Campaigners were also advised that 'meetings to organise and plan campaigns should be held online or over the phone... not in person.'

The Durham force issued 1,090 fines for Covid breaches between March 2020 and February 2022. The Metropolitan Police, which is investigating alleged parties in Downing Street, issued 17,829.

DAN HODGES: The voters will forgive many things Sir Keir, but self-righteous hypocrisy is just not one of them

DAN HODGES for the Mail on Sunday

Labour lied. And lied. And lied again. 'We were in the office to do work,' Sir Keir Starmer told TV interviewer Susanna Reid last Wednesday.

'At some point, this was in the evening, everybody's hungry and then a takeaway was ordered. It was then delivered into the kitchen of the offices. So this was brought in, and at various points people went into the kitchen, got a plate, and got on with their work.'

But they didn't. After months of inexplicable  and increasingly desperate  evasion, obfuscation and deceit, the truth about Beergate can finally be revealed.

I spoke to someone who was one of those  they estimate about 15 people  who were in the Durham offices for the duration of the event on April 30, 2021. And unlike Labour's leader, they were clear and open about the details.

At about 7.30pm, Starmer filmed some clips to be used in campaign videos. Once that was completed, he sat down for a briefing with one of his press officers to prepare him for a series of interviews due to be conducted in Hartlepool the next day. Then he and his deputy Angela Rayner appeared via Zoom for an online Get Out The Vote campaign rally. That event ended about 9pm.

Labour lied. And lied. And lied again. 'We were in the office to do work,' Sir Keir Starmer told TV interviewer Susanna Reid last Wednesday

And it's at this point that Labour begins to spin its web of deception. According to Starmer's account, 'everyone's hungry, and a takeaway was ordered'. But there's now compelling evidence that this was not the impromptu decision the Labour leader claimed.

From the beginning, Starmer and his team have wanted everyone to believe their decision to sit down for a curry and a beer was a spontaneous one, taken in the middle of their working day. But it wasn't. It was planned.

According to my source, 'if we'd have been in London we could have ordered food at 7.30pm and it would have arrived by 8pm. But it took ages for the food to arrive. I think it might have arrived late, but the order was phoned through earlier. I'm not sure when.'

Which matters. On Thursday's Question Time, Labour MP Louise Haigh was asked what the difference was between her leader's meal, and the event for which Boris and Rishi Sunak were fined.

She replied: 'Well, that was by all accounts pre-arranged, a social event.' And as the Prime Minister and his Chancellor found to their cost, pre-arranged social events  however minor  were in breach of the rules.

Starmer and his aides have wanted everyone to believe something else. 'At various points people went into the kitchen, got a plate, and got on with their work,' he claimed. In other words, the eating and drinking and working were conducted concurrently.

On Thursday's Question Time, Labour MP Louise Haigh was asked what the difference was between her leader's meal, and the event for which Boris and Rishi Sunak were fined. She replied: 'Well, that was by all accounts pre-arranged, a social event;

They were all part of the campaign activity that  at that period in the lockdown cycle  was allowed by law. But again, it was a falsehood. The Mail on Sunday has obtained a copy of Starmer's schedule for the day in question. It has a clearly defined entry: '20.40  22.00 Dinner in Miners Hall with Mary Foy.'

The curry and beers don't appear to ever be part of the campaigning activity. From the very beginning, they were always supposed to be a standalone, pre-planned 'dinner' with the local Labour MP.

Which is why Keir Starmer and his team propagated a third deception. 'We were very busy,' he told the BBC's Sophie Raworth in January. 'We were working in the office. We stopped for something to eat, and then we carried on working.'

But again, the evidence is clear that they didn't. I asked my source if it was true that after the curry had been delivered, Starmer and his team went back to work. 'Of course not,' the source said. I asked if they were absolutely sure. 'I'm not aware of any work after. It certainly wasn't in any plan or schedule,' they reiterated.

Which again is confirmed by Starmer's official itinerary. The Mary Foy dinner is followed by one final entry. '22.00  22.15 Walk from Miners Hall to Radisson Blu.'

An eyewitness and Starmer's own diary confirm he never went back to work after his beer and curry. Instead, he got into his car with his protection officers and returned to his hotel. His staff apparently walked or got taxis.

'I'm not sure when they all got back, but no one was hanging around at the hall,' my source confirmed.

And with that, all the pieces finally fall into place. The seemingly bizarre attempts to play down the scale of the event. Rayner was there, but Labour initially pretended she wasn't. Starmer said he thought he was with about six staff, but my source cites 15, and other sources have said as many as 30.

The strange incident on the House of Commons terrace, when Mary Foy grabbed at Tory MP Richard Holden, and began angrily berating him for asking Durham Constabulary to reopen the investigation.

And the thing that confused me most of all: as the questioning over what happened that evening intensified, Starmer and his team become more and more evasive.

He claimed he had filmed 'pieces to camera'. But no one could provide them.

He claimed to have done other campaigning activity. But no one could even outline precisely what that was.

Now we know why. The reason Starmer and his team failed to provide a comprehensive breakdown of the events of that night was because to do so would have meant admitting they retained a detailed record. And once they had done that, they would have been asked to provide it.

At that point everyone would have seen the Mary Foy 'dinner'. They would have seen no one was scheduled to go back to work after the dinner.

They would have seen, in other words, that Labour's explanations about exactly what happened that night were a tissue of lies.

This morning, Starmer is calling on people to be patient, and give Durham police time to conclude the investigation they have reopened after receiving 'significant new information'. But back in January, he adopted a rather different stance.

'Honesty and decency matter,' Starmer opined, after the Metropolitan Police announced they were commencing an investigation into Boris Johnson's lockdown breaches. 'After months of denials, the Prime Minister is now under criminal investigation for breaking his own lockdown laws. He needs to do the decent thing and resign.'

Rayner wrote: 'What a reflection on the man who holds the very highest office in our country. Yet still he feels he can hang on? A complete disgrace.'

Well, if Johnson does feel he can hang on, this is why. That beer the Labour leader swallowed last April is poisoning him. The voters will forgive many things. But hypocrisy  or even worse, self-righteous hypocrisy  is politically toxic.

And Starmer is already toxic enough. Despite the best efforts of Labour's spinners, Thursday's election results represented another dismal mid-term Labour showing. Further erosion of the Red Wall. Minimal gains in the South and South East. A series of pyrrhic triumphs in its London bastion.

And that was before Durham Constabulary came knocking. Now all Starmer's portentous words are going to come back  not so much to haunt him, as descend on him like avenging furies.

Trust. Honesty. Decency. Transparency. These were supposed to form the foundation of Starmer's leadership, and ultimately, premiership. A foundation that, through his own stupidity, is splintering beneath his feet.

What has he been thinking these past few weeks? As the questions mounted, and the lies were compounded, why didn't he call a halt, and just tell the truth?

How has he failed to learn the lesson of Johnson's own Partygate defenestration? And remember the cast-iron political rule: it's never the offence, it's the cover-up.

On the first anniversary of his election as Labour leader, Starmer was asked what qualities he shares with his great political rival.

'I don't want to be Boris Johnson,' he said. 'I'm not like Boris Johnson in any respect. There's almost nothing we have in common.'

There is now, Sir Keir.
Chris Dawson has broken his silence as he travelled to Sydney to face trial over the alleged murder of his first wife 40 years ago, saying he just wants the truth to come out.

The former professional rugby league player and teacher, is accused of killing his first wife Lynette following her 1982 disappearance on Sydney's northern beaches.

Dawson's application to face a judge-alone trial for the alleged murder was granted last week, days out from the start of trial which begins in Sydney on Monday.

Dressed in a collared shirt and jeans, a quietly confident Dawson said he was looking forward to justice while checking in alone at an airport on Queensland's Sunshine Coast for his flight to Sydney on Sunday.

Chris Dawson is facing trial over the alleged murder of wife Lynette Dawson 40 years ago (pictured on their wedding day)

'I'm looking forward to justice being served and the truth coming in the next few weeks,' he told Nine News.

'I just want the truth to come out.'

He refused to comment when he later approached by a reporter upon arrival in Sydney.

The Supreme Court of NSW agreed to the judge-only trial last week after Dawson successfully argued he could not be given a fair trial before a jury.

Dawson, 73 has pleaded not guilty to murdering his first wife Lynette and has always denied having anything to do with her disappearance.

He was charged in 2018 following years of public scrutiny.

Dawson had hoped to delay the hearing in the hope it would advance his appeal to be granted public money to mount the defence for his upcoming trial.

The Supreme Court trial is expected to cost Dawson hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses.

Chris Dawson (pictured on Sunday) broke his silence before travelling to Sydney for the start of his trial, which begins on Monday

Dawson remained free in the community on bail while awaiting trial.

He was spotted out and about a fortnight ago with his third wife Sue after reporting for bail in Maroochydore on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

She has stuck with Dawson for more than three decades after first meeting him in 1990 or early 1991 when she was a science teacher and he was a PE teacher.

They lived at Yeppoon, near Rockhampton, on Queensland's Capricorn Coast.

His trial for the alleged murder of Lynette was given the go-ahead after the High Court of Australia dismissed a last-ditch effort by his lawyers to have the case permanently halted.

It followed two previous permanent stay applications which failed in the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeal.

Mother-of-two Lynette Dawson disappeared from Sydney's northern beaches in 1982. Her body has never been found

In 2020, Justice Elizabeth Fullerton ordered a temporary stay on the trial, until at least June 2021, stating media and public commentary around the case was 'the most egregious example' the court had considered.

Justice Fullerton also did rule Mr Dawson could still receive a fair trial.

The CCA dismissed Mr Dawson's appeal against Justice Fullerton's decision, saying permanent stays were reserved for the most extreme cases.

Lynette Dawson was 33-years-old when she disappeared in Bayview, leaving two young daughters behind.

Her body has never been recovered

Two coronial inquiries ruled Ms Dawson was murdered by someone she knew.

Dawson's trial before Justice Ian Harrison is likely to take up to eight weeks.
The father of the young Australian girl found without her mother in the alleyways of Cancun had been deported from the US for fighting a police officer and was allegedly violent in a previous relationship.

Two-year-old Adelynn was found alone outside a church after being separated from mother Tahnee Shanks in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The little girl is now in the care of her Brisbane grandmother Leanne and uncle Ben Shanks who flew from Australia to Mexico to help search for Ms Shanks, who hasn't been seen in six days.

Authorities in Mexico have issued a missing person alert for Adelynn's 32-year-old mother, who was living in Queensland and had been planning on bringing her daughter home in the coming weeks.

They have also issued an alert for her biological father Jorge Aguirre Astudillo.

Witnesses claim they saw Adelynn's father running from a church the night his daughter was found by authorities and hasn't been seen since.

Jorge Aguirre Astudillo has not been seen since May 2 when he was with Australian native Tahnee Shanks, the mother of his two-year-old daughter. According to authorities he was deported from the US for fighting a police officer and being violent in a previous relationship

Abandoned toddler Adelynn Shanks, found wandering barefoot and alone at a church in Mexico, has been reunited with her Australian grandmother Leanne and uncle Ben Shanks

'We have them both as missing victims until further progress in the investigation,' the state's attorney general said.

Astudillo had been deported from the US previously for fighting a police officer and was allegedly violent in a previous relationship, 9News reported.

Local police say they are reviewing 'critical sections' of the whereabouts of the parents involve that include Cancun, where the pair had visited recently

Adelynn's family have since thanked 'kind and generous people from all over the world' who have shared their despair at the situation.

Her uncle and grandparents travelled from Australia to Mexico to be with the young girl, who was filmed hugging members of her family on Sunday evening.

Tahnee Shanks (pictured right) had been traveling with her ex-partner Jorge Aguirre Astudillo (middle) and their daughter (left) in Mexico before she was reported as missing

Tahnee Shanks and Adelynn were due to return to Australia in June. The two-year-old was found by neighbours at the Chapel of the San Archangel (pictured)

'Our immediate goal is to get Addy, her uncle and grandmother home safely as soon as possible,' the family said in a statement.

'With several hurdles and red tape, this may take some time. We remain deeply concerned for the safety and whereabouts of Adelynn's mother Tahnee.'

Tahnee's brother Ben told 7News it was out of character for her sister to leave her daughter alone.

'There's no way she would have left her. I don't think she's spent a day without her,' he said.

'She's taken to us a lot better than I thought she would. I thought she'd be scared but she's been great.'

Tahnee's two-year-old daughter Adelynn was found wandering the streets late at night

Two-year-old Adelynn is now under the care of Australian relatives after she was found alone at a church in Cancun as her parents are reported missing

The parents had been planning on returning to their home in Merida in the country's west on Sunday night but instead their burnt out car was found near Puerto Morelos, south of Cancun.

Police acknowledged the father's criminal past but refused to name him as a suspect at this stage.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been providing assistance to the family since Adelynn was found.

Queensland police are liasing with Mexican authorities and the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre to help try find her mother.

Tahnee's brother has been trying to contact Mr Astudillo, who drives a white Toyota Tundra.

Daily Mail Australia doesn't suggest that the ex-partner is involved in her disappearance.

Tahnee Shanks' family insists she would never leave her little girl, who turned two last November

A police public appeal for information about Ms Shanks' whereabouts have been widely shared on both sides of the world.

Daniel Shanks said his sister had ended her relationship with Mr Astudillo and was weeks away from heading home back to Australia with her daughter in June.

Ms Shanks moved eight years ago from Australia to Merida, Mexico. She split from her partner a year after Adelynn was born.

Mexico Police have launched a desperate search for missing Australian Tahnee Shanks

The devoted mum's social media pages are full of happy snaps of her little girl.

The mother had been traveling the world since she was 18 and describes herself on social media as a 'Happy Hippy Ginger Ninja meeting around the world one country at a time.'

Before she went overseas, she worked in Australia as an assistant nurse looking after the elderly, which she described as a rewarding career.

'The travel bug bit me in 2010 taking me on my first 18 month journey through Asia and parts of Europe volunteering and couch surfing my way across the country,' the freelance writer wrote on a travel blog for the Whitsundays.

Shanks returned home and saved for two years and then headed back overseas traveling through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and the United States before settling in Mexico.

She is described as having a fair complexion, and has red hair, light brown eyes, 5 feet 4 inches tall, thin build and has a distinctive tattoo along her right thigh.
A popular Sydney bar has offered a $1,000 reward to catch a man who allegedly kicked a hole into a wall.

Slims Rooftop in Sydney's CBD announced the cash reward on their social media on Sunday after discovering the hole and reviewing CCTV footage.

In the clip, a man can be seen kicking the hole into the wall outside a bathroom at 8.20 pm on Saturday night.

A popular city bar has offered a $1000 reward to catch a man who allegedly kicked a hole into a wall at the premises

The patron's male friend can be seen laughing in the background before the pair run past the bathrooms and out of view from the CCTV.

Slims Rooftop shared the footage to their social media pages on Sunday as well as a CCTV close up image of the man's face as they offered the cash reward.

'$1k cash reward for the details that lead to the apprehension of this grub who kicked a wall in (see video) last night at Slims,' the bar wrote in their post.

They explained the money would be paid 'confidentially when we hand his details over to Kings Cross Police'.

The owners then put a spotlight on 'anti-social behaviour' at their bar.

'We appreciate that people go out to have a good time & we are all for that but violent w**kers like this need to be called out for their anti-social behaviour.'

Slims Rooftop said any assistance leading to the identification of the man would be treated with the 'upmost confidentiality'.

Two men were seen loitering near the bathroom in the CCTV footage captured on Saturday night

Slims Rooftop shared the footage of the careless act to their social media pages on Sunday as well as a CCTV close up image of a man's face

Slims Rooftop (pictured) put a spotlight on 'anti-social behaviour' at their bar, writing, 'We appreciate that people go out to have a good time & we are all for that but violent w**kers like this need to be called out for their anti-social behaviour'

The two men can be seen in the security footage loitering outside a bathroom inside the premises.

One man walks back out into the open, turns around and kicks the wall as his friend laughs.

He then checks the area to see if anyone has spotted him before the two men flee.

Followers of Slims Rooftop on social media shared their outrage and disgust over the incident in the comment section of the post from the bar.

'What vile behaviour,' wrote one person.

'Such disrespectful idiots. Even the one with him. Hope you find him!' responded another.

A third added: 'D**kheads like this ruin it for everyone.'


By Nicholas Goldberg





Fifty years ago last week  on May 2, 1972  J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, died at his home near Washington's Rock Creek Park, and was found the next morning by his housekeeper slumped on the floor next to his bed.



In the days that followed, he received fulsome praise. President Richard Nixon eulogized him as a "giant" and a "legend" who personified integrity, honor, principle and courage, who had fought all his life against the "trend of permissiveness" that Nixon said was eroding the country. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger called Hoover a "splendid man" who "would not sacrifice principle to public clamor."



But the full story wasn't being told. In fact, Nixon had hoped to push Hoover out of the job just a few months earlier but feared the director's retribution. At least four other presidents reportedly had hoped to remove him as well but were unable to or didn't dare.



Hoover was no American hero. He was a bigot, a racist and a homophobe  a conspiracy theorist who amassed and abused enormous power, pursued his enemies unscrupulously and trampled on the civil liberties of law-abiding American citizens.



So here's a proposal on the anniversary of his death: Let's take the opportunity to right an egregious wrong by stripping Hoover's name off the big, brutalist J. Edgar Hoover FBI headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.



It never belonged there. He deserves no such honor.



For those who don't remember the Hoover days, here's a quick review.



He headed the bureau for 47 years, beginning in 1924 and ending only when he fell out of bed and died at age 77.



On his watch, to give him his due, agents helped solve the Lindbergh baby kidnapping case and arrested (or in some cases killed) Depression-era gangsters such as John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. Hoover supervised the capture of Nazi saboteurs during World War II and Soviet spies during the Cold War.



But he became too powerful, stayed in the job too long and believed himself and his organization exempt from rules, laws and the Constitution itself.



Hoover's FBI illegally compiled thousands of dossiers on groups that were not engaged in crime or violence. He undertook a campaign against suspected gay and lesbian people working for the federal government, putting together more than 360,000 files in hopes of removing "sexual deviates" from their jobs. He was an anti-communist zealot of the ugliest sort.



His putative bosses in the White House didn't stand up to him at least partly because they feared he would take revenge by releasing disparaging information about them. "You don't fire God," President Kennedy reportedly said.



In 1956, Hoover created the now-notorious COINTELPRO program to "disrupt," "discredit" and "neutralize" radical organizations and their leaders. The FBI forged documents, spread derogatory rumors, conducted warrantless break-ins and engaged in illegal surveillance, among other tactics. It sought to break up marriages, disrupt meetings, destroy reputations, provoke rivalries. Its targets were not just spies, Klansmen and violent, militant organizations, but also civil rights groups and anti-Vietnam war groups engaging in peaceful protest protected under the 1st Amendment.



One of the bureau's chief targets was Martin Luther King Jr.



Publicly, Hoover called King "the most notorious liar in the country." Privately, he called him a "burrhead" who needed to be destroyed. At Hoover's direction, FBI agents planted wiretaps in King's home and office, and placed bugs in his hotel rooms, and then peddled what they'd learned about his sex life to the press.



Historian Taylor Branch says that Hoover "manipulated" Atty. Gen. Robert Kennedy to sign off on the King wiretaps with "implicit threats" about revealing John Kennedy's extramarital affairs.



In 1964, a top deputy to Hoover sent an anonymous letter to King calling him a "filthy abnormal animal," accusing him of adultery and of participating in orgies  and seemingly urging him to commit suicide. ("There is but one way out for you  You know what it is.") The letter came with an audiotape the bureau had recorded surreptitiously in King's hotel room. It was received not by King but by his wife, Coretta.



"Nobody ought to be naming anything after the likes of J. Edgar Hoover," says Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who has introduced a bill to remove Hoover's name from the FBI building. "He was a despicable character. He's no role model."



Connolly noted that if the FBI moves forward with plans to relocate from D.C. to the suburbs, it is imperative that Hoover's name not be relocated along with it.



In general, I'm not the biggest fan of ripping down statues or disappearing the names of historical figures. I believe people should generally be viewed in the context of the times when they lived. And I believe we can honor flawed people whose good qualities outweighed their bad ones.



But I don't believe Hoover's good outweighed his bad. Having his name on the FBI building insults the U.S. Constitution.



Nixon  whose own respect for the Constitution left something to be desired  said in his Hoover eulogy that the FBI director should be remembered so "the profound principles associated with his name will not fade away."



And that's true. His principles, or lack of them, should be remembered, so that we don't find ourselves going down the same road again. Former FBI Director James B. Comey, for instance, kept a copy of the Martin Luther King wiretap request on his desk as a reminder of the bureau's past mistakes.



But neither Hoover nor his so-called principles should be honored.





Nicholas Goldberg is an associate editor and op-ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times. This column was distributed by Tribune Content Agency.


One man's impressive collection of 180 English silver crown coins spanning over 470 years has sold for 331,000 after a bidding war.

American collector David Hoover amassed the pieces over the past decade who has a fascination with this type of coinage.

He acquired examples from the British Museum and had rarities from the reign of Edward VI in the 1550s through to Queen Elizabeth II.

The coins had been tipped to go for 220,000 but achieved over 100,000 more with London-based auctioneers Spink & Son on Wednesday 4 May.

The top performer was a 1643 Charles I 'Silver Pound' struck at Oxford University during the English Civil War which made 11,250.

American collector David Hoover's impressive range of 180 English silver crown coins spanning over 470 years has sold for 331,000 at auctioneers Spink & Son after a bidding war. Pictured, top performer 1643 Charles I 'Silver Pound' which made 11,250

A 1662 Charles II crown for his Restoration totted up 9,375, while a 1552 Edward VI Crown achieved 3,375.

A 1603 James I crown from the year he ascended to the English throne made 3,750, with another James I coin made from Welsh silver fetching 5,750.

Also in the collection was a 1703 Queen Anne crown struck by genius mathematician Isaac Newton from silver captured at Vigo Bay from the Spanish. It sold for 1,625.

A 1662 Charles II crown (pictured) for his Restoration totted up 9,375 at the auction on Wednesday 4 May

A 1746 George II Crown produced from Peruvian silver captured by Admiral Anson went for 3,000, and a 1877 Victoria Crown struck in the year of her Golden Jubilee made 2,325.

More recent examples were a 1953 Coronation proof crown of Elizabeth II which sold for 400, while a proof silver crown marking Prince George's birth in 2013 went for 600.

Gregory Edmund, specialist at Spink & Son, said that the staggering figure made from auctioning the collection was thanks to the reawakening of coin collecting thanks to the pandemic.

He said: 'The impressive collection was amassed with dedication and skill over the past decade by an American collection and included great rarities from the reigns of King Charles I, examples of which are only known from this sale and coins in the British Museum.

The coins had been tipped to go for 220,000 but achieved over 100,000 more with London-based auctioneers Spink & Son on Wednesday 4 May

'David advised us that once he had completed the 'date run', the remaining few coins became prohibitively expensive and so he had elected to sell at this point.

'He was very pleased with the results which show the strength and enthusiasm for coin collecting that has been reawakened by the pandemic.

'The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria coin sold for a European record of 2,375.

'In 2019, the same coin would scarcely have brought in 200.'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has released a rousing video on the eve of Russia's 'Victory Day' celebrations tomorrow, declaring that 'no evil will avoid responsibility' and proclaiming that Ukraine will emerge victorious from the war.

His declaration coincides with Victory in Europe Day (VE Day), when many European countries commemorate the unconditional surrender of Nazi forces on May 8, 1945, marking the Allied victory in WWII.

Russia meanwhile celebrates the victory of the former Soviet Union over Nazi Germany with a national holiday on May 9.

'Every year on May 8, along with the entire civilised world, we honour those who defended the planet from Nazism in World War Two... But we have not made it even a century. Our 'never again' lasted only 77 years. Evil has been reborn,' the President declared as he stood in front of a residential tower block building destroyed by Russian shelling.

'Despite the beast's new mask, [Ukraine and its allies] have recognised him. Because, unlike some, they understand what our ancestors fought for, and against.'

'Our ancestors proved that no evil can avoid responsibility. It will not be able to hide in the bunker. There will be no stone left of it.

'So we will overcome everything, and we know this for sure because our military and all our people are the descendants of those who overcame Nazism.

'They will win again and there will be peace again.'

Zelensky's defiant statements come as Russian forces launched more punishing attacks on the Azovstal steelworks, as Putin tries desperately to conquer the southern port of Mariupol in time for tomorrow's Victory Day celebrations.

Ukrainian troops solidified their positions around the nation's second-largest city of Kharkiv in preparation for an expected increase in Russian attacks, while residents in Mariupol were urged to heed air raid sirens.

'These symbolic dates are to the Russian aggressor like red to a bull,' Ukraine's first deputy interior minister Yevhen Yenin said.

'While the entire civilised world remembers the victims of terrible wars on these days, the Russian Federation wants parades and is preparing to dance over bones in Mariupol.'

'Every year on May 8, along with the entire civilised world, we honour those who defended the planet from Nazism in World War Two... But we have not made it even a century. Our 'never again' lasted only 77 years. Evil has been reborn,' the President declared as he stood in front of a residential tower block building destroyed by Russian shelling

The 15-minute-long video was shot entirely in black and white, save for the final image of a Ukrainian flag. Zelensky declared that Ukraine would overcome Russian aggression and evil

Zelensky drew a number of comparisons between infamous Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the video: 'We will overcome everything. The proof of this is called 'Werewolf' - Hitler's former headquarters and bunker near Vinnytsia. All that is left of it is a few stones- the ruins of a person who considered himself great and invincible. 'Evil will not be able to hide in a bunker. There will be no stones left'

Ukraine's first deputy interior minister Yevhen Yenin warned that the symbolic date of Victory Day is like 'red to a bull' for Putin (pictured), who desperately needs to secure a victory, adding that while the world remembers victims of war, Russia is 'preparing to dance over bones in Mariupol'

Zelensky drew a number of comparisons between infamous Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the 15-minute-long video.

He also reeled off a list of famous European cities and landmarks that were destroyed by Nazi bombing campaigns in WWII and compared them to the Russian shelling of his country, as black-and-white footage of Luftwaffe bombing raids played in the background alongside clips of recent airstrikes in Ukraine.

'We will overcome everything. The proof of this is called 'Werewolf' - Hitler's former headquarters and bunker near Vinnytsia. All that is left of it is a few stones- the ruins of a person who considered himself great and invincible.

'Evil will not be able to hide in a bunker. There will be no stones left.

'[Allies] remember the Nazi-destroyed Warsaw, and they see what was done to Mariupol.

'The British have not forgotten how the Nazis wiped out Coventry... how its historic centre, factories and St. Michael's Cathedral were destroyed. They saw missiles hit Kharkiv and saw its historic centre, factories and the Assumption Cathedral destroyed.

'They remember how London was bombed for 51 nights in a row, how V-2 rockets hit Belfast, Portsmouth, Liverpool, and they see cruise missiles hit Mykolaiv, Kramatorsk and Chernihiv.

'The Dutch remember how Rotterdam was the first city to be destroyed by the Nazis when they dropped 97 tonnes of bombs on it. The French remember Oradour-sur-Glane, where the SS burned 500 women and children alive... They see what was done in Bucha, Irpin and Borodyanka.'

Zelensky's video was published as Ukraine's Armed Forces engaged in bitter fighting along the eastern front amid Russian assaults in Luhansk, Donetsk and Kharkiv.

Western military analysts this morning said a Ukrainian counter-offensive was advancing around Kharkiv, but added that Putin's forces made minor gains in Luhansk, an area where Moscow-backed separatists have fought since 2014.

Kharkiv, which was the first Soviet capital in Ukraine, remained a key target of Russian shelling, the Ukrainian military said yesterday.

But the Ukrainian army today declared it had made progress around the hotly contested city, recapturing five villages and part of a sixth.

Against that backdrop, Ukrainian fighters are making a final stand to prevent a complete takeover of Mariupol.

Securing the strategically important Sea of Azov port that would give Moscow a land bridge to the Crimea Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine during a 2014 invasion.

It would also provide Putin with a victory to boast about during tomorrow's Victory Day celebrations in Moscow.

The bombardment of the Azovstal steelworks - Ukraine's last holdout - intensified in recent days despite a Russian pledge for a temporary ceasefire to allow civilians inside to escape

This satellite image taken by Planet Labs PBC shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine, Saturday, May 7, 2022

Smoke rises from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol during shelling, in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, May 7, 2022

Emergency crew tend to a fire near a burning debris, after a school building was hit as a result of shelling, in the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk, Ukraine, May 7, 2022

Debris next to a partially collapsed building is seen, after a school building was hit as a result of shelling, in the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk, Ukraine, May 7, 2022

The bombardment of the Azovstal steelworks - Ukraine's last holdout - intensified in recent days despite a temporary ceasefire to allow civilians inside to escape.

Russia forces have used mortars, artillery, truck-mounted rocket systems, aerial bombardment and shelling from sea to target the facility and eradicate the small contingent of Ukrainian soldiers still defending the plant.

The Ukrainian government has called on international organisations to help evacuate the fighters, who have repeatedly refused to surrender despite enduring constant bombings and suffering many casualties.

But Putin's troops have struggled to make significant gains elsewhere nearly two and a half months into a ruinous war that has killed thousands and displaced nearly 10 million people.

The Russian leader's 'special military operation' has left the country in the grip of tough Western sanctions, and has raised fears of a wider confrontation with the West.

But Russia is now gearing up for lavish celebrations to mark its Victory Day tomorrow, as Saturday's final dress rehearsal for the parade in Moscow saw nuclear missiles being wheeled through Red Square.

The RS-24 Yars ballistic missile - which experts believe can can carry up to 10 warheads - was seen taking pride and joy as it was driven past rows of armed guards on a green 16-wheeler vehicle on Saturday

Russian MiG-29SMT jet fighters forming the symbol 'Z' in support of Russian military action in Ukraine, fly over central Moscow during the general rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade on May 7, 2022

The intercontinental weapon, which weighs 49.6 tonnes, can travel up to 24,500km/hr and is capable of hitting targets up to 12,000km away - meaning it could strike London or New York within minutes.

The weapon of mass destruction was followed closely by several Iskander-M missile launchers, as men and women marched outside the Kremlin dressed in military garb, waving Russian flags and performing salutes.

Eight MiG-29 fighters also flew past in a 'Z' formation - the insignia used by Putin's military as a symbol of its military action in Ukraine, which critics have likened to the swastika used by the Nazis.

The rehearsal unfolded as the Ukraine-based Centre for Defence Strategies said that 500 captured fighters supporting Ukraine could be 'forced to go through Red Square for cameras', according to The Times.

Three British fighters could be among the 500 after Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were captured by Russian forces in Mariupol last month as they fought alongside Ukrainian defenders.
Passengers on TUI flights have been encouraged to bring their own food and drink onboard after the airline announced its own meals service would be 'limited' in the coming days.

In a statement on its website, TUI said 'staff shortages' had led to the cut in services for short and mid-haul flights and it was monitoring the situation.

Long-haul flights will continue to be catered for.

The 15 affected airports are Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Doncaster Sheffield, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Humberside, Leeds Bradford, Luton, Manchester, Norwich and Teesside.

'There may be limited food and drinks services available onboard TUI Airways short- and mid-haul flights over the coming days,' said a TUI spokesman

A TUI spokesman said: 'We can confirm that unfortunately due to staff shortages with our catering supplier, there may be limited food and drinks services available onboard TUI Airways short- and mid-haul flights over the coming days.

'Customers may therefore want to bring their own food and soft drinks onboard (no alcohol permitted). Any soft drinks over 100ml will need to be purchased after you have passed through security.

'Please note this disruption does not affect any long-haul flights to Aruba, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, Orlando and St Lucia and meal services on these flights will continue to operate as normal.

'Please be assured we are continuously monitoring the situation and working closely with our suppliers to limit the impact to the onboard service for our customers. We are directly contacting all customers impacted.

'Were very sorry for any inconvenience caused.'

Ms Mason said the Tui pilot told passengers that they 'shouldn't have even been allowed on the plane' and 'he thought we had all been put up in hotels that night'. File image of a Tui aeroplane

The news comes after a difficult month for air passengers, as fellow carriers British Airways and easyJet both cancelled hundreds of flights in April but the likes of Virgin Atlantic, Ryanair, Jet2 and TUI have not.

In a single day on April 8, British Airways cancelled 68 planes to locations including Athens and Prague, while easyJet stopped 42.

An easyJet spokesman said the firm had experienced 'higher-than-usual levels of employee sickness and so we have taken the action to cancel some flights in advance'.

BA said: 'While the vast majority of our flights continue to operate as planned, as a precaution we've slightly reduced our schedule between now and the end of May.'

After staff threatened a strike over pay, BA went on to cancel a further 16,000 flights on popular routes until October as it wrestles with staff shortages.

Chief executive Sean Doyle said an average of 60 flights daily  16,000 in total  will have been axed between March and the autumn  about 10 per cent of all BA flights.

Around 75 per cent of those are short-haul flights to EU hotspots including Spain and Italy.

After staff threatened a strike over pay, BA went on to cancel a further 16,000 flights on popular routes until October as it wrestles with staff shortages

The boss of the aviation regulator subsequently wrote to the airlines and airports to express concern at the level of disruption being suffered by passengers.

Civil Aviation Authority chief executive Richard Moriarty wrote: 'Instances of late notice cancellations and excessive delays at airports are not just distressing for affected consumers but have the potential to impact confidence levels across the industry, at just the point when passengers are returning to flying.'

He went on: 'We know that you are working hard to recruit these new colleagues, but it is clear that this has not always happened sufficiently quickly to cope with the increased passenger travel in recent days.

'Given the consequences for passengers of cancelled and disrupted journeys I encourage you to do all you can to ensure that you have the necessary level of appropriately-trained and cleared staff resources in place.'

It is 'very important' that airlines are setting schedules 'on a basis that is deliverable given available staff (including contractors), and has resilience for staff sickness, including from Covid,' Mr Moriarty added.

An easyJet spokesman said the firm had experienced 'higher-than-usual levels of employee sickness' after hundreds of cancelled flights last month

TUI found itself in the headlines last week after a family was left waiting for 14 hours at a Cyprus airport.

Lisa Mason and her children were due to fly back to Manchester after enjoying their first holiday since the pandemic.

On arriving at Larnaca airport, they boarded the flight an hour late after being told by Tui that it had been delayed.

Passengers were then left waiting for three hours on board the grounded plane before being herded back into the airport and left in the departure lounge.

Ms Mason, from Wolstanton near Newcastle Under Lyme, branded the situation a 'shambles' and says it has 'completely taken the shine off' the family's first holiday since the pandemic.

TUI has been contacted for comment.
An 80-year-old woman has said she lost sight in one eye after the pandemic forced the cancellation of her hospital eye appointments.

Janet Harris, 80, had attended three appointments to monitor her eye pressure in 2019 before the pandemic struck at University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.

Covid forced the cancellations of subsequent appointments in 2020 and by the time that Janet attended the hospital in 2021, she had lost sight in her right eye.

Janet Harris, 80, lost sight in one eye after the pandemic forced the cancellation of her hospital eye appointments

Janet Harris told the BBC : 'I do blame the health board because they should have carried on with the appointments.

'It's awful to think they could have saved my sight.'

Janet said she only got an appointment with a doctor after notifying the eye unit about a significant change in her ability to see.

'I put my hand over my left eye and realised I couldn't see a thing,' she said.

'I came out of there crying'.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said it worked to ensure patients 'were receiving the appropriate level of care required for their condition'.

Following tests at the hospital in the week before Christmas, Janet was told that doctors could not save her vision.

She believes that is appointments had continued, she may have had a chance to save her right eyesight.

'They would have seen it getting worse and would have been able to do something', she said.

BBC Wales says it has seen a letter from a consultant ophthalmic surgeon, from February 2022, saying to Janet: 'I was sorry to see that you have lost the vision in the right eye, but equally pleased that your left eye continues to do well.'

Janet lost her husband Kenneth, 81, in 2021 after 59 years of marriage and described her wretched year as 'cruel'.

She lives in Grangetown, Cardiff and made light of her affliction when talking to the BBC.

Janet said: 'I've got four children, 10 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and only one eye. I've got to try to joke about it.'

She still suffers from headaches caused by the pressure.

A spokesperson for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: 'To ensure our teams could continue to deliver safe and effective care to patients during the height of the pandemic and in line with Covid-19 guidance, some scheduled clinics and treatments were running at reduced capacity and in some instances, patient appointments were postponed.

Janet also lost her husband Kenneth, 81, in 2021 after 59 years of marriage and described her wretched year as 'cruel'

'Measures were put in place by the health board to maintain continuity of care including offering virtual appointments, working closely with our colleagues in primary care to continue essential services and rescheduling appointments for a later date.

'We worked in collaboration with our patients to ensure they were receiving the appropriate level of care required for their condition, based on need.

'As a health board, we would urge anyone who identifies a deterioration in their condition to speak to their healthcare provider, even if they are on a waiting list.

'Your primary care team are available within the community and can provide advice, guidance and support on a range of health conditions, including optometrists who would be your primary choice for any deterioration in eye health.

'We are sorry to hear that Mrs Harris feels that she has not received the appropriate care and we would advise her to contact our concerns department if she would like to discuss this further.'
A British YouTube star has denied he was detained in a Gulag at the Russian spaceport of Baikonur in Kazakhstan last night.

Rich Benjamin is known for his video blogging account Bald and Bankrupt. He was stopped with Belarusian woman Alina Tseliupa near one of the launch pads at Baikonur last night.

The blogger said he was questioned for hours by police but not arrested and instead let off with a 60 fine.

Mr Benjamin wrote on his Instagram: 'I've woken up to a load of messages asking me if I'm OK. Apparently people think I'm in a Gulag because of some Twitter post.

'I was questioned by Russian police for a few hours for going to see the Buran rocket without the special permission and given a 60 administrative fine just like hundreds of foreign adventurers before me.

Rich Benjamin (pictured today) is known for his video blogging account Bald and Bankrupt

He was stopped with Belarusian woman Alina Tseliupa near one of the launch pads at Baikonur

The blogger said he was questioned for hours by police but not arrested and instead let off with a 60 fine

He took to Instagram to say 'people think I'm in a Gulag because of some Twitter post'. He said he was only questioned by Russian police 'for a few hours'

'I wasn't arrested. It's not a criminal offence not to have the permission slip.

'It's an administrative offence meaning just a fine and told to not do it again just like smoking in the wrong place or jaywalking.

'All the cops were friendly and gave us a lift to the train station afterwards. Was a great day anyway I got to see the Burans and they are spectacular.'

Last night Dmitry Rogozin, the chief of space agency Roscosmos, sparked worries the star had been detained after he said on Telegram Mr Benjamin and Ms Tseliupa had been 'linked to the organisation of illegal actions' but gave no further details.

Benjamin has more than 3.5 million followers on his YouTube channel, which has recently included videos from the Ukrainian border.

His most popular clip, viewed some 10 million times, documented a trip to Moldova, and was titled 'Nobody Visits This Country...Find Out Why'.

Preparations for the launch of a Soyuz-2.1a rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage block carrying 38 satellites from 18 countries from a launch pad of Baikonur Cosmodrome, where Rich Benjamin was arrested

Benjamin has more than 3.5 million followers on his YouTube channel, which has recently included videos from the Ukrainian border

Some of Benjamin's videos feature a woman called Alina but it was not immediately clear whether she and Tseliupa were the same person.

The most recent video on Rich's channel was filmed in Syria and posted on April 24. In an Instagram post last week, Rich said 'Syrian suntan and back in a country with Soviet mosaics' but did not specify where he was.

Baikonur, once a closed Soviet city, is now open to tourists who apply for permission from Roscosmos.

It lies in the steppe around 1,100km (680miles) southwest of the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan.
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French president Emmanuel Macron laid a wreath at the Arc de Triomphe today as he led commemorations across Europe marking VE Day, while the war continues to rage in Ukraine.

Victory in Europe Day is on May 8 to coincide with the anniversary of Nazi Germany agreeing to surrender 77 years ago.

While ceremonies are held to remember the courageous efforts of those who fought in WW2, the focal point for many today is Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia itself does not celebrate the end of WW2 on May 8 but on May 9, as Josef Stalin insisted on being present for the the signing of the surrender and held his own ceremony a day later.

Ukraine's President Zelensky released a Victory Day video from Borodyanka for May 8, saying that evil had returned.

He questioned the phrase 'never again?', following up by saying 'try telling Ukraine that'.

While UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson took the opportunity to once again show his support for Ukraine.

France's President Emmanuel Macron laid a wreath of flowers on the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe

Flag bearers light the flame at the tomb of an unknown soldier, ahead of ceremonies to mark the 77th anniversary of the Allied victory against Nazi Germany and the end of World War II (pictured at the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris)

Prime Minister Boris Johnson showed his support for Ukraine in their fight against Russia during his VE Day address online (pictured)

The Victory Day ceremony in the French capital is attended by politicians including the mayor of Pairs (centre) and military figures

A woman places flowers on a T-34 Soviet Red army tank at the Berlin Karlshorst Museum, the place where the high Command of the German Wehrmacht signed the unconditional surrender

President Emmanuel Macron salutes the troops as he attends the Victory in Europe Day parade in Paris

German War Graves Commission President Wolfgang Schneiderhan stands in front of the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin

French President Emmanuel Macron led the ceremony in Paris by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier underneath the Arc du Triomphe.

While Prime Minister Boris Johnson directed his VE Day address towards the ongoing conflict in Ukraine following Russia's invasion.

He said: 'On VE Day, as we remember those who sacrificed their lives in WW2, we also think of those who've died and suffered in Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine.

'Our respect and gratitude for those who have fought in previous conflicts strengthens our determination to support the people of Ukrainian in their struggle.

'We won't forget the sacrifices that have been made over the generations to ensure peace and freedom in Europe.'

A wreath from the embassy of Ukraine was placed in front of the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin, Germany, despite the Berlin regional senate banning the showing of Ukrainian and Russian flags near memorials during the weekend of the 77th anniversary

Ukraine and Russian flags were banned by the Berlin regional senate to avoid instrumentalization of symbols in correlation to the ongoing war in Ukraine

Many people make a journey out to war memorials on VE Day and some lay flowers there (pictured: people arriving at the Soviet war memorial in Treptower Park)

Protesters displayed placards and photos of war in Ukraine in front of the Liberty Square during a Victory Parade organized by Ukrainians, in Taipei, Taiwan

Ukrainian citizens have been calling the international community to support Ukraine against the Russian military campaign in the country

Crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square to celebrate the first Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) on May 8 1945

Large-scale parades across Europe are less likely or will have been downsized as no leader is too keen to be celebrating the ending of a conflict in Europe while one currently wages on.

Though it has been used as an opportunity to convey a somber message about the Russian invasion and its destruction.

Ukrainians living in Taipei, Taiwan, used the 77th VE Day to protest Russia invasion to their homeland.

While in German the Berlin regional senate banned the showing of Ukrainian and Russian flags near memorials during the weekend of the 77th anniversary of the end of second World War.

They said this is to avoid the instrumentalization of symbols in correlation to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Although many seem undeterred by the new rule.

On #VEDay we remember all those who served and died in the cause of freedom on the continent of Europe during the Second World War. We continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who resist aggression and protect liberty. pic.twitter.com/FB4Adu9T3N  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) May 8, 2022

People hold a pro-Ukraine banner at a Victory Day anniversary at the Soviet War Memorial at Tiergarten Park in Berlin

People take part in the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation in Lviv, Ukraine, held at the site of a former concentration camp

A service was held at the memorial cross on the site of the former Stalag 328 concentration camp to commemorate the victims of World War II and the repression of Nazism

Chairman of the main World Association of Home Army Soldiers Leszek Zukowski (2L) and Polish World War II veteran Colonel Wlodzimierz Cieszkowski (R) take part in a ceremony marking the Allied victory against Nazi Germany

Polish soldiers took part in the ceremony outside the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, Poland

Russian women gather in Piazza San Giovanni to celebrate the Immortal Regiment in Rome

The commemoration saw people carrying photos of the fighters, Soviet banners and the St George's ribbon

Russian aircrafts have been seen flying in 'Z formation' during a Victory Day parade rehearsal, which takes place on May 9 for them

Lebanese and Russian citizens carry portraits of relatives who fought in World War II during a march for Russia's Victory Day in Beirut, Lebanon

A woman holds a placard that reads 'No to fascism' during a march on Victory Day in Beirut, Lebanon

The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk and his wife Switlana Melnyk take part in a wreath-laying ceremony organized by the Ukrainian Embassy to mark Victory Day

Ukrainian President Zelensky released a long video today and said that evil had returned in his Victory Day address (pictured)
A young man who died after his motorcycle crashed into a car on Mother's Day had been trying to turn his life around.

Jacob Betts, 24, was killed in the early hours of Sunday morning when his motorcycle collided with a Toyota Corolla in Dysart, Queensland.





The tragedy comes as friends reveal he was making headway as a tyre fitter after spending almost a year in prison, reports The Courier Mail

Tributes have flown in for Jacob Betts (pictured) who tragically died after his motorcycle crashed into a car on Mother's Day

Mr Bett's close friends Shae Primrose and her partner Jake Dever from Mackay shared their fond memories of the young man.

'We want everyone to know the real Jacob Betts,' the couple said.

Ms Primrose, 19, told the publication she had been 'laughing' with Mr Betts only an hour before the accident and was now 'wrapping' her head around the loss of her friend.

Mr Betts was released on parole in February after spending 359 days in prison for drug-related charges.

He found work as a tyre fitter in the mines at Dysart and appeared to have a bright future ahead before the crash.

The young man collided with the Corolla at 5:05am on Horse and Jockey Rd at Racecourse.

The 24-year-old's life was tragically cut short in the early hours of Sunday morning when his motorcycle collided with a Toyota Corolla at Racecourse (pictured)

'I was at my absolute lowest and I can say that man picked me back up when I thought no one could,' Ms Primrose continued.

Ms Primose described Mr Betts as her 'rock' and a 'beautiful soul'.

Her partner, Jake Dever, said his friend was 'a genuinely happy, funny guy  he never had anything negative to say no matter how bad the situation was'.

'Jacob Betts is my best friend and in the very significant yet little amount of time that I knew him he had impacted my life  so much.'

'He was taken way too young,' the couple added.
A young pregnant woman was undergoing her first ultrasound when it was discovered she had multiple deadly tumours, which were caused by an asbestos-ridden classroom.

Jasmine Thomas, 27, sued the State of Victoria for $2.1million after being diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer called peritoneal mesothelioma after spending time at Footscray North Primary School in the early 2000s.

Repeated biopsies forced doctors to leave a 2cm tumour in the the then-expectant mother because it was inaccessible due to her pregnancy.

She was prescribed with methadone prior to giving birth to her son in April, 2017 before being given a terminal diagnosis because her abdomen was surrounded by the poisonous fibres.

Jasmine Thomas (pictured) sued the State of Victoria for $2.1million after being diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer called peritoneal mesothelioma

Ms Thomas sued the state on the argument the public school's staff were negligent for allowing her to be 'exposed to and inhaled asbestos dust fibres' while at the school between 2000 and 2006, the Herald Sun reported.

Two classrooms at the school were renovated between November 2002 and May 2003, releasing asbestos from the walls and ceiling.

Documents from the Supreme Court reveal doctors found a 'mobile solid lesion' in Ms Thomas during her first ultrasound after she fell pregnant in July 2016.

After several scans, doctors decided to leave the 2cm tumour because of her pregnancy, before she was diagnosed with the terminal form of cancer three months later.

She gave birth to her first child in April 2017 but was unable to pick him up for the first six weeks of his life because of the pain she was experiencing as a result of her condition.

Ms Thomas sued the state on the argument the school's staff were negligent for allowing her to be'exposed to and inhaled asbestos dust fibres' while at Footscray North Primary School

In the civil claim, Ms Thomas estimated she has lost $2.1million in lost earnings and medical costs.

She has recently moved back with her parents due to PTSD suffered as a result of the diagnosis.

The trial, which was set to be held in March, was dismissed after Victoria agreed to settle the case prior to it starting for an undisclosed amount.

Ms Thomas' lawyer, Leah O'Keefe, said the mother remains 'concerned about how much asbestos remains in our community, including in school buildings'.

Victoria's Department for Education refused to comment on the case or whether Footscray North Primary School remained safe for staff and students.

'As this matter is before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment,' a spokeswoman for the department said.

The case has been settled and is no longer before the courts.
The second leaders' debate descended into chaos with Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese shouting at each other and ignoring 60 Minutes host Sarah Abo.

The pair had several fiery clashes at Channel Nine's north Sydney studio on Sunday night with the biggest blow-up coming on the topic of national security when the two men continuously yelled at each other.

In a key moment, the Prime Minister was humbled when he admitted that he should have described the Covid-19 vaccine rollout as a race after he repeatedly told Australians 'it's not a race' at the start of 2021.

But he landed a blow on Mr Albanese when he told the Labor leader 'you have changed your mind on so many things' and listed his policy backflips over the past three years.

'Small target, big risk,' he said while gesticulating at his opponent.

The second leaders' debate descended into chaos with Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese shouting at each other and ignoring 60 Minutes host Sarah Abo

Pictured: The leaders remove their ear-pieces at the end of the bruising debate

Host Sarah Abo (right) struggled to moderate the debate with both men shouting at each other

As the debate raged, a Newspoll showed Labor has extended its lead over the Coalition, now ahead by 54 points to 46 on a two party preferred basis.

If that result is replicated on May 21, Mr Albanese will form a majority government.

Some 50,000 Nine viewers voted for who they prefer as Prime Minister.

There were issues with the online voting poll with many reporting a technical glitch while attempting to vote.

'We are experiencing high volumes of traffic at the moment. Please bear with us and you will have the chance to have your say,' the network said.

The winner of the debate was too close to call with the leaders tied on 50 per cent by the time the Nine broadcast ended at 10.45pm.

Over the course of the program, the leaders clashed on the cost of living, energy policy and corruption.

Mr Albanese urged Australians to vote Labor if they want a better future for the country

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) and the leader of the opposition Anthony Albanese in the Channel Nine studio

Mr Morrison (pictured) said Mr Albanese had not even tried to come up with his own version of a corruption commission after rejecting the Coalition's model

On national security, the Labor leader said the Solomon Islands' new secret security deal with China amounted to a 'massive foreign policy failure' by the Government.

He also blasted Mr Morrison over the Northern Territory government leasing Darwin Port to a Chinese company in 2015 - which Mr Morrison defended by saying the Commonwealth Government had no say in the deal.

'Your party, your tick off,' Mr Albanese said before the PM responded: 'You've been telling this lie for some time.'

That comment sparked a shouting match which host Abo helplessly failed to stop.

As she tried to moderate the debate, both leaders shouted over her, with Mr Morrison saying 'it's a very important point'.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese during the second leaders' debate

The Prime Minister savagely blasted his opponent in a high-tempered brawl over their policies on a federal anti-corruption commission which Mr Morrison has failed to deliver.

Poll Who won the second debate? Scott Morrison Anthony Albanese Who won the second debate? Scott Morrison 648 votes

Anthony Albanese 402 votes Now share your opinion





He said Mr Albanese had not even tried to come up with his own version of a corruption commission after rejecting the Coalition's model.

'Do you have draft legislation for the commission,' Mr Morrison asked his opponent.

'You have put forward a private members bill. So you can but you have not done one for this proposal you are excited about. You don't have any plan.'

The pair talked over each other as Mr Albanese replied: 'I will tell you what the plan is, it is one you don't like.'

The Prime Minister interjected: 'Where is it? You have been hiding in the bushes for three years.'

Mr Albanese smiled and said 'ah rubbish'.

Scott Morrison holds up a piece of paper as the leaders clash during the Nine debate

Sarah Abo struggled to control the debate which descended into chaos on Sunday night

In another tense moment Mr Morrison was quizzed on why he has not campaigned alongside moderate Liberals who face challenges from 'teal' independents in Melbourne and Sydney.

Mr Albanese told the PM: 'You can't even campaign with your Treasurer' before Mr Morrison snapped back: 'I was with him today. You cannot make stuff up, mate'.

In the early stages of the showdown Mr Albanese slammed the Prime Minister's plan to ease pressure on households with one-off additional tax relief for low and middle income earners and the temporary halving of fuel duty until September.

The first fiery moment of the night came after Mr Morrison spruiked his Budget measures to ease cost of living pressures.

Mr Albanese replied: 'The problem with what Scott just said [is that] the cost of living measures that he spoke about are all temporary.

'They have all the sincerity of a fake tan - they disappear once people have cast their vote and people are back on their own again.'

Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese have clashed on the cost of living in second leaders' debate of the election

Mr Morrison is pictured pointing at Mr Albanese. He didn't manage to force Mr Albanese into an obvious error

The Labor leader said Australians need longer-lasting relief such as his proposal for cheaper childcare and policies to help increase wages.

He said it was his 'objective' to get wages growing through industrial relations reforms - but could not guarantee real wage increases.

A few moments later Mr Morrison took the Labor leader to task over his plan to 're-wire the nation' by spending $20million to upgrade the electricity grid, with Mr Morrison claiming Labor's plans would see power prices soar.

The Labor leader says the plan, which will attract $58billion of private investment, will allow cheaper renewable sources to supply 82 per cent of electricity by 2030, and will then save households $378 a year.

But the Prime Minister said upgrading the grid would push power prices up by raising transmission costs.

'That puts up the price of electricity,' he said.

'Thirty per cent of the bill is that. And they [the power companies] recover those costs from the consumer,' he said.

Australian incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese shake hands prior to the debate

In another tense section, Mr Albanese denied lying after Channel Nine political editor Chris Uhlmann brought up his stumble earlier this week on the NDIS where he could not outline his six-point plan during a press conference.

'Mr Albanese your campaign rests on the claim that the prime minister is a liar. This week you claimed you were not given the opportunity to detail a policy you clearly did not know, wasn't that a lie,' Uhlmann said.

The Labor leader replied: 'No it wasn't. The NDIS is about people. That was what my response was, making sure that people are put back at the centre of the NDIS.'

Mr Albanese on Thursday couldn't outline his policy until an advisor passed him a document which he later read from.

The two leaders ruled out extending the fuel excise cut, which has seen the levy slashed by half for six months.

Despite their political differences, both leaders could agree the definition of a woman was an adult female.

The debate began with each leader reading an opening statement. Mr Albanese promised a 'better future' if he is elected on May 21.

'A better future is within our reach, and if I lead, Labor interim government, this is what a better future will look like,' he said.

'We will have cheaper childcare, we will have stronger Medicare including with cheaper medicines to make it easier to see a doctor. We will have more secure work and we have a plan to lift wages.'

Mr Morrison urged voters to stick with him if they wanted a 'strong economy'.

Mr Morrison urged voters to stick with him if they wanted a 'strong economy'

'This is a choice between strength and weakness, a choice between certainty and uncertainty,' he said.

'What you know about the government and what you don't know about the Labor Party and the opposition who have had three years to tell you but haven't.

'So today, tonight, it is all about a choice between who can best manage that economy for a stronger future, because a strong economy means a stronger future.'

The debate comes after a busy weekend campaigning for the two leaders.

Mr Morrison on Sunday announced a $53 million package to help slash the cost of IVF for would-be mums and dads.

Mr Morrison said he understands the hurdles and difficulties many Australians face in trying to have children, after his own family's IVF journey.

'I want to help thousands more Australians achieve their dream of becoming parents,' he said.

Around 50,000 patients received Medicare-funded assisted reproductive technology services in 2020-21, including through IVF, and now patients with cancer or people at risk of passing on genetic diseases will have their egg, sperm or embryo storage subsidised for the first time.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, wife Jenny, daughters Lily and Abbey and mother Marion at a Liberal Party rally in Melbourne on Sunday

'For people battling cancer or staring down the risk of genetic diseases it's already a difficult battle and this new subsidy will help give them more options about their aspirations to become parents,' Mr Morrison said.

'Right when these aspiring mums and dads need help the most, we'll be there.'

Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese said Labor will invest $11 million to help new parents connect with their local playgroups.

A Labor government will help playgroups recover from the Covid-19 disruptions and expand their network across Australia.

'We know that over 90 per cent of human brain development occurs in the first five years,' Mr Albanese said.

'Playgroups play a critical role in that development with kids learning together and developing social skills, as well as creating a vital network for parents.'

Research shows children who are part of a playgroup are more likely to start school ready to learn with better communication, language and cognitive skills than those who aren't part of a playgroup.

'On Mother's Day, I can't think of a better way to come out of the pandemic than by strengthening the communities that are built for mums and kids through increasing funding to grow and support playgroups all over the country.'

Australian Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and Labor candidate for the seat of Bass Ross Hart in Tasmania on Sunday
It comes as another school bombing in Luhansk yesterday killed two, with up to sixty more feared dead

But was reduced to rubble last week despite surviving two World Wars

The school was one of Ukraine's most prestigious educational establishments

It was conceived by Belgian architects amid major foreign investment in Donbas

he Lysychansk Multidisciplinary Gymnasium was built in the late 1800s

Shocking before and after pictures have revealed the full extent of the destruction wrought by Russian missiles on a prestigious 19th-century school in eastern Ukraine.

The Lysychansk Multidisciplinary Gymnasium, located in the town of the same name in Luhansk, was built in the late 19th century as Ukraine's eastern Donbas region became industrialised.

Belgium, France, Britain and Switzerland poured huge sums of money into the Donbas when coalfields were discovered there in the 1800s, and several towns and cities were rapidly developed thanks to the foreign investment.

Belgium became an official partner in the region and Belgian architects were deployed to help construct infrastructure and a host of impressive buildings, of which the gymnasium was an excellent example.

But despite surviving two World Wars and constant unrest in the region since 2014 as pro-Russian separatists attempted to seize power, the reputed school and prized historic landmark was utterly decimated last Sunday by Putin's forces.

Pictures and footage posted by Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai showed the shell of the building crumbling as flames raged throughout its storied corridors and hallways.

It comes as another attack on a different school in the Luhansk region yesterday killed two with up to 60 more feared dead as they sheltered in the school's basement.

 Slide me  The Lysychansk Multidisciplinary Gymnasium, located in the town of the same name in the Luhansk region, was built in the late 19th century as Ukraine's eastern Donbas region became industrialised. But despite surviving two World Wars and constant unrest in the region since 2014 as Moscow-backed pro-Russian separatists attempted to seize power, the reputed school and prized historic landmark was utterly decimated last Sunday by Putin's forces

Belgium became an official partner in the region in the 1800s and Belgian architects were deployed to help construct infrastructure and a host of impressive buildings, of which the gymnasium was an excellent example

Pictures and footage posted by Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai showed the shell of the building crumbling as flames raged throughout its storied corridors and hallways

The building was constructed in the late 19th century thanks to Belgian investment in the Donbas region. It was a celebrated historic landmark until it was destroyed in Russian shelling last Sunday

'Yesterday a fire broke out in the gymnasium as a result of targeted shelling. It burned for several hours. The fire completely destroyed more than a century-old architectural monument,' Haidai said in a Facebook post.

'Lysychansk Multidisciplinary Gymnasium has repeatedly been included in the ranking of the best educational institutions in Ukraine.

'Its graduates have always passed their evaluation with high performance and entered the best higher educational institutions in the country.

'Now the school is ashes. This is what the ''Russian world'' looks like.

'After the Victory of Ukraine, we will make every effort to restore the gymnasium!'

A graduate of the school, Yana Goncharenko, said: 'It was created more than 100 years ago by the Belgians. It was among the top 100 schools in the country. It survived two world wars and the battle for the city in 2014, but animals without morals burned it down in 2022.'

Meanwhile, two people have been killed and 60 more are feared dead following a Russian airstrike on a school in the Ukrainian village of Bilohorivka yesterday.

Around 90 people were using the Belogorovskaya school basement as a bomb shelter when the site suffered a direct hit on Saturday evening, Haidai confirmed via the Telegram messaging app this morning.

Footage and images of the school show the extent of the destruction, with large sections of the building reduced to rubble and a team of firefighters drafted in to combat the resulting blaze.

Rescuers managed to pull thirty people out of the ruins last night, Haidai said, but up to sixty more remain trapped in the basement and are thought to have been killed.

'The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the rubble was cleared, and unfortunately the bodies of two people were found,' Haidai wrote.

'Sixty people are likely to have died under the rubble of buildings.'

Rescuers continued to work from the early hours, attempting to clear the remaining rubble and free any remaining survivors.

Separately, Haidai said that according to preliminary information, shelling in the village of Shypilovo destroyed a house and 11 people remained under the building's debris.

There was no immediate response from Russian authorities.

Burning debris is seen, after a school building was hit as a result of shelling, in the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk, Ukraine, May 7, 2022

Only parts of the building remained standing after it suffered a direct hit from a Russian airstrike yesterday

Emergency crew stands amid the burning debris of Belogorovskaya school in the Luhansk region. Sixty people are believed to be trapped under the rubble and are feared dead

Elsewhere, Russian forces kept up their barrage of southern Ukraine, hitting the major Black Sea port of Odesa with cruise missiles and bombarding the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters remained trapped underground.

Moscow was aiming to complete its conquest of Mariupol in time for Victory Day celebrations on Monday, but Putin's forces continue to face dogged resistance from defenders within the bunkers beneath the factory.

All civilians have now been evacuated from the besieged steel plant but hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers are still holding out against the Russian onslaught.

Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv.

Ukraine's military said retreating Russian forces destroyed three bridges on a road northeast of the city to try to slow the Ukrainian advance.

The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition that has killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed large swaths of some cities.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, when Russia celebrates Nazi Germany's defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.
The Russian warship Vitiaz circa 1886-1893. Wikimedia, public domain.



By Robert Neff



In early April 1893, the Russian warship, the Vitiaz (Valiant Warrior), departed Japan for Korea  its mission was to survey the coast along the eastern side of the peninsula so that the Russian government could update its charts. The previous charts were about forty years old and were filled with inaccuracies.



For a little over a month, the Russian warship carried out its mission with relative ease  the crew's boredom likely being the greatest challenge the officers faced. However, things all changed on the afternoon of May 10th. As the warship approached the bay near Port Lazareff, calamity struck. According to one source:



"The Vitiaz was caught in a heavy [typhoon], and in spite of the efforts of her crew to prevent it, the big seas broke over her and flooded several of the lower compartments. The ship could make no headway against the [typhoon] and gradually drifted on [to a] reef, where she struck several times. Before she could [make her way] into deep water again, she lost one of her propellers and also two blades from the other, an accident that rendered her perfectly helpless, and in order to prevent the ship going ashore, the anchors were let go."



According to this narrative, the anchors only managed to hold the ship in place for a short time before they began to drag and the ship was forced up on the beach  stern first. It was a rather fanciful but inaccurate account  just one of many.



Several other sources indicate that Captain Zarine may have been seeking shelter. His charts  the ones that were forty years old  indicated he had five fathoms (about 9.1 meters) of water beneath him but he soon discovered there were actually less than two fathoms (about 3.6 meters). According to a man identifying himself as Lieutenant Vassilieff  the first officer of the warship  when it struck the submerged rock, it drove "a hole clear through the vessel."



It was at this point, Vassilieff claimed, that he and the crew "hastily lowered the boats and got into them just in time to see the cruiser go down. We had gone only about a mile in the boats when a heavy sea came up, and the boat containing the first officer and eight men was swamped and all drowned. By hard pulling we succeeded in making a landing near [Wonsan], on the Korean coast. There we got food and water, and after a few days' rest we started for Vladivostok, Siberia."





Part of an 1890 map showing the location of Port Lazareff and Wonsan. Robert Neff Collection

We can surmise from his account that either Vassilieff was a ghost (remember, he claimed to be the first officer) or he was lying. "First officer Vassilieff" apparently gleaned his information from earlier newspaper accounts of the wreck and even repeated the same wrong dates.



Other  more believable accounts  claim that from the moment the ship struck the rock until she "was safely beached, everything possible was done to save the ship, and within two days the whole of her heavy guns, top-masts, yards, etc., were safely landed without a single mishap," using the warship's own boats and also Korean junks that were later employed.



The crew  some 390 officers and sailors  had "no difficulty getting ashore" and word was soon sent to Nagasaki asking for divers and workmen to be sent so that the ship could be repaired sufficiently enough for it to be able to sail to a nearby port with a dry dock.



By the end of the month, several Russian warships had arrived at the wreck site as well as divers, engineers and workmen from the Mitsu Bishi Company. According to The Rising Sun & Nagasaki Express (an English-language newspaper published in Nagasaki):



"Work in connection with raising the sunken cruiser Vitiaz is progressing favourably, and providing no adverse winds are experienced great hopes are entertained of having her afloat in a very short time. She is, we believe, only exposed to easterly winds, which do not usually prevail at this season of the year, and the prospects of a typhoon in that latitude are very remote."



The paper informed its readers that the warship would be raised "by means of the pontoons which form the floating dock at Vladivostok," which were being towed to the site by Russian warships. Once the ship was raised, it would be towed to Port Lazareff (about 16 kilometers away) where temporary repairs would be made and then it would sail to Nagasaki for its final repairs.



The divers soon discovered the damage was much more extensive than initially thought. There were several holes in the hull but could not be easily accessed due to the ship's position in the sand. Further investigations revealed that the starboard propeller shaft was completely broken off and the rudder heavily damaged. Yet, the repairmen were optimistic that the ship could be saved.





A possible image of the wreck of the warship near Port Lazareff in 1893. Wikimedia, public domain
One of Vladimir Putin's closest cronies claims Russia could destroy all NATO countries 'in half a hour'.

Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Kremlin's space agency, Roscosmos, also admitted the strongman's aim is to defeat the 'enemy' West and expunge Ukraine from the map.

'NATO is waging a war against us,' said the former deputy premier of the 30-state Western military alliance.

'They didn't announce it, but that doesn't change anything. Now it's obvious to everyone.'

The hardliner, 58, said: 'In a nuclear war, NATO countries will be destroyed by us in half an hour.

'But we must not allow it, because the consequences of the exchange of nuclear strikes will affect the state of our Earth.

'Therefore, we will have to defeat this economically and militarily more powerful enemy with conventional armed means.'

He hinted that Putin would put Russia on a war footing amid speculation that a mass mobilisation is on the cards to bolster his flagging war effort.

'Such a victory is possible with the full solidarity of the whole country with the army, the mobilisation of the state economy.'

Industry must be immediately forced to serve military objectives, he said.

'This must be done immediately and quickly,' he said.

Rogozin's statements came as the final dress rehearsal for tomorrow's Victory Day parade in Moscow saw nuclear weapons wheeled through the Red Square just metres away from the Kremlin.

Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Kremlin's space agency, Roscosmos, also admitted the strongman's aim is to defeat the 'enemy' West and expunge Ukraine from the map

He hinted that Putin would put Russia on a war footing amid speculation that a mass mobilisation is on the cards to bolster his flagging war effort

Using a word that Putin has banned in relation to Ukraine - 'war' - he said: 'This is a war for the truth - and the right of Russia to exist as a single and independent state.'

He insisted: 'The very existence of a Ukraine separate from Russia will inevitably turn it into anti-Russia and a springboard of the West for aggression against our people.

'That is why what we call a Special Military Operation goes far beyond its original meaning and geography.'

He did not say which other territory Putin was eyeing beyond Ukraine.

But he claimed NATO was engaged in a proxy war using Ukrainian soldiers to fight without putting their own forces in harm's way.

'The armed forces of Ukraine are expendable cannon fodder for NATO,' he said.

'They are only operators trained by NATO instructors who push the levers and buttons of NATO weapons.'

However, Rogozin contradicted Putin by saying 'we are not fighting the Nazis in Ukraine'.

He said: 'We are liberating Ukraine from NATO occupation and pushing the worst enemy away from our western borders.'

Rogozin's blast against the West and Ukraine came after he highlighted that British YouTuber Benjamin Rich, who has over 3.5million subscribers, was detained at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan - implying he might have been spying.

Rich was with his Belarusian girlfriend Alina Zelupa.

Rogozin twisted her family name to give it a rude meaning, and claimed the extent of their illegal activities was being established.

'Basically, I was questioned by Russian police for a few hours for going to see the Buran rocket without the special permission and given a 60-pound administrative fine just like hundreds of foreign adventurers before me.'

Meanwhile, Rogozin's warning that the world must avoid nuclear war came as thermonuclear weapons were rolled through Moscow's Red Square as Russia gears up for its Victory Day parade tomorrow to commemorate the former Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

Rich was with his Belarusian girlfriend Alina Zelupa at the Russian spaceport

Rogozin's blast against the West and Ukraine came after he highlighted that British YouTuber Benjamin Rich was detained at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan

The RS-24 Yars ballistic missile - which experts believe can can carry up to 10 warheads - was seen taking pride and joy as it was driven past rows of armed guards on a green 16-wheeler vehicle on Saturday

Russian MiG-29SMT jet fighters forming the symbol 'Z' in support of Russian military action in Ukraine, fly over central Moscow during the general rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade on May 7, 2022

The intercontinental weapon, which weighs 49.6 tonnes, can travel up to 24,500km/hr and is capable of hitting targets up to 12,000km away - meaning it could strike London or New York within minutes.

The weapon of mass destruction was followed closely by several Iskander-M missile launchers, as men and women marched outside the Kremlin dressed in military garb, waving Russian flags and performing salutes.

Eight MiG-29 fighters also flew past in a 'Z' formation - the insignia used by Putin's military as a symbol of its military action in Ukraine, which critics have likened to the swastika used by the Nazis.

The rehearsal unfolded as the Ukraine-based Centre for Defence Strategies said that 500 captured fighters supporting Ukraine could be 'forced to go through Red Square for cameras', according to The Times.

Three British fighters could be among the 500 after Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were captured by Russian forces in Mariupol last month as they fought alongside Ukrainian defenders.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today released a rousing video on the eve of Russia's 'Victory Day' celebrations tomorrow, declaring that 'no evil will avoid responsibility' and proclaiming that Ukraine will emerge victorious from the war.

'Every year on May 8, along with the entire civilised world, we honour those who defended the planet from Nazism in World War Two... But we have not made it even a century. Our 'never again' lasted only 77 years. Evil has been reborn,' the President declared as he stood in front of a residential tower block building destroyed by Russian shelling

His declaration coincides with Victory in Europe Day (VE Day), when many European countries commemorate the unconditional surrender of Nazi forces on May 8, 1945, marking the Allied victory in WWII.

'Every year on May 8, along with the entire civilised world, we honour those who defended the planet from Nazism in World War Two... But we have not made it even a century. Our 'never again' lasted only 77 years. Evil has been reborn,' the President declared as he stood in front of a residential tower block building destroyed by Russian shelling.

'Despite the beast's new mask, [Ukraine and its allies] have recognised him. Because, unlike some, they understand what our ancestors fought for, and against.'

'Our ancestors proved that no evil can avoid responsibility. It will not be able to hide in the bunker. There will be no stone left of it.

'So we will overcome everything, and we know this for sure because our military and all our people are the descendants of those who overcame Nazism.

'They will win again and there will be peace again.'
Vladimir Putin suffered another grievous blow ahead of his Victory Day military extravaganza in Moscow tomorrow with the death of his 39th colonel in his bloody war in Ukraine.

Lt-Col Fezul Bichikaev, 36, was a high-flying elite soldier who died on a secret intelligence mission.

The father-of-three is being portrayed as a hero who was killed near Kharkiv 'with a machine gun in his hands covering his subordinates', according to reports in Russia.

A radio signal announced 'the commander is wounded' after a bullet pierced an artery, but he reportedly ordered his men: 'It's a scratch! Keep working! Work!'

'Thanks to the self-sacrifice and heroism of the officer, it was possible to save the lives of servicemen, destroy the enemy's sabotage group, and complete the combat mission,' said military expert Oleg Marzoev on a local news website in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia.

Lt-Col Fezul Bichikaev, 36, died in Ukraine on May 2, 2022, becoming the 39th Russian colonel to die in Ukraine

Russian aircrafts flew in a 'Z formation' during the Moscow Victory Day parade rehearsal

Eight MiG-29 fighters fly in a 'Z' formation, the insignia used by Putin's military as a symbol of its war in Ukraine

He was one of Russia's youngest colonels, second in command of his regiment, and his death amounted to 'a heavy, irreparable loss', said the report.

His funeral was being held today.

Bichikaev's death comes a day after the disclosure of the death of Lt-Col Fyodor Solovyov, 44, in the Donbas.

Solovyov was commander of the howitzer self-propelled artillery regiment of the 127 motorised rifle division.

He was buried with full military honours and a triple volley of guns in Chunaki village, Penza region.

Lt-Col Eduard Dmitriev, 44, (left) died in Vladimir Putin's 'special military operation' in Ukraine on April 24, 2022. Lieutenant colonel Fyodor Solovyov (right) died in Donbas, he was buried in Penza region. He was the 38th Russian Colonel to die in Ukraine since February 24

Solovyov was buried with full military honours. He was commander of the howitzer self-propelled artillery regiment of the 127 motorised rifle division

Four days earlier Lt-Col Eduard Dmitriev, 44, a tank commander, was reported to have been killed.

Nine generals and 38 colonels have been killed since 24 February in Putin's war according to known statistics, although Russia has not come clean on total fatalities.

Reports have claimed that the US has offered intelligence to Ukraine to help target high ranking commanders, destroying morale in the Russian forces.

Details were not given as to how he was killed but he was posthumously awarded Russia's Order of Courage

Nine generals and 39 colonels have been killed since 24 February in Putin's war according to known statistics, although Russia has not come clean on total fatalities

His death was revealed as the Russian armed forces today rehearsed in Moscow for Monday's vast military parade on Red Square marking the end of the Second World War.

Despite the setbacks, Putin is pressing ahead with his annual May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow, commemorating the end of World War Two .

It will include a flypast by eight MiG-29 fighters in a 'Z' formation - the insignia used by Putin's military as a symbol of its war in Ukraine - as well as Russian strategic missile systems.

Critics have likened it to the swastika used by German Nazis.
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This is the dramatic moment Italian police moved in today on a 570 million superyacht said to belong to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Officers boarded The Scheherazade to serve paperwork to the yacht's British captain Guy Bennett Pearce, telling him it would be unable to set sail from the dry dock where it is undergoing a multi-million-pound refit.

Authorities in the Italian port of Marina di Carrara near Pisa have been trawling through paperwork in a bid to identify the vessel's ultimate owner since March.

Supporters of jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny have established The Scheherazade's Russian crew are all members of the Russian tyrant's personal protection service.

But they have since been spirited away in the dead of night and replaced by a skeleton crew of Britons who have been told they must remain onboard for the time being.

The exclusive footage obtained by MailOnline shows a launch from the Italian financial police approaching the yacht with its blue lights flashing.

Officers then board the yacht and crew member in a white polo shirt is seen walking down the gangplank to meet them and the berth is surrounded by several police cars while the paperwork is served.

A helicopter also buzzed the yacht to ensure that it didn't set sail as a large crowd of onlookers gathered to watch.

Officers boarded The Scheherazade to serve paperwork to the yacht's British captain Guy Bennett Pearce, telling him it would be unable to set sail from the dry dock where it is undergoing a multi-million-pound refit

Authorities in the Italian port of Marina di Carrara near Pisa have been trawling through paperwork in a bid to identify the vessel's ultimate owner since March

Officers boarded the yacht to serve paperwork. A helicopter also buzzed the yacht to ensure that it didn't set sail as a large crowd of onlookers gathered to watch

The yacht has been in dry dock since last summer and in previous years has also been spotted at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi where Putin has a lavish summer holiday residence

Last week there were fears the yacht, which boasts six decks, gold plated toilet roll holders, marble bathroom fittings and two helicopter pads was about to head towards international waters and escape sanctions.

Locals said she had been taking on fuel and water and activists urged the Italian government to act and impound the vessel as part of the European Union sanctions against Putin and his unjustified war in Ukraine.

Italian authorities have not named the ultimate owner of the yacht other than to say they had 'significant business and economic ties' with 'key members of the Russian government'.

The yacht has been in dry dock since last summer and in previous years has also been spotted at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi where Putin has a lavish summer holiday residence.

A source said: 'Officers boarded the vessel late on Friday and told the captain and the crew were not to leave pending further investigations by the Italian authorities.

'I personally was not there but I did hear back from some of the squad who commented on the level of luxury onboard - they said it was exceptionally well furnished with beautiful artwork and interior decor of the finest quality.'

Some Italian media have speculated the ultimate owner may be Eduard Khudaynatov, an oil tycoon not currently under sanctions.

Khudaynatov also owns the stunning Villa Altachiara at nearby Portofino where an Italian countess and socialite Francesca Vacca Agusta committed suicide.

He is a longtime associate of Igor Sechin, a close Putin ally and chairman of the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft but US officials said to be working closely with Navalny supporters have linked the vessel to the Kremlin supremo.

It has also emerged that the Italian state will have to pay for the upkeep of the yacht whilst investigations are ongoing.

The Agenzia del Demanio, the Italian state property agency, will be responsible for ordinary maintenance work, custody and management fees, lawyer Tommaso Bertucelli told Il Tirreno newspaper.

He said: 'It will be the Agenzia del Demanio who will pay, including for the the crew which remains on board.'

The arrangement is standard practice for assets seized from Russian oligarchs in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

In a statement The Italian Sea Group, who is carrying out the 5 million refit, said the financial police have 'executed a decree freezing The Scheherazade'.

It added: 'This action will not impact any of its activities, which will proved regularly, and the Italian Sea Group will collaborate with authorities.'

Italy's financial police patrol boat is seen in front of the multi-million-dollar mega yacht Scheherazade, docked at the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara

The yacht has been the subject of an investigation by the Italian financial police since the end of March and has been in dock at Marina di Carrara near Pisa since September undergoing a refit

Activists and investigative journalists linked to Navalny are convinced the yacht belongs to Putin.

They obtained information which suggested that many of the yacht's crew were members of the Federal Protection Service, the agency that provides security for Putin and his acolytes.

The decision to seize the Cayman islands registered yacht after the head of the investigative arm of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation Maria Pevchikh posted on Twitter:' Ok guys we have a problem, Putin's secret $700 million yacht is about to escape sanctions by simply taking off from Italy.

'It's a matter of days now. The Italian authorities are doing nothing to stop it. So we should.'

A probe into the vessel's crew revealed that almost all of them worked for either the FSB or FSO - Russian secret services that are charged with protecting Putin - and routinely flew to and from Moscow on shift rotations.

The only member of the crew who did not work for the secret service was British captain Guy Bennett Pierce, who confirmed that the vessel is Russian-owned but refused to say who the owner is.

Documents for the Scheherazade seen by Navalny's team show the official owner is an offshore company from the Marshall Islands - a tactic commonly used by the super-rich to conceal their wealth.

Putin is also known to list family or friends as owners, with his name almost never used on official documents.

Shortly after the results of Navalny's investigation were published, the entire Russian crew vanished and were replaced by Britons. No reason for the replacement was given.

Workers taking part in the vessel re-fit have described it as a miniature floating city - complete with 'countless swimming pools, a spa, a sauna, a theatre, ballrooms, a gym, [and two helipads].'

The boat even houses its own hospital, workers said, amid rumours that Putin's health is failing.

Italy's financial police patrol boat is seen in front of the multi-million-dollar mega yacht Scheherazade, docked at the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara

Investigators for Putin arch-rival Alexei Navalny say the boat - which features a dancefloor that lowers to reveal a swimming pool - belongs to the Russian despot because it was almost entirely staffed by secret service agents

An Italian probe into the owner of the boat - which features huge entertaining spaces equipped with a grand piano - has yet to conclude, but Putin is widely thought to be the owner

The yacht arrived at the port at the end of last summer under the steerage of Captain Bennett-Pearce, who denies that Putin is the owner or has ever been on board.

Paolo Gozzani, of the local CGIL Union, spoke to MailOnline in late March when the Russian crew were suddenly recalled from the Scheherazade. He said: 'From what I have heard the Russian crew were all replaced during the last few days and now they are all British.

'It was all a few days, the word from inside is that they were called back to report for military service and now there are armed guards surrounding it as well. You can't get anywhere near her and the level of security is unbelievable.'

A source at the marina said: 'You could spot the Russians a mile off they were in the local bars most night, drinking vodka and beer.

'They were big looking guys and then one day they all just disappeared. To be honest for me they didn't look like a yacht crew they looked like a small army or security detail.'

The six-deck Scheherazade is one of the largest and most-expensive privately-owned boats in the world - with space equivalent to two apartment blocks.

The yacht has room for 18 guests in nine luxury cabins in addition to a crew of 40, residing in 20 cabins and boasts two helipads, a royal suite, a swimming pool, a spa and a beauty salon.
First Lady Jill Biden spent Mother's Day at the Slovakia-Ukraine border, meeting and offering support to Ukrainian mothers and children who have been displaced by Russia's invasion, after telling President Biden, 'I can't just sit by and do nothing.'

The First Lady said in an interview that aired Saturday that the resilience and strength of the refugees who kissed their loved ones goodbye while their country was being attacked inspired her to help  and that she needed to 'go stand with the mothers of Ukraine' on Mother's Day.

'Like most Americans watching the TV, we saw all those mothers gathering their children, kissing their husbands goodbye, and then leaving the country,' Biden told MSNBC's Symone Sanders.

'And it just was so emotional and just so heart-wrenching. And I said to Joe, "I can't sit by, I just can't sit by and do nothing."'

Biden traveled to Romania first where she spent Friday and Saturday visiting with U.S. troops and meeting with Ukrainian refugee families.

'If they can be strong, then I can be strong for them,' Biden said. 'So I hope I bring strength, saying the people of the United States  I hope that they know that I have the hearts of everyone in the United States, I'm carrying the United States with me to say we're standing with you.'

First Lady Jill Biden talked about why she wanted to spend Mother's Day at the Slovakia-Ukraine border in a taped interview that aired Saturday

Biden told MSNBC's Symone Sanders that watching the refugees being torn from their families while fleeing their country during the invasion 'was so emotional and just so heart-wrenching. And I said to Joe, "I can't sit by, I just can't sit by and do nothing"'

First Lady Jill Biden spent Mother's Day at the Slovakia-Ukraine border, meeting Ukrainian refugees and humanitarian workers at a city-run refugee center in Kosice, Slovakia on Sunday

hugs Ukrainian refugees Victorie Kutocha and her daughter Yulie Kutocha, 7, at a city-run refugee center in Kosice, Slovakia on Mother's Day 2022

US First Lady Jill Biden meets Ukrainian refugees Victorie Kutocha (hidden R) and her daughter Yulie Kutocha, 7, at a city-run refugee center in Kosice, Slovakia, on Sunday. The center is a place for Ukrainian refugees to rest and prepare for onward travel

In the interview, Biden also told Sanders that she has spoken with the First Lady of Poland about a list of things they need assistance with.

'They need so much,' Biden told Sanders. 'You know they have so many children without parents, you know, so many orphans that need childcare, that need clothing, that needhealth supplies, I mean they need food.'

Biden is on a four-day trip to Eastern Europe to highlight U.S. support for Ukrainian refugees and for the allied countries, including Romania and Slovakia, that are providing a safe haven for them.

The trip, which is the most high-profile one to date taking by the first lady, is only her second solo overseas trip. Last summer she went to Tokyo to cheer on U.S. athletes at the Olympic Summer Games.

At a bus station in the city of Kosice that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center, Biden found herself in an extended conversation with a Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children because she cannot understand it herself.

'I cannot explain because I don't know myself and I'm a teacher,' Viktoriia Kutocha, who had her arms around her 7-year-old daughter, Yulia, told Biden.

At one point, Kutocha asked, 'Why?' seeming to seek an explanation for Russia's decision to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.

It's so hard to understand,' the first lady replied.

The 24-hour facility is one of six refugee centers in Slovakia, providing an average of 300 to 350 people daily with food, showers, clothing, emergency on-site accommodations and other services, according to information provided by the White House.

Biden meets Ukrainian refugees Victorie Kutocha and her daughter Yulie Kutocha, 7, at a city-run refugee center in Kosice, Slovakia on Sunday

Biden, wearing a flower corsage on her wrist - a Mother's Day gift from President Joe Biden - also dropped in at a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students.

Slovakian and Ukrainian moms were brought together at the school for a Mother's Day event while their children made crafts to give them as gifts.

Biden went from table to table meeting the mothers and kids. She told some of the women that she wanted to come and ' say the hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine.'

'I just wanted to come and show you our support,' she said before departing for the border village of Vysne Nemecke to tour its border processing facility.

Jill Biden fought back tears at times as she heard from Ukrainian refugees about fleeing their homeland when she met with mothers at a school in Bucharest

First lady Jill Biden visits with people at a city-run refugee center in Kosice, Slovakia, Sunday, May 8, 2022, for Ukranian refugees as they rest and prepare for onward travel. Biden will then travel to the Slovak border with Ukraine to meet with refugees

At the border village, Biden surveyed operations set up by the United Nations and other relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge in Slovakia. She attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel, where a priest intoned, 'We pray for the people of Ukraine.'

In recent weeks border crossings are averaging less than 2,000 per day, down from over 10,000 per day immediately following Russia's further invasion of Ukraine, and a large portion of that flow is daily cross border traffic.

Biden fought back tears on Saturday as she heard heartbreaking stories from Ukrainian refugees about fleeing their homeland and she warned the humanitarian crisis could get worse.

Among the stories the first lady heard during her visit to a public school in Romania, which has taken in refugees, was one from seven-year-old Mila of Kyiv, who told Biden: 'I want to return to my father.'

The 90-minute visit was filled with joy in addition to the sorrow. In addition to hearing the anguishing stories, Biden also laughed with the kids during their art projects, handed out presidential M&Ms, and gave hugs.

S First Lady Jill Biden (C) with Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger (3rd L) at the Slovak-Ukraine border crossing in Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia, 08 May 2022. Jill Biden is currently on a tour of the region to meet with displaced Ukrainians, NGO workers and volunteers

Biden arrives at a primary school on Tomasikova street, Kosice, Slovakia on Sunday

But she appeared anguished at times when she sat down with a group of Ukrainian women who described the trauma of trying to rebuild their lives in a new country.

Anastasia Konovalvoa, a Ukrainian teacher who fled in March to Romania, told the first lady her only thoughts were saving her child.

'I crossed the border with my three-year-old son and everything I was thinking about was how to save my child from a city that was bombed,' she said. 'Thank god the Romanian people were here.'

Biden told her: 'We stand with you. I hope you know that.'

She praised the women for being strong.

'I think mothers will do anything for their children  I think you're amazingly strong and resilient,' Biden said. 'It's just amazing that the Romanian people have taken you into their homes and into their hearts.'

Jill Biden met and heard from seven-year-old Mila of Kyiv, who told the first lady: 'I want to return to my father.'

, Jill Biden speaks with Ukrainian children who fled to Slovakia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Mother's Day at Primary School Tomasikova 31 on May 8 in Kosice, Slovakia

The first lady appeared on the verge of tears as she listened to the refugees' stories.

Almost 6 million refugees have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24, according to the United Nations. Nearly 7,000 are entering Romania a day with roughly 900,000 total having come to Romania thus far, though many have continued on to other countries.

'Wasn't it heartbreaking?,' Biden told reporters traveling with her of the visit. 'The little girl that said her wish was to be with her daddy, and then another said my wish is to go home, and then you can see it those children really have suffered.

She said she was worried the humanitarian crisis, which is being called the worst since World War II, will continue to grow.

'We wake up every morning and think 'this has to end,' but it still keeps going on and on,' she said.

She described her visit to the Scoala Gimnaziala Uruguay in Bucharest as 'amazing' and 'emotional.'

She visited the school, which is hosting two classrooms of refugees aged 5-15 years, with Romanian first lady Camen Iohannis.

Support at the school is being provided by the Romanian government, UNHCR, UNICEF and Save the Children.

'I'm very grateful that you took the time and made the effort to visit us,' Iohannis told her. 'Sticking together, being united is very important to us.'

During her 90 minute visit to the school, Jill Biden offered hugs and posed for selfies

Jill Biden gives h Ukrainian teacher Anastasia Konovalova flowers after hearing her story

Jill Biden is on a four-day trip to Europe to observe the humanitarian crisis

During her school visit, Biden dispensed with hugs and posed for selfies. She handed flowers to the Ukrainian mothers ahead of Mother's Day.

And she gave 'Heidi Junior' chocolate bars and Air Force One M&Ms with President Biden's signature to the children.

In addition to hearing their stories, she asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up.

She also watched them do arts and crafts projects - the children were tracing their hands and cutting them out on paper printed with Ukrainian and Romanian flags. They wrote messages of hope on paper butterflies.

She and Iohannis also were treated to a performance: students sang the Romanian national anthem and then a Ukrainian military march song.

In a briefing with UN officials, Biden, a teacher, asked about the mental health services and schooling available to children.

She was told they need more counselors and need to continue to train teachers to be able to assist students with trauma.

She tied her trip to Mother's Day weekend with the focus being on the the Ukrainian families who have suffered since Vladimir Putin invaded their country.

Her daughter Ashley, was scheduled to travel with her but dropped out of the trip after a close contact with a person who tested positive for covid. Ashley has tested negative.
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Jill Biden visited the Ukraine in a surprise visit on Sunday where she met her Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelensky and expressed American support for the embattled nation.

'I wanted to come on Mother's Day. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine,' she said.

Biden is the highest profile member of President Joe Biden's administration to visit the war torn country. She called the president from her car as her motorcade left the Ukraine to return to Slovena, an East Wing official said.

The visit wasn't announced due to security reasons. The first lady traveled by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian village that borders Ukraine. She spent about two hours in Ukraine.

The first lady always planned to visit a school in the Ukraine as part of her trip, her spokesperson Michael LaRosa told reporters traveling with her but Ukrainian officials suggested Mrs. Zelensky would want to meet her. That part of the visit came together in the past 10 days.

Biden gave Zelensky, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a bouquet of flowers. This is the first time Zelensky has appeared in public since Feb. 24, the date that Russia invaded.

The two first ladies have exchanged correspondences in the last few weeks, the White House said. It began when the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. gave Biden a letter from Mrs. Zelensky at the State of the Union, when she was one of the first lady's guests. Zelensky sent Biden another letter in April expressing concerns about the toll of the war having on the mental health of children, soldiers and families.

'First of all, I would like to thank you for a very courageous act,' Zelensky said through a translator when she and Jill Biden met together at the school

'Because we understand what it takes for the US First Lady to come here during a war when the military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day even today,' she said. She and her children have been in a secure location during the war.

'We all feel your support and we all feel the leadership of the U.S. president but we would like to note that the Mother's Day is a very symbolic day for us because we also feel your love and support during such an important day,' Zelensky said.

The two also met privately for about 30 minutes. LaRosa said the first lady asked Zelensky how she was doing as a mother and how she handling the war. Zelensky said she was grateful she 'is able to hold her children's hands every night even though she can't be with her husband.'

The first ladies visited a public school in Uzhhorod that is being used as temporary housing and shelter for 163 displaced Ukrainians, including 47 children.

They joined kids who were working on art projects for their mothers. The children were crafting cardboard and tissue paper bears, which represent the symbol of the Zakarpattia Oblast.

Both women worked on crafting their own bears, using white and yellow tissue paper.

President Joe Biden has said he would like to visit the Ukraine but is not allowed - likely due to security reasons. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been the most high-profile members of the administration to date to visit the Ukraine. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress also have visted and met with President Zelensky in Kyiv.

Jill Biden's visit came a few hours before President Zelensky was scheduled to speak with President Biden and western allies in a G7 virtual meeting. The first lady was in the Western part of the country as officials feared dozens of Ukrainians had been killed by a Russian airstrike in eastern Ukraine, where the fighting is at its strongest. Jill Biden was never in any danger.

Jill Biden and Olena Zelensky, wife of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky

Jill Biden with Olena Zelensky - this is the first time Zelensky has appeared in public since Feb. 24, the date of the Russian invasion

Jill Biden and Olena Zelensky join a group of children in making tissue-paper bears

Jill Biden and Olena Zelensky have corresponded in the past few weeks, the White House said

First Lady Jill Biden reaches out to hug Olena Zelenska, spouse of Ukrainian's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, at the end of their visit to School 6, a public school that has taken in displaced students in Uzhhorod, Ukraine

Jill Biden spent about two hours in the Ukraine on Sunday, where she met with Olena Zelensky, and visited a school

Jill Biden was not the only high-profile figure to visit the Ukraine on Mother's Day.

U2 stars Bono and The Edge performed a surprise concert in Kyiv after being personally invited by President Zelensky.

And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a secret stop in Irpin, a Kyiv suburb targeted during Russia's attempt to take the capital, and met Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn.

Trudeau's office said in a statement: 'The prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelensky and reaffirm Canada's unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.'

Bono and The Edge also visited the site of a mass grave by the church in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, near Kyiv. Bono bowed his head in prayer during the visit.

He performed what he called a 'Freedom Concert' inside the Khreshchatyk metro station in Kyiv.

'Your president leads the world in the cause of freedom right now ... The people of Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you're fighting for all of us who love freedom,' Bono told a crowd of up to 100.

He rallied the crowd with the words, changing the lyrics to his song 'Pride' to fit the fight in the Ukraine.

'This evening, 8th of May, shots will ring out in the Ukraine sky, but you'll be free at last. They can take your lives, but they can never take your pride,' he said

Andrii Holovine, priest of the Church of St. Andrew Pervozvannoho All Saints (second from right) guides Bono (center) and The Edge (right) visiting the site of a mass grave by the church in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, near Kyiv

Holovine shows Bono and The Edge images on his cell phone during their visit

Candian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau surveys damage in a building complex in Irpin, Ukraine

Trudeau made an unannounced visit to Irpin, a Kyiv suburb targeted during Russia's attempt to take the capital and met its Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn

Bono (left) of the band U2 performs with Ukrainian singer Taras Topolya (right) from Antytila band, who now serves in the Ukrainian army, during a surprise concert in a metro station in Kyiv

Jill Biden's secret visit came after the first lady spent Mother's Day comforting Ukrainian women and children in Slovakia and touring the border region where refugees escape the war with Russia.

'The hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine,' she told refugees.

The trip showcased Jill Biden's soft diplomatic touch, focusing on women and children, areas of interest to the first lady, who is a teacher. It featured words of compassion and many hugs.

She said she was inspired to make the trip by the images of refugees on television.

'Like most Americans watching the TV, we saw all those mothers gathering their children, kissing their husbands goodbye, and then leaving the country,' Biden told MSNBC's Symone Sanders in an interview conducted before shshe left for Europe.

'And it just was so emotional and just so heart-wrenching. And I said to Joe, "I can't sit by, I just can't sit by and do nothing."'

During her trip on Sunday, Biden met a mother who struggled to explain the Russian invasion to her children, walked the line of the border along chain-length fence to tour the tent city that offered humantarian assistance, gave hugs and met with students.

At a bus station in Kosice the first lady met Viktoriia Kutocha, a refugee and fellow teacher, who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children. Her seven-year-old daughter Yulie was at her side.

'I cannot explain because I dont know myself and Im a teacher,' Kutocha told Biden. 'They come to our land. They kill us, but they say we protect you.'

'It's so hard to understand,' Biden said.

She patted Kutocha arm when the mother got choked up and couldn't continue. 'Thank you for talking with me,' the first lady said.

Kutocha shared her emotional journey out of her war-torn homeland and said her husband remains there where he has joined the fighting.

'How I can explain this to child? It's impossible,' she said. 'I try to keep them safe. It's my mission.'

'It's senseless,' Biden said.

Yulie then hugged the first lady, who brought in her mother for a group hug.

The 24-hour facility is one of six refugee centers in Slovakia. It provides services to approximiately 300 to 350 people daily - offering food, showers, clothing, emergency on-site accommodations and other services, according to information provided by the White House.

The vast majority of arriving refugees transit through Kosice and move onward to other countries or other Slovak cities.

Biden also visited the Vysne Nemecke crossing at the Ukraine-Slovakian border, where refugees receive basic services before moving on to other processing centers further inside Slovakia.

Humanitarian organizations also use the area to transport assistance into the Ukraine.

About 2,000 people per day cross at the area, down from over 10,000 per day immediately following Russia's further invasion of Ukraine - and a large portion of that flow is daily cross border traffic.

First lady Jill Biden talks with Ukrainian refugees Victorie Kutocha and her daughter Yulie Kutocha, 7, at a city-run refugee center in Kosice, Slovakia

Biden hugs Victorie Kutocha and her daughter Yulie Kutocha

Jill Biden speaks with Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger as she walks from Vysne Nemeck, Slovenia, near the border with Ukraine

Jill Biden attended mass in a tent on the Ukraine-Slovenia border

Jill Biden thanks volunteers and first responders during her visit to the border

Jill Biden meets with Slovak and Ukrainian mothers and their children as the families participate in a Mother's Day activity in Kosice, Slovakia

Biden is the highest profile member of the administration to visit the border region. President Joe Biden visited refugees in Poland but was 60 miles away from Ukraine.

The first lady attended mass in a tent during her visit to the border. She wore a pink and white flower corsage sent to her by the president in honor of Mother's Day. And she was accompanied by Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger and his wife Lucia Hegerova.

'We pray for the people of Ukraine,' the priest said in the opening blessing.

She visited the series of tents, a few hundred yards from the Ukraine border, that were set up by various NGOs to assist the refugees.

She met volunteers who provide psychosocial support services to refugees and a tent operated by Slovak Catholic charities with food and other supplies.

The tent was stacked with gently used toys and pre-loved stuffed animals for children along with boxes of baby formula.

Biden also dropped in at the Tomasikova Street School, a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students. About 60 Ukrainian students attend there, which has offered Slovak language classes to support greater integration.

She was offered bread dripped in salt upon her arrival, which is a traditional Slovak welcome. She ate the bread and watched the students perform a song.

'I just wanted to come and show you our support,' Biden said.

The kids were making art projects for Mother's Day and one by offered the first lady a drawing. It included a cat and Biden told him: 'I have a cat.'

Jill Biden hugs a Ukrainian child during her visit to a school in Slovakia

Jill Biden arrives at a primary school on Tomasikova street, Kosice, Slovakia

A little girl shows Jill Biden her art work

Jill Biden is on a four-day trip to Europe to highlight the humantarian situation

A Ukrainian mother cries after meeting and talking to Jill Biden

The women said they speak to their husbands back in the Ukraine every day using video conferencing.

One woman, when asked what it meant to have the first lady there, said: 'It means support for us. We are very tired. This is emotional support for us.'

Biden is wrapping up a four-day trip to Europe where she is visiting with displaced Ukrainians. More than six milllion have fled the Ukraine since Russia attacked in February. She kicked off her tour with stops in Romania and returns to the United States on Monday.
A 19-year-old teenager has spoken of how they felt 'absolutely humiliated' after being refused entry to a Wetherspoons with an assistance dog.

In a video River Cartledge can be seen pleading with the manager of The Five Swans in Newcastle to allow both him and Shih Tzu, Chico, inside the pub.

River claims that prior to the video he explained he has Autism, Fibromyalgia and Arthritis and that is why he needs an assistance dog, which has a clearly visible harness.

A woman who identifies herself as the pub manager says in the video it is the pub chain's policy to only allow in guide dogs and asks him to leave.

River can be heard saying that under the Equality Act that the pub chain cannot refuse entry and after trying to talk to the manager leaves.

The 19-year-old then claims he subsequently had a 'severe meltdown and panic attack'.

Wetherspoons' policy on its website states it only allows registered assistance and guide dogs into its premises. The chain has since apologised and said it made a genuine error.

River Cartledge, 19, claims his assistance dog was refused from a Wetherspoons pub

In a video, the manager can be seen telling Ms Cartledge that he will not be allowed entry into the

River claims that prior to the video he explained he has Autism, Fibromyalgia and Arthritis and that is why he needs an assistance dog (pictured Chico), which has a clearly visible harness

The 19-year-old is often accompanied by Chico - who he has had for eight years - and retrained as an assistance dog two years ago.

River said: 'Assistance dog handlers such as myself get denied in public places more often than its talked about, and it always makes us feel like this, and like were the ones causing problems for ourselves by needing a dog, when in reality its the ableism and ignorance of other people, not the disabled person.'

And on Saturday night, he claimed he faced the same discrimination yet again when out with his boyfriend Sean Wilson, 21, and some friends at the Wetherspoons venue The Five Swans.

'Their issue, was the fact he was an assistance dog, and not a guide dog,' he said. 'I was straight up told that they only allowed seeing eye dogs and they didnt allow assistance dogs, because of their policy.

After being refused they asked to see a manager who they told 'their policy doesnt override the law, to be told that it does, which is absurdly untrue. Pictured: Bar staff and security outside the Wetherspoons pub in the video

A sign from the Five Swans in Newcastle saying it takes only assistance dogs

The Equality Act 2010 prohibits service providers, including taxis and restaurants, from discriminating against those who need an assistance dog with them. Pictured: River with Chico

What does the Equality Act say? The Equality Act 2010 prohibits service providers, including taxis and restaurants, from discriminating against those who need an assistance dog with them. It also requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled customers. According to Guide Dogs UK '75% of all assistance dog owners surveyed [in 2015] said they had been refused access to a service at some point because they had an assistance dog with them'. Source: House of Commons Advertisement

After being refused they asked to see a manager who they told 'their policy doesnt override the law, to be told that it does, which is absurdly untrue,' he said.

'I quoted the Equality Act 2010, and the guide for all businesses, both of which any business thats open to the public like any Wetherspoons is, have to abide by legally, regardless of any policy they may have in place.

And he added in the video: 'Your policy does not override the law' and he will make a 'complaint'.

He told the MailOnline: 'It was absolutely hurtful, really humiliating and dehumanising and embracing standing there.

'I have never had an experience like this and it caused me to have a medical episode.'

In the video, the Wetherspoons manager responds that 'if it is not a guide dog' then it's 'company policy' not to admit someone into the pub.

She also says 'you're not getting in' and suggests that River leave the premise.

Wetherspoons' policy states: 'We do allow registered assistance dogs.

'In these circumstances, and to avoid any confusion or unnecessary upset, ensure that your dog is wearing its recognisable leash/collar or harness.

'It would also be helpful if you could bring along suitable documentation to explain your dogs purpose.'

The 19-year-old is often accompanied by Chico (pictured) - who he has had for eight years - and retrained as an assistance dog two years ago

And on Saturday night, he claimed he faced the same discrimination yet again when out with his boyfriend Sean Wilson, 21, and some friends at the Wetherspoons venue The Five Swans. Pictured: The video River shared on Tik Tok

While Assistance Dog UK, a certification body, says the animals can support Autism, physical and psychiatric disability.

The body also says: 'It is not a legal requirement for Assistance Dog users to provide ID or "proof" of training but all ADUK members issue the people and dog partnerships they work with this information in the form of an ADUK Identification Booklet.'

River had the ID with him but claims he did not have the ability to show it while talking with Wetherspoons staff.

Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: 'It was an error not to let the [man] in with her assistance dog.

'It was a genuine error and we apologise wholeheartedly.

'We can understand the fact the [man] would have been upset and frustrated by the situation.

'Assistance dogs are allowed into Wetherspoon pubs and we will reiterate this to staff at the pub and the company's pubs in general.

'The [man] is more than welcome to visit the pub with her dog.'
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves refused to say on Sunday if his state would consider legislation outlawing contraception in the future if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Reeves confirmed to NBC's Meet the Press host Chuck Todd that Mississippi would completely ban abortion at the state level if the landmark case were overturned by the Supreme Court.

'What about contraception and birth control, particularly IUDs? I mean, is this total ban that gets put in on abortion, is that going to have an impact on women that decide to have certain types of birth control like IUD?' Todd asked the governor of the deep red state.

'I don't think that it is going to apply to those that choose to use birth control,' Reeves said, avoiding a direct answer to the question.

'I believe that clearly a life begins at conception,' he added.

Later, Todd pushed the matter: 'You've just said that you believe life begins at conception. If there is legislation brought to you to ban contraception, would you sign it?'

'Well, I don't think that's going to happen in Mississippi,' Reeves said in a continued dodge of the question. 'I'm sure they'll have those conversations in other states.'

'But you're not answering the question,' Todd pointed out.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves wouldn't say Sunday if his state would consider a ban on contraceptions if Roe v. Wade were overturned

WATCH: Gov. Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) does not say whether he would sign legislation banning contraceptives if introduced in his state. #MTP@tatereeves: I dont think that's going to happen in Mississippi,@chucktodd: But you're not answering the question. pic.twitter.com/QKeWvuBaZJ  Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 8, 2022

NBC Meet the Press host Chuck Todd pushed Reeves on the issue: 'You've just said that you believe life begins at conception. If there is legislation brought to you to ban contraception, would you sign it?' Reeves avoiding answering, saying: 'Well, I don't think that's going to happen in Mississippi. I'm sure they'll have those conversations in other states'

Pro-abortion protesters gathered on the steps of Mississippi's Capitol in Jackson on Friday, May 6 to show support for legalized abortion

Reeves then went on to say that Mississippi will focus on giving resources to expecting mothers as well as making adoption an easier process and improving foster care situations.

The conversations surrounding abortion laws are getting increasingly heated after a leak from the Supreme Court last week showed a draft opinion from conservative Justice Samuel Alito that would see an overturn of Roe v. Wade.

The decision, expected to be officially released in June, stems from the Mississippi case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which south to ban abortion at the 15-week mark.

Reeves, however, confirmed that if the 50-year-old landmark abortion case were overturned, his state would fully ban a woman's ability to terminate their pregnancy.

He also said that the decision making on abortion laws should be left up to the states, claiming the Roe v. Wade decision was a wrongful ruling that led to federal protections and defining a woman's ability to terminate pregnancy as a constitutional right.

'I am trying very hard to make sure that everyone in America knows that the overturning of Roe certainly puts the decision making on abortion policy back in the elected representatives in each of the 50 states,' Reeves said on the NBC Sunday morning program.

The country was plunged into chaos last week after a leak showed a draft Supreme Court opinion that would see the overturn of landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade

'That, by the way, is where the decision making was in America for the first 200 years of our country until 1972 when, in my opinion, Roe was wrongly decided,' he added.

The leak of Alito's draft opinion plunged the U.S. into chaos as pro- and anti-abortion protesters from around the country took to the streets to protest for their opinion on the matter.

Reeves said that if the case is overturned due to the Mississippi case for a 15-week ban, the state would go further and end abortion fully.

'If, in fact, this court votes to overturn Roe, you are correct, our trigger law will go into effect and we will ban abortions,' Reeves told Todd.

He explained there would only be exceptions in the case of rape and if the mother's life is put in danger should she continue carrying her child.
Thousands of empty houses owned by the Ministry of Defence must be used to accommodate refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, the Liberal Democrats have urged.

The partys call came after a Freedom of Information request revealed that the MoD owns 8,704 houses that are lying empty, some of which have been vacant for as long as 27 years.

The empty properties are among 48,060 homes the MoD owns across Britain for its personnel under the Service Family Accommodation scheme.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, the Government launched the Homes for Ukraine scheme on March 14, which allowed Britons to voluntarily to host Ukrainian refugees in their homes.

Latest figures show that 11,100 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK under the scheme, out of 65,900 applications.

The Ministry of Defence owns 8,704 empty houses, an FOI request has found - they with must be used to accommodate refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, the Liberal Democrats have urged. Pictured, the MoD building in Whitehall, London

However, if the Ukraine war drags on for months and even years, it is not clear if the British hosts will be able to accommodate the Ukrainian refugees for such a duration.

Jamie Stone, the Lib Dems Defence Spokesman - who made the FOI request - said last night that MoD houses should be used instead, taking the burden off British families.

He said: Britain has a proud history of providing sanctuary to those fleeing conflict or persecution. But the Government has failed to match the compassion of the British people.

If these houses are fit-for-purpose, safe and clean, they could and should be used to house refugees who are awaiting permanent resettlement.

'With dreadful scenes in Ukraine unfolding with every passing day, the Ministry of Defence has not a moment to lose.

In the FOI release, the MoD admitted it has too many empty houses, with 18 per cent lying empty.

An MoD spokesman said: The Governments Homes for Ukraine scheme has seen an unprecedented surge of public support, with sponsorship offers from across all four nations of the UK.

There are currently no plans to use former barracks as part of the scheme and no request has been received by the MOD.
The Lib Dems today refused to rule out a coalition with Labour after claims of a back-room deal during the local elections.

Deputy leader Daisy Cooper insisted the party's main aim was to get Boris Johnson and the Tories out of power.

But she repeatedly dodged on the prospect of a tie-up to govern with Keir Starmer, saying it is 'too soon' to make any decisions.

The Lib Dems emerged as the big winners from the council polls last week, gaining hundreds of seats and making inroads into so-called 'Blue Wall' Conservative heartlands in the South and West.

However, the vote shares suggested that Labour is still some way off winning an overall majority - raising questions about what alliances Sir Keir could make to get into No10.

The Tories complained that there was already a de facto deal in place before the May 5 battle, something that was denied by both the Lib Dems and Labour.

Asked several times on Sky News whether her party was ruling out a coalition with Labour, Ms Cooper said: 'The Liberal Democrats have said that we want to win as many seats as possible off the Conservatives at the next general election and one way or another we would like to play a role in ousting this Conservative government.

'It is far too soon  what that might look like, how that might work, but we would want to play a role in ousting this Conservative government, that's our number one priority.'

Deputy leader Daisy Cooper (pictured) insisted the Lib Dems' main aim was to get the Tories out of power. But she repeatedly dodged on the prospect of a tie-up to govern with Keir Starmer, saying it is 'too soon' to make any decisions

Boris Johnson suffered a torrid set of election results, but the vote shares suggest that Labour is still some way off winning an overall majority

Raab among 10 top targets for Lib Dems at general election The Lib Dems have drawn up a list of 10 Tories most at risk from the so-called 'Blue Wall' backlash. Party leader Ed Davey said the local election results were 'amazing' and he would 'keep working' to make more gains at the general election. The targets include Deputy PM Dominic Raab in Esher and Walton, Mary Robinson in Cheadle, and Willliam Wragg in Hazel Grove. Sir Ed Davey told Sunday Morning on BBC One: 'Well, I'm not going to take the voters for granted. We've got two years before the next election, we have got to keep working. 'One thing when I go around the country, I hear that Labour councils are taking people for granted, the Conservative government are taking people for granted. I'm not going to do that. I will say that this is now a trend. We've seen in last year's local elections, Liberal Democrats making net gains. 'Then we saw the two historic by-election victories, when we beat the Conservatives in true blue Buckinghamshire, then in North Shropshire in a seat they've held for 200 years. Now we've made gains which far exceeded our expectations across the country in Scotland and Wales, big councils like Somerset, we're back in the West Country. 'So yeah, these were amazing results for the Liberal Democrats. But we're going to keep doing our job as an opposition party holding the Government to account for their appalling record on the economy and the cost of living and also on the NHS.' The list of Lib Dem targets are: Mary Robinson (Cheadle) William Wragg (Hazel Grove) Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) John Redwood (Wokingham) Alex Chalk (Cheltenham) Steve Brine (Winchester) Elliott Colburn (Carshalton & Wallington) Andrew Jones (Harrogate & Knaresborough) Bim Afolami (Hitchin and Harpenden) Advertisement

The MP for St Albans added: 'We have no interest in doing a coalition with this Conservative government at all. We have said that we are second place to the Conservatives in about 80 seats around the country and those are the areas where we will be targeting Conservative MPs with the aim of ousting them.'

Ms Cooper described the Lib Dem local election results as 'fantastic', with 'inroads' into 'our blue wall area', including West Oxfordshire, Wimbledon, Esher and Walton, and Harpenden.

The Lib Dems, she added, 'want to target Conservative MPs' at the next general election, as well as in the Tiverton and Honiton by-election triggered by the resignation of pornography-watching MP Neil Parish.

She said: 'Well, certainly in Esher and Walton, which is Dominic Raab's seat, we have a very strong local government base now and we are hopeful that that is a seat we might be able to win at the next general election, and in Tiverton and Honiton, I think you can see really across the whole of the South West actually, the Liberal Democrats have a very strong history of being the key challengers to the Conservatives in that area and we are starting to see a revival there.'

Asked if there was a risk he could lose his seat to the Lib Dems, Deputy PM Mr Raab said: 'Look, it's going to be a tough fight for me in my seat.'

The Lib Dems have built on their successes in the North Shropshire and Chesham and Amersham by-elections.

Last week they took control of Somerset and Woking in Surrey, where the Conservatives had run a minority administration.

Mr Johnson is betting on the Red Wall to get his premiership on track after a disastrous performance, with Levelling Up and Brexit set to dominate the Queen's Speech this week.

The PM suffered a body blow as the Tories lost hundreds of councillors, with a bloodbath in London.

Conservatives - including a serving minister - have renewed calls for the government to cut taxes in the wake of the meltdown and with the cost-of-living crisis ramping up.

However, the immediate coup threat to Mr Johnson seems to have receded, partly because Labour failed to make inroads into the Northern and Midlands areas that delivered his historic majority in 2019.

The premier - who was heavily damaged by the Partygate row - has also been helped by police announcing they are investigating whether Keir Starmer breached lockdown rules over the so-called Beergate espisode.

Mr Raab told Sky News that the party was faring better in Red Wall areas and Mr Johnson 'can and will' win the next election.
High school graduates studying teaching at university could be paid up to $48,000 under a plan by Labor to address the country's teacher shortage and improve education standards.

Anthony Albanese and shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek highlighted the significant education policy, which has been a measure the Labor party has previously proposed to fix the issue.

The plan would provide 5,000 high school students - or 1,000 per year - about $10,000 a year to study teaching.

To be eligible for the yearly payments, students would be required to have an ATAR of at least 80.

Anthony Albanese and shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek highlighted the significant education policy, which has been a measure the Labor party has previously proposed to fix the shortage

The plan would provide 5,000 high school students - or 1000 per year - about $10,000 a year to study teaching

Students who have an ATAR of at least 80 and also opt to teach in a regional area will receive an extra $2,000 on top of that $10,000 yearly sum, news.com.au reported.

'We want to make sure our kids get the best education they can. That means we have to make sure they get the best quality teaching,' Mr Albanese said.

'Labor's plan will incentivise the best graduates to join the teaching profession, leading to a brighter future for our students and for the nation.'

Labor's goal is to boost the number of high-achieving students studying teaching at a university over the next 10 years from around 1800 students to 3600.

A similar plan adopted in the UK has seen a 2.9 per cent increase in the number of applications from students to study education and teaching for every 1,000 pounds [$1,743 AUD] in payments.

Labor's education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek stated she wanted a teaching degree to become more highly-sought by high-achieving school students looking to study at uni.

Students who have an ATAR of at least 80 and also opt to teach in a regional area will receive an extra $2,000 on top of that $10,000 yearly sum

'One of the most important things we can do to stop the slide in students' results and boost student results is to lift teaching standards,' she said.

'I want students competing to get into teaching like they do to get into medicine or law.

'If we want a better future in Australia, we need a smart, skilled workforce so we can compete for jobs and growth with our neighbours,' Ms Plibersek added.


Goal of becoming No. 1 foundry player appears elusive



By Baek Byung-yeul



Three years have passed since Samsung Electronics ambitiously declared that it will become the global leader in system semiconductors by 2030, but the chip giant is still suffering from sluggish growth in the sector that includes processing chips and the foundry business, according to industry analysts.



They say Samsung's growth potential, especially in the foundry business that manufactures chips for fabless customers, lags behind its biggest rival TSMC in terms of production capacity. As a result, its global market share remains unchanged since 2019, unable to catch up with the Taiwanese competitor.



Analysts stress that Samsung needs to make sizable corporate acquisitions in order to make a breakthrough. But the company's leadership vacancy, in which Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is currently unavailable to return to his post due to legal issues, makes it that much more difficult for the chip giant to take necessary steps.



The United States has tightened restrictions on exports of technology to China, which prompted analysts to project that Samsung will try to seek a breakthrough by investing in promising startups rather than buying big companies in order to avoid attracting the attention of regulatory officials at semiconductor powerhouse countries.



"It may be possible for Samsung to catch up with TSMC in the foundry sector to produce expensive semiconductors using the latest manufacturing process. In order to achieve Samsung's 2030 goal, there are seven years left and Samsung needs to invest more than three times its current expenditure assuming that TSMC does nothing. So, when it comes to overall production capacity, it is difficult to say that it will catch up with the Taiwanese company by 2030," Kim Yang-paeng, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), said.



On April 30, Samsung's vice chairman declared that the company "will take first place in the system semiconductor field including foundry" at its Hwaseong plant in Gyeonggi Province.



To that end, Samsung announced a major plan to invest 133 trillion won ($105 billion) by 2030 only in the system semiconductor sector. The company added last year that it would inject 38 trillion won more.



However, Samsung's competitiveness has not improved significantly since then. In the market for mobile application processor chips, which serve as the brain of mobile devices, Samsung's share fell to 6.6 percent in 2021 from 12 percent in 2019, according to data by Strategy Analytics. During the same period, Qualcomm's share increased from 34.8 percent to 37.7 percent, while Apple's share increased from 22.9 percent to 26 percent.



Samsung's market share by revenue in the global foundry business in 2021 also remained at second place with an 18-percent share, following TSMC with 53 percent, according to data by market tracker TrendForce. But the market share gap between the No. 1 and No. 2 players could widen further as the Taiwanese company is estimated to account for 56 percent and Samsung 16 percent.



Although Samsung is trying to enhance its presence in the foundry business, the market researcher estimated the dominance of Taiwanese companies in the sector will be solidified this year.



"Under the looming shadow of chip shortages caused by the pandemic and geopolitical turmoil in the past two years, various governments have quickly become aware of the fact that localization of chip manufacturing is necessary to avoid being cut off from access to chips due to logistics difficulties or cross-border shipment bans. Taiwanese companies have ridden this wave to become partners that governments around the world are eager to invite to set up factories in various locales," TrendForce said.



The KIET researcher said, however, that Samsung's 2030 declaration needs to be interpreted as a bid to beef up what the company has not been good at.



"The system semiconductor we're talking about contains a wide variety of parts such as CPU and foundry semiconductor production. Intel is still the No. 1 player in system semiconductors and TSMC is No. 1 only in the semiconductor foundry area," he said.



"I think it is right to interpret the 2030 vision to mean that Samsung will do better in areas where it has been poor at rather than criticizing why it still remains behind strong players," the senior researcher said.



While questions have been raised that Samsung would lose its customers in the foundry business that produce chips using the latest technologies such as below 4-nanometer production technology, a Samsung executive denied the speculations saying its order backlog in the foundry business has been on a steady increase.



"Contrary to concerns about our semiconductor foundry business, demand from major customers currently remains solid," Kang Moon-soo, senior vice president and head of Samsung's foundry market and strategy team, said during a conference call on April 28.



"Over the next five years, the balance of orders is eight times larger than the sales in foundry business last year," the executive said.



Regarding the speculation that Samsung is lagging far behind TSMC in terms of 4-nanometer process, Kang said, "The 5-nanometer process has entered the stage of a mature yield rate and is maximizing supply to major customers. The expansion of production in the initial stage of the 4-nanometer process was somewhat delayed, but we are currently entering the expected yield improvement curve by focusing on stabilization."



A local semiconductor industry source said, "Samsung's detailed explanation of its foundry business was aimed at dispelling market concerns."



"There have been concerns in the market that Samsung is losing its foundry customers who ordered the production of chips based on the 4-nanometer process due to a low yield rate. The company officially confirmed that such concerns are different from what the company sees," the official said asking not to be identified.



Leadership vacuum becomes obstacle for corporate acquisition



Industry experts pointed out that sizable corporate acquisitions are needed for Samsung to take a step forward, but the company has faced obstacles due to a leadership vacuum.



"Samsung needs to acquire companies with high growth potential to strengthen its business portfolio, but its leader Lee Jae-yong is currently embroiled in legal issues, so there is no one who can make a risk-taking decision," Kim Dae-jong, a professor of business administration at Sejong University, said.



"The role of a leader is very important to Korean conglomerates. This is because the business proceeds only after they take responsibility and take over other companies or execute the investment with lots of money," he said.



Lee is not allowed to return to management until 2027 due to a five-year ban imposed by the Ministry of Justice. He was convicted of offering bribes to former President Park Geun-hye and has been on parole since August 2021.



Industry officials said Samsung has been preparing to buy another company and recently organized a taskforce led by Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee. In April, the company also recruited former Bank of America banker Marco Chisari, who's known as a takeover expert in the semiconductor business.



"Acquiring another company is the fastest way to change a company's business structure. However, even if Samsung decides to acquire a company, it will not be easy to get approval from other countries," the KIET researcher said.


A retired British geologist at risk of being executed overseas is 'heartbroken' at missing his daughter's wedding celebrations, his family said.

Jim Fitton, 66, was sent photographs of Leila and her husband Sam Tasker's festivities as he continues to be detained in Iraq over artefact smuggling allegations.

Ms Fitton, 31, and Mr Tasker, 27, held a small ceremony - which was restricted to close friends and British family due to Covid - in their home city of Bath, Somerset, last August.

Mr Fitton, pictured here with his wife and two children, Joshua and Leila, missed the latters wedding celebrations due to his imprisonment

A larger bash with TV and film art department freelancer Ms Fitton's extended family in Malaysia, where her father and mother Sarijah also live, took place on Friday and Sunday.

Mr Fitton is to be sentenced later this month after being arrested in the middle eastern country in March when he was found with broken pottery shards in his luggage.

The father-of-two was on an organised archeology and geology tour of Eridu, in the southern Iraq when he was told it was ok to take the shards by a guide, his family claim.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Tasker said of his father-in-law: 'He wasn't able to give Leila away; her brother had to kind of step up and give her away.

UK ministers have faced calls to intervene to help 'make a difference' in the case of Jim Fitton (pictured with his wife) 66, who has been detained in the Middle-Eastern country

His family say that he has been accused of stealing fragments that were in the open at Eridu, an ancient ruin of a city that is found in Iraq, and was once in southern Mesopotamia

'He was obviously heartbroken and just sent us a message saying, 'You all look great. Best of luck. All my love to you all.''

He said Mr Fitton, 'as he has been doing throughout', has been 'putting on a brave face and trying not to make it about him, really, which is antithetical to the point because all we're thinking about is him'.

He added: 'We sent him some photos across and he remarked that the house looked amazing, because Leila's mum put a load of work into making the house look nice and getting the flowers and all the rest of it arranged and set up.

'He apologised for not being there as well, which is obviously out of his control.

'He seems to be doing OK and I think it was kind of a bittersweet moment for him really; it's lovely to see the photos and everything but he'd prefer to be with us, of course.'

Mr Tasker, who works in sales support for an outsourcing company, said a 'keep calm and carry on' approach was adopted for the celebrations.

He also said: 'We are just doing everything we can to get political engagement from Foreign Office ministers, really.'

Mr Tasker praised the support from the UK embassy staff in Iraq but said they have 'one hand tied behind their back by political decision-making'.

He added: 'That's what we need to change and that's what we continue to push for.'

Mr Tasker said his family is 'grateful' for the support its campaign has received, adding: 'We just need to reach critical mass of pressure on the Foreign Office before it's too late.

'It's a shame that we have to approach it in that way but it is what it is.

'So we continue to push because we can't do anything else - and we're not giving up.'

Mr Fitton and a German man were detained at the airport after shards of pottery were found in their luggage

Foreign Office minister Amanda Milling has previously said the UK has 'raised (its) concerns' with the Iraqi authorities 'regarding the possible imposition of the death penalty in Mr Fitton's case and the UK's opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle'.

Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, said: 'At the end of the day the Foreign Office is still abandoning Jim.

'I cannot understand why they are still refusing to help Jim.'

Ms Hobhouse added: 'I will be using all of the avenues I can to pressure the Foreign Office to intervene.'

Pictured: Brickwork is seen at the Eridu archaeological site in Iraq (file photo)
The Russian death toll amid Putin's war in Ukraine now stands at more than 25,000, according to the Land Forces of Ukraine's latest figures.

A total of 25,500 Russian soldiers have been killed in bitter fighting, while Putin's forces have lost 1130 tanks, 199 planes, 156 helicopters, 509 artillery systems and 2741 armoured personnel carriers, the Land Forces claim.

The startling figures come as Europe and Ukraine celebrate Victory in Europe Day (VE Day), marking the triumph of the Allies over Nazi Germany in 1945.

Russian forces meanwhile are engaged in bloody battles all along the eastern front from Kharkiv to Mariupol as Putin tries to secure some kind of victory to bolster Russia's Victory Day celebrations tomorrow, May 9.

Western estimates of the Russian death toll in Ukraine are somewhat lower, but still place the losses to the Kremlin's forces upwards of 15,000.

It comes as Russia lost its 39th high-ranking officer on the battlefield today.

Lt-Col Fezul Bichikaev, 36, was killed in a skirmish near Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, where Ukrainian forces have mounted a counter-offensive to take a number of nearby towns.

An intelligence update posted yesterday by Britain's Ministry of Defence said several of Putin's senior commanders are being forced onto the battlefield 'to take personal leadership of operations' due to 'faltering Russian performance on the frontline'.

A total of 25,500 Russian soldiers have been killed in bitter fighting, while Putin's forces have lost 1130 tanks, 199 planes, 156 helicopters, 509 artillery systems and 2741 armoured personnel carriers, the Land Forces of Ukraine claim.

Russian forces are engaged in bloody battles all along the eastern front from Kharkiv to Mariupol as Putin tries to secure some kind of victory to bolster Russia's Victory Day celebrations tomorrow, May 9 (Ukrainian artillery shoot from their positions at an undisclosed in the area of Kharkiv, Ukraine, 07 May 2022)

War World II veteran, Ivan Lisun, 97, wears a jacket with his medals and pins outside his house which was damaged after a Russian bombing, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zolochiv near Kharkiv, Ukraine, May 6, 2022

Russia lost its 39th high ranking officer on the battlefield today. Lt-Col Fezul Bichikaev, 36, was killed in a skirmish near Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, where Ukrainian forces have mounted a counter-offensive to take a number of nearby towns

A view of the statue of Ukrainian philosopher Hryhoriy Skovoroda standing in the damaged Hryhoriy Skovoroda Literary Memorial Museum after shelling in Skovorodynivka village near Kharkiv, Ukraine, 07 May 2022

'Difficulties in command and control, as well as faltering Russian performance on the front line, have drawn senior commanders onto the battlefield, likely to take personal leadership of operations,' the MoD tweeted yesterday.

'However, it is not clear that the presence of these commanders on the battlefield has led to a refined or altered operational concept. Flawed planning assumptions and failures in sustainment continue to undermine Russian progress.

'The forward deployment of commanders has exposed them to significant risk, leading to disproportionately high losses of Russian officers in this conflict. This has resulted in a force that is slow to respond to setbacks and unable to alter its approach on the battlefield.'

The Russian onslaught has been met with staunch resistance in Ukraine, forcing Putin and his military leaders to abandon plans to take Kyiv earlier in the war and focus their assault exclusively on the eastern Donbas region.

But the Ukrainian military is also thought to have sustained major losses in the defence of their nation - though authorities have not released an official number of casualties.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor general's office of Ukraine announced this morning at least 225 children have been killed in the conflict, with another 413 having sustained injuries.

Iryna Venediktova's office said the numbers given only include confirmed deaths and injuries to children in Ukraine since February 24, and does not take into account estimated deaths in current combat areas, meaning the true toll is likely to be much higher.

Authorities estimate more than 20,000 civilians have been killed in the besieged southern city of Mariupol alone since Russia began a indiscriminate bombing campaign of the coastal metropolis just days into the war.

And upwards of sixty people are feared dead in one attack yesterday, after a school in the eastern region of Luhansk was subject to a direct hit from a Russian airstrike.

Around ninety people were sheltering in the school's basement in Bilohorivka, but just 30 had been rescued as of this morning, with two confirmed dead.

Prosecutor of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova's office said at least 225 children have been killed in the conflict, with another 413 having sustained injuries

Burning debris is seen, after a school building was hit as a result of shelling, in the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk, Ukraine, May 7, 2022

Only parts of the building remained standing after it suffered a direct hit from a Russian airstrike yesterday

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted today: 'Horrified by Russia's latest attack on a school in Luhansk, resulting in the deaths of innocent people sheltering from Russian bombardment.'

She said the deliberate targeting of civilians and infrastructure 'amounts to war crimes' and 'we will ensure Putin's regime is held accountable'.

In a stirring video released this morning to mark VE Day - known as the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation in Ukraine - President Volodymyr Zelensky drew a number of comparisons between Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin.

He also reeled off a list of famous European cities and landmarks that were destroyed by Nazi bombing campaigns in WWII and compared them to the Russian shelling of his country, as black-and-white footage of Luftwaffe bombing raids played in the background alongside clips of recent airstrikes in Ukraine.

'We will overcome everything. The proof of this is called 'Werewolf' - Hitler's former headquarters and bunker near Vinnytsia. All that is left of it is a few stones- the ruins of a person who considered himself great and invincible.

'Evil will not be able to hide in a bunker. There will be no stones left.

'[Allies] remember the Nazi-destroyed Warsaw, and they see what was done to Mariupol.

'Every year on May 8, along with the entire civilised world, we honour those who defended the planet from Nazism in World War Two... But we have not made it even a century. Our 'never again' lasted only 77 years. Evil has been reborn,' the President declared as he stood in front of a residential tower block building destroyed by Russian shelling

'The British have not forgotten how the Nazis wiped out Coventry... how its historic centre, factories and St. Michael's Cathedral were destroyed. They saw missiles hit Kharkiv and saw its historic centre, factories and the Assumption Cathedral destroyed.

'They remember how London was bombed for 51 nights in a row, how V-2 rockets hit Belfast, Portsmouth, Liverpool, and they see cruise missiles hit Mykolaiv, Kramatorsk and Chernihiv.

'The Dutch remember how Rotterdam was the first city to be destroyed by the Nazis when they dropped 97 tonnes of bombs on it. The French remember Oradour-sur-Glane, where the SS burned 500 women and children alive... They see what was done in Bucha, Irpin and Borodyanka.'

But the Ukrainian leader also proclaimed that Ukraine and its allied would emerge from the war victorious, declaring that 'evil cannot avoid responsibility' and 'there will be peace again'.

'Despite the beast's new mask, [Ukraine and its allies] have recognised him. Because, unlike some, they understand what our ancestors fought for, and against.'

'Our ancestors proved that no evil can avoid responsibility. It will not be able to hide in the bunker. There will be no stone left of it.

'So we will overcome everything, and we know this for sure because our military and all our people are the descendants of those who overcame Nazism.

'They will win again and there will be peace again,' Zelensky said assuredly.
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Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy denounced threatening violence against Supreme Court Justices as protesters descended on Washington, D.C.-area residences of conservative justices on Saturday.

'No one should be threatening violence against any Supreme Court Justice or member of Congress,' Murphy told Fox News Sunday host Bret Baier.

The comments come after demonstrators showed up at the homes of conservatives Justices in Maryland and Virginia on Saturday after their addresses were doxxed by a group with the monniker 'Ruth Sent Us.'

Murphy says he think the abortion issue will 'push a lot of people to the polls this November' in the 2022 midterms. Some experts warn, however, that while abortion might tighten the margins, it won't stop a Republican bloodbath this fall.

From May 8-15, Ruth Sent Us has planned several protests, marches and demonstrations to protest a leaked draft opinion that showed an impending overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Furious pro-choice protesters appeared outside the homes of Chief Justice John Roberts and conservative Trump-nominated Justice Brett Kavanaugh over the weekend, claiming they 'don't care if people die'.

But even Democrat Senator Murphy says threatening these justices should never be tolerated.

It is a crime to threaten members of Congress or the Supreme Court.

Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy denounced on Sunday pro-abortion groups and activists that are threatening Supreme Court Justices and staging protests outside their homes in the D.C.-area

Pro-choice protesters descended on the homes of justices on Saturday after the conservative members' addresses were doxxed online by activist group with the moniker Ruth Sent Us. Pictured: Demonstrators rally outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland on Saturday, May 7, 2022

Ruth Sent Us published online last week a map with the addresses of the six conservative Supreme Court Justices. Google made the map unavailable, claiming: 'This map is no longer available due to a violation of our Terms of Service and/or policies.'

The group announced a so-called 'walk-by Wednesday' for May 11, 2022.

Marches will take place 'at the homes of the six extremist justices, three in Virginia and three in Maryland.'

Dozens of demonstrators on Saturday gathered in the rain in DC and marched towards the homes of Roberts and Kavanaugh in response to the leaked Supreme Court draft decision.

Roberts has said that he doesn't support a full overturn of Roe v. Wade, but claimed he would be in favor of ruling to make abortion illegal at the 15-week point of a pregnancy.

Images of coat hangers were chalked on the street outside the justices' homes, an apparent attempt to reinforce the pro-choice argument that overturning Roe v. Wade will not put an end to abortion, but instead will end safe abortions.

'Keep abortion safe and legal,' the pro-abortion protesters chanted while they stood in the streets holding candles and signs.

Others shouted: 'Your life is a lie!' and 'We will not go back!'

Cops stood guard outside the justices' homes and, after what appeared to be a clash with demonstrators, ordered the activists to leave. At least one officer threatened to arrest and charge the protesters for violating Maryland law.

The Supreme Court draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito and published by POLITICO, was leaked on Monday. The document revealed the court has voted to strike down the landmark 1973 ruling Rove v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States.

Protestors across the nation started assembling just hours after the opinion was leaked. Pro-choice rallies, spearheaded by organizations like Planned Parenthood, are slated to continue the upcoming week and weekend.

Liberal group ShutDown DC already has plans to host a 'Vigil for Abortion Rights' outside Alito's house on Monday.

Scroll Down For Video:

Furious pro-choice protesters screamed 'you don't care if people die' while picketing the house of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday

Protesters gathered outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house, screaming: 'We will not go back!'

Images of coat hangers were chalked on the street outside the justices' homes, an apparent attempt to reinforce the pro-choice argument that overturning Roe v. Wade will not put an end to abortion, but instead will end safe abortions

Protesters in DC hold signs arguing in favor of Roe v. Wade

Alito's draft does not necessarily represent the sentiments of other justices who did not pen the opinion, but it's been suggested that the court's 6-3 conservative supermajority, which include Justices Roberts and Kavanaugh, will likely deliver on the historic reversal.

Protestors carrying signs that read 'An abortion saved my family' and 'Abortion is Healthcare, Healthcare is a right' first arrived at Justice Roberts' home where protestors drew multiple chalk outlines coat hangers, a famous symbol of illegal abortions.

Protestors chanted 'Keep abortion safe and legal!' and 'Pro-life is a lie! You don't care if people die!'

Then as the sun went down the pro-choice advocates lit candles and marched to Justice Kavanaugh's home where they packed the streets slowing down traffic and were captured shouting multiple chants angrily.

A woman holds a pro-abortion sign while posing for a photo next to a chalked coat hanger

An officer clashes with a protester, alleging the demonstrators are violating Maryland law and could face charges

Law enforcement arrives to confront the demonstrators

Later on more protesters appeared to arrive and were heard loudly chanting: 'We will not go back!'

At one point, an officer was seen explaining to protestors that they would have to clear the area before cop cars showed up and protestors eventually dispersed, calling it a night.

The protests came after the White House said it encourages 'peaceful protests,' would not tell abortion activists to avoid the justices' homes.

The energy is markedly more negative outside Kavanaughs house. The anger has become much more palpable than outside any other justices house. pic.twitter.com/zY2OY34hcA  Douglas Blair (@DouglasKBlair) May 8, 2022

Protestors arguing with cops. They say arrests might start happening soon. pic.twitter.com/lUPHUMwdZ7  Douglas Blair (@DouglasKBlair) May 8, 2022

The scene in front of Chief Justice John Roberts house pic.twitter.com/vJVxxFoMNO  Douglas Blair (@DouglasKBlair) May 7, 2022

Police keep coming and coming. We are wery wery scary. #BansOffOurBodies pic.twitter.com/nhv7ZrAc2i  FederalFelonMouse (she/her) (@LiteraryMouse) May 8, 2022

'The president, for all those women, men, others who feel outraged, who feel scared, who feel concerned, he hears them, he shares that concern and that horror that he saw in that draft opinion,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.

She said President Joe Biden's message to those angered by the draft is to 'participate in peaceful protest'.

'Ensure it's peaceful. Have your voice heard peacefully. We should not be resorting to violence in any way, shape or form,' Psaki added.

Demonstrators in support of reproductive rights protest outside of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland

Pro-abortion protestors gathered outside the homes of Justices Kavanaugh and Roberts, holding up signs and chanting 'Keep abortion safe and legal' before cops arrived and forced them to leave

On Saturday dozens of pro-abortion protestors gathered in the rain in DC and marched towards the homes of conservative Justices Kavanaugh and Roberts

Protestors chanted 'Keep abortion safe and legal!' and 'Pro-life is a lie! You don't care if people die!' outside of Supreme Court Justice John Robert's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland

Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, who has a history of clashing with Psaki, questioned an earlier statement from Joe Biden, alleging the 'MAGA crowd' was the 'most extreme political organization' in recent history.

'Do you think the progressive activists that are now planning protests outside some of the justices' houses are extreme?' he asked the press secretary.

'Peaceful protest, no. Peaceful protest is not extreme,' Psaki answered. 'We certainly encourage people to keep it peaceful and not resort to any level of violence.'

'The president's view is that there's a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness, from many, many people across this country about what they saw in that leaked document.'

When further pressed about the planned residential protests, Psaki declined to discourage the demonstrations.

'I don't have an official U.S. government position on where people protest,' she said. 'We want it of course to be peaceful, and certainly the president would want to people's privacy to be respected. But I think we shouldn't lose the point here.

'The reason people are protesting is because women across the country are worried about their fundamental rights that have been law for 50 years, their rights to make choices about their own bodies and their own health care, are at risk. That's why people are protesting - they're unhappy, they're scared.'

In Maryland, where the protesters assembled on Saturday, it is a violation of state law to picket 'before or about residences and dwelling places' if the demonstration 'causes emotional disturbance and distress to the occupants,' according to state code.

A cop who responded to the scene also warned picketers they could face charges for violating a separate picketing law that protects judicial and government officers.

It is unclear if any protesters were arrested Saturday as officials did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

Abortion-rights protesters hold signs during demonstration outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday

Anti-abortion protesters hold a demonstration across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday

Members of the Boston Red Cloaks gather near the Park street train station on Saturday as they protest the possible overturning of Roe vs. Wade. The organization is one of several that has called for nationwide protests on May 14

Demonstrators in support of reproductive rights march to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland on Saturday

Saturday's protests seem to just be the start as liberal group ShutDown DC already plans to host a 'Vigil for Abortion Rights' outside of Alito's house on May 9.

'Justice Alito thinks he can take away our rights. But our rights are fundamentally ours. We're showing up to tell him in person,' the group said.

'The evening of Monday, May 9, we will hold a vigil for all these rights that Alito is threatening to take away. Because it's been impossible to reach him at the Supreme Court (especially now with the enormous fences), we will do it at his home,' the event description said.

'At 7:30 pm we will gather at a nearby location and walk together to his house. At the foot of his driveway, on the public street, we will light candles and speakers will share their testimony. We will hold a moment of silence for the rights we know are ours, then walk back together to the meeting location.'

In Alito's leaked document, conservative Justice Alito wrote that Roe v Wade - the 1973 Supreme Court ruling which found that excessive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional - was 'egregiously wrong from the start' and 'must be overruled'.

Alito, who was nominated to the court in 2006 by George W Bush, argues that Roe's 'reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. Far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.'

But there were few signs that the new ruling will do anything to heal those divisions, with protesters gathering outside the court in Washington DC last night.

If the ruling is overturned by the conservative-dominated court - with Republicans having a 6 - 3 majority - it would give individual states the power to decide on whether to ban abortion. The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group, has said that 26 states are 'certain or likely' to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Then as the sun went down protestors lit candles and marched to Justice Kavanaugh's home where they packed the streets slowing down traffic and were captured shouting multiple chants angrily

Protesters outside Kavanaugh's home arrived and were heard loudly chanting: 'We will not go back!'

Liberal group ShutDown DC already has plans to host a 'Vigil for Abortion Rights' outside of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's house on May 9

Abortion rights have been under threat in recent months as Republican-led states move to tighten rules - with some seeking to ban all abortions after six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant.

These include Arizona, where the Republican Governor in March signed a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy; and Idaho where the governor signed a six-week abortion ban that allows family members of the fetus to sue providers who perform abortions past that point, similar to a Texas law enacted last year.

As it stands in the US, abortion can take place until about 24 weeks into pregnancy - but the exact period varies between states. For example, Texas bans abortion after about six weeks but Florida has a 15-week abortion ban.

Just hours after the stunning leak of draft opinion emerged, hundreds of pro-choice and anti-abortion activists gathered in front of the US Supreme Court on Monday night.

Squaring off on either side of the white marble building a stone's throw from the Capitol, the pro-choice and anti-abortion groups railed at each other.

'Roe v. Wade is going to go,' anti-abortion protesters taunted, while the pro-choice crowd yelled: 'My body, my choice.'

The two groups chanted and waved placards in the plaza in front of the steps to the Supreme Court, with barriers and a few uniformed police officers barring access to the colonnaded building.

Saturday's demonstration was not the first time Kavanaugh was targeted at his home because of his stance on abortion. Demonstrators are pictured outside his house on Sept. 13, 2021

Protestors held up a sign that read 'repro freedom for all!' in front of Justice Kavanaugh's home in Maryland on Sept. 13, 2021

Dozens of protestors marched outside Justice Kavanaugh's home in September 2021

Saturday's demonstration was not the first time Kavanaugh was targeted at his home because of his stance on abortion.

Dozens of left-wing protestors gathered in front of his house in September 2021 to protest his decision to reject a challenge to Texas' controversial abortion law.

Dubbed by president Biden as an 'unprecedented assault on a woman's constitutional rights under Roe v. Wade' five conservative justices, including Kavanaugh, backed the law known as the 'Texas Heartbeat Act' that bans abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is normally after six weeks and before many women even know they are pregnant.

The law makes no exceptions for rape or incest and allows Texans to report people, including Uber drivers, who help or take women to get abortions. The only exemption is if there is a danger to the woman's health.
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An outraged pro-choice protester sporting a one-piece bathing suit screamed 'I'm killing the babies' as she led a march of demonstrators targeting Catholic churches in New York City.

'God killed his son, why cant I?' the protester, NYC-based performance artist Crackhead Barney, repeatedly screamed as she dangled a baby doll during a Saturday morning demonstration outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral.

A smaller group of pro-life activists assembled on the steps of the iconic Manhattan church, facing the abortion advocates, and prayed the rosary. They also sang the hymn Ave Maria.

The demonstrations came amid a call for protest at Catholic churches across the U.S. in response to the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that would strike down the landmark 1973 ruling Rove v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States.

All six conservative justices on the United States' highest court are Catholic.

Several pro-abortion groups pushed for for 'actions outside of churches' to kick off a 'week of action' to protest the Supreme Court opinion, which is not yet final.

The draft opinion, which was published by POLITICO on Monday, comes amid nearly 50 years of federal abortion protections and could change before the ruling is finalized in coming weeks.

Performance artist Crackhead Barney dangles a a baby doll during a Saturday morning demonstration outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York City

Standing in a one-piece bathing suit, Crackhead Barney screamed: 'I'm killing the babies' and 'God killed his son, why cant I?'

The pro-abortion activists marched on St. Patrick's Cathedral Saturday as pro-life advocates attempted to engage in their monthly demonstration, FOX 5 reported.

The group typically marches from the church to a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic on the first Saturday of every month in an effort to protest abortion.

However, on Saturday they instead faced of with outraged pro-choice activists who fear the SCOTUS opinion may result in a federal abortion ban, which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed was 'possible'.

The pro-choice demonstrators sported signs with messages like 'abortion is a gift,' 'anti-abortion laws kill us' and 'RIP Jesus, killed by "woke" deadbeat dad.'

The New York Young Republican Club, responding to the protest, applauded the members of its Catholic Caucus for 'standing up for their beliefs and for the fundamental rights of all unborn Americans.'

'Men sitting in the churchs rear pews were asked to pray outside to ensure that the leftist horde would not overrun the building,' the organization added in a statement shared on Twitter.

Abortion-rights activists gather outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in downtown Manhattan on Saturday to voice their support for a woman's right to choose

The pro-choice demonstrators sported signs with messages like 'abortion is a gift,' 'anti-abortion laws kill us' and 'RIP Jesus, killed by "woke" deadbeat dad'

The protests at the Basilica of St. Patricks Old Cathedral, which have been occurring weekly and where a small number of anti-abortion activists worship, have been given added urgency by the recent leaked Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade

An abortion rights activists gathers outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York City on Saturday. She is pictured holding a sign that reads: 'My body is mine alone'

The archdiocese told the TV station on Saturday it was 'aware of the call for some kind of protest' during Mother's Day mass on Sunday.

The religious authority was likely referring to the social media posts encouraging pro-choice advocates to interrupt Sunday's church services.

Pro-choice group Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights announced last week members would be 'hosting protests outside of prominent churches in their towns'.

'These can look like a group of people holding signs wearing Handmaids Tale outfits, passing out flyers outside to church goers or doing a die-in,' the group wrote on its website.

Similarly, the group Ruth Sent Us, which describes itself as 'against a corrupt and illegitimate Supreme Court' called on followers to '[s]tand at or in a local Catholic Church' on Sunday.

'We will work with law enforcement and take appropriate steps as needed,' a spokesperson with the Archdiocese of New York said Saturday.

Additional security was added outside of St. Patrick's ahead of Sunday's mass.

Last week, several pro-abortion groups called on demonstrators to disrupt Mother's Day mass. The group Ruth Sent Us posted videos on May 3 of protesters in Handmaids Tale outfits disrupting a Catholic mass, calling on followers to take similar action and post videos

An pro-choice protesters holds a sign reading 'abortion is a gift' outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in Manhattan on Saturday

Nichole McClish, of Lansing, Michigan, holds a sign that reads 'If men became pregnant abortion would be a sacrament,' during a Planned Parenthood rally at the Michigan Capitol on Tuesday

Anti-abortion protesters wave religious-inspired signs during a demonstration in Chicago on Saturday

The leaked Supreme Court draft was written by Justice Samuel Alito, one of the six justices appointed by a Republican president who sit on the court, and repudiated both Roe v Wade and the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs Casey Decision.

Of the nine-member court's six conservative members, five reportedly back the bombshell move to rescind abortion protections: Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas.

Gorsuch is Episcopalian, though he was raised Catholic. The other four are Catholic, as is Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative whose position on the opinion has not been reported.

If and when the draft is made final, the decision removes the federal right to abortion in America, leaving it up to elected officials in each state to decide whether or not women should have access to abortions.

Twenty-six states are likely to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is formally overturned, essentially outlawing abortion in more than half of the country. Eighteen states already have restrictive abortion laws in place.

The news sent shock waves throughout Washington D.C. with Democrats vowing to codify the legal right to an abortion into law and Republicans demanding an investigation into the leak, claiming it was done to try and influence the high court ahead of its formal ruling.

Supporters of abortion rights and anti-abortion rights protesters gather for a protest at the Indiana Federal Courthouse in Indianapolis on Tuesday

Anti-abortion protesters gather near a pro-abortion protest and march in Chicago on Saturday

Pro-choice activists and pro-life advocates clash during an abortion rights rally in Chicago on Saturday

A crowd of people gather outside the Supreme Court, early Tuesday, after the SCOTUS draft opinion that would strike down Roe v. Wade was leaked

Abortion rights protesters rallied in cities around the U.S. on Saturday, vowing to fight to ensure that abortion remains a legal option for women nationwide. Pro-life advocates took to the streets in opposition.

Hundreds gathered in several major cities across the nation, including Chicago, Atlanta and Houston, to fight for and against abortion legislation.

In Atlanta, demonstrators carried signs in favor of abortion rights as they marched through that city's downtown and chanted: 'Not the church and not the state, women must decide our fate.'

In Houston, thousands attended a reproductive rights rally headlined by Democrat Beto O'Rourke, who is running for Texas governor.

Texas is one of the states that will automatically ban abortion, leaving no exceptions for rape or incest, if the high court overturns the nationwide right to abortion.

Anti-abortion protesters hold a demonstration across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday. They are pictured holding crosses, rosaries and bibles

Protesters hold signs supporting pro-choice legislation during a rally at the Indiana Federal Courthouse in Indianapolis on Tuesday

Pro-abortion rights protesters shout at anti-abortion advocates during a march in Chicago on Saturday

Demonstrators gather outside the Supreme Court Building on Monday protesting in support of Roe v. Wade

Pro-life and pro-choice activists face off during a protest at the Indiana Federal Courthouse in Indianapolis on Tuesday

In the nation's capital, abortion rights protesters stood outside the Supreme Court, holding signs that said abortion is a human right, or 'Abort the Court.'

Protesters who opposed abortion demonstrated across the street.

In Maryland, demonstrators rallied outside the homes of conservative Justices John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh, shouting 'you don't care if people die' and 'keep abortion safe and legal.'

Liberal group ShutDown D.C. already plans to host a 'Vigil for Abortion Rights' outside of Justice Alito's house on Monday.

Next Saturday, America is expecting a 'massive' day of action with nationwide rallies organized by Planned Parenthood, UltraViolet, Womens March and MoveOn.

The protest, dubbed Bans Off Our Bodies, will feature marches in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., as well as hundreds of demonstrations in other cities across the U.S.

Demonstrators in support of reproductive rights protest outside of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland on Saturday

Protesters gathered outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house on Saturday, screaming: 'We will not go back!'
Nancy Pelosi slammed California Governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday after he said the Democratic Party hasn't been fighting enough for abortion rights as the Supreme Court leak showing an impending overturn of Roe v. Wade rocks the nation.

'Democrats have failed to target Republicans,' Newsom said of his own party during public remarks on Wednesday.

'Where is the Democratic Party  where's the party?' he pushed. 'Why aren't we calling this out? This is a concerted, coordinated effort and, yes, they're winning. We need to stand up. Where is the counter offensive?'

Pelosi, who has represented the district encompassing San Francisco since 1987, pushed back on the California Democratic governor during an interview with CBS Face the Nation on Sunday.

'I have no idea why anybody would make that statement unless they were unaware of the fight that has been going on,' she said of Newsom.

'The fact is that we have been fighting for a woman's right to choose  and that is to choose. We have been fighting against the Republicans in the Congress constantly,' she insisted in a pushback on her California colleague's comment.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lashed out at her California colleague Governor Gavin Newsom Sunday after he criticized the Democratic Party for not doing enough in the abortion fight

Newsom (pictured) said on Wednesday: 'Democrats have failed to target Republicans Where is the Democratic Party? Why aren't we calling this out? This is a concerted, coordinated effort and, yes, they're winning. We need to stand up. Where is the counter offensive?' Pelosi replied Sunday with: 'I have no idea why anybody would make that statement unless they were unaware of the fight that has been going on'

Protesters remained outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, May 7, 2022 after a massive un-scalable fence was erected to keep demonstrators clear of the building and its justices

Speaker Pelosi responds to California Gov. Newsom criticism of Democrats for not fighting for abortion rights: I have no idea why anybody would make that statement unless they were unaware of the fight that has been going on. pic.twitter.com/WPzycSrvHE  Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 8, 2022

'This is a constant fight that we've had for generations  decades I should say, in my case, in the Congress,' Pelosi added. 'The science hasn't changed, but the court changed.'

Newsom's comments about his own party's failures on abortion came after a leak from the Supreme Court Monday evening showed a conservative draft opinion signaling an impending overturn of Roe v. Wade.

The landmark abortion case has stood for the last 50 years and made a woman's right to an abortion federally protection. But red states have increasingly tried to redefine the law, pushing for it to be more limited in scope, especially in recent years.

Both sides of the political aisle are up in arms over the leak  Democrats due to the contents of the leak and Republicans because there was a leak in the first place.

Democrats have vowed an attempt to codify Roe v. Wade in the legislature, while Republicans are calling for the leaker to be brought to justice.

'Back when Democrats held majorities in the House and the Senate in 2009 when you were Speaker, President Obama was asked about codifying Roe v. Wade and said 'abortion is a moral and ethic issue' and 'not the highest legislative priority,'' CBS host Margaret Brennan said to Pelosi on Sunday.

She asked: 'Do you think it was a mistake for him  for other presidents  not to push harder when Democrats had the majority?'

'I think that this is a waste of time. The fact is in [20]09 we really did not have a pro-choice Democratic party,' Pelosi explained. 'I had to fight against some of the people who did not want to pass the Affordable Care Act because they were concerned it would enable more freedom of choice.'

'Right now we do have a pro-choice Democratic Congress and we passed the law months ago,' she continued.

A leak out of the Supreme Court is completely unprecedented, and many warn it could lead to a breakdown in the Judicial Branch and break trust between the Justices.

Protesters descended on conservative Justices' homes in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. on Saturday.

Protesters in San Francisco, which falls in Pelosi's California district, march for abortion rights on Saturday, May 7, 2022

Pelosi put pressure on Sunday on moderate Democrats  mainly Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona  to join their Senate colleagues in getting rid of the filibuster so that abortion rights could pass through the upper chamber.

'Two more  one or two more senators could sweep back the filibuster rule for this purpose, and then women would have a right to choose,' Pelosi said without mentioning Manchin or Sinema by name.

'This is about something so serious and so personal and so disrespectful of women,' she continued. 'So, the fact is, let's keep our eye on the ball. The ball is in the court of those justices.'

'I don't think there's a good outcome but there's a better outcome as far as this is concerned,' Pelosi said.

She presented a slippery slope argument, claiming that the abortion issue isn't really about the lives of unborn, but more about privacy.

Pelosi warned that if Roe v. Wade is overturned that gay marriage or banning of contraceptions could be next.

Pro-abortion demonstrators rally for rights to remain after a leak of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court showed an impending overturn of Roe v. Wade

Protesters also descended on the home of Supreme Court Justices in Maryland and Virginia on Saturday. Pictured: Those pro-abortion protesters gathered outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house scream: 'We will not go back!'

'You'll have to talk to the Senate about the Senate,' Pelosi said when asked about legislation to protect abortion rights that already passed the Democrat-led House.

'But I do think that it puts an urgency on what's happening in the election,' she said, hoping to further mobilize pro-choice voters to show up and vote for Democrats in the 2022 midterms.

With a 50-50 split Senate, just one defector can stop any agenda items for the left. The House is less split, but can still only afford to lose a handful of districts in the midterm elections to keep their upper hand in the lower chamber.

Chief Justice John Roberts, one of the six conservatives on the Supreme Court bench, has said that he would not support an entire overturn of the precedent case  but would support a ban at the 15-week point of a pregnancy.

Even with Roberts defecting with liberals, there are still five conservatives that have the numbers to pass an overturn of Roe v. Wade.
Israeli police say they have captured two Palestinians who allegedly killed three people in a stabbing attack last week and fled the scene - sparking a massive manhunt.

The two attackers went on a stabbing rampage in the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad on Thursday, Israel's Independence Day, killing three and wounding at least four others before bolting.

The security services - who previously identified the suspects as Assad Yussef al-Rifai, 19, and Subhi Imad Abu Shukair, 20 - said the pair were spotted hiding in a bush near a quarry, just outside the central town of Elad, where the axe attack took place on Thursday.

'We said we would get the terrorists, and so we did,' Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said ahead of his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.

The deadly attack was the sixth in which Israelis have been targeted since March 22.

Israeli Security and rescue personnel work at the scene following today's suspected terrorist attack in Elad, central Israel - in which at least three people have been killed

Israeli police cordon off an area in Elad, central Israel, after today's attack which occurred as the Jewish state celebrated its independence

It came as Israeli-Palestinian tensions were already heightened by violence at a major holy site in Jerusalem sacred to Jews and Muslims.

Witnesses said two assailants leapt from a car swinging axes at passers-by, leaving three dead and four wounded, before fleeing in the same vehicle.

The manhunt included the police, domestic security agency and the army, along with helicopters and drones, the security forces said.

An Israeli military official said bloody cash notes, presumably dropped by the suspects in flight, helped lead the trail to where they were hiding.

Forces scanning the area noticed a bush 'that looked a bit different', said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

'When they got closer they saw the bush moving up and down, like a breathing movement,' the official said.

A joint statement by police, the military and the Shin Bet internal security agency said the men were caught near a quarry not far from Elad following a search that began Thursday by special forces and commando units using helicopters and other means.

Images in Israeli media showed masked security forces confronting the men, who appeared to be beneath a green shrub in a rugged patch of land.

The suspects surrendered and confessed during initial questioning, the official said.

A policeman guards the cordon outside the scene where three people were killed and four others injured in Elad, central Israel

Israel has identified the three dead as Yonatan Habakuk, 44, and Boaz Gol, 49, both from Elad, as well as Oren Ben Yiftach, 35.

The perpetrators had entered Israel from the occupied West Bank through the porous security barrier hours before the attack, the official said, calling their infiltration a 'failure' of the army.

The bloodshed unfolded as Israel marked the 74th anniversary of its founding, which has previously been a tense day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

For Palestinians, the anniversary of Israel's 1948 declaration of independence marks the Nakba, or 'catastrophe', when more than 700,000 fled or were expelled during the war surrounding Israel's creation.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told his Cabinet that forces captured 'terrorists awash with incitement who killed with axes and unimaginable cruelty.'

He said Israel was entering a 'new stage in the war on terror,' and said Israel was establishing a civilian national guard that would be deployed in emergency situations like the kinds of attacks the country has witnessed in recent weeks.

'The Israeli government's main goal is to restore personal security to Israeli citizens,' he said.

As forces scoured the area looking for the men, police called on the public to avoid the area, and urged Israelis to report suspicious vehicles or people to them.

Police said the attackers were from the town of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, which has re-emerged as a militant bastion in the latest wave of violence - the worst Israel has seen in years.

Several of the attackers in the recent violence have come from Jenin.

A string of anti-Israeli attacks since March 22 have killed 18 people, including an Arab-Israeli police officer and two Ukrainians.

Two of the deadly attacks were carried out in the Tel Aviv area by Palestinians.

A total of 27 Palestinians and three Israeli Arabs have died during the same period, among them perpetrators of attacks and those killed by Israeli security forces in West Bank operations.

An unarmed woman and two apparent bystanders were also among those killed and rights groups say Israel often uses excessive force.

Tensions boiled over into violent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a highly contested site in Jerusalem's Israeli-annexed Old City.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas had condemned the Elad attacks, warning that the murder of Israeli civilians risked fuelling a broader cycle of violence.

But the Gaza Strip's Islamist rulers Hamas praised the attack - as did the Gaza-based Islamic jihad armed group - calling it a consequence of unrest at Al-Aqsa.

Police gather close to the the scene where three people lost their lives in the central Israeli city of Elad

The Islamic Jihad called the attackers 'heroes' and said their arrest would not 'discourage' people from continuing their violent resistance.

Hamas said the attack 'demonstrates our people's anger at the occupation's attacks on holy sites'.

Last week Hamas threatened Israel with rocket fire and attacks on synagogues if its security forces carry out further raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

'Whoever has a rifle must have it ready, and whoever does not have a rifle must prepare their knife or their axe,' said Yahya Sinwar, Hamas chief in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.

The violence has been fuelled by tensions at a Jerusalem hilltop compound holy to both Muslims and Jews, where Palestinians have clashed recently with Israeli police.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is the third holiest site in Islam and is built on a hilltop that is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It lies at the emotional heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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Legendary TV actor Dennis Waterman has died at the age of 74, his family has announced.

Waterman was one of the most popular television actors of the 1970s and 80s. He starred as bodyguard Terry McCann in Minder after first finding fame as tough nut cop George Carter in The Sweeney.

In more recent years, he starred as Gerry Standing in the BBCs New Tricks, and throughout his career other TV roles included ITVs Where The Heart Is, The Canterbury Tales and Moses Jones, both for the BBC..

In a statement, his family said he died today in Spain with his wife Pam at his side.

Dennis Waterman, right, was one of the most popular television actors of the 70s and 80s. Pictured here with Minder co-star George Cole

Waterman pictured in character as Terry McCann on location during filming of the television series Minder in London in October 1979

George Cole (left) and Dennis Waterman pictured together in character as Arthur Daley and Terry McCann during filming of Minder

Waterman (pictured far right) poses for a photograph with John Thaw (left) and comedic legends Ernie Wise and Eric Morecambe (centre) in 1978

The actor 'passed away very peacefully' at home in Spain this afternoon with his wife Pam by his side, his family said in the statement

Waterman (left) and George Cole at the Theatre Royal in London in 1982. Waterman's extensive career also included numerous stints on the stage

Dennis Waterman pictured leaving Reading Crematorium for the funeral of Minder co-star George Cole in 2015

Waterman with New Tricks co-star Amanda Redman arriving for the Galaxy British Book Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in March 2007

They stated: 'We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved Dennis passed away very peacefully at his home in Spain. The family kindly ask that our privacy is respected at this very difficult time.'

Tributes have flooded in as news broke of Waterman's death.

Producer Jonathan Sothcott tweeted: 'Dennis Waterman was one of our biggest TV stars throughout the 70s and 80s, an everyman figure who felt like one of us. A naturalistic, nuanced actor.

'Terrific in The Sweeney, unforgettable in Minder (helluva song too, lampoonery aside). They dont make em like that anymore.'

Actor Stuart Anthony said: 'Dennis Waterman has left us. What a fantastic talent and lovely man. Such a loss to the industry. RIP.'

Newsreader Kay Burley posted: 'A brilliant actor who was a staple on our screens throughout the 70s and 80s. Loved The Sweeney. Loved Minder more.'

DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles also today reminisced about a charity golf trip he took alongside Waterman.

Knowles tweeted: 'I played golf on a tour to Bermuda with Dennis Waterman - I'm not much of a golfer - he was - but it was time spent with him between rounds that were well worth the trip. A genuinely lovely guy. RIP.'

And presenter and comedian Paddy McGuinness said he had always wanted to be the character of Waterman's Terry McCann.

In a tweet, he wrote: 'Myself and my Phoenix Nights cast mates used to sing the theme tune to Minder on tour and on the Karaoke!

'Gutted I never got to meet him, always wanted to be Terry McCann. Another icon from my childhood gone. RIP Dennis Waterman.'

Journalist John Sweeney tweeted: 'RIP Dennis Waterman. The Sweeney was everything great TV drama should be: gritty, honest, true.'

Actor and writer Reece Shearsmith added: 'RIP Dennis Waterman. When I worked with him on "New Tricks" he made me the best cups of tea.

'And of course I just spent the time grilling him about "Scars of Dracula".'

Former Eastenders and Rise of the Footsoldier actor Craig Fairbrass said: 'Truly upset & gutted hearing this news. I loved him - my days will never be the same watching ITV4 Sweeney & Minder. Quality classic TV. RIP Dennis x'

Dennis Waterman (right) pictured with fellow London cast members of My Fair Lady, Martine McCutcheon and Jonathan Pryce, making a special appearance at HMV in London's Oxford Street

Dennis Waterman and his wife Pam Flint arriving at Reading Crematorium for the funeral of George Cole in 2015

Dennis Waterman (left) and George Cole (right) with Chris Routh during filming of Minder in 1985

Waterman pictured alongside Carol Lynley in 1969 film Journey to the Unknown. Waterman played Albert Baker, a young man unlucky in love who becomes attracted to a female mannequin that comes to life in his fantasies

John Thaw and Dennis Waterman on the set of their film Sweeney 2 in December 1977. The film was based on the earlier drama series

Waterman (left) and John Thaw (1942-2002) in centre, pictured together in character as George Carter and Jack Regan during production of the spin-off feature film Sweeney 2

Dennis Waterman (left) and with Minder co-star George Cole at the TV Times magazine's awards ceremony in 1985 at the height of the show's success

Waterman (centre) pictured with Little Britain stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams for a special Comic Relief performance in 2006

Waterman on stage along with David Walliams (left) and Matt Lucas (right) for Little Britain's Big Night charity gala performance in aid of Comic Relief at the Hammersmith Apollo in November 2006

Waterman was caricatured on Little Britain by actor David Walliams and made a surprising guest appearance with Walliams and co-star Matt Lucas at the Comic Relief in 2006.

And Lucas was among many sharing tributes to the actor today, tweeting: 'I grew up watching Dennis Waterman's iconic performances in The Sweeney and Minder.

'His guest appearance in our Little Britain Live show at Hammersmith Apollo - in which he hilariously duetted with David's absurd impersonation of him - remains the absolute highlight of my career.'

Born in London, Waterman was educated at the Corona Theatre School and began his showbiz career at a young age.

Following a role for the Children's Film Foundation, he was invited to join Stratford's Royal Shakespeare Company.

A role in the BBC's adaptation of the Just William books followed and the actor would, in his later years, reflect on some of the different roles he undertook.

In 2009, he starred in the BBC's hard-hitting drama Moses Jones, a role which he said at the time he had enjoyed because it cast him in a different light.

He added: 'I really enjoyed it, because it was a very different kind of character - and that's important.

'On television in Britain, I'm sort of the cheeky chappie, everybody's mate, but I've never played anything like that in the theatre. It's strange that you get cast as different things in different parts of the media.'

His role in 2003 drama New Tricks marked his return to a long-running show for the first time in a decade and saw him star alongside acting stalwarts James Bolam and Alun Armstrong. He initially joined the show in 2003 and featured in the role for 11 years until 2014.

Waterman (left) pictured alongside John Thaw (right) during filming for television series The Sweeney, in which he played tough nut cop George Carter

Waterman with Amanda Redman (left) and Diane Langton (right) promoting their then new musical Windy City, at the Victoria Palace in 1982

Waterman married actress Rula Lenska (left) in 1987, but their relationship fell apart ten years later following claims of abuse

His character Gerry was part of the cold case squad, who were often at odds with their detective boss, played by Amanda Redman.

Minder was later revived by Channel 5 in 2009, but Waterman did not return for the new outing.

His extensive career also included numerous stints on the stage and he played Alfred Doolittle in a Royal National Theatre production of My Fair Lady, as well as starring in a tour production of Don't Dress For Dinner.

He also starred in productions of Twelfth Night, Edward Bond's Saved at the Royal Court Theatre and Sergeant Musgrave's Dance.

His talents did not end with acting and he had a keen interest in music, having recorded albums and singles, including songs which charted in Australia, New Zealand and Britain.

He was also part of the popular tour, Friends On Tour, which saw him take to the road alongside Sheena Easton and Gerard Kenny.

The final project of his acting career came in 2020 in the form of was Australian drama-comedy film Never Too Late.

It followed four former prisoners of war that broke out of their camp during the Vietnam War before becoming residents in the same retirement home.

Waterman was married four times and had two daughters with second wife Patricia Maynard, one of whom is former EastEnders actress Hannah Waterman - who later played his daughter in New Tricks.

He attracted headlines when he split up with Maynard in 1987 and married actress Rula Lenska, but the marriage fell apart after ten years amid claims of abuse. In 2012, Waterman attracted controversy in an interview by stating: 'She certainly wasn't a beaten wife, she was hit and that's different.'

Waterman married his fourth wife Pam Flint in 2011 after being friends for many years and they remained together until his death.
Boris Johnson had food poisoning before a brutal interview where he admitted he was 'beaten up' by presenter Susanna Reid.

The PM endured a torrid time when he was grilled on ITV's Good Morning Britain last week for the first time in five years, struggling to justify the government's cost-of-living response.

But aides revealed that Mr Johnson had just finished throwing up before going on screen - and a 'distress signal' had been arranged with Susanna in case he needed to make a hasty exit.

'He had food poisoning,' an aide told the Sunday Times. 'He was throwing up and had to change his suit because he got sick on his lapel.'

Afterwards the PM is understood to have gone went straight to his morning meeting with senior aides and announced: 'I just got beaten up by Susanna Reid.'

Aides say Boris Johnson had food poisoning before a brutal interview where he admitted he was 'beaten up' by presenter Susanna Reid (pictured)

Susanna Reid challenged him with the example of Elsie (pictured) and her cost-of-living plight during the car-crash interview

Mr Johnson had refused to go on GMB while Piers Morgan was hosting, including notoriously hiding in a fridge when a reporter from the show tried to confront him during the 2019 general election campaign.

But he did not fare any better with Susanna, who challenged him with the example of Elsie during the car-crash interview.

The 77-year-old's energy costs in her council flat have risen from 17 to 85 a month, and Reid told the premier that she now 'uses her freedom bus pass to stay on buses all day to avoid using energy at home'.

Extraordinarily, Mr Johnson replied by saying he had brought in the free bus pass that Elsie was using - even though in fact the benefit had been introduced years before he was London Mayor.

Mr Johnson was asked what Elsie should cut back on.

'I don't want Elsie to cut back on anything, let's talk about Elsie and what we are doing and - just to remind you that the 24-hour freedom bus pass was something that I actually introduced.'

'So Elsie should be grateful to you for her bus pass? What else should she cut back on?' Ms Reid replied.

The interview was Mr Johnson's first in five years on GMB, and came ahead of local elections where the Tories lost hundreds of councillors and were overtaken in vote share by Labour

Mr Johnson went on: 'There are plenty of things more that we are doing. What we want to do is make sure we have people who are in particular hardship looked after by their councils, we are putting much more money into local councils. We have the particular payments to help elderly people in particular with the cost of heating.'

However, the PM's claim to have introduced the freedom pass was immediately challenged. It was brought in in 1973, although as mayor Mr Johnson did extend the benefit to 24 hours a day.

Since the pandemic it has not been available before 9.30am as TfL struggled to cope with a financial meltdown.

At the end of the interview, Mr Johnson left viewers bemused after admitting he didn't know who Lorraine Kelly is.

As Susanna tried to hand over for the next show, a confused premier said: 'Who's Lorraine?'
Antifa vandals hurled at least one Molotov cocktail into offices of an anti-abortion group in Wisconsin and scrawled a chilling message on the wall that read: 'If abortions aren't safe you aren't either.'

The damage was discovered on Mother's Day morning when a passerby called police and reported seeing smoke coming from the headquarters of the anti-abortion group Wisconsin Family Action in Madison.

The Antifa symbol - a capital 'A' inside a circle - was also scrawled on the wall, as well as the numbers 1312 - a code for the letters ACAB, which stand for 'All Cops Are Bastards'

Julaine Appling, president of the lobbying and advocacy organization, told the Wisconsin State Journal that a window was broken, books were burned, and there was graffiti on the walls, but the full extent of the damage is not yet known.

The organization lobbies against abortion rights and gay marriage, according to their website.

Appling told News 3 Now she does not know who would do this, but said the suspect 'left their signature' with graffiti that depicted an Antifa A.

The attack, which is believed to have happened late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, comes just days after a leaked U.S. Supreme Court opinion revealed a majority of the high court had agreed to overturn the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion across the country.

'What you're going to see here is a direct threat against us,' Appling told the paper. 'Imagine if somebody had been in the office when this happened. They would have been hurt.'

The damage was discovered on Mother's Day morning when a passerby called police and reported seeing smoke coming from the headquarters of the anti-abortion group

Vandals hurled at least one Molotov cocktail into offices of an anti-abortion group Wisconsin Family Action in Madison, Wisconsin, this weekened, and scrawled a chilling message on the wall that read: 'If abortions aren't safe you aren't either'

Julaine Appling, president of the lobbying and advocacy organization, said the suspect 'left their signature' with graffiti that depicted an Antifa A

Appling and events coordinator Diane Westphall were getting ready for a Mother's Day brunch when a staff member informed her of the break-in, she told the paper.

Madison police spokeswoman Stephanie Fryer confirmed to Wisconsin State Journal on Sunday that authorities were investigating a fire in the 2800 block of International Lane.

Madison Fire Department crews were able to put out the flames, and no injuries were reported.

Abortion rights protesters rallied in cities around the U.S. on Saturday, vowing to fight to ensure that abortion remains a legal option for women nationwide. Pro-life advocates took to the streets in opposition.

The attack happened at the organization's Madison headquarters on International Lane

Hundreds gathered in several major cities across the nation, including Chicago, Atlanta and Houston, to fight for and against abortion legislation.

In Atlanta, demonstrators carried signs in favor of abortion rights as they marched through that city's downtown and chanted: 'Not the church and not the state, women must decide our fate.'

In Houston, thousands attended a reproductive rights rally headlined by Democrat Beto O'Rourke, who is running for Texas governor.

Texas is one of the states that will automatically ban abortion, leaving no exceptions for rape or incest, if the high court overturns the nationwide right to abortion.

Wisconsin is also one of the states with a decades-old abortion ban predating Roe that would presumably take effect almost immediately after a formal Supreme Court reversal of the case. But even in those states, Democratic governors would have an opportunity to fight the change in their state courts.

Furious pro-choice protesters screamed 'you don't care if people die' while picketing the house of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday

Protesters gathered outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house, screaming: 'We will not go back!'

Protesters in DC hold signs arguing in favor of Roe v. Wade

On Saturday, furious pro-choice protesters screamed 'you don't care if people die' while picketing the house of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered in the rain in DC and marched towards the homes of conservative Justices Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh in response to the leaked Supreme Court draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Images of coat hangers were chalked on the street outside the justices' homes, an apparent attempt to reinforce the pro-choice argument that overturning Roe v. Wade will not put an end to abortion, but instead will end safe abortions.

Cops stood guard outside the justices' homes and, after what appeared to be a clash with demonstrators, ordered the activists to leave. At least one officer threatened to arrest and charge the protesters for violating Maryland law.

The Supreme Court draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito and published by POLITICO, was leaked on Monday. The document revealed the court has voted to strike down the landmark 1973 ruling Rove v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States.

Protestors across the nation started assembling just hours after the opinion was leaked. Pro-choice rallies, spearheaded by organizations like Planned Parenthood, are slated to continue the upcoming week and weekend.

Liberal group ShutDown DC already has plans to host a 'Vigil for Abortion Rights' outside Alito's house on Monday.

Liberal group ShutDown DC already has plans to host a 'Vigil for Abortion Rights' outside of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's house on May 9

Alito's draft does not necessarily represent the sentiments of other justices who did not pen the opinion, but it's been suggested that the court's 6-3 conservative supermajority, which include Justices Roberts and Kavanaugh, will likely deliver on the historic reversal.

Protestors carrying signs that read 'An abortion saved my family' and 'Abortion is Healthcare, Healthcare is a right' first arrived at Justice Roberts' home where protestors drew multiple chalk outlines coat hangers, a famous symbol of illegal abortions.

Protestors chanted 'Keep abortion safe and legal!' and 'Pro-life is a lie! You don't care if people die!'

The protests came after the White House said it encourages 'peaceful protests,' would not tell abortion activists to avoid the justices' homes.

'The president, for all those women, men, others who feel outraged, who feel scared, who feel concerned, he hears them, he shares that concern and that horror that he saw in that draft opinion,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.

She said President Joe Biden's message to those angered by the draft is to 'participate in peaceful protest'.

'Ensure it's peaceful. Have your voice heard peacefully. We should not be resorting to violence in any way, shape or form,' Psaki added.

A woman holds a pro-abortion sign while posing for a photo next to a chalked coat hanger

Pro-abortion protestors gathered outside the homes of Justices Kavanaugh and Roberts, holding up signs and chanting 'Keep abortion safe and legal' before cops arrived and forced them to leave

Saturday's protests seem to just be the start as liberal group ShutDown DC already plans to host a 'Vigil for Abortion Rights' outside of Alito's house on May 9.

'Justice Alito thinks he can take away our rights. But our rights are fundamentally ours. We're showing up to tell him in person,' the group said.

'The evening of Monday, May 9, we will hold a vigil for all these rights that Alito is threatening to take away. Because it's been impossible to reach him at the Supreme Court (especially now with the enormous fences), we will do it at his home,' the event description said.

'At 7:30 pm we will gather at a nearby location and walk together to his house. At the foot of his driveway, on the public street, we will light candles and speakers will share their testimony. We will hold a moment of silence for the rights we know are ours, then walk back together to the meeting location.'

In Alito's leaked document, conservative Justice Alito wrote that Roe v Wade - the 1973 Supreme Court ruling which found that excessive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional - was 'egregiously wrong from the start' and 'must be overruled'.

Alito, who was nominated to the court in 2006 by George W Bush, argues that Roe's 'reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. Far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.'

But there were few signs that the new ruling will do anything to heal those divisions, with protesters gathering outside the court in Washington DC last night.

If the ruling is overturned by the conservative-dominated court - with Republicans having a 6 - 3 majority - it would give individual states the power to decide on whether to ban abortion. The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research group, has said that 26 states are 'certain or likely' to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Abortion-rights protesters hold signs during demonstration outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday

Members of the Boston Red Cloaks gather near the Park street train station on Saturday as they protest the possible overturning of Roe vs. Wade. The organization is one of several that has called for nationwide protests on May 14

Abortion rights have been under threat in recent months as Republican-led states move to tighten rules - with some seeking to ban all abortions after six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant.

These include Arizona, where the Republican Governor in March signed a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy; and Idaho where the governor signed a six-week abortion ban that allows family members of the fetus to sue providers who perform abortions past that point, similar to a Texas law enacted last year.

As it stands in the US, abortion can take place until about 24 weeks into pregnancy - but the exact period varies between states. For example, Texas bans abortion after about six weeks but Florida has a 15-week abortion ban.

Next Saturday, America is expecting a 'massive' day of action with nationwide rallies organized by Planned Parenthood, UltraViolet, Women's March and MoveOn.

The protest, dubbed Bans Off Our Bodies, will feature marches in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., as well as hundreds of demonstrations in other cities across the U.S.
President Joe Biden and the western allies released a set of sweeping new sanctions on Sunday that target Russian media and bank executives, the latest financial crackdown to come in the wake of Vladimir Putin's invasion of the Ukraine and one day ahead of the Russian president's 'Victory Day' holiday.

The announcement came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined Biden and G7 leaders in a virtual meeting. That call lasted a little more than an hour, beginning at 11:03 am ET and ended 12:16 pm ET, according to the White House.

During that meeting, G7 leaders agreed to follow the U.S. example and commit to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, the White House announced. The move will massively damage Putin's ability to fund his war as energy is a main source of state revenue for Russia.

'We commit to phase out our dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil,' the leadership of the seven nations - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States - said in a statement.

'We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies.'

But it's also unclear how long it will take to implement. G7 countries like Germany rely on Russia for a majority of its energy needs.

Sunday's latest round of sanctions cut off Russian-state controlled TV stations from American advertisers and prohibit Russians from using US-provided management and accounting consulting services that have enriched oligarchs.

'Taken together, today's actions are a continuation of the systematic and methodical removal of Russia from the global financial and economic system. And the message is there will be no safe haven for the Russian economy if Putin's invasion continues,' a senior administration official told reporters on a briefing call.

President Joe Biden (above) and the western allies released a set of sweeping new sanctions on Sunday that target Russian media and bank executives after a call with G7 leaders

The latest round of sanctions came ahead of Vladimir Putin's 'Victory Day' celebration on Monday where some officials worry he will formally declare war on Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined President Joe Biden and G7 leaders in a virtual meeting Sunday

A view of damaged area as State Emergency Service of Ukraine interfere fire and destruction on the region due to ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine in Luhansk

Biden and western leaders have worked to hit Putin and his wealthy allies in their pocketbook, using financial pressure to try and end the war in the Ukraine by taking away its main sources of funding while, at the same time, puttin the squeeze on the Russian economy.

The White House claims the strategy is working.

'As a result of our export controls, Russia is struggling to replenish its military weapons and equipment,' the administration said in a statement on Sunday.

'Almost 1,000 private sector companies have left Russia, and reports indicate that more than 200,000 Russians, many of whom are highly skilled, have fled the country. All of these costs will compound and intensify over time.'

The latest financial targets come ahead of Monday's Victory Day celebration in Moscow, a major holiday that marks Russia's World War II victory over the Nazis.

Some American officials are concerned Putin will use the day to officially declare war on Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February. The Russian president could also use the day to declare victory in eastern Ukraine.

But Russia has failed to subdue Ukraine and has lost as many as 25,000 soldiers, according to some estimates. Ukraine's Ministry of Defense also has claimed that 12 Russian generals have been killed since the invasion began in late February.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told CNN on Sunday that Russia has nothing to celebrate, noting it has 'only succeeded in isolating themselves internationally and becoming a pariah state around the globe.'

In the latest round of sanctions announced on Sunday, the United States targeted three of Russia's most highly-viewed directly or indirectly state-controlled television stations in Russia  Joint Stock Company Channel One Russia, Television Station Russia-1, and Joint Stock Company NTV Broadcasting Company.

All three stations have been among the largest recipients of foreign revenue, which feeds back to the Russian State's revenue, the White House said.

The U.S. is also forbidding American financial executives from helping Russian oligarchs hid their money and build up their wealth.

The White House announced all American personal are forbidden from providing accounting, trust and corporate formation, and management consulting services to any person in the Russian Federation.

Russia's industrial sector is also targeted. It will face export controls on a variety of equipment and items, including wood products, industrial engines, boilers, motors, fans and ventilation equipment and bulldozers.

The U.S. will also issue about 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials who the administration said were undermining Ukraine's sovereignty.

And the Biden administration went after Russia's banking industry.

The U.S. also sanctioned eight executives from Sberbank  the largest financial institution in Russia which holds about a third of all bank assets in Russia; twenty-seven executives from Gazprombank  a prominent Russian bank facilitating business by Russia's Gazprom, one of the largest natural gas exporters in the world; and Moscow Industrial Bank and its ten subsidiaries.

Notably, legal services aren't covered by the latest sanctions list but an senior administration official said they could be added at a later date if necessary.

A man lays flowers at the Soviet war memorial in Tiergarten park to commemorate the 77th anniversary of V-E Day, or Victory in Europe Day, which marks the 1945 end of World War II

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an unannounced visit to Irpin, a Kyiv suburb targeted during Russias attempt to take the capital and met its Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn

Jill Biden and Olena Zelensky, wife of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, met in Ukraine after the American first lady made a surprise visit

Meanwhile, U.S. diplomats returned to Kyiv on Sunday to commemorate Victory in Europe Day with their Ukrainian counterparts.

But amid the celebration dozens of people were feared dead after a Russian airstrike leveled a school in eastern Ukraine on Saturday as the Russian bombardment continues.

Putin has been trying to advance in eastern Ukraine for the past few weeks, ramping up his push as Victory Day has approached. But Ukrainian forces - backed with weapons supplied by the U.S. and western allies - have fought back.

Separately, first lady Jill Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made visits to the Ukraine on Sunday to show their support for the people there.

Trudeau toured the northern town of Irpin, which had been heavily damaged by Russias attempt to take the capital of Kyiv at the start of the war. The mayor on Sunday posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeau's office later said 'the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.'

Jill Biden held a surprise Mothers Day meeting in western Ukraine with first lady Olena Zelensky.

'I wanted to come on Mother's Day. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine,' she said.

Biden is the highest profile member of President Joe Biden's administration to visit the war torn country.

President Biden has requested more than $60 billion in aid for Ukraine this year.
Kwon Young-soo, from left, CEO of LG Energy Solution, Chey Jae-won, co-CEO of SK On and Choi Yoon-ho, CEO of Samsung SDI



By Baek Byung-yeul



LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI are busy looking for further inroads into the rapidly-growing electric vehicle (EV) battery market in the United States. The heads of the Korea battery cell makers have travelled there on business or are planning to do so in order to seek more opportunities, industry sources said Sunday.



On their business trips to the U.S., the CEOs of LG, Samsung and SK are expected to hold business meetings with high-level officials of the U.S. automakers to explore future business opportunities for their battery cells, the sources said.



The sources added that the CEOs of the three battery cell makers are putting more emphasis on the EV battery market of the U.S. to respond to the Biden administration's eco-friendly car drive, which aims to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 electric.



Kwon Young-soo, CEO and vice chairman of LG Energy Solution, is known to have plans to visit the U.S. this month. This visit will be Kwon's first business trip to the U.S. since he took the position in November 2021.



The CEO of Korea's largest battery cell maker is expected to inspect the company's battery-manufacturing plants there and meet with Mary Barra, CEO of U.S. auto giant GM.



LG Energy Solution has solidified its relationship with GM, establishing joint venture and battery cell manufacturing cell factories in North America to supply batteries to GM's car brands, such as Chevrolet and Cadillac.



Currently, the company operates its battery plant in Michigan and is building three new plants with GM in the U.S. states of Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan. In March, the company also announced the building of two new battery factories in North America including one in Ontario, Canada, which will be jointly built with multinational automaker Stellantis, and a cylindrical battery cell-manufacturing plant, which will be built in U.S. state of Arizona.



Regarding Kwon's business in the U.S., an LG Energy Solution spokesman declined to answer, saying, "We cannot confirm the schedule of the CEO's visit to the U.S."



SK Group said that Chey Jae-won, the senior vice chairman of SK Group and the co-CEO of SK Group's battery-cell subsidiary, SK On, traveled to the U.S. in April and visited the headquarters of hydrogen company Monolith in Nebraska.



Monolith is known to use renewable electricity to convert natural gas to hydrogen and carbon black, a key raw material in the automotive and industrial sectors. The company is the first U.S. firm to produce emission-free hydrogen. Although SK Inc., the holding company of SK Group, didn't reveal the investment amount, the company said in 2021 that it acquired a stake in the U.S. company.



"We can confirm that the senior vice chairman visited Monolith last month. The U.S. firm has production technologies of green hydrogen and solid carbon," a spokesman of SK Inc. said.



"Solid carbon can also be used as anode material, an essential material for battery cell production, and Monolith has been conducting research on its applicability," he added.



The industry view is that Choi Yoon-ho, CEO of Samsung SDI, may also travel to the U.S. on business in the near future given that the company will jointly build a battery cell-manufacturing plant in North America with Stellantis.



In October 2021, Samsung SDI announced a joint venture deal with Stellantis, and their plant will have an annual production capacity of 23 gigawatt hours starting the first half of 2025. Samsung SDI has not yet announced any detailed plans for the plant, including its location.



Regarding Choi's U.S. trip, a Samsung SDI spokesman said, "It's hard for us to know the schedule of our CEO."



An official from a local battery industry said that Korean companies are focusing on the U.S. battery market because taking the lead there will enable them to take the initiative in the global market, adding that the battery market in the U.S. is expected to see around 70 percent growth in 2022 year-on-year.



"North America is a crucial production base in the global battery industry, given that the current U.S. administration is pushing forward with increasing the number of electric cars. This is why the CEOs of each battery cell company plan to visit the U.S.," the official said, asking for anonymity.


Russian kindergarten children dressed up in a variety of pro-Russian military outfits ahead of the country's Victory Day parade, a video on social media has shown.

Leading the group of pupils was one young boy dressed as a Russian tank with a white 'Z' symbol emblazoned on the front - a common feature of Moscow's military vehicles currently involved in fighting in Ukraine.

The boy was shown in military uniform and a leather helmet while a Russian flag flew on the camouflaged cardboard tank fashioned around him.

Other children were shown dressed as fighter jets, soldiers and army medics. At least two more were also dressed as tanks, decorated with red Soviet stars.

Their teachers also wore similar Soviet-style military costumes as the class paraded through the courtroom of the kindergarten.

It was not immediately clear where in Russia the kindergarten was.

The white 'Z' has become a key propaganda symbol in Russia since Vladimir Putin launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

It is expected that the symbol will feature prominently in Victory Day parades to be held across Russia today (May 9), with the largest rolling through Moscow.

Some analysts had predicted that Putin wanted to be in a position where he could declare some form of victory in Ukraine on May 9.

However, some estimates suggest that as many as 25,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in fighting so far as Moscow's armies were met with fierce resistance.

Putin is now expected by some to use the event to officially declare war on Ukraine, or at least announce a smaller victory in cities such as Mariupol - where Ukrainian fighters are currently making a last stand against Putin's forces.

Leading the group of pupils was one young boy dressed as a Russian tank with a white 'Z' symbol emblazoned on the front (pictured in still video grabs) - a common feature of Moscow's military vehicles currently fighting in Ukraine

Victory Day on May 9 is one of Russia's most important national events - a remembrance of the enormous sacrifices made by the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany. Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine sustained appalling loss of life.

Ukraine still formally marks Victory Day on May 9, but as it has turned westward to Europe since 2014, it has instituted a Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation on May 8 when France, Britain and the United States mark 'Victory in Europe Day'.

Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender came into force at 11:01 p.m. on May 8, 1945, which was already May 9 in Moscow. Russians call the war the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45.

At a rehearsal event on Saturday, nuclear missiles rolled through Moscow's Red Square in a chilling warning to the West from Putin.

The thermonuclear RS-24 Yars ballistic missile - which experts believe can can carry up to 10 warheads - was seen taking pride and joy as it was driven past rows of armed guards.

The intercontinental weapon, which weighs 49.6 tonnes, can travel up to 24,500km/hr and is capable of hitting targets up to 12,000km away - meaning it could strike London or New York within minutes.

Pictured: Two children are shown dressed as Second World War-era fighter jets with the Red Star of the Soviet air force emblazoned on the wings

Pictured left: Another child is seen dressed as a tank, this time with the Soviet red star. Right: Other Russian children are seen dressed as army medics

The weapon of mass destruction was followed closely by several Iskander-M missile launchers during a rehearsal for the annual event, which is set to take place on Monday and which could see British fighters paraded as prisoners of war.

Jubilant soldiers and servicewomen were seen marching outside the Kremlin today in preparation for the celebration as they waved Russian flags, performed salutes and smiled at the cameras.

Eight MiG-29 fighters also flew past in a 'Z' formation - the insignia used by Putin's military as a symbol of its military action in Ukraine, which critics have likened to the swastika used by the Nazis.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that evil had returned to Ukraine but that Kyiv would prevail in an emotional address as Europe marks the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War Two.

Moscow's invasion, which has killed thousands and displaced millions, ended 77 years of peace, he said on Ukraine's Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation. Ukraine fought alongside Russia as part of the Soviet Union in World War Two.

His video address, filmed in front of charred Ukrainian apartment blocks with footage of Russian missile strikes, comes a day before Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin marks the Soviet victory with a vast military parade.

A Russian RS-24 Yars ballistic missile rolls in Red Square during a dress rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, May 7, 2022

Russian officers march during a rehearsal of the Victory Day parade on May 7, 2022 in Moscow

Russian aircraft fly over Red Square during a rehearsal of the Victory Day parade on May 7

'Darkness has returned to Ukraine decades after World War Two... The evil has returned,' Zelensky said. 'In a different form, under different slogans, but for the same purpose.'

'No evil can escape responsibility, it cannot hide in a bunker,' he said. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler spent the last days of his life in a bunker in Berlin where he committed suicide in the final days of the war.

Zelensky did not name Putin throughout his video address, but used vivid language to express his horror at the devastation.

'A bloody re-enactment of Nazism has been staged. A fanatical imitation of this regime. Its ideas, actions, words and symbols,' he said.

Moscow itself calls its actions a 'special operation' to disarm Ukraine and rid it of what Russia calls 'Nazis' and anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West.

Ukraine and the West say that Russia launched an unprovoked war of aggression and dismiss the rhetoric about Nazis as propaganda.

'We will overcome everything. And we know this for sure, because our military and all our people are descendants of those who overcame Nazism,' Zelensky said.

Ukraine is not holding any public events for either May 8 or May 9 this year for fear of shelling. Some cities have a curfew in place from Sunday evening to the morning of May 10.

The white 'Z' (pictured on a Russian tank on May 5) has become a key propaganda symbol in Russia since Vladimir Putin launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine on February 24

Russian service members drive a tank along a street during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia May 4, 2022

Zelensky's video was published as Ukraine's Armed Forces engaged in bitter fighting along the eastern front amid Russian assaults in Luhansk, Donetsk and Kharkiv.

Western military analysts this morning said a Ukrainian counter-offensive was advancing around Kharkiv, but added that Putin's forces made minor gains in Luhansk, an area where Moscow-backed separatists have fought since 2014.

Kharkiv, which was the first Soviet capital in Ukraine, remained a key target of Russian shelling, the Ukrainian military said yesterday.

But the Ukrainian army today declared it had made progress around the hotly contested city, recapturing five villages and part of a sixth.

Against that backdrop, Ukrainian fighters are making a final stand to prevent a complete takeover of Mariupol.

Securing the strategically important Sea of Azov port that would give Moscow a land bridge to the Crimea Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine during a 2014 invasion. It would also provide Putin with a victory to boast about during today's Victory Day celebrations in Moscow.

A view shows an explosion at a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 8, 2022

Pictured: Smoke rises from Mariupol's Azovstal steel works as Ukrainian soldiers make their final stand in the city against Putin's invading forces

The bombardment of the Azovstal steelworks - Ukraine's last holdout - intensified in recent days despite a temporary ceasefire to allow civilians inside to escape.

Russia forces have used mortars, artillery, truck-mounted rocket systems, aerial bombardment and shelling from sea to target the facility and eradicate the small contingent of Ukrainian soldiers still defending the plant.

The Ukrainian government has called on international organisations to help evacuate the fighters, who have repeatedly refused to surrender despite enduring constant bombings and suffering many casualties.

But Putin's troops have struggled to make significant gains elsewhere nearly two and a half months into a ruinous war that has killed thousands and displaced nearly 10 million people.

The Russian leader's 'special military operation' has left the country in the grip of tough Western sanctions, and has raised fears of a wider confrontation with the West.

But Russia is now gearing up for lavish celebrations to mark its Victory Day today, as Saturday's final dress rehearsal for the parade in Moscow saw nuclear missiles being wheeled through Red Square.

Russian MiG-29SMT jet fighters forming the symbol 'Z' in support of Russian military action in Ukraine, fly over central Moscow during the general rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade on May 7, 2022

The intercontinental weapon, which weighs 49.6 tonnes, can travel up to 24,500km/hr and is capable of hitting targets up to 12,000km away - meaning it could strike London or New York within minutes.

The weapon of mass destruction was followed closely by several Iskander-M missile launchers, as men and women marched outside the Kremlin dressed in military garb, waving Russian flags and performing salutes.

Eight MiG-29 fighters also flew past in a 'Z' formation - the insignia used by Putin's military as a symbol of its military action in Ukraine, which critics have likened to the swastika used by the Nazis.

The rehearsal unfolded as the Ukraine-based Centre for Defence Strategies said that 500 captured fighters supporting Ukraine could be 'forced to go through Red Square for cameras', according to The Times.

Three British fighters could be among the 500 after Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were captured by Russian forces in Mariupol last month as they fought alongside Ukrainian defenders.
EasyJet will be ripping out seats on some of its fleet this summer, so that it can fly with fewer crew, due to difficulties with staff shortages.

The airline has been struggling to meet the rising demand for travel, as more Brits head abroad now that pandemic restrictions have been lifted.

In a bid to solve this, it is removing the back row from 60 of its A319 jets, which will limit the plane to 150 passengers instead of 156.

It means that three crew members can operate the cabin, instead of the usual four.

Easyjet is removing the back row from 60 of its A319 jets, which will limit the plane to 150 passengers instead of 156

Civil Aviation Authority safety laws require three cabin crew to every 50 seats, irrespective of the number of passengers on the flight.

A company spokesperson said that the decision will 'build additional resilience and flexibility', The Telegraph reported.

Since Easter, multiple airlines have been struggling with crew shortages after many cut staff numbers during the peak of pandemic restrictions.

With demand back on the rise, this has left airlines unable to bring numbers back up quickly.

Airline bosses blamed the shortages on a slow security checking process overseen by the Government.

And cabin crew who were made redundant are less inclined to return to the workforce, having found new employment opportunities.

At the time, Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, accused airlines of not 'gearing-up' before the Easter break.

EasyJet bosses have said that covid was the made reason for staff absences over Easter, with April sickness rates rising to more than double the usual rate.

While easyJet chief executive, Johan Lundgren, has not criticised the Government for staff shortages, the airline is believed to be waiting for 145 of its trained staff to have security checks approved.

Removing the six seats in some of its A319 fleet could reduce the need for approximately 300 cabin crew, industry sources have suggested

Removing the six seats in some of its A319 fleet could reduce the need for approximately 300 cabin crew, industry sources have suggested.

The easyJet spokesperson said the airline expects to be 'back to near 2019 levels of flying' this summer.

Before the pandemic, it had around 300,000 passengers each day during peak travel season.

Julia Lo Bue-Said from UK's largest independent travel agent group, the Advantage Travel Partnership, said that the 'dire labour shortage' is one of the key issues impacting the aviation industry.

She told the BBC that it was a 'travesty' that easyJet is removing some seats to reduce the number of crew required per flight.

The airline said that its last six seats on each flight are usually taken by last minute bookings, so it does not expect their removal to impact holiday-makers who have planned their summer getaway ahead.
A Russian climber has died on Mount Everest in the second fatality on the world's highest peak this season.

The man, who has not been named, died on Saturday after falling ill while acclimatising at a camp below the summit at 21,499 feet.

'His body has been brought to the base camp and will be flown to Kathmandu once the weather improves,' said Bhisma Raj Dhungana, an official at Nepal's tourism department.

'Though the cause of the death is not known yet, it could be due to complications related to altitude sickness.'

The man, who has not been named, died on Saturday after falling ill while acclimatising at a camp below the summit at 21,499 feet (this photo shows Camp Four, the highest camp on Mount Everest littered with abandoned tents in 2019)

The fatality was also confirmed by Mingma Gelu Sherpa of Seven Summits Treks, the agency that handled his expedition.

It was the second death on the Nepal side of the 29,028-foot mountain this climbing season.

Last month a Nepali climber, Ngimi Tenji Sherpa, who was carrying equipment uphill, was found dead on the mountain.

Eleven Nepali climbers reached the summit on Saturday, the first of hundreds of climbers expected to scale the world's highest mountain from its southern approach in the coming weeks.

Heavy traffic of mountain climbers lining up to stand at the summit of Mount Everest in May 2019

Nepal has issued 316 permits to mountaineers including 17 Russians for this year's spring climbing season, which runs from mid-April to the end of May.

On average, around five climbers die every year on the world's highest peak.

But in 2019, 11 people died, with four of the deaths blamed on overcrowding that year.

It comes on the same day that a Nepali Sherpa climbed Mount Everest for the 26th time, outdoing his own previous world record set last year.

Kami Rita Sherpa has climbed Mount Everest for the 26th time, outdoing his own previous record set last year

Kami Rita Sherpa, 52, climbed to the top of the summit on Saturday while guiding 10 other Sherpas along the southeast ridge route up the 29,035-foot peak.

'Kami Rita has broken his own record and established a new world record in climbing', said Taranath Adhikari, director general of the Department of Tourism in capital Kathmandu.

Born to a mountain-climbing family, Kami Rita is the son of one of the first professional Sherpa guides, who led foreign mountaineers up Everest after Nepal opened up to outsiders in 1950.
Ukrainian forces holed up in the Azovstal steelworks in the Russian-controlled city of Mariupol have vowed to fight on and not surrender despite dwindling supplies in the face of Russian missile strikes.

The Azovstal steel mill is the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the devastated port city and its fate has taken on a symbolic value in the broader battle since Russia's invasion.

'We, all of the military personnel in the garrison of Mariupol, we have witnessed the war crimes performed by Russia, by the Russian army,' said Ilya Samoilenko, an Azov regiment intelligence officer.

'We are witnesses. Surrender is not an option because Russia is not interested in our lives.'

Ukrainian forces holed up in the Azovstal steelworks (pictured) in the Russian-controlled city of Mariupol have vowed to fight on and not surrender despite dwindling supplies in the face of Russian missile strikes

'Surrender is not an option because Russia is not interested in our lives,' said Ilya Samoilenko (above), an Azov regiment intelligence officer

'All our supplies are limited. We still have water. We still have munitions. We will have our personal weapons. We will fight until the best resolution of the situation,' Samoilenko said during a press conference.

He added that the regiment would not abandon its 200 or so injured soldiers.

'We can't abandon our injured, our dead - these people deserve fitting treatment, they deserve a burial worthy of the name. We won't leave anyone behind us,' he said.

A wife of one of the Azov regiment's leaders demanded the government acted decisively so that the remaining forces could survive and relive their story with their children and grandchildren.

The Azovstal steel mill is the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the devastated port city and its fate has taken on a symbolic value in the broader battle since Russia's invasion

Ukraine has said that all women, children and elderly civilians have been allowed to flee from Azovstal as part of a humanitarian mission coordinated by the United Nations and the Red Cross

'We must not stay here crying, we must do everything to save them,' Kateryna Prokopenko, wife of the Azov regiment's Denis Prokopenko, said by video link.

Ukraine has said that all women, children and elderly civilians have been allowed to flee from Azovstal as part of a humanitarian mission coordinated by the United Nations and the Red Cross.

Ukraine presidential aide, Mykhaylo Podolyak, said on social media on Sunday that Kyiv 'won't stop until we evacuate all our people' from Azovstal.

It was also reported today that at least 60 people are believed to have been killed in a Russian bombing of a Ukrainian school on Saturday evening, in which two people have been confirmed dead with dozens more still missing.

Emergency crew stands amid the burning debris of Belogorovskaya school in the Luhansk region. Sixty people are believed to be trapped under the rubble and are feared dead

Around 90 people were using the Belogorovskaya school basement in the village of Bilohorivka as a bomb shelter when the site suffered a direct hit, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai confirmed via the Telegram messaging app on Sunday morning. Mr Haidai said emergency crews had found two bodies and rescued 30.

'Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead,' governor Serhiy Haidai wrote. Russian shelling also killed two boys, aged 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

Footage and images of the school show the extent of the destruction, with large sections of the building reduced to rubble and a team of firefighters drafted in to combat the resulting blaze.

Rescuers managed to pull thirty people out of the ruins last night, Haidai said, but up to sixty more remain trapped in the basement and are thought to have been killed.

'The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the rubble was cleared, and unfortunately the bodies of two people were found,' Haidai wrote. Rescuers continued to work from the early hours, attempting to clear the remaining rubble and free any remaining survivors.
A Pennsylvania middle school is being blasted for conspiring to conceal a student's decision to identify as non-binary from their parents while launching an LGBTQ+ club for students to join.

An email exchange between several teachers and a counselor at Charles F. Patton Middle School allegedly reveals that the school was attempting to hide the student's preferred pronouns 'they/them' from their parents, Fox News reported.

In one of the emails obtained by Fox News Digital, the school counselor informs the teachers that when referring to the student, ''She' is fine too, but [the student] likes 'they/them' the best.'

The counselor went on to write that 'if you are emailing home, it may be best to use she/her when referring to [the student.]'

On a segment of 'Fox & Friends Weekend,' 'No Left Turn in Education' president Dr. Elana Fishbein slammed the school's efforts to hide kids' gender transitions from their parents.

An email exchange between several teachers and a counselor at Charles F. Patton Middle School allegedly reveals the school was attempting to hide the student's preferred pronouns

Charles F. Patton Middle School is Pennsylvania is being blasted for conspiring to conceal a student's decision to identify as non-binary from their parents

'It is unconscionable for any teacher to go behind a parent's back to meddle in a child's mental, physical and emotional health,' Dr. Fishbein said.

Dr. Fishbein is the president of leading anti-critical race theory (CRT) and anti-gender activism group 'No Left Turn in Education,' which says they 'believe that K-12 education should be free from indoctrination and politicization.'

'While us concerned parents get called domestic terrorists, it's the radical ideologues who actually threaten, harass, and intimidate parents who object to their woke agenda,' she said. 'No Left Turn in Education is standing up for these families and is holding officials accountable for enforcing the laws that are supposed to protect our kids.'

Another email obtained by Fox News Digital revealed a conversation between a counselor and two teachers about the 'Gender Sexuality Alliance' (GSA), a club at Unionville High School, that they hoped to replicate.

Another email obtained revealed a conversation between a counselor and two teachers about the 'Gender Sexuality Alliance' (GSA) that they hoped to replicate

Thousands marched in the Reclaim Pride Coalition's third annual Queer Liberation March in NYC in June 2021

Participants of the National Trans Visibility March in downtown Orlando, Florida on October 9, 2021. The march is in support of advancing the rights of trans and non-binary individuals

The discussion stemmed from a school counselor encouraging a teacher to ask a student who had recently described themselves as 'pansexual,' if they would be 'interested in starting some type of club or group to focus on LGBTQ+ topics/issues.'

According to the website, the club is described as a group that 'provides a safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and work to end homophobia and transphobia.'

'Middle schoolers are NOT too young to know their sexual orientations and gender identities,' a teacher wrote. 'LGBTQ-related content is age appropriate for them.'

But Dr. Fishbein slammed the schools efforts, telling 'Fox & Friends Weekend' host Will Cain, 'Schools around the country have been very aggressive in promoting LGBTQ+ ideology and this is putting all our kids in danger from a very young age.'

'Completely, we are on opposite sides of the care of our children,' she went on to say. 'In fact, they are concealing it, and they are promoting it with our kids. It's not only that they are exposing the issue to kids by, for example, asking kids to use their pronouns and then not letting the parents know what pronouns their kids chose. They are, in fact, imposing and creating an environment in school that they are encouraging each other to fall within this kind of ideology.'
Jen Psaki pointed on Sunday to Fox News' own polling to dismiss concerns from Americans who are in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade and lauded the two-thirds majority for uniting in favor of abortion rights.

The outgoing press secretary for President Joe Biden has claimed that the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade is not a partisan political issue because of the large majority of support the 50-year-old court ruling has.

She told Media Buzz host Howard Kurtz that there is rarely an issue such a large majority of Americans can agree on.

'A portion of the public is passionately opposed to abortion,' Kurtz said to Psaki during a Sunday morning interview. 'And it's a key political ballot in every Supreme Court nomination fight. So how can you say it's not a partisan or political issue?'

'Well, according to a Fox News poll, nearly two thirds of the public does not want Roe v Wade to be overturned,' she shot back.

The host pushed for the rest of Americans who support an overturned, asking: 'What about the others?'

'Well, two thirds of the public means that is the vast majority of the public who want a woman to be able to make choices with her doctor about her own health care,' Psaki replied, downplaying the perspective of an entire third of the population.

'Two thirds of the public doesn't agree on a lot, but they agree that a woman's rights should be protected,' she added. 'And I think that's pretty significant.'

Outgoing White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki dismissed concerns pro-life Americans have about abortion during an interview that aired Sunday

Amid fallout from a draft Supreme Court ruling leak that showed a potential overturn of Roe v. Wade, Psaki pointed to a Fox News poll that shows nearly two-thirds of Americans are in favor of letting the abortion ruling stand

On Monday evening, a Politico report emerged with what appeared to be a photocopy of a draft opinion from conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that showed he and four other justices agreeing to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The draft opinion was written in February, but an official ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization is not expected until June of this year. The Mississippi case that could lead to the overturn of federal protections for abortion was seeking to ban pregnancy termination at 15 weeks.

A Fox News poll, as well as several others taken in the days preceding and following the leak, show that a majority of Americans are in favor of the law standing as is.

In the Fox poll taken April 28 through May 1, 63 percent of respondents said they want to see the law stand while 27 percent want it overturned.

'Two thirds of the public doesn't agree on a lot, but they agree that a woman's rights should be protected. And I think that's pretty significant,' Psaki said

This is very similar to the results of the same poll taken in September 2021 and October 2020, which shows 65 percent and 61 percent support for upkeeping the law, respectively.

Opposition to allowing the law to stand remained at 28 percent both last year and in 2020.

When Roe v. Wade was originally adopted in 1973  when Biden had just taken office as a U.S. senator from Delaware  the now president had a much different perspective on the ruling than he does now.

At the time, Biden said that Roe v. Wade went to far in making a woman's right to an abortion a constitutional protection. He now feels it is justified, as do most Democrats.

'Obviously, his views have evolved on this subject,' Kurtz noted of Biden's flip flop on the issue over the last 50 years. 'But shouldn't you acknowledge, despite the polls, that there is a strong minority in the country that feels as a moral issue very passionately that abortion is wrong?'

'Well, look, I think the whole point of Roe is a protection of privacy and a protection of the rights of individuals to make choices about their own bodies,' Psaki explained.

'And I would note that Roe is also, as you know, precedent for a number of other important Supreme Court cases that have impacted people's lives hugely, whether it's who you marry, your right to have privacy about contraception. I mean, that is what is on the president's mind, the protection of those privacies and the protection of people's rights to make choices about their own lives and their own bodies.'

Democrats have tried to make Roe v. Wade about privacy rather than abortion, while those who want the case overturned say they want to protect unborn babies lives.
The conservative Supreme Court majority that plans to overturn Roe v Wade remains intact one week after a shocking draft decision was leaked, according to a report.

The Washington Post reported on Saturday that the five justices who signed onto a draft majority opinion on February 10 stand by their votes, according to three unnamed conservative sources close to the court.

Among those who support the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and eliminate women's Constitutional right to abortion, are Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

Chief Justice John Roberts, meanwhile, still seems to oppose the decision - written by Justice Alito - and is trying to get Justices Barrett and Kavanaugh to take a more incremental decision before the Supreme Court formally announces its decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization case.

He has reportedly told his fellow justices in a private conference in December that he planned to uphold the state law and write an opinion that would leave both Roe and the 1992 Casey v Planned Parenthood decisions intact, but the other conservative justices were more interested in a decision that would overturn them.

And, the Washington Post reports, he is likely not going to give up on his efforts, with many who know him saying he is likely preparing his own opinion in hopes he might draw at least one of the newer conservative justices to his point of view.

If that were to happen, the Post says, it could save the Roe and Casey decisions but severely limit their protections.

In the meantime, though, Barrett and Kavanaugh are still expressing their support for the decision, which will be opposed by Roberts and the Supreme Court's three liberal justices. It would therefore pass the Supreme Court 5 - 4.

The five justices who signed onto a draft majority opinion on February 10 to overturn Roe v Wade still stand by their votes, according to a report from the Washington Post

The draft decision was penned by Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote that 'Roe was egregiously wrong from the start'

The Supreme Court draft decision has sparked waves since Politico first released it on Monday night, with Chief Justice John Roberts confirming its authenticity the next day.

In the opinion, Alito writes: 'Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.

'It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives.'

The wording may change in the final decision, the Post notes, as justices will have had time to offer critiques, dissents and revisions before it is formally announced in the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization case in July.

In the case, Jackson Women's Health Organization - the only abortion provider in Mississippi - seeks to overturn the state's 2018 law banning abortions after the 15 weeks gestational period except in medical emergencies and in the case of severe fetal abnormality.

The state, meanwhile, is asking the Supreme Court to allow states to ban abortions at a much earlier point than the current viability standard established by Roe v. Wade, a point where pregnancy cannot survive outside of a woman's uterus.

WASHINGTON DC: An anti-abortion rights activist confronted pro abortion rights protesters outside the US Supreme Court on Wednesday

WASHINGTON DC: Protests continued throughout the week, with these women standing outside in the rain to protest the draft decision on Saturday

WASHINGTON DC: Girls held signs during an abortion-rights Mother's Day demonstration outside the Supreme Court

WASHINGTON DC: Pro-abortion advocates rallied outside the Supreme Court after security guards set up fencing around the building

But almost immediately after the decision was released, liberal Democrats said they would fight it, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeting Monday night that Sen. Joe Manchin is preventing a vote on codifying abortion rights into law, while Sen. Bernie Sanders suggested ending the filibuster to get it passed.

Protests - both in favor and opposed to the draft decision - have also sprung up throughout the country, from small towns to large cities.

The ensuing chaos prompted security guards to install tall fencing around the Supreme Court on Wednesday evening as clashes grew between pro- and anti-abortion groups.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Abortion-rights activists gathered outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in downtown Manhattan to voice their support for a woman's right to choose

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Performance artist Crackhead Barney dangles a a baby doll during a Saturday morning demonstration outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Standing in a one-piece bathing suit, Crackhead Barney screamed: 'I'm killing the babies' and 'God killed his son, why cant I?'

And on Sunday, pro-choice protesters screamed 'you don't care if people die' while picketing the house of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, after dozens of demonstrators gathered in the rain the day before and marched towards the homes of conservative Justices Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh.

Images of coat hangers were chalked on the street outside the justices' homes, an apparent attempt to reinforce the pro-choice argument that overturning Roe v. Wade will not put an end to abortion, but instead will end safe abortions.

'Keep abortion safe and legal,' the pro-abortion protesters chanted while they stood in the streets holding candles and signs.

Others shouted: 'Your life is a lie!' and 'We will not go back!'

Cops stood guard outside the justices' homes and, after what appeared to be a clash with demonstrators, ordered the activists to leave. At least one officer threatened to arrest and charge the protesters for violating Maryland law.

Meanwhile, in New York, pro-abortion activists marched on St. Patrick's Cathedral Saturday as pro-life advocates attempted to engage in their monthly demonstration, FOX 5 reported.

The group typically marches from the church to a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic on the first Saturday of every month in an effort to protest abortion.

However, on Saturday they instead faced of with outraged pro-choice activists who fear the SCOTUS opinion may result in a federal abortion ban, which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed was 'possible'

The pro-choice demonstrators sported signs with messages like 'abortion is a gift,' 'anti-abortion laws kill us' and 'RIP Jesus, killed by "woke" deadbeat dad,' while the pro-life activists prayed the rosary and sang the hymn Ave Maria.

And while Republicans are pleased with the content of the draft opinion, they are furious over the leak, with Chief Justice John Roberts sounding off about it in a private meeting Thursday, calling it 'absolutely appalling.'

Roberts, in remarks to judges and lawyers in Atlanta first reported by CNN, underscored that he hoped 'one bad apple' would not change 'people's perception' of the high court.

He called the 'person' or 'people' who leaked the document 'foolish' if they thought it would sway votes on the court.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz claimed on FOX News that the Supreme Court leak is the doing of an individual 'woke left-wing twit'

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, meanwhile, claims the Supreme Court leak is the doing of an individual 'woke left-wing twit' and claims the person responsible for the chaos unleashed in America on Monday evening should be disbarred and put in jail.

'In over 200 years of our nation's history, that has never happened,' he told Fox Primetime host Brian Kilmeade on Wednesday.

'And there was one woke little left-wing twit who decided, to hell with his or her obligations to the justice they work for, to hell with their obligations to the court, to hell with their obligations to the rule of law, that they would instead try to sneak it out in order to put political pressure on the justices and intimidate them into changing their votes,' he added.

Cruz, after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1995, clerked for Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and then for the Supreme Court's Chief Justice at the time William Rehnquist from 1996 to 1997.

He told Fox News on Wednesday that it's 'difficult to overstate how destructive this is to the Supreme Court.'

Trump administration Attorney General Bill Barr on Wednesday called the act of leaking a bombshell Supreme Court memo an 'unforgivable sin.'

Republicans argue that the leak has destroyed the sanctity of the Supreme Court, which for most of its history has remained free of political influence and partisan bickering that is more common in the executive and legislative branches.

'We're going to find this person, and when they're found, they're going to be fired on the spot, they will be disbarred if they're a member of the bar, or they will never be admitted to the bar to be a lawyer, and to the extent that they've broken criminal laws, they need to be prosecuted and sent to jail,' Cruz said.
A black man killed by a white Michigan cop during a traffic stop died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head, and was three times over the drink-drive limit, an official autopsy has found.

The report from the Kent County medical examiner matched the conclusion of an expert hired by the family of 26-year-old father-of-two Patrick Lyoya, who was shot dead April 4.

Lyoya, a refugee from Congo, was killed during a physical struggle with Officer Christopher Schurr after being pulled over and trying to run away.

He was unarmed and was face down on the ground when he was shot by Schurr, who was on top of him.

Bodycam footage depicts Schurr, who has several prior citations for 'meritorious and professional actions' in traffic stops that resulted in arrests, demanding Lyoya take his hand off the officer's taser.

The autopsy revealed that Lyoya's blood-alcohol level was 0.29, more than three times over the 0.08 legal limit for driving, when his car was stopped in Grand Rapids, the Detroit Free Press reported Friday.

A TV display shows video evidence of a Grand Rapids police officer struggling with and shooting Patrick Lyoya at Grand Rapids City Hall on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. Lyoya, 26, was shot and killed about 8:10 a.m., on April 4, after what police said was a traffic stop

He was unarmed and was face down on the ground when he was shot by Schurr, who was on top of him and can be heard on video demanding Lyoya take his hand off the taser

A forensic pathologist who previously conducted an autopsy at the family's request, said Schurr pressed the gun to Lyoya's head when he was shot.

'It's highly significant that Dr. Steve Cohle found the identical findings of Dr. Spitz,' said Lyoya family attorney Ven Johnson, referring to the county medical examiner.

The attorney maintained that Lyoya's blood-alcohol level was irrelevant in the investigation, because nothing Lyoya did merited his killing.

'Drinking and driving isn't punishable by execution,' Johnson said. 'We can all debate, assuming the results are correct, what effect it had on my client's behavior. But it had nothing to do with the cause and manner of his death.'

State police investigating the shooting submitted a report last week to Kent County prosecutor Chris Becker, who wants reports about the officer's taser and body-worn camera.

After reviewing the evidence, Becker will decide if Schurr, who was placed on leave in the aftermath of the shooting, will face charges

Michigan police initially said it would withhold the officer's name unless he was charged with a crime, citing a long-standing practice that applied to the public as well as city employees.

It was only after mounting pressure from advocacy groups and Black Lives Matter protesters, that Grand Rapids City Manager Mark Washington acknowledged the demand. Washington has since said the practice was under review.

The report from the Kent County medical examiner matched the conclusion of an expert hired by the family of 26-year-old father-of-two Patrick Lyoya that he dies from a gunshot to the back of his head

Christopher Schurr has been identified as the Grand Rapids Police Office who killed Lyoya

A forensic pathologist had previously performed a separate autopsy at the request of the family and announced the findings on April 19. He also found that a shot to the head killed Lyoya.

Dr. Werner Spitz added that he believed the gun was pressed against the head.

In video of the disturbing shooting recorded by Lyoya's passenger, Schurr can be heard saying Lyoya that he had stopped him because the license plate didn't match the vehicle.

Lyoya began to run after the officer asked for a driver's license and Schurr quickly caught him before the pair continued to struggle across a front lawn in a residential neighborhood.

The Congo national was on the ground when Schurr shot him. He had demanded that Lyoya take his hand off the officer's taser, according to video.

Schurr's name was only released by the Michigan police chief after the city manager forced the department to do so.

'In the interest of transparency, to reduce ongoing speculation, and to avoid any further confusion, I am confirming the name already publicly circulating - Christopher Schurr - as the officer involved in the April 4 officer-involved shooting,' Winstrom said in a statement twenty days after the shooting.

Schurr remains suspended while an investigation into Lyoya's death continues, and could face criminal charges, Winstrom added.

Ven Johnson, an attorney for the family, scoffed at the police chief's use of 'transparency.'

'It's not transparent when you hide something for three weeks. It's quite the opposite,' Johnson said. 'It's cops taking care of the cops instead of treating it like a normal investigation.'

After Lyoya's funeral on April 21, Grand Rapids City Manager Mark Washington acknowledged the demand for the officer's name and said he would discuss the matter with Winstrom and city employment officials.

Schurr has been commended by top police chiefs for his at least four arrests on traffic stops eerily similar to Lyoya's. The officer does not appear to have a record of misconducts.

Twice in 2016, Schurr made stops that led to arrests and charges of criminal sale of controlled substances, Michigan Radio reported.

One of the cars was stopped 'immediately pulled into the driveway' while the other vehicle was followed after it 'quickly switched directions upon passing [him.]'

'It is with great pride that I thank you and commend you for your outstanding performance of duty,' then-Chief of Police David Rahinsky wrote in a letter to Schurr.

In video of the disturbing shooting recorded by Lyoya's passenger, Schurr can be heard saying Lyoya that he had stopped him because the license plate didn't match the vehicle

Patrick Lyoya's mother, Dorcas Lyoya, left, is embraced during the funeral for Patrick Lyoya at the Renaissance Church of God in Christ Family Life Center, Friday, April 22, 2022 in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Lyoya began to run after the officer asked for a driver's license and Schurr quickly caught him before the pair continued to struggle across a front lawn in a residential neighborhood

'Police reform requires evaluating many long-standing practices to ensure our actions are consistent with the best interests of the community and the individuals involved,' Washington said before it was disclosed Schurr was the officer involved in the shooting.

Winstrom's announcement was a reversal. In the aftermath of the shooting and the release of video, Winstrom said he would withhold the officer's name unless he was charged with a crime.

It was described as a long-standing practice that applied to the public as well as city employees. But that practice has been put under review, Winstrom later said.

Lyoya's family and black leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, had repeatedly called for release of Schurr's name prior to its release.

'We want his name!' Sharpton shouted at Lyoya's funeral, saying authorities cannot set a precedent of withholding the names of officers who kill people unless the officer is charged.
Shameless people smugglers are mocking the threat of migrants being sent to Rwanda as they continue to peddle perilous cross-Channel dinghy trips on TikTok.

Four gangs this week offered undercover reporters illegal boat passages to the UK for 5,000 as they assured them Priti Patels plan to fly asylum seekers to Africa was all talk and the British authorities will never send them overseas.

It came as hundreds of migrants arrived by boat over the weekend, taking the total for May to more than 1,000.

Advertisements posted on social media since the controversial policy was announced last month boast of 100 per cent safe crossings, despite the death of 27 migrants when a dinghy sank in November.

Four gangs this week offered undercover reporters illegal boat passages to the UK for 5,000 as they assured them Priti Patels plan to fly asylum seekers to Africa was all talk and the British authorities will never send them overseas

Some use references to the Queen to lure customers, while others feature footage of migrants being picked up by Border Force vessels or being thrown water bottles by what are described as English police on arrival.

Our investigation found criminal gangs using TikTok to advertise fraudulent UK bank accounts in fake names to help the newly arrived undocumented migrants operate after their arrival. We also uncovered a thriving social media trade in fake passports for those wanting to enter Britain illegally without risking their lives in a small boat.

Undercover reporters posing as customers contacted traffickers advertising boat trips on TikTok on the evening of Monday, May 2, after nearly 500 migrants had risked their lives making the cross-Channel journey over the Bank Holiday weekend.

One gang, calling itself To Elizabeth Friend in a reference to the monarch, offered our reporter a place on a dinghy alongside up to 30 other migrants for 5,500.

Asked if it was true the UK would send him to Rwanda, the trafficker responded: No one will send you there. Our boys arrived yesterday. My cousin was on that boat. They are free now.

Some use references to the Queen to lure customers, while others feature footage of migrants being picked up by Border Force vessels or being thrown water bottles by what are described as English police on arrival

Another page called Road to London, which charges 5,000 for a dinghy seat, has posted a string of adverts on TikTok since the Rwanda deal was announced. One video, filmed from the top of the London Eye and posted on April 30, jokes that those who pay the 5,000 fee can look forward to a meeting with the Queen.

When contacted and asked about the Rwanda plan, the trafficker said: Theres lots of talk about that but no Albanians will be sent there.

I brought my people two nights ago. They were let free to go to a hotel then totally free to go where you wish in the UK.

Another trafficker, advertising 5,000 boat trips on a page called London, UK, reassured the would-be customer: Theyll keep you in the UK, not send you to another country.

A fourth gang leader, who promised a two-hour boat journey to the UK from Calais for 6,500, said he had never heard such a thing when asked about the Rwanda plan.

He later messaged: I told you we have journey this week. I will meet with my team today and after two hours will give you the address and a phone number for a person to meet you there.

The following day, he messaged: When you get to Dunkirk, phone this number of my man  and supplied a name and a phone number with an Iraqi international code. He added: On Friday we will have the journey. That day I will be there as well.

Pierre-Henri Dumont, the French National Assembly member for Calais, says the continued crossings this month showed that migrants were undeterred by the Rwanda plan. He claimed smugglers used the plan as a commercial argument to urge people to cross quickly, despite the Government saying that anyone who has arrived after January 1 will be eligible.

TikTok routinely removes human trafficker accounts  some within hours of our reporter making contact  but new ones continually pop up.
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Fred Savage was spotted for the first time since he was axed from his roles as executive producer and director of ABC's revived The Wonder Years amid 'three separate allegations' of inappropriate conduct.

On Saturday, Savage, 45, was spotted for the first time since his firing when he left an apartment in Westwood, California and was seen doing yard work with his wife Jennifer Lynn Stone, a commercial real estate agent.

The couple have three children.

Savage was dressed in dark blue jeans, a t-shirt, Nike shoes and a ball cap as he kneeled down to help his wife with yard work. At one point, the actor gets into his car while talking on his phone.

Savage was a child star rose to stardom on the popular sitcom, The Wonder Years, which premiered back in 1988.

The actor was working on a reboot of the show when he was dismissed this week following multiple complaints of misconduct, which allegedly included both verbal outbursts and inappropriate behavior, Deadline reported.

Actor Fred Savage was seen for the first time since his firing as he left an apartment in Westwood and got into his car while on the phone

Savage was dressed in dark blue jeans, a t-shirt, Nike shoes and a ball cap as he got into his car

Savage ducks into his car while talking on the phone Saturday

On Saturday, Savage was spotted doing yard work with his wife Jennifer Lynn Stone

Savage smiles as he and his wife work in the yard on Saturday

Savage's wife Jennifer Lynn Stone looks over while the two continue to work in the yard

The 45-year-old actor's firing comes amid 'three separate allegations' of inappropriate conduct, which were 'investigated' and led to his dismissal.

'Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched,' the producer of Wonder Years 20th Television said in a statement.

They continued: 'Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of The Wonder Years.'

Savage was a child star when he appeared in the original series, which ran on ABC from 1988-93 and followed a suburban white family in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A new version of the show, which features Don Cheadle as the narrator, premiered last fall. The new series revolves around a Black family living in Montgomery, Alabama, in the late 1960s.

Fred Savage (pictured on April 29) has been removed from his roles as executive producer and director of ABC's revived The Wonder Years, according to The Hollywood Reporter

Savage pictured in the 1988 hit The Wonder Years, which was ABC aired a reimagining of starring Savage (who served as executive producer)

Savage is married to commercial real estate agent Jennifer Lynn Stone. They have three children.

Four years ago, his former on-screen mother Alley Mills claimed the original Wonder Years' cancellation followed a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Savage and Jason Hervey, which she said was settled out of court.

Monique Long, the woman who accused the then-16-year-old of sexual harassment, worked as a costumer on the set.

She accused both Savage and Hervey of 'verbally and physically harassing her,' according to Deadline.

In response to Mills' dismal of her claims, she told the outlet via email: 'My only response to Ms. Millss slander is that it proves exactly why women in the industry are forced to remain silent about sexual harassment.'

During her interview with Yahoo!, the shows matriarch described the allegations against Savage as 'completely ridiculous.'

Savage is married to commercial real estate agent Jennifer Lynn Stone. They have three children

Four year ago, his former on-screen mother Alley Mills claimed the original Wonder Years' cancellation 'followed a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Savage (then 16) and Jason Hervey (then 20), which she said was settled out of court' (seen in 1988)

She went on to call Savage 'the least offensive, most wonderful, sweet human being that ever walked the face of the earth.'

'So I just thought it was a big joke and it was going to blow over,' she added.

While further details of his misconduct have not been confirmed, an insider told Deadline the allegations included 'verbal outbursts and inappropriate behavior.'

In 2019, Savage was accused by Youngjoo Hwang, a crew member on his short lived sitcom The Grinder, of battery, assault, harassment and discrimination in a complaint filed in 2018.

The suit was settled outside of court and the case dismissed.

Savage is also known for his acting roles in Foxs The Grinder and Netflixs Friends From College

'The case has been resolved and we have dismissed the lawsuit,' Hwang's lawyer, Anahita Sedaghatfar told Page Six.

Adding: 'We are very pleased with the resolution.'

TMZ reported that the case had been dismissed with prejudice and that a settlement had likely been reached.

Hwang worked in the wardrobe department on Fox's The Grinder where Savage ironically played an attorney.

Her original allegations stemmed from 2015 when she alleged that Savage subjected her to verbal attacks in front of colleagues.

Hwang's attorney told Page Six that she and her client 'are very pleased with the resolution' (The accuser pictured in 2015 at a press conference announcing the lawsuit)

Accusations: The victim claimed that on one occasion, Fred 'violently struck' her three times as she was brushing dandruff off his clothes

She additionally claimed that on one occasion, Fred 'violently struck' her three times as she was brushing dandruff off his clothes.

Hwang was reportedly not alone in feeling victimized and stated in court documents that Savage abused female crew members by shouting at them to stop following him around and once screamed, 'Don't f***ing look at me!'

As for her personally, she alleged that Savage once told her: 'It's so f**king annoying that I have to be nice to you when I f**king hate you!'

Since the time of the filing, Savage maintained his innocence the network backed him after an investigation.

'I was made aware that a woman working in the costume department of a show I was on almost three years ago has claimed that I treated her harshly on set simply because she was a woman,' he said in a statement at the time.

'My hope is that by her speaking out, other women who have been victims of abuse of power will find the courage to do the same,'her lawyer said in a statement about the settlement.

Adding: 'These accusations are completely without merit and absolutely untrue. Fox conducted an extensive internal investigation into her claims, a process in which I fully participated.'

Fox agreed and released a subsequent statement claiming that their investigation found no evidence to support Hwang's claims.

'We conducted a thorough investigation into these allegations and found no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Savage.

'We will vigorously defend against these unfounded claims,' the network said.
A volunteer shapes metal plates at a facility producing material for Ukrainian soldiers in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, May 7. AP-Yonhap



Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, Saturday, and bombarded a besieged steel mill in Mariupol, hoping to complete their conquest of the port in time for Victory Day celebrations. Officials announced that the last women, children and older adults had been evacuated from the mill, but Ukrainian fighters remained trapped.



In a sign of the unexpectedly effective defense that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraine's military flattened Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the war's first days and has become a symbol of resistance. Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv, even as it remained a key target of Russian shelling.



The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition that has killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed large swaths of some cities. Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Russia's holiday, Monday, celebrating Nazi Germany's defeat 77 years ago, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged people to heed air raid warnings.



U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Zelenskyy and his people "embody the spirit of those who prevailed during the Second World War." He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying "to twist history to attempt to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine."



"As war again rages in Europe, we must increase our resolve to resist those who now seek to manipulate historical memory in order to advance their own ambitions," Blinken said in a statement as the United States and United Kingdom commemorated the Allied victory in Europe.



The most intense fighting in recent days has been in eastern Ukraine, where the two sides are entrenched in a fierce battle to capture or reclaim territory. Moscow's offensive there has focused on the industrial Donbas region, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014.



Moscow also has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the sea and create a corridor to the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, long home to Russian troops. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.





Smoke rises from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol during shelling, in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, May 7. AP-Yonhap
Keir Starmer was running scared last night as the Beergate scandal plunged his leadership into crisis.

The Labour leader is facing fresh questions including over a bombshell memo that appears to contradict his account of the night he was filmed drinking a lockdown beer with staff.

In a sign of growing panic, his aides cancelled a major speech he was due to give this afternoon at an event where he was also expected to take questions from journalists.

The organisers were not told why he had suddenly pulled out.

With police now investigating Sir Keirs drinks in Durham, he is under intense pressure to say whether he would resign if he was fined for breaking Covid rules  as he has insisted Boris Johnson should.

With police now investigating Sir Keirs drinks in Durham on April 30 (pictured), he is under intense pressure to say whether he would resign if he was fined for breaking Covid rules

On April 29, Sir Keir Starmer was welcomed to Hull. The Labour leader was pictured socially distancing from two Labour colleagues after an al fresco dinner

He refused to comment on the row last night and insiders warned that the party was in crisis mode. Labours Left was circling yesterday and sources suggested it was almost inevitable that Sir Keir would face the axe if he was fined by Durham Constabulary.

In the shadow cabinet there are certainly some who think instead of cowering, he should tackle this head on by saying he will resign if he is fined, a party source said.

He has nothing to lose. He will have to go anyway if he gets a fine, this would put him in a much stronger position if he is cleared.

Lisa Nandy, the housing spokesman who ran against Sir Keir for the leadership, yesterday refused to say whether she would put her hat in the ring again if he stood down.

Even those who had defended Sir Keir admitted they now believed he had questions to answer.

Jolyon Maugham, a barrister who has repeatedly taken the Government to court over Brexit, warned that Beergate was a serious matter.

I do think there are proper questions which arise for Starmer and his team to answer. As I understand matters, I dont think this can be ignored, the former adviser to Ed Miliband said.

I really wouldnt want to be placing a bet that Starmer hasnt broken the law. This is a serious matter for him and for Labour.

Owen Jones, a Left-wing activist, said that people like me were wrong to dismiss the Beergate row out of hand.

He said if Sir Keir was found to have lied his position isnt tenable regardless of whether restrictions were broken.

And Diane Abbott, the former shadow home secretary, said: If he actually gets a fixed penalty notice he really has to consider his position. I dont think he will. But if he were to get a fixed penalty notice he would have to consider his position.

Mark Jenkinson, Tory MP for Workington, last night accused Sir Keir of running scared.

He said: Its time he came out and told the truth, apologised and put this whole sorry saga behind him.

Today the Daily Mail can reveal that Labour MPs made a virtue of an outdoor meal with Sir Keir complying with Covid rules just 24 hours before he was filmed drinking indoors with party delegates.

The newly-uncovered photograph showed him socially distancing from two Labour colleagues after an al fresco dinner.

At the time, restaurants were serving food outside with indoor socialising banned.

However the following day Sir Keir, his deputy Angela Rayner, local MP Mary Foy and a number of other Labour activists ordered a curry to Durham Miners Hall and were filmed chatting in a small kitchen that made social distancing impossible.

Tory MPs accused Sir Keir of acting one way when the camera is on him and another when he thinks it is not.

The new evidence follows a bruising week in which police announced they would reinvestigate the Beergate event on April 30 last year.

A memo from the event, leaked to the Mail on Sunday, revealed the curry dinner was pre-arranged with no work planned for afterward, contradicting Sir Keirs claim that it was a spontaneous meal while conducting Labour business.

Today the Mail can reveal that on April 29 last year, while on the campaign trail for the Hartlepool by-election, Sir Keir met with Labour MPs Diana Johnson and Emma Hardy in Hull.

In a photograph posted on social media by Mrs Johnson, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, the two MPs and Sir Keir are seen standing outside a restaurant while maintaining social distancing.

In a caption, Mrs Johnson said: Delighted to welcome Labour leader Keir Starmer to Hull this evening with Emma Hardy MP at Humber Street for a tasty dinner, although a bit chilly sitting out!

But the following evening Sir Keir and party delegates ordered a curry  which could allegedly have fed 30 people  and were filmed chatting indoors.

The Labour leader has consistently claimed it was a work event and neither he nor colleagues broke any rules.

Sir Keir's talk at The Institute for Government was cancelled by aides ahead of tomorrow. He was expected to take questions from journalists at the event

Commenting on the new picture, Conservative MP Richard Holden, whose letter to Durham Constabularys chief constable sparked a review of the Beergate event, said: Sir Keir Starmer has been caught acting one way when the camera is on him and another when he thinks its not.

This latest revelation makes clear that Starmer picks and chooses when he thinks he needs to obey the rules and brings up even more questions for his late night drinks and curry party in Durham.

Paul Howell, Conservative MP for Sedgefield in County Durham, said: Sir Keir and his Labour colleagues have been shouting from the rooftops about other people but then appear to have done the same things themselves. You have to be careful what you shout for.

Yesterday the Sunday Times quoted a source who said Sir Keir did not return to work after his meal as he has claimed.

Asked about new claims yesterday, a Labour spokesman said: Keir was working, a takeaway was made available in the kitchen and he ate between work demands. No rules were broken.

Mrs Johnson and Mrs Hardy were contacted for comment.

Posturing Sir Beer's mess is entirely of his own making: Like all politicians who try to strike poses on the moral high ground, Keir Starmer's ethical posturing has come back to bite him, writes MICK HUME

By Mick Hume

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, the former director of public prosecutions, is supposedly a law-abiding and morally upright figure.

'He's Mr Rules. He doesn't break the rules,' Shadow Cabinet member Lisa Nandy piously insisted to Sky News at the weekend.

Yet, as his tortuously woven web of dissembling, double standards and alleged dishonesty over 'Beergate' unravels, Starmer now faces being known instead as 'Mr Rules Are Only For The Rest Of You'.

An official Labour document obtained by the Mail has confirmed that, despite the repeated denials from Starmer and his team, their curry-and-beer event with local activists in Durham in April last year  when restrictions on social gatherings indoors were still in place  was at least as rule-breaking as Boris's ten-minute birthday party in Downing Street.

We now know that the Labour leader's get-together included a pre-planned 80-minute dinner rather than a spontaneous meal break taken during a busy day of campaigning.

And, contrary to Starmer's insistence that the group merely grabbed a quick bite before getting back to the grindstone, we know that no further work was planned after the curry and beer had been consumed late on that Friday night.

Labour leader Keir Starmer pictured as he leaves his home in London amid beergate accusations on Saturday

The 'visit programme' also confirms that everybody knew deputy leader Angela Rayner would be there all along.

The repeated claim that Labour officials simply 'forgot' about her flame-haired presence always seemed about as unconvincing as Starmer the metropolitan London lawyer posing as a friend of the North East working classes while sipping a bottle of Spanish lager.

Mrs Rayner is not generally thought of, after all, as a forgettable wallflower or shrinking violet.

Then again, if some of them do have foggy memories of that night it could be because, as one Labour informant has claimed, local MP Mary Foy and her team were there 'just getting p*****'.

Like all politicians who try to strike poses on the moral high ground, from John 'Back To Basics' Major to Tony 'I'm A Pretty Straight Sorta Guy' Blair, Starmer's ethical posturing has come back to bite him.

Having loudly insisted that Boris Johnson must resign or be sacked over Partygate in Downing Street, he now faces calls to step down over Beergate at the Durham Miners Hall.

If Starmer had exhibited a more rational response to Partygate, and not called for the Prime Minister's resignation over the crime of having a birthday cake in a tupperware box, he would be in less trouble now.

But, by being so harrumphingly hawkish about Boris, Sir Keir has got himself into a complete mess  one entirely of his own making.

As Labour Party leader, Sir Keir might have had limited success to date. But he can now point to at least one remarkable achievement  he has made many people suspect that he is at least as untrustworthy as the notoriously shifty Boris.

Labour officials initially denied Angela Rayner (right) had been in attendance, before claiming they 'forgot' about her presence

Indeed for some, Starmer's hyprocrisy over breaking lockdown rules is, if anything, even worse than Mr Johnson's.

Boris always looked like a reluctant lockdown PM, giving in too easily to the safety-first-and-last experts of Sage before looking for an early-ish way out.

By contrast, Sir Keir was the high priest of lockdown zealotry. Labour's only attempted criticism of the Government's authoritarian Covid laws was to insist that the Conservatives should have locked us all down earlier, harder and for even longer.

F or those of us who believe the bigger lockdown scandal was the imposition of such irrational and fear-driven rules in the first place, Labour's fanatical authoritarians were always a large part of the problem.

To find that Starmer and Rayner were partying in defiance of the lockdown laws they championed reveals a level of hyprocrisy which we might have suspected but had not previously seen.

Should Starmer have to resign over an illicit beer and curry  even if Durham Constabulary dig up enough evidence to fine him?

Of course, he should not  any more than Boris should be forced out of office over a ten-minute party and a 50 fixed penalty notice.

Police should surely have more important crimes to investigate and our political leaders should certainly have bigger issues to debate.

We are living, lest anybody forget, through a cost of living crisis, with many worried about whether they can afford the price of a pint or a cake.

Inflation is spiralling out of control and economists are beginning to mention the 'R' word as many predict a recession further down the road.

And then, of course, there is the bloody war in eastern Europe that has many Ukrainians worrying about whether they will reach their next birthday  never mind how they might keep the lights on for any future late-night 'work gatherings'.

So obviously there are many more serious issues for our leaders to focus on than the essentially petty bunfights over Beergate or Partygate.

But that does not mean Sir Keir, or indeed Mr Johnson, can simply brush these things off like leftover crumbs.

Because the Labour leader's troubles now transcend curry-eating and beer-drinking. They concern the central political tests of trust and honesty.

Just how low public trust in our political leaders has sunk was demonstrated by last week's local elections. The results reflected a widespread 'none of the above' attitude  a distinct lack of enthusiasm for any of the major parties.

Even by the poor standards of local elections, voter turnout was damagingly low  an estimated 34 per cent compared with 67 per cent at the 2019 general election.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson pictured as he leaves a polling station after casting his vote for the local elections on Thursday

The 'Gate' scandals can only make things worse. The results also show that Starmer and Labour are still not benefiting from the Tories' troubles as much as might have been expected.

Labour certainly consolidated its dominance in London, but there is little sign yet of a serious revival in the key Red Wall seats of the North and Midlands which it lost to the Conservatives in 2019.

Given that Durham Constabulary did not announce their decision to open an investigation into Beergate until a day after Britain went to the polls, Labour's performance is more disturbing still.

It's also worth recalling that the infamous Beergate gathering took place during campaigning for the 2021 Hartlepool by-election.

Labour lost, with Hartlepool electing a Tory MP for the first time since the seat was created in 1974. It is tempting to think that, if Starmer and Rayner had spent more time campaigning than currying, Labour could have done better. But maybe not.

The signs are that working class voters in the former Labour heartlands find Starmer a pallid, uninspiring figure. Many of them voted for Brexit and are also not daft enough to forget his role as Labour's leading Remainer.

Starmer's main appeal for support so far has simply been 'I'm not Boris Johnson'. But the more he becomes mired in allegations of hypocrisy and dishonesty, the less convincing even that line becomes. I suspect many people would still rather share a curry with Boris.

We need feel little sympathy for the stiff Starmer, undone largely by his own self-righteous posturing. Or, as Shakespeare might have it, hoist with his own petard.
Hundreds of New Yorkers took to the streets this weekend to protest against the possibility the Supreme Court will overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and end the nationwide right to legal abortion.

A leaked draft opinion published by POLITICO last Monday indicated that the high court will get scrap the landmark ruling as soon as this summer. If that happens, it is expected that at least 18 states could rule to fully ban abortion and another eight could institute partial bans.

The Ruth Bader Ginsburg Democratic Club turned out to show its displeasure with the decision, holding a Mother's Day abortion rights rally on Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn.

A group of mothers and daughters gathered outside the Joralemon Street municipal building, which is named after the former Supreme Court Justice.

The Supreme Court draft decision has sparked waves since Politico first released it last Monday night, with Chief Justice John Roberts confirming its authenticity the following day.

In the opinion, Alito writes: 'Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.

'It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives.'

The wording may change in the final decision, the Post notes, as justices will have had time to offer critiques, dissents and revisions before it is formally announced in the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization case in July.

In the case, Jackson Women's Health Organization - the only abortion provider in Mississippi - seeks to overturn the state's 2018 law banning abortions after the 15 weeks gestational period except in medical emergencies and in the case of severe fetal abnormality.

The state, meanwhile, is asking the Supreme Court to allow states to ban abortions at a much earlier point than the current viability standard established by Roe v. Wade, a point where pregnancy cannot survive outside of a woman's uterus.

A number of small pro abortion rallies were held around the city over the weekend

Protesters consisting of mothers and daughters gathered outside the Joralemon Street municipal building named after the former Supreme Court Justice

Mothers and daughters demonstrated outside of the municipal building in Brooklyn

Those attending held signs including 'My Body, My Choice'

Protesters rally in support of abortion rights, on Sunday, in Brooklyn, New York

A draft opinion suggests the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide

'I was thirteen when the decision came down to protect women's choice,' said Patti Ciferno to NY1. 'Now I am 61 years old and I cannot believe we are standing here today in a backward run to get to a worse place than we were when I was 13 years old.

'I have a young daughter that has a right to make choices about her body,' Ciferno said. ' If I had that choice, I want her to have that choice.'

Over the weekend, a number of protests also took place outside of churches, including outside Sunday mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Many protests occurred earlier in the week but there were a small round of protests this weekend

One woman wrote a simple message on her stomach: 'Keep your laws off my body'

Although it was mainly women who were seen protesting, men were also in the crowd

One woman held a clever banner than explained the significance of Roe Vs Wade

Card and crayons are seen on the sidewalk in order for people to make their own signs

While religious believers at the heart of the decades-old fight over abortion are shocked at the breach of high court protocol, they are still as deeply divided and their beliefs on the contentious issue as entrenched as ever.

National polls show that most Americans support abortion access.

A Public Religion Research Institute survey from March found that a majority of religious groups believe it should be legal in most cases - with the exception of white evangelical Protestants, 69% of whom said the procedure should be outlawed in most or all cases.

On Saturday, Rev. Al Sharpton reaffirmed his belief in Roe v. Wade and hosted Planned Parenthood at a meeting at National Action Network in Harlem.

One woman could be seen using a megaphone in order to get her message across

The message was clear from this couple: 'Free, safe, legal abortion on demand'

Many of those gathered were able to make speeches outlining their position

One woman carried a poster with the image of a coat hanger which have traditionally been used in back street abortions in the past

The spirit of Ruth Bader Ginsberg lives on with a photo of her positioned at the protest

Many of those present created their own eye-catching signs

New York Attorney General Letitia James also attended an abortion-rights rally at the Nassau County courthouse in Mineola on Saturday.

'I want young girls to control their future, their body ..this is an issue of autonomy over one's body,' James said.

Despite the rain and chilly temperatures, those attending felt it was important to be part of the movement of nationwide protests who want the Supreme Court to leave the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision alone.

'It's purely a matter of control. Of controlling women and others,' said Manny Lomba.

Many of the women present each took time to voice their opinions on the matter

The protest took place at around 2pm on Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn

After each speaker had concluded their remarks, those gathered applauded

Oftentimes the message is a simple one

On Saturday, an outraged pro-choice protester sporting a one-piece bathing suit screamed 'I'm killing the babies' as she led a march of demonstrators targeting Catholic churches in New York City.

'God killed his son, why cant I?' the protester, NYC-based performance artist Crackhead Barney, repeatedly screamed as she dangled a baby doll during a Saturday morning demonstration outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral.

A smaller group of pro-life activists assembled on the steps of the iconic Manhattan church, facing the abortion advocates, and prayed the rosary. They also sang the hymn Ave Maria. es.

All six conservative justices on the United States' highest court are Catholic.

Several pro-abortion groups pushed for for 'actions outside of churches' to kick off a 'week of action' to protest the Supreme Court opinion, which is not yet final.

Performance artist Crackhead Barney dangles a a baby doll during a Saturday morning demonstration outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York City

Standing in a one-piece bathing suit, Crackhead Barney screamed: 'I'm killing the babies' and 'God killed his son, why cant I?'

The pro-abortion activists marched on St. Patrick's Cathedral Saturday as pro-life advocates attempted to engage in their monthly demonstration.

The group typically marches from the church to a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic on the first Saturday of every month in an effort to protest abortion.

However, on Saturday they instead faced of with outraged pro-choice activists who fear the SCOTUS opinion may result in a federal abortion ban, which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed was 'possible'.

The pro-choice demonstrators sported signs with messages like 'abortion is a gift,' 'anti-abortion laws kill us' and 'RIP Jesus, killed by "woke" deadbeat dad.'

The New York Young Republican Club, responding to the protest, applauded the members of its Catholic Caucus for 'standing up for their beliefs and for the fundamental rights of all unborn Americans.'

'Men sitting in the churchs rear pews were asked to pray outside to ensure that the leftist horde would not overrun the building,' the organization added in a statement shared on Twitter.

Abortion-rights activists gather outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in downtown Manhattan on Saturday to voice their support for a woman's right to choose

The pro-choice demonstrators sported signs with messages like 'abortion is a gift,' 'anti-abortion laws kill us' and 'RIP Jesus, killed by "woke" deadbeat dad'

The protests at the Basilica of St. Patricks Old Cathedral, which have been occurring weekly and where a small number of anti-abortion activists worship, have been given added urgency by the recent leaked Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade

An abortion rights activists gathers outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York City on Saturday. She is pictured holding a sign that reads: 'My body is mine alone'

Nichole McClish, of Lansing, Michigan, holds a sign that reads 'If men became pregnant abortion would be a sacrament,' during a Planned Parenthood rally at the Michigan Capitol on Tuesday

Anti-abortion protesters wave religious-inspired signs during a demonstration in Chicago on Saturday

The leaked Supreme Court draft was written by Justice Samuel Alito, one of the six justices appointed by a Republican president who sit on the court, and repudiated both Roe v Wade and the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs Casey Decision.

Of the nine-member court's six conservative members, five reportedly back the bombshell move to rescind abortion protections: Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas.

Gorsuch is Episcopalian, though he was raised Catholic. The other four are Catholic, as is Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative whose position on the opinion has not been reported.

If and when the draft is made final, the decision removes the federal right to abortion in America, leaving it up to elected officials in each state to decide whether or not women should have access to abortions.

Twenty-six states are likely to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is formally overturned, essentially outlawing abortion in more than half of the country. Eighteen states already have restrictive abortion laws in place.

The news sent shock waves throughout Washington D.C. with Democrats vowing to codify the legal right to an abortion into law and Republicans demanding an investigation into the leak, claiming it was done to try and influence the high court ahead of its formal ruling.
The shaky video picks out the woman leading the singing in the darkness, her clear voice imbuing the patriotic songs with an exquisite beauty that belies the desolation of her surroundings.

For she is singing in a bomb shelter amid the shattered hell of Mariupol, accompanied by a low murmur from a chorus line of men sitting beside her.

Her name is Kateryna. She joined the army last year after completing her music studies and, at the age of 21, she finds herself fighting for her life as a member of the heroic band of Ukrainian fighters making a desperate last stand in a besieged factory.

Her sublime singing on the extraordinary video  shot somewhere in the warren of tunnels and basements beneath the sprawling Azovstal steel plant on the outskirts of the port city  has become a social media hit in Ukraine.

Her name is Kateryna. She joined the army last year after completing her music studies and, at the age of 21, she finds herself fighting for her life as a member of the heroic band of Ukrainian fighters making a desperate last stand in a besieged factory

The footage of Kateryna, gun in hand, singing two songs was posted by Nik Mark, another trapped fighter, last Thursday  and she was rapidly acclaimed across the country as Steel Bird after her location and military nickname of Bird.

Yesterday, after the final civilians were evacuated from the plant, leaders of the surrounded Ukraine troops held an online press conference to declare that they would fight to the death against Vladimir Putin's invading forces.

'We will continue to fight as long as we are alive to repel the Russian occupiers,' said captain Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov regiment.

There may be up to 2,000 Ukrainian troops still holed up in the plant. Their resistance has tied down Russian forces and thwarted Putin's bid to capture the city before today's Victory Day parade.

It is understood their conditions are atrocious after 74 days of war during which the strategically crucial port on the Sea of Azov has been devastated by bombardment.

There are believed to be scores of badly wounded men alongside piles of corpses beneath the massive Soviet plant, which dates back to the 1930s. The fighters, whose resolute defence has been hailed by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, are suffering from acute shortages of food, medicine and munitions.

Kateryna, whose singing has made her a symbol of national defiance, is understood to come from Sosnivka, a small village in the west of the country, where she was a creative student renowned for her love of the arts and positive spirit.

She wrote songs, performed on stage and had poems published in a newspaper. After graduating from the singing department of an art college in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, she worked in a motorbike shop in Kyiv before joining the military.

'We always talked about the stage, art and everyday life,' says Bohdan Mayuk, one Kateryna's teachers.

Kateryna, whose singing has made her a symbol of national defiance, is understood to come from Sosnivka, a small village in the west of the country, where she was a creative student renowned for her love of the arts and positive spirit

'She left music for another occupation that filled her soul. She could have been using make-up and going on dates but instead chose a machine gun and camouflage. Kateryna is very strong in spirit  a warrior without a drop of fear in her blood.'

Others said she was always fascinated by her nation's history and human rights, taking part in rallies while living in Kyiv.

'She was once severely beaten during a rally but she never gives up,' recalls her friend Valeria Panasyuk.

In the spring of last year, Kateryna told her friend that she planned to join the fight against Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

Having taken a medical course, to avoid alarming her parents she told them she was working in a hospital  but they soon discovered the truth after their daughter reached the front line.

Yet even her closest friends did not realise the severity of her plight until the video emerged last week revealing that she was engaged in one of the war's bloodiest battles.

'I was shocked. I could not think that she was in Mariupol,' said Panasyuk. The Kyiv government said that all civilians had been evacuated from the plant's network of bunkers after the rescue of 300 more women, children and elderly people over the weekend.

Since then Russian forces have continued to try to storm the premises. Conquering Mariupol would give Moscow a land bridge between Crimea, which it illegally annexed in 2014, and the Donbas region.

But the families of the trapped soldiers are pleading for international help. Yulia Fedosiuk, whose husband Arseniy is among the wounded Ukrainian fighters after a fragment of shell pierced his leg, says there are 600 troops in the plant with serious injuries, some of whom had endured crude amputations.

'One or two fighters die every day. The human bodies rot, and they develop sepsis. And there is simply no medical assistance  the situation is catastrophic. Yes, they had paramedics but many already died. Besides, there is nothing to operate with.'

Fedosiuk adds that the troops are drinking dirty water from the steelworks. 'Regarding food, they have only grains and noodles,' she says.

Illia Samoilenko, from the Azov regiment, told the online press conference that they had to fight until the bitter end since there was little hope of escaping to Ukrainian-held land and they feared they would be killed by Russian forces if captured.

'Surrendering is unacceptable for us. We cannot give such a gift to the Russians,' said the heavily bearded officer.

The Azov regiment, a volunteer militia formed to fight the Russians after the 2014 invasion, has been dogged by the image of some of its far-Right founders, something Putin seized upon when looking for a scapegoat for his attack.

But it has emerged as one of the most battle-hardened units of the Ukrainian national guard, with two Azovstal defenders claiming their forces in Mariupol have killed 2,500 Russian soldiers, wounded more than 5,000 and destroyed at least 60 tanks.

Additional reporting: Kate Baklitskaya
An Australian toddler who was found wandering barefoot and alone outside a church in Mexico is on her way back home.

Adelynn, 2, was found on the steps of a chapel in Cancun on Sunday evening before was reunited with her grandmother Leanne and uncle Ben Shanks who flew in from Australia.

The trio were spotted at the international airport on Monday as they prepared to catch a plane back to their home in Queensland.

The desperate search continues for the two-year-old's mother Tahnee Shanks, 32, who was reported missing with the child's father Jorge Aguirre Astudillo.

Leanne told reporters outside the departure terminal it was 'breaking my heart' leaving the country without her daughter.

An Australian toddler who was found wandering barefoot and alone outside a church in Mexico is making her way home after she was reunited with her relatives

The reunited trio were spotted at the international airport on Monday as they prepared to catch a plane back to their home in Queensland

Adelyn had previously been cared for by Mexican child welfare authorities before her relatives arrived

'I just can't even grasp what's happening,' she told Nine News. 'At the moment we can't even even get our heads around it.'

Adelynn was seen being cradled in the arms of her uncle while her grandmother fitted a sandal onto her left foot at an airport cafe.

'We're leaving knowing that Tahnee is getting searched for in a very professional way,' Ben said.

Adelyn had previously been cared for by Mexican child welfare authorities before her relatives arrived. She has also now received an emergency Australian passport.

Ms Shanks' brother Daniel said 'three eyewitnesses' saw Mr Astudillo leave his daughter Adelynn outside the Chapel of the San Archangel.

Mr Shanks told the ABC that his sister, who is from Queensland's Whitsundays, claimed she was on a vacation with her family in a small fishing village with poor reception but something felt off.

'I'm assuming I was talking to him (Astudillo),' he said.

Ms Shanks had been holidaying around the Yucatan peninsula and was set to return to Australia after her relationship broke down with her partner Mr Astudillo.

The distraught sibling said Ms Shanks had stopped using social media days before she went missing.

Mr Shanks is unable to travel to Mexico himself because he is unvaccinated.

'Look, it is very out of character, she is always on social media, she is always posting photos of her and Addie constantly, it is a constant stream of it, so for her to drop off, we knew something was wrong,' Mr Shanks told Sunrise on Friday.

'For this to happen is just tragic and heartbreaking. I haven't slept for three days, you can probably tell and I am just exhausted.'

Tahnee Shanks, 32, (pictured right) originally from the Whitsundays, Queensland, is missing in Mexico where she was on vacation

Jorge Aguirre Astudillo has not been seen since May 2 when he was with Australian native Tahnee Shanks, the mother of his two-year-old daughter

His comments came as further details emerged about how the two-year-old was found.

An urgent message posted to Facebook alerted the local community in the state of Yucatan that the girl had bizarrely been found.

Mr Shanks said his niece was 'dumped' at a church in the Mexican tourist town late at night and was found wandering the streets.

As for his sister, she sent photos of the beaches they were visiting but 'next minute nothing from her'.

He has offered a $5,000 reward for his sister's safe return and has spent the last few days dealing with Mexican and Australian authorities

The last known photos of Ms Shanks and Mr Astudillo show them in Las Coloradas, Yucatan, 93 miles from where their daughter was found in Cancun on Mexico's tropical southern tip.

Two-year-old Adelynn is now under the care of Australian relatives after she was found alone at a church in Cancun as her parents are reported missing

Tahnee Shanks (pictured right) had been traveling with her ex-partner Jorge Aguirre Astudillo (middle) and their daughter (left) in Mexico before she was reported as missing

Tahnee Shanks and Adelynn were due to return to Australia in June. The two-year-old was found by neighbours at the Chapel of the San Archangel (pictured)

Tahnee's two-year-old daughter Adelynn was found wandering the streets late at night

One of the pictures shows Ms Shanks standing on the flatbed of a pickup truck and holding Adelynn with the beach in the distance.

Ms Shanks has no family in Mexico with her, but is normally active on social media. However, her family hasn't heard from her in several days.

Daniel has been trying to contact Mr Astudillo, who drives a white Toyota Tundra.

Daily Mail Australia doesn't suggest that the ex-partner is involved in her disappearance.

A police public appeal for information about Ms Shanks' whereabouts have been widely shared on both sides of the world.

Daniel Shanks said his sister had ended her relationship with Mr Astudillo and was weeks away from heading home back to Australia with her daughter in June.

A law enforcement official (right) holds Adelynn in his arms after she was found outside a Cancun church

Australian mother Tahnee Shanks shared with her family photos of her beach outing to Los Cuyos in Yucatan, Mexico, before she and the father of the two-year-old daughter went missing

Ms Shanks moved eight years ago from Australia to Merida, Mexico. She split from her partner a year after Adelynn was born.

'She would have been home months ago,' Daniel Shanks told ABC.

'She thought she could get home easily, but America had shut down visas for Mexican-born people for a period because of Covid. She's had to go and get an Australian citizenship and passport for Addy to try and divert around that issue.'

Witnesses say they saw a man pass Adelynn to a stranger in front of a church in the 220 Quintana Roo district.

Another brother, Benjamin Shanks, told 7News he had received a call on Tuesday from his sister's former Australian boyfriend who had originally lived with her when they travelled to Mexico.

The man told him that a video was circulating on Mexican social media pages of a young girl found outside of a Cancun chapel.

He watched the video and the Mackay-based Shanks family recognised the girl as their niece and connected it with Ms Shanks' inactive social media accounts.

Australian mother Tahnee Shanks (pictured with her ex-partner Jorge Aguirre Astudillo) has gone missing in Mexico

Tahnee Shanks' family raised the alarm after they were made aware of photos being circulated of little Adelynn wandering Cancun alone late at night

Tahnee Shanks' family insists she would never leave her little girl, who turned two last November

Ms Shanks had been living in Yucatan capital of Merida. She was waiting to receive her toddler's passport and had booked plane tickets to arrive in Australia on June 22.

The Shanks family and friends are fearing the worst.

'She's never off social media and she would never leave that girl. That's the scariest thing,' Ben Shanks told the outlet.

'We know Tahnee wouldn't leave that girl on her own.'

Concerned friends also hold grave fears for Ms Shanks.

'She is a very dedicated mother and would never abandon her daughter. Something serious had to happen for the little girl to find herself alone,' a family friend wrote.

Mexico Police have launched a desperate search for missing Australian Tahnee Shanks

Tahnee Shanks (pictured middle) was on vacation with her ex-partner (right) and her daughter (left) when she vanished in Mexico, a continent away from any of her family

Tahnee Shanks' mother and brother are on their way to Mexico to find out what happened to her

The devoted mum's social media pages are full of happy snaps of her little girl.

The mother had been traveling the world since she was 18 and describes herself on social media as a 'Happy Hippy Ginger Ninja meeting around the world one country at a time.'

Before she went overseas, she worked in Australia as an assistant nurse looking after the elderly, which she described as a rewarding career.

'The travel bug bit me in 2010 taking me on my first 18 month journey through Asia and parts of Europe volunteering and couch surfing my way across the country,' the freelance writer wrote on a travel blog for the Whitsundays.

Shanks returned home and saved for two years and then headed back overseas traveling through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and the United States before settling in Mexico.

She is described as having a fair complexion, and has red hair, light brown eyes, 5 feet 4 inches tall, thin build and has a distinctive tattoo along her right thigh.
The Queen will use her Platinum Jubilee to emphasise UK unity, sending members of her family to all four nations.

Prince William and wife Kate will visit Wales over the extended bank holiday weekend from June 2 to 5.

Prince Edward and Sophie will go to Northern Ireland while Princess Anne heads to Scotland.

Prince Charles and Camilla will remain in London with the Queen.

There will be no roles for Prince Harry and Meghan and Prince Andrew.

The four main events of the weekend  Trooping the Colour, the Party at the Palace, the Platinum Jubilee Pageant and a service of thanksgiving  will all be in London.

But jubilee beacons will be lit at 2,000 locations around the UK and the Commonwealth on June 2 and over 60,000 Big Jubilee Lunches involving millions of Britons will be held on June 5.

A Palace spokesman said: Members of the Royal Family will attend engagements in each nation, including public events marking the occasion.

Further details of the visits will be revealed in the coming weeks.

It comes after the Queen personally decided that only members of the royal family who are currently undertaking official public duties on her behalf will be eligible to join her on the balcony at Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour

William and Kate, pictured at the London headquarters of the Disasters Emergency Committee, will visit Wales over the Platinum Jubilee weekend

Last week Buckingham Palace confirmed further details of the Platinum Jubilee weekend from June 2-5.

And they revealed that the Queen had personally decided, after careful consideration, that only members of the royal family who are currently undertaking official public duties on her behalf will be eligible to join her on the balcony at Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour, the first major public event of the celebrations.

She has also given special permission for the Cambridges three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to attend, as well as Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn, Edward and Sophies son and daughter.

Princess Annes husband, Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, will also be among the 18 attendees as he regularly accompanies his 70-year-old wife on official duties and tours.

Her decision made clear in light of fevered public debate as to whether Harry, Meghan and Andrew could join her in a show of family unity, that they would not be welcome.

But she has extended an invitation to join her in a personal capacity at other events over the extended bank holiday weekend including a service of thanksgiving at St Pauls Cathedral and the Platinum Jubilee Pageant.

And within minutes of her announcement, a spokesman for the Sussexes in the US rushed out a statement saying that they were excited and honoured to attend with their their two children.

Archie, three, hasnt seen his British family since he was a baby, while his sister Lili, who will celebrate her first birthday while in the UK, has never met any of them.

There is a certain amount of concern among royal aides about how Harry and Meghan will be received and how the difficulty family dynamics will play out in public.

William has, in particular, been left hurt and angry by his brothers behaviour and his repeated attacks on the Royal Family.

But there is also a determination to put family hostilities to one side to celebrate the Queens historic 70 years of peerless service to the nation.

If Her Majesty is happy for this to happen you can expect everyone to follow her lead.

'I also know the Prince of Wales is particularly excited to meet his grand-children, a source told the Mail.
When Bongbong Marcos first arrived in Britain, he faced not just educational and cultural challenges but physical ones, too.

For not only was he the youngest boy at the fee-paying Worth School in West Sussex, he was also among the smallest on the rugby pitch.

But what he lacked in strength he more than made up for in guile  he took a flick knife to games which he is said to have brandished in scrums.

It was the only time in the school day that Bongbong could not be protected by his bodyguards, some of whom were disguised as kitchen staff, reputedly to taste his school meals in case they had been poisoned.

Ferrari-driving former British public schoolboy Bongbong Marcos is expected to become the 17th president of the Philippines. Pictured in 1975 at Oxford

Soon-to-be Philippine president Bongbong Marcos pictured at a huge rally in Lipa last month

The heir to a political dynasty, Bongbong (left) poses with father Ferdinand (second from left), mother Imelda (centre), younger sister Irene (second from right) and big sister Imelda (right)

Sometime later today, this Ferrari-driving former British public schoolboy, will  barring an electoral result that flies in the face of recent opinion polls that put him 30 points ahead of his nearest rival  be unveiled as the 17th president of the Philippines.

It will be a victory that completes one of the most extraordinary political comebacks of all time.

What makes Bongbong's success so unlikely is that his father was the ruthless dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who plundered billions from his country while brutally suppressing dissent, and his mother Imelda, a former beauty queen, who was infamous for her vanity, materialism and her 3,000 pairs of shoes, half of which were left behind after the family fled a popular uprising in 1986.

Yet in a country of startling inequality, the Marcos legacy has been anything but a hindrance to the chances of Ferdinand junior  Bongbong's real name  at the polls.

And while his triumph owes much to a web of dynastic politics, loyalties reaching back generations and exploiting social media, it was also forged on the playing fields of 36,000-a year Worth, a Benedictine boarding school near Crawley, where fellow pupils included comedian Harry Enfield and Cold Feet star Robert Bathurst.

Now the comeback kid of Philippine politics, Marcos Jr went school with Harry Enfield

Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr snubbed photographers after turning out to vote earlier today

The Marcos legacy has been anything but a hindrance to the chances of Ferdinand Jr. Pictured, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and wife Imelda in 1985

At the time of his overthrow 36 years ago, Marcos senior was an international pariah.

He and his wife, dubbed the 'conjugal dictators', had amassed a staggering amount of wealth and Imelda's shoe collection remains the most notorious symbol of the couple's outrageous ostentation.

She loved luxury European brands such as Christian Dior and Gucci, but also had a standing order for ten locally made pairs of shoes to be delivered every week to the presidential palace.

Her footwear collection, however, pales into insignificance compared with the billions of dollars that were stashed in secret bank accounts around the world or spent on real estate, jewellery, artwork and stocks.

Only after the regime's downfall did Filipinos comprehend the magnitude of their plunder.

The couple had carried off one of the greatest government thefts ever seen, stripping up to $10 billion from the country's coffers to fund their lavish lifestyle.

Bongbong faces calls to prosecute outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte for a mass of state killings

Bongbong (left) poses somewhat uncomfortably with father Ferdinand (right) in January 1972

President Ferdinand is kissed on the cheek by Bongbong (left) as siblings Imee (centre), Imelda (second from right) and Irene (right) look on. Ferdinand Marcos was dictator for 21 years

The dictator and his cronies were found to have pillaged everything from foreign aid to World Bank loans, forcing outright takeovers of major companies and soliciting bribes for lucrative government contracts.

More than three decades after they were harried into exile in Hawaii  where Marcos died in 1989  most of this hidden wealth is still missing or the subject of court proceedings that have dragged on for years.

With 64-year-old Bongbong as president, any lingering hopes of the Philippines recovering the family's ill-gotten gains look slim.

Political opponents say Marcos Jr is running not only to redeem the family name but also to ensure that their immunity from prosecution remains in place.

When questioned about this toxic heritage, Bongbong has shown anything but repentance. 'What have I to be sorry about?' he demands.

Instead, he cites the thousands of miles of roads and power plants built by his father, while boasting that the Philippines has the highest levels of literacy in south-east Asia.

If, as the pundits predict, he secures victory today, Bongbong will not only be the first head of state to have played himself in a film, but also the first to claim he has been promised a ticket to ride on the first commercial flight to the moon.

The promise, he says, was made by disgraced former U.S. President Richard Nixon. When Nixon was in the White House, Bongbong was at Worth, where he had arrived in 1970.

A key US ally during the Cold War, Ferdinand hosted President Nixon on July 26, 1969

Waving to supporters as he voted early this morning, Bongbong is running with Sara Duterte - daughter of incumbent Rodrigo. Her father is subject of a global human rights probe

Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos, son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his wife, Louise (left) and his sister Imee (right) pictured in 2018

A letter from the school to his father warns that young Ferdinand would find life very different to what he was used to. For a start, he would be sharing a dormitory with ten other boys.

'I imagine that in sending Ferdinand to an English public school, you would like him to be treated as any other new boy,' the school writes adding: 'I would strongly recommend that until he has settled down, he does not telephone you or you him, as I have found from experience that the sound of parents' voices on the telephone can make a boy very unhappy and homesick.'

Intriguingly Marcos senior, who is addressed as 'Mr President', appears to have got his son's age wrong.

A letter of application had given the boy's age as 11 but an accompanying birth certificate showed he was actually 12.

The president's decision to educate his son in Britain was seen as having strategic value for the UK government.

When Mrs Marcos made a private visit to help her son settle in, civil servants planned an itinerary for her to visit orphanages and museums.

Though he has not always been thought presidential material, Bongbong is set to take the role

Bongbong is pictured in 2005 with mother Imelda (left) and sister Irene (right) at a tribute for father Ferdinand Marcos. The late dictator is buried at the so-called Cemetery of Heroes

But it was scrapped when Britain's ambassador to the Philippines said Mrs Marcos was 'highly egocentric' and would want to go to 'functions which serve to show off her beauty in public'.

It was noted that she had been 'as exigent, difficult, tactless and inconsiderate as it was possible to be'.

When told that the Queen would be at Balmoral and unable to see her, Mrs Marcos said she was being received by the Pope and President Nixon that year and expected equal treatment here.

Eventually, the Queen agreed to see her at Windsor Castle. Diplomats said the visit went off without incident perhaps because her final itinerary included shopping trips to Harrods, Selfridges and Bond Street.

Bongbong left Worth after four years, during which he passed seven O-levels and three A-levels in physics, maths and English.

He was awarded a place at Oxford, but envoys had to lobby officials at St Edmund Hall after the young Filipino twice failed examinations.

To avoid an embarrassing departure, the college's principal asked the Philippine military attache in London to come up with 'any special circumstances' which would permit St Edmund to ignore its own rules.

Bongbong will not only be the first head of state to have played himself in a film, but also the first to claim he has been promised a ticket to ride on the first commercial flight to the moon. Pictured, a reporter looks his mother's shoe collection

A compromise was reached and Bongbong switched courses and received a special diploma in social sciences.

Not that this academic demotion stopped him claiming for years that he had graduated from Oxford in 1978 with a degree in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE).

He was even less successful when he went to the U.S. to study at the prestigious Wharton College  and failed to graduate.

While opponents have complained about his lack of honesty, political analysts describe it as typical of the Marcos family's relationship with facts.

Said one: 'They have a penchant for weaving their own truth into a version of reality which is glitzy and glamorous enough to appeal to some people.'

Take his father. He claimed to be 'the most decorated war hero in the Philippines', who was awarded three U.S. army medals from World War II.

But while Marcos had served in the U.S. Forces in the Philippines, the country's National Historical Commission later declared his tales of heroism 'full of lies'.

Bongbong's father became president in 1965 and his wife soon became famous for her exorbitant spending.

On a single overseas trip in 1983, she apparently spent $9 million in 90 days, including $14,150 on bed sheets, $58,000 on sterling silver serving dishes and $611,000 on gems from Cartier.

In a recent Netflix documentary about her life, Imelda Macros said such spending was essential to be the perfect First Lady.

'I had to dress up and make myself more beautiful because the poor always look for a star in the dark of the night,' she explained.

Ferdinand Marcos's 21-year rule was notorious for corruption, extravagance and brutality.

As he and his family lived in luxury on the state purse, the Philippines economy stagnated, the income gulf between rich and poor ballooned and thousands of political opponents were tortured or killed.

A reported 780,000 supporters line Ayala Avenue, Makati to see Bongbong speak on May 7

Running mate Sara Duterte, mayor of Davao city, is the daughter of outgoing president Rodrigo Duterte

In 1972, as his two-term limit was nearing an end, Marcos declared martial law and then amended the constitution to allow him to stay in power indefinitely.

But even as their days of greed ended, they managed to scoop up millions of dollars' worth of valuables  cash, jewels, gold and art, including works by the French painter Monet.

The estimated 300 crates loaded on to the two U.S. Air Force planes that carried the Marcos family to Hawaii also included weapons, bank deposit certificates and the deeds for numerous overseas property holdings.

More than 36 years after the family fled into exile, not one person has been jailed over their illegally acquired wealth.

The family was allowed to return to the Philippines in 1991, after the dictator's death. Twice Mrs Marcos, now 92, ran for president and twice she failed.

Now the family's fortunes and its rehabilitation looks secure in the hands of Bongbong, the boy who played rugby on the playing fields of England with a knife in his pocket.
Baroness Mone faces the prospect of being interviewed under caution by investigators probing a 200million Covid PPE deal.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has raided six properties, including the peers home in London, as part of a probe into contracts for masks and medical gowns supplied during the pandemic which were never used.

Now it has emerged that the former lingerie tycoon, 50, is likely to be interviewed by the NCA as part of the fraud investigation into PPE Medpro, which received 200million of contracts from the Department of Health after she recommended it to ministers in 2020.

The NCA probe is expected to take months but it is anticipated that she will be questioned as part of its inquiry, a source said. The peer  nicknamed Baroness Bra  has denied any wrongdoing.

Baroness Mone faces the prospect of being interviewed under caution by investigators probing a 200million Covid PPE deal

Yesterday a legal representative for Baroness Mone declined to comment.

The 50-year-old nicknamed Baroness Bra after she was appointed by David Cameron as a Tory peer seven years ago, allegedly contacted Cabinet Office ministers, including Michael Gove, to recommend the business at the height of the pandemic.

At the time, ministers were desperate to obtain stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE) amid soaring hospital admission rates due to Covid-19.

Within a few weeks, PPE Medpro, a virtually unknown company, was awarded two contracts, one worth 81million to supply masks and a 122million order for gowns, without any competitive tender.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has raided six properties, including the peers home in London

The awards were made under a special VIP lane for politically connected companies.

Edward Argar, a health minister, later told parliament: Departmental records indicate that Baroness Mone identified Medpro as a potential supplier on May 7, 2020, and highlighted this opportunity by email on May 8, 2020. Yet PPE Medpro was only incorporated in the UK on May 12, 2020, according to Companies House filings.

An affiliated company with the same name was set up on the Isle of Man the previous day.

After a quality inspection, 25 million medical gowns the firm supplied from China were never used by the NHS.

Officials have been trying for months to recover the money from the company, although PPE Medpro says it met the terms of the contract.

Now it has emerged that the former lingerie tycoon, 50, is likely to be interviewed by the NCA as part of the fraud investigation into PPE Medpro

In January, Martin Jelley, the Lords standards commissioner, announced he was investigating whether Mone, a former lingerie tycoon, should have registered an interest in the company or if she broke any lobbying rules.

In response, the peer said: I completely refute these allegations. I was asked to help at a time of national emergency. I declared all necessary interests and have done nothing wrong.

I will co-operate fully with any investigation.

An NCA spokesman said: We do not routinely confirm or deny the existence of investigations or the names of those who may or may not be under investigation.
Katie Price's fiance Carl Woods will not be attending her half-sister Sophie Price's upcoming wedding after a family fall out.

Sophie, who got engaged to fiance Harry Brooks in March, is due to say 'I do' at their nuptials next month, but the one-time Love Islander won't be there to watch.

It is claimed Carl, 32, has refused to attend the wedding after a row, with a representative for him, saying: 'Carl will not be attending the wedding.

Staying home: Katie Price's fiance Carl Woods, 32, will reportedly not be attending her half-sister Sophie Price's upcoming wedding after a family fall out

'Carl and Sophie's partner, Harry, haven't always seen eye to eye therefore Carl has made the decision not to attend.'

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Carl for comment. A representative for Katie declined to comment.

Katie's five children - Harvey, 19, Junior, 16, Princess, 14, Jett, seven, and six-year-old Bunny - will all participate in their aunt Sophie's special day while they attend with former glamour model Katie, 43.

Romance: Sophie, who got engaged to fiance Harry Brooks in March, is due to say 'I do' at their nuptials next month

Sophie announced she'd got engaged to her partner Harry in March this year.

Sophie, 32, who shares 10-month-old son Albert with Harry, posted a snap of her emerald engagement ring on Instagram at the time - revealing that Harry had popped the question during a romantic alfresco evening.

She wrote: 'Well I didn't expect that round the fire pit last night...I said YES!!!

'#imengaged #yes #summerwedding.'

Close: It comes after Carl revealed his close bond with fiancee Katie's eldest child Harvey, 19, revealing he sees the teenager 'as my own son'

The post was swiftly liked by Katie, 43, who posted a string of hearts in the comments section.

It comes after Carl revealed his close bond with fiancee Katie's eldest child Harvey, revealing he sees the teenager 'as my own son'.

Speaking to MailOnline at the VIP Celeb MMA Party on Thursday night in London, Carl explained how he and Harvey, who lives in a residential college, FaceTime constantly.

Carl, who has been in an on/off relationship with Katie since June 2020, gushed about his and Harvey's bond, calling the teenager 'an absolute wonderful, wonderful kid', adding that 'he's a real credit to Katie.'

'I love Harvey to bits and he's just a fantastic person. With all his complex needs, he's really wonderful I cannot stress to you what a credit he is,' Carl continued of Harvey - who has Prader-Willi Syndrome, autism and blindness.

'He's a polite young man, very sharp and I absolutely love being involved with him. Absolutely I see him as my own son.'
She's landed a coveted role in season six of Netflix's Selling Sunset - yet Chelsea Lazkani wasn't always living the glamorous high life in the Hollywood hills.

The British mother-of-two has revealed she grew up in a council house and used to share a bedroom with two siblings as her parents scrimped and saved to give them the best life possible.

North west London-born Chelsea, 29, whose parents are immigrants from Nigeria, says she was inspired by her 'workaholic' mother and father to become a success.

Honest: Chelsea Lazkani revealed she used to share a bedroom with two siblings in her family's council house as her parents scrimped and saved and saved to give them the best they could

Speaking to The Mirror she said: 'When I was four to seven we lived on council estates. I remember going to a store and not being able to pick out an extra loaf of bread.

'Because we had nothing, we had to be cost conscious. I always knew the value of a pound.'

She added: 'I will never, ever let go of that house. It was tiny, but I want to keep it as a reminder.'

Humble: North west London-born Chelsea, 29, whose parents are immigrants from Nigeria, says she was inspired by her 'workaholic' mother and father to become a success

The reality star began working with Rodeo Realty Inc. as a real estate agent in Los Angeles in 2017, after relocating from London.

She then joined The Oppenheim Group in July 2021, and after almost a year with the company, she announced the news she'd be joining the cast of Selling Sunset in March.

The British-Nigerian luxury real estate agent graduated with a degree in economics from University of Birmingham before gaining a masters in gas and oil economics in Dundee.

Climbing the ladder: The reality star began working with Rodeo Realty Inc. as a real estate agent in Los Angeles in 2017, after relocating from London

For years she worked as a business strategist and solar analyst with companies in the oil and gas industry, before she visited Los Angeles and fell in love with her husband Jeff in 2015.

After the pair married in 2017, Chelsea gained her real estate license and joined the famous brokerage last year.

Speaking passionately about having a solid work ethic she told the outlet: 'My parents are immigrants from Nigeria. They're workaholics, workhorses.

'All my parents' success has come from hard work. I always had a strong work ethic because I saw my parents work so hard.

'My mum worked in a supermarket when I was young. She got into human resources and started to climb the corporate ladder.'

Living the dream, Chelsea is keeping her feet firmly on the ground after finding TV fame in Los Angeles.



Incredible: In her first year as an agent, she successfully oversaw more than $10 million in sales, leading her to make her own first home purchase in Manhattan Beach, CA (pictured in the show)

In her first year as an agent, she successfully oversaw more than $10 million in sales, leading her to make her own first home purchase in Manhattan Beach, CA.

And with over five years in the industry, she was introduced to Jason Oppenheim through her husband.

Having 'always been very familiar with The Oppenheim Group', she joined the company last year.

Loved-up: In 2017, she married her husband Jeff, who is a managing partner at Icon Media Direct, a marketing and advertising company (pictured together)

According to her online biography, she feels she 'is breathing new life into an industry not typically dominated by black women.'

And after almost a year with the company, in March she announced the news she'd be joining the cast of Selling Sunset, posting on Instagram: 'The secret is OUT!

I'm beyond thrilled to announce that I have joined the cast of Selling Sunset! So grateful for everyone involved, the list is long and you know who you are.

'The laughs, the lux, the drama, it's all there in season 5 and I can't wait for you all to see it!' she added.

Her first season: During filming of the popular real estate show she quickly struck a friendship with the show's main villainess, Christine Quinn, 33, who recently left The Oppenheim Group

During filming she quickly struck a friendship with the show's main villainess, Christine Quinn, 33, who recently left The Oppenheim Group, following accusations that she attempted to bribe one of her fellow real estate agent Emma Hernan's clients.

In March 2022, Chelsea told People , 'I just adore Christine [Quinn]. We have such a great relationship.'

However, she made it clear that Christine's issues with other women on the show are her own, stating, 'I understand they may have had drama, but I am here to form my own unique relationships.'

Season 5 of Selling Sunset is now available to stream on Netflix.
Sydney socialite Hollie Nasser has finally confirmed her split from Charlie Aitken, her best friend Ellie's estranged husband.

The news comes after it was reported by Daily Mail Australia that the pair had gone their separate ways last week following a high-profile romance.

Ms Nasser herself confirmed the news to Sunday Confidential this week, telling them via a statement the relationship is over and she is focussing on her children.

It's over! Sydney socialite Hollie Nasser (left) has finally confirmed her split from Charlie Aitken (right), her best friend Ellie's estranged husband

'With regards to my private life; my focus is my daughters, I have chosen not to be in a relationship,' Ms Nasser said.

She went on to praise her estranged husband, Christopher Nasser, saying the pair were working together to co-parent their children.

'Chris has always been a loving and devoted father. We are working together to co-parent our children,' she continued.

'I have chosen not to be in a relationship': Ms Nasser confirmed the news to Sunday Confidential this week, telling them via a statement the relationship is over and she is focussing on her children

She went on to reflect on the difficulty of the high-profile romance, which saw the two relationships thrust into the spotlight, along with a media storm.

'The past nine months have been very difficult and I have expressed my apologies to my family and others involved,' she finished.

Daily Mail Australia reported the news last week of the split, quoting sources as saying Hollie had confirmed to friends she was 'single'.

Splitsville: All four parties, Hollie and Charlie, along with their exes Chris and Ellie, in a high-society love split have now gone their separate ways, but are still intertwined as a result of their young children and the company they keep. All pictured dining at Eleven Madison Park in New York before the Covid pandemic

Ms Nasser shocked the city's eastern suburbs social clique in late 2021 when she announced she was dating investment banker Charlie, her best friend Ellie's husband.

Complicating things further was the fact Mr Aitken was in business with Ms Nasser's investor husband, Christopher.

Ms Nasser and Mr Aitken spent several months in a love bubble.

Back on the scene: Hollie has slowly started making appearances again on major events in the social calendar. She recently shared pictures from two events at Randwick Racecourse

They were trying to take things slow, but intense public scrutiny of their relationship added a level of pressure they didn't expect - or know how to handle.

She reportedly confided in friends she was struggling with all the attention the relationship brought her.

'She never wanted it,' a friend said. 'She just wanted to get back to being a mum. Hollie really just wants to move on with her life.'

High society: The Nassers and Aitkens were two of Sydney's power couples before a scandalous love triangle tore them apart. Left: Ellie and Charlie, right: Hollie and Christopher
Serbia, China honor Chinese martyrs killed in NATO bombing

Xinhua) 13:16, May 08, 2022

Wreaths are seen at memorial plaques dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

"China-Serbia friendship of steel is now playing a vital role in the peace and economic recovery of this region," said Tian Yishu, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Serbia.

BELGRADE, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Laying wreaths at memorial plaques here dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, representatives of Serbia and China on Saturday commemorated the Chinese martyrs and condemned NATO's "barbaric act."

Among the officials present at the commemoration were Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin, Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, and Tian Yishu, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Serbia.

Officials of the Chinese embassy to Serbia mourn for the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

"Chinese citizens that laid their lives here, didn't even need to be here, but they chose to do so, in order to share the most difficult and saddest moments with us," Vulin said.

"Serbia will never stop asking for responsibility for crimes conducted by NATO during their aggression," Vulin said. "Those (Western powers) which now ask from us to align with their policies should remember their statements from 1999."

He noted that Serbia and China "have a friendship made of steel, forged in the most difficult of times."

Tian said that "China-Serbia friendship of steel is now playing a vital role in the peace and economic recovery of this region."

"We wish to continue comprehensive cooperation with all peace-loving countries, both in fields of economic cooperation and security," he said.

Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Darija Kisic Tepavcevic (1st L) gives an interview at the site of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Svetozar Parezanin, a retired colonel of the Serbian Army who came here with a local citizen association, held a banner with photographs of the three killed journalists -- Shao Yunhuan of Xinhua News Agency, and Xu Xinghu and his wife Zhu Ying of the Guangming Daily newspaper.

"We remember that day very well, and we will never forget it. We come here every year to show our feeling of respect towards brotherly Chinese people," Parezanin said.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Bianji)
Russian servicewomen march during a dress rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 7. AP-Yonhap



Ukraine said civilians had been evacuated from a besieged Mariupol steel plant Saturday as Russian forces unleashed new bombardments across the country ahead of Victory Day festivities in Moscow.



The Azovstal steel mill is the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the devastated port city and its fate has taken on a symbolic value in the broader battle since Russia's invasion.



"All women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.



Fighting continues on many fronts, and Ukraine's defense ministry said it had destroyed another Russian vessel  a Serna-class landing craft  in the Black Sea.



"The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island  at the bottom of the sea," the ministry added. Russia did not immediately confirm the incident.



Ukraine's defense ministry had earlier said Russian forces had resumed their assault on the Azovstal site, despite talk of a truce to allow trapped civilians to flee.



On Monday, President Vladimir Putin will celebrate the World War II Soviet victory over Nazi Germany with a traditional Victory Day parade.



According to Russia's defense ministry, 77 aircraft will conduct a flypast, including the rarely-seen Il-80 Doomsday plane that can withstand a nuclear attack.



Eight Mig-29 fighter jets will fly over Moscow's Red Square forming the letter "Z"  the mark of Russia's military assault in Ukraine.



The Russian campaign has run into tough resistance  and provoked Kyiv's western allies into slapping sanctions on the Russian economy and Putin's inner circle.



But with Victory Day approaching, Ukrainian officials fear more intense missile and artillery bombardments and renewed assaults as Moscow scrambles for symbolic wins.



The Ukrainian rescue service said a missile hit a technical college in Kostiantynivka, in the eastern region of Donetsk, causing a fire and at least two deaths.



Donetsk regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said there had been "massive bombardments" along the frontline.



Strikes were also reported in the north of Ukraine near the city of Kharkiv and in the southern city of Mikolaiv, a key Russian target.



Ukrainian forces have launched a counter-offensive of their own.





A Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launcher takes part in the Victory Day military parade general rehearsal in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 7. EPA-Yonhap



Bridges down



According to the defence ministry, Russian troops were forced to demolish three road bridges near Tsyrkuny and Ruski Tyshky outside Kharkiv, to slow the Ukrainian advance.



According to British intelligence, Ukrainian forces equipped with high-end weaponry by the western allies, have been able to destroy at least one of Russia's most advanced tanks, the T-90M.



"The conflict in Ukraine is taking a heavy toll on some of Russia's most capable units and most advanced capabilities," U.K. Defense Intelligence said.









"It will take considerable time and expense for Russia to reconstitute its armed forces following this conflict," it said, warning sanctions on advanced components would make it harder for Russia to re-arm.



The West, meanwhile, is stepping up arms deliveries to Ukraine's defenders.



On Friday, US President Joe Biden announced another package of military assistance worth $150 million, including radars for detecting the source of enemy artillery fire.



This brings the total value of US weaponry sent to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began to $3.8 billion.



Biden had urged Congress to approve a further $33 billion package, including $20 billion in military aid, "to strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield and at the negotiating table."



The G7 leaders, including Biden, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky are to meet in a videoconference Sunday to discuss Western support for Kyiv.



And Biden's wife, US First lady Jill Biden, was in Romania meeting Ukrainian refugees.



"You are amazingly strong," Biden said in Bucharest after listening to mothers and children recount how they fled Russia's invasion of their country.



"We stand with you, I hope you know that." Ambassadors from EU member states were to meet in Brussels, Sunday, to discuss their sixth round of economic sanctions against Moscow, which this time should include a phased ban on imports of Russian oil.





Russian Sukhoi Su-25 close air support jets fly over the Kremlin during a Victory Day military parade general rehearsal in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 7. EPA-Yonhap



Azovstal evacuation



On Friday, Zelensky said "diplomatic options" were also under way to rescue Ukrainian soldiers from the Mariupol steelworks, as civilian evacuations continued.



About 200 civilians, including children, had been thought to be trapped in the tunnels and bunkers beneath Azovstal, along with Ukrainian soldiers making their last stand.



Russia announced a day-time ceasefire at the plant for three days starting Thursday but the Ukrainian army said Russian "assault operations" had continued.



Ukraine's Azov battalion, leading the defense at Azovstal, said one Ukrainian fighter had been killed and six wounded when Russian forces opened fire during an attempt to evacuate people by car.





Russian service members leave after a general rehearsal for a Victory Day military parade in central Moscow, May 7. AFP-Yonhap
Jamie Demetriou has been tipped as a favourite to win another BAFTA award ahead of this weekend's ceremony.

The Fleabag star is nominated for Best Male Actor in a Comedy Programme at the BAFTA Television awards for his role in Stath Lets Flat, with reports claiming that he is a favourite for Sunday evening's ceremony.

It comes years after the 34-year-old was rejected from big drama schools, before landing his big break in BBC Three's Fleabag.

Favourite? Fleabag's Jamie Demetriou has been tipped as a BAFTA TV favourite to win, years after being snubbed by big drama schools (pictured March 2022)

The star has already been awarded BAFTA's in 2020 for his role in the show, with his sister Natasia, 38, also up for a gong for her role in Stath Lets Flat this year.

Talking to The Mirror, Jonny Morton, who was Jamie's teacher during his time at Londons Chickenshed theatre company - shared details of the actor's early career.

Explaining that Jamie has 'made his own luck', Jonny admitted that he was surprised the actor didn't make it to any large drama schools.

He told the publication: 'I was surprised he didnt get into a big drama school. He was good enough. Its only through his own hard graft he has achieved so much. Hes made his own luck.'

Nominated: The star is nominated for Best Male Actor in a Comedy Programme at the BAFTA Television awards for his role in Stath Lets Flat (pictured in the show)

Prominence: Jamie rose to prominence when he appeared on Fleabag as Phoebe Waller-Bridge's elaborately bucktoothed boyfriend (pictured in Fleabag with Phoebe)

The teacher also noted that he noticed Jamie has 'something special' while he was completing his BTEC qualification at the company.

Noting his humble beginnings, Jonny recalled many of Jamie's performances at Chickenshed Theatre - including one which involved him playing a caterpillar for a production of Alice In Wonderland.

The actor also had to pose as the Queen of Hearts as an understudy at the time, explained Jonny - showing just how far he has come.

Jamie rose to prominence when he appeared on Fleabag as Phoebe Waller-Bridge's elaborately bucktoothed boyfriend.

Since then, he wrote hit show Stath Lets Flats - playing the eponymous lead character in the BAFTA nominated hit.

Alongside Jamie's nomination, the show is also up for the Scripted Comedy award at the coveted ceremony.

The Television BAFTA awards are set to take place on Sunday 8 May, airing on BBC One at 6pm.
Bella Thorne turned up the heat on her Instagram page with a series of alluring photos and a clip posted to her account on Saturday.

The 24-year-old actress showed off her flat midriff and ample cleavage in a tiny black crop top and clingy black skirt with a saucy side slit giving a peek of her upper thigh.

She paired the seductive ensemble with black thigh-high stockings and wore her blonde tresses styled into light waves.

Off the charts: Bella Thorne turned up the heat on her Instagram page with a series of alluring photos posted to her account on Saturday

The edgy model accessorized her sexy look with rhinestone accents underneath her eyes, and a multitude of colorful jewelry, including pink and green rings.

She also sported a gold necklace and a pair of large gold hoop earrings.

In one shot, the beauty showcased her fit from the back, revealing her smooth skin and pert derriere.

Fit: The 24-year-old actress showed off her flat midriff and ample cleavage in a tiny black crop top and clingy black skirt with a saucy side slit giving a peek of her upper thigh

Bella captioned the series of images with a fun fact, writing: 'Without sloths there would be no avocados...'

The caption appears to refer to the fact that the now-extinct giant ground sloths were one of the only mammals capable of processing avocado seeds whole and dispersing the seeds.

'Well thats a fun fact of the day as is your body yody yody yodyyyy,' her sister Kaili Thorne commented.

Seductive: She paired the seductive ensemble with black thigh-high stockings and wore her blonde tresses styled into light waves

Bella's other 25.3 million followers were quick to praise the sultry photos, with rapper Bia leaving three orange heart emojis, and heiress Paris Hilton commenting three fire emojis.

It's been recently announced that Bella - who's previously starred in thrillers like Scream, The Babysitter, Amityville: The Awakening, and Girl - is set to join the cast of another thriller, titled Saint Clare.

The film will follow Clare Bleecker (Thorne) 'a quiet catholic college student with a divine vocation for killing,' as per Deadline.

From the back: The beauty showcased her fit from the back, revealing her smooth skin and pert derriere

The film is based on novel Clare At 16 by Don Roff, and will be directed by Mitzi Peirone.

The thriller was co-scripted by Guinevere Turner, who co-wrote the screenplay for American Psycho.

Producers are also reportedly in negotiations with Rebecca DeMornay, from Jessica Jones, to join the cast, with production scheduled to begin shortly in Kentucky.
Jodi Gordon has expressed her excitement as she prepares to return to Neighbours for the show's final episode.

The actress, 37, told the Herald Sun, she's 'so happy' to be reviving her character Elly for the show's last episode ever, which will air on August 1 2022.

'Elly has always held a special place in my heart and I am so happy that everyone including myself will get a proper send off for her and the show,' she said.

'I am so happy': Jodi Gordon, 37 (pictured) has said she's 'so happy' to be returning to Neighbours to farewell her character Elly

'It's been a large part of my life and I have loved working with all of the cast and crew and wish everyone lots of success and happiness after Neighbours.'

It comes after Jodi and her investment banker boyfriend Sebastian Blackler recently settled their Apprehended Violence Orders against one another in court after she allegedly hit him with a wine bottle while drunk on a Sunday morning.

The actress did not appear at Windsor Local Court for the hearing finalising the orders last month, nor did 31-year-old Sebastian.

'Elly has always held a special place in my heart and I am so happy that everyone including myself will get a proper send off for her and the show,' she said

But his lawyer Michael Bowe has exclusively revealed to Daily Mail Australia that the tumultuous romance between his client and the 37-year-old Logie award-winner is finally over.

By the consent of both Ms Gordon and Mr Blackler's lawyers, Magistrate Leanne Robinson ordered that the couple obey two condition for a period of two years.

The conditions are that the two do not approach or contact each other unless through a lawyer, and that they do not assault, threaten, harass or interfere with each other.

This is the second AVO taken out against Mr Blackler after police were called to an altercation between the two, and court documents allege attending police found Ms Gordon 'well affected by intoxicating liquor'.

Court: It comes after Jodi and her investment banker boyfriend Sebastian Blackler recently settled their Apprehended Violence Orders against one another in court after she allegedly hit him with a wine bottle while drunk on a Sunday morning

Documents tendered to the court also allege that police 'fear domestic assaults are occurring between the parties with Gordon's consumption of intoxicating liquor exacerbating the violence'.

The AVOS against Ms Gordon and Mr Blackler, a Sydney wealth management firm portfolio manager, relate to an alleged altercation between the pair on April 3 in far north-western Sydney.

Daily Mail Australia understands the couple would regularly travel out of town - on this weekend, 80km from Ms Gordon's Double Bay apartment - to escape the cameras of the paparazzi.
Taraji P. Henson had the honor of delivering the commencement address for the class of 2022 at her alma mater Howard University in Washington, D.C. on Saturday.

The actress, 51, also received an honorary doctorate from the historically black institution, nearly 30 years after graduating with her bachelor's degree in 1995.

Saturday's commencement ceremony proved to be a star-studded affair, with the likes of rapper Travis Scott and comedian/actor Anthony Anderson seated in the audience.

Honored: Taraji P. Henson had the honor of delivering the commencement address for the class of 2022 at her alma mater Howard University in Washington, D.C. on Saturday

During her time at the podium, Henson donned a simple black graduation robe, as well as a large gold medal.

She glammed up her appearance with a ruby red lip and by accessorizing with a pair of large silver hoop earrings.

While an honorary doctorate doesn't actually come with the title 'doctor,' Henson made it clear that she was going to use the title - at least during her commencement speech.

'I would like to take this moment to reintroduce myself: My name is Dr. Taraji Penda Henson, Howard class of 1995,' the Hidden Figures star said to the crowd of graduates and attendees.

Prestigious: The actress, 51, also received an honorary doctorate from the historically black institution, nearly 30 years after graduating with her bachelor's degree in 1995

Regal: During her time at the podium, Henson donned a simple black graduation robe, as well as a large gold medal

Henson graduated from Howard University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in 1995.

She attended her own graduation with her then one-year-old son Marcell Johnson, who she held in her arms for the duration of the ceremony.

She shares Marcell, now 27, with her high school sweetheart William LaMarr Johnson, who was tragically killed in 2003.

Though she's since become one of the most well-known faces in Hollywood, Henson made it clear during Saturday's speech that she was undervalued in the early days of her career.

Star-studded: Saturday's commencement ceremony proved to be a star-studded affair, with the likes of rapper Travis Scott and comedian/actor Anthony Anderson seated in the audience; Travis Scott pictured

Peace! Comedian Anthony Anderson flashes a peace sign while dressed in a navy blue graduation cap and gown

Bison Pride! Common posed for a snapshot with Travis Scott at one point during the graduation ceremony in Washington, D.C.

She specifically noted her role in the Brad Pitt-led drama, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which premiered in theaters back in 2008.

She played the role of 'Queenie,' a role that would go on to earn her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

The Empire star told the crowd she was paid just $100,000 for her part in the film which commanded a budget of nearly $170 million to make.

'At the end of the day, I saw $30,000,' she explained following taxes and other costs. 'I was angry. I was disgusted, and I was hurt. But instead of stewing in that negative space, instead of becoming cynical, I decided that I would allow hope not hurt [to] shape my work.'

Graduate: Henson graduated from Howard University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in 1995. She attended her own graduation with her then one-year-old son Marcell Johnson, who she held in her arms for the duration of the ceremony

Journey to the top: Though she's since become one of the most well-known faces in Hollywood, Henson made it clear during Saturday's speech that she was undervalued in the early days of her career

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button: She specifically noted her role in the Brad Pitt-led drama, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which premiered in theaters back in 2008. She played the role of 'Queenie,' a role that would go on to earn her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The Empire star told the crowd she was paid just $100,000 for her part in the film which commanded a budget of nearly $170 million to make

Henson described putting her all into the impactful role and wanting to bring Queenie to life as a dimensional and memorable character.

'[Queenie] was three-dimensional. She was emotional. She was no-nonsense,' she said. 'She had a big heart. She loved big even though she was living in the Jim Crow South, barely 50 years after the end of slavery.

'And in honoring Queenie, I honored all of our ancestors and sheroes who dreamed of a better future for themselves and then led lives of dignity, grace, and determination, so fiercely that it made our present possible.'

She continued, 'Hollywood may not have paid me what my work was worth, but I wasnt going to miss an opportunity to show the world what the countless Queenies had done and what their sacrifices had meant.'

Perspective: 'At the end of the day, I saw $30,000,' she explained following taxes and other costs. 'I was angry. I was disgusted, and I was hurt. But instead of stewing in that negative space, instead of becoming cynical, I decided that I would allow hope not hurt [to] shape my work'
She's a doting mum to four kids as well as a stepson from her husband's previous relationship.

And Australian actress Teresa Palmer revealed she wants even more children in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald on Sunday.

'It was my number one dream to have eight children, like my nanna,' the A Discovery Of Witches star, 36, admitted.

Mother Teresa: Teresa Palmer, 36, (pictured this month) has revealed she wants even more kids in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald on Sunday

Teresa however said she isn't sure her husband Mark Webber will be on board with the idea.

'I think my husband would be like, 'Not with me!' ' she joked. 'He's at his limit.'

'But there's still a little part of me that thinks maybe I can convince him to go for one more.'

Big brood: 'It was my number one dream to have eight children, like my nanna,' the actress admitted to the newspaper. Pictured with husband Mark Webber and daughters Poet and Prairie

The couple are parents to four children together - Bodhi Rain, eight, Forest Sage, five, Poet Lake, three, and Prairie Moon, seven months.

Teresa is also stepmother to Mark's 14-year-old son Isaac Love, whom he shares with his ex, SMILF actress Frankie Shaw.

The interview comes after Teresa and her brood recently moved into her 'dream home' in Adelaide.

Blended family: The couple are parents to four children together - Bodhi Rain, eight, Forest Sage, five, Poet Lake, three, and Prairie Moon, seven months, as well as Webber's son Isaac Love (2R)

'We walked through the front door of our brand new home yesterday, jet lagged, grubby and ready for some proper food but the feeling of opening the door to our dream home for the first time since it became ours was unlike any other,' she wrote in an Instagram post last month.

'We've been in the unpacking/jet lag/settling in vortex for the past 24 hours and perhaps it's the sleepless haze but it still doesn't feel real. As Mark always says - Dreams Work.'

She added: 'Making memories and feeling a deep gratitude for all of it along the way. Sending love to all.'

The family divide their time between Adelaide and Los Angeles.
The King of Rock and Roll's only child, Lisa Marie Presley, is giving director Baz Luhrmann's new Elvis biopic her seal of approval.

In an Instagram post on Friday, the rock icon's ex-wife Priscilla Presley wrote how her daughter couldn't be happier with the way the film turned out, and that she loved the final results after seeing it during a special screening.

'I've seen Elvis the film, I watched the trailer over a dozen times,' Priscilla, 76, began in the caption alongside the movie's trailer.

'But the words I heard from my daughter on how much she loved the film and that [her daughter] Riley [Keough] will love it too when she sees it brought tears.'

Emotional: Priscilla Presley (left) says the feedback she got from her daughter Lisa Marie Presley (right) about how much she loved the new Elvis biopic brought her to tears

The King: Austin Butler, 30, plays Elvis Presley in the new biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann, which will hit theaters in June

Touched by the story, which focuses on Elvis Presley and his relationship with his manager Colonel Parker, Priscilla said she 'relived every moment in this film' and that it 'took me a few days to overcome the emotions as it did with Lisa.'

She then heaped praise on director Luhrmann, as well as the film's three main stars: Tom Hanks, who portrays Parker, Austin Butler, who portrays Elvis, and Olivia DeJonge, who portrays Priscilla herself, before calling the project 'beautifully done.'

Overcome with emotions: Priscilla says it took her and her daughter 'a few days to overcome the emotions' after watching the upcoming biopic

The premise: The film chronicles the life and career of Presley from his early days as a child growing up in Mississippi to his ascent as a rock and roll icon and movie star

The premise: The storyline also focuses on Elvis' complex relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who was played by Tom Hanks (pictured) in the biopic

After watching the Elvis biopic during a special screening late last month, Priscilla raved about Luhrmann's vision and Austin Butler's performance as the King of Rock and Roll, to whom she was married to for just over six years.

The film chronicles the life and career of Presley from his early days as a child growing up in Mississippi to his ascent as a rock and roll icon and movie star, along with his complex relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

'This story is about Elvis and Colonel Parker's relationship. It is a true story told brilliantly and creatively that only Baz, in his unique artistic way, could have delivered. Austin Butler, who played Elvis, is outstanding,' the now 76-year-old wrote.

High praise: Priscilla heaped praise on director Baz Luhrmann, along with the main star Austin Butler, Ton Hanks andd Olivia DeJonge: 'Beautifully done'

Her take: 'This story is about Elvis and Colonel Parker's relationship. It is a true story told brilliantly and creatively that only Baz, in his unique artistic way, could have delivered. Austin Butler, who played Elvis, is outstanding,' Priscilla shared last month

Coming this summer: The new Elvis biopic is scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on June 24, 2022, and then drops on HBO Max 45 days later

'Halfway through the film Jerry [Schilling] and I looked at each other and said WOW!!! Bravo to himhe knew he had big shoes to fill. He was extremely nervous playing this part. I can only imagine.'

She continued: 'Tom Hanks was Col Parker in this film. What a character he was. There was two sides to Colonel, Jerry and I witnessed both. The story, as we all know, does not have a happy ending. But I think you will understand a little bit more of Elvis' journey, penned by a directer who put his heart and soul and many hours into this film.'

Fans got a first look at Butler, 30, as Elvis in the first trailer, which was released in February.

The new Elvis biopic will have its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 1728.

It is scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on June 24, 2022, and then drops on HBO Max 45 days later.

The way they were: Priscilla was married to Elvis for six years, from 1967 to 1973; Priscilla and Lisa Marie are pictured with Elvis in 1970
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Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn looked sensational while attending the 148th Kentucky Derby, held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, with her father Larry Birkhead on Saturday.

The young beauty, 15, bore a striking resemblance to the late actress - who died from an accidental overdose in 2007 at the age of 39 - as she wore a colorful ensemble and large blue floral head piece.

Meanwhile Larry, 49, looked dapper in a grey suit. He also took to Instagram to share photos from the event, including one of Anna, as he gushed about his daughter's resemblance to the star: 'Saw this pic of Anna and thought Dannielynn looked like her twin!'

Father and daughter duo: Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn looked sensational while attending the 148th Kentucky Derby, held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, with her father Larry Birkhead on Saturday

Dannielynn paired her colorful look with open-toe multi-color floral platform heels.

She completed the vivid ensemble with a dainty gold chain around her neck, as well as a classic gold watch on her wrist.

Anna's girl wore her blonde tresses styled into gentle waves, and matched her makeup to her dress, wearing yellow and orange eyeshadow and black eyeliner.

Her mini-me: The young beauty, 15, bore a striking resemblance to the late actress - who died from an accidental overdose in 2007 at the age of 39 - as she wore a colorful ensemble and large blue floral head piece

Her twin: Larry, 49, took to Instagram to share photos from the event, including one of Anna, as he gushed about his daughter's resemblance to the star, writing: 'Saw this pic of Anna and thought Dannielynn looked like her twin!'

Her celebrity photographer father sported a multi-color tie and an orange pocket square that matched the bright shades of her dress.

Larry wore his dark blonde hair in a shaggy style, and completed the look with a pair of brown boots.

Other attendees at the annual horse race included former Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, 36, and his wife Nicole Johnson Phelps, 36.

Blondie: Anna's girl wore her blonde tresses styled into gentle waves, and matched her makeup to her dress, wearing yellow and orange eyeshadow and black eyeliner

Lovely: Larry shared another snap of the two of them next to a brown horse statue draped with red roses

Matching: The celebrity photographer looked dapper in a grey suit and a colorful tie that coordinated with his daughter's dress

The athlete - who is the most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals - looked handsome in a bright floral shirt and cream suit jacket.

He paired the look with a pair of baby blue pants and a brown belt, and rocked a shaggy beard that contrasted his slicked back chestnut hair.

Meanwhile his stunning wife showed off her toned arms and ample cleavage in a figure-hugging floral dress, which she accessorized with an oversized red hat with butterfly accents.

Handsome couple: Former Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, 36, looked handsome in a bright floral shirt and cream suit jacket, while his wife Nicole Johnson Phelps, 36, showed off her toned arms and ample cleavage in a figure-hugging dress

Silky smooth: Rapper Jack Harlow, 24, looked classy in a white silk suit, which he contrasted with a black tie and shiny black dress shoes

Rapper Jack Harlow, 24, looked classy in a white silk suit, which he contrasted with a black tie and shiny black dress shoes.

The First Class hitmaker - who hails from Louisville, Kentucky - accessorized with diamond studs in his ears as well as a silver watch, and sported a light smattering of facial hair.

Also at the event was actress Melissa Joan Hart, 46, who looked sensational in a body-hugging little black dress, which she paired with strappy white heels that showed off her red pedicure.

The Sabrina the Teenage Witch star donned a large black and white hat and wore her blonde tresses plaited into a side braid.

She was seen posing with her friend and co-host of her podcast, What Women Binge, Amanda Lee, who stunned in a red and green halter dress with a floral print and a matching red hat.

Little black dress: Melissa Joan Hart, 46, looked sensational in a body-hugging little black dress, while her friend and co-host of her podcast, What Women Binge, Amanda Lee, stunned in a red and green halter dress with a floral print

Pastel dream: Amanda Kloots, 40, wore an asymmetrical pastel-toned dress with a plunging neckline and short sleeves, which she paired with a chic pink fascinator and open-toe pink shoes

Amanda Kloots, 40, wore an asymmetrical pastel-toned dress with a plunging neckline and short sleeves, which she paired with a chic pink fascinator and open-toe pink shoes.

Actor Mario Lopez, 48, looked dapper in a baby blue striped suit, white shirt and a stylish blue bandana wrapped around his neck.

His wife, Courtney Laine Mazza, 39, was stylish as ever in a plunging white crop-top and cream suit, which she paired with gold accents.

Stylish duo: Actor Mario Lopez, 48, looked dapper in a baby blue striped suit and a stylish blue bandana wrapped around his neck, while his wife Courtney Laine Mazza, 39, was stylish as ever in a plunging white crop-top and cream suit

Fancy basket: American celebrity chef Bobby Flay, 57, looked smart in a blue plaid suit and brown shoes, while his girlfriend Christina Perez, 40, wore a flowing white button-up dress and accessorized with a Chanel basket

American celebrity chef Bobby Flay, 57, looked smart in a blue plaid suit and brown shoes, while his girlfriend Christina Perez, 40, wore a flowing white button-up dress and accessorized with a Chanel basket.

Former NSYNC member Joey Fatone, 45, brought even more color to the event, sporting a vivid sequin floral suit over a white shirt.

The Kentucky Derby horse race is held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, typically on the first Saturday in May, finishing off the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival.

The iconic Grade I stakes race for 3 year old Thoroughbred horses is one and 1/4 mile and usually lasts about two minutes.
Home And Away star Pia Whitesell and her husband Patrick have welcomed a new addition to their family.

The actress, 38, and her multi-millionaire Hollywood agent spouse, 57, adopted an adorable Border Collie Pomeranian mix, with Pia introducing the pip to her Instagram fans on Mother's Day.

The brunette beauty shared a sweet snap of her pooch to Instagram and wrote: 'We rescued this little guy today.'

New addition: Pia Whitesell, 38, has welcomed a new addition to her family with her multi-millionaire husband Patrick, 57 (both pictured)

'Princeton (Prince). Our tiny Border Collie Pomeranian Mix,' she added.

Pia married her husband Patrick in May last year.

She permanently relocated from Sydney to the US in September.

Adorable: The actress and her multi-millionaire Hollywood agent spouse adopted an adorable Border Collie Pomeranian mix called Princeton, sharing this photo of the pup to Instagram

Pia travelled abroad with her sons, Isaiah, 18, and Lennox, 13 and has been settling into life in Los Angeles.

Patrick, the CEO of Hollywood talent agency WME, is worth an estimated US$440million (AU$630million).

Patrick's clients include Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Michelle Williams, Idris Elba, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, John Krasinski, Jude Law, Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington.

New home: Pia married her husband Patrick May last year. She permanently relocated from Sydney to the US in September last year

Since relocating to America with her husband, Pia has been travelling the world with Patrick, staying in top-tier hotels and mansions.

Pia is best known for playing Katarina Chapman on Channel Seven's Home and Away.

In the past she has featured in advertising campaigns for Maybelline, Myer and GHD.
Amanda Bynes stepped out with her fiance Paul Michael in the Los Angeles area on Saturday.

The actress, 36, donned a white t-shirt and blue jeans as she was seen walking across a parking lot in Van Nuys with her husband-to-be.

Amanda completed her look with some white sneakers and black sunglasses, and she wore her long, raven hair down.

Rare sighting: Amanda Bynes stepped out with her fiance Paul Michael in the Los Angeles area on Saturday

Amanda toted her belonging in a white beaded purse and she held a Starbucks coffee in her hand.

She strolled closely beside Paul, who had on a black zip-up jacket, plaid shorts and multi-colored sneakers.

He wore thick-framed spectacles and was captured with a smile on his face as the two walked from place-to-place.

Casual: The actress, 36, donned a white t-shirt and blue jeans as she was seen walking across a parking lot in Van Nuys with her husband-to-be. Amanda completed her look with some white sneakers and black sunglasses, and she wore her long, raven hair down

Errands: On top of hitting Starbucks, the couple reportedly went to a nearby bank and grabbed food at a Mexican restaurant. Paul was photographed driving a grey Range Rover with Bynes seated in the front passengers seat

On top of hitting Starbucks, the couple reportedly went to a nearby bank and grabbed food at a Mexican restaurant.

Paul was photographed driving a grey Range Rover with Amanda seated in the front passengers seat.

The couple's low-key outing comes just one week after a huge argument between them led to the police being called to check on the situation.

Amanda had accused Paul of using drugs, watching disturbing pornography and vandalizing his mothers home after their spat. She claimed in an Instagram post on Thursday, April 28, that Paul had stopped taking his medications and that she had 'kicked him out' of her house over his 'alarming behavior.'

Altercation: The couple's low-key outing comes just one week after a huge argument between them led to the police being called to check on the situation. Amanda accused Paul of using drugs, watching disturbing pornography and vandalizing his mothers home after their spat

Calling police: Paul reportedly called police to their home at 2:30am during a verbal dispute with the star and accused her of taking his Adderall and calling her 'out of control,' according to TMZ

'I'm afraid of what he'll do,' Amanda said, alleging that she found his 'stash of crack cocaine' and that he had put 'salmon under' his mom's bed.

Paul reportedly called police to their home at 2:30am during a verbal dispute with the star and accused her of taking his Adderall and calling her 'out of control,' according to TMZ.

During the 2:30 am call to the police, Paul had told the police she kicked him out of the house but he stayed there until they arrived, per the outlet's source with the LAPD.

He spoke to the dispatcher and told them they were in a verbal dispute.

According to the outlet, he reportedly went to his Instagram and said he didn't know 'what the f**k she's talking about.'

Amanda's lawyer David Esquibias gave People a statement on April 28 after the accusations and cop visit.

Accusations: 'I'm afraid of what he'll do,' Amanda said, adding that she found his 'stash of crack cocaine' and that he put 'salmon under' his mom's bed

Candid: She deleted the stories of her accusations from her Instagram and posted a new one of her in the car, noting a correction

Public statement: Amanda's lawyer David Esquibias told People the following morning that 'Amanda is now back home and denies Paul's claims of taking his medication. She remains focused on her well-being'

David said: 'Amanda and Paul had an argument Wednesday evening. Amanda left her home, where Paul has been residing, for her safety before the situation escalated. She was not there when police arrived.'

'Amanda is now back home and denies Paul's claims of taking his medication. She remains focused on her well-being,' he said to the outlet.

Amanda later took to her own social media to clarify comments she made in a short Instagram post.

She posted a photo to social media which seemed to show the couple touching hands, each with an impressive ring shining on their fingers.

The caption read, 'To clarify: I said what I said about Paul relapsing because he did. I don't know when he got clean and because of the disturbing porn he was watching, I assumed he must be on drugs now.

'Also Paul did vandalize his mom's home 2 weeks ago. His brother Mark called the cops on him but Paul left before they got there. When I saw the mom and son porn on Paul's phone, I got upset and kicked him out. When he left I was worried he would vandalize my home because he still had the keys. That's why I called the police.

'At any rate, I shouldn't have said he's currently using, because he's been sober for 2 weeks. Also, he told me he searched milfs and the other content auto filled the search engine.'

Clarifying: Amanda later took to her own social media to clarify comments she made in a short Instagram post. Amanda posted a photo to social media which seemed to show the two stars touching hands, each with an impressive ring shining on their fingers to clarify earlier comments

Concerned: Despite seemingly making up, people close to Amanda are reportedly concerned about Michael's behavior

Despite seemingly making up, people close to Bynes were reportedly concerned about Michael's behavior.

According to a report by TMZ on Friday, April 29, sources said that they were worried about Paul's temper and feared that the pair's relationship could potentially end violently.

The insiders told the media outlet that Paul has a history of losing his temper and cited the incident in which he allegedly vandalized his mother's home.

The sources told TMZ that the Wednesday altercation between Amanda and Paul escalated because of his temper.

The insiders also claimed that the Sydney White star had called the police over fears for her safety before Paul made his own 911 call.

Sources told TMZ that Amanda's parents still stand by their agreement to end her conservatorship after almost nine years as she 'continues to do well on her own, but the concern is now over Paul.'
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Carrie Underwood oozed star power as she arrived to the 2022 iHeartCountry Festival in Austin, Texas on Saturday night.

The annual festival was held at the newly-opened Moody Center and will see the likes of Underwood, Thomas Rhett and Maren Morris take the stage.

Ahead of her performance spot, Underwood hit the red carpet in a pair of purple distressed cut-off shorts that drew all eyes to her very muscular legs.

Superstar: Carrie Underwood oozed star power as she arrived to the 2022 iHeartCountry Festival in Austin, Texas on Saturday night. Ahead of her performance spot, Underwood hit the red carpet in a pair of purple distressed cut-off shorts that drew all eyes to her very muscular legs

The American Idol winner, 39, styled her Daisy Dukes with a bedazzled denim vest and a pair of matching denim cowboy boots.

Layered beneath her vest - which had 'Denim & Rhinestones' spelled out on the back of it in Swarovski crystals - was a purple sleeveless mock neck bodysuit.

Underwood's golden blonde hair was parted down the middle and styled in loose curls.

She accessorized with a pair of dazzling chandelier earrings and a number of silver gemstone rings.

She sported the same denim-on-denim look for her show-stopping set, which featured Ed Eason on guitar.

Bedazzled: The American Idol winner, 39, styled her Daisy Dukes with a bedazzled denim vest

Star-studded: The annual festival - presented by Capital One - is being held at the newly-opened Moody Center and will see the likes of Underwood, Thomas Rhett and Maren Morris take the stage

Superior vocals: Underwood belted out the lyrics while Ed Eason shredded on the guitar beside her

Belting it out: The Jesus Take the Wheel crooner put on a memorable performance as she showed off her vocal range

All about the bling: Even her blue suede boots with adorned with swarovski crystals

Beaming: The multi-talented star, who can also play the piano, strummed at her guitar as she belted out the track

Maren Morris also hit up the festival's red carpet ahead of her performance spot in a tie-front silver sequin crop top and a pair of flared vinyl pants.

The country songstress, 32, wore her brunette hair in a romantic updo and she was decked out in hoop earrings and prismatic stiletto heels.

Morris made her way to the stage soon after to perform her biggest hits for the crowd of concertgoers.

She was captured with a guitar in hand as she took the opportunity to show off her impressive vocal range.

Disco diva: Maren Morris also hit up the festival's red carpet ahead of her performance spot in a tie-front silver sequin crop top and a pair of flared vinyl pants. The country songstress, 32, wore her brunette hair in a romantic updo and she was decked out in hoop earrings and prismatic stiletto heels

Belt it! Morris made her way to the stage soon after to perform her biggest hits for the crowd of concertgoers. She was captured with a guitar in hand as she took the opportunity to show off her impressive vocal range

Thomas Rhett entranced audiences with a guitar of his own during his nighttime set, which included an appearance by Josh Reedy.

Maren Morris' hunky husband Ryan Hurd was caught performing earlier in the day for festival attendees, along with the likes of Ingrid Andress, Jimmie Allen and Lainey Wilson.

Wilson later joined the stage with country crooner Dierks Bentley.

Giving the audience another high-energy performance was Allen, who returned to the stage for the evening portion of the festival on Saturday night.

Dynamic duo: Josh Reedy and Thomas Rhett perform onstage during the 2022 iHeartCountry Festival

Hunky husband: Maren Morris' husband Ryan Hurd took to the stage earlier in the day

Wow! Ingrid Andress put her incredible abs on display during her set

High-energy: Jimmie Allen put on a high-energy show

Scotty McCreery, Dustin Lynch and Cody Johnson were also part of the night's star-studded country music line-up.

The festival was hosted by Bobby Bones and presented by Capital One.

Fans unable to attend were able to catch all of the performances by either tuning or streaming the 2022 iHeartCountry Festival on iHeartMedia's Country music radio stations in local markets across the country, according to the official site.

It was also made available on iHeartRadio.com and the iHeartRadio app.

Guess who's back? Giving the audience another high-energy performance was Allen, who returned to the stage for the evening portion of the festival on Saturday night

Sing along! Lainey Wilson wielded a gorgeous acoustic guitar as she encouraged the crowd to sing along to her set list

Dynamic duo: Wilson later joined the stage with country crooner Dierks Bentley

All your favorites: Scotty McCreery (pictured), Dustin Lynch and Cody Johnson were also part of the night's star-studded country music line-up

Listen or stream: Fans unable to attend were able to catch all of the performances by either tuning or streaming the 2022 iHeartCountry Festival on iHeartMedia's Country music radio stations in local markets across the country, according to the official site; Dustin Lynch pictured




The administration of President Joe Biden has forecast a fall and winter wave of COVID-19 amid a waning of vaccine immunity, with a potential for 100 million infections and upticks in deaths and hospitalizations.







The projection, including both the fall and winter, was based on a range of outside models the administration has been closely tracking, a senior administration official told CNN Saturday.







It was also based on an underlying assumption of no additional resources or funding from Congress or extra mitigation measures to address COVID-19 and its new variants.







The senior administration official made the projection Friday during a background briefing as the country nears a COVID-19 death toll of 1 million. The move was part of a push for Congress to restart negotiations to approve more funding to boost the country's readiness, The Washington Post reported.







The Biden administration had requested $22.5 billion in immediate emergency funds to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in late March.







The White House had warned in a statement at the time that dwindling funds had led to setbacks in purchasing future vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, reimbursements for treatment of the uninsured, and access to antibody tests.







Last month, bipartisan congressional negotiators reached a deal to supply $10 billion of the $22.5 billion the administration had requested with Democratic lawmakers making a concession to eliminate funding for global pandemic aid.







But passage of the deal has been stalled for weeks amid disputes over the administration's decision to relax pandemic restrictions at the U.S. border.







If it remains stalled, the administration will likely use money set aside for more tests and therapeutics to purchase more vaccines, leaving the country more vulnerable, the senior official told The Washington Post. (UPI)


Ross Mathews and his beau Wellinthon Garcia finally tied the knot in Mexico on Saturday, People reported.

The television personality, 42, married his man at the resort in Puerto Vallarta where they met two years ago.

Mathews wore a gold suit over a white button-down shirt and black loafers.

Hitched: Ross Mathews and his beau Wellinthon Garcia finally tied the knot in Mexico on Saturday, People reported (Matthews pictured March 2022)

His better half wore a dark blue suit and matching bowtie on the big day. Both of their tuxedos came from Robbie and Co.

'It was a destination wedding, so we invited 130 people, thinking maybe 50 people would come,' Mathews said. 'But 110 people came  and I'm thrilled!'

The Washington native went on to say that the pair struggled to decide where to hold the wedding with him living in Los Angeles and Garcia making his home in New York City.

Meaningful location: The television personality, 42, married his man at the resort in Puerto Vallarta where they met two years prior

Great attendance: 'It was a destination wedding, so we invited 130 people, thinking maybe 50 people would come,' Mathews said. 'But 110 people came  and I'm thrilled'

Tough to pick a destination: The Washington native went on to say that the pair struggled to decide where to hold the wedding but received good advice from Drew Barrymore

'It caused me such anxiety,' Mathews revealed to the outlet. 'But Drew Barrymore told us, "Do it where you're supposed to do it, and the people who are supposed to be there will be there." So we chose the place where we first met.'

On top of being an advisor for the pair of wedding plans, Barrymore also served in a more concrete role as the couple's flower girl.

'I was on the The Drew Barrymore Show,' Mathews recalled. 'One day we were doing a story about weddings and she asked me, "Are you going to have a flower girl at my [sic] wedding?" And I'm like, "Why? You want the gig?"

'And she was like, "Oh! Are you asking me to be your flower girl?" I was like, "Do you want to be?" She goes, "Are you serious?" I'm like, "Are you serious?" And she's like, "I'm so serious." So she's our flower girl.'

The most famous flower girl in history? On top of being an advisor for the pair of wedding plans, Barrymore also served in a more concrete role as the couple's flower girl

Speaking from the heart: The pair exchanged vows they wrote themselves and rings designed by Jean Kemanjian at OIS & Co.

Guests reportedly received skincare products from Mario Badescu in their gift bags.

The event was definitely a family affair with Garcia's father walking both men down the aisle and a coterie of family members serving in other integral roles.

The pair exchanged vows they wrote themselves and rings designed by Jean Kemanjian at OIS & Co.

Mathews said the pair will 'spend a few days in Puerto Vallarta with all our guests' before moving to 'Las Alamandas resort' for a more traditional honeymoon.
The Block's Bec Douros has opened up about her fertility battle and IVF journey.

The reality star, who shot to fame on the renovation show in 2013, spoke about her struggles to fall pregnant on the It's All Her podcast with Jordy Lucas this week.

'I fell pregnant, had a miscarriage, had another miscarriage a little while after that and then got on The Block,' Bec said.

'I just couldn't fall pregnant': The Block's Bec Douros has revealed her fertility struggle and discussed her IVF journey. Pictured Bec and husband George

'And then we were like, 'OK, let's focus on this', sort of stop trying and then it was after The Block and we tried again and it just wasn't happening. I don't know, I just couldn't fall pregnant.'

'We were doing all these tests and it's something I've been really private about in the past, but I went through IVF.'

Bec explained she was 'feeling a lot of pressure' because she wanted to be a mum.

Family plans: Bec explained she was 'feeling a lot of pressure' because she wanted to be a mum

Further, her own mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer at the time.

'My IVF journey wasn't really hard... I was lucky enough to get a good bunch of eggs and Archie was one of those, and then I froze the rest,' she said.

'Then after I had Archie, decided to try again, we were trying again naturally and it just didn't happen.'

Journey: 'My IVF journey wasn't really hard... after I had Archie, decided to try again, we were trying again naturally and it just didn't happen. So I went back to my doctor and then I had Lenny,' she said

'So I went back to my doctor and he said, 'Look, you've got the eggs so, you know, let's just go through that process again so you're not putting that stress on yourself' and then I had Lenny,' she added.

In September 2020, Bec and her husband George also welcomed their third child, a daughter named Rosetta Dafni through IVF.

She revealed on Instagram her daughter's name was a tribute to both her and George's mothers.

'For those asking about her name. Rosetta is my mums name (we called mum Rosa for short) and means little rose and Dafni is George's mum name, also a flower and the name of the village she came from in Greece,' she wrote.
Brooke Burke got a jump on her Mother's Day celebration as she stepped out in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The model and fitness guru was seen grabbing a tasty Italian meal at the popular Giorgio Baldi restaurant, which is located in the Santa Monica neighborhood of LA.

Feeling the love in the hours before her special day, the mother of four used her Instagram page to pay tribute to mothers all over the world, including her own.

Brooke Burke, 50, got a jump on her Mother's Day celebration by heading out to the popular Giorgio Baldi Italian restaurant in the Santa Monica neighborhood of Los Angeles on Saturday

Burke, 50, was spotted moments after leaving the restaurant, carrying her leftovers in a brown bag.

Looking stylish, the Brooke Burke Body App creator opted for a green look in loose fitting tropical print pants and a muted green blazer over a brown top.

She also donned a pair of brown sandals, carried a green purse, and had her long dark brown tresses pulled back into a bun.

But the most noticeable part of her look was the infectious smile she flashed while waiting for her car at the restaurant's valet.

Stylish: Looking stylish, the Brooke Burke Body App creator opted for a green look in loose fitting tropical print pants and a muted green blazer over a brown top

To-go: The fitness guru and television personality carried her leftovers in a brown bag as she made her way towards the valet

Earlier on Saturday, Burke took to her Instagram page and posted a photo of herself looking excited and happy dressed in a revealing bikini.

'Happy Mothers Day Weekend Wishing you all love & sunshine,' she wrote in the caption of her post. She also shared a photo of herself as a young girl, alongside her sister and mother.

'My beautiful mama... and sister, she wrote above the photo, adding, 'I wish I could be with her this Mother's Day weekend.'

Love for mom: The former Wild On! host shared a photo of herself as a young girl, alongside her sister and mother, where she wished she could spend the weekend with her family

There's also a throwback snap of when Burke was pregnant with her third child, Heaven Rain, in 2006. The image shows her sitting down in jeans and a white t-shirt, while cradling her visible baby bump.

Along with 15-year-old Heaven Rain, Burke also co-parents her son Shaya, 14, with her second ex-husband David Charvet, whom she divorced in 2020 after about eight years of marriage.

The former Wild On! host also has two grown daughters: Neriah, 22, and Sierra, 20, with her first husband Garth Fisher. They were married about four years when they finalized their divorce in 2005.

Throwback: There's also a snap of Burke pregnant with her third child, Heaven Rain, in 2006

Feeling nostalgic, the Connecticut native posted the table of contents from her first book - The Naked Mom: A Modern Mom's Fearless Revelations, Savvy Advice, and Soulful Reflections - which she wrote in 2011.

'Looking through pictures this morning I came across my first book. It takes me back to such a unique time of self discovery,' she confessed.

In the book, Burke reflects on motherhood, Hollywood, romance, and the challenges of creating a blended family.

She would co-author her second book - Chicken Soup For The Soul: The Joy Of Less, a guide to simplifying your life, with Amy Newmark in 2016.

Feeling nostalgic, the Connecticut native posted the table of contents from her first book - The Naked Mom: A Modern Mom's Fearless Revelations, Savvy Advice, and Soulful Reflections - which she wrote in 2011
Nicole Kidman has shared a loving tribute to her mother, Janelle, 81, for Australian Mother's Day.

The Oscar winner, 54, took to Instagram on Sunday to share a throwback of herself and her mother in Hawaii where Nicole was born.

The photo showed a baby Nicole staring at the camera while she was being cradled by Janelle on the beach.

Sweet: Nicole Kidman shared a touching tribute to her beloved mother Janelle, 81, on Sunday for Mother's Day in Australia

'Reminiscing wonderful memories with my mumma back in Hawaii,' Nicole wrote, clearly feeling reflective.

'Happy Mother's Day mumma, and to all the mothers in the world Happy Mother's Day,' she added.

The Australian actress is known to be close to her mother, with the star recently spending time in her home country to be with her.

The Hours star recently revealed Janelle was unwell with the star taking time out to care for her, as discussed on the Fresh Air podcast in January.

'Reminiscing wonderful memories with my mumma back in Hawaii,' Nicole wrote, clearly feeling reflective. 'Happy Mother's Day mumma, and to all the mothers in the world Happy Mother's Day,' she added

Nicole said they'd managed to visit the Art Gallery of New South Wales after-hours, where they took in the Matisse exhibition, describing it as 'soothing balm'.

'We're down here primarily to take care of my mother and to have her surrounded by her grandchildren,' she said.

'So luckily yesterday, even though Omicron is raging through this country, we were able to take her into the gallery after hours and show her the Matisse exhibit, which coming from a mother who's raised me in the arts, it was soothing balm. Matisse was soothing balm last night.'

Unwell: In an interview with the Fresh Air podcast in January, the 54-year-old actress briefly spoke about her mother's health issues

Later in the interview, Nicole said she felt privileged to be able to see the world through her mother's eyes, describing it as 'so beneficial'.

'I'm at the place where I'm being given the chance to view the world, because of how close we are, my mum is giving me the chance to view the world through an 81-year-old woman's eyes,' she explained.

'That is so beneficial right now, because she's so cognisant. She has every brain faculty available, so she hasn't lost anything. She hasn't lost any memory, which is fascinating, and she's extremely bright.

'I'm at the place where I'm being given the chance to view the world, because of how close we are, my mum is giving me the chance to view the world through an 81-year-old woman's eyes,' she explained

'She's giving me access, because she's also very direct and very honest, and so I'm getting access to the world through her eyes, my mother's eyes, so therefore a part of me almost at 80.'

She added: 'It's her perspective, obviously. There's many different 80-year-old perspectives, but it's her perspective, and her particular path, but I'm drinking it in and learning.'

Nicole was last seen with her mother at the Being the Ricardos premiere in Sydney in mid-December, with the two women appearing together on the red carpet.

Loving: Although they didn't pose for photos together, Nicole made sure her mother was well taken care of, lovingly holding her hand as she chatted to her

Although they didn't pose for photos together, Nicole made sure her mother was well taken care of, lovingly holding her hand as she chatted to her.

In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald in May 2020, Nicole spoke about missing her mother while living abroad in the United States.

'I would love to be able to have a cup of tea with Mum and sit on the balcony and talk about life, and have her tell me what I should be doing,' she said at the time.
Benedict Cumberbatch proved he can make just about anything sexy while hosting Saturday Night Live for the second time, even using the bathroom.

In a hilarious Kohler toilet spoof, the Oscar nominee shook things up as he stormed into a classroom full of students being forced to repeat the mantra 'there's only one acceptable way' to use a toilet.

Unlike their teacher (Mikey Day), who says they must sit upright and never slouch, the Sherlock star rebellious strolls in preaching 'the next big thing' that is about to hit every restroom.

Hilarious sketch: Benedict Cumberbatch proved he can make just about anything sexy while hosting Saturday Night Live for the second time, even using the bathroom

As he unbuckles his belt and drops his drawers, some students gasp as he leans back and grabs a cocktail to use the loo.

He ultimately rips out some pages from a novel to wipe himself, before dismissing the class as the high schoolers applaud.

Cumberbatch also ceased the opportunity to show off his pipes while hosting the show to promote his film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Unexpected: In a hilarious Kohler toilet spoof, the Oscar nominee shook things up as he stormed into a classroom full of students being forced to repeat the mantra 'there's only one acceptable way' to use a toilet

Rebellious: Unlike their teacher (Mikey Day), who says they must sit upright and never slouch, the Sherlock star rebellious strolls in preaching 'the next big thing' that is about to hit every restroom

The 45-year-old actor, who is an open lover of music, left fans shocked with his impressive vocal range as he tackled being one half of a Eighties British duo with Bowen Yang and group of men sing their woes on a southern chain gang.

After landing a gig replacing the animatronic musicians at Chuck E. Cheese, the father-of-three and Yang, 31, give an unexpected performance at the children's pizza place.

To the kids' dismay, the pair take the stage dressed as a dog with floopy ears and a white snout and none other than the eatery's mascot.

Funny: Cumberbatch also proved he can really sing while hosting Saturday Night Live for the second time while promoting his new film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Musical side: The 45-year-old actor, who is an open lover of music, left fans shocked with his impressive pipes as he tackled being one half of a Eighties British duo with Bowen Yang and group of men sing their woes on a southern chain gang

No way: After landing a gig replacing the animatronic musicians at Chuck E. Cheese, the father-of-three and Yang, 31, give an unexpected performance at the children's pizza place

Only at Chuck E. Cheese: To the kids' dismay, the pair take the stage dressed as a dog with floopy ears and a white snout and none other than the eatery's mascot

Cumberbatch goes on to soulfully sing about pizza, before the lyrics get a bit more abstract that has one parent wonder if this is appropriate for children.

Social media users immediately flocked to Twitter to praise Cumberbatch for hitting a number of high notes, and suggesting their song 'deserves an award.'

'Benedict's falsetto deserves a Grammy,' one viewer marveled, while another predicted they would be coming 'back to this sketch often.'

Seeing double: Later in the evening, Cumberbatch received an unexpected visit from his Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness costar Elizabeth Olsen

Nearly undistinguished: In the brief sketch, Chloe Fineman hilariously pretended to be the 33-year-old as she knocked on Cumberbatch's dressing room

Who's who? Things quickly get messy as the real Elizabeth Olsen appears and is shocked by the SNL star impersonating her

To viewers delight, he continues to sing throughout the show, including an old prison song with some buddies.

In the sketch, he confesses to snitching on his pals to the warden's wife (Heidi Gardner) for special treatment.

Later in the evening, Cumberbatch received an unexpected visit from his Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness costar Elizabeth Olsen.

More singing: To viewers delight, he continues to sing throughout the show, including an old prison song with some buddies

An affair: In the sketch, he confesses to snitching on his pals to the warden's wife (Heidi Gardner) for special treatment

Palpable chemistry: Gardner makes an appearance with her hair curled as she flirts with Cumberbatch's character

Hard work: The other inmates are shocked to find out their buddy is a snitch

In the brief sketch, Chloe Fineman hilariously pretended to be the 33-year-old actress as she knocked on Cumberbatch's dressing room.

Things quickly get messy as the real Elizabeth Olsen appears and is shocked by the SNL star impersonating her.

Cumberbatch started the night off strong by taking a swipe at Will Smith in as he broke over the infamous slapping incident at the 94th Academy Awards.

Important role: Fineman goes on to explain as the show's understudy she has to be able to fill in for any cast member that gets sick

Clone: Fineman follows around many SNL stars and mirrors their routines

Like a pro: At one point, she receives acting pointers from Kate McKinnon

During his opening monologue, the actor didn't hold back as he joked about the King Richard star, 52, violently striking comedian Chris Rock on March 27.

The topic came up after he said the writers heavily pitched him sketches involving his fan-favorite Marvel character Dr. Strange, but none for his role in the critically acclaimed western The Power of the Dog.

'I said come on, man, I was nominated for an Oscar for that. I mean, I didn't win. I was beat by Will Smith. No, not physically. Not physically,' he quipped.

Not holding back: Cumberbatch started the night off strong by taking a swipe at Will Smith in as he broke over the infamous slapping incident at the 94th Academy Awards

Poking fun: During his opening monologue, the actor didn't hold back as he joked about the King Richard star, 52, violently striking comedian Chris Rock on March 27

'I was nominated for an Oscar for that. I mean, I didn't win. I was beat by Will Smith. No, not physically. Not physically,' he quipped

The Emmy Award winner went on to express his excitement over hosting the show ahead of Mother's Day, before joking that his mom was 'actually on holiday in Greece at the moment.'

'SNL offered to fly her here first class, and she said no, I'm on a beach in Greece, are you insane?' he mused. 'I love you, mum. When I was younger, we used these weird funny names we used to call each other, and I called her pookie, and she called me Benedict Cumberbatch.'

He went on to thank her for 'always' being there for him, and coming up with solutions for his insecurities as a kid.

Shameless husband: In one of the night's most hilarious sketches he and Aidy Bryant hilariously tackled every mother's nightmare on Mother's Day as she opened gifts from him and their children

Oh no: As she was given numerous signs with silly phrases, Bryant began to get uneasy as all the jokes around her drinking and lack of sex drive

'These are getting pretty specific and personal,'Bryant said apprehensively as her children continually giving her more and more offensive signs

'When I lost my front teeth I was worried about being teased, you said it's okay. Just try to smile without opening your mouth.'

He said, that 'great advice' may explain 'to this day and in every red carpet photograph' why he smiles like that.

'Seriously, though, mum, you've shown me love every step of the way, I love you, pookie,' he said, before praising his wife in the audience for her support.

'I'm constantly in awe of you. You gave birth to our boys and that is a miracle,' he gushed.

Pretty offensive: Some of their gifts included phrases that read: 'Dear wife, now that the kids are grown we don't have sex as much anymore, but we do sometimes. And that's fine'

Worst gift: Another suggested she drinks wine at all hours of the day and night, even at dawn

In one of the night's most hilarious sketches he and Aidy Bryant hilariously tackled every mother's nightmare on Mother's Day as she opened gifts from him and their children.

As she was given numerous signs with silly phrases, Bryant began to get uneasy as all the jokes around her drinking and lack of sex drive.

'These are getting pretty specific and personal,'Bryant said apprehensively as her children continually giving her more and more offensive signs.

Some of their gifts included phrases that read: 'Dear wife, now that the kids are grown we don't have sex as much anymore, but we do sometimes. And that's fine.'

Another suggested she drinks wine at all hours of the day and night, even at dawn.

Unexpected meet cute: In another sketch, Cumberbatch portrayed a member of a small focus group sampling ice cream from Blue Bunny, led by Mikey Day and a flirty Ego Nwodim

Love in the air: Despite initially saying he only signed up to 'try ice cream, not to hear jokes about it,' his character finds love with a woman (Heidi Gardner) sitting just two seats from him

Memories: The duo bond over their vivid descriptions of what their dessert taste like, ranging from 'playing out in all the dirty buckets like a hog' and spending all day by the pond trying to catch tadpoles

Sparks flying: After Cumberbatch recalls the night his brother disappeared, his soon-to-be partner gets emotional as she tells him she 'can't take' away his pain, but can 'give it a bed to rest in'

In another sketch, Cumberbatch portrayed a member of a small focus group sampling ice cream from Blue Bunny, led by Mikey Day and a flirty Ego Nwodim.

Despite initially saying he only signed up to 'try ice cream, not to hear jokes about it,' his character finds love with a woman (Heidi Gardner) sitting just two seats from him.

The duo bond over their vivid descriptions of what their dessert taste like, ranging from 'playing out in all the dirty buckets like a hog' and spending all day by the pond trying to catch tadpoles.

'You want to nap with my hurt?' she asks

Sweet: They proceed to passionately embrace and she leans her head against him

Soul mates: The pair bonded over their pain

Blue Bunny Ice Cream went on to make them their logo with the tag line: 'Let me nap with your hurt'

After Cumberbatch recalls the night his brother disappeared, his soon-to-be partner gets emotional as she tells him she 'can't take' away his pain, but can 'give it a bed to rest in.'

'You want to nap with my hurt?' she asks, before they proceed to passionately embrace and she leans her head against him.

Cumberbatch went on to portray a dad, whose daughter (Chloe Fineman) is receiving a hypocritical lecture from his wife (Cecily Strong) about how she should behave after coming home drunk.

Grounded: Cumberbatch went on to portray a dad, whose daughter (Chloe Fineman) is receiving a hypocritical lecture from his wife (Cecily Strong) about how she should behave after coming home drunk

Rebellious: Despite flashes of her wild teenage years exposing some of her most reckless moments, Strong advises her grounded high schooler to clean up her act

Uh oh: Despite only appearing in the scene for a few minutes, Cumberbatch nearly reveals to his daughter that her mother also use to get a little wild at parties

'Well, when I met your ma in college, she certainly knew how to have a good time,' he said before his wife stopped him in his tracks

Fudging the truth: He concluded: 'But she always kept it in control'

Unbelievable: Flashbacks, however, showed them taking pills and fighting over the time she mistakenly gave his roommate a blow job thinking it was him

Despite flashes of her wild teenage years exposing some of her most reckless moments, Strong advises her grounded high schooler to clean up her act.

Despite only appearing in the scene for a few minutes, Cumberbatch nearly reveals to his daughter that her mother also use to get a little wild at parties.

'Well, when I met your ma in college, she certainly knew how to have a good time,' he said before his wife stopped him in his tracks.

They're back! The musical guest, Arcade Fire, made their fifth appearance over the past 15 years on the series

Making music: The band pictured performing their song The Lightning I, II

A hit: The song is a new single off their latest studio album, We

He concluded: 'But she always kept it in control.'

Flashbacks, however, showed them taking pills and fighting over the time she mistakenly gave his roommate a blow job thinking it was him.

Another sketch, Cumberbatch's wife keep falling faint, and after he catches a glimpse of her blood, he becomes so out of it he spills his soup.

Drama: Another sketch, Cumberbatch's wife keep falling faint, and after he catches a glimpse of her blood, he becomes so out of it he spills his soup

Not okay: She keeps missing her 'Fainting Couch' leading the living room to be become one big mess

Losing his patience: Her butler seems pretty done with the shenanigans

Cumberbatch promoting Marvel's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, following his Oscar nomination for his role in The Power of the Dog.

This marks his second time hosting the show, six years after last hitting the stage back in November, 2016, not long after the release of Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange.

Meanwhile, the musical guest, Arcade Fire, made their fifth appearance over the past 15 years on the series.

Proud: Following the sketches, Cumberbatch reemerged to thank viewers for watching

He changed into a white '1973' shirt, khaki pants and a black face mask

During a promo for tonight's episode earlier this week, Cumberbatch mused about his SNL rehearsals.

'It goes so quickly. You kind of watch the tape the next day. Going, 'Was it any good?' You have no idea,' the actor joked.

He quipped: You're at the call place at 11:30 at night. Even for stage work, that's when you're coming off the stage with who you meet up with. Have a drink or something to eat before going home. That's just when you're going to work on Saturday Night Live. Nothing like it, that's why I wanted to do it again.
Schapelle Corby was pictured spending some quality time with her friends on the Gold Coast, Queensland, on Thursday.

The convicted drug smuggler, 44, appeared in good spirits as the group visited a waterfall after grabbing lunch at the Currumbin Beach Vikings Surf Life Saving Club.

For the outing, Schapelle cut a casual figure in a vibrant blue kaftan which showed off her slender pins to perfection.

Casual chic: Schapelle Corby spent some quality time with her friends on Thursday, as she enjoyed a pub lunch and a visit to a waterfall in the Gold Coast

She teamed her look with a pair of thongs and a beige hat.

Schapelle wore minimal makeup for the outing, and styled her hair poker straight.

She appeared happy as she spoke to her pals on the rocks close to the water, raising a smile as the trio enjoyed their natural surroundings.

Happy: The convicted drug smuggler, 44, appeared in good spirits as she enjoyed a scenic stroll after grabbing a bite at the Currumbin Beach Vikings Surf Life Saving Club

Taking a peek: Schapelle was seen peeping over the edge of the rocks as she conversed with her pals

Style: For the outing, Schapelle cut a casual figure in a vibrant blue kaftan which showed off her slender pins to perfection

The group were then spotted enjoying a meal in the restaurant, which serves up a range of reasonably priced dishes including salads, burgers and seafood.

The sighting comes after Schapelle revealed her surprising career change following stints on SAS Australia and Dancing With The Stars.

She told The Daily Telegraph in December that she's now a clock maker, selling handmade epoxy resin pieces for $199 each.

Chic: Schapelle wore minimal makeup for the outing, and styled her hair poker straight

Happy: Schapelle appeared content as she sauntered around the car park in her floaty ensemble

Yum: The pals were then seen enjoying a meal in the restaurant, which serves up a range of reasonably priced dishes including salads, burgers and seafood

Schapelle revealed that she's so passionate about her new project she even dreams up ideas for clock designs in her sleep.

'Epoxy resin has become more than just a hobby for me; it really occupies most of my thoughts,' she said.

'This creative art form has given me so much purpose to my days; I absolutely love this passion of mine.'

Career change: The sighting comes after Schapelle revealed her surprising career change following stints on SAS Australia and Dancing With The Stars

How good! She told The Daily Telegraph in December that she's now a clock maker, selling handmade epoxy resin pieces for $199 each

Accomplished: Schapelle revealed that she's so passionate about her new project she even dreams up ideas for clock designs in her sleep

'Epoxy resin has become more than just a hobby for me; it really occupies most of my thoughts,' she said

'This creative art form has given me so much purpose to my days; I absolutely love this passion of mine,' she added

Schapelle said she sells her pieces through Instagram and does 'all the work' herself, including drilling and sanding.

She added that each piece, typically with a beach design, is made with love.

Schapelle made her debut as a reality star in November 2020, appearing on Seven's SAS Australia.

Proud: Schapelle is pictured with one of her clocks, which she often shows off on Instagram

Hitting headlines: In October 2004, Schapelle became a household name when she was arrested at Bali airport with 4.2kg of cannabis wrapped in plastic inside her boogie board bag

However, she quit just two days into the military-style show, after Firass Dirani's antics forced the recruits to run a series of laps as a punishment.

In October 2004, Schapelle became a household name when she was arrested at Bali airport with 4.2kg of cannabis wrapped in plastic inside her boogie board bag.

The world watched in May 2005 as she broke down in the Denpasar courtroom after being sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in Kerobokan Prison.

Following a series of sentence reductions, Schapelle was released on parole in February 2014, having served nine years behind bars.
Ex The Larkins star Sabrina Bartlett complained about co-star Tok Stephen using a snap of her as his WhatsApp profile picture - a new report has claimed.

The actor, 23, who plays Cedric 'Charley' Charlton in the ITV remake of The Darling Buds Of May will appear in the second series despite on-set tensions that led to his co-star Sabrina, 30 quitting the show - with Joelle Ray, 21, replacing her.

The Sun claims that Tok used the image after Sabrina took a selfie on his phone, with the Mariette actress said to have complained to show bosses, saying it made her 'uncomfortable.'

Claims: Ex The Larkins star Sabrina Bartlett complained about co-star Tok Stephen using a snap of her as his WhatsApp profile picture - a new report has claimed

A show insider told the publication: 'He insisted he had only done it as a joke, but she made a complaint about his behaviour.

'From that point on, there was a real tension between the two of them.'

A representative for ITV declined to comment to MailOnline.

Mailonline has also contacted representatives for Tok and Sabrina for comment.

Last week The Mail On Sunday revealed that the reason Sabrina decided not to return to The Larkins is because she made a complaint about Tok's behaviour to ITV bosses.

Back: The actor, 23, who plays Cedric 'Charley' Charlton in the ITV remake of The Darling Buds Of May will appear in the second series despite on-set tensions that led to his co-star Sabrina, 30 quitting the show

The Mail on Sunday has been told the broadcaster launched an investigation into the allegation but yesterday ITV refused to confirm or deny that one took place.

Tok's return comes after Sabrina walked out of the programme.

One member of The Larkins team said: 'Tok is back but we are sad and surprised that Sabrina is not.

'We all assumed Tok wouldn't be back when Sabrina quit. The last we heard was that there would be a new duo playing Mariette and Charley.

'Sabrina loved the show. It is a great shame she has decided to leave.'

It understood that Tok has not yet been on set and it is unclear when he will be because the majority of his scenes would need to be filmed with Ms Bartlett's replacement.

Report: The Sun claims that Tok used the image after Sabrina took a selfie on his phone, with the Mariette actress said to have complained to show bosses, saying it made her 'uncomfortable' (Sabrina pictured on the show)

ITV sources confirmed they had yet to find the right actress to play Mariette but hope to be able to announce their new star soon.

Catherine Zeta-Jones took the role in the original TV adaptation, a part that shot her to Hollywood stardom.

Last month scenes starring Peter Davison, who plays the show's foul-mouthed vicar, were recorded in a sleepy Kent village.

In February, it was revealed that Sabrina would not be returning to The Larkins, with her publicist saying it was due to scheduling clashes. She is yet to announce her next work.

The actress, who starred in the first series of Netflix's Bridgerton, also left her agents, the London-based Independent Talent Group, which represents Mr Stephen too. It declined to comment yesterday.

Tok, who graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2017, has also appeared in the ITV drama Grantchester and the BBC series Holby City and Silent Witness.

New role? Joelle Rae, 21, is set to replace Sabrina in the show

His character Charley in The Larkins was played by Philip Franks in the original TV adaptation of H.E. Bates's novel. Bradley Walsh, 61, and Joanna Scanlan, 60, play Pop and Ma Larkin in the new series.

In an interview last year, Tok spoke fondly of his fellow cast members, saying: 'Bradley Walsh is hilarious and Sabrina Bartlett is lovely to work with, and I've always really admired Joanna Scanlan. I think it's any actor's dream to shoot in a location where you don't have to imagine your surroundings. We were able to live it.'

A spokesman for Sabrina did not respond to a request to comment at the time.

ITV said it 'takes its duty-of-care responsibilities to all individuals on all productions extremely seriously'.
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Ncuti Gatwa has attended this year's BAFTA TV Awards ceremony alongside returning Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies after it was confirmed that he will take over from Jodie Whittaker as the Time Lord in the hit BBC series.

It was revealed that the 29-year-old will become the 14th Doctor on the popular sci-fi show, after Whittaker announced last July she will be leaving the role this autumn.

Gatwa is the first black actor to take on the leading role as The Doctor, after Jodie made history as the first permanent female Time Lord in 2017.

Exciting: Ncuti Gatwa has attended this year's BAFTA TV Awards ceremony alongside returning Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies after it was confirmed that he will take over from Jodie Whittaker as the Time Lord in the hit BBC series

New guard: Gatwa is the first black actor to take on the leading role as The Doctor in the show's history, after Jodie made history as the first permanent female Time Lord

Jo Martin played the first black incarnation of the Time Lord in a January 2020 episode, Future of the Judoon, as Ruth Clayton, but Gatwa has become the first black Doctor to be cast as the series lead.

Scottish actor Gatwa, who was born in Rwanda, rose to fame as Eric Effiong in Netflix's hugely popular Sex Education about socially awkward high school student Otis (Asa Butterfield) and his sex therapist mother Jean (Gillian Anderson).

Just hours after the announcement, Gatwa and Davies, who is returning as Doctor Who's showrunner, grinned and posed for snaps at the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday.

Gatwa showed off his sensational sense of style in a black suit with a plunging neckline and dramatic floor-length tassels, while he completed the look with a pair of sandals.

History maker: The 29-year-old will become the 14th Doctor on the popular BBC show, after Whittaker announced last July she will be leaving the role after five years

Davies cut a smart figure in a black suit and a pink tie with gold leaf patterning as he joined Gatwa on the red carpet, where they both spoke about their excitement at the Sex Education star taking over from Whittaker.

Gatwa admitted that he has kept his casting in Doctor Who under wraps since February and praised the popular series for making people feel 'seen'.

In his first interview since the announcement, he said: 'I've known since February. It's been tricky keeping this under wraps because I've got a very big mouth. We did it.

'It feels amazing, this role is an institution and it's so iconic and means so much to so many people, including myself.

'It makes everyone feel seen. I'm very grateful to have the baton handed over and I'm going to try and do my best.'

Meanwhile, Davies said the casting team thought they had already chosen someone for the role of The Doctor when Gatwa came in and 'stole' the job.

Success story: Scottish actor Gatwa, who was born in Rwanda, starred as Eric Effiong in Netflix 's hugely popular Sex Education about socially awkward high school student Otis (Asa Butterfield - pictured together)

Keeping quiet: Speaking on the red carpet, Gatwa (pictured with Davies) admitted that he has kept his casting in Doctor Who a secret since February and praised the popular series for making people feel 'seen'

'It was talent. He was the very last one, we thought we had someone and then in he came in and stole it,' Davies said.

'Genuinely loved Sex Education and loved his work, didn't quite know what we were going to get. I am properly thrilled.'

At the 2022 BAFTA TV Awards, Gatwa was nominated for Male Performance in a Comedy Programme for his role as Eric in Sex Education and was up against Jamie Demetriou (Stath Lets Flats), Joe Gilgun (Brassic), Samson Kayo (Bloods), Steve Coogan (This Time With Alan Partridge) and Tim Renkow (Jerk). Jamie won in the category.

Queer As Folk and It's A Sin writer Davies is returning as Doctor Who's showrunner - replacing Chris Chibnall - after departing the show in 2009.

Davies, who was responsible for Doctor Who's revival in 2005, will be back to celebrate the show's 60th anniversary in 2023, the BBC previously said.

Debut: The official Doctor Who Twitter account broke the news on Sunday

Joy: Just hours after the news, Gatwa and Davies stepped out at the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards at the Royal Festival Hall together on Sunday

The announcement of the new Doctor was teased by Davies and Gatwa on Instagram on Sunday, with a post featuring two heart emojis, a plus symbol and a blue square.

Previously speaking about his new role, Gatwa said he was 'deeply honoured' and 'beyond excited', but admitted that he was also a 'little bit scared' to join the franchise.

He told the BBC: 'This role and show means so much to so many around the world, including myself, and each one of my incredibly talented predecessors has handled that unique responsibility and privilege with the utmost care.

'I will endeavour my upmost to do the same.'

He added: 'The entire team have been so welcoming and truly give their hearts to the show. And so as much as it's daunting, I'm aware I'm joining a really supportive family.

Awards: Gatwa has been nominated for Male Performance in a Comedy Programme at this year's Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards

'Unlike the Doctor, I may only have one heart but I am giving it all to this show.'

Davies said that Gatwa 'dazzled' in his audition, adding: 'The future is here and it's Ncuti! Sometimes talent walks through the door and it's so bright and bold and brilliant, I just stand back in awe and thank my lucky stars.'

He continued: 'Ncuti dazzled us, seized hold of the Doctor and owned those TARDIS keys in seconds. It's an honour to work with him, and a hoot, I can't wait to get started.

'I'm sure you're dying to know more, but we're rationing ourselves for now, with the wonderful Jodie's epic finale yet to come. But I promise you, 2023 will be spectacular.'

Gatwa's Sex Education co-star Emma Mackey, who plays Maeve Wiley in the Netflix drama, was quick to take to Instagram to congratulate her friend after the news broke.

The French-British actress, 26, shared the BBC's announcement to her Stories along with the caption: 'My Doctor.'

Bridgerton's Simone Ashley, who also starred alongside Gatwa as Olivia in Sex Education, also shared her joy at Gatwa being cast as the Doctor.

She wrote on her Instagram Stories: 'YES! So proud, go on @ncutigatwa.'

And Aimee Lou Wood, who plays Aimee Gibbs in Sex Education, took to Instagram to say she was 'crying' after learning of her friend's big news, before the pair took to the BAFTA TV Awards red carpet together.

Doctor Who fans also appeared over-the-moon at the exciting news, as many took to Twitter to congratulate the actor and praised him as a perfect fit for the new Time Lord.

Breakthrough: Gatwa became an overnight sensation in Sex Education but previously spoke running out of savings and finding himself homeless after moving to London to pursue acting

Sweet: Davies took to Instagram to share a selfie of himself and Gatwa as they joined the star-studded guest list at the BAFTA TV Awards ceremony

One wrote: 'Fantastic news, congratulations to Ncuti Gatwa, can't wait to see your doctor x'

Another penned: 'LOVE the idea of Ncuti Gatwa as Doctor Who!'

A third tweeted: 'Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor is such a compelling choice. Very much looking forward to seeing what he does with the role. This is exciting!'

And a fourth quipped: 'SCREAMING, CRYING, CHEERING!!! I haven't felt this excited since I found out in the middle of a busy EdFringe that Peter Capaldi was going to be the Doctor! What a casting.'

While a fifth added: 'Very much looking forward to Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor. Welcome.'

And a sixth commented: 'Ncuti Gatwa is a brilliant actor, he was amazing in Sex Education (a show I highly recommend) and I'm sure he'll be a brilliant Doctor, especially with Russell T Davies returning as showrunner.'

He's back! Queer As Folk and It's A Sin writer Davies (pictured on April 24) is returning as the programme's showrunner after departing the show in 2009

Support: Gatwa's Sex Education co-star Emma Mackey, who plays Maeve in the Netflix drama, and Bridgerton's Simone Ashley were quick to take to Instagram to congratulate their friend

Eager: Fans appeared thrilled by the exciting news, as many took to Twitter to congratulate the actor and praise him as a perfect fit to be the Time Lord

Elsewhere, Gatwa has joined the likes of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the upcoming Barbie movie, which sees Margot star as Barbie and Ryan play Ken. His role in the film has not been revealed.

Gatwa's Sex Education co-star Emma Mackey has also joined the cast of the live-action Barbie film, which will be directed by Greta Gerwig and will be released on July 21, 2023.

Just weeks ago, Ncuti shared photographs of his and Emma's names printed in pink on chairs as he teased his involvement by writing: 'Come on Barbie, let's go party'.

The film features an all-star cast including Will Ferrell, Issa Rae, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, America Ferrera, Michael Cera, and Alexandra Shipp.

Colleagues: Davies said Gatwa 'dazzled' in his audition, adding: 'Sometimes talent walks through the door and it's so bright and bold and brilliant, I just stand back in awe'

'The future is here': The announcement was teased by Davies and Gatwa on Instagram, with a post featuring two heart emojis, a plus symbol and a blue square

Acclaimed: Gatwa's role in Sex Education has earned him a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Television and three BAFTA Television Award nominations for Best Male Comedy Performance

Gerwig, 38, wrote the script for the film with her longtime partner Noah Baumbach.

A synopsis on IMDB of the upcoming film reads: 'A doll living in 'Barbieland' is expelled for not being perfect enough and sets off on an adventure in the real world. A Live-action feature film based on the popular line of Barbie toys.'

Robbie has been long slated to play the world's most iconic fashion doll in a live-action movie and back in December 2020, she vowed to give audiences 'something totally different.'

Opting for something 'a little left centre,' when it comes to her portrayal of the Mattel doll, the project will be produced by her LuckyChap Entertainment Company whose motto is, 'If it's not a f**k, yes, it's a no.'

Excited: Gatwa's Sex Education co-star Aimee Lou Wood took to Instagram to say she was 'crying' after learning of her friend's big news, before the pair took to the BAFTA TV Awards red carpet together

Embrace: The pals could be seen sharing a hug on the red carpet, with Aimee cutting an elegant figure in a white ruffled gown while Ncuti showed off his sensational sense of style in a black suit with tassels and a plunging neckline

Looking good: On the red carpet, Gatwa showed off his sensational sense of style in a black suit with a plunging neckline and dramatic floor-length tassels, while he completed the look with a pair of sandals

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the project, Robbie said: 'Something like Barbie where the IP, the name itself, people immediately have an idea of, 'Oh Margot is playing Barbie, I know what that is.'

'But our goal is to be like, 'Whatever you're thinking, we're going to give you something totally different  the thing you didn't know you wanted.''

After becoming an overnight sensation in Sex Education, Gatwa has also starred as Nick in The Last Letter from Your Lover alongside the likes of Felicity Jones and Shailene Woodley.

The movie, which is based on the book by Jojo Moyes, follows a love affair that lasts over 40 years.

Career: Elsewhere, Gatwa has joined the likes of Margot Robbie (pictured) and Ryan Gosling in the upcoming Barbie movie, which sees Margot star as Barbie and Ryan play Ken

Exciting: Just weeks ago, Ncuti shared photographs of his and Emma's names printed in pink on chairs as he teased his involvement by writing: 'Come on Barbie, let's go party'

Felicity portrays journalist Ellie, who discovers a number of romantic letters about a relationship between Jennifer Stirling (Shailene Woodley) and Anthony O'Hare (Callum Turner) from the 1960s.

Captivated by their relationship, an intrusive Ellie makes it her mission to find the couple to uncover how their lives panned out.

Gatwa also had a string of smaller roles early in his career, starring in TV miniseries Stonemouth as Dougie in 2015 and playnig Timidius in Horrible Histories: The Movie back in 2019.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Gatwa had gone from war refugee to one of the country's best paid young actors after raking in earnings of 772,000.

The star was homeless until he landed his role as Eric Effiong in Netflix's Sex Education, going on to become a fan favourite.

Roles: After becoming an overnight sensation in Sex Education, Gatwa also starred as Nick in The Last Letter from Your Lover alongside Felicity Jones and Shailene Woodley

His role in the school drama earned him a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Television and three BAFTA Television Award nominations for Best Male Comedy Performance.

In the past, he has spoken of having to borrow 10 from friends so he could afford the tube fare for auditions.

But he was able to forward himself 303,340 from the company and paid it all back.

When he was a toddler, his family left war-ravaged Rwanda fleeing the genocide and moved to Scotland where he overcame racist bullying at school in Dunfermline.

When he moved to London to pursue his dream of carving out a career in acting, he ran out of savings and found himself homeless - sleeping on friends' sofas for five months.

He said: 'I couldn't seem to handle it all financially. I was supposed to move into a new place and it fell through.

Acting: Earlier this year, it was revealed that Gatwa had gone from war refugee to one of the country's best paid young actors after raking in earnings of 772,000

'So for five months before Sex Education, I was couch-surfing among all my friends. I didn't have a home.

'I was homeless. The only thing stopping me from being on the streets was the fact I had friends.'

The show focuses, often in graphic detail, on the sex lives of a group of British teenagers in an unnamed town. Written by Laurie Nunn, it turned many of the cast into overnight stars.

Recent accounts for his company Gemini Moon Limited showed he had amassed assets of more than three quarters of a million pounds last year.

Before Gatwa was announced as the 14th Doctor, fans were sent into a frenzy speculating who would secure the job, with bookmakers marking Olly Alexander, Michaela Coel, Kris Marshall, Richard Ayoade and Jodie Comer among the favourites.

Show: The Sex Education star, 29, was homeless until he landed his role as Eric Effiong in the Netflix school drama

Jobs: Gatwa also starred in TV miniseries Stonemouth as Dougie in 2015 (pictured) and played Timidius in Horrible Histories: The Movie back in 2019

Rumours were also rife that Jodie could hand the baton back to David Tennant, 50, who played the 10th incarnation of the Doctor from 2005 to 2010.

Jodie herself also expressed her desire for It's A Sin star Lydia West to take over her role, telling Radio 1's Vick Hope and Jordan North: 'If we had the power to choose I'm going to pick an actress who I think is really exciting and I think would be phenomenal, an actress called Lydia West. If I had the power!'

And Hugh Grant was also said to have been 'in talks' to become the Doctor after previously turning down the role when Davies offered it to him.

In 1999, Grant played a version of the 12th Doctor for a Comic Relief special written by Steven Moffat.

Exit: Last July, Whittaker announced she was leaving the role, described her four-year stint manning the Tardis as being 'the best job I ever had'

In 2007, the actor said he regretted his decision, telling Digital Spy at the time: 'I was offered the role of the Doctor a few years back and was highly flattered.

'The danger with those things is that it's only when you see it on screen that you think, 'Damn, that was good, why did I say no?' But then, knowing me, I'd probably make a mess of it.'

Last July, Whittaker announced she was leaving the role, described her four-year stint manning the Tardis as being 'the best job I ever had'.

Her departure is currently playing out across a three-part special, the first of which hit screens on New Year's Day 2022, before the second aired on April 17.

Rumours: Before Gatwa was announced as the Doctor, fans were sent into a frenzy speculating who would secure the job, with bookmakers marking Olly Alexander among the favourites

Jodie's final, feature-length appearance as the Doctor  in which she will regenerate  will arrive in autumn 2022 as part of the BBC's centenary celebrations.

Of her time on the show, Jodie said: 'In 2017 I opened my glorious gift box of size 13 shoes. I could not have guessed the brilliant adventures, worlds and wonders I was to see in them.

'My heart is so full of love for this show, for the team who make it, for the fans who watch it and for what it has brought to my life.

'And I cannot thank Chris enough for entrusting me with his incredible stories.'

She added: 'We knew that we wanted to ride this wave side by side, and pass on the baton together. So here we are, weeks away from wrapping on the best job I have ever had.

Top pick: Jodie herself also expressed her desire for It's A Sin star Lydia West to take over her role, saying she would be her pick if she had the power to choose

'I don't think I'll ever be able to express what this role has given me. I will carry the Doctor and the lessons I've learnt forever.'

Jodie concluded: 'I know change can be scary and none of us know what's out there. That's why we keep looking. Travel Hopefully. The Universe will surprise you. Constantly.'

Jodie then shared that she would not be against returning to the role, and admitted that when you leave the role you don't leave it forever.

In 2020, Jodie was voted 2nd Most Popular Doctor of all time, coming within a whisker of her friend David Tennant, in a poll of more than 50,000 fans for Radio Times.

Former Doctors David Tennant, Christopher Eccleston, Peter Capaldi and Matt Smith could make a comeback for a special 60th anniversary celebration of the show.

Top picks: In 2020, Jodie was voted 2nd Most Popular Doctor of all time, coming within a whisker of her friend David Tennant, in a poll of more than 50,000 fans for Radio Times

A TV insider told The Sun: 'The BBC wanted something unique to mark six decades of Doctor Who and while getting all the former time lords together will be a challenge, it's one Russell might just achieve.'

Gatwa's casting as The Doctor marks the first permanent black doctor in the BBC show's history, although Jo Martin briefly played the Time Lord in a January 2020 episode, Future of the Judoon, as Ruth Clayton.

The episode saw Jodi meet a previously-unknown past version of the character, in the form of actress Jo.

This marked two major milestones for the series: the second time a female has played the time travelling extraterrestrial and the first time the character has been black.

Some fans weren't sure whether or not Martin's appearance meant what it implied - but show boss Chris Chibnall confirmed that this wasn't 'a trick'.

He told The Mirror: 'The important thing to say is  she is definitively The Doctor. There's not a sort of parallel universe going on, there's no tricks. Jo Martin is The Doctor.'

Chibnall noted that the Top Boy star was credited in the same way John Hurt was credited when he appeared as another previously-unseen incarnation, who cropped up during the 50th anniversary special The Day Of The Doctor in 2013.

'That's why we gave her the credit at the end which all new Doctors have the first time you see them. John Hurt got that credit,' Chibnall explained.

The character was introduced initially as a tour guide called Ruth Clayton, who pressed an In Case Of Emergency button as the Judoon invaded her hometown.

'Definitively the Doctor': Ncuti's new role will mark the show's second portrayal of a black doctor, following Jo Martin's starring role in January 2020 episode, Future of the Judoon, as Ruth Clayton

Iconic: The episode saw Jodi meet a previously-unknown past version of the character, in the form of actress Jo

It's unclear where she fits in the mythology of previous Doctors - with many noting she did not recognise Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, suggesting she came between Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor and Jon Pertwee's Third.

'There will be answers to some of these mysteries this series. But as ever with Doctor Who, answers often reveal new questions. It's all very deliberate,' Chibnall has assured.

He also revealed Martin wasn't aware she was auditioning to play The Doctor when she met the producers to read for them.

Last month, Doctor Who fans descended into a frenzy following Sunday's Easter Special, as the time traveller confessed her love for her female companion Yasmin.

In emotional scenes after defeating the villainous Sea Devils, the heroine admitted that 'if it was going to be anyone, it'd be her,' but noted that she could never act on her feelings because of her immortality.

At last! Last month Doctor Who fans descended into a frenzy following the Easter Special, as the time traveller confessed her love for her female companion Yasmin

Following hints that the pair would finally address their growing feelings, the touching scene sent Who fans into a frenzy, with one even admitting they were 'absolutely sobbing' after watching the scene.

During the episode, which saw The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and her companions Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) transported to 19th Century China, the trio were tasked with battling the iconic Sea Devil villains.

In a standout moment, The Doctor transported the TARDIS to the bottom of the ocean leaving both herself and Yaz in awe of the stunning underwater views.

As the Time Lord quipped: 'Not a bad date, am I?' Yaz could be seen gazing at her in the emotionally-charged moment.

Love is in the air! In emotional scenes after defeating the villainous Sea Devils, the heroine admitted that 'if it was going to be anyone, it'd be her'

While Yaz later came dangerously close to confessing her feelings, it was The Doctor who made the move first, telling her companion: 'Dates are not something I really do. I mean I used to. Have done. And if I was going to, believe me: it would be with you.

'I think you're one of the greatest people that I've ever known If it was going to be anyone, it'd be you. But I can't.'

Questioned by Yaz, she added: 'There's no point. Time always runs out,' alluding to her immortal state, famously noted by The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) in response to his growing feelings for companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper).

Love is in the air! In a standout moment, The Doctor transported the TARDIS to the bottom of the ocean, before she quipped: 'Not a bad date am I?'

So much romance! Yaz could be seen gazing at her in the emotionally charged moment

In the episode's final scene, the pair once again addressed their growing feelings, with The Doctor telling Yaz: 'I can't fix myself to anything, anywhere, or anyone. I've never been able to. That's what my life is.

'Not because I don't want to, because I might. But if I do fix myself to somebody, I know sooner or later it'll hurt Can we just live in the present of what we have, while we still have it?'

Making a wish on a skipping stone, she added: 'I wish this could go on forever.'

It can't happen: While Yaz later came dangerously close to confessing her feelings, it was The Doctor who made the move first

Tragic: While she noted that Yaz was 'one of the greatest people she had never known,' they could never act on their feelings due to her immortal state

The vindication that Yaz's feelings for The Doctor were reciprocated sent die-hard fans into a frenzy, with many flooding Twitter with their reaction.

One wrote: 'that thasmin beach scene is actually one of my favourite scenes in chibnalls whole era,' while another added: 'nah, last night's ep actually happened? thasmin is canon? thirteen reciprocates? what timeline do we live in?'

'IF IT WAS GOING TO BE ANYONE ITD BE YOU. EXCUSE ME WHILE I DIE,' one hysterical fan tweeted.

It's happening! The vindication that Yaz's feelings for The Doctor were reciprocated sent die-hard fans into a frenzy, with many flooding Twitter with their reaction

A fan tweeted: '13 said if she'd date anyone it'd be Yaz.... she just told Yaz she loves her too OH MY GOD.'

'Absolutely sobbing omg. Love them #Doctorwho #Thasmin,' a hysterical fan added.

Fans have been calling for Doctor Who to address the time traveller's growing feelings for Yaz, marking her first same-sex relationship with a companion.

Coming soon: Following the episode, Doctor Who teased the return of two former companions in the spellbinding trailer for its centenary special (pictured in-character)

Following the episode, Doctor Who teased the return of two former companions in the spellbinding trailer for its centenary special, airing later this year much to the excitement of fans.

The titular character, played Jodie Whittaker, is told that she is going to die in the gripping footage, having announced her departure from the iconic role last year.

She'll be joined by Aussie air stewardess Tegan Jovanka (Sophie Aldred) who starred alongside Sylvester McCoy in the late 80s, as well as Ace (Janet Fielding) having worked with Tom Baker and Peter Davison earlier in the same decade.

Return: The Doctor will be joined by an Aussie air stewardess Tegan Jovanka (Sophie Aldred) who starred alongside Sylvester McCoy in the late 80s

Here she is: Ace (Janet Fielding) worked with Tom Baker and Peter Davison earlier in the same decade, is also set to return for the special

Usual favourites including the Daleks and Cybermen feature in the 30-second extravaganza while the Doctor is seen regenerating in another clip, despite being told it would be the 'end of her existence'.

Showrunner Chris Chibnall said: 'Jodie's final feature-length story contains a plethora of treats and surprises for audiences and fans, not least the return of two of the most beloved companions in the show's history.

He continued: 'They'll be helping the Doctor fight on three fronts, against her deadliest enemies: the Master, Daleks and Cybermen, in one huge story.

'For the BBC's centenary, we'll be celebrating the past, present and future of Doctor Who, in a fittingly thrilling, epic and emotional send-off for the Thirteenth Doctor.'

At the start of the year, Jodie discussed her emotional last days of filming on Doctor Who - ahead of the regeneration episode set to air in autumn 2022.

They're back! Usual favourites including the Daleks and Cybermen feature in the 30-second extravaganza while the Doctor is seen regenerating in another clip

She told Entertainment Weekly of how she was 'grief ridden' when she filmed the scenes.

She filmed the final scenes for the autumn episode at the end of 2021 and said of the experience: 'I've shot my version of regen[eration], and it was singularly the most emotional day on set I think I've ever had.'

Jodie has said previously that she is leaving the coveted role this year because she feels it needs 'new energy' but the star also confessed that she isn't sure if she is making the correct decision.

She then admitted to the publication that it felt strange to feel sad because she had made the decision to leave.

'It's a really bizarre feeling, because it's the best time I've ever had on a job, and I made the decision to leave it, so it's a really strange thing to do to yourself.'

Sad: The actress told Entertainment Weekly of how she was 'grief ridden' when she filmed the scenes of her changing into the as yet unknown new character

She went on: 'It was a wonderfully-celebratory-slash-grief-ridden day that I could spend with the family that I'd made. I suppose the best thing about it is that the episodes are still on. So until they're off, I don't have to really get my head around the fact that it's not my part!'

The sci-fi drama hit the small screen in 1963, however the BBC is celebrating one hundred years since its launch as a radio station in October 1922.

Current Time Lord Jodie's role comes to an end this autumn with a regeneration episode after she became the first ever female Doctor in 2017.

Doctor Who will return later this year for BBC's Centenary Special.

Doctor Who? All the actors who have played the Time Lord The BBC's hit Sci-fi show Doctor Who was first launched by the BBC in 1963. It chronicles the journey of a Time Lord called 'The Doctor'. He is first introduced after fleeing his home planet, Gallifrey. The Doctor travels through time and space in his spaceship, called a TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space), which resembles a police box. During his travels, The Doctor meets people and invites them to voyage with him. They are known as his companions. He also encounters several evil beings, such as Daleks and Cyberman, and is forced to defeat them sing minimal resources, such as his Sonic Screwdriver, as they try to destroy or take over other planets, including Earth. As a Time Lord, The Doctor has the capacity to regenerate when he is wounded or dying. After regenerating, he takes on a new appearance and personality. The concept of regenerating was added into the series after the First Doctor, William Hartnell, became ill and stepped down from his role. The first run of Doctor Who ended in 1989 before being revived in 2005 with Christopher Ecclestone as the Ninth Doctor. Below is the full list of the actors who have been cast as the Doctor from 1963 to 2017 - when Jodie Whittaker took over the coveted role. Starting the legacy: The First Doctor William Hartnell (1963-1966) Second and Third: Patrick Troughton (19661969) and Jon Pertwee (19701974) Fourth and Fifth: Tom Baker (19741981) and Peter Davison (19811984) Sixth and Seventh: Colin Baker (19841986) and Sylvester McCoy (19871989, 1996) Eighth and Ninth: Paul McGann (1996) and Christopher Eccleston (2005) Tenth and Eleventh: David Tennant (2005-2010) and Matt Smith (2010-2013) Twelfth: Peter Capaldi (2013 - 2017) Advertisement

Fashion-loving Time Lord! How new Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa, 29, fled war-torn Rwanda for Scotland and overcame racist bullying and being homeless to land British TV's most iconic role

By Latoya Gayle for MailOnline

Ncuti Gatwa, who was announced as the 14th Doctor Who today, is about to become a household name after landing one of the most iconic roles on UK television. It's a far cry from how his life began, born in war-ravaged Rwanda and forced to seek a new life in Scotland.

The 29-year-old was just a toddler when his family fled the genocide and moved to Dunfermline but few would have predicted the path his life would follow. Racially abused at school, the openly gay star moved to London at 21 to pursue his dreams of an acting career - but ended up so poor he was homeless for five months.

The fashion-loving actor, who has a slew of celebrity pals and is a regular on the FROW at fashion shows, was sleeping on his friend's sofas in London and borrowing money for his Tube fare to auditions after running out of savings.

The BBC revealed today that Ncuti Gatwa, 29, is set to replace Jodie Comer to become the 14th Doctor Who; Scottish-raised actor Gatwa, who was born in Rwanda but left the country as a young boy (Pictured: Gatwa and Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies at the British Academy Television Awards 2022 at The Royal Festival Hall on Sunday)

Gatwa, who is best known for starring as Eric in Sex Education (pictured), followed his dreams of acting to London - but suffered poverty as his big break failed to come quickly, and was forced to sleep on friends' couches

FROW boy: The fashion-loving actor, who has a slew of celebrity pals and is a regular on the front row at fashion shows

On the London party circuit: Gatwa pictured with (from left to right) Karen Elson, Nadine Leopold and Gemma Chan at Annabels in November

However, after he was cast in the role of Eric Effiong in Netflix's hugely popular Sex Education, Ncuti's star has been in the ascendant - and he's now poised to take on the biggest acting job in British television.

Gatwa will take the helm from Jodie Whittaker as the Time Lord and become the first black actor to take on the lead role in the show's history, after Jodie made history as the first female Doctor.

Jo Martin played the first black incarnation of the Time Lord in a January 2020 episode, Future of the Judoon, as Ruth Clayton, but Ncuti Gatwa has become the first black Doctor cast as the series lead.

Heaping praise on the star, Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies said: 'Ncuti dazzled us, seized hold of the Doctor and owned those TARDIS keys in seconds.'

A graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, Gatwa completed his Bachelor of Arts in Acting in 2013.

He moved to London to pursue his dream of becoming an actor, rather than following in the footsteps of his father Mr Tharcisse Gatwa, who is a journalist with a PhD in Theology.

After moving to the capital, Gatwa struggled financially and even had to borrow 10 from friends so he could afford the tube fare for auditions.

Despite previously landing a role in BBC's Stonemouth (pictured), Ncuti admits he was homeless before starring in Netflix's Sex Education

'I couldn't seem to handle it all financially. I was supposed to move into a new place and it fell through,' Ncuti said.

'So for five months before Sex Education, I was couch-surfing among all my friends. I didn't have a home.

'I was homeless. The only thing stopping me from being on the streets was the fact I had friends.'

Accounts for Ncuti Gatwa's company Gemini Moon Limited show he amassed assets of more than three quarters of a million pounds last year.

Ncuti's breakout role was as Eric Effiong in Netflix's hugely popular Sex Education about socially awkward high school student Otis (Asa Butterfield) and his sex therapist mother Jean (Gillian Anderson).

Written by Laurie Nunn, it turned many of the cast into overnight stars, which proved a huge contrast to the poverty experienced by Gatwa prior to landing the role.

His character - as the gay sidekick of the shows star Otis, played by Asa Butterfield - has become one of Sex Educations most loved actors.

Ncuti has previously appeared on screens in the Horrible Histories movie and as Nick in romantic drama The Last Letter from Your Lover (pictured)

Ncuti previously revealed that he hoped the role would help people to embrace their sexuality and give men hope that the won't be held back due to the their ethnicity.

Since his first role in an episode of the British sitcom Bob Servant, Ncuti has starred in a 2015 adaptation of Scottish author Iain Banks' novel Stonemouth and a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In 2019, he took to screens in the Horrible Histories movie then went onto land a role as Nick in romantic drama The Last Letter from Your Lover in 2021.

Since winning a Scottish Bafta and a Rose d'Or Award for Sex Education, the actor has become hugely popular and now boasts an Instagram following of almost 3 million.

Ncuti has won a Scottish Bafta (pictured) and a Rose d'Or Award for his popular role in Netflix's Sex Education

Alongside his 2023 debut as the 14th Time Lord in BBC's Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa will appear on screen in the upcoming live action Barbie film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

Gatwa said he was 'deeply honoured' and 'beyond excited', but admitted that he was also a 'little bit scared' to join the Doctor Who franchise.

He told the BBC: 'This role and show means so much to so many around the world, including myself, and each one of my incredibly talented predecessors has handled that unique responsibility and privilege with the utmost care.

'I will endeavour my upmost to do the same.'

Meanwhile, Davies said that Gatwa 'dazzled' in his audition, adding: 'Sometimes talent walks through the door and it's so bright and bold and brilliant, I just stand back in awe and thank my lucky stars.'
Rowena Wallace was forced to sell off her Logie Awards to survive.

And on Sunday night, the legendary actress, 74, got one of them back, during touching scenes on Channel Seven's The Fame Game.

Home and Away star Ada Nicodemou announced that she was handing a Silver Logie 'to Australia's biggest TV legend' who was the award's rightful owner.

Moved: Rowena Wallace (pictured) was forced to sell off her Logie Awards to survive. And on Sunday night, the legendary actress got one of them back, during touching scenes on Channel Seven's The Fame Game

'Oh my god, is it really? Oh my god, it is too!' Rowena cried when she was handed the Logie and told it was hers.

Swatting away tears, she joked that it had been some years since she had last seen it.

'Oh thank you, I don't know what to say,' the emotional actress said, before revealing it was her 1983 Silver Logie for Most Popular Lead Actress.

Sweet: Home and Away star Ada Nicodemou (pictured) announced that she was handing a Silver Logie 'to Australia's biggest TV legend' who was the award's rightful owner

Rowena has won several Logies throughout her career.

In 1984, she took home the Gold Logie, and the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actress and Best Actress in a Series. In 1985, she won Best Lead Actress in a Series.

The Sons and Daughters star, who suffers from clinical depression, revealed in 2017 that she was struggling to survive on 'roughly $400 a week'.

She reluctantly allowed friends to setup a crowd funding page on GoFundMe to help fund an intended move to Brisbane.

Hard: The Sons and Daughters star, who suffers from clinical depression, revealed in 2017 that she was struggling to survive on 'roughly $400 a week'. She sold her Gold Logie several years ago to cover living expenses

'I don't know what else to do,' she confessed to The Daily Telegraph at the time.

The Home and Away alum remained conflicted about asking for money, and admitted she thinks the public's backlash is an unavoidable inevitability.

She sold her Gold Logie several years ago to cover living expenses at the secluded Victorian home she shares with beloved pooches Phoebe and Reubus.

To make matters worse, she revealed: 'I'm not in great shape. I have chronic pain, which is debilitating.'

Star: The beloved star rose to fame on soap opera Sons and Daughters, beginning her role as Patricia Dunne, nicknamed Pat the Rat, in 1981. Pictured on the soap

She revealed that's she's been riddled with anxiety for years, with every coming bill pushing her further into panic.

Like many of the actors who started out in the '60s, she revealed she lacks a Superannuation fund, because it wasn't required back then.

The beloved star rose to fame on soap opera Sons and Daughters, beginning her role as Patricia Dunne, nicknamed Pat the Rat, in 1981.
Lewis Hamilton walked in the Paddock prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Miami at the Miami International Autodrome on Sunday - after backing down over his promise to boycott it over wearing piercings while racing.

The racing driver, 37, showed off his eclectic sense of style in an unmissable pink T-shirt which he teamed up with an equally-oversized pair of trousers.

Putting his best fashion foot forward in a pair of coordinating trainers, he framed his face with giant purple sunglasses and accessorised with a dazzling gold watch.

Wow! Lewis Hamilton donned an unmissable pink T-shirt and oversized trousers on Sunday... after backing down on promise to boycott the Miami Grand Prix over piercings

Shooting a thumbs up towards onlookers, the sportsman appeared to be in high spirits and even signed autographs for his adoring fans.

The F1 champ previously admitted he'd have to pull out of the race if FIA insisted he remove his piercings but in a swift U-turn, agreed to a medical examination at the track on Friday and whipped out all but two piercings.

Lewis insisted these studs cannot be removed easily and has been granted a two-race exemption to keep them in place while he looks into possible solutions.

According to reports FIA President Mohammed bin Sulayem is 'fixated' on cracking down on Lewis' flouting of the rules as he continues to wear jewellery to race.

Standing out: He framed his face with giant purple sunglasses and accessorised with a dazzling gold watch

Signature: Shooting a thumbs up towards onlookers, the sportsman appeared to be in high spirits and even signed autographs for his adoring fans

Woah! Lewis showed off his eclectic sense of style with the eye-popping display

During a press conference ahead of the race on Friday, Lewis made a statement in three watches, eight rings, four necklaces, one bracelet and two earrings.

When asked what was happening regarding his piercings, he said: 'I really don't know. As I said, I can't remove at least two of them. One I can't really explain where it is. But what I can say is it's platinum that I have, so it's not magnetic. It's never been a safety issue in the past.'

Adding that there's a possibility he may not race, Lewis said: 'So yeah, if they stop me then so be it. We've got a spare driver. So we're well prepped for the weekend.

'There's lots to do in the city anyway so it will be good either way. I couldn't get any more [jewellery] on today!'

Having a blast! He went on to take pictures with fans who greeted him as he made his way to the race

Dazzling: He put the finishing touch on his outfit with a chunky silver chain necklace

He said that he believes that the initiative is a 'step backwards' for sport and told how he has been wearing jewellery while racing for 16 years.

However, his U-turn agreement to the medical test and two-race exemption to keep them in means he can continue to drive for the time being.

It comes after race director Niels Wittich sent a letter to teams yesterday revealing his intention to clamp down on jewellery, because it may become 'lodged or snagged' while driving.

Last month, Lewis suggested he was unfazed by the FIA's warning regarding jewellery, joking that he has some piercings which cannot be removed amid the latest crackdown.

Formula One drivers were served a reminder that they are banned from wearing jewellery while racing ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

Controversy: The F1 champ previously admitted he'd have to pull out of the race if FIA insisted he remove his piercings (pictured in April 2022)

The ruling was included in the Melbourne event notes that were issued by new F1 race director Niels Wittich, who will share the position with Eduardo Freitas following the sacking of Michael Masi.

It has been part of the sporting regulations since 2005, though drivers who have worn jewellery behind the wheel have not been penalised.

Lewis took the reminder in his stride, though, and was in a relaxed mood as the drivers took to the Albert Park track for the first time in three years.

'I've got several piercings that I really can't take out, that not a lot of people know of,' the Briton joked, via Daily Telegraph.

'But that's been the rule forever so nothing new.'

Backtracking: But in a swift U-turn, he agreed to a medical examination at the track on Friday and whipped out all but two piercings (pictured in March 2022)

Lewis then turned his attention to reigning champion Max Verstappen and said: 'I know you have a nipple piercing, man!'

The Red Bull ace quipped: 'You want to see it again?'.

The new race directors though are set to take a sterner stance and fine those who are caught wearing any form of body piercing or metal neck chains.

It's said the reminder is not aimed at any one person and that multiple drivers up and down the grid have been spotted wearing jewellery - also including rings and bracelets.

Lewis was seen wearing a nose stud at both last year's season-ending Abu Dhabi GP and this year's opener in Bahrain, where it was clearly visible through his open visor.

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) confirmed a nose stud would fall foul of the ban, raising the prospect of Hamilton being forced to remove it.

The rule prohibiting the wearing of jewellery is Article 5 of the third chapter of Appendix L of the governing body's International Sporting Code (ISC).

The full wording of the rule states: 'The wearing of jewellery in the form of body piercing or metal neck chains is prohibited during the competition and may therefore be checked before the start.'
Emergency crew help a man stuck in debris, after a school building was hit as a result of shelling, in the village of Bilohorivka, Luhansk, Ukraine, Sunday. Reuters-Yonhap

As many as 60 people were feared to have been killed in the Russian bombing of a village school in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, the regional governor said on Sunday.



Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces dropped a bomb on Saturday afternoon on the school in Bilohorivka where about 90 people were sheltering, causing a fire that engulfed the building.



"The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the rubble was cleared, and, unfortunately, the bodies of two people were found," Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app.



"Thirty people were evacuated from the rubble, seven of whom were injured. Sixty people were likely to have died under the rubble of buildings."



Reuters could not immediately verify the report.



Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians in the war, which Moscow denies.



In the ruined southeastern port city of Mariupol, scores of civilians have been evacuated from a sprawling steel plant in a week-long operation brokered by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address late on Saturday that more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the Azovstal steelworks and authorities would now focus on trying to evacuate the wounded and medics. Other Ukrainian sources have cited different figures.



The Azovstal plant is a last hold-out for Ukrainian forces in a city now largely controlled by Russia, and many civilians had also taken refuges in its underground shelters. It has become a symbol of resistance to the Russian effort to capture swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.



Russian-backed separatists said on Sunday a total of 182 civilians evacuated from the plant had arrived at a temporary accommodation point in Bezimenne, in the area they control. Those who wished to go to areas controlled by Ukraine were handed over to U.N. and ICRC representatives, they said.



In the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia, about 230 km (140 miles) northwest of Mariupol, dozens of people who had fled the port city and nearby occupied areas on their own or with the help of volunteers waited to be registered in a car park set up to welcome evacuees.



"There's lots of people still in Mariupol, who want to leave but can't," said history teacher Viktoria Andreyeva, 46, who said she had only just reached Zaporizhzhia after leaving her bombed home in Mariupol with her family in mid-April.



"The air feels different here, free," she said in a tent where volunteers offered food, basic supplies and toys to the new arrivals, many of whom were traveling with small children. (Reuters)






Khloe Kardashian celebrated Mother's Day weekend in style.

The reality star and mother of one, 37, marked the special occasion at a party thrown by Good American and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Embracing her edgy side, Khloe wowed in a glossy black jacket, matching track pants, and a hot pink manicure.

Looking good! Khloe Kardashian celebrated Mother's Day weekend in style at a party thrown by Good American and Saks Fifth Avenue

She posed beside a lavish display of white flowers with her glossy brunette hair slicked into a dramatic side part and large gold hoop earrings jazzing up the look.

The beauty elevated her height with a fashionable pair of strappy black heels.

She celebrated the special occasion with a number of women, including her Good American partner, Emma Grede.

The jean brand posted photos of the celebrations to their Instagram account and explained 10% of proceeds would be donated to the non-profit Baby2Baby until May 17.

Leading ladies! She celebrated the special occasion with a number of women, including her Good American partner, Emma Grede

'We celebrated Mother's Day weekend with our partner @saks and some of our closest Good Mama friends and family.

'We are proud to support @baby2baby ahead of Mothers Day. From now until May 17, 10% of Good American sales from Saks.com will be donated to Baby2Baby.'

Khloe shares four-year-old daughter True with her ex-boyfriend Tristan Thompson.

The jean-iuses! Grede and Khloe launched the jean brand together in 2016

Khloe and Tristan have had a turbulent relationship over the years.

The troubles first began in 2018 when Tristan, 31, was caught cheating on Khloe just days before she welcomed their first child together, and most recently a paternity test revealed that he had fathered a child with fitness model Maralee Nichols.

The latest episode of The Kardashians showed the couple getting back together again, several months before they split after he admitted to fathering a child with Maralee.

'Well we know how this aged,' Khloe jokingly tweeted of their reconciliation as she live tweeted about the episode.
Jade Goody 's son Bobby Brazier appears to be loved up with the daughter of famous DJ Don Letts.

The model, 18, went public with his romance with Liberty Love during a night out in Soho this week, with the couple looking cosy as they shared a kiss in the street.

Bobby and his new love interest packed on the PDA as they walked through London in pictures obtained by The Sun.

Great news: Jade Goody's son Bobby Brazier is loved-up with the daughter of famous DJ, Don Letts

The son of Jade and Jeff Brazier looked happier than ever as he embraced the stunning content creator.

The twosome couldn't wipe the smiles of their faces as they appeared to have co-ordinated their outfits for their evening date.

Model Bobby looked cool in a leather jacket, while Liberty rocked her edgy ensemble in a pair of leather leggings.

Toasting the happy couple: Bobby went public with his romance with Liberty Love during a night out in last week

The influencer already boasts more than 18,000 followers on Instagram and has her own YouTube page where she shares make-up tutorials and vlogs from her various holidays abroad.

She is the daughter of DJ Don Letts, a British film director, DJ and musician.

The Grammy winner was the videographer for The Clash and directed several of their music videos.

Pretty: The influencer already boasts more than 18,000 followers on Instagram and has her own YouTube page

Bobby's outing comes after he recently admitted that he wasn't with his late mother 'long enough to miss her' before her death.

He said he 'misses what could've been' with his late Big Brother star mother Jade.

Jade died when her sons Bobby and Freddie were just five and four.

Candid: Bobby's outing comes after he recently admitted that he wasn't with his late mother 'long enough to miss her' before her death

Famous dad: Liberty is the daughter of DJ Don Letts, a British film director, DJ and musician. The Grammy winner was the videographer for The Clash

Speaking to The Face, Bobby said he is frequently told by people who knew his mother what a 'presence' she had.

He said: 'I don't feel like I've missed out on a mum. It's normal life to me. I've kind of spent more life without her than I did with her.'

When asked if he misses her, Bobby replied: 'I don't. Because I don't feel like I was with her long enough to miss her.

Interview: Bobby recently said he 'misses what could've been' with his late mother, but says he wasn't 'with her long enough to miss her' (pictured in 2021)

'I miss what could've been. I hear all the time she was such a presence, that she was one of a kind. What hurts most is that it wasn't just losing anyone, it was losing Jade.'

Bobby, whose father is TV presenter Jeff, added that he would loved to have seen what other people saw in his mother when she found fame.

Bobby lives with his father, his stepmother Kate Dwyer and brother Freddie and is currently carving out a career as a model.

Family: The Big Brother star died from cervical cancer aged 27 in 2009 when her sons Bobby and Freddie were just five and four (pictured in 2006)

Jeff previously praised his sons for their resilience in dealing with Jade's death at such a young age.

Speaking to The Sun in 2020, he said: 'My gosh, they are just so resilient. Of course they were so young when she died and it pains me to think they never knew Jade in the same way we all did.

'When Bobby landed his first fashion magazine cover [for Man About Town] he said he hoped his mum was looking down on him and smiling. And Im sure she was.

Candid: Bobby told how he misses 'what could've been' and is frequently told by people who knew his mother what a 'presence' she had (pictured in March 2022)

'When I look at Bobby and Freddie I see their mothers colourful personality shining through. I mean, Jade was one of the biggest characters out there and the boys have both inherited that from her.'

Jeff paid tribute to Freddie at the end of September, on his 16th birthday.

Sharing a series of snaps of him surrounded by balloons, Jeff wrote a sweet caption to go alongside it: 'Its not for parents to define a childs purpose but if this kid doesnt help thousands of people somehow Ill be very surprised.

'Id give anything to have @freddybraz1ers sense of adventure, energy and enthusiasm to have fun and depth and sensitivity around caring for others.

'Excited for him to get the academic phase done this year so he can unleash his creative gifts on the world.'
HGTV star Christina Hall gushed about her third husband Josh Hall's support a week after her ex-husband #2 Ant Anstead filed for full custody of their two-year-old son Hudson London.

'May has never been a great month for me. Not sure what that means astrologically or spiritually but I've had some of my worst times in May. The difference is this May I have a man who treats me with unconditional love and respect,' the 38-year-old reality star wrote Sunday to her 1.8M Instagram followers.

'Standing by me and helping me through these times as I feel like I'm being sucker punched left and right. It's when you have your lowest moments that test your relationship when you really see what kind of people you are together. If you have a person who loves and respects you hug them extra tight tonight because trust me not everyone has this.'

'May has never been a great month for me': HGTV star Christina Hall (R, pictured in 2020) gushed about her third husband Josh Hall's support a week after her ex-husband #2 Ant Anstead (L) filed for full custody of their two-year-old son Hudson London

Christina and the 43-year-old Englishman have shared joint legal and physical custody of their cherubic child ever since they ended their 21-month marriage on June 21, but now a major legal war is afoot.

On Saturday, Hall (born Haack) spent quality time with Josh, friend Kristin Rosowski, and her children - including what appeared to be Hudson - in a swimming pool spiked with Ultra Deluxe dish soap.

The Anaheim-born blonde's two older children - daughter Taylor, 11; and son Brayden, 6 - are from her seven-year marriage to former Flip or Flop co-host Tarek El Moussa, which ended in 2018.

The day after Christina's custody battle became public, her 41-year-old hubbie vowed to 'always protect her and keep her safe.'

The 38-year-old reality star wrote Sunday: 'I've had some of my worst times in May. The difference is this May I have a man who treats me with unconditional love and respect. Standing by me and helping me through these times as I feel like I'm being sucker punched left and right'

All to himself? Christina and the 43-year-old Englishman (pictured April 15) have shared joint legal and physical custody of their cherubic child ever since they ended their 21-month marriage on June 21, but now a major legal war is afoot

Foam party! On Saturday, Hall (born Haack) spent quality time with Josh, friend Kristin Rosowski, and her children - including what appeared to be Hudson - in a swimming pool spiked with Ultra Deluxe dish soap

'Lucky kids': The Anaheim-born blonde's two older children - daughter Taylor, 11; and son Brayden, 6 - are from her seven-year marriage to former Flip or Flop co-host Tarek El Moussa, which ended in 2018

'No one will hurt her with me in the picture,' Josh wrote on Instagram.

'Never did I think taking on three kids from two other males would be easy. What I was sure of, the woman connected to them was worth it all. I am not these kids biological father, they have those.

'What I will be is the best example of a quality human being, always show them how to treat their mother with respect and support them in any way I can during their development.'

Hall wed the Spyglass realtor 'in California sometime between October-April' after just a few months of dating in Tennessee - according to TMZ.

'No one will hurt her with me in the picture': The day after Christina's custody battle became public, her 41-year-old hubbie vowed to 'always protect her and keep her safe'

First pic as a couple: Hall wed the Spyglass realtor 'in California sometime between October-April' after just a few months of dating in Tennessee (pictured March 2021)

Has a thing for cops: And just as Ant used to be police constable, the Stronger by Design star's new husband Josh worked as police officer for 16 years in Southern California before retiring due to sustaining injuries in the line of duty (pictured March 23)

And just as Ant used to be police constable, the Stronger by Design star's new husband Josh worked as police officer for 16 years in Southern California before retiring due to sustaining injuries in the line of duty.

The Halls teamed up in Tennessee to collaborate on her six-episode spin-off Christina in the Country which, just like season four of Christina on the Coast, is 'slated to air in late 2022.'

'Now I have the best of both worlds - the coast and the country!' the interior designer wrote on April 7.

'Our team has some incredible projects in the works out in Tennessee! It feels good to do what I love with who I love. Josh and I have the most creative/supportive production partners and can't wait to create some fun content...Life's good.'
John Lee waves after becoming the city's new chief executive in Hong Kong, Sunday. AFP-Yonhap



Hong Kong's leader-in-waiting, John Lee, was endorsed for the city's top job on Sunday by a committee stacked with pro-Beijing loyalists, as the financial hub attempts to relaunch itself after several years of political upheaval.



Lee, the sole candidate, received the votes of 1,416 members of a pro-Beijing election committee on Sunday morning, granting him the majority required to anoint him as Hong Kong's next leader. Eight voted to "not support" him.



Speaking afterwards, Lee said it was his "historic mission" to lead a new chapter for Hong Kong, while pledging to unite the city and preserve Hong Kong's international status as an open, and more competitive financial hub bridging China and the world.



Few of the city's 7.4 million people have any say in choosing their leader, despite China's promises to one day grant full democracy to the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.



Security was tight around the venue, with police preventing a small group of protesters from approaching.



"We believe we represent many Hong Kong people in expressing opposition to this China-style, single-candidate election," said Chan Po-ying, a protester with the League of Social Democrats, holding up a banner demanding full democracy.



Lee, a former Hong Kong secretary for security, has forcefully implemented China's harsher regime under a national security law that has been used to arrest scores of democrats, disband civil society groups and shutter liberal media outlets, such as Apple Daily and Stand News.



Western governments, including the United States, say that freedoms and the rule of law have been undermined by the security legislation that was imposed by Beijing in 2020.



Lee, however, reiterated Beijing's view that the law is necessary to restore stability after protracted pro-democracy protests in 2019, sidestepping questions on whether he would seek reconciliation with opposition democratic advocates and those who have been jailed.



"Safeguarding our country's sovereignty, national security and development interests, and protecting Hong Kong from internal and external threats, and ensuring its stability will continue to be of paramount importance," Lee told reporters.



Some critics say Lee's attempts to relaunch Hong Kong internationally could be affected by sanctions imposed on him by the United States in 2020 over what Washington said was his role in "being involved in coercing, arresting, detaining, or imprisoning individuals" under the security law.



YouTube owner Alphabet Inc has said it took down the Lee campaign's YouTube account to comply with U.S. sanction laws.



Lee said his priority would be to boost housing supply in one of the world's most expensive housing markets, and to bolster policy effectiveness with a "results orientated approach" in tackling this entrenched issue. (Reuters)




However, the delayed implementation of the scheme by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) after coming to power due to fund crunch has been pushing farmers into more trouble as they are forced to bear additional interest burden for the delay in addition to banks declaring their accounts as non-performing assets (NPAs). (Representational Photo:AFP)

HYDERABAD: Crop loan waiver schemes seem to have become a bait to lure voters for political parties in the state, with the latest being the Congress promising Rs 2 lakh crop loan waiver in its farmers declaration released in Warangal on Friday.

However, the delayed implementation of the scheme by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) after coming to power due to fund crunch has been pushing farmers into more trouble as they are forced to bear additional interest burden for the delay in addition to banks declaring their accounts as non-performing assets (NPAs).

The TRS had promised Rs 1 lakh crop loan waiver scheme during the Assembly polls in 2014 and 2018. The party believes that this promise played a key role in coming to power in the state. It took four years to complete the Rs 1 lakh waiver scheme promised in 2014 and the loans of not even 20 per cent of farmers have been waived till date even after more than three years since it was promised in 2018. The government incurred an expenditure of Rs 17,000 crore to waive crop loans of 36 lakh farmers in 2014. It released the amount in six instalments to banks in four years. With this, banks imposed interest on farmers for four years. Banks declared the accounts of those who failed to pay the interest as NPAs and crop loans were denied to them.

As per the promise made in 2018, the government has to waive Rs 1 lakh loans each of 36.68 lakh farmers for which Rs 20,000 crore is required. However, after three years and five months, the government could release just Rs 1,144 crore to waive loans of only 5.66 lakh farmers. Another 31 lakh farmers are yet to receive the benefit.

If this was the situation to waive loans up to Rs 1 lakh, one could easily imagine how much it would take if Rs 2 lakh waiver scheme is implemented. Although the state government is sanctioning funds in the budget every year for crop loan waiver from 2019-20, they remain only on paper. The finance department imposes restrictions on release of funds to adjust funds for other welfare schemes and development programmes.

In 2014, the funds were released directly to banks in instalments. But in 2018, the funds were released directly to farmers in their bank accounts in phases. In the first phase, loans up to Rs 25,000 were cleared and in the second phase, up to Rs 50,000 were cleared. Even in this, farmers were covered partially. Not a single farmer falling under Rs 75,000 and Rs 1 lakh category received the benefit so far.
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court came to the rescue of farmers whose lands were acquired in 1963 for public purpose with a promise of providing alternative lands. Though the promise was made, the state government let them down by changing its stand on alternative land proposal.

Even two decades after acquiring the lands, the government neither handed over the alternative land nor paid compensation. When the farmers approached the High Court to get their rightful lands, the state argued that it was in possession of the land for more than 42 years and contended that the farmers did not have the right to claim, because they delayed around two decades in filing the petition.

A division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili directed the Telangana government to fulfil its promise to the farmers within three months.

Faulting the stand of state, the court observed, In a democratic polity governed by the rule of law, the state could not have deprived the citizens of their property without the sanction of the law. The state must comply with the procedure for acquisition, requisition or any other permissible statutory mode. The state being governed by the rule of law cannot arrogate to itself a status beyond what is provided by the Constitution."

It also said that the contention advanced by the state of delay of farmers in moving the court was also liable to be rejected. Delay and lapses could not be raised in a case of a continuing cause of action. The delay was a matter of judicial discretion, which must be exercised judiciously and reasonably, the bench said. There is no period of limitation prescribed for courts to exercise their constitutional jurisdiction to do substantial justice, the court said.

The bench made these observations and directions in an issue of the title holders of the property situated in Gangupudi village, Chandrugonda mandal in Khammam district. Their lands were acquired for construction of a tank in the village in 1963. The authorities, at the time, assured the farmers that they would receive compensation by way of allotment of alternative land and however, no compensation was paid to them. As the promise made to them was not fulfilled, the farmers chose to go for legal remedies in 1993. The single judge had directed the state to fulfil the promise, but it preferred an appeal. The division bench upheld the single judge orders and directed the state to fulfil it within three months.
: BJP leader Tajender Bagga at his residence after being released by police, at Janakpuri in New Delhi, Saturday, May 7, 2022. (PTI Photo)

Chandigarh: In a reprieve for Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Saturday night directed that no coercive step be taken against the Delhi BJP leader after he sought a stay on the arrest warrant issued by a Mohali court earlier in the day.

Hours after the Mohali court issued the arrest warrant in connection with a case registered against him by the Punjab Police last month, Bagga moved the high court challenging it.

Justice Anoop Chitkara took up Bagga's petition in an urgent hearing at his residence just before midnight.

"No coercive steps till May 10," said Bagga's counsel Chetan Mittal on the high court order.

Notably, on May 10, the high court is to take up Bagga's petition, seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him last month.

Mittal said that the court stayed the arrest warrant.

The hearing took place for around 45 minutes, said Mittal.

Earlier in the day, the court of Judicial Magistrate Ravtesh Inderjit Singh issued the arrest warrant against Bagga in connection with a case registered last month.

The Punjab Police had booked Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga on the charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation. The case was registered on a complaint of AAP leader Sunny Ahluwalia, a resident of Mohali.

The FIR registered on April 1 referred to Bagga's remarks on March 30, when he was part of a BJP youth wing protest outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Bagga was booked under relevant sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place etc), 505 (whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report) and 506 (criminal intimidation), of the Indian Penal Code.

Bagga was arrested by the Punjab Police from his Delhi home on Friday, stopped in Haryana while being taken to Punjab and brought back to the national capital by Delhi Police hours later.
The SPs directed police officers to concentrate on getting pending cases cleared by filing chargesheets and making efforts to secure convictions. (Representational Image/ PTI)

Hyderabad: Directing investigating officers (IOs) to submit proper evidence in court to enhance conviction rate, district superintendents of police (SPs) asked the public prosecutors to work together with the IOs to secure punishment for the accused.

SPs conducted meetings with junior officials and public prosecutors to review pending cases and discuss the status of legal proceedings.

The SPs directed police officers to concentrate on getting pending cases cleared by filing chargesheets and making efforts to secure convictions.

Nalgonda SP Rema Rajeswari inquired about the cases of theft at Nakrekal and Miryalaguda.

The IOs have to comply with standard operation proceedings (SoPs) of 16 functional verticals framed by the state police. Not only detecting cases, police officers must also work along with the court staff and public prosecutors to get conviction by collecting evidence, she explained.

She said every police officer from the rank of SI to DSP must work to reduce pending cases. The inspectors and DSPs should coordinate with the SIs and station officers in detecting cases, she said.

Vikarabad SP N. Koti Reddy directed officials to respond to dial 100 calls and make FIRs based on complaints being lodged by the victims.

At night, the patrolling staff must be active in responding to complaints, he added.

Suryapet SP Rajendra Prasad said they had given priority to visual policing and implementing the SoPs. Strict instructions have been given to IOs and police officers to reduce case pendency.

DGP M. Mahendar Reddy conducted video conferences with SPs and directed them to comply with the 16 functional vertical systems in dealing cases and asked to finish pending cases by speeding up investigation.
HYDERABAD: The police has stated that one of the accused had surreptitiously installed spyware on the phone of Nagaraju, a sales executive who was killed on May 5 for marrying a Muslim girl, to track him.

This was stated in the remand report in the honour killing case. The two accused, Syed Mobin and Syed Masood Ahmed, were arrested within two hours of the murder at Saroornagar. Police said they had hatched a plan to eliminate Nagaraju when they came to know that he and their sister Ashrin Sultana had decided to get married. Without intimating Ashrin, the accused met Nagaraju in January and pretended to cooperate with him in the marriage, police sources revealed. During the conversation, Mobin, an accused, asked Nagaraju if he had other girlfriends. Saying he would crosscheck, Mobin asked Nagaraju to show him his mobile. While pretending to check the phone, Mobin allegedly collected the email ID and four digit mobile password from Nagarajus phone and installed spyware.

They began tracking Nagarajus movements on their mobile using the spyware without his knowledge. The accused confessed that they had postponed the murder due to Ramzan as they were fasting. Sources said the Saroornagar police officials were shocked when they heard the accused, who were illiterates, had the knowhow to acqure, install and use spyware.

The police suspect that they might have taken some technicians help.
Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, G Kishan Reddy along with AP State Tourism Minister, RK Roja pays floral tributes to the statue of Alluri Sitaramaraju on the beach road in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. (Photo: DC)

Visakhapatnam: Union minister for tourism and culture G. Kishan Reddy and state tourism minister R.K. Roja paid rich tributes to freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama Raju on the occasion of his death anniversary on Saturday. They garlanded the statue of Sitarama Raju near beach road in Visakhapatnam.

Local MP M.V.V. Satyanarayana, mayor G. Hari Venkata Kumari and MLCs P.V.N. Madhav and Varudu Kalyani were present.

Talking to media persons, Kishan Reddy said that the state government as well as social and political organisations would chalk up an action plan to implement welfare schemes from July 4 this year to July 4, 2023.

State tourism minister Roja said though Sitarama Raju lived for 27 years, his contribution was immense and generations to come would remember him.

Naming an Agency district after him is a tribute to the great leader, Roja said, adding that the state government is implementing several welfare schemes to benefit Adivasis, for which Sitarama Raju fought against the British.

She said the Centre has sanctioned a museum to house Sitarama Rajus works and artefacts, which will be built on 22 acres of land.

The places visited by him would be developed as tourist spots, Roja added.
Yuva Morcha activists stage a protest over arrest of BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga by Punjab Police, at Civil Lines in New Delhi, Friday, May 6, 2022. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: The Delhi Police registered a case of kidnapping on Friday after BJP leader Tajinder Bagga was arrested by the Punjab cops, officials said.

They claimed the local police were not informed before Bagga was arrested from his residence in the national capital.

The Punjab Police said it has arrested Bagga, who is also national secretary of the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha, from his Delhi residence in connection with a case registered against him in Mohali last month.

Bagga's father complained that some people came to the house around 8 am and took away his son, a senior police officer said, adding the case has been registered at Janakpuri police station.

The Punjab cops did not inform the local police in Delhi before arresting Bagga, a Delhi Police official said.

Bagga's father Preetpal Singh alleged that Punjab Police personnel punched him in the face and did not even allow his son to wear a turban while they were arresting him.

Singh, who said a group of 10-15 Punjab Police personnel broke into their Janakpuri home, was accompanied by Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta when he went to file an FIR.

Delhi BJP workers staged a protest outside the Janakpuri police station and raised slogans against the Punjab Police slogans.

Last month, the Punjab Police booked Bagga on the charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation. The case was registered on a complaint of AAP leader Sunny Ahluwalia, a resident of Mohali.

The FIR registered on April 1 referred to Bagga's remarks on March 30, when he was part of a BJP youth wing protest outside the chief minister's residence in Delhi.
Addressing the TPCC extended meeting at Gandhi Bhavan, he reiterated that Congress will never have any alliance with a betrayer like TRS. (Photo:DC)

HYDERABAD: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged party leaders from the state to leave Hyderabad and start interacting with people in their respective constituencies. This would help them gear up for the big fight with TRS in the next Assembly elections, he said. In order to end the corrupt and dictatorial rule of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, it was imperative that all party leaders work as a cohesive unit, he said.

We hoped that after its formation, Telangana would be a model state in the country. Unfortunately, TRS came to power and began looting the state of all its resources. It ignored farmers, youth, backward classes, workers and all other sections, he said.

As part of his two-day visit to Telangana, Rahul Gandhi, along with TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy, CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and other senior leaders, took part in various events here on Saturday.

Addressing the TPCC extended meeting at Gandhi Bhavan, he reiterated that Congress will never have any alliance with a betrayer like TRS.

Chandrashekar Rao has money, police power and state administration with him but he does not enjoy the support of the people, which is with the Congress, he said.

Speaking about the allotment of party tickets in the next Assembly elections, he said that they would be issued after getting independent and ground-level feedback about the contenders. Services of all hard working leaders and their loyalty would be duly rewarded, he said.

The Gandhi scion said that the Warangal declaration was a guaranteed partnership between Congress and the states farmers. All of you should explain the Warangal declaration to farmers across the state, he suggested.

Later, Rahul Gandhi made a surprise visit to Telangana martyrs memorial. Balladeer Gaddar, Prof. Haragopal and members of Telangana martyrs families met him during the day.

Meanwhile, marking the 50th death anniversary of former chief minister Damodaram Sanjeevaiah on Saturday, Rahul Gandhi visited Sanjeevaiah Park and offered floral tributes. It was organised by party veteran V. Hanumantha Rao.
These days I feel stupid a lot of the time because theres so much going on that I dont understand but everyone else seems to. When I ask them about it, though, mostly they just say, But its so obvious! And then they go away leaving me in the dark.

For instance, when Elon Musk bought Twitter for $45bn or whatever, I just couldnt understand why he did it. I actually have trouble understanding what that amount of money means. A few thousand dollars, yes, but $45bn? Theres no way my mind can wrap itself around that number.

So I was relieved when my professor friend Raghavan dropped in to drink my tea and sample a new batch of samosas. I thought hed be able to explain, his job being explaining things to restless youngsters. So I sat him down and plied him with food and drink, and, when he had polished off the last crumb and emptied his last cup of tea, I put it to him. Whats all this about Musk and Twitter and free speech?

Politics, he replied, reaching for a toothpick.

What! I exclaimed, taken aback. I thought it was business!

He belched and put down the toothpick. Musk said something about free speech, he said. If thats not politics, I dont know what is.

But what about that $45bn? I asked. Thats a gargantuan sum of money: its about half Sri Lankas GDP, or almost all its debt. That seems far too much to pay for a social media platform, which is just some servers and some software. I thought that was all business.

He smiled a smile full of pity. Your years are showing, old man, he said. In your day, wealth meant land or similar things. Physical assets. All thats changed since the internet came along. Its not the servers and the software but what people do with them.

Yes, I said sadly. I know. Theres something called a demat account which holds all my shares, but it doesnt feel real. In the old days they had share certificates with signatures and seals and stamps and copperplate Very beautiful. My bank account, likewise. I can see my balance on my phone anytime, but that doesnt feel real either. I was always happy when my wallet was fat, but now all my money is in my phone, and Im just not comfortable with it.

The smile widened. The pity deepened. Thats not the half of it, he said. The term social media understates the value of the service. Look at this way: you can now talk to your brother in Australia whenever you like, and it costs you next to nothing.

Ah! I said, needled by the pity. I didnt know that free speech includes speaking to people abroad for free!

His smile fell off and he clenched his fists, but he recovered in a moment. At the very least, he said, Twitter will have some advertisement value for Musk. He can use it to peddle Tesla cars along with his views.

And then I asked him the one question that just wouldnt go away from my mind. Why would he spend $45bn on Twitter when he can plaster the world with Tesla promotions for one per cent of that? I asked. And create another social media platform as well for less than that?

Twitters profitable, he said. Musk thinks hell make a profit out of advertising revenue. Besides, creating a social media platform is a chancy business. Ask Google. They tried and failed. Finally, Musk has nearly 90 million followers on Twitter. He might lose many of them if he switches platforms.

Right, I said, he has lots of followers. But from what I read, there are plenty of people who dont like Musks political views, mostly US Democrats. Wont they be tempted to quit Twitter? If they do, Musk will lose half the herd.

I doubt it, he replied. People who were kicked out of Twitter before Musk took it over are returning. Besides, the controversy itself is drawing attention to the conflict between American businessmen and leftists. You pay more attention to your enemies than your friends, and its easy to be brave on Twitter. So Musk has turned Twitter into a battlefield! He hopes itll be a profitable battlefield. 

He might get wiped out, I said.

Oh no, he wont, replied Raghavan emphatically.

How can you be so sure? I asked.

Because hell bring down too many people with him if he crashes, he replied.

Like the Lehmann Brothers crash of 2008. The US government ended up saving the people responsible, giving them fortunes. And its not only the American government. Just think a bit. Which is Teslas biggest market outside the US?

China. Where do Tesla batteries come from? China. Theres a Tesla factory in Shanghai, China The Chinese banned Twitter some years ago, so now they can interfere in US politics through Musk with no risk to themselves. For all you know, they might just sustain Musk on Twitter with advertisements. They wont have to fire a shot or shed a drop of blood. Theyll just sit at home and pull the strings.

How? I asked.

Its easy for the Chinese, he said. Theyll get a few million people  real human beings, not bots  to join Twitter. All telling the world exactly what the Chinese government wants them to say.

What about free speech? I asked. Musk said he was for it, didnt he?

The smile returned, and the pity, wider and deeper than ever before. He might have said so, he replied. But he doesnt have to mean it, does he?
President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol (YSY), who will be sworn in as South Koreas new leader for a five-year term on May 10, is a first-time politician and a former prosecutor-general. He catapulted into politics after helping convict former President Park Geun-hye in her impeachment trial. Yoon Suk Yeol is considered rather unfamiliar with global affairs and is likely to rely on his trusted advisers to frame policy.

Prof. Kim Sung-han, the head of the diplomacy and security division of the incoming Presidents transition team, and was vice foreign minister in the 2008-13 Lee Myung-bak administration, is regarded by the South Korean media as the brain behind President-elect Yoons foreign policy architecture which focuses on reinforcing Seouls security alliance with Washington by restoring trust between the two countries.

In an article in Foreign Affairs prior to his March 9 election this year, YSY indirectly criticised the current policy of outgoing President Moon Jae-in and said that Seouls reluctance to take a firm stand on a number of issues that have riled the relationship between Washington and Beijing has created an impression that South Korea has been tilting towards China and away from its long-time ally, the United States.

In the campaign, YSY had strongly criticised the Moon government for creating a master-servant relationship between the two Koreas by doggedly pursuing the dialogue with North Korea as an end in itself rather than as a process for negotiations towards denuclearisation.

YSY said in an interview to the Washington Post on April 14 that South Korea must step up its foreign policy commensurate with its economic and cultural status and become a stronger ally of the United States. Yoon aspires to make South Korea a critical player in addressing global challenges  including supply chain management, climate change and vaccine production. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Yoon would find a ready partner to work together in pursuing their shared objectives.

On the four-nation Quad (comprising the US, India, Japan and Australia), the President elect has said that before deciding on seeking to join the Quad, South Korea will support and cooperate with its working groups in tackling global issues such as vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies to create a synergy with the Quad countries.

Mr Yoon called North Korea as South Koreas main enemy, a stance different from that of outgoing President Moon Jae-in, but said that he would continue a two-track response to pursue dialogue and offer humanitarian aid.

Importantly, Mr Yoon has said that poor Seoul-Tokyo relations have backfired on South Korean companies and have hampered Seouls ability to coordinate with Tokyo and Washington. He said South Korea should work to rebuild confidence by having frequent conversations with Japanese officials. He asserted that during his presidency South Korea-Japan relations will go well.

This would be a course which friendly democracies like the United States and India would encourage. In the shifting strategic balance of the Indo-Pacific, it is of vital importance that all democracies work together and harmonise their policies to ensure peace and stability in the region. Any progress towards normalisation of sentiments between South Korea and Japan would positively influence the strategic balance in Northeast Asia.

In parallel, North Korea has been signalling its own frustration over the impasse regarding easing of the crippling sanctions faced by it. In April, Chairman Kim Jong-un vowed to speed up the further development of its nuclear arsenal at the fastest possible pace and threatened to use them against its enemies. On May 4, North Korea launched a ballistic missile towards the East Sea. This was North Koreas 14th missile firing this year, just six days before the new conservative President takes over in Seoul. Subsequently on May 5, a North Korean propaganda website described the incoming South Korean President as pro-United States and confrontational.

After being elected, US President Joe Biden was the first foreign leader that YSY called. Subsequently, YSY also spoke to Prime Ministers Fumio Kishida of Japan, Boris Johnson of Britain, Scott Morrison of Australia and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 17. Chinas Xi Jinping sent a letter of congratulations on March 11 and the two spoke on the phone on March 25.

On March 10 itself, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his warm congratulations to YSY, adding that he looked forward to working with him to further expand and strengthen the India-ROK Special Strategic Partnership. On May 6, Indias ambassador in Seoul, Sripriya Ranganathan, called on Mr Yoon when YSY affirmed that India-ROK ties would be scaled up significantly by his administration.

New Delhis ties with Seoul have gradually flowered after the advent of democracy in South Korea in the 1990s. There is a strong sense of goodwill and friendship towards each other among the leadership as well as people in the two countries. There is strong bipartisan political commitment in both countries to deepen the strategic partnership and scale up trade and investment relationship.

South Koreas Presidents, of both the liberal and conservative persuasion, have invested in promoting friendly ties with India. In India too, the Strategic Partnership established by the UPA government in 2010 has been strengthened as the Special Strategic Partnership by the NDA government.

However, till now, the strategic partnership has been mainly based on economic cooperation as the outgoing South Korean President was wary of rubbing China the wrong way. The incoming Yoon administration may make a more objective and realistic assessment of China as a disruptive and expansionist nation responsible for upsetting the peace of the entire Indo-Pacific region.
Colombo: The Indian embassy in Sri Lanka on Saturday rubbished the reports suggesting that the Sri Lankan government used the Line of Credit (LoC) extended by India during the ongoing crisis to import a water cannon vehicle.

Issuing a statement on Twitter, the Indian embassy made it clear that the reports suggesting such use of India's assistance as "factually incorrect".

"We have seen reports that a water canon vehicle was imported by Government of #SriLanka under a credit line extended by Government of #India. These reports are factually incorrect," the Indian embassy said.

Clarifying the issue further, the Indian embassy said, "No water canon vehicles have been supplied by #India under any of the credit lines extended by #India to #SriLanka."

"Credit line of USD 1 billion to Sri Lanka is intended to help the people of Sri Lanka with availability of food, medicines and other essential items required by the people of Sri Lanka in the current situation," Indian embassy said.

The Indian mission further said that "such incorrect reports don't make any constructive contribution to the cooperation and efforts to address the ongoing challenges faced by the people of Sri Lanka."

On Thursday, Sri Lanka Police fired tear gas on the protesters on Thursday in order to disperse the protest staged by University students under the theme "Let's oust the government! Let's reverse the system!" outside the parliament.

Taking to the streets to protest against the government led by the Rajapaksa family, the student protestors demanded resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Meanwhile, the massive people's struggle "Go Home Gota" calling President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down at the Galle Face entered the 29th day today.

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices and power cuts affecting a large number of the people, resulting in massive protests over the government's handling of the situation.

The recession is attributed to foreign exchange shortages caused by a fall in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reckless economic policies, like the government's move last year to ban chemical fertilizers in a bid to make Sri Lanka's agriculture "100 per cent organic".

Due to an acute shortage of Foreign exchange, Sri Lanka recently defaulted on the entirety of its foreign debt amounting to about USD 51 billion.

The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Toyota group firms, including Toyota Kirloskar Motor, on Saturday said they will invest about Rs 4,800 crore in Karnataka for local production of powertrain parts and other components of electric vehicles.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) along with Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts (TKAP) will put in Rs 4,100 crore while a related company -- Toyota Industries Engine India (TIEI)-- will pitch in with another Rs 700 crore.

TKM and TKAP on Saturday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Karnataka government in this regard.

The announcement coincides with automaker's 25 years of presence in India.

"Toyota Group and TIEI together would be making an investment of around Rs 4,800 crore. We are doing this in the spirit of 'go green, go local' and our aim is to contribute to our country's mission of faster reduction of carbon emissions and make in India," TKM executive vice president Vikram Gulati told PTI in an interaction.

In-addition to boosting the local manufacturing eco-system, the new development will provide an impetus to employment generation and local community development, he added.

"Just from the group companies (TKM & TKAP), from a direct employment point of view, we are looking at around 3,500 new jobs. Of course, as the supply chain system builds, we expect much more to come in later," Gulati said.

The automaker plans to utilise its existing facilities in the state to produce the components, he noted.

"We would be aiming at both domestic and global markets. We are moving towards a completely new area of technology which is electrified powertrain parts," Gulati said.

When asked about the timeframe for the start of production, he said: "While I cannot get into the specifics, it's going to be very near-term."

Gulati said Toyota has all the electrified technologies and it believes in taking up all which not only meet consumer requirements but are also aligned with the government's national objectives.

"We believe that electrification is beginning to take off. There are still challenges around it, but the key to moving towards faster electrification would be to take steps like the ones we're taking now. To build local ecosystems, local capabilities, local competitiveness and through that to try deliver all these technologies at an affordable cost," he said.

Gulati was replying to a query if Indian market is now ripe for the electric vehicles.

He commended both the Union and Karnataka governments for pushing electrification in the country.

"If you look at both demand side and supply side, a lot of effort is going on... Our belief is that all technologies, electrified or others, that help to promote national goals should be promoted in a proportionate manner," he noted.

Speaking at the MoU signing event, TKM vice-chairman Vikram S Kirloskar said the development is a very important milestone in terms of ushering in large-scale investment to make deeper cuts in carbon emissions, higher employment generation, creating local manufacturing hub not only for domestic needs but also for global markets, local community development and advancement in innovation.

"I believe that such investments are needed to provide technologically viable and economically competitive alternatives to fossil-fuel-intensive technologies in vehicle mobility space," he stated.

The company always conducts deep studies, analyse and explore multiple technological pathways that are best suited to optimally achieve the national goals on lowering dependence on fossil fuels, Kirloskar said.

"Toyota believes that the choice of technologies for achieving our national goals should be practical, sustainable, best suited for unique local conditions that helps to realise the transition in the fastest possible manner," he noted.

The company believes in holistic approach and aims to strongly contribute to the state and country's sustainable growth, and is confident in creating an electrified manufacturing hub in India, Kirloskar said.

Toyota group companies have already invested Rs 11,812 crore and employ more than 8,000 people, he added.

The MoU was exchanged between Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and Kirloskar in presence of minister of large and medium industries Murugesh R Nirani and senior government officials.

Speaking at the event, Bommai said the government wants to make Karnataka a global supply-chain and manufacturing hub "under our 'build for the world' mission".

"This MoU with Toyota group of companies is a huge stride in this regard, and the Karnataka government is confident of Toyota's commitment towards sustainable growth for state's growth and development," he noted.
The recent visit of Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi to Panama, Honduras and Chile provided fresh momentum to India's bilateral ties with them, according to an official statement on Sunday.

Lekhi visited the three countries in central and south America from April 28 to May 5.

"The visit to Panama, Honduras and Chile provided fresh momentum to India's relations with these countries in central and south America," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

In the first leg of her trip, Lekhi visited Panama from April 28 to May 1 during which she held talks with Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes, besides other engagements.

The MEA said both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, health and pharma, IT, space and culture.

"An agreement on gainful employment for dependents of officials of diplomatic mission/post was signed between India and Panama," the MEA said.

Lekhi, also Minister of State for Culture, met Panama's Minister of Culture Giselle Gonzalez Villarue.

The MEA said both sides signed an agreement on a cultural exchange programme for 2021-24.

During her visit to Honduras from May 1 to 3, Lekhi called on the President of Honduras, Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento, and met Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Garcia.

The MEA said Lekhi and Garcia discussed various bilateral, regional and international issues.

Lekhi, along with Minister of Agriculture Laura Suazo, laid the foundation stone of the USD 26.5 million Jamastran Valley Irrigation project, funded by the Government of India through a Line of Credit.

The MEA said the project is estimated to irrigate 3,060 hectares of land and benefit about 1,200 farmers.

In Chile, Lekhi met Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola Noguera and had detailed discussions on bilateral relations.

"Both sides agreed to speed up their respective internal processes to facilitate early conclusion of bilateral agreements for cooperation in pharma, space, renewable energy and for the empowerment of persons with disabilities," the MEA said.

"They also agreed to work closely in the Pacific Alliance and the multilateral fora, given their common values and principles," it said.
Union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to introduce a new political culture in the country, rising above considerations of vote bank politics or subjective preferences.

The latest evidence of this, he said, is the inclusion of Sitamarhi under the Centre's aspirational district programme purely on the consideration that it deserved a special attention for its growth and development in certain sectors.

Singh, Minister of State for Personnel and BJP national executive member, addressed a meeting of party workers here.

Read | 'PM template for what it means to be national leader'

He said while PM Modi has vindicated Syama Prasad Mookerjees dream of BJP being a truly democratic party suited to the requirements of post-independence India, it was the sacrifices of three generations of party workers, which enabled the party to survive over the last seven decades before emerging as the worlds largest political party under the able organisational leadership of party presidents like Amit Shah and J P Nadda.

"The Prime Minister has sought to introduce a new political culture in the country, rising above considerations of vote bank politics or subjective preferences," the minister said.

Singh said it was his good fortune to be able to pay obeisance at the holy place which was closely associated with Maa Sita of the epic Ramayan.

He said with the kind of special focus being given by the government of India, the day is not far when Sitamarhi will develop and live up to its name, which conjures up the thoughts of Lord Ram and Ram Rajya.

Singh spent about two hours interacting with the party workers.

He informed them that he had impressed upon the local administration to maintain a closer coordination and rapport with public representatives and the citizens.

Singh said it was the priority treatment given to Sitamarhi by the Modi government that despite the constraints of Covid pandemic, a CT scan machine was installed in the Sadar hospital and a new nursing school has also been set up.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said his party would not enter into an alliance with other outfits as it intended to partner with 130 crore people of this country.

Speaking on 'AAP and its role in 2024 Lok Sabha elections' as part of a lecture series organised to mark the golden jubilee of the Nagpur edition of Lokmat, Kejriwal also said he didn't want to defeat anyone in politics but sought to make India the number one country in the world. "Many people ask me with whom will we do a national alliance. I do not know how to do politics. I don't understand alliances of 10 and 20 parties to defeat anyone. I don't want to defeat anyone, I want the country to win. I will only enter into an alliance with 130 crore people of the country to make India number one in the world, " he said.

Without naming the BJP, the Delhi chief minister said a "huge party" at present was vociferously supporting hooliganism, engineering riots, taking out welcome processions for rapists. "The country cannot progress with this type of hooliganism. If you want hooliganism and riots you can go with them, but if you want progress, schools and hospitals you can come with me. Let us make an alliance of 130 crore common people," he asserted.

Kejriwal said his party's focus was not on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls but on working for the country, adding that people like him had come after leaving their careers to serve the country. India must become the number one country in the world as soon as possible, Kejriwal said, adding that he wanted to play an important role in this quest.

Countering the charge of indulging in freebie politics, the Delhi CM said money meant for public welfare used to be consumed by corruption, and his government, by stopping corruption and saving money therein was giving people free electricity and other amenities. Vijay Darda, chairman, editorial board, Lokmat Media Group, spoke about his group helped people amid Covid-19 with many staffers also succumbing to the disease. He also expressed hope that Nagpur will one day become the capital of a separate Vidarbha state.
Have you been looking at the train wreck that is the twisting-turning Amber Heard-Johnny Depp legal battle  a defamation case born of a broken marriage that was thought to have been settled by law earlier -- replete with expert witnesses who offer conveniently different opinions? The courts will deal with it under modern law, but it made me think back to lawsuits in ancient India and what the rules were.

P V Kane, in his incredible work on the Dharmashastras, explains that there are four stages to a lawsuit. First, the plaintiffs make their allegations, then the defendant responds, then the appointed members deliberate, and finally the judge speaks. The defendant has four options  they can admit to the accusations, deny them altogether, plead extenuating circumstances, or point out that the same complaint was earlier defeated. Lawsuits between husband and wife, teacher and student, etc., were usually discouraged and the complainants were urged to settle matters out of court.

The Dharmashastras explain the importance of circumstantial evidence, but warn against relying excessively on it, based on the story of Mandavya from the Mahabharata. The sage Mandavya, as the epic tells us, had taken a vow of silence. A band of thieves who were fleeing the army managed to hide their booty in his hermitage. The kings army, following the thieves, reached the hermitage. When they asked the sage where the thieves had gone, he remained absolutely silent. As they searched his hermitage and found the stolen goods, they decided he was guilty. But the man wouldnt speak even to defend himself.

Mandavya was sentenced, along with the thieves, to death by impalement. While the thieves died upon impalement, Mandavya did not. Its only then that he tells the King the whole story and the King apologises to him for the miscarriage of justice, but Mandavya has to live with the stake driven into his heart.

Later, the sage meets Yama, the god of death, and asks him why he had been punished so. Yama tells him that he had been punished because as a boy, he had hurt insects. Enraged at the disproportionate punishment for a wrong done as a child, Mandavya curses Yama to be born as a human (and Yama is born as Vidura).

P V Kane tells us that the rules against verbal abuse seem to have been rather strict as well. Verbal abuse was classified into three  reproachful (in cases of general insult, like calling someone stupid), obscene, and severe (in cases of false accusations). From this, it seems that defamation  which is what Depp has filed for -- would count as a case of severe abuse. Funnily enough, a penalty was levied even if the words used as abuse were true, such as calling someone convicted of theft a thief.

As for physical assault  which is what it all started with in the case of Heard and Depp -- there were different rules based on who instigated the assault. If one did not retaliate when assaulted, they were to be commended. If the one who was attacked retaliated, the one who began the assault and the one who continued it longer, as the case may be, were to be punished more severely.

The Ramayana and the Bhagavata tell us the story of King Nriga, who donated thousands of cows with gilded horns, accompanied by their calves, to brahmins. Unfortunately for Nriga, one of the cows managed to escape back into the herd and ended up being donated to another brahmin. When the two brahmins approached the king, demanding that he decide the rightful owner of the cow, Nriga prevaricated, offering each of them many other cows in turn. Both, however, refused, and wanted the same cow that had earlier been donated to them. Nriga avoided meeting them and refused to give a judgement. Then he died before deciding the case, and because of the delay he caused in administering justice, he ended up being born as a chameleon.

It was recently reported that India has just about 21 judges per a million people, and thus millions of cases lying undecided. Not the fault of the few judges we do have, of course, but imagine what the authors of the Dharmashastras would say about it!
The BJP Yuva Morcha on Saturday staged an agitation outside the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) office here in Austin Town to protest the arrest of the saffron partys leader Tajindar Bagga.

The protest was led by BJP Yuva Morcha Karnataka president Dr Sandeep Kumar against the arrest of Bagga by the AAP-ruled Punjab police. In a statement, Kumar said Bhaskar Rao, a former IPS officer, should have guided Kejriwal before the police arrested Bagga.

During the protest, the police detained Kumar along with other Yuva Morcha leaders.

Condemning the BJPs protest, AAP media convener Jagadish V Sadam said the partys office was cleansed using gomutra (cow urine). The BJP is so corrupt and in love with violence that our office had to be cleansed, Sadam said. He accused the police of being partisan and compared the BJPs protest with the one that was done outside Delhi CM Kejriwals house.
Where to Watch / Stream Notes from Brussels Online Theatrical release - Not available on any OTT Platform right now.

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Notes from Brussels : Release Date, Trailer, Cast & Songs About Notes from Brussels Notes from Brussels was released on May 09, 2022 . This movie is 1 hr 19 min in duration and is available in English language. Joanna Sopinska, Anne-Cecile Gault and Beate Gminder are playing as the star cast in this movie. Notes from Brussels is available in Documentary genre.

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Une edition qui parle de la Sexual Violence & the Murad Code of Conduct par Audrey Sunglee Principal State Counsel,

Cette derniere ecrit:-

On April 13th, the Murad Code was released at the UN Security Council open debate on conflict-related sexual violence. Following this release, an expert panel discussion was held on what survivor-centered information gathering, documentation, investigation and reporting mean from the perspective of survivors. I had the privilege of following this event.The Murad Code Project is headed by the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI) in partnership with Nadias Initiative and the UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office, more particularly the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI). The Murad Code Project takes its name after Nadia Murad, chairperson of Nadias Initiative. In 2018, she was the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Her story has travelled around the word: in 2014, Nadia, a Yazidi young girl living in Iraq was kidnapped by ISIS (Islamic State) and held prisoner for 3 months until she escaped. Since then she has been a fervent fighter against the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.

Manjula Kumari Boojharut, Senior State Counsel, parle pour sa part de lautisme avec le titre  An Overview of Where the Autistic Individual Fits in the Legal System :

The month of April is also known as the World Autism month. This provides us with an opportunity to have a glimpse at the different aspects of the autism spectrum from a legal angle. At a time when the statistics indicate that a minimum of 1 child in every 100 children is on the spectrum1, with an indication that this figure is on the rise, there is need for the legal field and law enforcement agencies to align themselves on international instruments. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a diverse group of conditions. They are characterised by some degree of difficulty with social interaction and communication. Other characteristics are atypical patterns of activities and behaviours, such as difficulty with transition from one activity to another, a focus on details and unusual reactions to sensations.

Larticle qui va interresser les internautes et les amateurs des reseaux sociaux est sur le Cybersecurity

And Cybercrime Act 2021 qui est survole par Chrisinta Chavrimootoo Temporary State Counsel.

A product of the repealed Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act 2003, the Budapest Convention and the African Union Malabo Convention, the new Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Act 2021 (CCA) is applicable since 10 December 2021. The rationale of the new law is given in the Preamble, namely:

the increased compliance with the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime through the provision of additional criminal offences related to cybercrime and cybersecurity, improved investigation techniques and increased international cooperation;

the implementation of a Critical Information Infrastructure Protection policy;

the establishment of the National Cybersecurity Committee; and

international cooperation and mutual legal assistance in cybercrime matters.

I- What are the new offences?

In with the new, yes, but not completely out with the old. Indeed, whilst new offences have been created, some offences under the old law remain, albeit in somewhat modified forms:

Unauthorised access to computer data (s. 7 CCA)

Unauthorised interception of computer service (s. 8 CCA)

Access with intent to commit offences (s. 10 CCA)

Unauthorised modification of computer data (s. 11 CCA)

Unauthorised disclosure of password (s. 12 CCA)

Unlawful possession of devices and computer data (s. 13 CCA)

Electronic fraud (s. 14 CCA)

12 new offences have been introduced:

Unauthorised interference (s 9 CCA)

Computer-related forgery (s 15 CCA)

Misuse of fake profile (s 16 CCA)

Cyberbullying (s 17 CCA)

Cyber extortion (s 18 CCA)

Revenge pornography (s 19 CCA)

Cyberterrorism (s 20 CCA)

Infringement of copyright and related rights (s 21 CCA)

Increased penalty for offences involving critical information infrastructure (essential services) (s 22 CCA)

Failure to moderate undesirable content (s 23 CCA)

Disclosure of details of an investigation (s 24 CCA)

Obstruction of investigation (s 25 CCA)

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Answers to last week's questions:

What cars were manufactured in Dundalk in the 1960s?



Named the 'Heinkel' after the German company that designed it, the Heinkel Cabin Scooter was manufactured by a subsidiary of the Industrial Engineering Company, one the industries that was set up at the old G.N.R. (I) Locomotive Works at Ardee Road after the G.N.R. Works closed in October 1958. Most of these small cars had three wheels but a number were made with four. The project, at first, seemed very successful but these small cars did not sell well on the British market because of a resentment that lingered after the Blitz by German bombers of the same name during World War 11. The Dundalk Heinkel Company was liquidated after two years production in 1961 and the enterprise became one of 'might have been' successes for the area.

What was the nickname of the large workshop at the D.E.W.?



This large galvanised building beside the main Dublin/Belfast railway line, was constructed about 1959, on the instructions of A. P. Reynolds, the Government appointed Chairman of the D.E.W., to construct rolling stock for the railway system. It was added to by Norman Carter when he was appointed C.E.O. Carter had plans to make carriages and wagons for rail systems around the world. The large building was known as 'Croke Park' by the men who worked in it, possibly because of its size, but there is also a belief that it was because Louth had won the the All-Ireland senior title in 1957 and there was great enthusiasm for sport among men who worked there!

Which Dundalk man was appointed an early Minister for Defence?



Peter Hughes from Park Street was appointed Minister for Defence to the Free State Government in November 1924 and held the post until 1927. He was not, strictly, the first Irish Minister for Defence, as many believed, but he was the first to hold that post on its own! Hughes was appointed by William Cosgrave, who, at the time, was President of Dail Eireann but was acting Defence Minister also from the resignation by Richard Mulcahy then Chief of Staff of the Army. Mulcahy had been appointed Defence Minister by the First Dail in 1919 and was succeeded by Cathal Bruagh in 1921 when he was President of the Dail, an appointment which led to a dispute with Michael Collins over control of the I.R.A., which contributed to the start of the Civil War.

When were C.C.T.V. surveillance cameras first set up in Dundalk by the local authorities?



The first cameras were erected in the main streets nearly twenty years ago by the Dundalk Town Council. The idea had been first suggested in the late 1990s but it was some years before the system came into operation in Clanbrassil Street and Church Street, under the supervision of An Garda Siochana from an operations room at the Crescent Station in the early 21st century.

QUESTIONS for next week

What day was Market Day in old Dundalk?

Who were the Dundalk 'Woodpeckers'?

What was Dundalk's oldest Brass Band?

Which Dundalk man was the key board player for the famous 'Cotton Mill Boys'?
North Louth Artists return to host their unmissable annual exhibition, entitled Looking Forward, Looking Back in The Basement Gallery, An Tain Arts Centre, Dundalk.

The exhibition opens to the public on Friday 20th May and runs until Saturday 11th June 2022.

The highly anticipated show, celebrating the groups 54 years in operation, will feature a collection of paintings, ranging from abstract to photorealism, as well as printmaking, and sculpture in bronze and steel.

North Louth Artists is a group of 14 professional visual artists who have come together to provide mutual support by facilitating and encouraging artistic excellence among its members.

Each individual artist pursues their own professional career, coming together to exhibit annually as a collective.

Formed in 1968 by celebrated Irish landscape artists Nano Reid and Bea Orpen, the network is one of the longest established groups of its kind in the world.

They are recognised both nationally and internationally as producers of original, quality, and contemporary artworks. As a collective they invite well known artists and sculptors to join their annual exhibition as guest artists each year.

The title of this years exhibition Looking Forward, Looking Back, takes inspiration from a painting by Jack B. Yeats, and will be a celebration of the variety of artists on display.

With each artist at a different stage in their career, they look forward to coming together annually to create original new pieces of visual art, whilst also commemorating all they have achieved as a collective in over 50 years.

The North Louth Artists exhibiting include: Ciara Agnew, Derek Bell, Sandra Bell, Anna Campbell, Gerry Clarke, Paula Eigenheer, Robert Kelly, John O Connor, Omin, Rosemary Warren, Irene Woods.

With invited guest artists: Petra Berntsson, Michael Stafford, and Ray Delaney

North Louth Artists said they are delighted to welcome Lynn McGrane, Head of Exhibitions and Collection Services at the National Gallery of Ireland, to formally open the exhibition. Lynn McGrane has said: I am so pleased to have been invited to open North Louth Artists forthcoming show Looking Forward, Looking Back.

North Louth Artists have been firmly established in the fabric of the Irish art scene for many years, inspiring audiences year on year. It will be fantastic to see the works on display and hear more about the processes of the participating artists.

Irene Woods, North Louth Artists has commented: As a collective we are delighted to be celebrating 54 years in operation this year.

Our annual exhibition is the highlight of our calendar, and it is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the variety of artistic disciplines and the breath of talent we have in the northeast of the country.

We hope that our artworks will inspire and delight, and encourage new audiences to support and enjoy Irish art.
A 39-year-old woman stuck up a middle finger to a member of An Garda Siochana and called him a pig during a drunken incident in Cork city.

The incident occurred on Tuesday May 3. Now at Cork District Court she has been convicted and fined for her behaviour.

Sergeant Gearoid Davis outlined the circumstances of the public order incident to Judge Alec Gabbett.

Sgt. Davis said Mary Foley was shouting at gardai at a time when there was a strong smell of intoxicating liquor from her and she was slurring her speech.

At the height of the disturbance, Mary Foley shouted at the member of An Garda Siochana, F*** you, pig.

She also stuck her middle finger up the garda.

Sgt. Davis said the accused had 286 previous convictions, of which 21 were for engaging in threatening behaviour.

Diarmuid Kelleher, solicitor, said the accused was living in that difficult situation where she was dependent on hostels.

Mr Kelleher said that sometimes she was unsuccessful getting into a hostel and found herself living on the streets.

She suffered a very serious injury two years ago by Kent railway station and she suffered a brain injury for which she was hospitalised for four months.

She has an alcohol addiction. She does get support from her family, Mr Kelleher said.

Judge Gabbett imposed a 100 fine on the accused on the threatening charge and took the charge of being drunk and a source of danger into consideration.
Today's technology landscape is dominated by a small cadre of massive corporations with the likes of Meta, Amazon and Google snapping up fledgling startups before they can grow into potential competitors, ignoring labor laws that don't suit their immediate needs, and generally operating like the dystopian corpro-villains Johnny Mnemonic warned us about. Traditionally, state regulation has acted as a gentle brake against American industries' more problematic tendencies, however the speed at which modern computing and communications technologies advance has overwhelmed the government's capacity to, well, govern them.

In their new book, Access Rules: Freeing Data from Big Tech for a Better Future, Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford, and Thomas Ramge, author of Who's Afraid of AI?, argue passionately against the data-hoarding practices of today's biggest tech companies and call for a more open, equitable means of accessing the information that these companies have amassed. One such method, explored in the excerpt below, involves addressing Big Tech's monopoly power directly, as the Biden administration has in recent years, though the efforts have not been particularly effective.

UC Press

Excerpted from Access Rules: Freeing Data from Big Tech for a Better Future by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Thomas Ramge, published by the University of California Press.  2022 by Thomas Ramge and Viktor Mayer-Schonberger.

Early into his term, President Biden appointed Tim Wu, who had argued in favor of breaking up Facebook and written popular books on the dangers of Big Tech market concentration, to the National Economic Council as a special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy. Putting one of the most outspoken advocates of Big Tech trustbusting into a top advisory role is a powerful signal the Biden administration is taking a far more confrontational course.

Wu isnt alone. His appointment was followed by the choice of Lina Khan for chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Khans youth  she was in her early 30s when nominated  belies her intellectual power and political credentials. A professor at Columbia Law School like Wu, Khan had authored influential papers on the need to fight Big Techs unchecked power. And she had explained why existing antitrust law was ill equipped to deal with Silicon Valley platform providers. But Khan isnt just a Big Tech critic; she also offered a radical solution: regulate Big Tech companies as utilities, much like electricity providers or the venerable AT&T before telecom deregulation. With Khan at the FTC and Wu as advisor having the ear of the president, Big Tech could be in serious trouble.

Not just antitrust experts serving in government like Tim Wu and Lina Khan fear that the monopolistic structure of American tech dominance could turn into its Achilles heel. Think tanks and advocacy groups on both left and right have been joining the critics. Disruptive entrepreneurs and venture capitalists such as Elon Musk and Peter Thiel regard the well-rehearsed dance of Big Tech and venture capital with increasing skepticism, concerned that the intricate choreography is thwarting the next generation of disruptive founders and technologies. Taken together these voices are calling on and supporting regulators and legislators to prevent the most obvious cases of large companies removing potential competitors from the market by acquiring themcases comparable to Facebooks takeover of Instagram or Googles acquisition of Waze. And they call on venture capitalists to take on the role for which Joseph Schumpeter originally conceived this class of investment capital, the role that the venture capitalists on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park fulfilled up to the first decade of this century: financially support the bringing to market of new, radically better ideas and then enable them to be scaled up.

The antitrust tide is rising in the United States. And yet its questionable that well-intentioned activist regulators bolstered by broad public support will succeed. The challenge is a combination of the structural and the political. As Lina Khan herself argued, existing antitrust laws are less than useful. Big Tech may not have violated them sufficiently to warrant breaking them up. And other powerful measures, such as declaring them utilities, require legislative action. Given the delicate power balance in Congress and hyper-partisan politics, its likely that such bold legislative proposals would not get enough votes to become enacted. The political factions may agree on the problem, but they are far apart on the solution. The left wants an effective remedy, while the right insists on the importance of market forces and worries about antitrust action micromanaging economic activity. That leaves a fairly narrow corridor of acceptable incremental legislative steps, such as post-acquisition lockups. This may be politically palatable, but insufficient to achieve real and sustained success.

The truth is that the current game based on exit strategies works only too well for everyone involved, at least in the short term. The monopolists continue to increase their rents. Entrepreneurs get rich quickly. Venture capitalists reduce risk by optimizing their investments for exiting through a sale. And government? It too earns money on every Goliath buying David transaction. Preventing such transactions causes annoyance for everyone involved. Any politician mounting a serious attack on Big Tech USA exposes themselves to the charge of endangering the great successes of American technology companies on global marketsa charge few politicians could fend off.

Despite renewed resolve by the Biden administration to get serious against Big Tech overreach, substantial change still seems elusive in the United States. In contrast, European antitrust authorities have been far more active. The billion-dollar fines lobbed at US Big Tech by Commissioner Vestagers team surely sound impressive. But, as we mentioned, most of them were reduced on appeal to an amount that the superstar companies with huge cash reserves and skyrocketing profits could easily afford. The European Parliament may not suffer from hyper-partisanship and be willing to strengthen antitrust rules, but their effectiveness is limited by the very fact that almost all Big Tech is not European. At best, Europeans might prevent US Big Tech from buying up innovative European start-ups; the necessary laws for this are increasingly being enacted. But that will do little to break Big Techs information power.

The challenge faced by European regulators is shared by regulators around the globe, from the Asian Tigers to the Global South: how can national regulators effectively counter the information might amassed by Silicon Valley superstars? Sure, one could prohibit US Big Tech from operating. But that would deprive the local economy of valuable services. For most nations, such binary disengagement is not an option. And for nations that to an extent can and have disengaged, such as China, their homegrown Big Tech companies confront them with similar problems. The huge fines levied on Alibaba in 2021 surely are surprising for outside observers, but they, too, are targeting symptoms, not the root cause of Big Techs power.

Sooner or later, regulators and legislators will have to confront the real problem of reining in Big Tech: whether we look at Draconian measures like breakups or incremental ones like fines and acquisition lockups, these target the symptoms of Big Techs information power, but do little to undo the structural advantages the digital superstars possess. Its little more than cutting a head off Hydra, only to see a new one grow.

To tackle the structural advantage, we have to remember Schumpeter. Schumpeters nightmare was that the capacity for innovation would become concentrated within a few large companies. This would lead to a downward spiral of innovation, as major players have less incentive to be disruptive and far more reason to enjoy market power. Contrary to Schumpeters fear, this concentration process didnt occur after World War II, mainly because entrepreneurs had access to abundant capital and could thrive on disruptive ideas. They stood a real chance against the large incumbents of their time, a role more than a few of them took on themselves. But money is no longer the scarce resource limiting innovation. Whats scarce today is access to data. More precisely, such a scarcity is being artificially created.

In the data economy, were observing a concentration dynamic driven by narrowing access to the key resource for innovation and accelerated by AI. The dynamic therefore turns on access to data as a raw material. Economic policy to counteract market concentration and a weakening of competition must focus on this structural lever.

If we want to avert Schumpeters nightmare, preserve the competitiveness of our economy, and strengthen its capacity for innovation, we have to drastically widen access to data  for entrepreneurs and start-ups and for all players who cant translate their ideas into innovations without data access. Today, they can only hope to enter the kill zone and be bought up by one of the digital giants. If data flows more freely through broader access, the incentive to use data and gain innovative insights from it increases. Wed turbocharge our economys capacity for innovation in a way not seen since the first wave of Internet companies. We would also learn more about the world, make better decisions, and distribute data dividends more broadly.
Xbox users hoping to enjoy some solid playtime over the weekend were stymied on Saturday, following an outage that lasted about nine hours. Microsoft issued a tweet around 4pm ET on Saturday, acknowledging that some users were unable to purchase and launch games or join Cloud Gaming sessions. The service Downdetector also logged a spike in error reports around that time.

We're aware that some users are unable to purchase & launch games or start Cloud Gaming sessions. Our teams are investigating. Please keep an eye here and on our status page for updates. https://t.co/kQKp1LYR4o  Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) May 7, 2022

Players could have switched to physical discs (if they owned a console that even had a disc slot) or, in theory, they could have played offline. But, as The Verge reports, even offline play wasn't working for some users.

Microsoft posted an update around 1am ET on Sunday, saying users should no longer be experiencing those issues, though Downdetector notes a trickle of new complaints that has continued into Sunday morning.

Players should no longer be seeing issues when it comes to purchases, launching games, or joining Cloud Gaming sessions. Thanks for being patient. Happy gaming! https://t.co/WTAzvBkgcY  Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) May 8, 2022

Adding to players' frustrations, this was in fact the second Xbox Network outage so far this weekend. Xbox suffered a similar outage that began late Friday afternoon and extended into Saturday morning, with Microsoft then, too, warning of problems with launching and buying games, and starting Cloud Gaming sessions. In addition, Microsoft admitted, some users were also struggling during the earlier outage accessing streaming apps such as Netflix and Disney+.

We're aware that some users are unable to purchase games, launch games or start Cloud Gaming sessions. Our teams are investigating. Please keep an eye here and on our status page for updates. https://t.co/kQKp1LYR4o  Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) May 6, 2022

We understand some users may be having trouble accessing media streaming apps such as Netflix or Disney+, and are currently looking into the matter. Keep watching here and our status page for updates.https://t.co/a6CwLeKdjJ  Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) May 7, 2022

Microsoft only claimed to have fully resolved the Friday outage at 1pm on Saturday, about three hours before user complaints began to spike again.
GOVERNMENT has raised examination fees by up to three times, and immediately attracted brickbats from weary parents.

Many parents, still to come to terms with school fees hikes and already battling to make ends meet, say they have been devastated by the new hike.

The new examination fee structure could trigger massive dropouts as more parents are finding the going tough in meeting their childrens education demands.

According to a circular seen by NewsDay, Grade 7 examination candidates will pay $4 388 while the government will pay $5 362 giving a total of $9 750. Ordinary Level candidates will pay $1 620 while the government will pay $1 980 per subject giving a total of $3 600.

Last year students paid $742 after a 55% subsidy from the government. The government paid $906 to make the total $1 648.

Advanced Level candidates will pay $3 240 up from $1 080 per subject last year, while the government will pay $3 960 giving a total of $7 200.

The government can only pay for seven subjects and students are expected to pay for extra subjects in full at $3 600 for O Level and $7 200 for A Level.

Candidates doing practical lessons are expected to pay full amounts per subject while government will not subsidise students in private schools.

So parents with children at government schools will pay $8 100 for five O Level subjects.

Child rights lawyer Caleb Mutandwa yesterday said there was a possibility of more school dropouts.

The first point is clear indication of failure on the part of the government to introduce exam fees for Grade 7 exams when the Constitution provides for free basic education and recently the Education Act was amended to again affirm this right to free primary education, Mutandwa said.

When children are faced with such a situation and would rather drop out of school completely and we are going to see many drop outs, we need to continue reminding the government of its obligation to promote and fulfil the right of every child to education, it must supply sufficient financial resources to education.

Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure blasted the government for the latest fee hikes.

The government should fully fund the education sector, we are going to see a lot of dropouts, we dont want the imposition of fees, he said

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe Takavafira Zhou yesterday said they were going to lobby the government to subsidise the education sector.

The new fees are just unacceptable. Most parents are poor and I dont think they are going to manage the fees, we are urging the government to reconsider the fees.

We are going to lobby the government and Parliamentarians to reduce the fees, but after all we want the government to subsidise the education sector. Education is a right not a privilege, he said.

Zimbabwe of late has experienced a sharp increase in child labour due to economic hardships, with most school dropouts ending up as street vendors to supplement their families incomes.

In its weekly review on socio-economic developments in the country, Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd) last week said approximately 20 children joined the streets everyday as beggars and vendors.

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zimbabwe has seen a rise in the number of child vendors. Child vending is nothing, but a manifestation of a plethora of underlying dynamics that are militating against the rights and well-being of children, the Zimcodd report read.

Some of these underlying dynamics include, but are not limited to poor social protection policies, economic meltdown, maladministration, poor public resource management, infrastructural gaps, child marriages, school dropouts and exploitative and exclusionary policies. Zimcodd added that weak social spending had imposed an unbearable burden on children.

Primary and Secondary Education ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoros mobile phone was not reachable yesterday. Newsday
Want to live your dreams while improving the world? Try the Akashic Records, said self-empowerment guru Linda Howe in an article written by William S. Bike on Medium.com.

In the article, Howe discusses the Akashic Records, "inspired manifesting," tools for navigating our current difficult era, and the books she has written.

See the article at https://billbike.medium.com/want-to-live-your-dreams-while-improving-the-world-try-the-akashic-records-43d73d5b3534

"Akasha" is a Sanskrit term meaning "life force," Bike writes, noting that theosophists, philosophers, and many other people see the Akashic Records as a compendium of events and thoughts from the past and present in the mental plane. If a person can access the Akashic Records, he or she can heal past traumas while better preparing for the future, the article notes.

To prepare to become an Akashic Records expert, Howe studied Religious Science, The Infinite Way, and related teachings by Joel S. Goldsmith; the ancient wisdom teachings of the Tibetan Djwal Khul in writings by Alice Bailey; and the poetry and philosophy of Armenian writer Torkom Saraydarian.

Those studies led Howe to begin working as a spiritual consultant and shamanistic healer from 1986 to 1994.

Wanting others to have a similar experience, Howe was recognized as a qualified trainer by her teacher, Mary Parker of Akashic Records Consultants International, in 1996. After teaching hundreds of students she developed her own Akashic Records curriculum, based on her Pathway Prayer Process to Access the Heart of the Records. She founded the Center for Akashic Studies in Chicago in 2001 and instituted an Akashic Records Teacher Training Program, certifying teachers from Australia, Canada, China and Taiwan, Spain, Turkey, the United States, and the United Kingdom. She also earned a doctorate in spiritual studies, specializing in the Akashic Records and meriting the distinction of designing the curriculum in the Akashic Records for personal growth and transformation.

Howe has written four books, with a fifth book, The Heart of the Akashic Records Revealed, which will be published in June, on the way. The notoriety she gained from her books has garnered speaker invitations from such organizations as Hay House Publishing, the Infinity Foundation, the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, the Shift Network, and Sounds True Publishing.

Howe describes the Akashic Records as, "an archive of our souls' past, present, and future possibilities," adding that her work "has been about how to make contact with them in a way that is helpful; to make practical use of this infinite spiritual resource."

Howe noted that study of the Akashic Records is "not a religion and it's not against any religion; it's the underpinning of many religions. There are references to the Akashic Records mentioned in every major religion and there are different scriptural references where it can be found."

Bike is the associate editor of the Gazette Chicago newspaper and the author of the books Streets of the Near West Side, Winning Political Campaigns, Celebrating a Proud Past, and The Forgotten 1970 Chicago Cubs: Go and Glow.
WASHINGTON - On a February morning in 2021, a trader at the San Antonio utility CPS Energy messaged his counterpart at the pipeline company Energy Transfer to get a price for natural gas to run CPS power plants over the coming weekend.

On a typical day, CPS might have expected to pay $2 or $3 per million British thermal units. But 90 minutes later, the Energy Transfer trader wrote back, Ok, are you sitting down? before quoting $150 per mmbtu  five times Texass previous record for gas, according to a court document filed by CPS in September.

Nine minutes later, before the CPS trader had even responded, Energy Transfer  Texass largest gas supplier  raised the price to $225. Three days later, with a frigid winter storm sweeping across Texas and leaving millions of Texans without electricity, Energy Transfer raised the price to $500 per mmbtu.

The massive increase in natural gas prices during last winters blackout has set off a wave of litigation in state and federal courts and prompted an investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, casting a spotlight on the workings of Texass complex, opaque and lightly regulated natural gas market. The Texas market, unlike any other in the United States, provides opportunities for pipeline companies such as Energy Transfer to exercise vast market  sometimes monopoly  power to demand whatever prices they want in times of gas shortages, resulting in soaring costs for customers and profits for the companies, according to experts and legal filings.

In the 15 months since last February's winter storm, power companies such as CPS, Vistra Energy of Dallas and Brazos Electric Cooperative of Waco have accused pipeline firms of price gouging and other practices that contributed to billions of dollars in losses for Texass power sector, forcing some electricity providers into bankruptcy and others to raise rates on customers for years to come.

The skyrocketing prices also left Texas natural gas customers with a $3.6 billion bill that will take a decade to pay off. Coincidentally, Energy Transfer and the Houston pipeline company Kinder Morgan earned combined profits of $3.4 billion during the storm.

Different market

Texass gas market, the nations largest by far, operates differently from most of the country. Under the federally-regulated interstate system on which most states rely, the power of pipeline companies to affect gas prices is limited.

Pipeline companies are prohibited from owning the gas that moves through their lines. Their prices are capped, published and readily available. They must sell transit rights, or space in the pipeline, to buyers and sellers of natural gas. Those rights, sold in small pieces, essentially turn one pipeline into hundreds of pipelines with hundreds of owners, preventing any one entity of gaining too much market power.

On HoustonChronicle.com: CenterPoint customers will pay price for pipeline company profits during Texas freeze

Texass intrastate pipeline system, on the other hand, has no such rules. Pipeline companies not only have sole authority to sell space on their lines but can own the gas that moves through their networks. Data on prices and pipeline flows are not published until days after the gas is sold, leaving buyers and sellers to negotiate with pipeline companies without up-to-date information on how much gas is selling for.

Most of the time, this is not a problem. Cheap gas from regulated interstate pipelines flows into Texas from Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico, providing competition and limiting the power of Texas pipeline owners to dictate prices.

But when supplies are short and gas available from interstate lines is limited  such as when wells across the Southwest froze in February 2021  companies operating pipelines within Texas gain outsized market power as buyers scramble to lock down supplies before someone else does. Since buyers have no idea how much competitors are offering or paying, Texas pipeline companies can sell their gas at whatever price they think the market can bear.

The power companies are over a barrel, said Ken Medlock, an economics professor at Rice University. When youre on the interstate system, its very transparent. Anyone can get a rate sheet and you know what the capacities are. And because the owner of the pipeline does not own the capacity, its very competitive. When you cross over to Texas intrastate, this is not the case.

In the weeks around last Februarys winter storm, analysts at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission noted more than 2,000 instances of unusual market behavior around the country  far above normal, FERC said in a report in November. After conducting surveillance of 10 companies, the analysts referred two cases to the commissions Division of Investigation for further examination.

A FERC spokesman said the investigation is ongoing but declined to comment on which states the unusual market behavior occurred.

At a December workshop hosted by Texas power grid manager, Tom Coleman, chief technical adviser for the North American Electric Reliability Corp, or NERC, said there was anecdotal evidence of market manipulation by in the Texas market during the blackout.

Coleman did not provide additional details. NERC, a nonprofit that sets standards for power grids nationwide, declined to make Coleman available for an interview.

Dominant player

At the center of the controversy is the Dallas company Energy Transfer, which dominates Texas intrastate system with 11,600 miles of pipelines and two sprawling storage facilities that have the combined capacity to supply 16.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day  more than all the gas produced in Texas each day.

Its intrastate system is so vast and dominant that Energy Transfer at times accounts for more than 80 percent of fixed-price gas sales at the Houston Ship Channel, a major delivery hub for energy products, according to CPS Energys lawsuit. The sheer volume of gas sold by Energy Transfer at the Ship Channel and another delivery hub in Katy gives the pipeline company the ability to influence, if not outright control daily pricing, driving up costs for customers, the lawsuit said.

Energy Transfer declined to comment on the specific lawsuits and complaints it faces, but a spokeswoman, Vicki Granado, said, We always strive as a company to do what is right for our customers, our employees and our (shareholders). In fact, Do the right thing is a core value of our company.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Gas failures during blackout primarily due to cold, not power outages, FERC reports

James Mann, general counsel for the Texas Pipeline Association, said the market, not pipeline operators, sets prices. The power companies that got burned in the blackout opted to rely on spot markets, rather than pay a premium for futures contracts that guarantee a price at a later date, he said. These contracts, known as hedges, protect buyers against future spikes in prices.

The market price is set by bids and offers, and if the price went up to $400 its because people were offering to buy it at that price all over the state, he said. People get to choose whether theyre going to have secure supply or get cheap gas, and have to worry for three or four days every few years.

No guarantees

Only fixed contracts are no guarantee in situations like last February, when oil and gas wells froze across West Texas and the Panhandle.

A firm controlled by South Korean utility SK E&S, which imports Texas natural gas through the Freeport LNG terminal south of Houston, sued Chevron for $84.5 million last summer, arguing the oil and gas giant violated the terms of their contract when it invoked a force majeure clause  literally an act of God  to claim it could not deliver gas due to the freezing weather. Vistra CEO Curt Morgan has complained he was inundated with force majeure claims from contracted gas suppliers during the storm, forcing the company to the spot market to pay a hundred times more than normal.

As yet, no evidence has surfaced that any pipeline company withheld gas supplies and diverted them to spot markets to take advantage of the huge price swings. But Texas pipeline companies routinely keep excess gas in storage and on pipelines, to sell when prices are at a premium  which they are forbidden to do on the interstate system.

In conditions like last February, pipeline firms have a clear incentive to withhold supply to drive up prices, said James Bushnell, a professor at the University of California-Davis.

Its a classic market price story. Prices go up when less of something is sold, so even if you sell less, the revenues go up, he said. This is why Congress passed regulations that prevented pipeline companies from owning the gas. It gave them so much market power, especially in places with limited pipelines.

In Brenham, for example, officials of the small city about 70 miles west of Houston were forced to accept a contract with Energy Transfer that raised natural gas rates 400 percent because no other pipelines served their area, according to a complaint filed in April with the Railroad Commission, the states natural gas and pipeline regulator.

Brenham, a spokesman said, had no effective choice but to sign the contract in order to avoid a disruption in gas deliveries as winter arrived.

Lack of confidence

Figuring out if, where and how pipeline companies are abusing their market power is a tall order in Texas.

Under state law, pipeline companies are supposed to charge gas customers in a given area roughly the same rates and then report those transactions with the Texas Railroad Commission. Only the commission keeps the customer names and locations confidential, making it impossible to see what the pipelines are charging other customers in their area, said John Hays, an energy attorney in Austin who is representing Brenham before the Railroad Commission.

Its a complaint driven system, but if the customer cant get the evidence, how can they police it? he said. It makes hash of the whole system when you cant get to first base to make a case.

Understanding how the Texas gas system operates is difficult for even the states highest ranking energy officials.

Brad Jones, interim president of the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, the grid manager known as ERCOT, said his operators are usually not notified by pipeline companies when they take systems down for maintenance, making it hard to predict how much electricity to expect from gas-fired power plants on a given day. ERCOT is in discussions with pipeline executives about improving communications, Jones said, but there is still not enough information flowing.

Market monitors look for economic withholding and physical withholding. Did you hold gas out of the market that should have been in the market, or did you raise your price so high it was withholding from the market? Jones said. I wont say its being done, but today that is the lack of confidence.

In 2005, former state Rep. Jim Keffer, a Republican from West Texas and former chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, introduced legislation requiring the Railroad Commission to regulate the rates charged by pipeline companies, writing, Natural gas markets are not competitive in many areas of the state because of pipeline monopoly power.

But the pipeline industry resisted, and the bill never came to a vote. Pipeline companies remain free to charge whatever they like for natural gas with little fear of intervention by the state, including the Railroad Commission.

At a legislative hearing last year, Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick explained that the commission did not get involved in gas pricing or contracts between pipeline companies and their customers.

We arent privy to that piece, nor do we know the volumes they put online, she said. That's not our role. Our role is to regulate and permit, not to get involved in those contracts.

On HoustonChronicle.com: 'Collective amnesia': Texas politicians knowingly blew 3 chances to fix the failing power grid

Pipeline companies, along with the rest of the oil and gas industry, are generous donors to the political campaigns of the three railroad commissioners, who are elected to six-year terms. State law does not limit contributions to elected officials who can make or break a project.

Companies with permit applications before the commission donated more than $2.6 million to commissioners campaigns between 2015 and 2020, according to a report by the activist group Commission Shift, which tracks the Railroad Commission.

Among them were executives from Kinder Morgan, who, along with their partners in the 400-mile long Permian Highway pipeline, gave more than $100,000. While building that pipeline in 2020, Kinder Morgan accidentally pumped 36,000 gallons of drilling fluid into an aquifer in Blanco County, contaminating local water wells.

But thats nothing compared to the giving of Kelcy Warren, the 66-year old chairman of Energy Transfer whose net worth is estimated at $3.8 billion, making him one of the richest 300 people in America, according to the magazine Forbes. Warren donated $225,000 to railroad commissioners campaigns between 2015 and 2020. Energy Transfers co-CEO Mackie McCrea gave $135,000 over the same period.

Warren is one of Texass biggest political donors, giving $10 million to a Super PAC supporting former president Donald Trump in 2020 and $1 million to Governor Greg Abbott after last years blackout, from which Energy Transfer reported $2.4 billion in profits.

Energy Transfer declined to make executives available for interviews.

Energy Transfer is the most aggressive; thats a fair way to think about it, said an executive from another pipeline company, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about a competitor. Its a business model that clearly worked for them.

Speak no evil

For many companies, standing up to the pipeline companies is simply not worth the risk. When Vistra refused to pay a penalty assessed by Energy Transfer during last years winter storm, Energy Transfer threatened to cut off service, according to a complaint filed with the Railroad Commission earlier this year.

Small oil and gas companies, lacking in the resources of large corporations like Vistra, are particularly vulnerable. A small firm might only have one pipeline available to bring its product to market, said Richard Beyea, chairman of the Panhandle Producers & Royalty Owners Association.

Whether you think theyre abusing their power thats always been part of the conversation. But I cant get into specifics, he said. Everybodys very cautious around this. Theyve got private contracts, so they dont want to divulge whats in the contract or they dont want to risk screwing up what theyve got.

Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox

Asked about charges that Energy Transfer and other pipeline companies are abusing their power, Mann, the attorney for the Texas Pipeline Association, was incredulous. He said he has heard the complaints for years, but no one has produced evidence of companies withholding space on their pipelines to drive up prices.

Eric Fell, a power market analyst at the energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, agreed. He said the Texas system has problems, but prices on the federally regulated interstate system also spiked during the storm. On certain interstate pipelines in Oklahoma, he said, prices soared higher than at the Houston Ship Channel.

Yes, the people on the right side of this got windfall gains, he said. But the idea (power companies) got gouged is sour grapes. They got screwed by Mother Nature.

If gas prices went just as high on the interstate system, that would suggest, as pipeline companies argue, that it was the free market that drove up gas prices during the storm, not the companies themselves.

But Medlock, the Rice professor, said it was not so simple. He said that due to the massive size of the Texas gas market, any price spike there will affect gas prices in surrounding states.

Texas is a major producer and exporter of natural gas, he said, so anything that drives up the price in Texas will impact price outside of Texas.

james.osborne@chron.com
Will Hurd, 44, is a former three-term Republican U.S. representative from Texas and former undercover CIA officer. An entrepreneur and cybersecurity expert, Hurd is the author of "American Reboot: An Idealist's Guide to Getting Big Things Done," released in March. He lives in San Antonio.

Q: You talk about being bullied as a kid and about some of the insights you gained from that, whether at the time or as you went on in your life, your career.

A: Look, when you're a kid in fifth grade that wears a size 13 shoe and you got messed-up teeth because your parents can't afford braces and you have a speech impediment, you don't think you're learning a lesson that is going to be useful later on in life, right? Like, I cried like three times a day, and now I'm 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, can deliver a CIA kick, but you know what it's like having that feeling. And so for me, I can't stand bullies, obviously. And you also realize that when you stop worrying about what those other people think - my mom always said, "William, it only matters what your loved ones think about you and what you think about yourself" - that gives you an ability to have empathy in situations when sometimes others don't. I also attribute that to my parents. My dad's Black, my mom's White; they met in Los Angeles, moved to South Texas 1971. It was not in vogue to be an interracial couple in South Texas in the '70s. Somebody asked me recently: Were there other interracial couples in my neighborhood? No. I probably didn't know another interracial couple. Maybe when I got to college.

Q: Did that make you feel different all the while?

A: Well, it was the norm to be the only person that looked like me in the place. It was just like that was normal. And so it wasn't weird looking the way I look living in Pakistan. Because even when in cultures that people are like, "You're not from here," it didn't impact me. It didn't impact me being in Democratic parts of my district when a Republican had never showed up. Those experiences gave me an ability to step out of my comfort zone - maybe it's because you don't have a comfort zone - and spend time in places where others may have felt uncomfortable.

Q: There's a story in your new book where you're in Afghanistan taking around a congressional delegation, and disappointed in their lack of knowledge and maybe lack of interest in learning about what they didn't know. Can you talk about how that motivated you to run for Congress?

A: I went in the CIA when I was 22, right out of my undergrad. Best job on the planet. I had fun serving my country in exotic, dangerous places. My job was to recruit spies and steal secrets. But I also had to brief members of Congress, and I was pretty shocked by the caliber of our elected officials. And my mama always said, "You're either part of the problem or part of the solution." I just felt I could help the intelligence community in a different way to help keep the country safe.

Q: So when you got to Congress, was it what you expected, the caliber of your colleagues?

A: Well, so I will say this: Look, I knew what I was getting into because that was the whole reason I was running. But, yes, there were some other folks I felt were thoughtful, smart, willing to solve problems, or willing to get beyond partisan politics and actually address issues. But I also met and served with people that, in essence, I was shocked by and [reflected] why I decided to run.

A: That was not something that I said. I think it was a Politico article that called me "the future of the GOP." Could there have been other things to do? Yeah. But I got 21 pieces of legislation signed into law. That's actually more than most people that have been there for 20, 25 years do. But it was never something I planned on doing forever. I had said since I ran in 2009 that to do the job well you have a shelf life of six, seven or eight years. I think part of the problem is that we have career or professional politicians. I think having different experiences makes you a better, smarter person. And so I felt like it was the right amount of time. There's more than one way to impact your country and to serve your country.

Q: You talk about how the U.S. needs to "get off the X" at this moment. What do you mean by that? Not everybody knows that lingo.

A: So, "get off the X" is the second lesson you learn at the supersecret CIA training facility, the Farm. And "get off the X" means when something is going down. The last place you want to be is where it's going down, and that's the X. And I shared a story about a situation I got into where I almost got dragged out of a car and beaten to death. And I use that to talk about where we are right now as a country. I think it was a Gallup poll that said 72% of Americans feel the country's on the wrong track. We don't have to be in this position. We don't have to accept that this is the only option that we have. And so for me, if we're going to move to a place where our country continues to have the most important economy in the world, to be able to continue to improve quality of life for all Americans and uplift humanity, we have do something different. We got to get off the X in the moment that we're in.

Q: You say America needs a "reboot" and the Republican Party needs a reboot - saying specifically to the Republican Party: "Don't be an a--hole, racist, misogynist or homophobe." So how do you envision a reboot of the party when moderates [are] censured, primaried, and those leaders who would take up that mantle - like you, [U.S. Rep. Adam] Kinzinger - are leaving?

A: There's going to be new ones coming in. I think this is a uniquely Washington, D.C., thing where everybody focuses on the party as only the elected officials. But I see the party as voters, the people that are actually voting. The reality is 80% of Americans are somewhere in the middle, and they don't get talked to because of the way the primary structures are set up. But this is how I won my elections. Nobody thought a Black Republican could win in a 71% Latino district. People didn't think I could win a primary. I had all kinds of groups against me in Republican primaries. So I've done this. And I've helped other candidates do it in other races. And this is not just a Republican thing. We need two strong parties to have a true competition of ideas to address the challenges that our country is going to be faced with. If we keep doing the same things the same way, we get the same outcomes. And so at some point, there's going to be enough people that stand up and say enough is enough.

What I'm talking about is hard to do. The professional political class - whether Democrat or Republican - tells you to talk to the likely primary voters. But look, that group of people is small. The number of people that vote reliably in general elections but not in primaries is greater than or equal to those that will normally vote in primaries. And so my point is, if the Republican Party, if the GOP wants to stay in power and break the cycle that we've probably been seeing for 30 years, where the leadership keeps changing back and forth, then we have to grow the coalitions within the party. We have an opportunity to grow into Black and Brown communities. You're going to have Republicans winning in Latino districts this upcoming cycle in probably record numbers. You have an opportunity to win in areas that are dominated by women with a college degree in the suburbs. But this idea is not just about winning elections. It's also about governing, and it's also about broadening coalitions in order to continue to make sure we can actually get things done.

Q: You write that Jackie Robinson, who was a Republican, would not recognize the party today and probably not be affiliated with it. Has your allegiance to it been tested recently?

A: No, just because there are some nuts in the party, that doesn't mean that they get to decide what the Republican Party is.

Q: A huge number of Republicans don't accept that the election was fair. It's not just a couple nuts.

A: Sure. So look, I've been very clear on 2020 and that it was lost, not stolen. But here's the reality: When I crisscross the district, when I'm out in the country, nobody brings that stuff up. They care about putting food on their table, a roof over their head, taking care of their friends and family. We don't need to be talking and fighting the battles of the past. We need to solve real problems, things like Ukraine, Iran, border security, the national debt. The fact that technology is evolving at such a rapid pace that we need to be talking about technology's role in society. The threat of China surpassing the United States of America as a global superpower is a major issue.

This is going to impact our 401(k)s, it's going to impact the ability of our kids and our grandkids to get good-paying jobs. Look, we benefit from having some of the greatest companies being based in America because our kids and our grandkids get to go work at those places. It's going to have an impact on our culture - our artists, our musicians, our authors are having an impact on culture all over the world. These are all things that play into us having a society in which we have a quality of life that is the envy of the world. That is in jeopardy. And the way the Chinese government is going to try to surpass us is by being global leaders in advanced technologies like 5G, AI, quantum computing.

Q: And you define that as the "new cold war" - with our "frenemy."

A: Yeah. Because here's the difference, here's why this is harder: The Soviet and the American economies were not as intertwined, and the U.S. and Russian economy are nowhere near as intertwined as between us and China. Economically. Culturally. The U.S. and China should be able to coexist, but we need to be playing and coexisting based on rules that we agree on. If the Chinese government agrees to be a part of the [World Trade Organization], then you got to adhere to the rules of the WTO, right?

Q: I want to ask you about Ukraine. What do you think we ought to be doing as a country?

A: First and foremost, my principle on what our foreign policy should be is simple: Your friends should love you and your enemies should fear you. What does that mean in the Ukraine? When [President Volodymyr] Zelensky is saying there's more help he needs, and we're not willing to give it, that's a problem. When Vladimir Putin is not concerned about the U.S. and our allies doing something, that's a problem. So I do believe that those MiGs and as other material that we can be giving the Ukrainians allow them to actually win the war. So can we do everything to help the Ukrainians win this war themselves and give such an overwhelming defeat to Vladimir Putin that he has no other choice? But in the meantime, if the administration's not going to do that, we need to start thinking about the Marshall Plan for Ukraine for a rebuild. And that Marshall Plan can begin in those Eastern Europe countries like Poland that are dealing with that humanitarian crisis.

Q: Would you say there's a leadership vacuum now?

A: One hundred percent there is. And we need to inspire rather than fearmonger. Everybody's been saying this for a long time, but nobody's really trying to do anything about it. Look, my social media profile would be 10 times what it is now if I said crazy things. But guess what: That's not me and I'm not going to participate in that. I refuse. Because I also think it's important to model the behavior that you want to see. And so I'm going to do things my way. And if it works, great; if it doesn't work, that's OK, too - just put in the effort and try to make an impact. And as long as I can go back in my community and [hold up] my head and explain why I did things, then I'm going to be happy.

Q: How optimistic do you feel about the situation today and the possibility of a reboot?

A: I think things might get worse before they get better. But I do think they get better. I do think our best days are actually ahead of us. People want to be inspired; they want to believe in something better than themselves. These are tough decisions, hard problems. And there are some people that believe that there's potential for a civil war before there is an American reboot. I understand that, but there's just too many people that love this country that are frustrated with the system that are ready to do something a little bit different. And whoever taps into that, you're going to see long-term success.
Whether it be San Antonio residents or out-of-town visitors, Bill Miller Bar-B-Q CEO and President Jim Guy Egbert said people are always asking about the horn they hear sounding off from the companys downtown headquarters.

Since the mid-2000s the air horn that the business bought from a train company has been ringing through the streets of downtown for 13 seconds every weekday at noon and 5 p.m. The sound coming from the roof of the headquarters, Egbert said, is meant to signify lunch time and the end of the work day.

On ExpressNews.com: Mystery solved: What is that siren in downtown San Antonio?

Bill Miller social media manager Roxanne Mijares told the Express-News last year that the horn was purchased because Balous Miller  son of the original owners Bill Miller and Ila Faye Miller  wanted a working-man whistle to be sounded for lunch and the end of the day.

Its common for people to walk into the headquarters and ask about the sound, Egbert said. Its something he said employees and passersby alike enjoy.

Its been around for a long time, Egbert said. Theres a lot of folks who recognize it and associate Bill Miller Bar-B-Q with that air horn, so its kind of been a nostalgic thing for a lot of folks.

On ExpressNews.com: Bill Miller Bar-B-Q plans to move downtown HQ to San Antonios West Side

For almost two decades Maria Z. Aguillon and her co-workers at Goodwill Industries of San Antonio on West Commerce wondered what the sound was and last year learned that it was coming from the Bill Miller headquarters on South Santa Rosa Avenue. Aguillons co-worker Lauren Serrato joked to the Express-News at the time that she would need to record the horn for nostalgias sake if the headquarters ended up leaving downtown as was being reported.

But Egbert said last year that Bill Miller would not be leaving downtown and neither would the air horn  he said as much this week, too.

Though the company is planning to move its headquarters out of downtown and over to 5330 Texas 151, Egbert said the current headquarters will still be used as a production facility. And it will be a while until that new building is ready, anyway  construction costs and materials shortages have delayed the projects timeline. It will be several months before the company can even break ground, and then another 15 to 17 months before the building will be completed.

On ExpressNews.com: Bill Miller CEO: Inflation, shortages push back start of new HQ construction

So, the air horn and Bill Miller Bar-B-Q will be a part of the downtown San Antonio tapestry for years to come.

We definitely want to have a presence downtown, Egbert said. A lot of our employees live close to this location so its convenient for them, and itll continue to supplement the production that we have that goes to our stores every day.

Staff writer Vincent T. Davis contributed to this story.

megan.rodriguez@express-news.net
A homeowner shot a man who broke into a West Side home overnight, according to San Antonio police.

Officers said the a man tried to break into the home about 1:30 a.m. Sunday at Wilmot and Knoke streets, near North General McMullen, when the homes owner grabbed a gun and shot him twice.

The man ran away but was found by emergency medical services nearby. He was loaded into an ambulance and was about to be treated, but he became angry and escaped from the ambulance, the SAPD said.

Police were able to capture him again, and he was taken to University Hospital in stable condition. He had gunshot wounds to his right elbow and right thigh and had cuts from jumping over a barbed-wire fence.

Later Sunday morning, San Antonio police officers were dispatched to South Presa Street and Avondale Avenue to check reports of someone possibly hit by a train. The officers found a 31-year-old man lying on the ground near the train tracks and complaining about leg pain, police said.

He was taken to University Hospital, and his condition was not immediately available Sunday.

Both incidents are under investigation.
Since Feb. 22, our organizations and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund have been receiving calls from terrified families who wonder whether it is safe to bring their kids to the emergency room or if getting medical care for their children would result in an investigation by the Department of Family and Protective Services.

Gov. Greg Abbotts attempt to end medical care for trans youth is on hold under an injunction. But still, medical providers are closing up and turning away kids for fear of state retribution.

Despite overwhelming evidence that access to gender-affirming health care is a life-or-death matter for transgender youth, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Abbott have exploited their power to intimidate medical providers into denying this essential care. As we told the Texas Supreme Court in a recent friend of the court brief, the governors intimidation tactics have sent the states transgender children and their families into terror.

In a heartbreaking conversation, Texas parents A. and M. told their children they would have to hide the identity of their youngest  a trans child. To protect their identities, we are only using their initials. They watched the support system they spent years building up start to break down. The family doctor told them, I cant protect you from this, saying he had to protect his family. Diligent and proactive parents, A. and M. started saving to move out of the state, a last resort to ensure their child could have a therapist they could trust.

These are just two of hundreds such parents across Texas, desperate to protect their children from harm.

This crusade started in July, when Abbott pressured one of the countrys most prominent gender-affirming clinics to stop taking new patients.

On a talk radio show, Abbott said that although there was no bill limiting gender-affirming health care for kids, he had another way of achieving the same exact thing. Four months later, the GENECIS clinic  an interdisciplinary support program vital for more than 1,000 transgender youth  was dissolved. Clinic founder Dr. Ximena Lopez testified last month that the clinics website was suddenly taken down and providers were ordered to stop taking patients.

While Lopez reported direct pressure from the state, other health care providers are being swallowed up by the confusion, leading to a domino effect of clinic closures across Texas. Doctors and therapists, who are legally required to report child abuse, are unsure how Paxtons reimagining of the law will affect their practice. Some solo practitioners and smaller practices have ceased gender-affirming treatment to avoid mandatory reporting requirements.

This leaves providers stuck between their oath, federal law, fear of criminalization and health care best practices. Families with trans youth who were on puberty blockers before the directive are now scrambling to find care for their teens.

Trans kids and their families cannot wait for a prolonged legal battle to get sorted out in the courts. Health care is being cut off today  legal, lifesaving health care is not being provided to our kids. We need Texans to muster the courage to stand up for trans kids and their families. Tell your legislator, the attorney general and the governor that you wont stand for it.

Ricardo Martinez is the CEO of Equality Texas. Emmett Shelling is the executive director of the Transgender Education Network of Texas.
Sarah Morris was 10 weeks pregnant when she found out she had cervical cancer, putting her at higher risk of hemorrhaging and other life-threatening complications.

The safest choice, her doctor advised, would be to have an abortion  out of state because Texas law prohibits abortions beyond six weeks  and seek cancer treatment.

Though the law makes an exception for medical emergencies, Morris said her doctor told her its definition leaves a lot up to interpretation, so she would perform abortions only on patients who were bleeding out or in other obvious life-or-death situations.

I was completely depressed, Morris said. This is a baby we want, and we want more babies, but I dont want to die.

It was clear the doctor felt that doing the procedure on a cancer patient could open her up to a lawsuit, Morris said. Any private citizen can enforce the Texas law by filing a civil suit against a person who aids or abets an abortion that violates the six-week ban. And the citizen can collect at least $10,000 in damages.

Morris, 32, and her husband, Shane, 35, who as newlyweds dreamed of having five kids, were willing to accept at least some risk for the chance of a second child. It would be the Houston-area couples first girl, theyd learned the same day that Morris received her diagnosis.

Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

But one thought plagued their minds: If her cancer worsened, could they trust that their Texas doctor would feel comfortable performing an abortion before it was too late? Their tentative plan is to drive to Louisiana if a complication arises.

We are people that want more kids, Shane Morris said. This is not a situation of abortion as birth control. I really just want the right to safely have a family without putting my wifes life in danger completely unnecessarily. To me, that is a very low bar.

IN-DEPTH: Abortion access is already nearly impossible in Texas. Its about to get a lot harder.

Their situation illustrates the breadth of the effects of the states virtual abortion ban  both on those with planned and unplanned pregnancies. It also foreshadows the difficult decisions Texans and other Southerners will be forced to make if the longstanding constitutional right to an abortion is stricken and red states move to abolish it altogether.

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision protecting that right, as a leaked draft opinion indicates it may, all abortions in Texas would become illegal within 30 days under a trigger law passed by the Legislature last year. Any doctor who even attempts an abortion would face felony charges.

Recently, Shane Morris posted a TikTok video about the laws impact on their family, hoping to spread awareness about its consequences and urging that it be overturned.

He never could have guessed just how relevant the post would become. Four days later, the bombshell story broke that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito had drafted an opinion that would repeal Roe. The video has since amassed more than a million views.

I wanted to tell this story because I feel like this law is probably going to hurt people that a lot of people making that law did not consider, Morris said. Im hoping that by at least explaining our unique situation, we might change just a few minds.

It chills medical providers

The Texas law, Senate Bill 8, allows doctors to perform abortions beyond the six-week mark only if there is danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function.

Amy ODonnell, spokeswoman for the Texas Alliance for Life, said her group is confident that the law is unequivocal, as is HB 1280, the trigger law that would ban all abortions in Texas within 30 days of a ruling overriding Roe v. Wade.

If its a true health emergency that warrants a medical emergency exception, I believe any physician would be able to clearly ascertain what would fall under that exception, ODonnell said, adding that there is also an exemption for ectopic pregnancies, in which the fetus develops outside the uterus, where it cannot survive.

Doctors may be misinformed about the law, and patients like Sarah Morris should seek second opinions in cases of emergencies, said John Seago, legislative director for Texas Right to Life, another anti-abortion group.

I definitely understand there may be some misunderstandings or lack of knowledge from the practitioners side of what is and is not included in the legal definition, Seago said. What weve heard from lawyers but also practitioners looking at it is that language allows them to follow best practices.

For doctors, the threat of a lawsuit and the possibility of losing their medical licenses makes the calculation of what constitutes an emergency a lot more weighty, said Elizabeth Sepper, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

The question is: How bad do things have to get before a doctor can say theres danger of death or serious risk of substantial impairment of major bodily function as the law proscribes, Sepper said. It chills medical providers who are afraid their particular patients case wont perfectly fit within the exception or theyll have to prove a case fits within the exception.

Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Abortion restrictions such as SB8 are based on politics rather than science, said Dr. Jen Villavicencio, lead for equity transformation at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. That means their language is oftentimes incorrect or not clinically meaningful, she said.

Seago suggested medical groups like ACOG are not putting out sufficient guidance for physicians because they disagree with anti-abortion laws.

Villavicencio said the group does not have an ideological agenda and that while it puts out clinical guidance, it cannot give legal advice.

In some cases, the life of a pregnant person may indeed be imminently in danger, but in other cases, that line may be harder to identify, she said.

Thats not only heart-wrenching and intensely frustrating for doctors, but it also puts patients at grave risk, she added.

Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Yet these are situations that are playing out on a regular basis in Texas, several physicians said.

Its tying our hands for the care of women, not just with medical conditions that may require termination, but even for women that may come in for emergencies, like infection or bleeding, said one Houston-area OB-GYN doctor who spoke on the condition of anonymity because her employer had not authorized her to comment.

Its not that the law says we cant take care of them, but its very ambiguous, the language in the law, so each doctor is going to interpret that differently, each hospital group is going to interpret that differently, and thats in the back of everybodys minds, she said.

The doctor recalled a recent case in which a woman who was 20 weeks pregnant came in with bleeding. Her baby would not survive outside the womb at that age, and the womans life was in danger. Though her medical team ultimately induced labor, the doctor said there was concern among them when normally it would have been a no-brainer.

Later, hospital administration officials suggested that perhaps there should have been a discussion before theyd moved forward.

Thats when I was thinking: This is crazy that anyone should need approval in the midst of an emergency, the doctor said. Its not the standard of care. It was a very, very clear-cut case, and theres many, many more that are less clear-cut.

Women are going to get care that is sub-optimal due to this law.

Sarahs dilemma

Sarah Morris knew from her first pregnancy, with her son Jack, that she had some polyps on her cervix, but she did not know at the time that they were cancerous. Shed hoped to be able to get them treated after Jack, who is now nearly 2, was born.

But late last year, she lost her job and her health insurance. She found out she was pregnant again not long after that.

As the couple reviewed options, Morris oncologist let her know that there were few tests to measure the progress of her cancer that could be done while she was pregnant and few safe treatment options that wouldnt hurt the baby. Keeping the baby would mean allowing the cancer to grow mostly unchecked until after delivery.

Weighing heavily on Morris mind when making her decision was the prospect that as part of her cancer treatment, she could need a hysterectomy, which would deny her the opportunity to have more children, like shed hoped.

Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

After hearing a more optimistic outlook from the oncologist about the likelihood of a safe and healthy pregnancy, the Morrises decided to cautiously move forward with the pregnancy while monitoring the cancer as best they could. So far, it seems to be progressing slowly.

If it takes a turn for the worse, though, the couple is still digesting the idea that the Supreme Court could strike down Roe v. Wade, denying them the ability to get an abortion by driving to Louisiana  and most other states neighboring Texas  as the trigger laws go into effect.

Theyre not sure yet what theyd do in that case, but theyre aware that theyre fortunate enough to have more options available to them than most because of their financial stability.

In the meantime, theyre staying positive and hoping for the best. If all goes to plan, Sarah Morris will be able to safely have a scheduled cesarean section in August.

Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Theyre also dealing with a flurry of comments and direct messages as a result of their TikTok video.

Some posted hateful comments that Shane Morris has had to delete, and hes even received threatening messages. Many have responded by trying to discount their story, arguing that the exemptions should be enough to cover them, much to Sarah Morris frustration.

When people try to tell me Im wrong, you know, Im living proof until Im dead, basically, she said. This is what Im going through. I know the answer. And I just, honestly, no matter what, I hope they dont have to find out the hard way.

taylor.goldenstein@chron.com
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

Cloudy skies. High near 55F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low around 35F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
China applies fine wind forecast system to ensure spacecraft-rocket transfer

Xinhua) 13:18, May 08, 2022

Photo taken on May 7, 2022 shows the combination of the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft and a Long March-7 Y5 carrier rocket being transferred in south China's Hainan Province. (Photo by Yang Zhiyuan/Xinhua)

WENCHANG, Hainan, May 7 (Xinhua) -- China has for the first time realized the fine forecast of Earth's near-surface wind for a major space launch mission, according to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

The fine forecast system for wind in key areas of the near-surface layer has been applied to ensure the transfer of the combination of the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft and the Long March-7 Y5 carrier rocket to the launching area of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, the center said.

The system was developed by the meteorological tech support team of the center to overcome challenges from the Earth's near-surface wind, which has a great impact on the smooth vertical transfer of spacecraft and rockets.

As the rocket has not been filled with fuel before being transferred to the launch site, it is easily affected by wind, especially in the coastal regions, which makes the precise forecast of near-surface wind very important for the transfer.

Located in south China's Hainan Province, the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site is the country's fourth launch site and the only one by the seaside.

Photo taken on May 7, 2022 shows the combination of the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft and a Long March-7 Y5 carrier rocket in south China's Hainan Province. (Photo by Yang Zhiyuan/Xinhua)

The forecast system can provide real-time visual weather forecasts based on the latest meteorological information of the near-surface wind, with three-dimensional simulation images as well as change parameters of wind power and direction.

The system has been developed since 2018, and it passed the final inspection and acceptance in April this year.

According to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, the new forecast system performed well during its first application in the transfer mission of Tianzhou-4 and Long March-7 Y5.

Its forecast precision is within one meter and it has played an important role in enhancing the meteorological forecast capabilities of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, the center said.

The Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft will be launched in the near future at an appropriate time, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Bianji)


ZANU PF Bulawayo provincial leadership has been shaken by recent calls for a national shutdown by pressure group Pachedu and number of student organisations.

The calls for a shutdown arose from growing discontent among citizens over the ruling partys failure to address the worsening economic situation.

Pachedu and Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) last week called for a national stay away to be staged today (Monday).

Zanu PF is, however, accusing the United States embassy in Zimbabwe of funding Pachedu.

Zanu PF Bulawayo provincial spokesperson Archbold Chiponda said: Call for a shutdown as who? To achieve what? Right now times are tough, all shoulders are being put to the wheel in an effort to achieve economic growth and to lift all our people to a better situation in the country and you have some advocating for stay aways.

It absolutely boggles the mind when you hear someone advocating for an illegality in the form of mushikashika and illegal commuter omnibus operators.have they bothered to check the death and accident statistics since the government gave sanity to the transport sector through the return to Zupco? The answer is to sit down and figure out how to capacitate the sector to make further gains, not to simply call for a return to illegality for the sake of expediency.

Chiponda said when he perused Twitter he saw that Pachedu had posted a picture of students in Denmark holding placards encouraging Zimbabwean students not to attend their institutions of higher learning.

He questioned how ironic it was for students who are at schools abroad, getting their education, to tell other students not to go to school.

Chiponda said the best advice for Pachedu and its handlers was to find somewhere to play their games. He said this was the time for Zimbabweans to pull all their weight and work. Newsday
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The life of Bollywood celebs is hardly a matter of privacy, and with the advent of social media  it has become easier to get glimpses of both their personal and professional lives. Like every other occasion that is celebrated in a massive manner, celebs also dont shy away from expressing their love for their near and dear ones. Be it their family members or friends  these days every celeb takes to their official social media handles to put up mushy posts with lovely pictures.



On Mother's Day we glance over some of the most beautiful relationships that our favourite stars have with their mothers. Time and again, celebs like Sonam Kapoor Ahuja to Sara Ali Khan, Abhishek Bachchan to Ranbir Kapoor  theyve set examples of the beautiful relationship between a mother and their child and how they are their best friends. This Mothers Day, we highlight some of the most admired mother-daughter and mother-son duos that we truly love and would love to see more of, be it onscreen or off-screen! Lets have a look:

Neetu Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor

The Kapoors have been in the news for the last month or so for all the right reasons. With the most-awaited wedding of Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt finally taking place, it goes without saying why no one can stop gushing about them. What the wedding pictures also brought to the limelight in abundance, yet again, is the beautiful relationship between Ranbir Kapoor and yesteryear actress and his mother  Neetu Kapoor. Ranbir has always been extremely attached to his mother. Earlier Ranbir had also shared how his mother made his childhood a lot easier and happier. Going down the memory lane he shed light on how he was always taught to credit and experience joy with the little things in life and focus on what seems real and authentic. Neetu Kapoor had made Ranbir her biggest confidante and that as a child, was special to him. Quite playfully, he had also mentioned how he absolutely has no qualms about being tagged as a mamas boy as he loves spoiling his mother with all the love he has for her.

Soni Razdan and Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatts relationship with her mother Soni Razdan is one that every daughter envies. Open, communicative, and always supportive of each other. Alia Bhatt had earlier shared the little aspects of good mannerisms that her mother had inculcated in her since her childhood. She had revealed that his mother still scolds her when she forgets to express gratitude or say a simple thank you. Recalling her first shot where she was required to walk down a flight of stairs and turn and look back, she remembered how when she did she could see her mother welling up as she conversed with her sister Shaheen. Quite often the trio are also clicked going on vacation to exotic locations together or simply catching up over cozy family brunches in the city. Alia Bhatt has also shared a short screen space with her mother in Raazi for which she won many accolades as well. Truly a special bond.

Jaya Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan

Abhishek Bachchan who is an avid social media user has gone on to show his unparalleled love for his mother and legendary actress Jaya Bachchan time and again. On memorable occasions, Abhishek has commented about how proud he feels of being Jaya Bachchans son considering the prestigious accolades and recognition she has gathered all through her life. On her birthdays too, Abhishek is always seen putting up some vintage pictures and penning down some thoughtful yet a crisp message that encapsulates his deeply felt emotions in the most beautiful manner. Abhishek and Jaya Bachchan are one of the most loved mother-son duos, Abhisheks throwback pictures give ample evidence of the beautiful and close bond they share with each other, and it is truly endearing.

Sunita Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor

One of the many common threads that bind Sonam Kapoor so close to her mother Sunita Kapoor is their eternal love for sartorial fashion picks. In fact, on most occasions, Sonam is seen bejewelled in her mothers statement pieces that make her look all the more ethereal, and has a much higher emotional quotient attached to them. The Kapoor family has always been vocal about their strong bond in the family, they are the biggest cheerleaders of each other and that is where we have witnessed how close Sonam Kapoor is to her mother Sunita Kapoor. This gorgeous mother-daughter duo has often showcased their eternal love for style  be it at Sonams wedding or her stunning wedding photoshoot, Sonam has always taken a leaf out of her mothers lookbook. Their series of pictures together, striking that elegant pose, decked in exquisite finery might give the hint of the most fashionable mother-daughter duo in tinsel town.

Karuna Dhawan and Varun Dhawan

Even though one does not get to see a lot of PDAs taking place when it comes to Varun Dhawan and his mother Karuna Dhawan, on special occasions like her birthday, he always goes on to share his deep love and gratitude towards her. On one of her birthdays, Varun had taken to social media as he shared a series of pictures and had gotten emotional as he mentioned how his mother has always kept others happiness ahead of her. Hes been extremely expressive in confessing that his mother is the greatest strength and conscience that he has been bestowed with. In numerous instances, he has also shared throwback images from his childhood, penning down mushy yet cute one-liners such as, Through holidays and quarantine Ma and me were always meant to be together #keepyourfamilysafe. It is truly heart-warming to see such stoic mother-son relationships being reflected by our favourite stars that only go on to set such brilliant examples of how beautiful this bond is.

Amrita Singh and Sara Ali Khan

Being a single mother so early on in life is not an easy task, but Sara Ali Khan sure had a beautiful childhood unfolding in front of her that made her establish such close kinship with her mother. Her mother is her best friend, and she has always made it clear how important that feeling and bond are to her. On several occasions, she has even mentioned how she would only get married if the guy agrees to come and stay with her and her mother. Sara is seen celebrating festivals throughout the year with her mother and brother whenever possible. She has also shared several images from some vacations which she makes time for amidst her hectic work schedules. Heartfelt confessions have always been the crux of who Sara is. She doesnt shy away from expressing how her mother has always kept her grounded and given her a reality check whenever necessary. Her mother has been the biggest support system in her life because of which today she has a much more stable understanding of who she is. Such deeply felt emotions being put to words is truly the kind of mother-daughter duo everyone should be blessed with.

Kareena Kapoor Khan  Karisma Kapoor and Babita Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor Khan and Karisma Kapoor are one of the most loved sister duos from the most influential family of Bollywood. Their mother Babita Kapoor has been their greatest confidant for all the years growing up and walking into different phases of their lives. Kareena had even expressed how she considers her mother to be her god and she can never imagine life without her presence in it. She had also commented years ago how her mother is the kind of lifeline she cant do without and irrespective of how busy she gets, she always makes time to meet with her and spend quality time with her, building memories every step of the way. She further added how at home the world revolves around her mother, if she is saddened, the whole house seems to be gloomy. Her mothers views and opinions are of prime importance to her, she would never step out of the way and disregard them under any circumstance, thats how highly she thinks of her mother.

Motherhood is a culmination of a plethora of celebrations all juxtaposed into one deep feeling. A mother is a gift that life gives us, and these celebs prove how when it comes to your relationship with your mother, they are as simple and similar to that of what common folks have. The same emotions, the same understanding, and the same support  all resulting in the beautiful bond between her mother and her child.
FREMONT, Calif., May 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jackery, the leader of innovative portable power and green outdoor energy solutions, has announced it will release its most powerful solar generator product to date, empowering more campers, van-lifers, and outdoor enthusiasts to embrace the great outdoors this summer. The solar generator will launch on Jackery Day 2022, which will be held as a global live stream on http://www.jackery.com at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on May 12. Jackery has invited all interested to pre-register their interest now for the highly anticipated product.

Jackery has long been a provider of solar energy products that offer self-sufficient power supplies on the go and as a home generator backup. For over a decade, Jackery has expertly manufactured solar panels and portable power stations before bundling them into a single portable energy solution: the Solar Generator.

The first of its kind, Jackery's Solar Generator is a solar solution bundle that tightly integrates portability with solar power. It converts sun energy captured by the solar panels into electrical power, then stores it in a portable power station for later use. This access to on-demand, clean energy equips people with the tools they need enhance their outdoor experience and "Live Life to the Outdoorsiest".

Jackery's Solar Generator concept is the result of years of R&D into solar energy and portable power generation. In 2015, the world's first lithium portable power series-the Explorer-catapulted Jackery's avant-garde portable power line onto the world stage and featured an innovative battery management system. Since then, Jackery has designed a range of Explorer models including the Explorer 240, a classic model that has become a popular staple in the family of portable power stations since launching in 2018.

In the same year, Jackery unveiled the original SolarPeak technology alongside the Solarsaga solar panel series. Designed to provide long-lasting power supplies for off-the-grid outdoor living, Jackery's SolarSaga series boosted solar charging efficiency to set an industry standard. Following this, the company combined both technologies into the Solar Generator, which combines the Explorer and SolarSaga into one clean energy solution to make electricity even more green, efficient and convenient, contributing to the emergence of several chart-topping products, including the Jackery Solar Generator 1000.

Jackery has continued to develop its excellent sustainable outdoor life brand and product line, setting the industry standard and benchmark for solar and renewable charging. To date, with a global footprint spanning from the US to Europe, Japan and China, Jackery has achieved over 1.5 million global sales.

About Jackery

Founded in California in 2012, Jackery is a top-selling global outdoor solar generator brand that emboldens campers to go further outdoors without compromise. As the pioneer of the Solar Generator concept and products, Jackery offers a range of portable, versatile green generators that meet all outdoor needs, from charging a cellphone or laptop to powering large devices like electric cooking equipment, heaters and lights. Its products have been consistently selected as Best Sellers on Amazon, Amazon's Choice since 2020.

So far, Jackery has received 12 prestigious international awards, including the Red Dot Design Award, the iF Design Award, the A' Design Award and Competition, and the CES Innovation Award. The New York Times, CNET, Digital Trends, Forbes, Tom's Guide, Newsweek, Bob Vila, PCWorld, and other publications have ranked it the best solar generator.

Since 2018, Jackery has sold more than 1.5 million units worldwide and boasts a global footprint spanning from the US to Europe, Japan and China.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1812911/1009f92476e2efdfc99a7189c529f3a.jpg
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 8, 2022) - Scryb Inc. (CSE: SCYB) (OTCQB: SCYRF) (FSE: EIY) ("Scryb' or the "Company"), is pleased to host the ninth episode of The State of Cybersecurity Industry Webinar - "Building Automation, Smart Buildings and Smart Cities' on May 10th at 1PM EDT, featuring renowned industry leaders in the cybersecurity sector.

The panelists include Fred Gordy1, Director of Cyber Security at Intelligent Buildings LLC , Andrew Kling2, Industry Automation VP Cybersecurity and Product Security Officer at Schneider Electric and Dr. Andreas Kuehn3, Senior Fellow at Observer Research Foundation America. The panel will be moderated by Evgeniy Kharam4, VP of Cybersecurity Solution Architecture.





Figure 15

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/952/123157_d8c1e1d084180b72_001full.jpg

Register for the "Building Automation, Smart Buildings and Smart Cities" Free Webinar on LinkedIn using the link here: https://bit.ly/3sndr18

The changes brought about by the mass migration to remote work, has forced evolution on both home and office automation. Long term trends in building management systems are inflecting in ways that are important to those that live and work in them, as well as those who build them.



As leaders in SBOMs, these panelists will discuss the challenges those in the Smart Building and Smart Cities industry face and the future of Smart Cities and Smart Buildings. The event will be hosted live on the Cybeats YouTube channel on May 10th at 1PM EDT: https://bit.ly/3Fpp3Gb

About SBOM

An SBOM is a record of all software components that make up a product. It is a complete, formally structured list of components, libraries, and modules that are included in the software. An analogy for SBOM is the nutritional ingredients list found on everyday food products, such as a can of coke. A Coca Cola ingredient list includes information that can be used to gauge allergy risk, expiry dates, and other food safety information. Just as food products are mandated to provide this list to consumers, SBOM is quickly becoming a similar standard in the software industry.

The Whitehouse signed an executive order in May 2021 stipulating that all vendors responsible for supplying software to federal agencies must provide an SBOM. Organizations and governments are growing more aware of the importance of software supply chain security. Many regulations take effect in and around August 2022, and others are to follow thereafter. It is anticipated that SBOM will become a global standard across industries.

Cybeats SBOM Studio gives access to one-of-a-kind tools to manage SBOM needs and software vulnerabilities, and provides proactive mitigation of risks to their software supply chain. Key product features include:

SBOM document management and repository

Vulnerability, threat insights, risk management

Software license infringement alerts

SBOM exchange with regulatory authorities, at reduced cost

RECENT NEWS: Cybeats recently appointed Bob Lyle, cybersecurity industry leader, as Chief Revenue Officer. To read the full story: https://bit.ly/3r8AMTz

About Cybeats

Cybeats delivers intelligent security applications for software supply chains and IoT connected devices, autonomously detecting and eliminating cyber risks from design to operation. Cybeats - Software Made Certain. Website: www.cybeats.com

SUBSCRIBE: For more information, or to SubScryb to the Company's mail list, visit: http://scryb.ai

About Scryb

Scryb is a platform that powers businesses and technologies with applied intelligence, real-time analytics, and actionable insights. The platform boasts proven adaptability across diverse markets, from digital health and diagnostics to cybersecurity and manufacturing. The cloud-based platform is composed of crucial elements including sensor technology, IoT, predictive analytics, and computer vision.

For more information, please visit our website at: http://scryb.ai

Contact:

W. Clark Kent

President

Office. 647-872-9982

TF. 1-844-247-6633

Email: info@scryb.ai

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement

Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the commercialization plans for the technology described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com

___________________________

1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredgordy/

2 https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-kling-csslp-8789b26/

3 https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreas-kuehn-457825/

4 https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekharam/

5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yzbQxELTJ4

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/123157
SimpliSafe, a Boston, MA-based provider of home security solutions, raised over USD200M in funding.

This funding was provided by the affiliates of Capital One, N.A., HPS Investment Partners, Owl Rock [a division of Blue Owl] and Eastern Bank.

The company intends to use the funds to invest in its workforce, hiring across the business, in the the technology and professional monitoring capabilities that can improve the safety and security of its customers, and refinance its existing facilities.

Led by CEO Christian Cerda, SimpliSafe provides home security solutions, which now protect millions of people. The company recently innovated its product suite, launching a Wireless Outdoor Camera, and created an owned-and-operated professional monitoring center in Richmond, VA.

Last year, SimpliSafe surpassed its projection of $400 million in annualized recurring revenue (ARR).



FinSMEs

08/05/2022
Dogs, reptiles, llamas, goats and more were among the guests at Oregon State University Pet Day Saturday, May 7.

It was the first Pet Day since 2019, and community members gathered to pet the animals, learn more about veterinary medicine and enjoy a day out with their furry friends.

The event is put on by students of the OSU Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine.

Its an event to bring the vet school community together with greater Corvallis community, co-organizer of Pet Day and second year vet student Kayla Ashland said before the event. We can open the door to community more than usual, let them see behind the scenes of the vet school and put on educational booths for the kids to get them excited about vet medicine.

A plethora of animals

There were plenty of kids in attendance, eagerly pointing out the animals they encountered. Two-year-old Zoe Caminata was enthralled by the goats.

She has an obsession with lambs and baby goats and animals in general, Nathan Caminata, Zoes dad said. This seemed like a great opportunity for her to see those animals.

The goats were surrounded by llamas and sheep. A kids zone was nearby with a bounce house and other activities for children.

Booths from local humane societies and shelters as well as other pet-related vendors provided attendees with everything they could possibly need for their own animals.

A dog washing station gave canine owners the chance to have their pooch cleaned by vet students.

Cliff and Sharon Burgess of Dallas brought their golden retriever Solomon to Pet Day so he could get a bath. Vet students Madi Turley and Alyssa Bramon laughed as Solomon shook off the water from his coat.

Although the animal attendees were mostly dogs, a trip inside to the vet school allowed visitors to pet an alligator or snake and see other exotic animals.

One of the unique animals included a bunny in eight-year-old Audrey Fulshers backpack. It was her best friend Ashlyn Woogens bunny. The two said the best part of Pet Day was seeing all the different animals.

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There were even ferrets available to pet. Lane Area Ferret Shelter and Rescue Manager Melanee Ellis said she was at Pet Day with the hope of giving people the opportunity to pet a ferret for the first time and learn more about the animal.

Community impact

Before the event started, community members had the chance to participate in a 5k fun run/walk. Liz Harbert, who works with students at the vet school, brought her dog Cheeter to the walk.

We always come out to Pet Day and support the clubs, Harbert said.

Harbert was at the event with her friend Sharon Wolf, a vet technician with the college. Wolfs dog Jonah is a patient at the OSU vet school.

If it wasnt for the students and the vet school, Jonah wouldnt be able to do the walk, Wolf said.

Pet Day seemed to be a success, despite the gloomy skies. The beloved community event came back with excitement.

The impact of Pet Day is evident in the students who organized this years event.

Ashland said she is from Corvallis and grew up going to Pet Day with her family. She remembers adopting her first family dog at Pet Day.

Besides Ashland, the other student organizers this year were Katrina Coalwell, Patrick Callagy, and Michaela Rybolt.

When I was an undergrad student on the fence about veterinary medicine, coming to pet day really convinced me, Rybolt, a first-year vet student said. Now I want to help others get involved and interested too.

Maddie Pfeifer covers public safety for Mid-Valley Media. She can be contacted at 541-812-6091 or Madison.Pfeifer@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter via @maddiepfeifer_

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Fundraiser for the Corvallis Sister Cities Association's Uzhhorod (Ukraine) Refugee Fund. Earl Newman, an artist and screen printer who lives in Summit, has created and donated a screen-printed poster illustrating support for Ukraine. Two hundred numbered posters will be printed; several framed posters will be available. The prints will sell for $100 each to be donated to the refugee fund; framed prints will cost extra. Information: 541-760-8081 or caroltrueba@gmail.com.

Rally to support Ukraine, noon to 2 p.m. Saturdays, Benton County Courthouse, 120 NW Fourth St., Corvallis. All are invited to come show solidarity with Ukraine in an event that is not antiwar or anti-Russia but pro-Ukraine. Those attending can bring Ukrainian flags, sunflowers and signs showing support. Updates on the humanitarian aspect of the war will be given. Information: 7442117@gmail.com.

Fundraiser to support refugee fund: Four-notecard packs and 8 x 10 prints featuring paintings by Corvallis sisters Allessandra Bakker, 16, and Isabella Bakker, 13, are available for purchase at Visit Corvallis and Benton County Historical Societys Corvallis and Philomath museums for $25 and $30, respectively. Proceeds go toward the Corvallis Sister Cities Associations Uzhhorod Refugee Fund.

Benefit for refugee fund: Celtic music by Corvallis band Loose Flagstone, 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, May 13, Old World Deli, 341 SW Second St. Proceeds will go to the Corvallis Sister Cities Association Uzhhorod Refugee Fund. Suggested donation: $5 to $20. Musicians include Leslie Glassmire (flute), Jennifer Parke (fiddle), Tracy Daugherty (bodhran) and Marjorie Sandor (guitar).

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By Nathan Kamal | 2 days ago

George Perez, one of the most influential and acclaimed comic book artists and writers of his generation, has died. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the acclaimed artist for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics passed away at age 67, at his home with his family. Reportedly, his death was due to complications resulting from pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2021 after liver surgery; he did not pursue treatment. Both DC Comics and Marvel published tributes to Perez following the announcement of his diagnosis, and some of his more notable work has been republished. The world of comic book art has lost a giant, and it is only right that he should be honored by the companies that he, again and again, moved in new directions.

George Perez was born in New York City in 1954 to Puerto Rican parents. Both he and his brother David were drawn to the arts; the latter is a political activist, journalist, and writer. Perez began his career in comic books in the early 1970s, working on a number of lesser-known Marvel titles (including the once-popular Deathlok). During this period, he and Bill Mantlo co-created White Tiger, Marvel Comics first Latino superhero. Perez came to greater prominence in 1975, when he joined the Avengers creative team. While he was known primarily throughout his career as a penciler, he also wrote, plotted, did ink work, and coloring. In these years, he was particularly noted for working on Fantastic Four #176 with writer Roy Thomas, an early example of a metafictional story in which the extradimensional being known as The Impossible Man visited Marvel Comics office to interact with real-life comic book writers and artists.

Crisis on Infinite Earths

By 1980, George Perez was working for both of the dominant companies in the comics industry, DC and Marvel. While continuing to pencil The Avengers, he worked on the launch of The New Teen Titans (DCs answer to the then-dominant X-Men franchise). He also worked on Justice League of America, making him a rare artist to simultaneously work on both companies premiere superhero comics. He became one of the most popular and sought-after comic book artists of the time period and contributed to a Presidential Drug Awareness Campaign in 1983.

He also worked with frequent collaborator Marv Wolfman on one of the apexes of comic book history, the seminal DC Comics event Crisis on Infinite Earths. The 50th year anniversary crossover radically revamped DCs continuity and set a template for the kind of enormous narrative events that would become annual standards for both DC and Marvel. George Perez joined Greg Potter and Janice Race in a reboot of DCs Wonder Woman title, inspired by the recent work to modernize both Superman and Batman. The new versions of all three primary DC characters would go on to be the bedrock of the modern interpretations of the classic characters.

George Perez continued to work in comic art for the remainder of his life and remained a well-respected and liked figure. His work has had an incalculable effect on comic books and pop culture as a whole. Rest in peace, George Perez.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blender Bites Ltd. (the Company, Blender Bites or Blender), (CSE: BITE, FWB: JL40, WKN: A3DWAM), an award-winning Canadian company involved in the development and marketing of a line of premium, organic and plant-based pre-portioned frozen functional foods, is pleased to provide a summary of some of the Companys exceptional achievements since going public in September 2021. Recent achievements include recording breaking sales revenues, significantly increased purchase order numbers, the bolstering of its extremely experienced and female-led management team, and its recognition among Canadian consumers as the most innovative and applauded product for 2022 in the frozen functional foods space.



HIGHLIGHTS

Record Sales Revenue

Since listing publicly in September 2021, Blender Bites sales have soared, achieving record revenues. The Companys exponential increase in revenues is a result of a myriad of variables, most notable being managements implementation and execution of an aggressive marketing program designed to increase brand recognition and capture prominent representation in North Americas rapidly growing functional beverage market.

The Company is confident that there is great potential for continued upward trends in sales revenues, as roll out of its aggressive marketing and sales strategy, which is still in its infancy, continues to progress (see Extensive Expansion and Entrance in New Markets highlights below).

Upward Trend in Consumer Demand

Over the seven month period since listing publicly, the Company has also witnessed a significant increase in consumer demand for its innovative smoothie pucks, with purchase orders coming in from an ever increasing number of leading distributors and major retailers. From September 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022, the Company has fulfilled purchase orders (orders) totaling 398,700 units (1 unit = 1 bag of 6 pucks, or 2,392,200 puck) of its smoothie pucks, whereas the full twelve (12) month period leading up to the Companys go public date only saw orders of 68,480 units (or 410,880 pucks). The Company anticipates that the current uptake in sales that is being witnessed will continue on an upward trend as consumer demand continues to grow. With recent production optimizations, the Company is well prepared to capitalize on the opportunity.





Extensive Canadian Expansion and Entrance into US New Market

The Companys expansion strategy has also been very successful, with representation in many of Canadas largest and most recognized grocery retail stores significantly increasing. Taking the Company from a private entity to a publicly traded entity in September 2021, distribution channels have increased from 700 grocery retail outlets, to well over 900 including Sobeys, Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore, Safeway, Zehrs, Thrifty Foods, Save on Foods, Whole Foods Market, Buy-Low/Nesters, and IGA. Distribution has also been significantly augmented since establishing a presence in the worlds largest club store chain outlets in Eastern Canada. The vast increase in the breadth of its network of sales points across Canada has attributed greatly to the Companys robust revenue growth.

On February 1, 2022, the Company announced the introduction of Blender Bites products into the US retail market, with first orders fulfilled to supply the US Southwest Division (the Division) club stores of the worlds largest club store chain. This milestone marked the first time the Blender Bites brand hit shelves in the US, with Power Berry smoothie pucks available in 41 warehouses across the Division including outlets in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The Company looks to build upon this success through the establishment of relationships with additional grocery retail and club stores, many of which currently are in the works with sales pending.

Strong Female-led Management Team

The Companys impressive growth lend credit to Blenders female-led management team comprised of highly proficient consumer packaged goods (CPGs) industry professionals. Blender has recently appointed Ms. Arinn Ryan as the Director of Marketing, hailing from over a decade of experience at a global marketing agency and most recently a US based frozen, plant-based CPG company, Alpha Foods. As the Director of Quality Assurance & Food Safety, Carol Yung Munro is in charge of developing and ensuring policies, strategies and testing methodologies that ensure Blenders operations and products meet regulatory compliance and standards. Leading this remarkable team is Chelsie Hodge, the Companys founder and CEO. Chelsie brings a unique skill set to the table with over a decade of experience in the high-growth plant-based CPG sector, paired with over fifteen years in capital markets. Chelsie has a wealth of knowledge in product development and manufacturing, to sales and business development; making her a strong leader to take Blender Bites into international markets.

Award Winning Product

One of the Companys recent prized possession is the 2022 Product of The Year (POY) Canada Award. The Product of the Year Canada Award is the largest consumer-voted award for product innovation bestowed upon Canadian consumer product companies. A survey by Kantar required 4,000 Canadian consumers to vote on their innovative product of choice in a specific category based on seven (7) key performance indicators, inclusive of appeal, satisfaction, advocacy, purchase interest, uniqueness, relevance and excitement. Blender Bites products emerged as the winner in the Frozen Food/Healthy Beverage category. Included along with the nomination process, Blender Bites had the opportunity to participate in a sample program, allowing consumers to test and provide honest feedback on the innovation. Blender Bites was highly received as 91% of respondents gave 5 or 4 stars with a 96% recommendation rate. Product of The Year Award is currently operating in over 40 countries with the same objective.

Blender Bites has had its most transformative year to date, and we are incredibly proud of the strong production targets we are consistently achieving. I am very confident that with our recent additions of large volume retailer partners, newly appointed executive team, exciting innovation and secondary distribution channels; the company will continue to see exponential growth of its purchase orders, stated Chelsie Hodge, the Companys CEO and Founder.

ABOUT BLENDER BITES

Blender Bites is an award-winning Canadian company involved in the development and marketing of a line of premium frozen food products with a focus on functionality. Blender Bites was founded in 2016 and was first to market in Western Canada with a pre-portioned easy smoothie product that is free of any unnecessary inner plastic packaging. Blender Bites products are certified organic, vegan, non-GMO, gluten free, dairy free and soy free. They contain no added sugars and are made in Canada. Blender Bites products are distributed internationally across Canada and the US, and are currently sold in over 900 stores, including Sobeys, Loblaws, Safeway, Save on Foods, Real Canadian Superstore, Whole Foods Market and Thrifty Foods.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Blender Bites Limited

Chelsie Hodge, Chief Executive Officer

For further information, contact Blender IR Team at:

Email  investors@blenderbites.com

Telephone  1-888-997-2055

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENT

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon several estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to general business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties, and uncertain capital markets. Readers are cautioned that actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/71fab83c-f5ec-4814-8142-f44774cde81d
Canada-based Northern Graphite Corporation has closed its previously announced acquisition of the producing Lac des Iles graphite mine (LDI) in Quebec from a subsidiary of Imerys SA and the Okanjande graphite deposit/Okorusu processing plant in Namibia from a subsidiary of Imerys and its joint venture partner. All deposits have high quality flake graphite that is suitable for all battery and industrial applications.

The acquisitions will provide Northern with 40-50,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of graphite production capacity in Quebec and Namibia, which will make it the third-largest non-Chinese natural graphite producing company.

The acquisition of the two mines was financed through US$36 million in debt, royalty and stream financing provided by funds managed by Sprott Resource Streaming and Royalty Corp. and a CDN$23-million equity offering lead by Sprott Capital Partners LP. Sprott invested CDN$3.75 million in the equity offering and Imerys has received US$4 million in equity, on the same terms as the equity offering, as partial payment of the purchase price.

Northern now also has two large-scale development projects, Bissett Creek in Ontario and an expansion of Okanjande in Namibia, which it intends to build to meet growing EV demand.

Bissett Creek has been independently rated as the highest margin graphite project in the world.

The Okanjande deposit has large measured and indicated resources and the Company intends to assess building a new processing plant with 100-150,000 tpy of production capacity.

As consideration for the acquisition of LDI, which was completed through Northerns wholly-owned subsidiary Graphite Nordique Inc., the company paid Imerys approximately CDN$17.8 million in cash and issued to Imerys US$4 million worth of units.

The LDI mine has been in operation for more than 20 years and is the only significant graphite producer in North America. LDI will produce up to 15,000 tpy of graphite concentrate over the next two to three years. A technical report with respect to LDI prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) will be filed under Northerns profile on SEDAR.

Northern believes there are opportunities to expand production and extend the mine life. An option has already been secured on the Mousseau West project in Quebec, which the company believes will provide a source of graphite mineralization to supply LDI.

As consideration for the acquisition of the Okanjande graphite deposit and a processing facility located 78 km away at the Okorusu Fluorspar Mine, the company paid Imerys and its joint venture partner US$15.8 million in cash. The company also paid the owner of the lands on which the Okorusu plant is located EUR2.2 million in lease payments for use of the land and buildings. The Okorusu plant was retrofitted to produce graphite and has been on care and maintenance since November 2018.

The balance of the financing proceeds will be used to fund the restart of operations in Namibia and for working capital purposes. Northern intends to invest approximately US$14 million to build a new tailings facility and to further modify the Okorusu processing plant to increase throughput and recovery and improve the flake size distribution.

The operation, which is based on processing weathered resources, is expected to be back in production at a rate of approximately 30,000 tpy in nine to twelve months. A technical report with respect to the mineral resources contained in the Okanjande deposit has been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and will be filed under Northerns profile on SEDAR.

The company also intends to file a Preliminary Economic Assessment, prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, with respect to the proposed mining operations at the Okanjande deposit and processing at the Okorusu plant within 45 days from the date hereof.

Northern intends to evaluate building a new processing plant adjacent to the Okanjande deposit based on its large measured and indicated hard rock resources in order to produce 100-150,000 tpy of graphite concentrate to meet rapidly growing EV and battery demand.

Namibia is one of the best jurisdictions in Africa in which to operate, Okanjande graphite is of the highest quality, the operation has access to grid power and it is five hours over good roads from the deep water port of Walvis Bay which provides ready access to European and North American markets. These attributes, plus a much shorter time to market, provide a competitive advantage over other African graphite projects, Northern asserts.

Northerns existing Bissett Creek project is an advanced stage project with a full Feasibility Study. It is located in the southern part of Canada with ready access to labor, supplies, equipment, natural gas, green hydro-electric power and markets. An independent study estimates that Bissett Creek will have the highest margin of any existing or proposed graphite deposit due to it having the highest quality concentrates, a very favorable location and simple metallurgy.

The company plans to start production at 25,000 to 40,000 tpy and to expand production to 80,000-100,000 tpy as the EV/battery markets grow (based on measured and indicated resources only).
The Volkswagen Group and SEAT S.A. will invest 10 billion, together with their partners in the Future: Fast Forward project, in the event of a positive resolution of their application to PERTE VEC. (earlier post) In March, the Group said it would invest 7 billion.

Last week, the 62 national and international companies and benchmark firms that form the project applied to the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation program (in Spanish, PERTE) for the Electric and Connected Vehicle (in Spanish, VEC).

This investment of 10 billion euros will electrify Spain and Europe's second-largest automotive manufacturer, creating a battery Gigafactory in Sagunto, enabling the production of electric vehicles at the Martorell and Pamplona plants, and building-up a comprehensive supplier ecosystem. This is the biggest industrial investment ever made in Spain. Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen Group

Volkswagen Group will locate Spains first Gigafactory in Parc Sagunt II (Valencia). The construction of this battery plant is one of the main projects included in Future: Fast Forward.

The Gigafactory will have an annual production capacity of 40 GWh, supplying the total volume of cells to Martorell and Pamplona. It will employ more than 3,000 people by 2030 and occupy an area of 200 hectares. Construction of the Gigafactory will begin in the first quarter of 2023, and production will start in 2026.

The first milestone must be the positive outcome of the PERTE submission and the finalization of the permits.

We will build the battery Gigafactory with an investment of more than 3 billion euros, but the PERTE funds are essential if we are to realzse our ambition of turning Spain into a European hub for electric vehicles. The battery factory in Sagunto will occupy a 200-hectare site and will be the third of six Gigafactories the Group plans to build across Europe. For our battery ramp-up in Spain and Europe, sustainability and a closed value chain loop are key. To name a few aspects: with the electricity to supply the Gigafactory coming 100 percent from renewable energies, with a local-for-local approach and by recovering valuable raw materials on site, our new factory in Valencia will be a blueprint for circular economy. Thomas Schmall, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, Chief Technology Officer and Chairman of the Board of SEAT S.A.

The Volkswagen Group and Iberdrola Group have signed a strategic agreement that will allow the construction of a photovoltaic plant in Sagunto to supply the Gigafactory with green energy.

The solar plant will cover 250 hectares and will be located less than 10 kilometers from the battery factory. In the first phase, it will provide 20% of the Gigafactorys total energy.

SEAT S.A. is the only company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets cars in Spain. A member of the Volkswagen Group, the multinational has its headquarters in Martorell (Barcelona), sells vehicles under the CUPRA and SEAT brands, while SEAT MO is the business unit that covers urban mobility products and solutions.

SEAT S.A. will invest 5 billion through to 2025 to develop new models for the two commercial brands, SEAT and CUPRA, and to electrify the range. The company aims to play a relevant role in the electrification of urban electric vehicles, with a special focus on the transformation of the Spanish automotive industry.
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  Arooza was furious and afraid, keeping her eyes open for Taliban on patrol as she and a friend shopped Sunday in Kabul's Macroyan neighborhood.

The math teacher was fearful her large shawl, wrapped tight around her head, and sweeping pale brown coat would not satisfy the latest decree by the country's religiously driven Taliban government. After all, more than just her eyes were showing. Her face was visible.

Arooza, who asked to be identified by just one name to avoid attracting attention, wasn't wearing the all-encompassing burqa preferred by the Taliban, who on Saturday issued a new dress code for women appearing in public. The edict said only a woman's eyes should be visible.

The decree by the Taliban's hardline leader Hibaitullah Akhunzada even suggested women shouldn't leave their homes unless necessary and outlines a series of punishments for male relatives of women violating the code.

It was a major blow to the rights of women in Afghanistan, who for two decades had been living with relative freedom before the Taliban takeover last August  when U.S. and other foreign forces withdrew in the chaotic end to a 20-year war.

A reclusive leader, Akhunzada rarely travels outside southern Kandahar, the traditional Taliban heartland. He favors the harsh elements of the group's previous time in power, in the 1990s, when girls and women were largely barred from school, work and public life.

Like Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, Akhunzada imposes a strict brand of Islam that marries religion with ancient tribal traditions, often blurring the two.

Akhunzada has taken tribal village traditions where girls often marry at puberty, and rarely leave their homes, and called it a religious demand, analysts say.

The Taliban have been divided between pragmatists and hardliners, as they struggle to transition from an insurgency to a governing body. Meanwhile, their government has been dealing with a worsening economic crisis. And Taliban efforts to win recognition and aid from Western nations have floundered, largely because they have not formed a more representative government, and restricted the rights of girls and women.

Until now, hardliners and pragmatists in the movement have avoided open confrontation.

Yet divisions were deepened in March, on the eve of the new school year, when Akhunzada issued a last-minute decision that girls should not be allowed to go to school after completing the sixth grade. In the weeks ahead of the start of the school year, senior Taliban officials had told journalists all girls would be allowed back in school. Akhunzada asserted that allowing the older girls back to school violated Islamic principles.

A prominent Afghan who meets the leadership and is familiar with their internal squabbles said that a senior Cabinet minister expressed his outrage over Akhunzada's views at a recent leadership meeting. He spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

Torek Farhadi, a former government adviser, said he believes Taliban leaders have opted not to spar in public because they fear any perception of divisions could undermine their rule.

The leadership does not see eye to eye on a number of matters but they all know that if they dont keep it together, everything might fall apart," Farhadi said. In that case, they might start clashes with each other.

For that reason, the elders have decided to put up with each other, including when it comes to non-agreeable decisions which are costing them a lot of uproar inside Afghanistan and internationally, Farhadi added.

Some of the more pragmatic leaders appear to be looking for quiet workarounds that will soften the hard-line decrees. Since March, there has been a growing chorus, even among the most powerful Taliban leaders, to return older girls to school while quietly ignoring other repressive edicts.

Earlier this month, Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of Sirajuddin, who heads the powerful Haqqani network, told a conference in the eastern city of Khost that girls are entitled to education and that they would soon return to school  though he didn't say when. He also said that women had a role in building the nation.

You will receive very good news that will make everyone very happy... this problem will be resolved in the following days, Haqqani said at the time.

In the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday, women wore the customary conservative Muslim dress. Most wore a traditional hijab, consisting of a headscarf and long robe or coat, but few covered their faces, as directed by the Taliban leader a day earlier. Those wearing a burqa, a head-to-toe garment that covers the face and hides the eyes behind netting were in the minority.

Women in Afghanistan wear the hijab, and many wear the burqa, but this isn't about hijab, this is about the Taliban wanting to make all women disappear," said Shabana, who wore bright gold bangles beneath her flowing black coat, her hair hidden behind a black head scarf with sequins. This is about the Taliban wanting to make us invisible."

Arooza said the Taliban rulers are driving Afghans to leave their country. Why should I stay here if they don't want to give us our human rights? We are human," she said.

Several women stopped to talk. They all challenged the latest edict.

We don't want to live in a prison, said Parveen, who like the other women wanted only to give one name.

These edicts attempt to erase a whole gender and generation of Afghans who grew up dreaming of a better world, said Obaidullah Baheer, a visiting scholar at New Yorks New School and former lecturer at the American University in Afghanistan.

It pushes families to leave the country by any means necessary. It also fuels grievances that would eventually spill over into large-scale mobilization against the Taliban," he said.

After decades of war, Baheer said it wouldnt have taken much on the Talibans part to make Afghans content with their rule an opportunity that the Taliban are wasting fast.
GREENWICH  The community was invited to check out the operations of the Greenwich Police Department on Saturday as part of the Police Day and Open House event at the headquarters on Bruce Place.

Kids and their families were able to take a tour of the department, check out police vehicles and equipment, and get a free hot dog as well as drop by the jail cells. The open house event was held in honor of National Police Week.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  A member of Irans syndicate of car parts manufacturers says Iranian producers have an opportunity to export their wares to a Russian carmaker, state media reported.

The late Monday report quoted Hossein Bahrainian as saying a prominent Russian car maker requested parts from Iran. He did not name the manufacturer. He said it requested brake parts, airbags, air-conditioner parts and other components.

Both Iran and Russia are under U.S. sanctions but the export of Iranian cars and car parts is not subject to sanctions.

The import of automobiles to Iran is also not subject to sanctions. However, Tehran has not imported cars since 2018, after the U.S. withdrew from a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and imposed oil and banking sanctions on Iran.

Western nations stopped exporting to Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

Iran in recent years has exported car radiators and suspension systems to Russia. In the past it exported cars to Iraq, Syria and Venezuela.

Tehran and Moscow have had close relations in recent years, especially after Irans sole nuclear power plant went online in 2011 with help from Russia.

Separately on Tuesday, Iran said it has played a mediatory role in the war in Ukraine.

So far twice I have conveyed messages the the foreign minister of Ukraine to my Russian counterpart, said Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in a phone conversation with his Irish counterpart. He said Iran supports diplomatic solutions for restoring peace and stability.

Abdollahian did not elaborate but said Iran opposes war and displacement of human beings in Ukraine," and other paces like Yemen, the Palestinian lands and Afghanistan.
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Officers shot and killed a man Saturday afternoon who was throwing Molotov cocktails and setting cars on fire near a police station in Raleigh, North Carolina, authorities said.

The confrontation began after an officer observed a man lighting vehicles on fire in a parking lot near a district station at around 1:20 p.m., Police Chief Estella Patterson said at a news conference.

The officer called for assistance, and three other officers came to help, she said, and the officers ordered the man to stop. Patterson said the man continued to throw Molotov cocktails, ultimately tossing one near an officer close to him.

Multiple officers then discharged their weapons, and the individual was struck multiple times," Patterson said.

Police then moved the man away from two vehicles that had become engulfed in flames and attempted life-saving efforts, Patterson said. He was rushed by paramedics to a hospital but died. He wasn't immediately identified.

Body cameras were active, as well as cameras outside the police station that captured events, Patterson said, adding she didn't have any immediate information on the number of shots fired or how many had struck the man.

She thanked firefighters for quickly arriving and putting out the flames.

Although the chief didn't elaborate on the vehicles burned, news photographs showed a police vehicle with what appeared to be a blackened and heavily damaged engine bay being towed away.

The police chief said an investigation is ongoing and more details of the shooting would be released in a report in coming days.

The FBI was notified in keeping with department policy, Patterson added, noting the investigation's findings will be submitted to the Wake County district attorney.

The shooting took place near the department's southeast district station in Raleigh, North Carolina's capital city. Police, fire and other emergency response vehicles swarmed the street afterward and the stretch of road remained close for several hours while the investigation continued.
DOVER, Del. (AP)  Like many individuals, Dr. Charlie Wilson was scared at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. He had a vast collection of memories and anecdotes that he wanted to leave behind for his four sons.

However, it turned out that he managed to avoid an unwanted encounter with COVID-19, which he called the viral bug. But it served as the impetus into what turned into the writing bug.

Dr. Wilson, associate dean of the College of Agriculture, Sciences and Technology at Delaware State University, had his first book During Racisms Remission: From Colored Fieldworker to Black Professor published on April 11.

The urge to write his autobiography came because of the pandemic.

In the fall of 2020, I started to write some of my life story down for my sons, just in case something happened to me with the virus, Dr. Wilson said. I didnt want my personal history lost with me. The list of events, situations, and recollections began to grow, and as I started to flesh out the narrative, it was clear to see that an autobiography was developing.

Early in 2021, I put the project down as things began to seem more optimistic with the projected availability of a vaccine, and it remained dormant for the vast majority of the year. In December of 2021, I decided to complete the manuscript and get it published.

In his autobiography, Dr. Wilson shares stories from his journey from rural poverty while growing up on Minner Street in Houston, Delaware, with 11 siblings, to undergraduate years at Delaware State College, life in the Marine Corps, completing graduate studies at University of Delaware, and close to 25 years teaching and working at DSU.

Dr. Wilson earned a bachelors degree in biology from Delaware State in 1984 and a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Delaware in 1994. He has been a DSU faculty member since 1997 when he arrived as an assistant professor of biological sciences.

The 60-year-old professor said, Events in my life are examined through a prism of race relations  and sometimes racial tension  of a 50-year period that I describe as a remission of the cancer of America, racism.

Years of optimism in finding an ultimate cure with justice, equality, and harmony as outcomes now seems threatened by signs of a relapse in the cultural health of the nation. Issues surrounding race in the years leading to 2020 are also discussed.

He also tells stories about working in hot mid-Atlantic fields, chatting with monks atop a mountain in China, guarding the gates of Pearl Harbor, and walking the streets of Hiroshima, Japan, and the trials and tribulations that he faced while overcoming obstacles to find personal and professional achievement.

Dr. Wilsons nearly 300-page (80,000 words) work is now available on Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books and several other retailers as an eBook. Hard and softcover versions are available, as well.

Writing a book was not something that was on his radar until he joined others in being shuttered inside his home due to the pandemic.

Suddenly, Dr. Wilson found a new passion.

This was my first literary effort, and I really enjoyed the process, he said. The ancillary activities of editing, formatting, cover design, submission for publication, advertising, website development and author-specific social media have extended my rather steep learning curve into the world of book production, he said.

While I have managed to avoid the viral bug thus far, Ill have to admit that the writing bug has gotten me, and I look forward to two or three more books going forward.

Dr. Wilson is already working on his second book, which he said is about being more and not limiting yourself to just one thing in life.

Ive done many things over the years  like I was an undergraduate and stopped when I joined the Marine Corps, went to graduate school to working as a professor now, he said.

And when I leave Delaware State, I plan to continue writing and theater and stuff. There is always another challenge just around the corner.
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GREENWICH  Teresa Ricci started her 43-year career in the Greenwich Public Schools as a professional assistant at Dundee School. She will retire at the end of this school year from the same building, where she is now the principal of the International School at Dundee.

Ricci spent her first few years as a teacher moving through the districts elementary schools as enrollment declined, but the return to Dundee  this time as a magnet school  was a full circle moment, she said.

An alumna of Greenwich High School, her history with the school district extends beyond those four decades. Ricci met her husband during her first year as a teacher and later watched her daughter grow up attending ISD, a few minutes from the familys Riverside home.

Greenwich Public Schools is a special, special place, Ricci said. Im very fortunate to have had a career that I felt passionate about  and I still do.

The last two years of dealing with COVID-19 have been stressful as an educator, Ricci said, and she considered retiring to make time for other pursuits that she values, such as time with family, travel and volunteer work.

You reach a point that even though you feel young inside and youre still energetic and still passionate about what you do, you look back and think maybe its time to devote some time to yourself to pursue other hobbies and interests, she said.

Magnet school

Midway in her career, Ricci was part of ISDs planning committee, a team of staff and community members with a vision for the schools future. Dundee School closed after its enrollment declined, but the district reopened the building as its first magnet school at the turn of the century.

Magnet schools are public schools that offer a special theme to attract students from across the districts boundaries to apply. ISDs theme is the International Baccalaureate Program.

Working toward that model of what we wanted it to be and then having it come to fruition was almost magical, Ricci said. We wanted a school that really was something that offers students a rigorous curriculum, character education, the opportunity to learn a foreign language and really focus on the whole child. And thats what the IB program is all about. So its been very rewarding.

She entered as ISDs assistant principal in 2000 and was promoted to principal three years later.

Its not very often, a teacher can say they help start a school from scratch, so thats certainly a big highlight of my career, she said.

Teaching reading

Another key moment is her training came with her involvement in Project Read, which she describes as a multisensory approach to learning to read. She learned the method to use in her first-grade classroom and enjoyed it so much she studied to become a Project Read trainer for the district.

She went to Bloomington, Minn., for a week and studied a book to equip herself as a trainer. When training teachers in Greenwich, Ricci spent three whole days in the summer or evening sessions scattered over a longer period of time.

Her passion propelled her through a second masters degree in reading from The College of New Rochelle. She also holds a masters degree in special education from Fairfield University and a sixth-year degree in school administration from Sacred Heart University.

Riccis degree as a reading specialist led her to her first administrative duties as a reading specialist at Old Greenwich School. The role came with supervising responsibilities and boosted her to an assistant principal gig.

That experience as a reading specialist and my work as a trainer for the district started to leave the idea of moving into the field of administration, she said. Ricci said that she long knew that she wanted to be an educator.

From a very young age, I wanted to be a teacher. And Im very, very happy that Im able to live out my dream, and so I feel very fortunate.

Trio of retirements

North Mianus School principal Angela Schmidt and Cos Cob School principal Gene Schmidt, who are married, are also retiring at the end of the school year. The district announced all three retirements at the same time in March. The Schmidts said they didnt know Ricci was retiring in the same time frame until the district published the information in its newsletter.

It was surprising and kind of bittersweet, too, because its like an end of an era, Gene Schmidt said. Were very close. Angela Schmidt nodded in agreement.

In fact, Ricci mentored both of the Schmidts when they took their first assistant principal roles in the school district.

Ricci feels confident that ISD will continue the path she has paved for the last 22 years as assistant principal and principal.

When they talk about, It takes a village to raise a child, I feel like that has been the case here at ISD because weve had tremendous support from the parent community looking to help and support what teachers are doing on a daily basis, she said. So Im sure that will continue, and I look forward to hearing what goes on after I leave.

She says she still looks forward to going to work, and says she will continue doing so through the end of the school year.

Last week, school Superintendent Toni Jones appointed Dana Firmender, assistant principal at Hillcrest Middle School in Trumbull, to replace Ricci as principal at ISD.

annelise.hanshaw@hearstmediact.com
Introduction

We just received a unique new accessory for the Oppo Find X5 Pro - the Oppo's Ice-Skin case. Meant to aid the phone's passive cooling, this case ships as part of the standard retail set of the phones sold in China. Unfortunately, the availability of the case is so far limited to China, and we got our review unit straight from Oppo.

At the time of writing, we couldn't find the case available outside of China, though we were promised a global release is coming. However, for Western Find X5 Pro users, the case will be a separate purchase with the price yet to be announced.

However, it's the technical side of it that spurred our curiosity. It's not often that you see tech innovation in something as simple as a protective case.



Oppo Find X5 Pro Ice Skin case

The Ice-Skin case is unique because it incorporates a soft hydrogel layer across its entire back. The hydrogel is stored inside a soft rubbery casing, which can be seen from both the inside and the outside of the case.

On the inside, the rubbery surface is flat and uninterrupted, retaining full contact with the phone's back.

On the outside, the hydrogel is covered by a set of plastic stripes, which offer flexibility and protection at the same time. They allow the hydrogel some contact with the environment, which allegedly is all that it needs to regenerate its cooling capabilities. The case is supposed to pick up heat from the back of the phone, transfer it continuously to the ambient air, and do that much more efficiently than any other case.

If you've read our detailed Find X5 Pro review, you probably remember that the phone has a multi-tier passive cooling system built-in. A 3D graphene film covers the motherboard and the charging coil, and a dedicated ultra-thin graphite film covers both the back of the screen and the display IC. A vapor chamber with a surface area nearly 75% larger than the Find X3 Pro covers both the SoC and battery.

This system should efficiently dissipate all heat generated during high-intensity use to the phone's surface.

Unfortunately, even this extra-large vapor chamber is enough as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chipset can get quite toasty under load. Despite the advanced passive cooling system, the phone's benchmark scores were quick to dip on the second and third run due to thermal throttling.

We don't mean to say that the Find X5 Pro is a worse offender in this respect than any of the other phones wielding the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, but obviously, Oppo thinks there is more to be done about this than just relying on the built-in cooling solution.

Enter the Ice-Skin case with its Glacier Mat. Utilizing a special hydrogel, developed by the Wuhan University in China, it is able to continuously absorb moisture from the air over and over again and release it via evaporation, thus offering continuous recharging of its cooling properties.

Even before we put the case on the phone, the hydrogel pad on the internal side of the case felt notably cooler than any other surface in the room (ambient air temp of 22C), so it was a promising start.

Testing the Ice-Skin case cooling performance

The test that we decided to use to look into the cooling performance of the Ice-Skin case is the CPU Throttling Test (available on Google Play), which we often use in our reviews.

Test run 1 - Case Off

The first run had the Find X5 Pro naked, without the case, and we had the phone propped on its back on two thin silicone strips without touching any larger solid objects that could help in heat dissipation (such as the desk). The ambient temperature was 21C. The screen brightness slider was set to 50% on the slider.

Less than ten minutes into the test, the CPU performance had its first dip below 80%. The reported battery temp was a toasty 41C, up from 22C at the start of the test.

From there on, the phone obviously got its bearings, and for the next 10min or so, it only went under 80% once or twice. The reported internal temperature, however, rose up to 43C. The uppermost part of the phone's back was also getting rather hot to touch, especially the metal frame.

The hot top part of the frame was a bit concerning. We weren't sure that the Ice-Skin case could work its magic on that hotspot, in particular, as the hydrogel pad didn't stretch to the top. But hey, if we knew all the answers in advance, we wouldn't be doing this test.

Twenty minutes into the test, the phone settled comfortably around the 80% performance mark with hardly any significant drops. The temperature appeared to be stabilized at 43C.

Thirty minutes into the test, the phone's performance was still hovering around 80%, but the reported internal temperature rose to 44C. The upper part of the metal frame was no longer comfortable to touch for more than a few seconds.

Forty minutes into the test, we kept seeing the same thing - performance around 80%, and battery temperature of around 44C, so we stopped the clock.

CPU Throttling test with the Ice-Skin case OFF the phone - focus on the first 20min

There are hardly any surprises here, though we admit that the Find X5 Pro improved on the results from our review, where it throttled to 70% after only twenty minutes of testing.

Test run 2 - Case On

For the second run, our Find X5 Pro was now suited up with the Ice-Skin case. The other environmental conditions were identical.

Monitoring the performance graph in real-time, we could immediately see an improvement in the phone's performance as the timer went on.

Ten minutes into the test, the phone had its first dip to about 90% performance, but the temperature was merely 38C.

It wasn't until 16 minutes into the test that we saw the first dip under 80% and temperatures around 42C. Now, with the case on, it took the phone twice as long to get to this point.

But from there on, we saw the same thing as before. Twenty min into the test, the performance settled around 80%, and temperatures reached a steady 43C.

CPU Throttling test with the Ice-Skin case ON the phone - focus on the first 20min

We completed the second run forty minutes after the start, with the performance hovering around 80% and the internal temperature maintaining 44C - again, just like in the first run. Only this time, with the case wrapping the phone's frame, touching it was no longer an issue despite the high temps.

Conclusion

We can safely conclude that with prolonged heavy-duty loads (20min+), the Find X5 Pro will get hot, and it will throttle down to about 80% of its max performance regardless of whether you are using the Ice-Skin case or not.

In fact, the cooling properties of the case seem temporary, and even if it has regeneration capabilities, unlike most hydrogels, they are far below what's needed to keep the Oppo Find X5 Pro cool under prolonged load.

However, as a temporary cooling relief (under 15min) or when you need all the performance, the phone can muster for a quick game session or two, the Ice-Skin case can get you that cooling boost that you need.

Plus, design-wise, it's a pretty cool-looking case, and it doesn't add more bulk than a regular case.

All in all, the Oppo Ice-Skin case is worth recommending, and it does a fine job as long as you keep your expectations in check.
Two men were seen breaking down the backdoors of an Anigua bar three times during a week in April.

Las Vegas Karaoke and Bar, located in Anigua off of Marine Drive, was first broken into in the early morning of April 13, hours after the bar had closed for the night.

I didnt notice until my co-worker was opening the bar the following day, came in and it was wrecked, said manager Clarisse Mabini.

The state of the bar led Mabini and employees to discover their cash fund, an employees paycheck, cases of beer and bottles of liquor were taken by two men who were seen on the bars security cameras.

Police were then immediately called, and they found fingerprints, Mabini said.

Then the bar was broken into again two days later, on April 15.

This time, the two men broke down the backdoor of the bar after it had been barricaded by employees and the family of the bars owner, Sang Pae, who was off-island during the break-ins.

The second time, they fully broke the doors on the backside where we have our private events held, Mabini added, before saying the men were only in the bar for about five minutes and did not take anything after checking the cameras.

Pae was surprised to hear the bar had been broken into again after his family called him while he was in Korea.

The second time my family called me to say the door was broken and I said Oh no its already sealed, but then they showed me the door was broken, Pae recalled.

The door again was barricaded by employees, but three days later, on April 18, the same two men were seen breaking down another backdoor of the bar at around 4 a.m., the same time as the first two break-ins.

The third time they came in, broke our other door and they stole a couple of cases of beer and they stole a couple of bottles of liquor as well, but they were looking for cash, Mabini said.

The video footage of the third break-in showed two men both wearing jackets with the hoods up and flashlights in hand, walking in through the backdoor and later looking at the display of drinks behind the bar.

Overwhelmed

Mabini, who has been the manager at Las Vegas since October last year, said dealing with the break-ins has been stressful, especially considering she had been the main supervisor when Pae was off-island.

I broke down a couple of times...I was kind of blaming myself and I felt really guilty because it happened under my care while my boss was gone, Mabini said. I was really overwhelmed.

Pae, who had planned to be off-island for another week but cut it short after the break-ins, was thankful there was no one around during the incidents, and everyone was safe.

They only took some cash, so its OK, but when there are people that are inside when they come in like that, it is more trouble, Pae said.

Pae added it is the fourth time the bar had been broken into since opening in 2009. He said the last time was in 2019 when someone broke in and took cash after a party held at the bar.

High alertIn addition to calling the police, Mabini and Pae have not only continued to barricade the broken doors but have been on high alert to prevent future break-ins.





Workers helped me barricade both doors, and I would come in early... at like 4 in the morning to check if they would try to do it again, Mabini said. Were just trying to be safe than sorry.

Pae has also told Mabini and staff to be on the lookout during business hours.

The one thing my boss said is we have to look out for when people would come in for just one beer and then kind of scope out the place and leave. Weve been looking for that a lot more now, just because we do believe that they were a customer of ours at one point, Mabini said.

The bar, however, has not been affected. Customers are still coming in, only now with questions about the new security measures.

Guam Police Department spokeswoman Officer Berlyn Savella confirmed one report was generated after the three break-ins.

Guam Police Department was unable to provide any other information about the burglaries or any suspects.
Prutehi Litekyan maintains that its lawsuit over the open burn and detonation units used to dispose of munitions at Andersen Air Force Base should not be thrown out and that its members would be harmed if the units continue to operate.

In January, the nonprofit sued the Department of Defense and the Department of the Air Force, alleging they failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act when applying for permits for the burn and detonation unit with the Guam Environmental Protection Agency.

Prutehi Litekyan wants the District Court of Guam to compel the military to withdraw its application and conduct an environmental analysis before re-applying.

The military motioned for the suit to be dismissed last month, arguing that: the Environmental Policy Act doesnt apply to the permitting process because other federal regulations are already in place; the court lacks jurisdiction and Prutehi Litekyan lacks standing in the case.

On May 2, Prutehi Litekyan, represented by Earthjustice and attorney Rachel Taimano-Ayuyu, responded.

According to the response, the military was wrong to argue that because federal legislation  the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act  already covers EPAs permitting for hazardous waste disposal, it did not have to conduct a separate environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.

Prutehi Litekyans lawyers point to legal precedent in another case, Conservation Council for Hawaii v. National Marine Fisheries, where the Navy had received a permit from the fisheries service for training and testing activities that would harm marine mammals.

The court in that case held that the Navy failed to take a hard look at alternatives to their action, and did not comply with the Environmental Policy act. The case vividly illustrates that federal agencies are not exempt from the act just because a different environmental review would be performed, the response states.

While the military contends that it is already in compliance with NEPA, pointing to a 2015 environmental impact statement that studied the environmental consequences of ordnance disposal at the range, Prutehi Litekyan said that the court had to review the 2015 study.

Further, the military was wrong to argue that the District Court of Guam did not have jurisdiction over the matter, according to the response.

The military, in its motion to dismiss, argues that the U.S. is immune from lawsuits that dont challenge final agency actions. Applying for a permit for the open burn and detonation units was not a final action that would result in harm if it even occurred, and the application was still pending, they argued. The permit was the only action challenged in the lawsuit.

As the complaint states, the challenged action is not the  application itself, Prutehi Litekyans response reads, but rather defendants failure to comply with NEPA before deciding to conduct open burning and open detonation  of hazardous waste munitions at the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Range  on Tarague Beach.

In addition, the militarys previous permit for the burn and detonation units, which has to be renewed every three years, expired on Sept. 3, 2021. The Air Force claimed a legal right to keep operating the units because it had reapplied, the response states.

The application undeniably had legal consequences, allowing destructive (open burn and open detonation) activities on Tarague Beach to continue.

Finally, the response asserts that members of Prutehi Litekyan do have standing in the case because they are harmed by the actions of the military.

Prutehi Litekyans suit outlined several concerns members had over the disposal units, including contamination of land taken from CHamorus, contamination of nearby water used by members and harm to endangered green sea turtles. According to the militarys motion to dismiss, those harms would not come from applying for a permit with Guam EPA.

That assertion, ignores that the Air Force has continued to conduct (burn pit operations) on Tarague Beach beyond the 2018 permits expiration precisely because of its permit renewal application, the response states.

Defendants decision to submit that application, without NEPA compliance, is currently inflicting harm on Prutehi Litekyan, and those injuries are caused by the Air Force.

If the Air Force had taken a hard look at alternatives, it might have opted to treat munitions at alternate locations (including locations off Guam, which might not require any permit from Guam EPA) or using an environmentally safer technology, avoiding harm to Prutehi Litekyan.

The open burn and open detonation units were established on base property in 1982. DOD munitions and unexploded ordnance from World War II are detonated along Tarague beach. The burn unit is nearby, and while it hasnt been used since 2002, it may be reactivated.

The PDN reported last year that compounds containing a number of known carcinogens are permitted for disposal at Andersen.




Haiti - CFHCI : Clashes between gangs thousands of jobs threatened





In a note Gregory Brandt, President of the Franco Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CFHCI) protests against the generalized insecurity which reigns in the country and condemns in particular, the recent acts of banditry in Martissant, Cite Soleil and in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac affecting the integrity of the lives and property of peaceful residents.



He recalls that these clashes of armed groups paralyze economic activities in the areas of Damien, Drouillard, Croix-des Missions. Butte Boyer, Clerecine, Santo, jeopardizing the employees, jobs and important investments of industrial and commercial companies members and affiliates of the CFHCI.



"This situation is all the more worrying for two of our members : Societe du Rhum Barbancourt S.A and Les Aliments Congeles S.A. The latter deplore the total absence of police authorities https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36575-haiti-news-zapping.html "



The CFHCI recalls that these companies provide "nearly 700 direct jobs and about 3,500 indirect jobs. Moreover. it is a network of more than 3,000 sugar cane growers in the Cul-de-Sac plain and its surroundings who find themselves unable to supply their main customer, Societe du Rhum Barbancourt S.A."



The Board of the Franco Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CFHCI) urges the authorities to intervene urgently in order to restore order and social peace in the country.



In another note issued the same day the CFHCI challenges the Prime Minister and the international community "[...] Mr. Prime Minister Ariel Henry, first citizen, who accepted this post, we ask you to take your responsibilities as Head of Government, together with the forces of order as well as the living forces of the Nation so that a recovery and security plan is implemented in a state of emergency.



You, friends of the international community, Haiti is not an arms and ammunition producing country. How many waves of immigrants fleeing our desolation will you have to return to us for you to take necessaries actions ? [...] Let's think about the future of our country. Together let's rebuild our lives, our economy, our Nation [...]"



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Cuba tragedy : Words by the PM

"The news of the tragedy that mourned Cuba, the sister island, plunged us into affliction. Also, I join my voice to that of the entire Nation to express my solidarity and my compassion to the Cuban people, upset by this disaster. In this moment of great pain and in the face of this terrible ordeal, I think, in particular, of the families of the victims affected by this explosion which cost the lives of many people. said Acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Let's recall that an explosion probably caused by a gas leak according to initial information, destroyed the first four floors of the 5-star Saratoga hotel in Havana and caused at least 25 deaths and around fifty injuries (report dated 7 May 2022).



Assassination of the President : Words by Martine Moise

"The 10th month of the assassination of President Moise leaves us with the same bitter taste as on the first day. Worse, the judicial authorities no longer pretend to act. The country is sinking further, forcing its defenseless sons to live as nomads because of the violence.



A people is still in tears, 10 months after the assassination of its president. He continues to cry even harder because the violence forces him to leave his home, cannot work or go to school, misery will end with him. When is this cut going to stop ? President Jovenel is it all of us they want to kill behind you ?" Martine Moise, former First Lady of Haiti.



ADDH calls for the intervention of a UN armed force

Me Arnel Remy, Coordinator of the Collective of Lawyers for the Defense of Human Rights (ADDH), faced with clashes between armed gangs that paralyze all sectors of activity at the northern entrance to Port-au-Prince, protests at the "indifference of the authorities" and asks the Government to request the intervention of a UN armed force to put an end to the armed bandits.



Distribution of life jackets

The Maritime and Navigation Service of Haiti (SEMANAH) with the support of the Prime Minister, especially the Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry distributed this week in the city of Les Cayes. life jackets for all boat captains on the Ile-a-Vache / Les Cayes route.



Investigation about arms and ammunition imports

Frantz Elbe the Director General a.i. of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) issued instructions to the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ) to deepen the ongoing investigations relating to imports of arms and ammunition fueling the phenomenon of gangsterization of the country for the individuals involved are prosecuted in accordance with Haitian and international laws governing the matter.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















By William Schwartz | Published on 2022/05/07

Actress Shin Hyun-bin recently conducted an interview for the TVING mystery thriller "Monstrous" in which she plays a leading role, which takes place in a small town. Shin Hyun-bin claimed to have not been especially drawn to the genre when selecting the role. Shin Hyun-bin claimed that rather than genre, it is characters who she is drawn to, and that the story of "Monstrous" was appealing to her from that perspective.

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Shin Hyun-bin said that she was also interested to work with director Jang Kun-jae, saying that she was impressed with his prior work. Primarily a film director, Jang Kun-jae is perhaps best known for the marital perspective drama "Sleepless Night" in 2013 and the travel-themed "A Midsummer's Fantasia" in 2014, both of which are typically considered independent films. Shin Hyun-bin also said she had a positive opinion of other actors who had signed up for "Monstrous" before her.

Shin Hyun-bin stated that watching "Monstrous" herself she thought that there was more of a interactive vibe between the characters in contrast to the spookier undertones with which the drama was originally filmed. Shin Hyun-bin called that filming experience a new experience. Shin Hyun-bin also noted that she likes to challenge herself with such new experiences, particularly in regards to impossible characters or impossible situations.

In "Monstrous" Shin Hyun-bin plays a woman who drifts apart from her husband after the death of their daughter and now lives alone. Despite this framing, Shin Hyun-bin claimed that she did not think of her character background as being one that needed to be exposited as a tragic one. According to Shin Hyun-bin, her character loses herself as a consequence of the tragedy, and it's this mental state that is most relevant for the action of the show.

Additionally, Shin Hyun-bin did not see her character as developing or changing over the drama. Rather, the relevant change took place between flashback periods and the modern portion of the story. To Shin Hyun-bin, this created a kind of special endless personal hell that was critical to the backdrop of her character as well as the story. "Monstrous" premiered on April 29th on the South Korean streaming service TVING.

Written by William Schwartz
Chamber announces five nominees for Athena Award

The Henderson County Chamber of Commerce along with the Athena Committee and sponsors on Friday announced five nominees for the 15th annual Athena Award presented in memory of Vanessa W. Mintz.

The nominees are Vivian Bolanos, Pauline Carpenter, Crystal Cauley, Andriana Chavela and Dr. Amy Siegler. The Athena Award is presented by Pardee UNC Health Care, with support from Optimum and Judy Stroud State Farm Insurance.

The nominees will be honored at a reception presented by Judy Stroud State Farm Insurance, on Tuesday, May 17. The recipient of the 15th Annual Athena Award presented will be announced at the Business and Professional Womens Luncheon on Thursday, May 19, at the Blue Ridge Community College Conference Hall.

The Athena Award honors individuals who strive toward the highest levels of personal and professional accomplishments, who excel in their chosen field, devote time and energy to their community in a meaningful way, and forge paths of leadership for other women to follow. The award is co-sponsored by the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce.

The Business and Professional Womens Luncheon is hosted as part of the Henderson County Chambers Small Business Week celebration to honor the work that women are doing in area businesses and the community. This years luncheon will feature keynote speaker, Micaela Isler, executive director of the National Association of Business Political Action Committees.

The Athena Program is a way to honor and celebrate the contributions individuals in our community have made to the cause of womens leadership, says committee chair and 2018 recipient, Lee Henderson-Hill. When you look at the history of Henderson County, you see how much of how our community is shaped today as a result of female leadership. We want to celebrate and continue that work.

The Athena of Henderson County programming will continue throughout the year with the Leadership Breakfast hosted in the fall of 2022, and quarterly women-centric networking events, Empower Hours, hosted throughout the year. The next Empower Hour will be held on June 21 at the Peoples Museum.

For more information on the Athena Award and related programs, or to make your reservations to the Business and Professional Womens Luncheon, call the Chamber at 828-692-1413.
Village Council to hear ideas for ARP spending

FLAT ROCK  The Flat Rock Village Council will hold a town hall meeting for the public from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at Pinecrest Presbyterian Church, 1790 Greenville Highway.



This will be the first of two town hall meetings that the council plans to hold this year. While a variety of topics will be discussed, the focus of this meeting will be a conversation about the best use of the funds received by the Village through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

We are still working on best practices as far as allocating funds for projects that the ARP enables us to undertake, said Mayor Nick Weedman. We want to hear from village residents on what areas they think will be important to support, and a town hall meeting is a good arena for that discussion.

The meeting will follow a format of brief introductions by village officials and then an extended time for attendees to provide input and ask questions on topics that are important to them.
Chinese premier stresses effort to stabilize employment, attain annual target

Xinhua) 14:41, May 08, 2022

BEIJING, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged efforts to help as many market entities as possible to stabilize their posts and expand job opportunities.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in his instructions to a national video and telephone conference on stabilizing employment held in Beijing on Saturday.

Efforts should be made to ensure the completion of the annual employment goals and tasks, Li said.

China will intensify efforts to implement the employment-first policy, and keep employment and the economy stable, according to Li.

Burden-easing policies such as tax and fee cuts will see faster implementation to help market entities, especially medium and small firms as well as self-employed individuals, to tide over difficulties and keep their job posts, said the premier.

Efforts will be made to boost the healthy growth of the platform economy while encouraging mass entrepreneurship and innovation, so as to create more job opportunities, said Li.

Li also underlined promoting employment and services for key job-hunting groups, including college graduates and migrant workers, and carrying out massive vocational-skills training services.

Vice Premier Hu Chunhua, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended Saturday's meeting and delivered a speech.

Despite a stable start this year, China's employment is faced with more risks and challenges due to multiple factors both at home and abroad, said Hu.

He urged the relevant departments to prioritize stabilizing employment, improve employment services in a targeted manner, and strengthen the accurate delivery of employment information.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Bianji)
Years ago, Chiante Deal remembers telling her friends mother, Edastelle Andress, that if she could raise her own children to be as kind as Andress had raised hers, shed be doing something.

Early this spring, the two of them revisited that moment together. I was like, Ms. Andress, I think I did it, Deal said. We laugh about it now.

Deal is the winner of the Houston Chronicle Mothers Day photo contest, with an image of her sons  23-year-old Caleb Deal and 19-year-old Joshua Deal  each giving her a kiss on the cheek as she looks ahead with a bright smile. The image is her computers screensaver, she said.

Chiante Deal

It just reminds me of why I do the things that I do. And these two are my why, she said.

Deal, a 49-year-old Spring resident, works as a school counselor at The Woodlands College Park High School and founded her own business last year called iDeal Collegiate Preparatory Services. In the years since her conversation with Andress, her sons have grown up  she said Caleb recently graduated from Grambling State University, and Joshua is there studying nursing.

Asked what traits Deal has passed down to her children, she said Caleb is very detail-oriented  he has a plan, like she does  and hes a reader, like her and her husband, Derrick. And Joshua is called the heart of the family  he loves people unapologetically; his nursing major was just the right fit for him, she said.

Several mothers have inspired her  including her own, Patsy, who made sure she knew her Christian faith and taught her to take care with how she treated people. Also her husbands mother, Evelyn, the matriarch of their family who everybody goes to, as well as her stepmom, Gracie, who has been very instrumental with her sons.

The biggest influences to me are the people who taught their children how to be good people, she said.

The familys support network has included church members, family on both sides, close friends, co-workers and their connection to Greek organizations  Chiante is an Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. member, and Derrick and both the couples sons are in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., she said.

So many moms out there are trying hard to do the job of motherhood, and its a hard job, she said. We dont necessarily get the accolades, and most of us dont want it, you know, we just want to be good moms.

leah.brennan@chron.com
End-of-year conflicts are nothing new, but area school districts are taking precautions and reminding students of consequences including possible charges through the Harris County District Attorneys Office when warranted. In years past, it was shenanigans, practical jokes and bullying, but after the pandemic, the social norm has changed and evolved into something a little more sinister and in some cases, more violent.

In late April, two incidents grabbed headlines that shattered the peaceful campus of Kingwood Park. On Wednesday, April 27, at approximately 12:30 p.m. during Flex Hour on the campus, two male students exchanged words in a hallway and agreed to go into a restroom where the disagreement changed from words into a physical altercation, according to a letter sent home to parents the following day.

Other students came into the restroom to watch, and some students took videos with their phones. One of the students was hit in the face and jaw several times, said Kingwood Park Principal Wes Solomon.

The letter continued saying a student went across the hall from the restroom and informed a teacher, who responded immediately to the fight. Administrators, police, and the school nurse responded immediately. One of the students, the letter said, required medical attention. The other student is now facing consequences as Humble ISD police are in the process of presenting evidence to the Harris County District Attorneys Office.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Harris County rejects Humble ISD's plan to buy land for school; will instead build affordable housing

The DAs office has the authority to file criminal charges where necessary.

The following day, Thursday, April 28, again during Flex Hour, seven students were involved in a fight in which one student needed medical attention. The students have already been identified and administrators and police are investigating that incident.

We are in contact with their parents and consequences will be determined, Solomon said.

While parents await an outcome of the investigation, Solomon took steps to help avoid further conflict by eliminating the Flex Hour and returning students to their regular bell schedule that included three lunch periods instead of all students being together in one Flex Hour.

I want to encourage any student who witnesses a situation in progress to immediately inform an adult, Solomon urged students. To watch a situation play out and take video provides attention to the assailant and encourages more violence, he added.

Humble ISD is not alone with the uptick in violence on school campuses and Tik Tok pranks. Districts in the area have seen the increase and are addressing those same issues.

On HoustonChronicle.com: HCA Healthcare looks to address staffing shortage with purchase of Galen College of Nursing

Unfortunately, kids sometimes make poor choices, and when they do, it is upsetting to everyone, said Jamie Mount, chief communications officer for Humble ISD.

Mount and district officials were appreciative of evidence submitted through iHELP, their anonymous reporting app.

There were reports of more violence posted on social media, but they were investigated and found not to be credible.

These incidents are unacceptable for our school, Solomon told parents in a series of letters.

The district added police officers to the campus as a precautionary measure. Please report any concerns to school staff, Humble ISD Police at 281-641-7900, or through the Humble ISD iHELP app.

Huffman ISD seeing uptick in end-of-school issues

Tucked away in the northeast corner of Harris County amongst farmland, it would be easy to dispel any ideas that Huffman might be affected by some of the same issues as their counterparts in larger districts. But Superintendent Dr. Benny Soileau would disagree.

Do we have issues? Yes, we have, he said.

The end of the school year always brings problems with unsettled disagreements and students pushing the threshold.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Rotary of Lake Houston set for fundraiser weekend

Were being more proactive right now around bathrooms and exterior areas where kids are not supposed to be and try to find an escape from the supervision of adults, Soileau said.

Soileau said they are also carefully watching the dynamics with student groups on the campus that have been creating some unrest.

We dont know for sure, but we believe that it might be precipitated and organized by an adult off campus, he said.

He couldnt go into details without exposing the investigation and tipping their hand but has sought the assistance off campus as well to help.

Soileau said that all campuses were seeing a significant uptick in social emotional situations that lead to the unrest, most of it since COVID.

Our kids are still struggling with it and we have increased our counseling and using college interns to proactively address the issues so that they dont start acting out, he said.

At the districts most recent board meeting, trustees approved an additional social worker position to help with the caseload and significant numbers of students seeking help.

We never want it to get to a discipline problem. I'd rather address those issues that cause discipline problems and try to prevent some of the significant consequences that kids have to undergo that take them out of the learning environment, he said.

The superintendent said they made the hire based on numbers.

We don't want to put them on a waiting list. We want to make sure that we have the personnel in the district to address those concerns as they come up. Those are issues we just cant put on a back burner. They are imminent concerns we must address immediately, he said.

His concerns reach across the entire district.

Weve seen this escalation at all levels, and emotional concerns. The problems may look different at each level, but they are manifest in some shape, form, or fashion, he described.

Soileau said it was behavior they typically saw in the fall and not in the spring.

He is willing to admit that some of it is post-pandemic stress, a mental health issue that has affected virtually every campus across the nation in some way or another.

Our kids and teachers havent recovered from the last two years, he said.

We know that if we have students who are having significant issues, we also have staff members that are having issues. We are addressing those. We have the services and we're able to help them work through some of those problems, he said.

Soileau said they are seeing a mass exodus from education.

I dont know what the numbers are, but Im coming off a conversation with 25 superintendents and we all were talking about more superintendents and teachers in our region leaving the profession or retiring, he said.

Soileau said he hoped that being proactive would help them in the long run and help them maintain good discipline and mental health on the campuses.

dtaylor@hcnonline.com
Editors Note: To have calendar events posted on the Examiner Calendar, email editor Roy Kent at rkent@hcnonline.com.

Outdoor Skills Day: Texas A&M Agrilife Extension presents a program open to all youth in grades third thru 12th from 7:45 a.m. to 4, with activates including first aid, fishing, wildlife IS and much more at Jones Creek Ranch Park, 7714 FM 359 Road in Richmond. Cost is $25 per family of two with an additional $5 for each additional youth, and is limited to 30 youth participants. Adults/volunteers are encouraged to stay and assist. Registration closes May 6 at 11:59 p.m. can be found at https://agrilife.org/ftbend4h/beyond-the-project/workshops-clinics-camps.

Story Time with Peter Pan: Peter Pan is flying in to the Discovery Center, for a one of a kind story time experience at Fort Bend Childrens Discovery Center at 198 Kempner St. in Sugar Land. Events run 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Peter will be meeting and greeting, so dont miss this fun event. Sponsored by Caldwell & Steinbring Dentistry for Children. Included in cost of admission, an additional ticket is not necessary. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/3f47423k.

May 16

Richmond City Commission: The city of Richmond will hold its regular commission meeting on Monday, May 16, at 4:30 p.m. at the City Hall Annex located at 600 Morton St. in Richmond. For questions, contact City Manager Terri Vela at tvela@richmondtx.gov or 281-342-5456.

Missouri City City Council: The regular meeting of the Missouri City City Council is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, May 16, in the City Hall, Council Chamber at 1522 Texas Parkway. For more information go to www.missouricitytx.gov.

May 17

Sugar Land City Council: The Sugar Land City Council is scheduled to meet for its regular session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, at Sugar Land City Hall, 2700 Town Center Blvd. N. For more information go to www.sugarlandtx.gov.

Rosenberg City Council: The Rosenberg City Council is scheduled to meet for its regular session at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, at Rosenberg City Hall, 2110 4th St. Council meetings may be viewed live on YouTube, the city of Rosenberg website, or by Rosenberg Comcast customers on channel 16. For more information go to www.rosenbergtx.gov.

May 18

Fulshear High graduation: The graduation ceremony for Fulshear High School is scheduled 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, at Traylor Stadium, at 1000 E. Stadium Drive in Rosenberg. Tickets are required to attend. All 2022 Lamar CISD Graduation Ceremonies will be streamed live on the districts homepage at www.lcisd.org or on the districts YouTube channel at https://tinyurl.com/4zdmnhcr. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/3278uexn.

May 19

Foster High graduation: The graduation ceremony for Foster High School is scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, May 19, at Traylor Stadium, at 1000 E. Stadium Drive in Rosenberg. Tickets are required to attend. All 2022 Lamar CISD Graduation Ceremonies will be streamed live on the districts homepage at www.lcisd.org or on the districts YouTube channel at https://tinyurl.com/4zdmnhcr. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/3278uexn.

May 20

Lamar Consolidated graduation: The graduation ceremony for Lamar Consolidated High School is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday, May 20, at Traylor Stadium, at 1000 E. Stadium Drive in Rosenberg. Tickets are required to attend. All 2022 Lamar CISD Graduation Ceremonies will be streamed live on the districts homepage at www.lcisd.org or on the districts YouTube channel at https://tinyurl.com/4zdmnhcr. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/3278uexn.

May 21

Terry High graduation: The graduation ceremony for Terry High School is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at Traylor Stadium, at 1000 E. Stadium Drive in Rosenberg. Tickets are required to attend. All 2022 Lamar CISD Graduation Ceremonies will be streamed live on the districts homepage at www.lcisd.org or on the districts YouTube channel at https://tinyurl.com/4zdmnhcr. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/3278uexn.

May 22

George Ranch High graduation: The graduation ceremony for George Ranch High School is scheduled for 8 p.m. Sunday, May 22, at Traylor Stadium, at 1000 E. Stadium Drive in Rosenberg. Tickets are required to attend. All 2022 Lamar CISD Graduation Ceremonies will be streamed live on the districts homepage at www.lcisd.org or on the districts YouTube channel at https://tinyurl.com/4zdmnhcr. For more information go to https://tinyurl.com/3278uexn.

Farmers market: The Farmers Market at La Centerra is presented the second and fourth Sunday of every month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 23501 Cinco Ranch Blvd. in Katy. There will be local vendors and artisans at Heritage Square selling honey, cheese, fresh eggs, seasonal vegetables and more. To become a vendor email customer@yourneighborhoodfarmersmarket.com.

Strike Out Autism: Together with Presenting Sponsor Fred and Mabel R. Parks Foundation, Hope For Three will host their 2022 Grand Slam Event of the year, Strike Out Autism on May 22 at Constellation Field. The Family Fun Day is an afternoon full of autism awareness, smiles, laughter and acceptance for more than 100 local families living with autism. Parents, siblings and children on the autism spectrum will feel like MVPs for the day and must register now because of limited availability. Reserved stadium seat tickets are available at www.hopeforthree.org/events. Team players (volunteers) wanted, and All-Star Sponsors and Underwriters needed to give help and hope to local families and children. Call 281-245-0640 or email contact@hopeforthree.org to learn more.

May 27

Clements graduation: The graduation ceremony for Clements High School is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, May 27, at Toyota Center located at 1510 Polk St. in Houston. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony. For more information go to www.fortbendisd.com/graduation.

Hightower graduation: The graduation ceremony for Hightower High School is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Friday, May 27, at Toyota Center located at 1510 Polk St. in Houston. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony. For more information go to www.fortbendisd.com/graduation.

Austin graduation: The graduation ceremony for Austin High School is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, May 27, at Toyota Center located at 1510 Polk St. in Houston. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony. For more information go to www.fortbendisd.com/graduation.

Travis graduation: The graduation ceremony for Travis High School is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 27, at Toyota Center located at 1510 Polk St. in Houston. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony. For more information go to www.fortbendisd.com/graduation.

Kempner graduation: The graduation ceremony for Kempner High School is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, May 27, at Toyota Center located at 1510 Polk St. in Houston. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony. For more information go to www.fortbendisd.com/graduation.

May 28

Ridge Point graduation: The graduation ceremony for Ridgepoint High School is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Saturday, May 28, at Toyota Center located at 1510 Polk St. in Houston. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony. For more information go to www.fortbendisd.com/graduation.

Willowridge graduation: The graduation ceremony for Willowridge High School is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, May 28, at Toyota Center located at 1510 Polk St. in Houston. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony. For more information go to www.fortbendisd.com/graduation.

Dulles graduation: The graduation ceremony for Dulles High School is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at Toyota Center located at 1510 Polk St. in Houston. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony. For more information go to www.fortbendisd.com/graduation.

Elkins graduation: The graduation ceremony for Elkins High School is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at Toyota Center located at 1510 Polk St. in Houston. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony. For more information go to www.fortbendisd.com/graduation.

Marshall graduation: The graduation ceremony for Marshall High School is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at Toyota Center located at 1510 Polk St. in Houston. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony. For more information go to www.fortbendisd.com/graduation.

Bush graduation: The graduation ceremony for Bush High School is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at Toyota Center located at 1510 Polk St. in Houston. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony. For more information go to www.fortbendisd.com/graduation.

June 14

Maker Station Summer Camps: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension presents the Maker Station Camps focusing on creating something from nothing. Campers will create, plan, and build and much more. The camp is open to third- through eighth-grade students from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, at the Fort Bend County Education Center at 1402 Band Road in Rosenberg. The cost $75 per camp which includes daily snacks. Campers should bring a packed lunch daily. For more information and to register visit https://agrilife.org/ftbend4h/beyond-the-project/workshops-clinics-camps.

June 30

Maker Station Summer Camps: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension presents the Maker Station Camps focusing on creating something from nothing. Campers will create, plan, and build and much more. The camp is open to third- through eighth-grade students from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, June 30, at the Fort Bend County Education Center at 1402 Band Road in Rosenberg. The cost $75 per camp which includes daily snacks. Campers should bring a packed lunch daily. For more information and to register visit https://agrilife.org/ftbend4h/beyond-the-project/workshops-clinics-camps.

July 12

Maker Station Summer Camps: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension presents the Maker Station Camps focusing on creating something from nothing. Campers will create, plan, and build and much more. The camp is open to third- through eighth-grade students from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 12, at the Fort Bend County Education Center at 1402 Band Road in Rosenberg. The cost $75 per camp which includes daily snacks. Campers should bring a packed lunch daily. For more information and to register visit https://agrilife.org/ftbend4h/beyond-the-project/workshops-clinics-camps.

July 18-22

Earth Kids Kind Kamp: Join Texas A&M AgriLife Extension for Earth Kids Kind Kamp. They will be exploring entomology, wildlife, nature and more July 18-22. The camp is open to third- through fifth-grade students from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds. The cost $80 which includes daily snacks and camp T-shirt. Campers should bring a packed lunch daily. For more information contact Angela Romans at angela.bosier@ag.tamu.edu or 281-342-3034.

July 28

Maker Station Summer Camps: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension presents the Maker Station Camps focusing on creating something from nothing. Campers will create, plan, and build and much more. The camp is open to third- through eighth-grade students from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 28, at the Fort Bend County Education Center at 1402 Band Road in Rosenberg. The cost $75 per camp which includes daily snacks. Campers should bring a packed lunch daily. For more information and to register visit https://agrilife.org/ftbend4h/beyond-the-project/workshops-clinics-camps.
INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP)  Police were searching for a woman suspected in the fatal shootings of her live-in boyfriend and her brother at a Michigan apartment.

The bodies of Ray Muscat, 26, and Bishop Taverner, 25, were found early Sunday morning in an apartment in Independence Township, northwest of Detroit, the Oakland County sheriff's office said.
OCILLA, Ga. (AP)  More than 16 years after a popular high school teacher vanished from her rural Georgia home, a man is set to stand trial for her murder.

The disappearance of 30-year-old Tara Grinstead, a history teacher and former beauty queen, after she left an evening cookout in October 2005 lingered as an unsolved mystery for more than a decade.

Then Ryan Duke told investigators in 2017 that he killed Grinstead after breaking into her home near Ocilla to steal drugs. He said he and an accomplice took her body to a pecan orchard in a neighboring county and burned it to ash. Defense attorneys say Duke made a false confession under the influence of drugs.

Now a jury will decide Duke's fate at the Irwin County courthouse. Superior Court Judge Bill Reinhardt scheduled opening statements from prosecutors and defense attorneys to commence Monday morning.

The judge seated 12 jurors and six alternates Thursday after just four days of jury selection, news outlets reported.

It happened quickly considering the pervasive publicity that has surrounded the case ever since Grinstead's disappearance. The court clerk mailed out 800 jury duty notices for the trial to ensure a better chance of finding enough impartial jurors.

A court fight over funding for Duke's legal defense and the coronavirus pandemic contributed to long delays in the case going to trial.

A second person with a similar name, Bo Dukes, was convicted in 2019 for helping move and burn Grinstead's body. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

At his sentencing, Dukes apologized to Grinstead's family, who spent years seeking tips and holding out hope that she would be found alive.

"Your long suffering has been unimaginable, Dukes said in court. My actions were cowardly, callous, and cruel. I was more interested in self-pity and self-preservation than doing the right thing for Tara and for you.

It's unclear whether Dukes will be called as a witness at the upcoming trial.

Defense attorneys for Duke say he was home asleep when Grinstead was killed. Agents for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have testified previously that they found DNA from both Duke and the slain woman on a latex glove found in her yard.

If convicted of murder, Duke faces an automatic sentence of life in prison.
A woman fatally shot her husband early Saturday after he allegedly told her he was in love with another woman, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies from the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office responded around 2:20 a.m. to a weapons disturbance at the 23000 block of Buttress Root Drive and found a man inside a home with multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said. He died at a local hospital.
A Pearland man was sentenced on Friday by a federal judge for his role orchestrating a $1.9 million warranty fraud scheme targeting multiple tech companies, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorneys Office Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

United States District Judge Joel Slomsky sentenced Vaughn Simon, 29, to one year and three months in prison, court records show. He was ordered to pay more than $1.9 million in restitution to the companies he defrauded.

Simon pleaded guilty in June 2020 to 22 counts of mail fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, two counts of filing a false tax return, and one count of tax evasion, the press release stated.

He allegedly defrauded Cisco, Sony Electronics, The Neat Company, Canon USA, APC, iRobot Corporation, and Skullcandy, Inc., out of various electronics and computer hardware, by submitting hundreds of false warranty claims seeking to replace more than $4 million worth of products he was never in possession of, according to the release.

More on HoustonChronicle.com: Voters to cast ballots on schools boards, bonds, suburban councils and two state props Saturday

Although not every claim was successful, Simon was able to get the companies to send him $1.9 million worth of merchandise that he eventually sold on the Internet or to computer equipment resellers, according to the press release.

Simon is the second person sentenced in the scheme, the release added. Justin David May, 32, of Wilmington, DE, was also sentenced to four years and eight months in prison in June 2021.

Additionally, the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division found that Simon had filed false tax returns in 2014 and 2016 while also not paying income taxes for 2015, the release stated. During that time, Simon was alleged to have earned over $400,000 through the fraud and failed to declare the money as income.

Simon not only stole from these companies, but he also stole from the American public and the IRS, said Yury Kruty of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division.

Joel.Umanzor@chron.com
This was a demoralizing week for many Americans, a week that left many wondering what kind of country this actually is and what our political leaders are even doing.

On Monday, there came a bombshell from the Supreme Court in the form of a leaked draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health, a case that nominally concerns a new Mississippi law banning abortions after the 15-week mark. The opinion would not only uphold the Mississippi law; it would overturn the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion, Roe v Wade, returning the issue to the states.

As if potentially taking away a womans right to choose after nearly 50 years werent enough, the draft serves as a stark reminder of the willingness of the Supreme Court, as reshaped by Republican Donald Trump during his presidency, to move away from being a moderating force to one that seeks to impose far-right views.

Alitos opinion offered an unapologetic evisceration of Roe, an opinion that Trumps three picks to the high court seemed to suggest was settled law in their confirmation hearings . It also raised the prospect that other landmark rulings might be revisited with skepticism over whether the rights they recognize and uphold are deeply rooted in this Nations history and traditions, in Alitos words. These include Obergefell v. Hodges, recognizing the right to same-sex marriage; Loving v. Virginia, enshrining the right to interracial marriage; and Griswold v. Connecticut, recognizing the right of married couples to use contraception.

If Roe is vulnerable, as it obviously is, what else is on the line?

Many Republicans spent the week scoffing at that question. Others answered it. Two days after news of the leaked Alito opinion, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said hed like to launch an attack on 1982s Plyler v Doe, which struck down a 1975 Texas law defunding the public school education of immigrant kids living in the country without legal permission.

I think that we will resurrect that case and challenge this issue again because the expenses are extraordinary and the times are different than when Plyler v. Doe was issued many years ago, said Abbott, a conservative Republican whose demagoguery on the immigration issue seemingly knows no limits.

So our governor would deny education to innocent children because of a decision made, often under duress, by their parents.

He would do that even though every credible analysis has found that unauthorized immigrants are net contributors to the states balance sheet, which is not surprising, given that the state relies heavily on sales tax revenue and spends less than most on a per capita basis.

Abbott wants to resurrect that case despite the fact that Texans see public education as a public good and realize that no one benefits from the deliberate immiseration of such immigrants. In fact, theres a mainstream consensus around both of those points in Texas, such that in 2001 we adopted a state-level DREAM Act, extending in-state tuition rates to noncitizen residents of the state.

But the governor has a different view. Good to know.

And we already knew that some Republicans would like to revisit other social issues, because theyve said so explicitly.

Given the hysterics and histrionics coming out about Dobbs, Im starting to think we need to repeal the 19th amendment, Erick Erickson, an influential social conservative commentator, tweeted Friday.

A joke? Sure, maybe, albeit not a particularly funny one. As a practical matter, in any case, its hard to repeal a constitutional amendment, including this one, which extended the right to vote to women. There are easier targets available for those of our fellow Americans who would like to return to their imagined version of the 1950s, in which white men had an undisputed hold on power in this country as well as pretty wives, well-paying jobs in the manufacturing sector and lots of witty one-liners.

Obergefell, for one, is obviously vulnerable. This decision, and what Alito has to say about marriage equality, is a clear call to anyone who opposes marriage equality  who opposes LGBTQ+ equality  that they have a friend on the court, Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in that 2015 case, said in an appearance on CNN last week. More than one friend.

Or Griswold, for example: It may seem absurd to suggest that citizens of the United States in the 21st century could lose the right to use contraceptives as part of a more general right to privacy in their own bedrooms. At some level, it is absurd, to think that we could return to a world in which such a basic and obvious freedom is subject to state scrutiny.

And yet ...

Of course its a war on birth control, abortion, everything, said Wayne Christian, then a state representative, in a 2011 interview with the Texas Tribune after then-Gov. Rick Perry cut funding to womens health programs.

Christian was subsequently elected to and currently serves on the Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees the states oil and gas industry, rather than its women. Still, he is a statewide elected official in the nations second-most populous state, so his views cant simply be dismissed as the burblings of some bot on social media.

How about no-fault divorce? In fairness, there hasnt been much speculation about that one in the wake of the leaked Dobbs draft, but perhaps there should be. In 2017, state Rep. Matt Krause  a Republican now running for Tarrant County district attorney  filed a bill that would end that option, which has been legal in Texas since the 1970s. The effort didnt really go anywhere, but 2017 was a comparatively innocent time.

In light of such facts, its tendentious to accuse Democrats of overreacting, or crying wolf, in the wake of the leaked Dobbs opinion.

But the nations highest court has effectively sent conservative lawmakers a message: Shoot your shot, boys. Many Republicans will be reluctant to take advantage of the opportunity to relitigate rulings that enjoy broad popular support. Others will not be.

In the meantime, voters have an opportunity to send a message about whether this is the direction they want to see the country taking in 2022. Politics is all about course corrections, and voters frankly need to rein in this kind of extremism.

My new role

As for me, some personal news: This will be my last column, after more than four years in this role. I arrived in this space shortly after Hurricane Harveys devastation and the jubilance that accompanied the Astros World Series win, and what a four years it has been. Ill be starting a new role in the Houston Chronicles business section later this month, which I consider to be a win-win situation for both myself and our readers: You wont be confronted with my opinions on politics, and Ill have less occasion to formulate them.

And, even better, Ill have the opportunity to write about the business of Houston, of telling the stories of the workers and entrepreneurs and leaders who make Houston the great American city, the great global city, that it is. Please join me over there; well have fun. Until then: Make a plan to vote, and thanks for reading.

erica.grieder@chron.com
A candidate who supports banning books about race, sex and gender in schools won a crowded race for the Katy Independent School District board Saturday night, according to unofficial election results.

Victor Perez  a candidate who previously said he appreciated the work the district had done to pull books from libraries and urged the board to do more  had garnered 51 percent of votes when election officials finished counting Saturday night.

Perez, a 69-year-old retired energy industry executive who has two grandchildren in the district, was running against four other candidates for Position 1 trustee.

In Spring Branch ISD, three new candidates for school board  Lisa Alpe, John Perez and Caroline H. Bennett  won their races, unofficial results show. All three were endorsed by the by 1776 project, a national political action committee that is fighting the agendas of supporters of critical race theory, according to its website.

Across the Houston area, school board members, bonds to fund school districts and city council seats were decided Saturday.

In Humble, votes were tallied Saturday night to determine if city employees would be prohibited from participating in a decision that they have a substantial interest in. Unofficial results showed 86 percent of voters in favor of the measure.

Unofficial results showed that voters were strongly in favor of about $900 million in bonds for Klein ISD to fund safety and security in schools and technological devices for classroom instruction. Measures to spend $200 million in bonds for a new events center and a new stadium both failed.

Other races decided Saturday include:

Humble City Council

Bruce Davidson and Paula Settle  both incumbents  ran unopposed for Places 3 and 4, respectively. For Place 5, unofficial results show incumbent David Pierce easily beat his challenger, Linda Greenan.

Jersey Village City Council

Drew Wasson and Jennifer McCrea ran unopposed for Places 1 and 5, respectively. For Place 4, incumbent James Singleton narrowly beat his challenger, Jim Fields, unofficial results show.

La Porte City Council

Rick Helton and Jay Martin ran unopposed in Districts 4 and 5, respectively. Unofficial results show incumbent Brandon Lunsford beat his challenger, Wyatt Smith, for an at-large position.

Nassau Bay

Unofficial results show City Council incumbent Phil Johnson beat Mark Denman in the mayors race, while for Position 6, unofficial results show incumbent Matt Prior lost to his challenger, Michelle Weller. Lucie Johannes Sommer won Position 2, while James Abbey won the most votes for Position 4 but failed to win half of the overall votes. He will face John Mahon in a June 18 runoff.

Pearland City Council

Joseph Koza beat Place 1 incumbent Luke Orlando, unofficial results show, and Jeffrey Barry overwhelmingly won in the Position 6 race. Unofficial results also show Layni Cade leading the race for Position 5, but narrowly missing out on an outright win. If the final canvas confirms unofficial results, she will head to a June 18 runoff against Zach Boyer, the next highest vote-getter.

Webster City Council

Beverly Gaines and Edward Lapeyre ran unopposed for Positions 4 and 5, respectively. For Position 3, unofficial results show Chris Vaughan narrowly beat incumbent Lawrence Tosto despite falling behind after early votes were tallied.

Friendswood City Council

Robert J. Griffon ran unopposed for Position 4. In Harris County, unofficial results show Position 6 incumbent Brent Erenwert defeated Meg Crowley.

Sam Gonzalez Kelly contributed to this report.
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Justin Washington, 11, likes to talk to people, so when it came time to divvy up duties at a downtown lemonade stand, he angled for the job he knew hed enjoy: front man.

Those walking through Discovery Green on Sunday likely were approached by Washington, who held a whiteboard with a menu of the stands options  original, strawberry and sugar-free lavender, among them. He approached them without hesitation, regardless of whether they appeared interested.

Passersby on their phones, or walking dogs, or listening to headphones, could not elude him.

Hell talk to anyone, his father, also named Justin Washington, said with a proud smile.

Washington was among dozens of kids to fan out across Houston over the weekend to set up stands and try their hands at entrepreneurship, part of the citys annual Lemonade Day celebration. The program, founded in 2007 by Michael Holthouse in Houston, seeks to help kids learn basic financial and business lessons they may not get in school. They develop business plans, establish budgets and try to earn a profit. The program has spread to 86 cities. The Houston chapter is hoping to help 10,000 kids launch a stand this year.

Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

The main objective is them knowing they can operate their own business, said Yuliana Chacon, assistant director with Lemonade Day Houston. She mentioned two people who had done the program and now study at Texas A&M, where they started a grilled cheese business out of their dorm room.

The group that included Washington, organized with the nonprofit 100 Black Men of America, passed its $150 goal within a few hours. They decided to offer jugs of lemonade  a bulk option  to differentiate themselves. They also sold juices made with fresh Meyer lemons, which offered a lesson in supply chains: There was a shortage. As a result, they hiked the price of that drink by another buck, to $3.

They made special signs to celebrate Mothers Day and called themselves Wicked Lemonade.

Around 12:15 p.m., Washington won a well-deserved break, and one of the adults in the group grabbed the board and started making her own pitch.

Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Nearby, Vivi and Monique Gloetzner, both 10, marketed their stand with a chalk easel, and they enlisted the help of bubbles to draw attention to their options: one sweet lemonade and one sour.

I always sell bubbles, said Vivi, who was working a stand for the third consecutive year. The first time, she said, she just sat at the stand and waited for people to approach. The second time, she started advertising.

What does she do with the money she makes?

Sometimes I buy toys, she said, but I usually save it.

dylan.mcguinness@chron.com
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The girls fell silent as their model rocket began beeping.

The chirping altimeter would tell them how high their rocket flew, but required counting.

I know theres an eight, said 13-year-old Briley Grimm.

I hope theres an eight. Itd be pretty bad if there wasnt, responded 14-year-old Cara Anderson.

They wanted the rocket to reach 810 feet. So they waited for the altimeter to reset, and then they counted. Eight beeps. A pause. 10 beeps. A pause. Six beeps.

That meant their rocket flew 806 feet. And a stopwatch controlled by National Association of Rocketry volunteer Harold Larson showed their vehicle was airborne for 41.6 seconds.

That is perfect, Larson said. I think theyve got it dialed in.

The girls team from Seabrook Intermediate School, ironically named the Penguins for the bird that doesnt fly, is among 101 U.S. teams that qualified to compete in the 2022 American Rocketry Challenge National Finals. It was selected from more than 720 teams and will travel to The Plains, Va.  just outside of Washington, D.C.  next weekend to compete.

An all-boys team from Seabrook Intermediate School and an all-girls team from Houstons Cesar E. Chavez High School also qualified for the finals and will be traveling to the D.C. area.

These teams are vying for $100,000 in prizes and the title of national champion, which includes an all-expense paid trip to London for the international finals. The top 25 teams will receive invitations to NASAs Student Launch workshop.

Students from all three teams gathered Saturday in a field outside Clear Creek ISDs Challenger Columbia Stadium to fine-tune the rockets they had designed with computer software and built using cardboard tubes and plastic nosecones.

The rockets launch with two raw eggs that represent passengers, and theyre fueled by ammonium perchlorate and powdered aluminum. An electric igniter is used to launch from a safe distance.

On the day of the competition, officials will flip a coin to determine if the rocket must strive for 810 feet or 860 feet. Its OK to go over or under these heights, but the goal is to get as close as possible. The rockets must also strive to be aloft for 41 to 44 seconds.

The students reach these varying heights by adjusting the weight of their rockets. This is a delicate, time-consuming process where the students add and remove modeling clay from inside their vehicles. Heavy rockets wont fly as high, and they descend faster. Lighter rockets go higher and float longer.

The students can also adjust their parachutes to find the best configuration for unfurling in the air. They must troubleshoot by themselves as adults cannot help during the finals competition.

I dont want to tell them because I know day of theyve got to figure this all out for themselves, said Maqsuda Afroz, the team adviser for Chavez High School.

The Chavez team, which created a hot pink rocket with a spider and named it Andrew Garfield for the actor who played Spider-Man, chose to go heavy for the first launch. The 455-gram rocket stayed aloft for 34.8 seconds and reached an altitude of 732 feet.

They removed clay before the second launch. The 430-gram rocket reached an altitude of 890 feet and stayed aloft for 47.2 seconds.

We could just add a little bit of mass, and it would work, said 18-year-old Judith Tovar.

For their final launch, the rocket weighed 447 grams, reached an altitude of 838 feet and stayed aloft for 42.09 seconds.

And 41 to 44 (seconds) is perfect, said Larson, the National Association of Rocketry volunteer.

Its about trial and error as each launch generates new data for the students to consider. Its also about having fun.

For some students, this competition will be their first time flying on an airplane and visiting the U.S. Capitol.

Afroz, the team adviser for Chavez, believes extracurricular activities like this can inspire students to dream big and to continue their education.

Clubs can become the reason kids graduate school, she said.

The students competing from Chavez include Angely Barahona, Jazmin Barahona, Ana Guerra Martinez, April Ibarra, Tran Tay, Fabiola Toc Zapeta and Judith Tovar. Alternates also traveling to the finals include Javier Aragon, Servando Avalos and Edward Labra.

The students competing from Seabrook Intermediate include Cara Anderson, Samantha Cassady, Briley Grimm and Brinley MacKerron on the girls team and Ethan Jerla, Benjamin McDonald, Levi Moreno and Nicholas Skelton on the boys team.

andrea.leinfelder@chron.com

twitter.com/a_leinfelder
Regarding Is Houston becoming more bike-friendly? A car-free developer says yes, (May 1): I rode the route described in this article and have a few comments.

If Lava Sunder and Joe Cutrufo are comfortable riding on a six-lane thoroughfare and cutting through a residential street that crosses two busy streets without street lights then I don't see why they need bike lanes of any kind. .

They finally get to the Waugh Drive protected bike lanes with the green paint. These are fine when theyre not blocked by residents' garbage cans as they were when I rode there or when they are not covered with debris which they are beginning to be. We know how well the city maintains bike routes and bike lanes. I also noted that some of the plastic warning sticks in the concrete curbs had already been knocked down presumably by a car running over them.

"The smooth ride ends on Waugh a few blocks short of Allen Parkway." If they had continued on Woodhead instead, the old bike route, and to Dunlavy Street, a pedestrian light over Allen Parkway connects to the Buffalo Bayou bike trails. The old bike routes are better and safer.

As for the 11th Street redo, a "handful of residents voiced concerns about the plans." This handful of residents has a petition with over 1,500 signatures objecting to the plan. Its not a good idea. It will be dangerous for bike riders who use it and it will create more traffic on the side streets, making them less safe for families and children. It is not necessary and a waste of money. There are better alternatives to ride through the Heights.

Paul Herrera, Houston

I understand BikeHouston Executive Director Joe Cutrufo acknowledging, You dont want to be the person always saying whats wrong. Still. While I applaud the new bike lanes protected by concrete barriers on Waugh, I invite him to return for a ride in several months, when the lanes will be clogged with leaves, garbage and, on trash day, bulky bins.

Two white bikes memorialize fallen cyclists within a quarter mile of my Montrose townhome. Spending money to build safer bike lanes is one thing, spending money to maintain them seems quite another.

Roberta MacInnis, Houston

POST Houston

Regarding Essay: You can see all of Houston from POST, (April 30): After a more than forty-year career with the U.S. Postal Service, I have a personal connection to that grand old building. Logistics of having mail processed close to IAH at the North Houston distribution facility made the move necessary. It was always debatable whether or not to sell the old General Post Office on Franklin and have a continued, but reduced public access post office remain, while leasing out office space and even terminal space to meet the business needs of Houston. The sale was made and a transition must take place. I hope POST Houston will be a destination place for Houstonians and visitors alike, providing safe and entertaining venues that will enhance the image and viability of Houston's downtown scene.

James Minton, Houston

The essay mentions the nexus between railroads and the building. In fact, Amtrak's platform is right out the back door. The station facility itself should be relocated into the northwestern corner of the ground floor. This is staffed daily; POST's restaurants can serve waiting and arriving passengers. And curious sightseers will be enlightened to realize that the fourth largest city in the country deserves better Amtrak service than one tri-weekly train.

Irv Smith, Missouri City
So lets talk about That Word.

Meaning the word the political left was using to define itself until the political right got hold of it and made it an object of ridicule. The word that quickly became unusable, even faintly embarrassing.

No, the word is not woke.

It is, rather, liberal, a word that, linguist Geoffrey Nunberg argues in his 2006 book, Talking Right, was already associated with profligacy, spinelessness, malevolence, masochism, elitism, fantasy, anarchy, idealism, softness, irresponsibility and sanctimoniousness by the late 1970s as a result of white backlash to Black progress, the national schism over Vietnam and the perceived failures of the Great Society.

Then Ronald Reagan piled on. In 1988, he  soon to be followed by George H.W. Bush  dubbed it the L-Word, i.e., unsayable in polite company. Together, they conducted a master class in how, through relentless ridicule, a self-definition could be weaponized against those who chose it. Democratic leaders soon began refusing the label outright or accepting it only with prickly reluctance. The left was forced into a defensive crouch from which it has never quite emerged.

Understanding how That Word was taken out of service is invaluable in understanding what is transpiring now with That Other Word. And here, yes, we are talking about woke.

Because weve seen this movie before. Once again, the right mocks a word with undisguised glee  it is slapped on a Florida education censorship bill; it is blamed by the L.A. County Sheriff for making the city unlivable; Rep. Matt Gaetz claims it will destroy the military. And once again, the left responds with a crouch. Or has no one else noticed how the word has magically disappeared from the mouths of all but its detractors? A list that, not incidentally, includes Democratic strategist James Carville, who made news last year by declaring, in a Vox interview, that Wokeness is a problem.

But is it, really? Or is the problem not that the left keeps allowing the right to frame the debate? Is the problem not the failure to finally realize that there is no word the left can use to define itself that will stop those mean conservatives from picking on them? Because its not the words the right opposes. Rather, its the beliefs those words express.

Like the belief that people should not have to breathe carcinogens in their air, drink poisons in their water or eat maggots in their meat. And that the work week should not be 80 hours long. And that children should not be in factories, nor hard-working families in slums. And that women should control their reproductive destinies, LGBTQ people should be treated like human beings, Black people should be free to vote. And that government has a responsibility to enforce it all.

Those are noble causes to fight for. That those who have historically done so find it necessary to crouch in defense speaks to how upside down and inside out is this era  and to the success of the right in defining those who are too often timid and inept in defining themselves.

Woke means awake and aware. Liberal means generous and broad-minded. Progressive  just to complete the triumvirate  means characterized by progress. Each is preferable to its alternative.

Thats not to advocate for any particular word. Rather, its to say that every moment spent debating words is a moment spent not advocating for the beliefs those words express.

Its hard to fight from a crouch.

Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald.
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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

WASHINGTON  Former U.S. Sen. Bob Krueger, human rights advocate and the last Texas Democrat to serve in the U.S. Senate, passed away of congestive heart failure in his hometown of New Braunfels on April 30, according to local reports.

Krueger was among the last of the once-dominant conservative Texas Democrats, with a political career that spanned the partys slow collapse across the state. He briefly achieved his highest aspiration in 1993, when Gov. Ann Richards appointed him to serve in the U.S. Senate.

He served only five months, losing a bruising special election to future Texas Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who would serve out the remainder of that term and win reelection three more times.

But in defeat, Krueger established a legacy that will outlive many Senate careers.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton named Krueger as the U.S. ambassador to Burundi, an African country neighboring Rwanda, which was amid civil war at the time.

In this role, Krueger came under physical threat and seized the mantle as the United States foremost advocate against human rights abuses in a destabilized East Africa. His eyewitness accounts to the horrors of genocide are frequently cited within the human rights community, including on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum website.

A generation ago, the 1976 edition of The Almanac of American Politics described the then-freshman congressman and Shakespeare scholar as about as far removed from the stereotype of a Texas politician as one could imagine. In reporting on his passing, the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung newspaper declared him this citys favorite native son.

A descendant of German immigrants who settled in the Texas Hill Country, Robert Charles Krueger was born on Sept. 19, 1935. A product of New Braunfels public schools, he was one of the brightest minds of his generation. He graduated in 1957 with a bachelors degree from Southern Methodist University. He went on to earn his masters from Duke University, where he would later serve as a college dean, and he earned additional masters and doctorate degrees from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. While at Oxford, he mastered the works of Shakespeare.

Eventually, he returned to his hometown in 1973 to run a family business, the Comal Hosiery Mills, a top New Braunfels employer. In 1974, he ran as a Democrat in an open-seat U.S. House race.

The 21st Congressional district should have been the next logical pick up for Republicans looking to make gains within the Texas Congressional delegation. At that time, it stretched from conservative northern San Antonio into its other population center, San Angelo in West Texas. Two years before, President Richard Nixon defeated Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern there by 52 points.

With the help of future Texas General Land Office Commissioner Garry Mauro and Texas advertising man Roy Spence, Krueger ran well-funded, underdog campaigns in both the Democratic primary and in the general election. He won both, earning a place in the 1974 class of Democratic members who became known as the Watergate Babies.

While his tenure in the House was short  he served two terms  he earned a reputation for concentrating his time on energy policy.

But he aspired for a higher office across the Capitol. He unsuccessfully ran three times for Senate, first challenging Republican U.S. Sen. John Tower in 1978. Six years later, he lost to now-U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett in the 1984 Democratic primary, in a race that Republican U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm eventually won.

In 1993, Krueger left his post as Texas Railroad Commissioner to achieve the pinnacle of his political career. After Democratic U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen vacated his seat to serve as U.S. Treasury Secretary, Gov. Ann Richards appointed Krueger to finally serve in the U.S. Senate.

That dream only lasted five months.

Upon his appointment, Krueger faced a fast-approaching special election to serve out the remainder of that term. The 1994 GOP wave was nigh, and Texas was turning against Democrats in the 1990s  particularly those who were cerebral in nature. Krueger lost his bid to serve the remainder of Bentsens term when state Treasurer Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison soundly defeated him in the June 1993 special election.

Clinton and Richards staffers were furious with the scale of his political defeat. Clinton appointed Krueger to serve as ambassador to Burundi, an assignment they internally mocked, according to Brian McCalls book, The Power of the Texas Governor: Connally to Bush.

But diplomacy in East Africa in 1994 was anything but a joke, and the continent would become the center of his professional portfolio.

That year, Krueger and his wife, Kathleen, and their two young daughters moved to Burundi, a country that neighbored Rwanda. At the time, Rwanda was in the middle of a horrific civil war that brough genocide to the region. Refugees spilled into nearby countries, including Burundi.

Almost alone among Clintons diplomats, Krueger helped protect people from slaughter, wrote Reid, the Richards biographer. When he challenged Tutsi [tribal] marauders, two newspapers called for his assassination, and an ambush was soon attempted, leaving Bob unhurt but two people dead and eight more wounded.

One day his wife, Kathleen, faced down a dozen African soldiers who were intent on killing one of their household workers, he added.

The Kruegers penned a book about their experiences, From Bloodshed to Hope in Burundi, which is listed on the Briscoe Center for American History website, among many other sources.

The Kruegers left that post in 1996, and he went on to serve in the Clinton administration as the U.S. Ambassador to Botswana and as a special representative of the U.S. Secretary of State to the Southern African Development Community.

Krueger ended his career as a professor, returning to Oxford as a research fellow in 2000. Over the course of his academic career, he taught Shakespeare and history to students at the states preeminent higher education institutions: Rice University, University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University and Texas State University.

Despite his achievements in academia, politics and diplomacy, Kruegers hometown paper pointed most directly to his personal decency as his legacy.

Krueger was known to all by his informal name Bob and for an inclusive outlook borne of a time when participants in the political arena prided themselves on their fellowship and ability to work across the aisle with colleagues of any party, the Herald Zeitung newspaper stated in its Sunday obituary.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
Jolanda Jones, a former member of Houston City Council and the Houston ISD board of trustees, defeated real estate agent Danielle Keys Bess in Saturdays special election to succeed state Rep. Garnet Coleman in the Texas House, according to unofficial returns.

With all voting centers reporting, Jones secured 52 percent of the vote, edging out Bess by about 200 votes. She will serve out the remainder of Colemans two-term, which ends in January.

Jones and Bess, both Democrats, are also running for the seat next term and will appear on ballots again in a May 24 runoff to decide the Democratic nominee in November. The winner of the November election will serve from next January to January 2025.

Jones secured 42 percent of the vote during the March 1 primary, more than double Bess 20 percent. The primary will be decided in a runoff because no candidate received a majority of the votes.

Saturdays election, meanwhile, was called because Coleman, citing health reasons, retired from the Legislature earlier this year, several months before the end of his term. He served for more than 30 years in the state House.

District 147, one of the most diverse in the state, covers Midtown, Third Ward, a majority of Montrose and other parts of Houstons urban core. It also takes in the University of Houston and a large chunk of southeast Houston along Interstate 45.

Jones, a criminal defense lawyer, previously held an at-large seat on Houston City Council from 2008 to 2012, then served as a Houston ISD trustee from 2016 to 2020. As a member of City Council, she was viewed as an outspoken advocate for affordable housing, the homeless and women- and minority-owned businesses. She at times would pick losing battles over issues like her opposition to historic preservation, and was known to alienate other council members through parliamentary delays and lengthy speeches.

She remained outspoken as a member of the Houston ISD board, clashing often with other colleagues, including a shouting match with a fellow trustee in 2019.

Jones, who was endorsed by Coleman to succeed him, vows on her campaign website to carry the torch to Austin to protect our right to vote, expand access to affordable health care, give our kids a first-class education, and more. She is backed by a number of current and former elected officials, including 10 current members of the Legislature

jasper.scherer@chron.com
Texas voters on Saturday approved two constitutional amendments aimed at slowing the growth of property taxes, according to early returns that showed the measures passing overwhelmingly.

The amendments will provide property tax relief to seniors and disabled homeowners and raise the states homestead exemption for school property taxes. Both amendments were passed by the Legislature last year and required statewide approval before taking effect.

With more than half of statewide polling locations reporting, both measures had received at least 85 percent approval, according to results posted by the Texas Secretary of States Office. In Harris County, more than 80 percent of ballots cast early and by mail supported the amendments.

Proposition 1 extends the Legislatures 2019 cuts on school property tax rates to elderly and disabled homeowners, providing a rare decrease in their annual bills.

Under the Texas Constitution, school property taxes for most property owners are frozen at the amount they paid upon turning 65, while homeowners with disabilities receive the same benefit when they buy a new property. Though that provision leaves many senior and disabled homeowners with lower tax bills than some of their neighbors, it also means they did not directly benefit from the tax relief provided by the 2019 measure, as their tax bills were already frozen.

The 2019 property tax measure caps the amount of year-to-year revenue school districts can collect. With home values skyrocketing across Texas, most districts have had to reduce their tax rates each year to remain within the revenue cap.

By 2023, when Proposition 1 is set to take effect, those whose taxable property values are locked in place by existing laws would have their taxes unfrozen each year, allowing them to benefit from the lower property tax rates. The taxes would then be refrozen, said state Sen. Paul Baettencourt, the Houston Republican who authored the measure.

Proposition 2 allows property owners to shave $40,000 off the taxable value of their home, an increase of $15,000 from the existing school district homestead exemption. Bettencourt, who also authored this amendment, estimates that raising the homestead exemption would save homeowners about $176 a year.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
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Board of Health Inspector Cal Joppru said the building has been unoccupied since 1998 and is dangerous for anyone to enter because of damages.

Lanesborough Selectmen Order Demolition of Abandoned Building

LANESBOROUGH, Mass.  The Board of Selectmen has voted to order the demolition of an abandoned house at 310 North Main St. after urging from Board of Health Inspector Cal Joppru.



"The house has to come down. It's in terrible shape," Joppru said before the Selectmen prior to the board's vote last week. The order stipulates the property owner has 30 days to demolish the building.



Joppru said he condemned the building in 2016, but because of various solar projects and the COVID-19 pandemic, there has not been much more action on the issue. He said the current condition of the building is unsalvageable.



"There's big holes in the roof. The place hasn't been occupied since 1998, and the floors are collapsing; one of the back walls is coming out," Joppru said. "It's not a property you could rehab. If it was something they could rehab, that's one thing, but this has to come down, period. In my opinion."



Building Inspector W. Rick Reid said he spoke with the property owner last year, who told him he planned to hire a contractor to tear the building down. He said he has been trying to re-establish contact to resolve the issue.


eic - European Identity & Cloud Conference 2022

10.05.2022 bis 13.05.2022

Art der Veranstaltung: Kongress Ort: Berlin Datum: 10.05.2022 - 13.05.2022 Veranstalter: KuppingerCole Analysts AG Tehlnahmeoptionen: Prasenzveranstaltung, Aufzeichnung, Online Live Broadcast, Online Live Teilnahme URL: https://www.kuppingercole.com/events/eic2022 E-Mail: info@kuppingercole.com Telefon: +49 (211) 2370 77-0 Telefax: +49 (211) 2370 77-11 Voranmeldung erwunscht: ja

After more than a decade of successful events in Munich, the European Identity and Cloud Conference will move to Berlin in 2022. For the first time, Europes leading identity conference will gather the finest experts from around the world in Germanys capital.




iciHaiti - USA : The American Consulate would have refused Visas to executives of the Ministry of Planning





Ricard Pierre, the Minister of Planning and External Cooperation in a note, said he learned with amazement on social networks that visas were recently refused by the American Consulate to executives of this ministry who had to go to University of Illinois to Chicago.



The Minister recalls that he is very sensitive to the continuous training of executives, more particularly those of the public administration. In this sense, he encourages them to participate in training sessions held both inside and outside the country. With regard to training abroad, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Planning is responsible for providing interested parties with official passports and visas.



After investigating these allegations regarding trainings held at the University of Illinois from July 6-30, 2021, October 4-29, 2021, and November 1-24, 2021, the Minister confirms that 12 Ministry officials who attended these formations, defected and never returned to Haiti, discrediting the Ministry and that notices of cessation were issued by his predecessor for abandonment of post.



However, Minister Pierre, who has only been in office since November 25, 2021, wishes to specify that to date, the Ministry has not requested any official passports or detailed American visas for one or more of the officials of his Ministry and that the allegations of recent visa denials for Illinois does not concern him.



IH/ iciHaiti


















PLDT and wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) are on full alert to ensure services remain seamless during this years presidential polls. PLDT and Smart have prepositioned personnel and mission-critical equipment to ensure uninterrupted service across the country ahead of the May 9 elections. Quick response teams are on standby, ready to be deployed in areas that might experience service issues.

PLDT and Smart value the right of the Filipinos to vote. As the countrys fully integrated telecommunications company, we are in a unique position to enable Filipinos as they cast their ballots. By fortifying our network and ensuring its reach and integrity, we are steadfast in our commitment to help ensure a successful election, said Cathy Yap-Yang, FVP and Group Head of Corporate Communications at PLDT and Smart.

PLDT and Smart are closely monitoring their assets to make sure that they are operating at their optimum, especially on election day and in the crucial period of transmission of results from the vote counting machines (VCM) to the canvassing centers.

More than 67 million registered voters are expected to participate in this years elections. Around 1.6 million Filipinos around the world have also registered to vote and have been casting their ballots via overseas absentee voting since April. For Filipinos residing in the country, the 2022 polls will mark the fifth time the national elections will be fully automated.

The PLDT groups partnership with government agencies, non-profit organizations, private groups, and the media underscores its commitment to help the country attain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals particularly UNSDG 16, which calls for strong institutions.
A vote by Senate Democrats to advance a bill intended to establish a federal right to abortion fell short largely on party lines Wednesday as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., joined Republicans in opposition to defeat the measure 51-49. Manchin, a pro-life politician, says he supports a move to codify Roe vs. Wade into law but could not support the particular bill in question (The Women's Health Protection Act) as he feels it is too broad and expands abortion more than the current system in place. The vote to pass the act faced an uphill climb as it is as it needed 60 votes to defeat a Republican filibuster, renewed calls for Democrats to remove the legislative hurdle permanently before the Supreme Court releases its decision on Roe vs. Wade this summer. Do you believe Democrats should abolish the filibuster in order to codify Roe vs. Wade into law before it is potentially overturned? Why or why not? Let us know in this week's poll question below.

You voted:
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is witnessing its fourth mass bleaching incident since 2016, according to authorities. This is the fourth time in six years that such extreme and extensive destruction has been discovered as a result of rising sea temperatures.

Unsplash

If the world's greatest coral system is to survive, scientists say immediate climate policy is required. The fact that this bleaching incident happened in the same year as a La Nina weather event raises significant concerns. La Nia is known for bringing milder temperatures to Australia. The probable repercussions of the future El Nino are causing stress among scientists.

The news was made by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which has been conducting aerial surveys.

What is coral bleaching?

Reef and algae are mutually dependent on one another to survive. Coral reefs have a symbiotic association with zooxanthellae, which are microscopic algae that dwell in their cells. The reefs' principal food source is algae, which gives them their colour.

Agitated Coral: Algae leaves the coral when it is stressed. The algae leave the reef tissue when the symbiosis is challenged by rising ocean temperature or pollution. The reef loses its main stream of nutrition without the algae, turns white or pale, and becomes more prone to illness.

Unsplash

When reefs are stressed in their ecosystem, such as by temperature fluctuations, pollution, or excessive amounts of ocean acidity, they bleach. When coral polyps are disturbed, the zooxanthellae, or food-producing algae, within them begin to produce reactive oxygen species that are harmful to the reefs.

As a result, corals eject the color-producing zooxanthellae from their polyps, revealing their pale white exoskeleton and giving them a bleached image. This also brings a closure to the mutual interaction that allows corals to thrive and survive.

It is believed that pollution and runoff storm-generated downpour might also weaken sea water quickly to runoff can transport pollutants that can bleach reefs near the coast. When degrees and solar irradiance is high, overexposure to sunlight causes bleaching in shallow-water reefs. Exceptionally, low waves In shallow reefs, exposure to the air at very low tides may also induce bleaching.

Can coral recover from bleaching?

Coral is the world's longest-living species, capable of growing for centuries in the right circumstances. As a result, coral colonies frequently die as a result of a dismal living environment or the extinction of other organisms. Bleached reefs, on the other hand, can survive based on the extent of the bleaching and the return of standard sea temperatures.

Unsplash

Research suggests reefs may take generations to fully recover from bleaching incidents, so it's critical that they don't happen frequently. By the middle of the century, if we keep burning fossil fuels at our present rate, major bleaching episodes will be occurring on a yearly basis. Corals would be devastated, as they would have little hope of recovery.

Oceans have become warmer than normal as a result of climate change and growing global warming caused by increasing carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases in recent decades. Sea temperatures are expected to rise by 1.5C to 2C by the end of the century, notwithstanding all optimistic outlooks and predictions in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Agencies

When the El Nino weather phenomenon forced sea temperature in the Pacific Ocean to heat up, the first massive bleaching event happened in 1998, killing 8% of the world's reefs. In 2002, the 2nd incident happened. However, mass bleaching events have been more closely placed in time over the last decade, with the longest and most devastating bleaching event occurring from 2014 to 2017.

Reefs in Guam, in the Western Pacific, were the first to be devastated, followed by reefs in the North, South, and Indian Oceans. In 2017, the global average temperature was the 3rd hottest ever measured. In comparison to 1998, more than thrice as many corals were susceptible to bleaching-level extreme heat during the 2014-17 period.

Affect on marine species and people living near the coast

Reports claim that climate change is wreaking havoc on reefs all around the planet. According to a global assessment, fourteen percent of the globe's reefs perished between 2009 and 2019.

Unsplash

At a certain stage of life, a quarter of all marine animals rely on corals, as do millions of humans who rely on reefs for food, income, and coastal protection. Experts believe modifications in coral ecosystems can have an impact on the species that rely on them for food and refuge, such as fish and invertebrates. The extinction of such marine species has the potential to disrupt the entire food chain.

When reefs die in the process of bleaching, scientists predict that reductions in genomic and biological diversity may ensue.

California Academy of Sciences

Coral reefs help defend coastlines by absorbing continual wave energy from the ocean, preventing increasing storm damage, erosion, and floods for people living along the coast. Bleaching events have the potential to drastically alter fish populations. This can result in fewer catches for fishermen, affecting food supplies and related economic activity.

Scientists are reported to be rushing to find strategies to give reefs a fighting chance, such as looking for corals that could serve as refuges due to their naturally colder water. Others are working on developing heat-resistant corals that could be used to help reefs recover.

But why does it matter?

Corals, as per reports, support approximately 25% of marine species, including fish, turtles, and lobsters, although taking up just 1% of the seabed. Reef-supported marine life feeds the world's fishing businesses. Whales and giant clams depend on the corals for survival. Furthermore, coral systems create an annual economic worth of 2.7 trillion dollars via commerce in products and services, as well as tourism.

Unsplash

According to estimates, in pre-COVID Australia, the Barrier Reef earned 4.6 billion dollars in yearly tourism revenue and hired over 60,000 people, mainly divers and tour guides. Coral reefs offer refuge from storm surges in addition to adding economic value and supporting aquatic life.

Dead corals can resurrect over time if there are adequate species of animal to feed on the plants that sit on the deceased reefs, but it requires nearly a decade for the reef to repopulate. The reefs that were badly devastated in 1998 eventually recovered.

The situation of Great Barrier Reef

In March, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a study warning that the Great Barrier Reef's survival is in great risk. According to the report, if the climate continues to warm, bleaching events will become more frequent, and a major amount of Australia's remaining reef cover will be gone.

UNESCO

The Barrier Reef Authority confirmed a major bleaching event, impacting all parts of the coral system within a few weeks after this notification.

According to the Government, the present bleaching outbreak is the first one to happen during a La Nia weather system, which occurs when warm parts of the Pacific Ocean shift, resulting in more cloud coat, rain, and cooler weather settings over the coral. "The environment is warming, and the world and the reef are around 1.5 degrees centigrade hotter than they were 150 years ago," said Dr. David Wachenfeld, the reef governing authority's head scientist, the Guardian reported.

As a result, the weather is shifting. Unexpected incidents have become the norm. "Nothing surprises me any longer." The Agency continued by stating that bleached corals are harmed in a range of forms, ranging from moderate to extreme, but that they are living, they may heal if temperatures drop.

For more on explainers, news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


US border authorities have arrested six Indian nationals who were trying to enter the country illegally, from Canada.

According to the US Customs and Border Protection, the six Indian nationals, aged between 19-21 were apprehended on a sinking boat.

A seventh person, a US national was also apprehended by the authorities. He is said to be the smuggler who was attempting to illegally take the Indians into the US from Canada.

AP

Charged will illegal entry

The six Indians have been charged with Improper Entry by Alien in violation of US law while the smuggler has been charged with Alien Smuggling, which is a felony and carries a penalty of a fine and up to 10 years in prison for each violation.

The Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service had notified the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Department about a boat containing multiple individuals travelling from Canada near Ontario toward the United States.

The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Department responded and observed the vessel taking on water and sinking in the Saint Regis River in Akwesasne. Answering the call for assistance, Border Patrol agents and the HAVFD arrived on the scene to find the reported vessel almost entirely underwater.

AP

Nearly died

One of the subjects had managed to exit the sinking boat and made his way to the shoreline. The HAVFD deployed a boat and was able to recover the other six distressed subjects. Authorities said there were no life jackets or other safety equipment onboard the sinking boat.

Due to the water temperature being just above freezing, all seven individuals on the boat were evaluated and treated for hypothermia by medical professionals. Upon their release, they were arrested by Border Patrol agents and transported to the Border Patrol Station for processing.

Chief of Police Matthew Rourke of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Department cooperation between law enforcement and rescue services prevented what could have been a "horrific tragedy".

AP

I emphasise that human smuggling is illegal and poses a significant danger to the Akwesasne community. We don't know the intentions or vaccination status of smuggled individuals, but more importantly, the time and resources spent in a rescue effort unnecessarily risk the lives of our first responders and our already strained emergency response services, he said.

The Gujarat family that froze to death

This comes months after a four-member family from Gujarat was found frozen to death near Emerson, Manitoba, approximately 12 metres from the Canada/US border.

BCCL

Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, his wife Vaishaliben Patel, and their two children Vihangi Patel, and Dharmik Patel, were attempting to cross over into the US on foot from Canada but succumbed to the extreme weather there.

Following the tragedy, several members of the same group who were also trying to enter the US illegally were arrested by the authorities.

For more on explainers, news, sports and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
British Academy Television Awards 2022

BBC One, 6pm

Billy Connolly, comedian, actor, artist, writer, musician and presenter, will be honoured with the prestigious BAFTA Fellowship at this year's Virgin Media BAFTA TV Awards. Picture: Sarah Dunn/BAFTA/PA Wire

Although the majority of the winners are chosen by Bafta members, the Must-See Moment is voted for by the public, with clips from An Audience with Adele, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, It's a Sin, RuPaul's Drag Race UK, Squid Game and Strictly Come Dancing all in the running.

Shows expected to do well include It's A Sin, Russell T Davies' mini-series about a group of friends confronted by the Aids crisis in the 1980s. It's up for six awards this evening, including nods for cast members Olly Alexander, Lydia West, David Carlyle, Omari Douglas and Callum Scott Howells.

Great Lighthouses of Ireland

RTE One, 6.30pm

Great Lighthouses of Ireland RTE One, 6.30pm: Fastnet

This new second series tells more stories about the lighthouses around Irelands coast and the extraordinary men and women who lived and worked in them. This first programme includes footage and stories from rescuers, and a survivor, of the 1979 Fastnet yacht race tragedy in which 21 people lost their lives.

Cumasc: Seisiuin sa Black Gate

TG4, 10.45pm

Cumasc: Seisiuin sa Black Gate le Inni-K agus John Blek

Inni-K is a Dublin-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter whose music combines pure vocals with deft musicianship and evocative lyrics. John Blek is a prolific songwriter from Cork whose emotive voice and fluid guitar style have a transportational quality on the listener. This soulful and vivid collaboration features a version of John's gorgeous duet 'The Body' and ends with a truly transcendent piece of ambient avant-garde.

Sport

GAA: Limerick v Tipperary, 1.15pm; Cavan v Donegal, throw in 4pm, RTE2

Champions Cup Rugby Union: Racing 92 v Sale Sharks, 2.30pm, Channel 4

Premier League: Arsenal v Leeds United, 2pm; Manchester City v Newcastle United, 4.30pm, Sky Sports

Radio

Mothers Blood, Sister Songs  The Lyric Feature, Lyric FM, 6pm: Part one sees Cork composer, Linda Buckley, and producer, Helen Shaw, explore the genetic connections between Iceland and Ireland, through story and song.

An Cuinne Dana, R na G, 6.30pm: Tristan Rosenstock meets brothers Brian and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn, known as Ye Vagabonds, in Fumbally Stables in Dublin to discuss their new album Nine Waves, which is released on May 13.

The Poetry Programme, RTE 1, 7pm: Olivia OLeary meets three poets in Belfast to discuss queer poetry in Northern Ireland, queering the language, and the lines between tolerance and violence for Irelands LGBT* community.
Carl Fisher remembers the precise moment alcohol took over his life. He was 29 years old.

In the space of a few weeks, he went from being a seemingly stable, happy-go-lucky physician in a psychiatry residency programme at Columbia University, to a psychiatric patient in the depths of despair at Bellevue Hospital in New York. In the latter environment Fisher found himself in a dual diagnosis ward alongside other individuals with substance abuse problems and disturbing mental disorders.

When I wound up in the hospital at Bellevue I immediately had a sense that something was desperately wrong, the 41-year-old American author explains, via a Zoom call from Lisbon. I then opened up to my treatment team, and said: I'm an alcoholic, I give up, I can't fight it anymore. Fisher got sober, and eventually returned to the residency program at Columbia. Today he is Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the prestigious Ivy-League university in upper Manhattan.

He recalls his rocky road to recovery in The Urge: Our History of Addiction. Using his own complex battle with addiction as a starting point, Fishers' book (which took a decade of researching and writing) argues that understanding addiction in the present requires a detailed study of addiction in the past.

Beginning his investigations during an opioid overdose epidemic in the United States, Fisher learned that human societies have been wracked by drug epidemics with dismaying regularity for more than half a millennium. He also came to understand how centuries of cultural policy, stigma, and racism cannot be separated from how we currently understand and treat or in most cases fail to treat addiction in western societies.

Most narratives around addiction largely involve wielding it as a weapon to wage warnot just on drugs, but also on people who use drugs, Fisher says: A common mistake people tend to make when talking about legalizing drugs is they get stuck in these simplified binaries, like prohibition versus legalization.

But societies that have done a really good job relaxing the legalities of drugs have paired it with a really powerful and broad sweep of social services, including housing, employment, and other ways of building structure, meaning, purpose, and a sense of community in people's lives, Fisher adds.

Fisher currently divides his time between New York, and Lisbon, where he lives part of the year with his partner and son. Portugals decriminalising programme is a model the rest of the world should look to, Fisher explains. In Portugal decriminalization policies were paired with social policies to make a really good reduction rate on an epidemic.

This stands in stark contrast to the United States. It has recently made the move towards decriminalizing cannabis but that decision has not been followed up with additional social support from government: When you deregulate a drug, but you don't put in supportive structures with the people who have problems with that drug, then we can see a big wave of harmful abuse, he says.

The history of addiction we read in Fisher's book is selective. Largely it's an American story.

This reflects his wish to understand addiction issues within the context of his own heritage and culture but his focus on the United States is important for other reasons. Fisher notes how the disease idea of addictionthat is, addiction as a chronic identitysolidified in the early years of the United States, around the time of the Revolutionary War.

That idea then disseminated worldwide by movements that mostly have their origins in the United States. He cites Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and the decades long so-called war on drugs as two examples. Both are American creations, and both have very fixed ideas about what makes an addict choose the behavior they do.

Framing addiction in this oversimplified manner (as, say, a moral issue that separates good from bad, or the weak from the strong) tends to miss a crucial point about addiction more broadly, he argues, namely: that addiction exists, to some degree, in all of us.

Thinking about addiction as something that's intrinsic to the human condition, and that involves an element of choice, is really useful because it shows how addiction is a behavior we choose as a coping mechanism to handle our suffering, and to seek distraction to avoid anxiety and pain.

Fisher's book identifies four broad approaches that western culture has used to responded to addictions throughout different periods of history. A prohibitionist approach has sought to control addiction through punishment and other law enforcement strategies.

A therapeutic approach has argued that addiction is best handled as a disorder to be treated by the medical field. A reductionist approach has sought to explain addiction in scientific terms, often seeking biology-based cures.

While a mutual-help approach has sought community healing, grassroots fellowship, and spiritual development to help addicts recover. There is a lot to learn from the spiritual side of addiction, because it gives the sense that there is something beyond medicine, says Fisher.

My primary home for recovery is Buddhism, and all Buddhist practitioners take certain presets: one of which is to vow to abstain from intoxicants. Using theology and philosophy as a guide to curb his own problematic relationship with alcohol brought Fisher to the conclusion that medical science alone, while important, was insufficient for understanding addiction.

I got a lot out of medicine psychotherapy, group therapy, and other treatments for addiction. They helped save my life in certain ways but sometimes the debates in medicine and science can become extremely polarized, where people tend to talk past each other, don't find common ground, and get caught up in very abstract explanations.

Fisher says this is especially true in the brain-centered field of neuroscience. For many years psychiatry has labored under the idea that mental disorders were categorical, fixed entities.

Today, however, there is a rising recognition in the scientific and medical community that all mental disorders seem to exist on a continuum, even though there is no clear transition in the existing scientific data that tells us where to draw the line between mild and severe issues pertaining to addiction.

He then points to a trend in the global scientific community which typically tends to classify addiction as a brain disease. It has many downsides, he believes. In the U.S., for instance, it has pushed federal research on alcohol and drugs toward reductionist biological research, and away from social, epidemiological, clinical, and policy investigations.

Neuroscience is undoubtedly one important way to understand addiction in a broader framework.

But Fisher remains cautious and skeptical about reductionism. Specifically, this is the idea of seeing neuroscience at the single best framework to understand addiction, he says. It's a dangerous and I've seen it in patients. They buy too much into this notion of brain damage, whether it's because of trauma, prior addiction, or actual physical injury.

Most brain disease models of addiction are reasonable but border on uninteresting. Fisher believes this one-track view of addiction lacks nuance and can lead to dangerous consequences for patients. We know from some psychological research that the brain-based explanation for mental disorders, in general, increases fatalism, and increases pessimism, Fisher says: So we have to be very cautious about the way we interpret neuroscience, even as we continue to turn to it for a lot of good lessons too.

Fisher concludes his book with an ambivalent definition of addiction. It is profoundly ordinary: a way of being with the pleasures and pains of life, and just one manifestation of the central human task of working with suffering, he writes.

If addiction is simply part and partial of being human, it is not a problem that must be indefinitely solved, the author claims. In other words: we should not seek to eradicate addiction. Rather, we must find ways of working with it.

After all, waging outright war on addiction is, in essence, an attempt to wage war on human nature, Fisher stresses: These questions about addiction dont have easy answers, because they are essentially questions about what it means to be human, he says.

Addiction is not a curable disease, or something that we can just stop. So many times throughout the history of addiction we have done more harm than good by trying to stop addiction.
It is difficult enough navigating among the near-identical island drumlins of Clew Bay trying to pick out the exact island you are looking for without having to contend with maps that dont even show the place. Google Maps declines to show Inishtubbrid, Co Mayo, despite it coming in at 37 acres and ascending to a height of 28m. A sizeable omission. Still, life doesnt revolve around Google maps and there are other maps which are more than sufficient to get you to your destination.

This island lies on the north side of Clew Bay not far from the coastal road linking Newport to Mulranny. A drive along this road at various points reveals dozens of these islands reposing like mythical sea creatures: Inishlim, Inishbobunnan, and Inishgowla but three of the myriad.

The record number of variations for an island name in this series so far is Inisvickillane, Co Kerry. The Blasket island has at least 33 versions of its name as recorded in the eponymous title by Micheal Dubhshlaine.

Not quite up to that level, though still with an impressive number of once-alternatives is Inishtubbrid. The unpopulated island has no fewer than 23 versions of its name recorded on the placenames website logainm.ie. The earliest label, Inishtubberid, dates from 1617 and is an entry in the Westport Estate Papers, which is a collection of records relating to the ownership and management of the largest estate in Co Mayo. Also in that year the island was given the name Inishtubrit according to the Inquisitions of County Mayo. The name mutated by 1635 to Ennishtubbert and the similar Ennistibboret by 1661.

Other variations of the latter spelling occurred in the 19th century before a version close to its current form was adapted in Innistubbritt. This held sway before the exotic Knocknegoushe intervened and then several other versions of the present form returned to dominance.

The reason for the multiple variations is probably the lack of a standardised method of recording the names and the independent status of the recording bodies. There are dozens of placenames of townlands and villages and towns with the word tiobraid or tubrid in them, the most famous being Tipperary or Tiobraid Arann or Well of the Arra.

There are three ruins on the northside of the island which were last occupied in the 19th century. However, the buildings provided shelter for dozens of people in the years prior to the Famine. In 1841, prior to the Great Famine 42 people lived in three houses on Inishtubbrid. Ten years later, this population had fallen to 24, wrote Michael Cusack in his comprehensive analysis of the islands of Clew Bay.

The Ordnance Survey map also depicts a lime kiln where the families would have been able to burn limestone to produce fertiliser for their crops. The by-product had the added use in the making of whitewash and for purifying water.

Inishtubbrid is neatly parcelled into about 40 fields, and no doubt all were named back in the day. There is even the sign on the Ordnance Survey maps of an old boreen winding to the houses attesting to a commerce of sorts. The maps also show three wells at the shore, and hence the name. There is an uncanny feeling of human occupation, though it has vanished, while strolling around the island.

Outside one house a bower of fuchsia provides cover for cattle. Another house has giant mushrooms which have sprouted like plates from a tree stump. In the mid-19th century Griffiths Valuation recorded the names of the people living on the island as follows: Philip McHale, Martin McHale, Myles McHale, Michael Holmes and Thomas Caine. The relationships were not provided.

There is a ringfort on the minute Inishlim but surprisingly, nothing of archaeological significance, officially at least, has been discovered on Inishtubbrid. Another case of watch this space.
Sinn Fein's historic victory in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections puts Michelle O'Neill in the frame to become Stormont's next first minister.

Born in Fermoy, Co Cork, and raised in the village of Clonoe in Co Tyrone, her father Brendan Doris was a former IRA prisoner who became a Sinn Fein councillor.

At the age of 16, she became pregnant with her first child. Her family supported her when she became pregnant as she finished school.

She told reporters last year that being an unmarried mother meant she was nearly written off.

"But I was determined that I wasnt going to be written off, that I was going to work hard and make a good life for her."

She said she had some "very negative experiences" and her school "werent particularly supportive at times".

Ms O'Neill added: I have to say my family were very supportive."

Everybody around me was very supportive. I was very lucky. Not everybody has that.

She became involved in politics as a teenager and following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, she became an adviser to Francie Molloy.

She was also mentored by Martin McGuinness, one of Sinn Fein's most prominent figures in the North.

Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill with Martin McGuinness following her election to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2007. Picture: Julien Behal/PA

In 2005, when her father stepped down as a councillor in Dungannon, Ms O'Neill went for the seat and won.

She later became mayor  becoming the first woman to hold the post in the borough  and in 2007 she was chosen to run for an assembly seat in Mid-Ulster.

First ministerial role

By 2011, she got her first ministerial role in Stormont, being named the minister for agriculture and rural development.

Following the 2016 election, she was appointed minister for health. In that role, she got rid of Northern Irelands ban on gay men donating blood as well as announcing a plan to transform the health service.

As reported by the BBC, opposition politicians questioned the lack of details in the plan, which was not costed.

Mr McGuinness would step down as deputy first minister in 2017 following the Cash for Ash scandal and two months later he passed away.

Ms O'Neill then became Sinn Fein's leader in the North, however Stormont was in a state of deadlock for three years over the scandal.

During that time, Gerry Adams resigned as the partys leader and was replaced by Mary Lou McDonald. Ms O'Neill was appointed vice-president of Sinn Fein in February 2018.

Two years later, with the Stormont deadlock broken, Ms O'Neill entered Stormont as the deputy first minister, serving alongside the DUP's Arlene Foster and later Paul Givan.

Bobby Storey funeral controversy

While serving as deputy first minister, she faced calls to resign after attending the funeral of Bobby Storey in 2021.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, and deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill at the funeral of senior Irish Republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey, in west Belfast.

Ms O'Neill, alongside 23 other Sinn Fein politicians, attended the funeral of the former leading IRA figure when there had been limits on public gatherings due to Covid-19.

The Public Prosecution Service in the North did not take any action against the 24 politicians.

In the next Stormont Assembly, Ms O'Neill may well be first minister when Sinn Fein became the largest party at Stormont for the first time.

In her declaration speech in Magherafelt after topping the poll in Mid Ulster at the weekend, Ms ONeill said: Today represents a very significant moment of change.

Today ushers in a new era which I believe presents us all with an opportunity to reimagine relationships in this society on the basis of fairness, on the basis of equality and the basis of social justice.

Irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds, my commitment is to make politics work."
John Lee has been elected as Hong Kongs next leader after winning more than 99% of votes cast by a largely pro-Beijing election committee.

Mr Lee received 1,416 votes in the chief executive election, far exceeding the 751 votes he needed to win and the highest support ever for the citys top leadership position.

The Election Committees nearly 1,500 members cast their votes in a secret ballot on Sunday morning.

I look forward to all of us starting a new chapter together, building a Hong Kong that is caring, open and vibrant, and a Hong Kong that is full of opportunities and harmony, Mr Lee said in his victory speech.

John Lee, former number two official in Hong Kong and the only candidate for the citys top job, celebrates after declaring his victory in the chief executive election (Kin Cheung/AP)

He will replace current leader Carrie Lam on July 1.

As the only candidate in the polls, Mr Lee was expected to win, especially since he had Beijings endorsement and last month obtained 786 nominations from members of the Election Committee in support of his candidacy.

Ms Lam congratulated Mr Lee in a statement and said she would submit the election results to Beijing.

The present-term government and I will ensure a seamless transition with the Chief Executive-elect. We will render all the support needed for the assumption of office by the new term of government, Ms Lams statement said.

The election followed major changes to Hong Kongs electoral laws last year to ensure that only patriots loyal to Beijing can hold office.

The legislature was also reorganised to all but eliminate opposition voices.

The elaborate arrangements surrounding the pre-determined outcome speak to Beijings desire for a veneer of democracy.

Though they voted in a secret ballot, Hong Kongs electors were all carefully vetted.

Human rights over power, the people are greater than the country

The Chinese governments liaison office in Hong Kong also congratulated Mr Lee in a statement and said the election was conducted in a fair, just and orderly manner in accordance with laws and regulations.

Lee received many nominations and was elected with a high number of 1,416 votes. This is not only the solemn choice of the election committee, but also a strong expression of public opinion, the statement read.

Mainland Chinas Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council also congratulated Mr Lee in a statement, saying the successful election proved that the citys new electoral system is good and in line with the one country, two systems framework that Hong Kong is governed by.

The statement added that the new chief executive will lead the Hong Kong government and people from all walks of life to forge ahead in unity.

The British handed Hong Kong over to mainland China in 1997 under the one country, two systems framework, which promised the city certain freedoms not found on the mainland, including freedom of speech and assembly.

Critics say these freedoms are being eroded as Beijing has exerted greater control over the former British colony in recent years.

On Sunday morning, three members of the League of Social Democrats, a local activist group, protested the vote by attempting to march toward the election venue while displaying a banner demanding universal suffrage that would allow Hong Kongers to vote for the legislature and the chief executive.

Human rights over power, the people are greater than the country, the banner read. One person, one vote for the chief executive. Immediately implement dual universal suffrage.

John Lees election has sparked concern Beijing could further tighten its grip on Hong Kong (Kin Cheung/AP)

One protester was handing out flyers before police arrived and cordoned off the protesters and the banner. Police also searched protesters belongings and took down their personal details, though no arrests were immediately made.

The pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong has long demanded universal suffrage, which they say is promised to the city in its mini-constitution, the Basic Law. It was also a key demand in the 2014 Umbrella Revolution protests and 2019 anti-government demonstrations.

Mr Lee as Hong Kongs future leader has sparked concern that Beijing could further tighten its grip on Hong Kong. He spent most of his civil service career in the police and security bureau, and is an outspoken and staunch supporter of a national security law imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 aimed at stamping out dissent.

His rise grew out of massive anti-government protests in 2019 that grew into violent clashes. As security secretary, he oversaw the police campaign to confront protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets, then rounded many of them up for arrest later.

More than 150 people have been arrested under the security law, which outlaws secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to intervene in the citys affairs. Almost all prominent pro-democracy activists have been jailed, with others fleeing abroad or being intimidated into silence.

Thousands of residents have left the city of 7.4 million people amid the 2019 protests and subsequent harsh pandemic restrictions, including many professionals and expatriates.

In his election campaign in the weeks leading up to Sundays polls, Mr Lee pledged to enact long-shelved local legislation to protect against security threats and vowed to increase housing supply in the worlds most expensive real estate market.

He also said he would improve the citys competitiveness and set a firm foundation for its development.
Scores of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school where about 90 people were taking shelter in the basement, while Ukrainian fighters held out inside Mariupols steel plant as Moscows forces apparently raced to capture the city ahead of Russias Victory Day holiday.

Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people at the school in the village of Bilohorivka after Saturdays bombing, according to the governor of Luhansk province, part of the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas.

Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Governor Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

As Moscow prepared to celebrate the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany with a Victory Day military parade on Monday, a lineup of Western leaders and celebrities made surprise visits to Ukraine in a show of support.

US first lady Jill Biden met with her Ukrainian counterpart. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised his countrys flag at its embassy in Kyiv. And U2s Bono, alongside bandmate The Edge, performed in a Kyiv subway station that had been used as a bomb shelter, singing the 1960s song Stand by Me.

The newly appointed acting US ambassador to Ukraine, Kristina Kvien, posted a picture of herself at the American Embassy, trumpeting plans for the eventual US return to the Ukrainian capital after Moscows forces abandoned their effort to storm Kyiv weeks ago and began focusing on the capture of the Donbas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others warned in recent days that Russian attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, and some cities declared curfews or cautioned people against gathering in public. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square.

First lady Jill Biden greets Olena Zelenska, spouse of Ukrainian's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Picture: AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool

They have nothing to celebrate tomorrow, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN.

They have not succeeded in defeating the Ukrainians. They have not succeeded in dividing the world or dividing NATO. And they have only succeeded in isolating themselves internationally and becoming a pariah state around the globe.

Russian forces struggled to complete their takeover of Mariupol, which has been largely reduced to rubble. The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making what appeared to be their last stand was the only part of the city not under Russian control.

The last of the women, children and older civilians who were taking shelter with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. Buses carrying over 170 evacuees from the steelworks and other parts of Mariupol arrived in the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, UN officials said.

The Ukrainian defenders in the steel mill have rejected deadlines set by the Russians for laying down their arms.

Captain Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment, a unit holding the steel mill, said the site was targeted overnight by warplanes, artillery and tanks.

We are under constant shelling, he said online, adding that Russian ground troops tried to storm the plant  a claim Russian officials denied in recent days  and lay mines. Palamar reported a multitude of casualties.

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant but declined to reveal how many able-bodied fighters remained. He said fighters didnt have lifesaving equipment and had to dig by hand to free people from bunkers that had collapsed under the shelling.

Surrender for us is unacceptable because we cannot grant such a gift to the enemy, Samoilenko said.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organisations to try to secure safe passage for the defenders.

'Never again'

On the economic front, leaders from the Group of Seven industrial democracies pledged to ban or phase out imports of Russian oil. The G-7 consists of the US, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.

The US also announced new sanctions against Russia, cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest TV stations, banning US accounting and consulting firms from providing services, and cutting off Russias industrial sector from wood products, industrial engines, boilers and bulldozers.

Trudeau met with Zelenskyy and made a surprise visit to Irpin, which was damaged in Russias attempt to take Kyiv. The Ukrainian president also met with the German parliament speaker, Barbel Bas, in Kyiv to discuss further defense assistance.

Jill Biden visited western Ukraine for a surprise Mothers Day meeting with Zelenskyys wife, Olena Zelenska.

Zelenskyy released a video address marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russias invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism. The black-and-white footage showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, a Kyiv suburb.

Zelenskyy said that generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of the words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow not to allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Elsewhere, on Ukraines coast, explosions echoed again across the major Black Sea port of Odesa. At least five blasts were heard, according to local media.

The Ukrainian military said Moscow was focusing its main efforts on destroying airfield infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine.

In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days. A satellite image by Planet Labs showed smoke rising from two sites on the island.

But Moscows forces showed no sign of backing down in the south. Satellite photos show Russia has put armored vehicles and missile systems at a small base in the Crimean Peninsula.

The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeast near Kharkiv, the countrys second-largest city, is making significant progress, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank.

However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from the embattled eastern city of Popasna, regional authorities said.

Rodion Miroshnik, a representative of the pro-Kremlin, separatist Luhansk Peoples Republic, said its forces and Russian troops had captured most of Popasna after two months of fierce fighting.

The Kharkiv regional administration said three people were killed in shelling of the town of Bogodukhiv, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Kharkiv city.

South of Kharkiv, in Dnipropetrovsk province, the governor said a 12-year-old boy was killed by a cluster munition that he found after a Russian attack. An international treaty bans the use of such explosives, but neither Russia nor Ukraine has signed the agreement.

This war is treacherous, the governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, wrote on social media. It is near, even when it is invisible.
This Week in Review

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Ukrainian forces braced Sunday to defend their final bastion in the devastated port city of Mariupol, desperate to deny Russia a symbolic win on the eve of Moscows Victory Day celebrations.

Kyivs allies lent their support, with US First Lady Jill Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making unannounced visits to Ukraine, and G7 leaders due to join President Volodymyr Zelensky on a video call.

But fierce fighting continued on the ground. Shelling and missile strikes have intensified in the build-up to the World War II anniversary, and rescuers are searching for 60 Ukrainian civilians feared killed in the bombing of a village school.

Zelensky marked a day commemorating the end of the 1939-1945 war by comparing Ukraines battle for national survival to the regions war of resistance against its former Nazi occupiers.

Decades after World War II, darkness has returned to Ukraine, and it has become black and white again, Zelensky said, in a monochrome social media video shot against the backdrop of a bombed-out apartment block.

Evil has returned, in a different uniform, under different slogans, but for the same purpose, he warned, trying to turn Russian leader President Vladimir Putins anti-Nazi rhetoric back on itself.

Russia, meanwhile, was gearing up for Mondays Victory Day parade designed to associate the invasion of its neighbour with the national pride felt over the Soviet Unions defeat of Germany.

Today, our soldiers, as their ancestors, are fighting side by side to liberate their native land from the Nazi filth with the confidence that, as in 1945, victory will be ours, Putin said.

 Fresh sanctions 

Zelensky was also to meet G7 leaders via video conference to discuss the crisis.

The group  which includes France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States  in a statement on Sunday said Putins unprovoked war of aggression had brought shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people.

The White House said the G7 was committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil.

But EU diplomats will meet again next week to hammer out the details of their latest sanctions package against Moscow, after a proposed embargo on Russian oil exposed rifts in the bloc.

In a separate statement, the White House added that the United States would sanction three major Russian television stations and deny all Russian companies access to US firms consulting and accounting services.

The US first lady met her Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelenska at a school sheltering civilians, including children displaced by the conflict, near Ukraines border with Slovakia.

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, Jill Biden told reporters.

I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

Separately, Canadian leader Trudeau visited Irpin, a suburb on the northwest edge of Kyiv that was the scene of heavy fighting in the early weeks of the conflict.

Local mayor Oleksandr Markushyn posted pictures on social media and said Trudeau came to Irpin to see with his own eyes all the horror that the Russian occupiers had done to our city.

On the ground, the key battles were being fought in Ukraines east.

 Tunnel network 

Civilians have now been evacuated from Mariupols Azovstal steelworks, leaving a small force of defenders holed up in its sprawling network of underground tunnels and bunkers.

The complex  the final pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the Black Sea port city  has taken on a symbolic value.

We, all of the military personnel in the garrison of Mariupol, we have witnessed the war crimes performed by Russia, by the Russian army. We are witnesses, said Ilya Samoilenko, an intelligence officer with the far-right Azov regiment defending the site.

Surrender is not an option because Russia is not interested in our lives, he said.

Taking full control of Mariupol would also allow Moscow to create a land bridge between the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, and regions run by pro-Russian separatists in the east.

In one of those regions, Lugansk, Ukrainian forces are now mounting a last-ditch defence of the city of Severodonetsk, formerly an industrial city of 100,000 people, now Russias next target.

In the same region, governor Sergiy Gaiday said 60 civilians were feared dead after a school in the village of Bilogorivka was hit in an air strike.

The bombs fell on the school and unfortunately it was completely destroyed. There were a total of 90 people, 27 were saved, he said on Telegram.

Sixty people who were in the school are very probably dead.

Rescuers could not work overnight because of a threat of new strikes but resumed their work on Sunday.

 Filtration camps 

Rescuers were also looking for survivors in the neighbouring village of Shepilivka after a strike hit a house where 11 people were sheltering in the basement, Gaiday said.

Civilians who escape Mariupol describe passing through Russian filtration sites where several evacuees told AFP they were questioned, strip-searched, fingerprinted, and had their phones and documents checked.

They asked us if we wanted to go to Russia or stay and rebuild the city of Mariupol, said Azovstal evacuee Natalia, who spoke on condition that her full name not be published.

But how can I rebuild it? How can I return there if the city of Mariupol doesnt exist anymore?

burs-dc/imm/jj
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was responsible for war crimes, during a visit to Ukraine where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

It is clear that Vladimir Putin is responsible for heinous war crimes, Trudeau said at a news conference with the Ukrainian leader.

There must be accountability, he added, after a G7 meeting including the Ukrainian president.

Earlier in the day, Trudeau visited Irpin outside Kyiv, a city devastated by fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces before its occupation in March by Moscow, the citys mayor said.

I witnessed first-hand the brutality of Russias illegal war, he told reporters.

Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn posted pictures on an official social media channel with pictures of Trudeau writing that he came to Irpin to see with his own eyes all the horror that the Russian occupiers had done to our city.

Trudeaus visit came on the same day US First Lady Jill Biden made an unannounced trip to Ukraine.

Markushyn thanked the prime minister for the support shown by Canada to Ukraine today.

We believe in the continued cooperation between our countries for the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities after our victory, he added.

Irpin counted around 60,000 residents before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his attack on Ukraine on February 24.

Ukraine accuses Russian forces of atrocities against civilians  like those in Bucha, a town close to Kyiv  after the discovery of dozens of bodies wearing civilian clothes in areas held then abandoned by the Russian army.

Several Western political leaders including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have recently visited Irpin and other residential areas around the capital Kyiv where Russian forces were accused of killing hundreds of civilians.

Trudeau was joined by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, who together also hoisted the maple leaf flag at Canadas mission in Kyiv.

Canada restarted operations in Kyiv today, Trudeau said.
Rescuers on Sunday scrambled to find dozens of civilians feared dead in a strike on a Ukrainian school as the G7 reaffirmed their unity with Kyiv on the eve of Russias World War II victory celebrations.

US First Lady Jill Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made unannounced visits to Ukraine and G7 leaders joined President Volodymyr Zelensky on a video call as Kyivs allies rallied with further pledges of support.

But shelling and missile strikes have intensified on the ground and depleted Ukrainian forces are bracing to defend their final bastion in the devastated port city of Mariupol.

Ukraine is desperate to deny Moscow a symbolic win before Russian President Vladimir Putin leads commemorations of the Soviet Unions defeat of Nazi Germany on Monday.

Putin is expected to flaunt his military might during the large, symbolically important event and justify the invasion by comparing it with the previous struggle against Nazism and the national pride it brought.

Today, our soldiers, as their ancestors, are fighting side by side to liberate their native land from the Nazi filth with the confidence that, as in 1945, victory will be ours, Putin said.

Zelensky also marked a day commemorating the end of the 1939-1945 war by comparing Ukraines battle for national survival to the regions war of resistance against its former Nazi occupiers.

Decades after World War II, darkness has returned to Ukraine, and it has become black and white again, Zelensky said, in a monochrome social media video shot against the backdrop of a bombed-out apartment block.

Evil has returned, in a different uniform, under different slogans, but for the same purpose, he warned, trying to turn Putins anti-Nazi rhetoric back on itself.

 Fresh sanctions 

Zelensky met G7 leaders via video conference to discuss the crisis.

The group  which includes France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States  in a statement on Sunday said Putins unprovoked war of aggression had brought shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people.

The White House said the G7 was committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil.

But EU diplomats will meet again next week to hammer out the details of their latest sanctions package against Moscow, after a proposed embargo on Russian oil exposed rifts in the bloc.

In a separate statement, the White House said the United States would sanction three major Russian television stations and deny all Russian companies access to US firms consulting and accounting services.

Canadian leader Trudeau said Putin was responsible for heinous war crimes as he visited Irpin, a suburb on the northwest edge of Kyiv that was the scene of heavy fighting in the early weeks of the conflict.

Local mayor Oleksandr Markushyn posted pictures on social media and said Trudeau came to Irpin to see with his own eyes all the horror that the Russian occupiers had done to our city.

Separately, the US first lady met her Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelenska at a school sheltering civilians, including children displaced by the conflict, near Ukraines border with Slovakia.

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, Jill Biden told reporters, saying she wanted to show that the United States stands with Ukraine.

On the ground, the key battles were being fought in Ukraines east.

 Tunnel network 

Civilians have now been evacuated from Mariupols Azovstal steelworks, leaving a small force of defenders holed up in its sprawling network of underground tunnels and bunkers.

The complex  the final pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the Black Sea port city  has taken on a symbolic value.

We, all of the military personnel in the garrison of Mariupol, we have witnessed the war crimes performed by Russia, by the Russian army. We are witnesses, said Ilya Samoilenko, an intelligence officer with the far-right Azov regiment defending the site.

Surrender is not an option because Russia is not interested in our lives, he said.

Taking full control of Mariupol would also allow Moscow to create a land bridge between the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, and regions run by pro-Russian separatists in the east.

In one of those regions, Lugansk, Ukrainian forces are now mounting a last-ditch defence of the city of Severodonetsk, formerly an industrial city of 100,000 people, now Russias next target.

In the same region, governor Sergiy Gaiday said 60 civilians were feared dead after a school in the village of Bilogorivka was hit in an air strike.

The bombs fell on the school and unfortunately it was completely destroyed. There was a total of 90 people, 27 were saved, he said on Telegram.

Sixty people who were in the school are very probably dead.

Rescuers could not work overnight because of a threat of new strikes but resumed their work on Sunday.

 Filtration camps 

Rescuers were also looking for survivors in the neighbouring village of Shepilivka after a strike hit a house where 11 people were sheltering in the basement, Gaiday said.

Civilians who escape Mariupol describe passing through Russian filtration sites where several evacuees told AFP they were questioned, strip-searched, fingerprinted, and had their phones and documents checked.

They asked us if we wanted to go to Russia or stay and rebuild the city of Mariupol, said Azovstal evacuee Natalia, who spoke on condition that her full name not be published.

But how can I rebuild it? How can I return there if the city of Mariupol doesnt exist anymore?

burs-dc/imm/raz
Eight buses carrying 174 Mariupol civilians, including 40 evacuated from the Black Sea ports besieged Azovstal steelworks, arrived in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, an AFP reporter witnessed.

The 40 were evacuated Saturday from the steel plant, where the last Ukrainian soldiers in the devastated city are holed up and surrounded by Russian troops.

Evacuees, some with young children, left white buses that had transported them to a shopping centre car park in Zaporizhzhia, a city in southern Ukraine that has become a hub for those fleeing Russian-occupied areas.

Humanitarian workers escorted elderly people, including a woman in a wheelchair.

Im relieved to confirm that we managed to bring 174 more people to safety from the hell of Mariupol today, Osnat Lubrani, the UNs humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, tweeted.

Our work is not yet done. I dont forget those whove been left behind, she added.

More than 600 people have now been evacuated from Mariupol through safe passages but scores could not join the convoys in recent days, Lubrani said in a statement.

We will continue our engagement with both parties to the conflict to make sure that those who want to leave have the guarantees to do so safely and in the direction of their choice, she added.

 Surrender not an option 

Earlier Sunday, the Ukrainian soldiers holding out at the steelworks made it clear they would not surrender.

We, all of the military personnel in the garrison of Mariupol, we have witnessed the war crimes performed by Russia, by the Russian army, said Ilya Samoilenko, an Azov regiment intelligence officer.

We are witnesses. Surrender is not an option because Russia is not interested in our lives.

Ukraine presidential aide, Mykhaylo Podolyak, said on social media Sunday that Kyiv wont stop until we evacuate all our people from Azovstal.

Late Saturday, Kyiv called on the aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to evacuate the last remaining soldiers there, many of whom are wounded.

Ukraine also said all women civilians, children and elderly people had been evacuated from the Azovstal plant.

The Azovstal steel mill is the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the devastated port city and its fate has taken on a symbolic value in the broader battle since Russias invasion.
The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP (www.ktmc.com) informs investors that the firm has filed a securities class action lawsuit against AbbVie, Inc. (AbbVie) (NYSE: ABBV) on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired AbbVie securities between April 30, 2021, and August 31, 2021, inclusive (the Class Period).

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR ABBVIE LOSSES. YOU CAN ALSO CLICK ON THEFOLLOWING LINK OR COPY AND PASTE IN YOUR BROWSER: https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/abbvie-inc?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=abbvie&mktm=r

CANNOT VIEW THIS VIDEO? PLEASE CLICK HERE

TO VIEW OUR COMPLAINT, PLEASE CLICK HERE

LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE: JUNE 6, 2022

CLASS PERIOD: APRIL 30, 2021 through AUGUST 31, 2021

CONTACT AN ATTORNEY TO DISCUSS YOUR RIGHTS:

James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453 or Email at [email protected]

Kessler Topaz is one of the worlds foremost advocates in protecting the public against corporate fraud and other wrongdoing. Our securities fraud litigators are regularly recognized as leaders in the field individually and our firm is both feared and respected among the defense bar and the insurance bar. We are proud to have recovered billions of dollars for our clients and the classes of shareholders we represent.

ABBVIES ALLEGED MISCONDUCT

AbbVie is one of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies. The companys revenues will come under significant pressure in the coming years when its best-selling drug, Humira, will lose patent protection in 2023. Accordingly, AbbVies future revenue and earnings depend in large part on its ability to develop new sources of revenue to offset Humiras lost sales. Rinvoq-an anti-inflammatory drug manufactured by AbbVie and used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other diseases by inhibiting Janus kinase (JAK) enzymes-was touted as one such drug. Rinvoq was initially approved in the United States to treat only moderate to severe RA. However, AbbVie was actively pursuing additional
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Tonights highlights include a Mothers Day Saturday Night Live special and more of Stanley Tucci eating in Italy:

Scheduled on 60 Minutes (6 p.m., CBS): An interview with U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, fired by President Trump after witnessing his authoritarian excesses; a look at how the pandemic affected the mental health of Milwaukees youth; how the war between Russia and Ukraine has changed the ballet world.

More action on American Ninja Warrior (6 p.m., NBC).

A gift of prophecy on The Equalizer (7 p.m., CBS).

A leaner, meaner Marge on The Simpsons (7 p.m., Fox).

More singing on American Idol (7 p.m., ABC).

Murder mystery theater on The Great North (7:30 p.m., Fox).

The mother of all repeats: a Mothers Day Saturday Night Live (8 p.m., NBC) clip show.

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (8 p.m., CNN) visits the Piedmont.

Vivien goes undercover on Ridley Road on Masterpiece (8 p.m., PBS).

Detonated by their own devices on NCIS: Los Angeles (8 p.m., CBS).

A family recipe revived for Mothers Day on Bobs Burgers (8 p.m., Fox).

Nolans career move on The Rookie (9 p.m., ABC).

Hondo is torn on S.W.A.T. (9 p.m., CBS).

CULT CHOICE

A nervous woman (Carol Lynley) searches for a child who may not exist in the 1965 psychological drama Bunny Lake Is Missing (3 p.m., TCM), featuring Keir Dullea, Laurence Olivier, Noel Coward and a few songs by the Zombies.

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Trying to understand the mountain of statistics on crime, both locally and across the nation, can wear you down. For a few years, recently, violent crime had decreased by small amounts across the nation. Then, the landscape began to change  for the worse.

Wisconsin has not escaped the national trend. Between 2019 and now, Wisconsin has experienced a 70% increase in homicides. Likewise, Kenosha has seen a troubling uptick in the most serious of crimes  homicide. The city reported 16 homicides in 2021, up from just six in 2019.

It is not surprising then when we hear Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian say the city needs more police protection. That is why he is promoting a referendum that would ask taxpayers to fund expansion of public safety spending. It would include funds for the Kenosha Fire Department as well as the Kenosha Police Department.

Were looking at this in the sense that as we continue to grow the city needs to be able to add police and fire, Antaramian told the Kenosha News. If we are going to move forward and make sure that people are protected and we are able to do our jobs  police and fire are very tight  thats the reason this is now moving forward. It will definitely make a difference. Theres going to continue to be a need for more fire and police as the city continues to grow.

Newly approved by the City Council, the question will appear on the Aug. 9 primary election ballot. It will ask voters to give the city permission to exceed a state statutory limit on how much it can tax property owners. If approved, the city would begin to collect the money in 2023. The current levy limit is 2.654%. Antaramian wants it increased to 3.3%, which would bumped up the city levy by $2.5 million for a total of just more than $78 million.

If the referendum is approved by a simple majority of city voters, the owner of a $200,000 home would pay roughly $5.50 more per month, or $66 a year.

Interim Police Chief Eric Larsen said Kenosha is not immune to crime or its consequences. Crime scenes have become more complex due to advancing technologies that also require a greater personnel allocation and require greater technical skills, Larsen explained. Additionally, the department has increased its focus on building relations with the community and I believe this will play an equally significant role in any expansion of the department.

The city hopes to use the increased funding to hire 10 additional police officer positions with associated equipment. Six firefighter positions with required equipment would be underwritten by the increased flow of tax money.

Perhaps the mayor and the city council saw this as the right time to ask for the funding. A similar referendum was recently approved by Pleasant Prairie voters. It passed by a narrow margin, however, and voters were asked for a much smaller increase. The villages referendum asked to exceed the levy limit to fund four police officers and 12 fire-medics.

In the wake of the recent uptick in violent crime, it seems logical for the city to do what it can to keep it in check  and hopefully work to lower it. The request for more firefighters and the associated gear and training might be less obvious.

The fact is Kenosha is affected by its own success. The city remains immensely attractive as a place to live and work. New companies large and small are moving in every day. Existing companies, especially manufacturers, are expanding here. Some of the companies in Kenosha rely on city firefighters to be properly trained and equipped to protect people and property in an increasingly complex manufacturing environment.

KFD Chief Chris Bigley notes the fire department faces increased call volume and more complex incidents: While emergency medical response is the primary duty, along with fire suppression, the complexity of these calls and the manpower needed to provide required treatment continue to tax our resources. The additional manpower will allow the Fire Department to continue to provide other services including fire prevention inspections, fire investigations and public education in a timely manner.

We strongly support both the idea and the method of seeking increased funding for public safety in Kenosha. And while we appreciate the goal of our state lawmakers in originally setting properly tax levy limits, the referendum process is cumbersome, slow and subject to misinformation thrown at voters.

We encourage the voters to read the language of the referendum (below) carefully and completely. It will empower the city to collect an additional $2.5 million for each fiscal year going forward.

We are seldom in favor of a tax increase, but this is both a prudent and necessary move to protect the people and property of Kenosha. When Aug. 9 comes around, we urge you to support the referendum.

Under state law, the increase in the levy of the City of Kenosha for the tax to be imposed for the next fiscal year, 2023, is limited to 2.654%, which results in a levy of $75,763,738. Shall the City of Kenosha be allowed to exceed this limit and increase the levy for the next fiscal year, 2023, for purpose of additional police and fire protection services, by a total of 3.3%, which results in a levy of $78,263,738, and on an ongoing basis, include the increase of $2,500,000 for each fiscal year going forward?

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Interview: China's dynamic zero-COVID policy essential to safeguard people's lives, says Cambodian scholar

Xinhua) 16:18, May 08, 2022

PHNOM PENH, May 7 (Xinhua) -- China's dynamic zero-COVID approach is crucial to protect people's lives and to minimize the pandemic's impact on socioeconomic development, a Cambodian scholar has said.

In an interview with Xinhua, Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, said that since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has always put the people and their lives first and worked hard to prevent both inbound cases and domestic resurgences.

China has been upholding a dynamic zero-COVID policy, the essence of which is early detection and quick response measures to stop the continuous spread of the virus in communities to protect people's health and lives to the greatest extent.

Matthews said through this approach and the constantly adjusted epidemic prevention and control measures in light of new developments, China has achieved major strategic progress against COVID-19.

"I think that as a populous country with a large number of senior citizens, unbalanced development between different regions, and insufficient medical resources, China will definitely see a wide range of infections if China eases up on epidemic prevention and control," Matthews said.

China's dynamic zero-COVID policy "is the best choice and the right decision for the country in order to prevent a huge amount of severe cases and deaths, which could severely threaten social and economic development as well as people's health and safety," he said.

Meanwhile, the scholar also admired China for having helped countries around the world to fight COVID-19.

"China has played a leading role in helping countries across the world to fight COVID-19," he said. "Chinese vaccines have not only protected hundreds of millions of people around the world, but also helped countries revive their economies and reopen their borders with confidence."

"For Cambodia, Chinese vaccines have enabled the country to fully resume its socioeconomic activities and to reopen its borders to vaccinated travelers without quarantine since last November," he said.

With its full reopening, Cambodia's economy is forecast to grow by 5.3 percent in 2022 and up to 6.5 percent in 2023, he said, citing an Asian Development Bank's recent report.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Bianji)
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Windy with a mix of clouds and sun. High near 95F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms and gusty winds this evening. A steady rain will arrive overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 64F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph, becoming NW and decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Kim Ji-ha, a Korean poet and democracy activist who was imprisoned for being critical of the authoritarian government in the 1970s, died at the age of 81 on Sunday, a source said.







Kim died at his home with his family at his bedside at around 4 p.m. in Wonju, 132 kilometers east of Seoul, after suffering from a disease for about a year, according to the source at the Toji Cultural Foundation.







"His conditions abruptly deteriorated, so we called emergency services, but he just passed away," the source said.







Born in 1941, he majored in aesthetics at Seoul National University and began his career as a poet in 1969, publishing poems such as "The Yellow Earth."







He drew attention from the public but also ran afoul with the dictatorial Park Chung-hee government when he published a poem entitled "The Five Bandits" in 1970, which scathingly criticized rich and well-heeled people in a satirical way. He was arrested for penning the work.







In 1974, Kim was sentenced to death for allegedly instigating a group of students in cahoots with North Korea to overthrow the authoritarian government in violation of the National Security Law.







Kim was released 10 months later thanks to international efforts to mitigate his punishment. He was incarcerated again for writing a story about his wrongful imprisonment and served another six years.







In a 2013 retrial requested by Kim, a court delivered a not-guilty verdict, saying there was no evidence he plotted to organize the anti-government organization.







In 1973, he married the daughter of Park Kyung-ree, one of the country's most renowned novelists. Park is known for her epic novel "The Land," or "Toji" in Korean. Kim's second son currently serves as chief of the Toji Cultural Foundation.







Kim's memorial altar will be set up at Wonju Severance Christian Hospital. (Yonhap)


By Andrew Hammond





The unity of western powers since Russia's invasion of Ukraine has surprised many. However, that resolve has been undercut by a broader international non-alignment on this issue, led by emerging markets from India to Brazil.



With the Ukraine conflict now into its fourth month, Europe has belatedly acknowledged this challenge, and is significantly stepping up its engagement across the world to put pressure on Russia. It is Germany, as the host of this year's G7, which is leading the way.



Chancellor Olaf Scholz is having wide-ranging meetings with key emerging powers, including South Africa, Indonesia (the hosts of this year's G20) and India. All three have been invited to next month's G7 leadership summit alongside the forum of advanced major democratic countries.



With its wooing of world powers, Europe is seeking to address the fact that of the approximately 160-strong so-called Non-Aligned Movement of states, only one has imposed sanctions against Russia. For many countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America, such non-alignment has significant appeal, not least given that so many depend heavily on trade, aid, investment and/or weaponry from both Western powers and from China, if not also from Russia.



A good example is India; Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Europe this week with key stop-overs in Germany, France, plus Denmark, where he also engaged the prime ministers of other Nordic nations. Yet, Modi has refused to condemn Russia, calling instead again this week for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, even as his European hosts hope that New Delhi might use its influence with Moscow to do more to end the war.



The EU, which is India's biggest trading partner, sees alignment on Ukraine as one of the key preconditions that may be needed to turbocharge ties. And a key prize here for both parties is a potential new trade deal.



Yet, the diplomatic tightrope that India is now on is shown by the fact that it abstained in a key U.N. vote condemning Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, while calling for an end to hostilities. It continues to use much Russian military hardware.



Plus it has also significantly increased imports of Russian oil since March, with Modi bristling at criticism of the move, saying Europe's consumption of Russian energy commodities remains far higher. Moreover, with Russia reeling under Western sanctions, some 50 Indian food, ceramics and chemical exporters will head to Moscow later this month.



While non-aligned South American states like Brazil are very important for Europe, it is Asia and Africa that are the two critical regions that EU states are seeking to reach out to. And in the massive Asia-Pacific geography, one interesting feature of engagement is potential changes in the relative balance of diplomatic prioritization for Europe, post-Ukraine.



It was no coincidence last week, for instance, that the destination for Scholz's first Asian trip was Japan, rather than emerging superpower China, which is Germany's top trade partner. As Berlin seeks closer ties with countries that share democratic values, the German chancellor made clear that it is important for all states to reject Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and also any attempts in Asia to move territorial boundaries by force.



Turning to Africa, building support for Europe's position on Ukraine is also becoming part of the EU's agenda in the continent with a population of 1.2 billion. Alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, national leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron are key here.



Europe is already concerned about the influence that Russia, and also China, have in the region. Vladimir Putin hosted in 2019 the first-ever Russia-Africa summit seeking to restore Moscow's influence in the region that faded after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin is keen to entrench Russia's foothold in the continent with bilateral trade with Africa having risen significantly.



It is in this context that Africa has become an EU super-priority for a range of both political and economic reasons. Building upon the so-called "pivot to Africa" by her predecessor, Jean Claude Juncker, which saw a new Africa-Europe Alliance created, von der Leyen is promoting a relationship with the EU as a key counterweight in the continent to world powers such as Russia.



Brussels wants to encourage Africa as a champion of the EU's rules-based, multilateral approach to world order, including non-territorial aggression in nations such as Ukraine. In the words of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, what is sought is "a new, integrated strategy for and with Africa" that sees "equal partnership" rather than the "power politics" offered by some others.



Taken together, this is why Africa and Asia Pacific are the two leading emerging market theatres to promote the advanced major democratic countries' economic and geopolitical interests, including Ukraine. While many states there will remain non-aligned, one measure of success for the EU will be getting more of them in these regions to condemn, and potentially even launch sanctions against, Russia if the war continues.





Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.




By Kim Sung-woo





About two to three years ago, we rarely came across the terms "carbon neutrality" (the state of net zero carbon emissions) or "ESG" (environmental, social and corporate governance). However, ESG garnered increasing attention in 2020 even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with countries around the world declaring their commitment to these concepts and aims.



In 2021 and onward, carbon neutrality and ESG became two of the most popular buzzwords in Korea, if not around the world. Nevertheless, few seemed to have grasped an understanding of, or reached a consensus on, their substantive meaning  some of which can be very comprehensive and perplexing.



Against this backdrop, stakeholders are making increasingly stronger demands on environmental issues and carbon neutrality became one of the top priorities for many corporations. As such, I'd like to explain a few keywords that you may encounter in the process of implementing carbon neutrality and what their implications are.



First, "Scope 3" emissions is emerging as a new buzzword. Carbon emissions have three components: Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions generated from sources within company boundaries, Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions generated from the company's purchase of electricity and heat and Scope 3 emissions are supply chain emissions generated outside the company's boundaries.



Simply put, Scope 3 emissions include emissions generated by customers, suppliers, vendors and client companies. These days, the realm of carbon neutrality is expanding as companies that joined the movement toward carbon neutrality recently are being asked by their stakeholders to manage Scope 3 emissions as well.



Controversies over "greenwashing" will also intensify. Greenwashing is a tool used to inform stakeholders that the company is making significant efforts to promote eco-friendliness while, in fact, it is not. As companies are facing increasingly challenging demands to disclose carbon neutrality-related targets and achievements and an increasing number of stakeholders are keeping their eyes on them, controversies over false and exaggerated claims about going green are already increasing.



Another key topic is the quality of carbon credits. As the demand for carbon reduction increases dramatically, the demand also increases for carbon credits, which serves as both a proof of carbon reduction and the right to emit carbon.



To secure carbon credits, companies may either invest in carbon reduction and receive the corresponding amount of carbon credits in return, or purchase them instead. If the carbon credits secured or purchased turn out to be not backed by a clear proof of the company's contribution to carbon reduction, the company may be exposed to reputational or even litigation risks.



The green investment impact will also attract increasing attention from investors. A growing number of investors will take a closer look at whether green investment has achieved its goals not only in terms of profit but also in terms of environment. Green investment is continuing its upward trend, with HSBC predicting that about 1,000 trillion won worth of green bonds will be supplied this year.



Investors are now focusing on whether the funds raised with green bonds will actually contribute to the protection or improvement of the environment worldwide. Further, various other keywords related to implementation of carbon neutrality such as mandatory information disclosure and race to acquire relevant technologies began to draw attention as well.



The keywords described above may look overwhelming, given that even the terms carbon neutrality and ESG has not yet been fully digested by most people. It might sound harsh, but I think the situation is like doing all the homework on the last day of the winter vacation before the semester starts  and it is ourselves who kept procrastinating on the homework.



However, what if the government, companies and individuals do not even do this long-overdue homework? According to a report published by the Korea Meteorological Administration at the end of last year based on the scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), if we maintain carbon emissions at the current level, our children and grandchildren will spend about half of the year in summer, about a month in winter and three months of tropical nights.



An even bigger problem is that we will see an increase in extreme weather events. Following the early heat wave in June 2020, the extraordinarily heavy rainy season continued in July and August, causing significant damage such as floods and landslides. In March this year, a joint research team, including Seoul National University and the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences, said the cause of extreme weather in the summer of 2020 was greenhouse gases (primarily carbon), which are the main culprit of climate change.



Analysis of data in 45 regions across the country from 1973 to 2020 confirmed that extreme weather, such as those events which occurred in the summer of 2020, appeared only in models with increased greenhouse gas scenarios. This warns us that extreme weather will appear more often and may intensify if the current level of carbon emissions continues.



We should be mindful not to hand over the planet to our descendants in what may in the future be more like a sauna. This is why we have to do our overdue homework by reflecting upon the emerging keywords of carbon neutrality, no matter how perplexing they may appear.





Kim Sung-woo is the head of the Environment & Energy Research Institute at Kim & Chang.






Chinese president Xi Jinping delivers a speech via video link to the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum For Asia in Boao in southern Chinas Hainan Province, April 21, in this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency. AP-Yonhap





China is closely studying Russian's invasion of Ukraine and is likely adjusting its long-term plans for gaining control of Taiwan based on the lessons from the war, CIA director Bill Burns said Saturday.







"Clearly the Chinese leadership is trying to look carefully at what lessons they should draw from Ukraine about their own ambitions and Taiwan," Burns told a Financial Times conference.







Burns said he thinks Beijing has been "surprised" by the poor performance of Russian military forces as well as the tough resistance coming from the entire Ukrainian society.







"I think they've been struck by the way in which particularly the transatlantic alliance has come together to impose economic costs on Russia as a result of that aggression," he continued.






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RACINE  One week in, possibly with months ahead.

The first week of a strike involving more than 1,000 employees of CNH Industrial, parent company of what was Case Corporation, has concluded. A labor leader predicts it could be almost 2023 by the time the strike ends.

It was ordered by UAW (United Auto Workers) Local 180, of Racine, and Local 807, of the eastern Iowa city of Burlington. Workers in both Racine and Burlington walked off the job simultaneously at noon Monday.

Local 807 President Nick Guernsey on Wednesday told the trade magazine Ag Equipment Intelligence I think whats going to get CNH Industrial back to the table is when they start losing money, and theyll probably start feeling it at 4 weeks. Ive told my membership to expect CNHI to keep us out for 3-6 months.

Neither side, neither the union nor CNH, has publicly said what the demands are and how far apart the two sides are. A union spokeswoman declined to comment on this story. CNH (Case New Holland) did not reply to requests for comment.

It remains unclear how many replacement workers have crossed picket lines in the past week or what exactly they are being paid. Guernsey told Ag Equipment Intelligence that CNHI is paying new workers a much higher wage than what we were even asking for, along with bonuses and extra money for their salaried employees.

UAW Local 180, in a Facebook post Tuesday, blamed corporate greed for the strike. It cited CNHs reported results for the first quarter of 2022, which included $4.6 billion in revenue and an adjusted net income of $378 million. In 2020, the company reported profits of $1.76 billion, a 21% increase over the year prior.

They said we would bankrut (sic) the Company with our demands. YEAH RIGHT!! the unions social media post said.

The company is not being fair, and it (the strike) is going to be a rough haul for us. But we have to stick up for what we need and we deserve, a picketing worker, Lynda Bowman, told a reporter Thursday, the fourth day of the strike.

You cant show record profits and then claim poverty, Guernsey told The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowas newspaper, which also reported striking workers will receive $275 a week (approximately one-fourth of U.S. median pay) from the union.

Among those supporting UAW Local 180 are the union for Racine Unified School District teachers (Racine Educators Association), Racine Mayor Cory Mason and Wisconsin Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine.

Neubauer posted a photo of herself and Mason on social media Friday, posing with strikers on State Street near Downtown Racine.

Workers everywhere deserve fair pay, safe working conditions, the ability to establish fair work rules, and to retire with dignity. UAW members have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to produce essential equipment for Wisconsin and America. We are proud of the work done and the products made here in Racine, she wrote in a statement. As we go forward, I encourage CNH Industrial management and the UAW leadership team to negotiate in good faith towards a resolution that benefits both sides and meets the needs of workers.

When a reporter spoke with picketers Thursday on State Street, one of two local picketing locations along with Oakes Road in Mount Pleasant, they waved signs and chanted things like We want fairness! and Fair treatment!

In a Facebook post of his own, Mason wrote The UAW helped build the middle class in Racine. Lets hope Case and UAW can reach a fair contract soon!

A UAW strike at John Deere that began last year was 10 times bigger, involving more than 10,000 workers. That strike lasted more than a month.

According to Local 180, 98.4% of Racine workers voted in favor of approving a strike on April 10.

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Several big ticket celebratory items headlined the April 25 Williams Bay School Board meeting, including news that Williams Bay has been named one of the top music education schools in the nation.

The Williams Bay was named one of 738 2022 Best Communities for Music Education school districts in the nation for music education by the Carlsbad, Calif.-based NAMM Foundation.

The award program recognizes outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students and community leaders who have made music education part of a well-rounded education.

Designations are made to districts and schools that demonstrate and exceptionally high commitment to music education and its access.

The NAMM Foundation advances active participation in music-making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs.

Founded in 2006, The NAMM Foundation represents the generosity and philanthropy of the music products industry. A supporting organization of NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants, the NAMM Foundation is funded through trade association activities and donations.

Williams Bay was one of 26 Wisconsin school districts receiving 2022 Best Communities honors. Other school districts recognized in the region included the Delavan-Darien School District, Kenosha Area Unified Schools, School District of Beloit Turner, School District of Jefferson, School District of Fort Atkinson, Kettle Moraine Joint School District, Lake Mills Area School District, Watertown Unified School District and the Whitewater Unified School District.

Herb Kohl Excellence Scholarship recipient

Middle school/high school principal Brent Mansky also announced at the board meeting that Class of 2022 senior Anna Rolfs, of Williams Bay, had been selected as a 2022 Herb Kohl Student Excellence Scholarship recipient.

She was chosen to receive this $10,000 award because of her exceptional scholarship, leadership, citizenship and school and community involvement, Mansky said. In addition, she was evaluated on her ability to clearly articulate goals in each of four areas: future educational goals, personal life goals, community/society service goals, and career goals. This is a tremendous honor for Anna in recognition of all of her hard work and we are certainly very proud of her.

Mansky said her scholarship may be used for college tuition, fees, room and board, books, supplies, technology and equipment required for courses of instruction, so long as these items can be purchased through her college. The scholarship must be used in full within four years of the date on which she receives it.

Rolfs has decided to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall and plans to major in the biological sciences, with an interest in going into the medical field.

Im extremely honored to have received the Kohl Excellence Award, Rolfs said in a follow-up interview. Many of my peers at Williams Bay High School are equally as qualified, and I feel very lucky to have been chosen for this award. It is a great honor and very humbling. My teachers and administrators really deserve a lot of the credit for this because of how they have encouraged and challenged me every step of the way during my time at Williams Bay, and Im eternally grateful for all theyve done for me. It seems that the Kohl Award prioritizes a well-rounded educational experience over just test scores or grade point average. The variety of options that WIlliams Bay High School offers really helped me get the most out of my high school experience.

Rolfs said the $10,000 scholarship will be a play a key role in helping fund her studies at UW-Madison.

Everyone knows that college costs are skyrocketing, so this scholarship will be a huge help to funding part of my education, she said.

Rolfs is the latest in a long line of Williams Bay High School students to win the competitive scholarship

2022 marks the eighth straight year that a Williams Bay High School student has won this award, including 17 of the past 18 years, Mansky noted. Overall, Williams Bay High School students have won this prestigious award 22 times since 1993.

Speaking on behalf of the Williams Bay Board of Education following a standing ovation in Rolfs honor, board president Jack Lothian praised Rolfs on her outstanding accomplishment of earning a Herb Kohl Student Excellence Scholarship.

We are so proud of you, Lothian said.

Herb Kohl Education Foundation, Inc. awarded 174 $10,000 scholarships to graduating Class of 2022 high school students.

The Kohl Foundation award program was established in 1990 by namesake Wisconsin philanthropist and businessman and former U.S. Senator Herb Kohl and has since awarded more than $28.3 million to Wisconsin educators, principals, students and schools.

Education is the key to the future of Wisconsin and our nation, Kohl said in a press release announcing the awards. I am very proud of the accomplishments of these students ... and look forward to the great contributions they will make in the future.

Investing Club

In other student news, Mansky reported that Williams Bay middle and high school students were invited to join an investing club in order to participate in the Wisconsin Stock Market Game challenge sponsored by EconomicsWisconsin.

The simulation helps students learn the cost and benefits involved in investing in the stock market by managing a hypothetical $100,000 investment portfolio as they compete against teams from across Wisconsin for a chance at a cash prize, he said. This spring, 400 Wisconsin teams competed in this 10-week simulation. We are proud to share that three Williams Bay teams finished in the top 10 in the state.

A Williams Bay Middle School team of seventh-graders Ben Galvin and Ethan Wiegel finished sixth in the state by growing their portfolio to a value of $120,262.46, while a Williams Bay High School team made up of seniors Eoin Henry, Josh Rolfs, Nolan Peyer, Caden Binger and Travis Johnson finished fifth in the state with a portfolio value of $124, 314.41.

EconomicsWisconsin has announced that the grand prize winning team was also from Williams Bay and consisted of seniors Connor Pecht, Aiden Hoover, Cole Oertel, Landon Palmer and Collin Kuiper, Mansky announced. This team grew their $100,000 portfolio to a staggering $405,407.62, which is a now new state record. Theyve blown the state record out of the water. This is next level stuff in terms of what theyve done. Very cool.

The previous portfolio record was $172,000.

He said the winning team has been invited to attend the April 27 EconomicsWisconsin board of directors meeting and will also be honored with a luncheon celebration ceremony in May. They will also receive a cash prize.

We are excited about the level of success our teams have had in year one of this program and look forward to the fall competition, Mansky said.

Academic Bowl

Fifteen students on the Academic Bowl team traveled to Montello on April 4, where they competed against 10 other conference teams, with Williams Bay placing third overall.

The language arts team of Sylas Jeninga, Nick Schnobel, Aaron Johnson and Collin Kuiper placed first. The social studies team of Nolan Peyer, Brooke Peyer, Kai Suh and Rosa Jimenez placed second.

Individual awards at the Academic Bowl included: Caden Binger, chemistry, third place; Henry Kwiatkowski, physics, third place; Collin Kuiper, language arts, third place; Nick Schnobel, novels, second place; Nolan Peyer, geography, third place; and Eoin Henry, U.S. history, second place.

Art Show

Two Williams Bay students received awards at the Geneva Lake Arts Foundation Art Show, held at Gallery 223 in Lake Geneva.

Olivia Wiley received a Merit Award, while Brigette Ev. Duval received the Martin Smith Memorial Award for Creative Art.

Forensics

Williams Bay students recently competed at the state forensic competition on April 9 at DeForest Area High School in Dane County.

Earning awards at the state forensics meet were Sofiia Lauten, poetry, gold; Anna Rolfs, prose, silver; Monica Paur, impromptu, silver; Ari Kuney, moments in history, silver; Josh Rolfs, informative, silver; Eoin Henry, impromptu, silver; and Travis Johnson, informative, bronze.

Spanish Club

Williams Bays Spanish Club hosted a March 21-April 1 spare change collection fundraiser for World Central Kitchen in support of Ukraine, raising more than $2,500.

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Should Williams Bay implement paid parking or participate in No Mow May, encouraging residents not to mow in May?

Those were two of the topics that local residents brought up during public comment period during the most recent Williams Bay Village Board meeting on May 2.

No action was taken on either, but recommendations from residents are noted as part of meeting minutes for possible future discussion in the future.

Elm Street resident Jack Jones was the resident who urged the board to consider revisiting the implementation of parking fees in the village, similar to those put in place in the City of Lake Geneva and the neighboring Village of Fontana.

I think it would be a good money-maker, Jones said.

In Lake Geneva parking is $2 per hour daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. most of the year, except mid-November to Feb. 1.

In Fontana paid parking is in effect from April 15 through October 15, seven days per week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The cost is $2 per hour, Monday to Thursday and $3.50 per hour Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Cambridge Drive resident Patt Heise, meanwhile, appeared before the board to advocate for the implementation of a No May May program in Williams Bay in support of food-challenged bees and other early spring pollinators, noting a lot of Wisconsin communities have implemented the program, including Appleton, Green Bay, La Crosse, Oshkosh and Sun Prairie, among others.

Locally, the Genoa City Village Board last month approved the pilot implementation of No Mow May in the southeastern Walworth County community.

By not mowing in May, its hoped that early spring pollinators will be able to feed on increased populations of native flowering plants including dandelions, violets and white clover, thus increasing their chances for survival and, ideally, boosting pollinator populations. Participating No Mow May communities wave enforcement of tall grass ordinances during the observance.

It started a few years ago in the United Kingdom and is rapidly spreading through the United States, Heise said of the grass roots No Mow May movement. Bee City U.S.A. is promoting it. Id like you to consider adding Williams Bay to that list. Were a Tree City, were a Bird City, and this would just be a way to take it another step further.

Heise said the population of pollinators, including bees, has seen a significant decline in recent years, calling it a troubling development.

Without bees theres no pollination and with no pollination theres no food, she said. With no food, were not around.

Other newsIn other developments at the May 2 village board meeting, trustees approved the hiring of Whitewater resident Maddison Raabe, a Muskego native, to fill an officer vacancy at the Williams Bay Police Department, contingent on the successful completion of her background check.

Village President Bill Duncan issued two proclamations on May, 2, the first designating the week of May 1-7 as Professional Municipal Clerks Week in the Village of Williams Bay in conjunction with the 53rd Annual Municipal Clerks Week observance by the Rancho Cucamonga, Calif-based International Institute of Municipal Clerks.

Professional Municipal Clerks Week is observed annually in the U.S., Canada and 15 other countries to recognize the essential role that municipal clerks play in local government.

Following the board meeting, a homemade bar and cookie reception was held in honor of Williams Bay Village Clerk Jackie Pankau-Daniels for vital services performed and her exemplary dedication to the community.

Duncan also issued a proclamation designating the week of May 15-21 as National Police Week in the Village of Williams Bay, and the further designation of May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day in the village.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy was authorized by Congress to proclaim May 15 of each year as National Peace Officers Memorial Day in honor of all peace officers who have been killed or disabled in the line of duty, and the annual designation of the calendar week that May 15 occurs or precedes as Police Appreciation week in recognition of the service given by police officers.

The police officers of Williams Bay have worked devotedly and unselfishly on behalf of the people of this community, regardless of peril or hazard to themselves, Duncan said of Police Appreciation Week. These officers have safeguarded the lives and property of all in Williams Bay, and by their services and their dedicated efforts these dedicated men and women have earned the gratitude of the Village of Williams Bay ... I encourage all citizens to observe the week with law enforcement officers, past and present, who, by their faithful and loyal devotion to their responsibilities, have rendered a dedicated service to their community.

Duncan also encouraged the solemn observance of Police Officers Memorial Day on Sunday, May 15 in honor of those law enforcement officers, who, through their courageous deeds, have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their community, or have become disabled in the performance of duty.

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Dear W.C.,

A woman and her young child came into my motel yesterday looking for a place to stay for the night. She did not have enough money for the room, but I let them stay anyway because I was worried about the child sleeping in a car in the cold. I asked her some questions about the situation she was in, and she told me she had left a domestic violence situation and had nowhere to go. I am a single mother myself and just making ends meet so I cannot turn my motel into a shelter for the homeless, but I want to help this woman get some assistance. I immediately thought of The Time is Now to Help because you have helped a few of my clients in the past. I am a very good judge of character and did not feel this woman was lying, using drugs or drinking. They had very few belongings which went along with her story that they left quickly. I have a bin of clothing that has been left behind in my motel and she was able to take some clean clothing for herself and her son. I gave the boy some snacks and he devoured them, which I am sure is a sign that they are hungry. Could you please check out their situation and see if you can help? Your charity has been a blessing to so many people.

Dear Readers,

I called the motel owner to find out more information about the woman and child staying at her motel. I was relieved to hear they were still there, and the motel owner had continued to allow them to stay. I thanked her for having such a good heart and helping this mother and child.

After we spoke for some time and she shared what she could about the situation and her observations, she provided the phone number for the woman so I could speak to her myself. She told me she had gotten permission to share her phone number with me and she had told the woman about our charity. I trusted this womans opinion as she had always been honest with me in the past, telling me if she had any suspicions of drug use, abuse of alcohol, neglectful parenting or other things that would require an intervention outside of our charitys expertise.

I called the woman and when she answered we got right to work on her situation. I asked some additional questions about things the motel owner had shared with me. I learned more about the physical abuse she had withstood and the reason for her leaving at night with only a few belongings. She had come to this area to be closer to her only living family member, her elderly grandmother that she had not seen in over two years due to her boyfriend having isolated her from contact with any family or friends. The grandmother now lived in an assisted living facility so she could not stay with her. She had purchased a phone with the small amount of money she had been able to save for their escape so he could not track her location. The remaining money she had used for gas and food.

After a very thorough interview, the woman answered all my questions without hesitation and had been painfully honest at times. I knew we would need to help this woman and child get back on their feet. She had been a successful single mother before meeting the controlling and physically abusive boyfriend who had taken over her life, and she could be again once she was on the right track.

We discussed her long-term plans and they included getting a job and enrolling her son in school. This would be her initial requirement in order to receive help with first months rent and security deposit for a safe apartment. Until that happened, we would make sure they remained safe at the motel, and we would provide gift cards for food and other daily necessities.

Thanks to the womans excellent references from her past employment, she was able to secure a job very quickly. After confirming her first paycheck and searching tirelessly for an apartment that was on an upper level with security doors, she finally found one she could afford. We provided two months rent along with the security deposit to convince the landlord that she would be a responsible renter.

The following week she and her son moved out of the motel and are now feeling relieved and safe in their apartment. We provided beds and her grandmother had a friend that gave her some used furniture. Her ex-boyfriend was eventually arrested for another crime so she no longer worries endlessly about him or about the fear of living in her car, hungry with her son. She now has her grandmother close by and the confidence that going forward she can support her son on her own.

Thank You for helping this mother and son, and all the people we help, begin new lives without the pains and stress of poverty.

Health & Happiness, Love & God Bless Everyone, Sal

Please Help: There are many coming to us in desperation. Our good fellow creations need our compassion. Together we make a big difference. Make checks payable to: The Time Is Now to Help, P.O. Box 1, Lake Geneva, WI 53147. The Time Is Now to Help is a federally recognized 5013 charitable organization licensed in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois. You will receive a tax deductible, itemized thank you receipt showing how your donation provided assistance for the poverty stricken. A Very Special Thank You: Family Foundation, Darien Community Baptist Church, Jeff Martin, Paul Ziegler, Ziegler Charitable Foundation, Paper Dolls, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Schuberth, Kunes Country Auto Group, Martin Group, John Stensland and family, Heal Team 6 Foundation, Creek Road Community Church, Daryl and Geri Braun, William Norton, William Davit, Edward Paredes, Marcia DeBoer, Jeff Zott, Sarah Wootton, David Greenawalt, Paula Harris, Karin Collamore, Greg Johns, Nancy Plzak, Gregory Swanson, Kelly Tomaske, Paypal Giving Fund, Saints Simeon and Anna Anglican Church, Dennis and Carol Gilhooley, Donald and Anne Agne, Beverly Mather, William Antti, R. and Janice Erickson, all of our anonymous donors and ALL of you who support The Time Is Now to Help donation boxes. Anyone who would like a Time Is Now donation box in your business, please call (262) 249-7000. Memorials: Donald and Charlene Puchalski in memory of their daughter Denise Peck. Wayne and Carol Amorn in memory of Denise Peck. Prayer Chain: The power of prayer and positive thoughts comes from the true healer, our Lord answering our prayers. Please pray for healing for the following people: Brian, Talyn, Mike, Sylvia, Richard, Jennifer, Jayden, Maria C., Alex, Lily, Kaitlyn, Sheila, Rhonda, Deda Lee, Betty, Marilyn, Helen, Dennis, Mary, Joseph, Jordan, Jean, Tom L., Dr. Peter, Alyce, Matthew, Pam E., Jenene B., John S., Patricia H., Darlene, Ron K., Marian K., Judy, Wendy, Eric, Anthony, Mary, Charlie, Tom P., Christina, Billy, Mike, Cheryl and Ellie.
Guwahati, May 8 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived here late Sunday on a three-day visit to Assam during which he will attend the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government's first anniversary celebrations, and travel to the India-Bangladesh border.

Shah was received at the Guwahati airport by Sarma and other senior state BJP leaders a little after midnight.

Also Read | Chhattisgarh: Sarangarh Royal Family Says Its 'State Flag' Atop Palace Stolen And Replaced With Saffron One.

Honoured to receive Adarniya HM Shri @AmitShah ji at LGBI Airport, Guwahati. Adarniya Griha Mantri ji will attend several events over next two days in Assam," Sarma tweeted.

The home minister will visit the Mankachar border outpost of the BSF on Monday morning and interact with the officers posted there.

Also Read | Jet Airways Gets Security Clearance from Union Home Ministry, Plans to Re-Launch Commercial Flight Operations.

He will also lay the foundation and take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for CENWOSTO-II (Central Workshop and Stores) for Central Armed Paramilitary Force (CAPF) at Kelenchi in Tamulpur district.

Shah will later inaugurate the Census office at Amingaon in Kamrup district, and the Superspeciality Cardiothoracic and Neurosciences Centre at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital in the evening.

On Tuesday, he will present the 'President's Colour' to Assam Police at a ceremony in Guwahati, and also interact with the officers and personnel of the force.

He will then address a public rally to mark the completion of one year in office of the Sarma-led dispensation.

Shah is scheduled to return to New Delhi on Tuesday evening.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh, May 8: Punjab and Haryana High Court directed late Saturday night that Punjab Police cannot take any coercive action against the Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga till the next hearing on May 10. In a respite against the arrest warrant issued by a Mohali court on Saturday evening, the High Court order came as a relief for Bagga who may not be taken in the custody by the Punjab Police till May 10.

Justice Anoop Chitkara passed the order while hearing a petition challenging the arrest warrant for Bagga issued by the Mohali court. Advocate General Anmol Rattan Singh said that Punjab has taken a strong objection to the matter being taken up at midnight, saying that it was not so urgent. He further submitted that the main petition was filed on April 6 this year, and none stopped the petitioner from filing an application under section 438 CrPC for a grant of anticipatory bail, which is a statutory provision. Tajinder Bagga Row: Protest and Political Slugfest After BJP Leaders Arrest, Now He Faces Non-Bailable Warrant.

Singh also contended that by filing an application for a stay of the arrest warrant and requesting the matter to be heard at such an off time, the petitioner is tainting the judicial system and it should not be permitted. Punjab Police sought a non-bailable warrant against Bagga from a local court. There is no stay regarding the arrest of the accused in the present FIR nor any anticipatory bail application moved by the accused, said the Punjab Police officials.

Notably, Bagga reached his residence in Delhi on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday after he was "rescued" by the Delhi Police. He had later claimed that the Punjab Police had barged into his home in large numbers and arrested him "as they do it with a terrorist". Earlier in April, Bagga had claimed that the Punjab Police officials reached his home while he was in Lucknow. He had alleged that the Delhi police weren't informed by the Punjab Police.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], May 8 (ANI): The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) conducted a webinar on "Export Promotion of Tissue Culture Plants such as Foliage, Live Plants, Cut Flowers, and Planting Material" with Department of Biotechnology (DBT) accredited tissue culture laboratories spread across India.

The top ten countries importing tissue culture plants from India are the Netherlands, USA, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, Kenya, Senegal, Ethiopia and Nepal. In 2020-2021, India's exports of tissue culture plants stood at US USD 17.17 million, with the Netherlands accounting for around 50 per cent of the shipments.

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APEDA officials informed participants about the latest demand trends for tissue culture plants in these countries and how the apex export promotion body could help Indian exporters/ tissue culture laboratories in accessing these markets.

As this was the first interaction programme with these laboratories, APEDA explained about its function, mandate and other financial assistance extended to export oriented plant tissue culture laboratories to improve efficiency, quality of plants, and how the latter could meet the phyto-sanitary norms of the importing countries and enhance their competence in the international market.

Also Read | BPSC Paper Leak: Bihar Public Service Commission Cancels 67th Preliminary Exam 2022 After Question Paper Goes Viral.

In order to expand the range of tissue culture plants grown in India, APEDA has asked the exporters to provide a list of germplasms for particular plants/crops which can be imported from producing countries.

The exporters, in turn, also suggested that APEDA organize an international exhibition in India to showcase the various kinds of flora such as tissue cultured plants, forest plants, potted plants, ornamental and landscaping planting material available in India.

Tissue culture plant laboratories highlighted the issues and challenges faced by them in tissue cultured planting material production and its exports. Exporters drew the attention of APEDA officials to issues such as increasing power costs, low efficiency levels of the skilled workforce in the laboratories, contamination issues in the laboratories, cost of transportation of micro-propagated planting material, lack of harmonization in the HS code of Indian planting material with other nations and objections raised by the forest and quarantine departments which were posing challenges in the export of live planting material.

The tissue culture experts suggested that APEDA take up these issues with the concerned departments. APEDA has assured round-the-clock service to tissue culture plant laboratories so as to address all hardships faced by them.

APEDA is running a Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) to help laboratories upgrade themselves so as to produce export quality tissue culture planting material. It also facilitates exports of tissue culture planting material to diversified countries through market development, market analysis and promotion and exhibition of tissue culture plants at international exhibitions and by participating in buyer-seller meets at different international forums.

India is bestowed with knowledge, biotech experts with vast tissue culture experience as well as with a low-cost labour force to help produce export-oriented quality planting material. All these factors make India a potential global supplier of an extended and diversified range of quality flora to the international market and, in turn, earn foreign exchange. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: May 8 (ANI): YS Ravikumar, Commissioner of Police, Kalaburagi, on Saturday suspended ten police personnel in connection with the PSI recruitment scam.

Earlier on Thursday, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai assured an impartial probe in connection with the alleged scam and all those involved will be booked and brought to justice.

Also Read | Tajinder Bagga Row: Protest and Political Slugfest After BJP Leader's Arrest, Now He Faces Non-Bailable Warrant.

Earlier on April 29, the Karnataka government decided to cancel the results of the police sub-inspector (PSI) recruitment exam following allegations of corruption.

The government had stated that a fresh exam will be re-conducted and the dates for which will be announced soon.

Also Read | Mumbai Shocker: Suspecting Her Character, Man Murders 70-Year-Old Wife, Later Attempts Suicide.

The Karnataka Home Minister had said that the Crime Investigation Team (CID) arrested the main accused, BJP leader Divya Hagaragi and four others in connection with the Sub-Inspector (PSI) recruitment exam scam. Divya, who was absconding in the case, was arrested from Pune on Thursday night.

The PSI scam case is related to the irregularities in the appointment of police sub-inspectors in the state.

MLA and former Minister Priyank Kharge had alleged that there was a huge scam in the PSI recruitment of more than 545 candidates and that the Home Minister, along with the government and officials, are clearly involved in this. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], May 8 (ANI): In an affidavit filed before the Jharkhand High Court on Friday, Chief Minister Hemant Soren explained his stand on mining lease controversy.

Soren said that the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed to destabilise the government.

Also Read | Tajinder Bagga Row: Protest and Political Slugfest After BJP Leader's Arrest, Now He Faces Non-Bailable Warrant.

"I say and submit that the present writ petition has been filed out of personal animosity and at the behest of my political rivals with the ulterior motive and malafide intent maligning me and destabilizing the government of which I am the Chief Minister," stated the preliminary affidavit submitted by him. Hemant Soren is the respondent number seven in the petition.

A petition was filed in February by Shiv Shankar Sharma on granting of stone chips mining lease to Soren in Ranchi. The petitioner had approached the High Court for an appropriate direction to prosecute the Chief Minister saying Soren had misused his office in getting the mining lease in his own name. Soren holds the mining and environment portfolio.

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"I am advised to state that my act of obtaining a mining lease does not entail my disqualification as a member of the Legislative Assembly under any law and I reserve my rights to make further submissions in law on this aspect at the time of hearing through counsel, if necessary," added CM through affidavit.

In the same matter, Soren has been issued a notice from Election Commission of India seeking his reply that why he should not be disqualified. Soren has to send his reply by May 10.

Soren has given the full detail of the said lease. "...the mining lease was granted to me for a period of 10 years on May 17, 2008. I had applied for renewal of this lease in 2018 but the application lapsed. When the Deputy Commissioner of the district invited fresh applications for the said mining lease sometime in 2021, I applied to his office. The lease was granted in my favour after I had duly complied with the procedure prescribed in the Jharkhand Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2004 as amended from time to time. Consent to Operate of the subject mining lease was not obtained and on 4th February 2022, I had applied for surrender of the subject lease before commencing any extraction and the same was subsequently accepted upon payment of the prescribed fees."

He also claimed that the petitioner Sharma and his family harbour personal enmity towards his family (Soren's family) for more than two decades and his petition is devoid of any public interest.

Soren further added that present petition and allegations contained in the petition submitted by the BJP are similar and the handiwork of the same person.

"It is obvious that the controlling mind behind the petition to the governor and the present writ petition filed before the court is the same."

A bench of Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad, while hearing the matter for the first time April 8, had said that it was "a serious matter" and had issued a notice to Soren. (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, May 8 (PTI) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday asserted that a progressive, modern India must have a police force which meets democratic aspirations of the people and called for a renewed thrust to implement police reforms.

Addressing a gathering here after releasing a book, 'The Struggle for Police Reforms in India', authored by former IPS officer Prakash Singh, the vice president stressed the need to upgrade skills of police personnel to effectively tackle 21st century crimes such as cybercrimes and economic offences which require special investigative expertise.

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According to an official statement issued by the Vice President Secretariat, Naidu referred to the instances of misuse of police force during the "infamous Emergency", saying it was used with impunity to suppress human rights and imprison thousands of people, including political opponents.

Subsequently, a National Police Commission was set up in 1977, which submitted reports with detailed multi-dimensional proposals for police reforms, he recalled.

Also Read | BJP Leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga Says 'Won't Be Afraid Even if 1,000 Cases Are Registered Against Me'.

However, he noted that not much headway has been made in bringing reforms in police forces at the individual and institutional levels.

Naidu also flagged certain issues that need to be addressed on a war footing, including filling up of vacancies in police departments and strengthening the police infrastructure in tune with the requirements of modern age policing.

He called for particularly strengthening the police units at the grassroots who are the first responders in most cases. Naidu also wanted housing facilities for police personnel to be improved.

Stressing that the behaviour of police personnel towards the common people should be courteous and friendly, the vice president called upon senior police officers to lead by example.

"A visit to a police station should be a hassle-free experience for a person who goes there seeking help. The first thing to reform for this is the attitude of the police -- they must be open-minded, sensitive and receptive to each individual citizen's concerns," he said.

Naidu lamented that though attempts have been made at introducing reforms over the years, progress has not been made to the desired extent.

He called for a political will in the states to properly implement the reforms according to the Supreme Court guidelines.

Naidu said over the years following Independence, the police force was perceived to be increasingly politicised with significant erosion in values and practices. Instead of being seen as a people-friendly force, it was seen as being elitist and power-friendly, he observed.

(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, May 8 (PTI) The Delhi Police on Sunday said it would investigate the role of any man suspected of fomenting communal trouble recently in the capital's Jahagirpuri area despite his purported contribution to the restoration of peace in the area after the violence.

Northwest Delhi's Deputy Commissioner of Police Usha Rangnani made the assertion a day after the arrest of a Jahangirpuri resident, Tabrez Alam, accused of being involved in the Jahagirpuri violence though he was later seen acting as a member of the peace committee formed by the police. During the investigation, if a person is found involved in the incident, action will be taken against him although he might have helped the force in urging the public to maintain peace and harmony, DCP Rangnani said.

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The DCP made the statement after a video surfaced on social media showing Alam sitting among peace committee members with senior police officials and making appeals to the people to restore communal harmony. The DCP said a piece of news is being circulated in media that accused Tabrez Alam has been arrested by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police for his alleged role in the April 16 riots in Jahangirpuri.

It is further being claimed that Tabrez was one of the members of the Jahangirpuri peace committee besides also being an organiser of the Tiranga Yatra held in the riot-hit area on April 20. "In this regard, it is clarified that after riots in Jahangirpuri, police had a prime and a very focused role of establishing peace and order in the area, during which a large number of people of all communities were co-opted to appeal to the people to maintain peace and communal harmony," Rangnani said. Anyone from the area who approached the local police with the same idea was associated with the Aman Committee as a confidence-building measure with the community, she said. "Investigation is independent of law and order and if the role of anyone is established during the investigation, the same is dealt as per law irrespective of the fact whether he has helped local police in establishing peace and harmony post riots in the area or otherwise," the DCP pointed out.

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(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Nagpur, May 8: Emphasizing on innovation, entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem, President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday called for having a mindset of becoming job-creators, instead of being job-seekers. President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday inaugurated the permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Management, Nagpur.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said, "Educational institutes are not just mere places of learning. It is the place which polishes the inner and sometimes even hidden talents ineach one of us." Ram Nath Kovind To Be First President To Attend Regional Language Literary Meet in Northeast.

He said both innovation and entrepreneurship have the ability to not just ease our lives through technology but can also provide employment opportunities to many people. He expressed confidence that the eco-system at IIM, Nagpur would promote among the students the mindset of becoming job-creators, instead of being job-seekers.

President Kovind said we are living in an era where innovation and entrepreneurship are appreciated and encouraged. "The stories of various unicorns or startups which have been slated to be worth more than 1 billion have scripted new history. It has opened new avenues as new sectors are coming under the loop of business enterprises. From food delivery to picking up odd things, all are provided by start-ups and app-based services. Hitherto unexplored territories like education, health, etc have also become part of these new enterprises. Such forays can be a game-changer for our country. It can be a combination of job provider and revenue earner for our people," he said.

The President was happy to note that IIM, Nagpur through its Centre for Entrepreneurship has established IIM Nagpur Foundation for Entrepreneurship Development (InFED). He said that what is a matter of immense pride is that InFED has successfully enabled women entrepreneurs to graduate from Women Start-up Program and six of them have even launched their enterprises. Such programs provide an effective platform for women's empowerment.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari were also present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion Pradhan said that knowledge is a medium for empowerment and public welfare. As the country celebrates the Amrit Mahotsav, students at IIM Nagpur should strive to break the mould and adorn a culture of taking responsibilities and giving back to society with much more vigour.

He exhorted IIM Nagpur to facilitate regional development and guided by the NEP 2020, the institution should evolve new pathways to promote entrepreneurship and establish India as a nation of job creators.

He further said that the world looks towards India with great hope. He expressed his confidence that IIM Nagpur will steer India towards becoming a knowledge economy that will provide leadership to India, emerging economies, and also the world.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh/Tarn Taran (Punjab) [India], May 8 (ANI): The Punjab Police on Sunday recovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) equipped with RDX packed in a metallic black coloured box weighing approximately 2.5 Kg from Naushehra Pannuan village in the Tarn Taran district and arrested two persons.

According to a statement issued by the Punjab Information and Public Relations Department, those arrested have been identified as Baljinder Singh alias Bindu aged 22, a resident of village Gujjarpura in Ajnala, Amritsar; and Jagtar Singh alias Jagga aged 40 of village Khanowal of Ajnala, Amritsar.

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The police have also recovered a motorcycle and two mobile phones from their possession. Bindu was working as a Nursing Assistant in a private Hospital in Ajnala, while, Jagga is a labourer and both were carrying out this activity for money and drugs, said the statement.

According to the statement, the development came three days after four persons were arrested with the recovery of three IEDs packed in a metallic case (2.5 kg each) and one pistol, from Karnal by the Haryana Police following the inputs from the Punjab Police.

Also Read | Ludhiana Shocker: Man Slits Friend's Throat for Talking on Phone for Long; Arrested.

Divulging details, ADGP Internal Security RN Dhoke said that the Tarn Taran Police had received a piece of secret information that Bindu and Jagga carrying explosives are roaming in Naushehra Pannuan area and are planning to carry out a blast to spread terror among people in the area.

Acting promptly, SSP Tarn Taran Ranjit Singh sent police teams to conduct raids in the area and both the accused persons were arrested with an IED in the metallic box when they were going on a motorcycle after retrieving it from the abandoned place.

SSP Ranjit Singh said," Initial investigation reveals that the accused persons had gone to retrieve the IED on the instructions of their accomplice identified as Jobanjit Singh alias Joban, a resident of Awan Vasau in Ajnala. Jobanjit is already facing criminal cases under the NDPS act and has been declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO)".

The SSP said that the Bomb Disposal team of Punjab Police later diffused the IED, which had nearly 1.5kg of RDX.

Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered under section 25 of the Arms Act, sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Explosive Substance (Amendment) Act, and Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Police Station Sarhali in Tarn Taran and further investigation is underway, added the statement. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], May 8 (ANI): With China increasing its proficiency in construction in mountainous areas to reach different places quickly, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to enhance its capability with the latest technology for faster development of infrastructure in border areas.

"The Chinese presence has increased in the northern sector in the recent past. They managed to reach different places quickly. The BRO must continue to work in parallel and focus on increasing their capability with full use of technology," the minister said while addressing an event of the 63rd Raising Day on Saturday.

Also Read | Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga Gets Relief Till May 10 After Midnight High Court Hearing.

Singh also said the Central government is making all efforts to provide the required support to the BRO in this direction.

Further, he mentioned about the recent announcement of an increase in the capital budget of BRO by 40 per cent to Rs 3,500 crore in Financial Year 2022-23, reiterating the Government's commitment to the country's security and development of border areas.

Also Read | President Ram Nath Kovind to Inaugurate Permanent Campus of IIM Nagpur Today.

Describing the development of border areas as a major part of the Government's comprehensive defence strategy, Sigh noted that it will bolster the security apparatus of the country and bring a positive change in the lives of people residing in remote areas.

The minister lauded the organisation for opening new doors of security and prosperity not just in the areas where it is undertaking a project, but for the entire country.

Underlining the importance of roads, bridges and tunnels in the progress of a nation, Singh said the projects completed by the BRO have enhanced the operational preparedness of the Armed Forces and improved the socio-economic conditions of the people living in far-flung areas.

"Infrastructure development in border areas is an indicator of the Government's unwavering commitment to build a strong, secure and self-reliant 'New India' as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he added.

The Defence Minister highlighted that border areas have emerged as new centres of development and the regions like the North-East are not only developing themselves but have also become a gateway for the all-around progress of the country.

He asserted that the development of these areas is important for the Nation's progress at the international level as well, as the northeast region connects India with South Asia and Southeast Asia.

It is pertinent to mention that raised with just two projects in 1960 - Project Tusker in the East and Project Beacon in the North - the BRO has today become a vibrant organisation with 18 projects in various states.

It has constructed over 60,000 kilometres of roads, over 840 bridges, four tunnels and 19 airfields under adverse climatic and geographical conditions along India's borders as well as in friendly foreign countries, thus contributing to the country's strategic objectives.

In 2021-22, a total of 102 infrastructure projects - 87 bridges and 15 roads - were completed by the BRO - the most in a single year. (ANI)

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New Delhi, May 8 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday targeted the Delhi Police alleging that it has failed to check the rise in crime in the national capital as it is busy protecting "BJP goons" and Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga who is accused in a case in Punjab.

Addressing a press conference, AAP leader Atishi listed a number of crime cases registered in the national capital recently and accused the Delhi Police of failing to check the crime in the city.

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She alleged that the city police force was busy protecting "BJP goons" and BJP leader Bagga.

The Delhi Police, however, rejected the charge and said the entire nation recognises it as a professional force.

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"Delhi Police is the best performing state in Crime & Criminal Tracking Network System implementation. Delhi Police was adjudged the best police in National Digital Evidence Contest, 2021," it said in a statement.

AAP leader Atishi said the law and ordered situation in the national capital has worsened to the extent that miscreants opened fire at people sitting in a car in the middle of a crowded market in Subhash Nagar and easily fled from the spot.

The incident took place on Saturday at Kamala Market.

"This is the law and order situation in Delhi. Nobody is scared of Delhi Police because they know they are busy in saving BJP goons," the Kalkaji MLA charged.

"Delhi Police took swift action when it had to save Bagga illegally. The entire Delhi Police force came out on streets and reached Kurukshetra in Haryana like James Bond to save the BJP goon," she alleged.

On the Kamala market incident, the Delhi Police said it has arrested one of the accused, identified as Raju alias Gogga, within 24 hours through professional and technical investigation.

Two other co-accused have also been identified and intensive efforts are being made to nab them, it said.

There has been a 19 per cent decline in the use of firearms in the national capital, it said.

"If we compare with pre-Covid times, there has been a massive 219 per cent increase in preventive arrests of criminal elements. These arrests of criminal elements have resulted in a sharp reduction in instances of street crimes, thus making the city safer for the citizens," the Delhi Police added.

Delhi BJP leader Bagga was arrested by a Punjab Police team from his residence in Janakpuri in the national capital on Friday but the Delhi Police brought him back from Haryana after a daylong high-voltage drama that drew police forces of three states and kicked up a political slugfest between the BJP and the AAP.

Atishi alleged that Delhi has the highest number of reported crimes out of the all metropolitan cities in the country.

"Delhi ranks number one out of 19 cities, accounting for a staggering 40 per cent of total rape cases and 25 per cent of total murder cases that are reported," she said.

The Delhi Police said while there has been a 12 per cent decline in murders reported in the city, over the last two years charge sheets have been filed against 96 per cent of the accused after thorough investigation, thus ensuring prompt trial and maximum convictions.

"In rape cases, only 1.5% accused are unknown/strangers. Rest are either family, friends, relatives, neighbours, etc.," it said.

The proportion of unknown accused or strangers has "steadily declined" over the years -- from 3.6 per cent in 2016 to 1.5 per cent in 2021, it said.

"This is a direct result of preventive and protective policing efforts of Delhi Police, including community policing, action against dark stretches in coordination with municipal bodies, etc.," the Delhi Police added.

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Astronomers reveal 1st image of the massive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, reports AP.
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 8 (ANI): Issuing a contradictory statement, the former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he should be called Imran Niazi.

During a public meeting in Mianwali on Friday, Imran Khan said that he liked to be called Imran Niazi by the "dacoits", The News International reported on Sunday.

Also Read | Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Makes Surprise Trip to Ukraine to Offer Support.

On August 20, 2018, two days after his election as the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Division issued a notification saying that then Prime Minister had directed that his name should be written in all the official communications as Imran Khan, not his full name Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi.

The office memorandum was issued with the signature of Cabinet Division Secretary Fazal Abbas Maikan, as per the Pakistani publication.

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Many times it has been seen that Imran Khan takes his words back or makes contradictory claims.

Earlier, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman had made a U-turn over his "foreign conspiracy" letter-- the allegations that he made that the US and the country's Opposition were hand-in-glove to remove him from power.(ANI)

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Punjab [Pakistan], May 8 (ANI): Due to the critical depletion of fish in the rivers, the Punjab government for the first time has imposed a 10-year ban on commercial fishing.

Fisheries Department Secretary Shahid Zaman issued an order regarding this. As per the order, the ban will come into force from September 1 and will remain in force till July 31, 2032.

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The order said, "There shall be a complete ban on fishing by means of all gears except by rod and line in the waters, including Indus River within the boundaries of Punjab, its reservoirs and pond areas linked to barrages/headworks," reported Dawn.

Among the prohibited areas is River Jhelum from Rasool headworks up to Mangla reservoir outflow, River Chenab upstream Marala headworks, River Swan from River Indus junction at Peer Pahai, Mianwali district, to foothills of Murree.

Also Read | Mother Teresa Covered Up Worst Excesses of Church, Claims New Documentary.

According to the order, for fishing through rod and line, weekly and monthly angling permits will be issued with a fee of Rs 500 and Rs 5,000 each permit, respectively, for every district and the angling time will be from sunrise to sunset. Only five fish or total eight-kilo weight, whichever is higher, per permit per day, shall be allowed to be taken away, said the order.

Fisheries Department Secretary Zaman added that a serious drop in the number of fish witnessed during test fishing by the department. He said that some means had to be devised in order to tackle the issue and to ensure the conservation of the fish varieties available in the Punjab waters. (ANI)

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Kathmandu [Nepal], May 8 (ANI/Xinhua): A Russian climber died Saturday evening at Camp I on the world's highest Mt. Qomolangma during a regular acclimatization process, an official from Nepal's Department of Tourism said on Sunday.

"Pavel Kostrikin, 55, fell ill while he was trekking between Camp I and Camp II as part of the acclimatization to summit Mt. Qomolangma," Bhisma Raj Bhattarai, a section officer at the department, told Xinhua.

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"He was brought to Camp 1 where he died," Bhattarai said, adding that altitude sickness is the reason behind the climber's death.

Camp I lies at an altitude of 6,065 meters above sea level.

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According to the Tourism Department, Kostrikin is among a 14-member expedition team including 12 Russians, an American and an Israeli national. "The dead body is being airlifted to the capital Kathmandu," said Bhattarai.

It is the second death on the 8848.86-meter-high Mt. Qomolangma during the spring season. Last month, Nima Tenji Sherpa, a Nepali climbing guide, died while carrying loads through the dangerous Khumbu Icefall which lies just above the base camp of the peak.

In April, Greek climber Antonios Sykaris died on the world's seventh-tallest Mt. Dhaulagiri (8,167m). On Thursday, Indian climber Narayanan Iyer died near the summit of Mt. Kanchenjunga (8,586m), the third-highest in the world. (ANI/Xinhua)

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Colombo [Sri Lanka], May 8 (ANI): Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Sunday requested the people to practice "utmost intelligence and patience" amid the ongoing political and economic crisis in the Island nation.

The request came a day after the Sri Lankan MoD cancelled the leaves of all members of the security forces as the Island country enters day three of a national emergency imposed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

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The ministry claimed that the public has been severely inconvenienced due to the violent protests and strikes being carried out in various places, Colombo Page reported.

"The last few days, the struggle that has been going on as a peaceful struggle has been changed and the democratic rights of the people have been violated in an attempt to disrupt the normal life of the people in the country," the statement said.

Also Read | Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Makes Surprise Trip to Ukraine to Offer Support.

The MoD also said that there have been reports of protesters behaving in a provocative and threatening manner without any regard for the prevailing law and order in the country, disrupting the work of the Police and Security Forces who are committed to maintaining law and order.

"Accordingly, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Public Security inform all citizens of the country to act as responsible citizens with the utmost intelligence and patience during this difficult period to maintain law and order in the country," the MoD said.

On Thursday, Sri Lanka Police fired tear gas on the protesters on Thursday in order to disperse the protest staged by University students under the theme "Let's oust the government! Let's reverse the system!" outside the parliament.

Taking to the streets to protest against the government led by the Rajapaksa family, the student protestors demanded the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices and power cuts affecting a large number of the people, resulting in massive protests over the government's handling of the situation.

The recession is attributed to foreign exchange shortages caused by a fall in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reckless economic policies, like the government's move last year to ban chemical fertilizers in a bid to make Sri Lanka's agriculture "100 per cent organic".

Due to an acute shortage of Foreign exchange, Sri Lanka recently defaulted on the entirety of its foreign debt amounting to about USD 51 billion.

The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. (ANI)

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Colombo [Sri Lanka], May 8 (ANI): As Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is likely to resign from his post amid ongoing protests, opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) confirmed that its leader Sajith Premadasa will not accept the PM's post in an interim government.

This comes at a significant juncture as Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa is learned to have responded positively to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's request to him to quit in the face of the deepening economic crisis.

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SJB National Organizer Tissa Attsnayake, while speaking with the Sri Lankan media outlet, said, "Premadasa will not accept premiership of an interim government but SJB will give conditional support for an interim government."

"We will only support an interim government which will carry out proposals made by Bar Association of Sri Lanka," he added.

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Two no-confidence motions against the President and the Prime Minister were handed over to the speaker by SJB. "It will now become clear who is betraying the demands of the people," Premadasa said.

Earlier, Premadasa pointed out the present government is "reckless" and has pushed the country to the edge of bankruptcy. He remarked that such a situation had risen for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka.

The crisis-hit Sri Lanka on Friday declared a state of emergency after the crippling strike and protest over the external debt for the second time in five weeks.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is struggling with acute food and electricity shortages, forcing the country to seek help from its neighbours. The recession is attributed to foreign exchange shortages caused by a clampdown on tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The country is unable to buy sufficient fuel and gas, while the people are being deprived of basic amenities as well.

The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. (ANI)

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Taipei [Taiwan], May 8 (ANI): Taiwan hoped that the world will sanction China if it invades the island nation the same way the global community is now sanctioning Russia for its war on Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei at an event, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu on Friday said that it was important to stand with others in denouncing the invasion and sanctioning Russia and Belarus, reported Taipei Times.

Also Read | Russia Says No Victory Day Parade in Mariupol, US Issues Security Alert for Its Citizens in Moscow.

"In the future, if we are threatened with force by China, or are invaded, of course, we hope the international community can understand and support Taiwan, and sanction these kinds of aggressive behaviours," he said.

"So Taiwan stands with the international community, and takes these actions," Wu said, referring to the sanctions.

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Ukraine's plight has won broad public sympathy in Taiwan due to what many people view as the parallels between what is happening in the European country and what could happen if China ever uses force to bring the nation it claims as its own under Chinese control, reported Taipei Times.

Taiwan has raised its alert level since the Ukraine war began, wary of China making a similar move, although the government has reported no signs of an imminent Chinese attack.

However, how the world would react to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is unclear, given that most countries, including the US and all EU member states, only have formal diplomatic ties with Beijing, not Taipei, and unlike Ukraine do not recognize Taiwan as a country.

China, which has not condemned Russia's invasion, has dismissed any comparisons with Taiwan, saying it is not a country and merely a Chinese province, a view the democratically elected government in Taipei strongly disputes, reported Taipei Times. (ANI)

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Ouagadougou [Burkina Faso], May 8 (ANI/Xinhua): At least 12 people, including 10 army auxiliaries, were killed Saturday in an ambush attack by unidentified armed men in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso, local security sources told Xinhua Sunday.

A food convoy escorted by a team of army auxiliaries was the target of an armed attack on the Dori-Gorgadji road Saturday morning, during which 10 army auxiliaries and two civilians were killed, said the sources.

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No group has claimed responsibility for this attack.

Also on Saturday night, unidentified armed men attacked a prison in northwestern Burkina Faso, the Burkina Information Agency (AIB) reported Sunday.

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A group of unidentified armed men burst into the town of Nouna, in the Kossi province of the Boucle du Mouhoun region, around midnight, and fired at the building of the city jail, freeing about 60 prisoners and causing one death as well as extensive material damage, according to the report of the official news agency.

Security in Burkina Faso has worsened since 2015, with terrorist attacks having killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 1 million others in the West African nation. (ANI/Xinhua)

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Mariupol [Ukraine], May 8 (ANI): Ukrainian fighters vowed to continue their fighting against the Russian armed forces at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

"Surrendering is unacceptable for us. And chances of surviving for us if we surrender to Russians tends to zero," Illia Samoilenko of Ukraine's Azov Regiment said at an online news conference, CNN reported.

Also Read | China Strives for Global Dominance Through Seaport Control.

He said that there are "dozens" of civilians still inside the plant.

The Ukrainian fighters called on the international community to help in evacuating the injured soldiers from the plant, which is the last holdout from Russian forces in the port city, reported CNN.

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A day earlier, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defence Control Center said that the humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol concluded due to unprecedented measures by Russia with 51 people, including 11 children, having been rescued, Sputnik News Agency reported.

"Thanks to the unprecedented measures taken by the Russian Federation leadership, (and) with the active participation of the United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross officials, the humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steel and ironworks has ended today. For the duration of the operation (from May 5, 2022), we have managed to rescue 51 people (18 men, 22 women and 11 children), including one person on May 7, 2022," Mizintsev said.

On March 7, forces of the Donetsk People's Republic surrounded Mariupol and began a liberation campaign, with the remaining fighters of the nationalist Azov battalion now hiding in the underground tunnels of the Azovstal plant.

Notably, Russia launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, which the West has termed an unwarranted war. As a result of this, the western countries have also imposed several crippling sanctions on Moscow. (ANI)

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Washington [US], May 8 (ANI): US State Secretary Antony Blinken on Sunday informed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba about a recent visit to Kyiv by US diplomats ahead of the US embassy reopening, the US State Department said on Sunday.

This planned reopening embassy is in line with a pledge made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his most recent visit to Kyiv.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: US Announces New Sanctions, G7 to Phase Out Russian Oil Imports.

"The Secretary informed Foreign Minister Kuleba that our Charge d'Affaires Kristina Kvien and a small group of diplomats, accompanied by State Department security, travelled to Kyiv to conduct diplomatic engagement in advance of the planned resumption of Embassy Kyiv operations," US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

Blinken spoke by phone today with Kuleba to commemorate Ukraine's Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation to recognize the sacrifices of those lost in World War II.

Also Read | Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Makes Surprise Trip to Ukraine to Offer Support.

The US State Secretary also shared additional detail of new security assistance packages to support Ukraine's gains on the battlefield, including the ninth drawdown from U.S. stocks authorized by US President Joe Biden.

Blinken emphasized the US' enduring commitment to Ukraine and its ultimate victory against Russian aggression, Price said.

This call comes as US first lady Jill Biden reached Ukraine on a surprise visit to the war-torn country. Jill visited the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod.

The US first lady also met with her Ukrainian counterpart, Olena Zelenska, for whom this was the first public appearance since the beginning of Russia's special operation in Ukraine.

Russia started its military operation in Ukraine on February 24. This large scale operation has reportedly resulted in a humanitarian crisis, leading to crippling sanctions from Western countries targeting Moscow's high profile individuals and companies. (ANI)

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Washington, May 8 (AP) The United States has announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

The penalties include cutting off Western advertising from Russia's three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian and more restrictions on Russia's industrial sector.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: US Announces New Sanctions, G7 to Phase Out Russian Oil Imports.

Those additional restrictions included cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

The U.S. also says the Group of Seven leading industrialized powers have committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil.

Also Read | Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Makes Surprise Trip to Ukraine to Offer Support.

The U.S. announced its own ban on Russian oil and energy products in March but the U.S. had few Russian energy imports compared to Europe.

The new round of sanctions will hit three of Russia's most popular television stations  Channel One Russia, Russia-1 and NTV -- which the U.S. says have been forefront of spreading misinformation about Russia invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. says it has imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials and issued a new visa restriction policy that applies to Russian military officials and authorities suspected of human rights abuses or corruption.

The U.S. also sanctioned 27 executives from Gazprombank, a bank that facilitates sales by Russia's energy giant Gazprom. (AP)

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The police have so far arrested 27 people in connection with the incident that took place on Saturday in the company's factory premises located in an industrial area in Boisar town of Palghar district, official said.
Suspected #AlQaeda gunmen attacked a security headquarters in #Yemen's southern province of Dhalea, a government official said.



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A Montana man accused of setting a trap for burglars in his garage, and then shooting a German foreign exchange student who entered, was found guilty of deliberate homicide, a jury decided Wednesday.

Markus Hendrick Kaarma, 29, of Missoula, had been burglarized twice in two weeks before the April 27 shooting, and investigators painted him as a man spoiling for confrontation.

Kaarma and his partner, Janelle Pflager, set up surveillance equipment in the garage and left out a purse, with the garage door partially open, as bait.

Diren Dede, a 17-year-old exchange student from Hamburg, Germany, entered the garage -- possibly to steal an alcoholic drink, a friend with him said -- and Kaarma shot Dede in the arm and the head with a shotgun.

Jury deliberations began Tuesday. Kaarma claimed self-defense under Montana law, which generally allows for deadly force if there is a reasonable belief that the home is in danger. The charge brings up to 10 years in prison. Pflager was not charged.

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The case raised sensitive questions over the limits of self-defense at a time when such shootings resulted in the deaths of several unarmed people -- including Trayvon Martin in Florida -- in high-profile cases.

When police arrived on the scene, Pflager was applying first aid to Dede, and there was little denying who was responsible, according to court documents.

Who shot him? a Missoula police officer asked after arriving on the scene, according to an affidavit.

Me, replied Kaarma.

You? said the officer, noting later that Kaarma seemed unusually calm.

Yep.

Kaarma told officers that it was too dark to see inside the garage and that he panicked when he thought Dede might attack him with a tool or a knife, thinking to himself, Im gonna die.

He told officers he aimed high, fired four shots in a sweeping motion across the garage and heard something hit the ground. It was Dedes body.

I never saw anything with my own eyes until Janelle turned the lights on two seconds later, Kaarma told investigators, according to the affidavit.

Kaarma told investigators he was worried about the intruder getting away and the neighborhood burglaries continuing, the affidavit said.

The couple reported only the second of their two burglaries to police. The first incursion resulted in Kaarma losing marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia he kept in the garage.

Police later said they found two males, ages 18 and 16, who confessed to at least one of the earlier burglaries from the couples garage. The teenagers said they had no connection to the foreign-exchange student.

The investigation took another turn when detectives interviewed witnesses at a local salon who said that Kaarma frightened them with vulgarities and threats of violence, adding that he said before the shooting he had been waiting up for three nights in a row to seriously kill some ... kids.

Im not ... kidding, youll see this on the .... news, Kaarma said, one witness recalled to investigators. Im going to ... kill them.

Neighbors also told investigators Kaarma had been behaving oddly around the neighborhood and confronting drivers who passed him when he sometimes drove extremely slow on local roads.

A local lawn-care worker testified at trial that when he arrived one day to spray the lawn for insects, Kaarma, naked, burst out of the house and pointed a shotgun at him, according to the Associated Press.

Instead of staying in that house, in a protected area, this is their response: Showtime, prosecutor Karla Painter told the jurors of Kaarma and Pflager, according to the Associated Press. From the moment he left that structure, he became predator, Diren became prey.

Kaarmas attorney, Paul Ryan, told jurors: He didnt go out there with intent to kill. He went out there to catch him, the AP reported. This was not luring. This place had become a target.

When Kaarma was found guilty Wednesday, the courtroom reportedly burst into cheers as he remained expressionless, according to the Missoulian. Dedes parents, who had come to see the trial, were in tears.

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A Montana man was sentenced to 70 years in state prison Thursday after he shot and killed a teenage German exchange student last year as part of a trap intended to stop burglars from entering his home.

Markus Hendrick Kaarma, 29, of Missoula will not be eligible for parole until 2035, according to Missoula County Atty. Kirsten Pabst. Kaarma was convicted of deliberate homicide last year for the April shooting death of Diren Dede, a 17-year-old exchange student from Hamburg, Germany.

Obviously there is no sentence that is going to bring Diren back, the deceased child, and my hope is that this court sentence will bring some small solace to the Dede family, Pabst said in a brief interview with the Los Angeles Times. He wont be able to hurt anyone else for at least 20 years.

Kaarmas Missoula home had been burglarized twice in the weeks leading up to the deadly clash. He and his partner, Janelle Pflager, had set up surveillance equipment in their garage and hung a purse near an open door, hoping to lure potential thieves.

Friends have said Dede was looking to pilfer an alcoholic beverage.

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Seconds after he entered, Kaarma shot him in the head and arm with a shotgun.

The 29-year-old claimed self-defense under Montana law, which generally allows for deadly force if there is a reasonable belief that the home is in danger.

Kaarma told officers that it was too dark to see inside the garage. He said he panicked when he thought Dede might attack him with a tool or a knife, thinking to himself, Im gonna die.

Police later arrested two people in connection with one of the earlier burglaries at Kaarmas home. Neither had any connection to Dede.

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A Laois aviation student is teaching teenagers how to fly.

Shannon Ward, 22, from Mountmellick has just completed her fourth year of Aviation Management with Pilot Studies at Dublin City University.

She will be teaching Transition Year students how to test drive a flight simulator at the new MobileNewton Room at Dublin City University over the coming weeks.

Speaking to the Irish Independent this week, Shannon said that the flight simulator is just one way to get students excited about careers in aviation, especially young women like herself who are still in the minority in a largely male-dominated profession.

I think its a lack of awareness of what it can be. I think theyre just not aware that its a route they can go down and they dont know how broad it is.

"They probably wouldnt even think that aviation is involved in STEM and I think boys are just more inclined to be pushed towards engineering and maths and I dont think the interest is fostered as much in girls, she said.

A daughter of Ann and Tommy Ward, and a graduate of Mountrath Community School, Shannon told the Leinster Express how she came to study aviation.

"I basically chose the course based on my interest in airport operations and everything that goes on behind getting the aircraft from the ground to the sky. My main interest is in ground ops and fleet planning so thats what I focused on in my final year of the degree eg. what aircraft should be used for certain routes, how to manage fuel consumption and routes to alternate airports in case of diversions etc.

"At the moment, I'm working in ground operations at Ryanair and applying for a few more jobs in operations at their head office but for the minute I'm happy out in the airport. I love being in the middle of things on the ground and being in such a busy environment every day.

"I have no plans to be an actual pilot so far but the Newton Room has definitely introduced me to the world of flying a little bit more and I'm really enjoying it so you never know what's down the line," Shannon said.

The virtual pilot program is almost like the real thing she said.

When you take off you're taking off from a small runway in the middle of these massive mountains. If you just glanced at it youd think it was real, she said.

Education Minister Norma Foley officially launched the Newton Room which TY students from all over Ireland will be visiting the DCU campus to try out.

This is a fantastic opportunity for our Transition Year students to avail of STEM opportunities and to see first hand the innovation that can be captured and the opportunities for them as they consider their career paths going forward, the Minister said.
According to new research, taking a break from social media for as little as a week can reduce depression and anxiety.

People who took a break from platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for seven days reported an increased sense of wellbeing, a study by the University of Bath found.

Researchers split a sample of 154 people aged 18 to 72 into two groups  one of which was banned from social media while the other was not.

On average, participants used social media for eight hours a week.

Participants were quizzed on their baseline levels of anxiety and depression, and their sense of wellbeing, using three recognised tests.

They were asked to rate their agreement with statements such as Ive been feeling optimistic about the future and Ive been thinking clearly to measure wellbeing.

To measure depression, participants were asked questions including how often during the past two weeks were you bothered by little interest or pleasure in doing things.

Anxiety was monitored using the General Anxiety Disorder Scale, which asks how often a person is bothered by feeling nervous or on edge, or an inability to stop worrying.

Those who took a one-week break from social media saw their wellbeing climb from an average of 46 to 55.93 on The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale.

Levels of depression in this group dropped from 7.46 to 4.84 on the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 while anxiety fell from 6.92 to 5.94 on the scale.

Lead author Dr Jeff Lambert, of the universitys Department for Health, said the changes represented a moderate improvement to depression and wellbeing, and a small improvement in anxiety.

Dr Lambert said: Many of our participants reported positive effects from being off social media with improved mood and less anxiety overall.

This suggests that even just a small break can have an impact.

He continued: Of course, social media is a part of life and for many people, its an indispensable part of who they are and how they interact with others.

But if you are spending hours each week scrolling and you feel it is negatively impacting you, it could be worth cutting down on your usage to see if it helps.

The study, conducted in the UK, showed the number of adults using social media had increased from 45% in 2011 to 71% in 2021, and has hit 97% in people aged 16 to 44, the study said.

Scrolling through content is the most common activity that social media users perform.

The research findings support previous research in both the US and UK linking regular social media use with higher rates of depression and anxiety.

But it is not established whether social media use leads to mental health problems, the report said, or whether pre-existing feelings of low self-worth drives people online as a means of validation.

In future, the researchers hope to study the impact of pausing social media use on specific segments of the population, such as younger people and those with physical and mental health conditions.

They also hope to follow up with people beyond one week to see if the benefits of the social media break have a lasting effect.

Social media breaks could become one of a package of clinical recommendations to help people manage their mental health, they said.

The paper, Taking A One-Week Break From Social Media Improves Wellbeing, Depression And Anxiety  A Randomised Control Trial, is published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking.
With sales of estate cars accounting for around 10% of the Irish new car market at present, it looks like the revitalised MG brand has timed the launch of their MG5 Estate perfectly.

Given the fact that the car comes exclusively with a fully-electric powertrain makes the new MG5 even more appealing to motorists looking to make the move to an electric vehicle (EV).

The brand says the MG5s body style offers superior aerodynamics and better handling, which is ideal for drivers who value maximum driving efficiency, spaciousness and driving dynamics. The relatively low stance of the MG5, with its water-cooled battery pack integrated into the cars chassis, provides the car with an extremely low centre of gravity.

Long Range Battery

The MG5 is powered by a 156bhp electric motor with 260Nm of torque that drives the front wheels, and can sprint from 0-100km/h sprint in just 7.7-seconds, on its way to a top speed of 185km/h. With the 61.1kWh long range battery fitted to the MG5, the electric driving range now stands at an impressive 403kms, with regenerative braking (with three different levels) proving itself to be a valuable resource in getting the most out of the available range.

The battery can be charged from 0-80% in just 50 minutes using a CCS connection at a public charging station, while a full charge from a domestic wallbox charger can be completed in around eight and a half hours.

In terms of safety, the MG5 benefits from a suite of safety systems under the title MG Pilot, which includes active emergency braking with pedestrian and bicycle detection, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, traffic jam assist, intelligent speed limit assist, and intelligent high beam assist.

Excite & Exclusive Variants

The new MG5 is available with a choice of two trim variants  Excite and Exclusive  with both variants sharing the same spacious cabin and cargo area. The boot offers 464-litres of space behind the rear seats (up to the load cover), and this increases to 578-litres when the load cover is removed. However, when the rear seat backs are folded, the available load space increases to a substantial 1,456-litres.

Test Car Details

My test car was an MG5 EV Exclusive (Long Range) which was finished in striking Dynamic Red tri-coat paintwork. As is the norm with electric cars, there is the usual instant acceleration from the moment the accelerator pedal is pressed, and this makes the car easy to drive around town, while there is enough oomph for building speed quickly when joining a motorway.

MGs engineers have put an emphasis on comfort, and the compliant suspension does a great job of ensuring the car remains composed when traversing rutted road surfaces and imperfections. The cabin of the MG5 is spacious and feels well made, while the 8 touchscreen media system looks smart and is easy to navigate around.

Visibility from within the car is very good, and the relatively large windows make the cabin feel even more spacious and inviting.

Verdict, Warranty & Pricing

Overall, the new MG5 EV Long Range is a roomy estate car with a family-friendly interior, and low running costs, while a respectable battery range, good levels of standard equipment and outstanding value for money will make the MG5 a popular choice in the estate car market going forward.

The new MG5 EV Long Range is part of MGs dynamic, forward-looking family of cars, which includes two other electrified models: the MG ZS EV full battery electric SUV, and the MG HS Plug-in Hybrid.

All new MGs offer the reassurance of a seven-year/150,000km warranty and the friendly expert support of the brands nationwide network of professional, experienced dealers for total peace-of-mind motoring into the future.

The new MG5 EV Long Range Excite and Exclusive models are priced at 30,645 and 33,895 respectively (inclusive of VRT relief and an SEAI grant for private customers).
A judge at Naas District Court was criticised by a woman for his handling of an alleged protection order breach hearing on April 28, which he struck out. Judge Desmond Zaidan presided over the case, in which the womans partner put forward a guilty plea in relation to the breach.

The man admitted to telling the woman to f*** off in an abusive WhatsApp voice message on a date in last August.

His solicitor, Brian Larkin, told the judge that there had been issues over custody regarding the couples child.

He also claimed that his client has not seen his child since last August.

The woman interjected and said to the judge that her ex-partner also threatened to take their child away from her. She further claimed that her former partner lost custody of their child in the High Court.

When Judge Zaidan told both parties to arrange for a formal custody order and to adhere to it, the woman became visibly emotional.

She told the judge: He is controlling my life, I have lost hope what chance do women and children have with men like him? Im sorry your honour, but Im just so tired.

The judge then said that he would order a probation report. However, when the woman began to repeatedly interject and express her disapproval over the judges suggestions, he struck out the case. As she left, she threatened to go to newspapers to tell them what he had done.

Once she vacated the courtroom, the judge said: I will not carry out my job under fear and threats. This is an in-camera hearing, and if she reveals any names, even on social media, I will go against the State, he added.

Judge Zaidan also reminded gardai present in the courtroom to control any and all witnesses.
The death has taken place of Alan Gillis, the former MEP for Leinster and president of the Irish Farmers Association. The Kildare native passed away peacefully at Craddock House Nursing Home, Naas, on Friday, May 6, at the age of 85.

Mr Gillis served as president of the IFA from 199 to 1994. He became a Member of the European Parliament for Leinster in 1994, where he was a member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. He lost his seat in 1999.

An engineer by profession, he became involved in farming in the 1960s when he bought a farm in Kill, Co Kildare. He and his late wife Irene later moved to dairy farming at Ballyhook House in Grangecon, Co Wicklow.

An Tanaiste and Leader of Fine Gael, Leo Varadkar, on Saturday expressed his condolences on the death of the Fine Gael stalwart.

Speaking from Fine Gaels Agriculture and Rural Development conference in Tullamore, Co Offaly, Mr Varadkar said, It was with deep sadness that I learned of the passing of Alan Gillis, he was a real gentleman and liked by all who met him.

A dedicated public representative, Gillis was elected as an MEP for Fine Gael in the Leinster Constituency in 1994. While there, he served on the European Parliaments Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, putting Irish rural communities at the heart of Europe.

A former President of the Irish Farmers Association, Gillis was a passionate determined and considerate representative both at home and abroad.

My condolences go to his children, Nigel, Hazel, Barry and Anna, and his extended family.

Mr Gillis was predeceased by his wife Irene, who passed away in 2020, and his son Stephen, in 2018. He is sadly missed by children Nigel, Hazel, Barry and Anna, sons-in-law Leonard and Stuart, daughters-in-law Catherine and Wendy, grandchildren, great-grandchild, niece, nephews, extended family, relatives and friends.

He will repose at Halligans Funeral Home, Station Road, Rathvilly (Eircode R93 C560), on Sunday evening from 3pm concluding with prayers at 7pm. Funeral on Monday in St. Marys Church, Baltinglass at 11am, followed by interment in St John Baptist Churchyard, Stratford-on-Slaney.

Donations in lieu of flowers, if desired, to St. John Baptist Church, Stratford-on-Slaney. The service will be live-streamed here.
Over 1.5 million of suspected drugs were seized during a raid in Newbridge, Co Kildare, on Saturday.

One man was arrested following Operation Tara searches in Kildare and Meath, which also yielded over 39,000 in cash.

At approximately 11.30am on Saturday, May 7, gardai intercepted a vehicle on the M1 motorway in County Meath. During the course of a search of this vehicle, approximately 39,750 in cash was located and seized. The occupant of this vehicle, a man in his 20s, was arrested at the scene and taken to Ashbourne Garda Station where he is currently being detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.

The cash seized in Meath. Pictures: An Garda Siochana

At approximately 12pm on Saturday, a number of properties were searched in the Newbridge area of County Kildare as part of this investigation. Approximately 420,000 of suspected cocaine and 1.12 million of suspected cannabis were seized during the course of a search of one of these properties. Suspected mixing agents and other drug paraphernalia were also seized. All of the drugs seized will now be sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis.



This seizure forms part of Operation Tara; an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy, which was launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in July 2021.
THE THOMOND Archeological and Historical Society has elected only its third female president in its 130-year history.

Rhebogues Mary Kenehan becomes the societys first woman president in 40 years, and is looking forward to her term of office having been elected at its annual general meeting in Mary Immaculate College last week.

I was surprised [to be elected], but Im very excited about it. It's a wonderful, privilege to be elected as president in any case. But to be only the third woman was something more, she said.

I understand we haven't had a woman president in over 40 years.

Mary hopes to re-ignite the society, which exists to promote the study of the archaeology, history, antiquities and architecture of the North Munster region.

Congratulations to our new President and thanks to @Nick468official of @Limerick_Leader for the great article. Only the third woman in our 130 year history. Lets hope therell be multiples of that number in the years to come. pic.twitter.com/JQgnS3tZ6y  Thomond Archaeological & Historical Society (@ThomondH) May 5, 2022

For the last two years, like many groups, the society has not been as active as its members would like to have been, given the pandemic. The society is always on the look-out for new members.

More information at tahs.ie.
THERE was no such thing as political divides or rivalries when it came to Paddy Hourgian.

The former cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council and Fine Gael councillor for over a quarter of century was universally popular. Mr Hourigan passed away at home in Annagh, Lisnagry on Saturday surrounded by his loving family.

Deputy Kieran O'Donnell described his late Fine Gael party colleague as a "colossus in Limerick and local politics over many decades". Mr Hourigan served the people of East Limerick from the late 70s up to his retirement in 2004.

"He was a legend in terms of Fine Gael politics in Limerick, along with his late brother Richard, but his loss is obviously, principally, a personal one for Anne and all the family - Monica, Kathleen, Patrick, James and the extended Hourigan family. I have no doubt it is a very difficult time for Anne and the family. He will be greatly missed by everyone that knew him," said Mr O'Donnell, who worked with Mr Hourigan for many years as a public representative.

He said Mr Hourigan had a "remarkable political brain".

"He was a very wise and astute politician and had a great understanding of what was happening on the ground. His abiding interest was the people he represented in East Limerick and their issues. His finger was always on the political pulse. He was hugely regarded across the political spectrum," said Mr O'Donnell.

The respect Mr Hourigan was held in political life was more than matched in his family and personal life.

"He was a very warm person. Paddy was exceptional with people. He was very well-liked. Paddy was the type of person you went to for advice - he was a father figure. He was a huge family man and it is a very, very sad day for the family. I want to express my deepest sympathies to them," said Mr O'Donnell.

Following Mr Hourigan's retirement he remained very active in local community events. And there was nobody better to go to for guidance and encouragement.

"He has left a huge political legacy and left a huge personal mark over many many decades.

"There are moments in time and this is a passing of a political colossus in the landscape of politics in Limerick. His legacy is there for all to see. Above all else it is huge personal loss for his wife and family. He will be greatly missed by all," said Mr O'Donnell.

Fine Gael councillor, Michael Murphy, said: "Paddy was the essence of decency who along with his family gave a lifetime of service to to his local community."

Reposing at Meehans Funeral Home, Newport, on Monday, May 9 from 6pm to 8pm. Arriving at the Holy Rosary Church, Murroe, on Tuesday, May 10 for Requiem Mass at 11.30am. Burial afterwards in Annagh Cemetery.

May he rest in peace.
IRELAND'S last timber-built cargo ship has arrived in London after setting off from Limerick.

The Ilen has birthed at St Katharine Docks in the shadow of Tower Bridge after a 750-nautical mile voyage from Steamboat Quay in Limerick city.

The 96 year-old cargo ketch is in London to take part in a special event to celebrate Anglo-Irish trade and cultural links.

Actor Jeremy Irons and his wife Sinead Cusack were among the guests joining the crew of the Ilen in London after it berthed.

Gary MacMahon of the Ilen Marine School and the vessel's skipper said: "The purpose of this voyage is to celebrate the ancient cultural and trading relationship between the two port cities.

"It is the culmination of a series of voyages - the Kingship voyages  to many of the Irish towns and cities that have grown from medieval walled settlements built on tidal river estuaries.

"Limerick and London are both highly evolved metropolitan bastions of maritime and riverine heritage and they share a long history."

Slide show 11 photos

Since its re-construction and launch in 2018, the Limerick-registered Ilen has voyaged over 10,000 nautical miles  across the North Atlantic to Greenland and to most of Irelands significant ports.

Built in Baltimore in West Cork in 1926, the ketch served for over 70 years, transporting cargo between the Falkland Islands before being brought back to Ireland 20 years ago and restored by a team led by Limerick man MacMahon.

It now serves as a community educational platform.

The Ilen will remain berthed in Londons docklands until May 14, with the hope that further commercial and cultural collaborations can be arranged.

The cultural event, also attended by Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Daniel Butler, and Alison Gowman, Sheriff of the City of London, was supported by Limerick City & County Council, Limerick Civic Trust, University of Limerick, Tourism Ireland, the Irish Embassy to the UK and the Falklands Islands government.
Dozens of Ukrainians are feared dead after a Russian bomb destroyed a school sheltering about 90 people in the basement as Moscows invading forces kept up their barrage of cities, towns and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine.

The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturdays bombing.

Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said.

Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, governor Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app.





Russian shelling also killed two boys, aged 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

Since failing to capture Ukraines capital Kyiv, Russia has focused its offensive in the Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014 and occupy some territory.

The largest European conflict since the Second World War has developed into a punishing war of attrition due to the Ukrainian militarys unexpectedly effective defence.

To demonstrate success, Moscow was aiming to complete its conquest of the besieged port city of Mariupol in time for Victory Day celebrations on Monday.

All the remaining women, children and older civilians who had been sheltering with Ukrainian fighters in a sprawling steel mill that is the citys last defence holdout were evacuated on Saturday.

The troops still inside have refused to surrender and requested international help to get them out too.



Smoke rises from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol during shelling

Capturing Mariupol would give Moscow a land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, annexed from Ukraine during a 2014 invasion.

Satellite photos shot on Friday by Planet Labs PBC showed vast devastation at the Azovstal steel mill.

Buildings had gaping holes in the roofs, including one under which hundreds of fighters were likely to be hiding.

After rescuers evacuated the last civilians on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address that the focus would turn to extracting the wounded and medics, adding: Of course, if everyone fulfils the agreements. Of course, if there are no lies.

Elsewhere on the coast, air raid sirens sounded several times early on Sunday in the major Black Sea port of Odesa, which Russia struck with six cruise missiles on Saturday.

The Odesa city council said four of the missiles hit a furniture company, with the shock waves and debris badly damaging high-rise apartment buildings.



A territorial defence man poses for a photo next to cars destroyed during the Russian occupation in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv

The other two missiles hit the Odesa airport, where a previous Russian attack destroyed the runway.

In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days and has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the countrys second-largest city, Kharkiv.

Ukraines military said retreating Russian forces destroyed three bridges on a road north-east of the city to try to slow the Ukrainian advance.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, when Russia celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with military parades.



Russian servicemen march during a dress rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops in Red Square on Monday.

In neighbouring Moldova, Russian and separatist troops were on full alert, the Ukrainian military warned.

The region has increasingly become a focus of worries that the conflict could expand beyond Ukraines borders.

Pro-Russian forces broke off the Transnistria section of Moldova in 1992, and Russian troops have been stationed there since, ostensibly as peacekeepers.

Those forces are on full combat readiness, Ukraine said, without giving details on how it came to the assessment.

Moscow has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the sea and create a corridor to Transnistria.

But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.

Satellite photos analysed by the Associated Press (AP) showed Ukraine targeting Russian-held Snake Island in a bid to impede Russias efforts to control the Black Sea.



This satellite image shows thick black smoke rising after a suspected Ukrainian drone strike on Russian positions on Snake Island

A satellite image taken on Sunday morning by Planet Labs PBC showed smoke rising from two sites on the island.

On the islands southern edge, a fire smoked next to debris.

That corresponded to a video released by the Ukrainian military showing its strike on a Russian helicopter that had flown to the island.

A Planet Labs image from Saturday showed most of the islands buildings, as well as what appeared to be a Serna-class landing craft against the islands northern beach, had been destroyed by Ukrainian drone attacks.

The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine.

Western military analysts said a counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces was progressing around Kharkiv.

The Ukrainian military said it retook control of five villages and part of a sixth near the north-eastern city.

However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from Luhansk provinces embattled city of Popasna, Mr Haidai said on Sunday.



People stand next to a crater in a destroyed residential area after a Russian air strike in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine

In a video interview posted on his Telegram channel, Mr Haidai said that Kyivs troops had moved to stronger positions, which they had prepared ahead of time.

All free settlements in the Luhansk region are hot spots, Mr Haidai added.

Right now, there are shooting battles in (the villages) of Bilohorivka, Voivodivka and towards Popasna.

Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address that work would also continue on Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

It remains unclear what will happen to the estimated 2,000 fighters at the Azovstal plant, both those still in combat and the hundreds believed to be wounded.

The Ukrainian government has been reaching out to international organisations to try to secure safe passage for them.

Mr Zelensky said officials were trying to find a way to evacuate them.

He acknowledged the difficulty, but said: We are not losing hope, we are not stopping. Every day we are looking for some diplomatic option that might work.
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Oscar, BAFTA and Turner Prize winner Steve McQueen has said that broadcasters BBC and Channel 4 are an integral part of British identity.

During the Virgin Media BAFTA TV awards on Sunday, McQueen said during his acceptance speech for winning best factual series for BBC documentary Uprising that BBC and Channel 4 have to be held tight and fought for every inch. Both broadcasters are facing an existential threat from the U.K. government, with Channel 4 being privatized and the BBCs funding being slashed in real terms.

Addressing a press conference after his latest BAFTA win, McQueen said: Were British, its part of our identity, its who we are. As a working class guy, you put on the TV, its like the fire, you put it on, and its on  and it was the BBC and Channel 4.

We dont have much money in this country for television or films, but what we do have in the arts, in fashion, in lots of creative industries  we have ideas. We have great ideas. Thats what we do, said McQueen. Other people have loads more money  the Americans  but we have great ideas, thats what makes us who we are. As British people, we can stretch a pound. Thats what weve always done. Weve always been innovative in a way of how we create really great stuff with very little funds.

And we need the BBC and Channel 4 to help sustain that and our identity  because I dont want us to be, no disrespect, Yanks, McQueen said.

The abiding theme of the BAFTA TV awards ceremony, held as an in-person event at Londons Royal Festival Hall, was support for the British broadcasters from the top creatives of the U.K. media industry.

McQueens award-winning work includes 12 Years a Slave, Hunger and Small Axe.

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In celebration of Queen Elizabeth IIs 70 years of reign, a new documentary featuring never-before-seen footage of the royal is set to premiere May 29.

Titled Elizabeth: the Unseen Queen, the 75-minute BBC television documentary will focus on the early years of Queen Elizabeths life, from her birth to her coronation at the age of 27 in 1953. The film features several home recordings from the Royal Family, which have until this point been privately held in the British Film Institute vaults.

Queen Elizabeth gave BBC Studios permission to access footage and the producers and editors viewed over 400 reels of film. The home recordings include previously lost newsreel and several behind-the-scenes recordings of officially sponsored state events.

According to the BBC, the documentary will feature never before seen footage of notable events in the Queens life, including Prince Philips 1946 visit to Balmoral Castle, shortly before the pairs engagement became public. Other major moments that will be depicted in the film include rare captures of the Queen with her uncle Prince George, the Duke of Kent, and footage of the royal family at Blamoral in 1951, a year before King George VI passed away. The film will combine the footage with newsreel audio and public speeches from the Queen, in lieu of traditional narration or interviews.

We are honoured that The Queen has entrusted the BBC with such unprecedented access to her personal film collection, BBC commissioning editor for history Simon Young said in a statement. This documentary is an extraordinary glimpse into a deeply personal side of the Royal Family that is rarely seen, and its wonderful to be able to share it with the nation as we mark her Platinum Jubilee.

Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen is directed by Simon Finch, with Julia Harrington and Harvey Lilley executive producing. Clare Sillery, the BBC head of commissioning for documentaries, commissioned the project, while Claire Popplewell served as the creative director. BBC Studios produces. The film will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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Saturday Night Live host Benedict Cumberbatch dove right in to the action in his second time out as host, appearing in the cold open sketch that took aim at the Supreme Courts move on abortion rights and the spectacle of the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial.

Cumberbatch, star of the latest MCU movie release Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, appeared in a 13th century sword-and-sandals costume, complete with a Prince Valiant wig, as he and two others sitting in a castle debated how to govern womens reproductive rights.

The sketch opened with a voice-over and text scroll that made reference to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alitos citation of 17th century writings of British judge Matthew Hale and references to 13th-century laws as offering justification for curbing rights protected for a half-century by the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

As the three men settled on draconian decisions, Cumberbatchs character exulted in their moral clarity and envisioned future legal scholars reviewing their work and declaring Theres no need to update this at all. We nailed it in 1235.

A profound moment of moral clarity from 13th century England pic.twitter.com/loZfY5sb40  Saturday Night Live  SNL (@nbcsnl) May 8, 2022

Cumberbatch was confronted by a servant-class woman played by SNL regular Cecily Strong, who questioned why men should have such control over womens bodies given the high rate of mortality in childbirth for mother and child in those days. Shouldnt women have the right to choose, since having a baby means a 50 percent chance of dying? Strongs character asked.

A few more characters dressed in period garb entered the scene to discuss equity of the situation and whether women should have political rights. Chris Redd, a Black member of the SNL troupe, questioned the restrictive decisions for women but quickly added, Moors will be Moors. I know I cant vote, he quipped.

SNL star Kate McKinnon also made an appearance as a Merlin-esque witch who came in with dark predictions of the future. She introduced herself as not a magical character but just a woman in her 30s.

McKinnon sought to scare her 13th century audience with bold predictions about a brighter future for women.

These barbaric laws will some day be overtuned by something called Progress,  she said. Maybe 50 years after the progress, theyll be like, Maybe we should undo the progress. 

McKinnons character also observed that in the future, It seems like all the power comes from a place called Florida and she nodded to the strangeness of the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial that made worldwide headlines last week.

Cumberbatch spoofed his image as a screen hearthrob for women of multiple generations. His monologue revolved around Mothers Day and his appreciation for his own mother and his wife, Sophie, the mother of his three young sons, in romantic and seductive terms. Midway through his sexy soliloquy, Cumberbatch nodded to Dr. Strange by whipping his hands around like the titular character while the music suddenly became superhero-movie dramatic. Ive just opened a portal. Youre welcome, Cumberbatch said, almost with a wink before he returned to heaping praise on his wife and other.

Cumberbatch also joked about how hard it was for SNL writers to pitch sketches about some of the art house films hes made, including last years The Power of the Dog.

Cumberbatch said that SNL writers told him that not enough people saw the movie for them to write an effective sketch. He scoffed, I was nominated for an Oscar for it. And with deadpan aim, he added, I didnt win. I was beat by Will Smith, which got a big response.

Later in the episode, SNL did in fact spoof Power of the Dog by having Cumberbatch deliver a lengthy monologue in a low-key angry tone, albeit in a very different setting than the Western backdrop of director Jane Campions much-praised Netflix film.

Cumberbatch, a two-time Oscar nominee, last hosted SNL in 2016.

Musical guest Arcade Fire, which released its sixth album, We, on May 6, continued the Mothers Day theme. After performing the first song, frontman Win Butler closed with I love you, mom.

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After a return to the medieval era in this weeks cold open, Benedict Cumberbatch took center stage for the shows opening monologue, where he brought the Oscars slap back into the conversation.

While explaining how he spent the week trying to convince Lorne Michaels and SNLs writers that hes played other characters besides Dr. Strange, he cited Jane Campions The Power of the Dog. [Lorne] said, Nobody saw it,' Cumberbatch recalled. I said, Come on, man. I was nominated for an Oscar for that. I did OK.' After a pause, he added, I mean, I didnt win. I was beat by Will Smith No, not physically.

After touching on the Oscars slap, Cumberbatch pivoted to the topic of Mothers Day. Of course, I want to wish a very happy Mothers Day to my mum, he said. Shes actually on holiday in Greece at the moment and SNL offered to fly her here first-class, and she said, No, Im on a beach in Greece. Are you insane?'

He then recalled how he and his mother would call each other these weird, funny names. I called her Pookie, and she called me Benedict Cumberbatch,' the host said.

Cumberbatch also shouted out his wife, Sophie, who was in the audience. Im seriously in constant, constant awe of you. I mean, for a start, you gave birth to our three beautiful boys, and that alone is a minor miracle, as any woman will tell you, he said. Meanwhile, according to you, I was off dressed as a wizard  though technically its a sorcerer.
One county commissioner made sure all of the mothers in his precinct would be celebrated for Mother's Day this week.

Webb County Commissioner for Precinct 1 Jesse Gonzalez hosted his annual Mothers Day Celebration on Wednesday. The event was held to honor all of the elderly mothers of the commissioner's district and surrounding areas as approximately 130 mothers attended the annual event.

The event was held at the Royal Reception Hall located at 2101 Lomas De Sur.

I am thankful to be able to celebrate moms from our Webb County Community Centers, Gonzalez said. After two years of not being able to participate in any events, our elderlies had an amazing time with a nice performance and enjoyed serenatas by mariachi Bravitos from Salvador-Garcia Middle School. Mothers were able to participate in raffles, bingo, dancing and a delicious lunch.

Gonzalez himself was at the event and also danced with several of the mothers in attendance. He said it was a fun experience to once again be able to hang around with members of the community, especially those considered most vulnerable during the pandemic.

During the event, all the mothers were also serenaded by the school mariachi groups and some even joined in song.

The county commissioner said celebrating mothers is not just thanking them for being there for their children and raising them well but also thanking them for raising the new leaders of the community.

We celebrate our moms by thanking them for being amazing moms to our future children who will be able to assist our community in the future, Gonzalez said.

He said his own mother is proof mothers in Webb County have raised children well who will eventually lead a community, and he knows many future leaders are currently out there being raised and taken care of by their mothers. The county commissioner also thanked his wife for being a mother.

I am blessed to have my amazing mother who taught me to always assist my community, Gonzalez said. Blessed to have my wife who supports me and for being an amazing mother to my two beautiful daughters.

The event was held for all elderly mothers who are registered at the various community centers that the commissioner represents, including the Rio Bravo Community Center, Rio Bravo Activity Center, El Cenizo Community Center, Carlos Aguilar Activity Center, EJ Salinas Community Center and La Presa Community Center.

Gonzalez says all of the mothers who attended his event were excited and enjoyed the event, and he is happy to provide a smile to all those who attended and participated.

I really enjoyed seeing lots of smiles today," he said. "Happy Mothers Day to all.
Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz held a press conference on Friday to give a recap on this weeks meeting in Washington DC.

Addressing current concerns that were discussed aside from the park and bridges, the trip group -- which was also made up of Nuevo Laredo officials including Mayor Carmen Lilia Canturosas Villarreal -- highlighted the current issues the city is facing in regard to an increase in Haitian immigrants in Nuevo Laredo.

Members of the delegation met with leading officials from the Department of State Rachel Poynter, Charles Small form the U.S. Department of Transportation, Ambassador Ken Salazar, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Aneal Estenoz and two Texas senators.

While most of the trip centered around the Binational River Park and presidential permit, Saenz said that discussions also included the current immigration situation in Nuevo Laredo and disrupters to Mexico-U.S. trade.

According to Elia Guevara, Canturosas representative during the conference, the increase in migrants is waning Nuevo Laredo and their NGO partners resources.

She said that the Nuevo Laredo mayor took advantage of the opportunity to express the ongoing concerns as 1,800 are currently in the application process. Furthermore, reports of an additional surge of migrants exacerbates current concerns as clothing, food, water and shelter are being spread thin.

Guevara said that Canturosas plea in Washington is in hopes of finding a way for the U.S. Federal Government to address the border situation that impacts the sister cities.

Saenz added that this discussion with Poynter was her introduction to the Haitian migrant situation and prompted Poynter to discuss this at the federal level to address the concerns. He also said that he would hope that the cities avoid a Del Rio situation, which saw thousands of Haitian migrants seek asylum in the United States in late 2021, leading to about 14,000 at the U.S.-Mexico border at the city.

Saenz said that he heard that 15 migrants are allowed to be processed per day, and reports indicate over 3,000 more immigrants are heading to Nuevo Laredo.

As per the disrupters to border trade and the supply chain between Mexico and the U.S., Saenz met and spoke with Leah Liston, Director of Customs and Trade Affairs at the office of the U.S. Trade Representatives. When asked what challenges the supply chain between both countries, Saenz told Liston that the pandemic was one, but focused more on politics, port limitations, equipment and network issues and border security.

Between the recent decisions by Mexicos government response to Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts actions at the border and the ongoing pleas to increase border security, Saenz highlighted Mexicos government imposed strict restrictions on ports used to issues with software halting trade as additional disrupters.

Earlier this week, news of a railway project worth billions planned to travel through Laredo -- boosting trade and economic development in both the city and Texas -- had been moved to another state as a result of Abbotts border time-costly inspections that resulted in no drugs, human trafficking, weapons or contraband found.

The T-MEC Corridor would connect the Mexican port of Mazatlan to the Canadian city of Winnipeg, and it was to have new logistics centers along its route. Instead, the project will now go through New Mexico, routed along the edge of West Texas through Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

The move came after the Mexico Economy minister Tatiana Clouthier expressed reservation in doing further business with the state and criticized Abbott for using the countries' trade for political reasons. Abbotts 10-day enhanced truck inspection of trucks at the border ultimately cost Texas $4.2 billion as well as $9 billion in GDP.

Were now not going to use Texas, Clouthier said. We cant leave all the eggs in one basket and be hostages to someone who wants to use trade as a political tool. We are going to look for that connectivity because we can't live through what we just lived through a couple of weeks ago."

As for border security, Saenz brought up criminals in Michoacan and West Mexico that harass and stop trucks, extorting them as they travel to the border. This impacts both human life and hinders trade, which Saenz said border security should not be politicized.

Saenz said that the topics brought up to Poynter would be reviewed and be sent to the respective government officials on the subject, possibly Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
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(Alliance News) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces pressure from Tory members of Parliament and a potential constitutional crisis over Northern Ireland in the fallout from a bruising round of elections.

Sinn Fein's victory in the Stormont contests was the first for a republican party and "ushers in a new era" of politics, Vice President Michelle O'Neill said.

Her party is committed to a border poll on unification with Ireland, although that is not a likely prospect in the short term.

But her hopes of becoming first minister in a powersharing executive hinge on the unionist DUP, the second largest party, joining an administration  something it has ruled out unless there are major changes to Northern Ireland's post-Brexit deal.

The deadlock will increase tensions between Westminster and Brussels, with the UK insisting all options remain on the table  including the possibility of unilaterally scrapping elements of the deal.

That could trigger a major breakdown in relations between the UK and EU.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis urged the parties to work to form a new "fully functioning devolved government", but said voters "want the issues around the protocol addressed".

The protocol effectively creates checks on goods flowing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in order to allow an open border with Ireland, which is within the EU's single market and customs union.

Ireland's Europe minister, Thomas Byrne, said "a decisive majority" of the MLAs elected to Stormont want to make the protocol work and called on the UK to "engage in a renewed way with the EU" on the issue.

As well as the prospect of a fresh round of Brexit battles with Brussels, Johnson also faces pressure from his own benches to change course following Thursday's elections.

Writing for The Telegraph, former cabinet minister Damian Green, leader of the influential One Nation Conservatives caucus of MPs, said the party must "rediscover the virtues that appeal to natural Conservatives in strong Conservative areas", including reducing the tax burden to help those struggling with the rising cost of living.

From the right of the party, former Cabinet minister John Redwood called for tax cuts and warned governments "are usually only swept from office when the economy goes into recession on their watch".

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove suggested that a decline in home ownership may have contributed to the party's troubles in London, where flagship authorities in Wandsworth and Westminster fell to Labour after decades of Tory control.

He told the Sunday Telegraph: "There is a particular challenge for us in London and I think that challenge in London relates tohome ownership.

"There are other factors. But I think that for young people in London, there is a responsibility on the incumbent government to address some of the factors that have made it more difficult for them to own their own home.

"That's one lesson that I would draw at this stage. The other one is that the Labour Party doesn't seem to have made anything like the progress outside of London, that you would expect an opposition to do if it was on course for victory."

After results from 198 out of 200 councils, the Tories had suffered a net loss of 12 authorities and 401 councillors, Labour had gained seven councils and 240 seats, the Liberal Democrats five authorities and 188 councillors.

Labour is facing its own difficulties after police announced a probe into whether leader Keir Starmer broke lockdown rules last year.

Starmer, who denies any wrongdoing, said the elections were a "turning point" for Labour.

He told reporters on a visit to Scotland: "We did really well, we won in the north [of England]. I was in Cumberland, Carlisle, yesterday where we won, we won in the south in Southampton, we took seats in London people said we would never take, did really well in Wales and here in Scotland, the best results for a decade."

By David Hughes, PA Political Editor

source: PA

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is promising to deliver a "super seven" of Brexit Bills which will cut red tape and "unnecessary barriers inherited from the EU".

Johnson is planning to announce the new laws which will "deliver on the promise of Brexit" in the Queen's Speech, the prime minister told the Sunday Express.

The "super seven" set of Brexit Bills will allow Britain to "thrive as a modern, dynamic and independent country" by "changing old EU rules that don't work for the UK", he told the newspaper.

Johnson said: "I call them the super seven  and they will benefit families and businesses across the land by changing old EU rules that don't work for the UK.

"From data reform to gene-editing to financial services, these Bills will allow us to thrive as a modern, dynamic and independent country, and this government is getting on with the job of delivering them."

The Queen's Speech, being delivered in Parliament on Tuesday, will be used by Johnson as an attempt to show his administration is focused on people's concerns on issues including the rising cost of living following a bruising set of local elections influenced by the partygate row and the behaviour of Tory MPs.

The prime minister is expected to also announce the government's plans to revive struggling town centres.

The plan to rid high streets of "derelict shopfronts" and restore neighbourhood pride, with councils given extra powers to force landlords to rent out empty shops, will form a key plan of the Queen's Speech as Johnson tries to reset his government following damaging local election results.

Other measures will include the ability to make the pavement cafes which sprang up during the Covid-19 pandemic a permanent part of the town centre landscape.

Under the Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill measures to revive England's high streets, councils will be given powers to take control of buildings for the benefit of their communities.

Compulsory rental auctions will ensure that landlords make shops that have been vacant for more than a year available to prospective tenants.

Authorities will also be given greater powers to use compulsory purchase orders to deliver housing, regeneration schemes and infrastructure.

Johnson said: "High streets up and down the country have long been blighted by derelict shopfronts, because they've been neglected, stripping opportunity from local areas.

"We are putting that right by placing power back in the hands of local leaders and the community so our towns can be rejuvenated, levelling up opportunity and restoring neighbourhood pride."

Officials highlighted British Retail Consortium figures showing about one in seven shops were vacant, with as many as a fifth empty in the North East.

Shops have been hit by high rental and business rate costs and declining demand as consumers have moved online, a trend exacerbated by the pandemic.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: "By empowering local communities to rent out shops which have been sat empty for a year or longer, we will end the scourge of boarded up shops that have blighted some of our great towns across the country for far too long."

The measures aimed at making a continental-style cafe culture a permanent feature of England's towns and cities will also feature in the government's plans.

During the pandemic, restaurants, pubs and bars were granted temporary powers to serve guests on pavements.

Through new legislation, these powers will be made permanent to expand capacity for businesses in the hope of boosting local economies.

The Queen's Speech is not expected to include proposed plans to ban the import of fur and foie gras.

The Times newspaper reported the measure had been dropped after Cabinet critics warned it was "fundamentally unconservative".

The Animals Abroad Bill is expected to include a ban on the trade in hunting trophies and the sale and promotion of travel experiences which are cruel to animals.

On Saturday, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said the Queen's Speech package would "demonstrate to the nation that the second half of this Parliament is all about dealing with repairing the economy, recovering from Covid, the backlog of the NHS and national security".

Other measures expected in the package include a Brexit Freedoms Bill to make it easier to remove legacy EU laws and a Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act.

By David Hughes and Alana Calvert, PA

source: PA

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Feature: Environmentalists warn of fossil fuel "setback" amid Russia-Ukraine conflict

Xinhua) 16:19, May 08, 2022

VALLETTA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Astrid Vella, one of Malta's best-known environmental warriors, has been devoted to preserving heritage buildings and improving her country's natural environment. She is now worried about the "setback" caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict to Europe's green transition.

"This is a setback, also for non-governmental environmental protection organizations," 61-year-old Vella, founder and coordinator of the Malta-based environmental protection organization "Together for a Better Environment," told Xinhua.

"I prefer to think long term," she said. While Europe is seeking alternatives to fossil fuels to meet energy demand, Vella believed this setback would be just "temporary."

She said she felt relieved that Malta had already weaned away from coal, unlike some European countries, which have increased the electricity-generating capacity of their coal-fired power plants. But she remained anxious about air pollution from busy roads.

Though her environmental protection organization is small, Vella has devoted all her efforts to strengthening people's awareness of the need to protect the environment.

"We should set up an organization to slow down and prevent the destruction of all the wonderful gems that we have," Vella said when mentioning the purpose of founding the organization in 2006.

Today, the organization relies on several volunteers, and for Vella, it has evolved into a full-time job. She learned her commitment to environmental protection from her father, who insisted on the value of the environment first in his architecture career.

In response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has sent energy prices rocketing and has threatened the livelihood of households across the continent, the European Union (EU) now aims to radically reduce its dependence on Russian coal, oil and natural gas. According to analysts, the series of sanctions against Russia spur energy supply shortage concerns and force people to foot the conflict's bill themselves.

Vella said she felt for all those hit by the rapidly rising energy prices, something people in Europe have "rarely" experienced, if at all.

As part of its sanctions against Russia, the EU is looking for new sources of liquefied natural gas (LNG) primarily in the United States but also elsewhere. As a logical next step, the countries of Europe now have to build new LNG import terminals. Meanwhile, certain countries plan to maintain coal import levels to be able to operate their coal-fired power plants at full capacity.

However, analysts believed that the huge amounts of money that will have to be poured into the construction of new LNG carriers and terminals will only increase the sanctions' costs for Europe. They said that this will not decrease the countries' dependence on fossil fuels and will not be conducive to achieving the strategic goals of energy independence, green transition and sustainable economic development.

The prospect of Europe's continued reliance on fossil fuels is also a major concern for other environmental protection groups in the region. Just Stop Oil, a coalition of environmental activists, has been organizing protests in Britain demanding an immediate halt to all new fossil fuel projects.

In a statement, the organization said that the government is "making a choice to continue its addiction to fossil fuels," instead of accelerating the transition to a renewable-led future.

Greenpeace has recently said in a statement that several EU governments have pledged to develop liquefied fossil gas capacity for imports from Qatar or the United States, which would "keep Europe dependent on this fossil fuel for decades."

"Fossil fuels have a history of being connected with conflict and war -- wherever they came from, governments must phase them out as quickly as possible, not look for new suppliers," Greenpeace EU Director Jorgo Riss said.

Greater efforts should be made to "cut dependence on fossil fuels and increase the capacity of alternative energy," Vella said.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Bianji)
M.P. EVANS GROUP PLC

("the Group" or "M.P.Evans")

INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES RESTRICTIONS TO PALM OIL EXPORTS

M.P.Evans Group PLC, a producer of sustainable Indonesian palm oil, notes the updated announcement made on 27 April by the Indonesian government of plans temporarily to ban exports of palm oil, including both crude palm oil and refined products, effective from 28 April, to protect domestic supply. Local demand for palm oil is expected to increase significantly for a short time over the Lebaran festival period, celebrated over the next seven to ten days.

The Indonesian government last month introduced a revised export levy to subsidise local supplies as global supplies of vegetable oil have been limited. Indonesia is the world's largest producer of palm oil and a significant consumer, accounting for 59% of global supply and 22% of global consumption in 2021.

Management continues to monitor the situation closely and awaits clarity from the Indonesian government regarding the length of the export ban and extent of its impact on the domestic market. The Company will provide further updates as appropriate.

29 April 2022

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2022 Commencement Speaker

Brenda Alston-Mills '66

Brenda Alston-Mills, Ph.D. 66, is an emeritus trustee for Lycoming College and a biology professor emeritus at North Carolina State University. As a respected alumna, she came to be known as an ambassador for Lycoming College Prep, a program that brings high-achieving, first-generation rising seniors from across the nation to the Lycoming campus for a hands-on introduction to the liberal arts, college life, and mentoring programs that help them succeed post-high school.

Born in Philadelphia and educated in the public school system, Alston-Mills graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls and earned a bachelors degree in biology with a minor in chemistry at Lycoming College. She continued her education at Michigan State University receiving both a masters degree and a doctoral degree in zoology with a major emphasis in physiology.

A strong interest in culture led Alston-Mills to attain a minor in French language and to study in Pau, France. She traveled to the Caribbean, Ghana, Brazil, Venezuela, Norway, England, Scotland, Italy, and Spain. Her travels and understanding of other cultures allowed her to be a strong mentor for students from all countries and backgrounds. Her knowledge of languages, coupled with her academic training, enabled her to pursue studies in the biology of mammary glands as it relates to breast cancer research, and to share her philosophy of teaching and her research nationally and internationally.

Alston-Mills was recognized by the College in 2001 with the Outstanding Achievement Award for alumni. Lycoming Colleges Black Student Union awarded her the Black Alumni Achievement Award in 2018 in special recognition of her achievements. She served on the AAEB from 1989-1995.
There is a need for a nationwide awareness campaign through combined efforts of various governments to tackle thalassemia, said Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda.



Addressing a webinar on the occasion of 'World Thalassemia Day' here, Munda said, "We celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is Prime Minister's vision that we make new resolves which will propel India towards Atmanirbhar Bharat during the period of Amrit Kaal. In this direction, we should also make a new resolve for tackling the problem of thalassemia."

World Thalassemia Day 2022

"There is a need to have a nationwide awareness campaign through the stakeholders of various ministries and state governments such as teachers-students, Anganwadi and ASHA workers, which is essential for mounting an attack on the problem of thalassemia. A teacher should give five minutes extra to create awareness among students and similarly Anganwadi workers should inform the villagers about the disease and its prevention," Munda said.
By SA Commercial Prop News

The Kwastina factory was officially opened by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Corobrik CEO Nick Booth.



In a boost for South Africas economy that was for years dominated by mining, Corobrik, one of the country's leading brickmakers, on Wednesday launched the company's new brick factory in Driefontein, west of Johannesburg.

The Kwastina factory, which was officially opened last week, is the first factory Corobrik has built in almost 37 years. It is expected to produce 100-million bricks a year, 20-million more than the company now makes at its existing manufacturing facilities. ..

The brick manufacturing plant, Kwastina, isiZulu for the home of the brick, forms part of the pledge that Corobrik made in 2019 at the president's investment conference.

The plant, said to be among the most energy-efficient manufacturing brickmaking companies globally.



Not only will the high-tech, fully automated factory be able to produce large orders, but it is flexible enough to deliver custom products for the architectural market.

Speaking at the launch, President Cyril Ramaphosa described Corobriks investment as an integral contribution to the governments ambitious investment drive of R1.2 trillion over five years.

Corobrik has made a significant contribution to our efforts to extract greater value from our natural resources, by making its bricks from raw materials extracted from South African soil. This is an important part of governments efforts to support localisation, supplier, and enterprise development, as well as empowerment, he said.

Kwastina is not only one of the largest brick manufacturing plants in sub-Saharan Africa, but also one of the most modern and energy-efficient in the world. After a comprehensive analysis of Corobriks existing manufacturing process, the Greenfield project resulted in a new shaping plant, a new fully automatic wet side, a setting plant for direct setting, two tunnel dryers and two tunnel kilns, and a new unloading and packaging plant for dispatch packs without pallets.

Kwastina is testament to our commitment to constantly innovate. It is an acknowledgement on our part that we need to progress and make those step changes to keep us relevant for the next 100 years, commented Corobrik CEO Nick Booth.

According to Booth, Kwastina produces clay face bricks, while the companys concrete operations in KwaZulu-Natal are targeted at the plaster brick and block market.

Booth says the factory will help the company meet larger volume demands. It is expected to broaden its export market to countries across Africa, including Botswana, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Corobrik plans to open another manufacturing plant in the next five years, after the completion of an R800m factory in Driefontein, Gauteng, that will produce environmentally friendly building material.
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With the summer tourist season quickly approaching, area businesses and organizations are getting ready to provide services and entertainment to the community. The Huron County Nature Center, located at 3336 Loosemore Road, near Oak Beach, is among them. The traditional kick-off to its season is the Ladys Slipper Festival.

The festival, in its 21st year, is named after the pink ladys slipper.

This one-day event is the centers official spring opener, said nature center board member Jim Warchall. It is the start of our slate of summer programs, and most importantly, timed to coincide with the bloom of the pink ladys slipper orchid in the park. While not threatened in Michigan, this orchid and mascot of the festival is protected and treasured in the nature center, where it finds the right soils and fungi that it needs to grow. Though there are many signs of spring in Michigan, this particular flowers reemergence each year is welcomed and celebrated at the nature center.

The festival bearing the orchids name takes place at the nature center on Sunday, May 29 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

The event will be filled with music, food, arts and crafts, and an activity or two for the kids, Warchall said. The amphitheater will have live music most of the day; Greg Baunoch will be playing in the morning and Kenny Lang in the afternoon.

New this year is the addition of the Farm 2 You food truck, offering visitors items such as soup of the day, crispy chicken wrap, chicken tenders, Italian panini sub, fries, onion rings, and mozzarella cheese sticks. The truck will be there throughout the day.

Local artists, crafts people, and other vendors will have a variety of items for sale, Warchall said. And, returning as a traditional activity for young visitors will be the making of a tree cookie necklace to take home as a souvenir.

Many improvements have been made to the climate controlled visitors center, which will be open for the festival.

More Information Check out more photos by visiting www.michigansthumb.com. See More Collapse

This year the nature center is showcasing two new exhibits inside the visitors center, Warchall said. The new apex predator exhibit will highlight the coyote and bobcat, and a new multimedia display concerning frogs and toads of Michigan, which includes a beautiful short film about tadpoles, plus interactive elements for children will be available to view.

Another exhibit, this one outside the visitors center, will feature an "Air-Bee-and-Bee" display, which is a bee "hotel" providing native solitary bees with a nesting site. There is also interpretive signage explaining the workings of the Air-Bee-and-Bee.

As always, the trail system, including the new hiking and biking trails, will be open. Visitors are encouraged to walk the trails and count the ladys slippers. These maintained trails are open to the public from dawn until dusk 365 days a year.

The Huron County Nature Center is an all-volunteer run 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with a mission to protect our 280 acres of lovely Michigan forest, while making it available for the enjoyment of the public, Warchall said. The land, protected now for over 80 years, is a rare forested dune and wet swale complex, hosting abundant vernal pools, migratory birds, and a wide array of wildlife and plants. Our two trail systems, with a combined length of almost six miles, allow visitors to experience the wilderness all year long, in every season.

For further information concerning the Ladys Slipper Festival or the Huron County Nature Center, call 989-551-8400, visit www.huronnaturecenter.org, or follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HCnaturecenter.
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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  More than 60 people were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school being used as a shelter, Ukrainian officials said, while Moscow's forces pressed their attack on defenders inside Mariupol's steel plant in an apparent race to capture the city ahead of Russia's Victory Day holiday.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was appalled by the reported school bombing Saturday in the eastern village of Bilohorivka and called it another reminder that it is civilians that pay the highest price in war.

Authorities said about 90 people were sheltering in the basement. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, but "most likely all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk province, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said. Luhansk is part of the Donbas, the industrial heartland in the east that Russia's forces are working to capture.

As Moscow prepared to celebrate the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany with a Victory Day military parade on Monday, a lineup of Western leaders and celebrities made surprise visits to Ukraine in a show of support.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden met with her Ukrainian counterpart. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised his countrys flag at its embassy in Kyiv. And U2's Bono, alongside bandmate The Edge, performed in a Kyiv subway station that had been used as a bomb shelter, singing the 1960s song Stand by Me.

The acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Kristina Kvien, posted a picture of herself at the American Embassy, and described plans for the eventual U.S. return to the Ukrainian capital after Moscow's forces abandoned their effort to storm Kyiv weeks ago and began focusing on the capture of the Donbas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others warned in recent days that Russian attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, and some cities declared curfews or cautioned people against gathering in public. Russian President Vladimir Putin may want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square.

They have nothing to celebrate tomorrow, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN. They have not succeeded in defeating the Ukrainians. They have not succeeded in dividing the world or dividing NATO. And they have only succeeded in isolating themselves internationally and becoming a pariah state around the globe.

Russian forces struggled to complete their takeover of Mariupol, which has been largely reduced to rubble. The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making what appeared to be their last stand was the only part of the city not under Russian control.

The last of the women, children and older civilians who were taking shelter with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. Buses carrying over 170 evacuees from the steelworks and other parts of Mariupol arrived in the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, U.N. officials said.

The Ukrainian defenders in the steel mill have rejected deadlines set by the Russians for laying down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment, a unit holding the steel mill, said the site was targeted overnight by warplanes, artillery and tanks.

We are under constant shelling, he said online, adding that Russian ground troops tried to storm the plant  a claim Russian officials denied in recent days  and lay mines. Palamar reported a multitude of casualties."

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant but declined to reveal how many able-bodied fighters remained. He said fighters didn't have lifesaving equipment and had to dig by hand to free people from bunkers that had collapsed under the shelling.

Surrender for us is unacceptable because we cannot grant such a gift to the enemy," Samoilenko said.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the defenders.

On the economic front, leaders from the Group of Seven industrial democracies pledged to ban or phase out imports of Russian oil. The G-7 consists of the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.

The United States also announced new sanctions against Russia, cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest TV stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services, and cutting off Russia's industrial sector from wood products, industrial engines, boilers and bulldozers.

Trudeau met with Zelenskyy and made a surprise visit to Irpin, which was damaged in Russias attempt to take Kyiv. The Ukrainian president also met with the German parliament speaker, Barbel Bas, in Kyiv to discuss further defense assistance.

Jill Biden visited western Ukraine for a surprise Mothers Day meeting with Zelenskyy's wife, Olena Zelenska.

Zelenskyy released a video address marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russias invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism. The black-and-white footage showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, a Kyiv suburb.

Zelenskyy said that generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of the words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow not to allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Elsewhere, on Ukraines coast, explosions echoed again across the major Black Sea port of Odesa. At least five blasts were heard, according to local media.

The Ukrainian military said Moscow was focusing its main efforts on destroying airfield infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine.

In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days. A satellite image by Planet Labs showed smoke rising from two sites on the island.

But Moscow's forces showed no sign of backing down in the south. Satellite photos show Russia has put armored vehicles and missile systems at a small base in the Crimean Peninsula.

The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeast near Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, is making significant progress, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank.

However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from the embattled eastern city of Popasna, regional authorities said.

Rodion Miroshnik, a representative of the pro-Kremlin, separatist Luhansk Peoples Republic, said its forces and Russian troops had captured most of Popasna after two months of fierce fighting.

The Kharkiv regional administration said three people were killed in shelling of the town of Bogodukhiv, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Kharkiv city.

South of Kharkiv, in Dnipropetrovsk province, the governor said a 12-year-old boy was killed by a cluster munition that he found after a Russian attack. An international treaty bans the use of such explosives, but neither Russia nor Ukraine has signed the agreement.

This war is treacherous, the governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, wrote on social media. It is near, even when it is invisible.

___

Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP)  With the worst of the thick wildfire smoke having blown out of town, residents of this small northern New Mexico city tried to recapture a sense of normalcy Saturday as their rural neighbors hunkered down amid predictions of extreme fire conditions.

Shops and restaurants reopened, the historic center was no longer just populated by firefighters, but there was a widely felt sense of anxiety, loss, and wariness of what lay ahead.

Its literally like living under a dark cloud," said Liz Birmingham, whose daughter had persistent headaches from the smoke. "Its unnerving.

While the city for now seemed spared of danger, rural areas were still threatened as the fire was driven by winds so fierce all firefighting aircraft had to be grounded. And the worst could be yet to come.

A combination of strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity were forecast by the National Weather Service to create an "exceptionally dangerous and likely historic stretch of critical to extreme fire weather conditions" for several days.

Some 1,400 firefighters worked feverishly to contain the largest fire burning in the U.S. The blaze, now more than a month old, has blackened more than 269 square miles (696 square kilometers)  an area larger than the city of Chicago.

Part of the fire was started by Forest Service workers who lost control of a prescribed burn meant to reduce fire risk. State leaders have called on the federal government for accountability, including reparations.

Nationwide, close to 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) have burned so far this year, with 2018 being the last time this much fire had been reported at this point, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. And predictions for the rest of the spring do not bode well for the West, where long-term drought and warmer temperatures brought on by climate change have combined to worsen the threat of wildfire.

Thousands of residents have evacuated due to flames that have charred large swaths of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northeastern New Mexico.

The fires main threat was now to the north, where flames burning vegetation clogging the forest floor threatened several small rural communities, fire spokesman Ryan Berlin said.

Firefighters, who typically rely on calmer winders and lower temperatures to make progress in the evening, have been hindered by unexpectedly strong winds at night.

The threat to Las Vegas, a city of 13,000, was reduced after vegetation was cleared to create containment lines. Local officials on Saturday allowed residents of several areas on the citys northwestern outskirts to return to their homes, Berlin said.

The city looked like a ghost town earlier in the week, with businesses shuttered, schools closed and the tourist district empty but for resting firefighters. By Saturday, it was in a partial state of recovery.

National Guard troops carried cases of water, people lined up to sign up for relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., met with local officials and toured the shelter housing some of the displaced.

We dont know if our houses are getting burned, or if its gonna stop, said Domingo Martinez, an evacuee from rural Manuelitas northwest of Las Vegas. I hope it dies down so we can go home.

Martinez, who is staying with his son on the east side of town, visited an old friend and neighbor who had been living in the middle school shelter for 15 days.

Outside the school, Martinez got a free haircut from Jessica Aragon, a local hairdresser who volunteered her time.

I love that everyone is coming together, Aragon said. I think a smile is worth a thousand words."

Birmingham was one of four dog owners leading German shepherds and a black Labrador through an obedience course in a park next to a library. All had been touched in some way by the fire.

One was a construction worker whose work sites had all been reduced to ash.

Fire officials warned Las Vegas residents that they should still be ready to leave and not to let their guards down because winds will pick up. High winds and increasing smoke will also make it difficult  or impossible  to fly water-dropping choppers and planes dumping fire retardant.

On a mountain ridgeline outside of town, a sloppy line of red retardant could be seen on the trees. Residents were praying that the line and the wall of rock would hold.

___

Melley reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan, Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Paul Davenport and Michelle A. Monroe in Phoenix contributed to this report.
MIDDLETOWN  After taking a course on public health, Middletown Community Health Educator Daisy Hernandez realized that such education has traditionally centered on treatment rather than prevention.

That set her on a path in a field that centers on peoples well-being. Hernandez, who came aboard last week, was most interested in getting to the root of symptoms.

I was fascinated by the focus of promoting healthy lifestyles, and protecting health and preventing illness and disease before it even happens through health education, good nutrition, good sleep, and promoting getting the recommended vaccinations, she said.

Most recently, she was program manager of the Healthcare Heroes Against Impaired Driving Program at Hartford Hospital, for eight years, overseeing the Not One More statewide impaired driving prevention campaign funded by the state Department of Transportation.

Hernandez was previously a three-year health educator/emergency preparedness and medical reserve corps volunteer coordinator at the East Shore District Health Department in Branford.

After working for smaller, local health departments, Hernandez applied for the Middletown position in hopes of helping a more diverse population, she said.

During the pandemic, Middletown was very proactive, and had done a lot of great efforts in combating COVID-19, she said.

Throughout the pandemic, Middletown has been a leader in COVID education, outreach and vaccine availability, officials have said.

It was really on my radar, Hernandez added.

The city has also worked hard to provide free services when possible, educating populations most at risk and others with a distrust of the medical field.

In the past, Hernandez partnered with faith-based organizations to help the effort, something Middletown has done as well with the Ministerial Health Fellowship and at Cross Street AME Zion Church.

They are seen as trusted members of the community that may not always have a voice, so reaching out to community-based faith leaders to understand what are the needs  the worries  of the people they represent, is important, she said.

This approach allows educators to focus on strategies to effectively target these demographics and present facts at each persons health literacy level, as well as talks and visual elements, she added.

Hernandez, who became a certified health education specialist in 2019, has a bachelor of science degree in public health from Southern Connecticut State University, and is in her last semester as a graduate student there, on track to earn her masters in public health this month.

Acting Health Director Kevin Elak is excited that Hernandez has joined the team. She has vast experience with public health education as well as emergency preparedness and coordinating medical reserve corps units, he said.

Prior to the pandemic, Hernandez mostly worked on programs on health topics, such as influenza, Lyme disease prevention, heart disease and other topics.

It has shown me to be more aware of the different trends and disease surveillance, which is really important, she said, as well as the importance of being up-to-date on the latest COVID data, for example.

Being able to effectively and clearly communicate health information to the community is vital to the work of such educators.

Early in the pandemic, Hernandez said she realized she needed to be more involved in weekly meetings with emergency management teams made up of fire, police, government officials and representatives of the state Department of Public Health as well as her peers.

Those in the field aim to disseminate consistent messaging as well as counter misinformation about COVID and related topics. We do our best to always put out accurate information and dispel any myths, she explained.

Hernandez will be working with the community to understand the specific needs of Middletown, Elak said. Once we have a better understanding of the public health issues that are impacting our community, we will be able to focus on interventions, outreach and education to meet the needs of the community.
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MIDDLETOWN  The chamber calendar is hot with activity as the weather warms up in Middlesex County.

Another busy chamber week features a KeyBank Workshop, important meetings of our Durham and Middlefield Division and our Cromwell Division, our Health Care Council Steering Committee, and more.

The latest installment of our KeyBank Workshop Series will take place Tuesday with Best HR Practices in Hiring, Disciplining and Firing Employees. In this seminar, Attorney Valerie Ferdon of Updike, Kelly & Spellacy will give attendees a guided tour of the employment law landscape and discuss best practices in hiring, disciplining and firing employees to comply with the law and avoid potential liability.

To register, visit middlesexchamber.com.

I would like to thank Attorney Valerie Ferdon of Updike, Kelly & Spellacy for presenting this seminar, and KeyBank for once again sponsoring this great series.

On the chamber division front, our Durham and Middlefield Division will meet Wednesday at Connecticut Forest and Park Association in Rockfall beginning at 8 a.m. Our Cromwell Division will meet Thursday at Covenant Living at 8 a.m.

Both of these division meetings, along with all of our division meetings, help us keep a close eye on the issues that directly impact, or have the potential to impact, our members in each of our towns.

Also taking place on Thursday will be a meeting of our Health Care Council Steering Committee at 8:30 a.m. Under the leadership of Kelly Smith and the Steering Team, the council strives to educate members and engage them in dialogue about the leading-edge issues for health care.

Finally, in addition to these meetings that are specific to our chamber, I look forward to a virtual meeting on Tuesday morning with the leaders of the Metro Chambers of Commerce in our state who collectively represent thousands of Connecticut businesses.

On Tuesday evening, the MEWS+ will begin offering a free business incubator program for Middlesex entrepreneurs titled StartUpMX. This program is offered over an eight-week schedule from May 10 through June 30, and includes a virtual workshop series on topics, including business strategy, finance, legal, marketing, technology and productivity, and wellness and personal development.

I am so proud of the MEWS+ and its efforts to support entrepreneurship in Middlesex County. Our MEWS+ Manager Rebecca Mead continues to do a great job on this front, and we look forward to growing these efforts in 2022 and beyond.

The main event for this week is our member breakfast meeting featuring U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy May 13 at the Sheraton Hartford South in Rocky Hill beginning at 7 a.m.

Sen. Murphy has been a strong voice in the Senate fighting for job creation, affordable health care, education, a forward-looking foreign policy and more.

The senator continues to do a great job serving as the voice of Connecticut residents at the U.S. Capitol, and I appreciate his willingness to speak to our group, and especially look forward to his remarks on Ukraine, which he has visited numerous times and has in-depth knowledge of.

I would also like to give a shout out to Webster Bank for its support of this event. To register, visit the website.

Before closing, I would like to mention the Community Health Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month. With the proposition that Health Care is a Right and Not a Privilege, CHC has spent 50 years adapting to the needs of its clients, establishing national programs and more.

Throughout the pandemic, they ran Connecticuts four mass vaccination sites and provided testing to 750,000 residents. CHC currently has 243 locations where they provide primary medical, dental and behavioral health care to over 145,000 patients.

The CHC team will be celebrating its anniversary May 27 at Wesleyan University with honorary hosts U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, former senator Christopher Dodd, and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro.

I would like to give a huge shout out to President and CEO Mark Masselli, Senior Vice President and Clinical Director Margaret Flinter, and their entire team of dedicated individuals on this huge milestone.

I will provide much more information on the Community Health Center throughout the month.

I would also like to congratulate Middletowns Assistant General Counsel Christopher Forte, who was honored last Friday afternoon with the prestigious Middlesex County Bar Association Liberty Bell Award.

Sara Mendillo and Haley Stafford represented the chamber at this terrific event. Each year the organization recognizes an individual who has made a positive difference in the community, and Christopher has done just that through the yearlong efforts of Middletown Pride.

As you may know, Christopher had the vision for Middletown Pride in 2018, and approached the chamber in 2019 to take on coordinating this event. The city, chamber, Wesleyan University and Russell Library all partnered together to create programming for the LGBTQIA+ community in Middletown and beyond, including drag queen story hours, movie nights, family fun days, informational sessions, panel discussions and much more.

Middletown Pride will hold its annual PrideFEST June 4 from 2 to 10 p.m. For information, visit middletownpride.org.

Congratulations Chris!

Larry McHugh is president of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce in Middletown.
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Russia's aggression against its neighbors has prompted European countries to rethink how they defend themselves, perhaps none more so than Sweden, which over the past decade has rapidly increased its military spending and is now reevaluating its relationship with NATO.

Sweden's ambassador to the US, Karin Olofsdotter, told Insider that European security has been deteriorating for some time, pointing to Russia's war with Georgia in 2008 and seizure of Crimea in 2014, considered "a game-changer."

"Of course, we all reacted to that, but maybe we didn't react strongly enough, and that maybe paved the way for Putin thinking that this was something he could do," Olofsdotter said at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C., referring to the renewed Russian attack on Ukraine.

Sweden has not formally declared war since 1814, though Swedes have volunteered in other conflicts and its military has participated in other operations. Sweden shed its longstanding neutrality when it joined the EU in 1995, but it remains militarily non-aligned, working closely with NATO but never joining.

Sweden and its neighbors have watched Russian military activity warily in recent years, particularly in the Arctic, where Moscow has added forces, tested new weapons, and opened or refurbished bases.

In an interview last year, Olofsdotter told Insider that Russian President Vladimir Putin had shown a willingness to use a military he has rebuilt from its post-Soviet nadir, prompting Sweden to reevaluate its preparedness to face old and new threats.

Since 2014, Stockholm has increased investment in its own military, purchasing new aircraft and ships and other weapons, like U.S.-made Patriot air-defense missiles, as well as expanding conscription and emphasizing cyber and psychological warfare.

Those planned investments have only grown following Russia's renewed attack on Ukraine. "We had a plan to increase our defense spending by 85% from 2014 to 2025, and now we have just taken a decision" to increase annual defense spending to 2% of GDP, Olofsdotter said.

Stockholm announced the 2% target in March and is now debating how quickly it can be reached, Olofsdotter said. Sweden's military said in April that spending could reach that level in 2028, with "significant increases in capacity" each year.

"Security is really looked upon very differently today than just a couple of months ago," Olofsdotter said. "That's how quickly it has gone."

'Trust is definitely gone'

Russia's attack has also increased Swedish support for NATO membership. Roughly one-third of Swedes supported it in recent years, but Moscow's actions have pushed that to over half, according to recent polls, which show support is even higher if Finland were to apply.

Sweden's foreign minister is now leading discussion with the defense minister and the eight parties represented in its parliament, among others, about what NATO membership would entail, said Olofsdotter, who presented an analysis of the U.S.'s view of transatlantic security as part of those talks.

EU membership comes with a security guarantee, but it is not like NATO's "ultimate defense security guarantee" Olofsdotter said. "That's why we are having that discussion, I think, because we see that the European security order that we really believed in is maybe not there."

A report on the discussion will be presented on May 13, two weeks earlier than planned. It won't make a recommendation, but based on it, "a decision will be taken  you know, should we join it or should we not," Olofsdotter said.

Following an application, NATO would have to agree to formally invite the applicant to begin accession talks, after which the alliance's 30 members have to agree on admission.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that if Stockholm and Helsinki apply, the alliance would make the process "as quick as is feasible." NATO has handled multiple applications simultaneously before  it took 12 months for Croatia and Albania to go from invitation to full membership in 2009.

A Swedish or Finnish application is expected to move quickly, given both countries' ties to NATO, political and economic stability, and robust defense capabilities. Olofsdotter said that she hoped if an application was made in the coming weeks then U.S. approval could be secured before the Senate's August recess.

Some divides have emerged in Sweden, including among the ruling Social Democratic Party. Some have cautioned against further NATO expansion, but numerous alliance members have said they would welcome Swedish and Finnish bids.

There are concerns that members with closer ties to Moscow could thwart such an application. Because NATO is consensus-based, "there's always that possibility," said Jim Townsend, an expert at the Center for a New American Security and former U.S. defense official, "but I think in this case they're going to work it so that there shouldn't be a problem."

Sweden's security in the time between an application and the ratification of its membership, when it would receive NATO's mutual-defense guarantee, is also a concern. "That's when we are most vulnerable," Olofsdotter said.

Members from the Swedish air defense regiment participated in a hand-over ceremony in Halmstad, Sweden, on Nov. 18, 2021. Sweden is the first non-NATO partner to receive the Patriot air defense missile system. (Terrance D. Rhodes/U.S. Army)

Moscow has threatened retaliation should Sweden or Finland apply. While Stockholm and Helsinki say they haven't seen a direct threat from Russia since it attacked Ukraine in February, Moscow has made other aggressive moves, including military flights into the airspace of Sweden and its neighbors.

Sweden is particularly concerned about cyber or hybrid threats, Olofsdotter said, pointing to posters that have appeared in Moscow labeling famous Swedes as Nazis.

A European official told reporters in early April that NATO would be "very live" to potential Russian action while an application is considered. "I think we are already thinking about the kind of guarantees and protections they might get to cover them through the transition period," the official said.

In recent days, Britain's defense minister said it was "inconceivable" that the UK wouldn't defend Sweden or Finland if they were attacked. and Sweden's foreign minister said there was "an American assurance" of support during that transition. Stoltenberg has said NATO would increase its presence around Sweden if it applies to join the alliance.

Sweden focused more attention and resources on its security amid Russia's military buildup around Ukraine in fall 2021, including through contingency planning between military and civil authorities, Olofsdotter said, adding to years-long efforts to prepare for a potential conflict. The Cold War-era "total defense concept" that Sweden reinvigorated in the late 2010s was augmented this year by the creation of the Psychological Defense Agency.

Other trends point to greater public awareness of the threat. During the Cold War, those who built home bunkers were offered tax deductions. Many were later converted into garages and "party rooms," but Swedes are now reconsidering them for their original purpose, Olofsdotter said.

Like Sweden's NATO membership, what Europe's security order will look like after the war in Ukraine remains to be determined, but the often tense relationship with Russia appears irrevocably altered.

"I think that's something that we have to see what happens when the war is over and how it ends for President Putin and what the world looks like then," Olofsdotter said, "but trust is definitely gone."
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school sheltering about 90 people in its basement, while Ukrainian troops refused to surrender at a besieged steel plant that Moscow's invading forces sped to seize before Russia's Victory Day holiday.

The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturday's bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said.

Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition due to the Ukrainian military's unexpectedly effective defense. Since failing to capture Ukraines capital, Kyiv, Moscows forces have attacked cities, towns and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine but not gained much ground, according to Western military analysts.

To demonstrate success in time for Victory Day on Monday, the Russian military worked to complete its takeover of Mariupol, which has been under relentless assault since the start of the war. The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters made a last stand is the only part of the city not under Russian control.

All the remaining women, children and older civilians who were sheltering with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. The Ukrainian troops rejected deadlines given by the Russians who said the defenders could leave with their lives if they laid down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, a Ukrainian National Guard battalion holding the steel mill, told an online news conference Sunday that the site was targeted overnight by three fighter jet sorties, artillery and tanks.

We are under constant shelling, he said, adding that Russian infantry tried to storm the plant -- a claim Russian officials denied in recent days - and to lay landmines.

Palamar said there was a multitude of casualties at the plant.

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant, but he declined at the same news conference to reveal how many abled-body fighters also remained in the plant.

He described the situation as dire because they didnt have life-saving equipment in their tunnels. He also said fighters had to dig out people by hand when some bunkers collapsed under the Russian shelling.

The truth is, we are unique because no one expected we would last so long, Samoilenko said. Surrender for us is unacceptable because we cannot grant such a gift to the enemy.

After rescuers evacuated the last civilians, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was trying to secure humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the fighters remaining in the plant's underground tunnels and bunkers.

The Ukrainian leader was expected to hold online talks Sunday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from other Group of Seven countries. The meeting is partly meant to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys 1945 surrender.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Irpin Sunday, which had been damaged by Russias attempt to take Kyiv at the start of the war, according to Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne and Irpin Mayor Olexander Markushyn.

Markushyn posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Canadian officials said the prime minister would meet with Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

Zelenskyy also met Sunday with the German parliament speaker, Barbel Bas, in Kyiv to discuss further defense assistance as well as sanctions against Russia, according to Zelenskyys press office.

Trudeau is the latest Western leader to visit Ukraine to offer their support to the war-ravaged country. The prime ministers of the U.K., Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia traveled there earlier, as did the U.N.'s secretary-general.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden also made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine Sunday for a surprise Mothers Day meeting with Zelenskyy's wife, first lady Olena Zelenska. They visited a village school as Russia pressed its punishing war in the eastern regions.

Elsewhere, on Ukraine's coast, explosions echoed again Sunday across the major Black Sea port of Odesa, which Russia struck with six cruise missiles on Saturday, while rocket fire damaged some 250 apartments, according to the city council.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, the May 9 holiday when Russia celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

Zelenskyy released a video address Sunday marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russias invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism.

The black-and-white video, published on social media, showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, one of the Kyiv suburbs pummeled before Russian troops withdrew from the capital region weeks ago.

Every year, on May 8, along with the whole civilized world, we pay our respects to everyone who defended the planet against Nazism during World War II, Zelenskyy said, adding that prior generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of the words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow to never allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holoucaust.

We knew the price our ancestors have paid for this wisdom. We knew how important it was to protect it and pass it on to our descendants.  But we hadnt any notion that our generation will witness the abuse of these words, he said.

In neighboring Moldova, Russian and separatists troops were on full alert," the Ukrainian military warned. The region has increasingly become a focus of worries that the conflict could expand beyond Ukraine's borders.

Pro-Russian forces broke off the Transnistria section of Moldova in 1992, and around 1,500 Russian troops have been stationed there since, ostensibly as peacekeepers. Those forces are on full combat readiness, Ukraine said, without giving details on how it came to the assessment.

Vadim Krasnoselsky, the president of the unrecognized territory, denied those claims, saying it does not pose a threat to neighboring states, observes neutrality and remains committed to the principle of resolving all issues at the negotiating table.

Moscow has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the Black Sea and to create a corridor to Transnistria. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.

In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days and has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Ukraine targeting Russian-held Snake Island in a bid to impede Russias efforts to control the sea.

A satellite image taken Sunday morning by Planet Labs PBC showed smoke rising from two sites on the island. On the islands southern edge, a fire smoked next to debris. That corresponded to a video released by the Ukrainian military showing a strike on a Russian helicopter that had flown to the island.

The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian counteroffensive near Kharkiv, a city in the northeast that is the countrys second-largest, is making significant progress and will likely advance to the Russian border in the coming days or weeks, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

The Washington-based think tank added that the Ukrainian counteroffensive demonstrates promising Ukrainian capabilities.

However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from Luhansk province's embattled city of Popasna, Haidai, the regional governor, said Sunday. In a video interview posted on his Telegram channel, Haidai said that Kyivs troops had moved to stronger positions, which they had prepared ahead of time.

Rodion Miroshnik, a representative of the pro-Kremlin, separatist Luhansk Peoples Republic, said its forces and Russian troops had captured most of Popasna after two months of fierce fighting.

The Russia-backed rebels have established a breakaway region in Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk, which together make up Ukraine's industrial heartland known as the Donbas. Russia has targeted areas still under Ukrainian control.

One million residents in Luhansk, including those in separatist-held territory, were left without running water Sunday after Russian shelling damaged a local water utility, the regions Ukrainian governor wrote on social media.

To the west in Dnipropetrovsk province, the governor said a 12-year-old boy was killed by a cluster munition that he found after a Russian attack. An international treaty bans the use of those kind of explosives, but neither Russia nor Ukraine have signed the agreement.

The regional governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, said the boy was the sixth local child killed by cluster munitions.

This war is treacherous, he wrote on social media. It is near, even when it is invisible.

___

Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.
The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

For decades, the U.S. government has sent aid to countries plagued by terrorism, believing that the money could help other nations tackle extremism. Money matters, but it alone isnt enough to prevent terrorism.

An explosion at a mosque in northern Afghanistan killed more than 30 people on April 22, 2022, just days after blasts at schools in Kabul killed six.

These were the latest in a long string of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. The Islamic State conducted 365 terrorist attacks in Afghanistan that caused 2,210 casualties in 2021 alone.

The United States, meanwhile, has spent approximately US$91.4 billion on foreign aid to Afghanistan since 2001, while other countries gave billions more. Most of this money went toward Afghanistans military.

The U.S. spent more than $1.1 billion on Afghanistan in fiscal 2021, and $1 billion on aid in fiscal 2020.

As a doctoral candidate researching how to get militants to adopt more moderate positions and stop committing violence, I have spoken with 23 former Indonesian terrorist detainees since October 2020 to study their experiences. These people planned, facilitated or otherwise took part in bombings and attacks on civilians.

My research shows that international aid does not stop terrorists from carrying out violent acts, because most counterterrorism projects do not directly involve or appeal to detained and released terrorists.

Speaking with terrorists

I have found that listening to ex-terrorists is the best approach to understanding how and why they walk away from terrorism.

When I spoke with former Indonesian terrorists through video meetings and calls, they all told me that they once cared only about exterminating America and its allies. This is because they thought these countries were trying to repress Muslims worldwide.

They also justified their violent jihad as a way to enforce a caliphate, a term that refers to an all-encompassing Muslim state.

FILE - In this file photo, Afghan security force members stand outside a USAID compound in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, Friday, July 2, 2010 after it was stormed by militants wearing suicide vests. (AP Photo)

Less than half of the 23 former terrorists that I spoke with participated in deradicalization programs, designed to move people away from extremism, while they were in prison. But all of them were part of such programs, sponsored by nonprofit organizations and the Indonesian government, after their release.

All of the former terrorists also went on to receive vocational training, and some also got money from the Indonesian government and nonprofits to start small businesses.

Others received psychological counseling, or participated in talks on religion. Some participated in outdoor retreats organized by the Indonesian police, with hiking and other recreational activities.

A few of the ex-terrorists I spoke with acknowledged that the government helped them pay for their childrens school tuition.

These people began to shift their views, and move away from extremism, after they developed a strong sense of community support and respect for government and police authorities.

I started to change when the police treated me well, and my community accepted me for who I am, explained one female former terrorist who was a bride  a term used to describe a suicide bomber. The police captured her just before she could carry out an attack in Bali in 2016.

Terrorism funding

Parts of Indonesia, a Southeast Asian country with the worlds largest Muslim population, are considered a haven for terrorism  though the number of terrorist attacks has recently declined there. It remains a transit and destination hub for Islamic militants.

Indonesia received almost $5 million in 2020 from the U.S. Agency for International Development alone to contain violent extremism. It received the third largest amount of money from the U.S. for this kind of programming after Somalia and Bangladesh.

The U.S. has spent an estimated $2.8 trillion on counterterrorism from fiscal 2002 through 2017, according to the Stimson Center, a nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C.

But even extensive international aid isnt a sure fix for ending terrorism.

Maj. Jim OKeefe, a U.S. Army Reserve officer, discusses refugees on the battlefield with a representative of USAID at Kittensee on Jan. 25, 2022, during Allied Spirit 22 in the Joint Multinational Readiness Center training area near Hohenfels, Germany. Civil Affairs Soldiers from the U.S. Army Reserves 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion, 353rd Civil Affairs Command, supported the multinational exercise from Jan. 21 through Feb. 5, 2022. (Rick Scavetta/U.S. Civil Affairs)

Afghanistan and Iraq are two examples of countries that receive big donations from the U.S. and other countries each year but still struggle with violent radicalism.

Most of this money and work focuses on helping governments and local organizations carry out programs to fight extremism. These might include workshops for government officials focused on addressing terrorism and training sessions for women on how to start small businesses.

However, these programs typically do not directly involve former terrorist inmates and their families. This matters, because it mattered to the individuals I spoke with when they were included in counterterrorism projects. This is one of the big reasons they changed their ways, they told me.

Aid doesnt reach former terrorists

Major donor countries like the U.S. have increasingly acknowledged the role of foreign aid in fighting against extremism. Many countries, including the U.S., see that extremism can be politically destabilizing and pose international security concerns.

But at the same time, the incidence of terrorism in countries that get large amounts of international funding, including Afghanistan, Indonesia, Pakistan and Mali, shows that international aid is an insufficient counterterrorism measure.

In Indonesia, for example, the USAID gave $24 million from 2018 to 2023 for an anti-extremism project called Harmoni.

This project carries out workshops for state officials about prison management and handling terrorist detainees, among other programs.

But Harmoni does not include a key constituency  detained or released terrorists and their families  in their work.

This kind of strategy makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to actually reform extremists.

This model, according to my research, is common in counterextremism projects funded by international aid.

Involving terrorists

Donor countries, governments and partner organizations working to prevent extremism can involve released terrorists and their families in various ways  including providing vocational, financial, psychological, religious, educational and even recreational programs.

Many countries still need international aid to fight terrorism, but it will work more effectively only when also embracing former terrorist convicts and their families.

Without targeted, inclusive interventions in extremism, I believe the world will continue to see more wasted aid when addressing terrorism.

Bernard Loesi is a PhD candidate at the Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle.
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Large-scale Promotion of New Energy Vehicles, the Bearing Industry is Facing the Test of Performance Iimprovement

The new energy vehicle market is booming

In 2020, global new energy vehicles are expected to sell 4 million cars, a year-on-year increase of 58%. Among them, the sales of new energy vehicles in the Asian market exceeded 1.578 million, accounting for 47.37%. As countries advance energy conservation, emission reduction, and environmental protection, the popularity of new energy vehicles has become an irreversible market trend.

It is for this reason that more and more multinational auto companies have formulated corresponding development strategies. Not long ago, Ford Motor Company announced that it planned to move 70% of its electric vehicle production line to China by 2025. Tesla, which has already built factories in China, also has high hopes for the Chinese market. The company has proposed that in a few years, Tesla's sales in China will account for the largest share of its global sales.

With the rapid increase in sales of new energy vehicles, the market demand for drive motors has risen rapidly. It is predicted that the global drive motor market will reach USD 4.4 billion in 2020.

New energy vehicle drive motors require special bearings. Compared with traditional cars, new energy vehicles require motors to have a very high limit speed, at the same time to meet the low-temperature requirements of -40  and high temperatures above 150  and need bearings to have a maintenance function to adapt to the axial impact caused by frequent start and stop.

The new energy vehicle particular bearing market is booming, which poses severe challenges to China's bearing industry. Yu Zhizheng, a researcher-level senior engineer of Beijing Automobile Group Co., Ltd., and Chen Guangzu, secretary-general of China Automotive Industry Advisory Committee, agreed that China's bearing industry should meet this challenge, actively develop and produce special bearings for new energy vehicles, and take the initiative in market competition.

The Quality Department of Wuxi Xinghuo Bearing Co., Ltd. has its standards for the appearance of bearings. All bearings are as follows:

1. Bearing parts are not allowed to have cracks, sharp edges, burrs, and rust; there should be no process marks on the raceway; the ultra-fine lines and steel spherical surfaces of the inner and outer rings should be uniform, and there are no allowed scratches and scrapes.

2. Bearing parts with grinding particles should be by the rules, without rotation marks, traces, yin, and yang surfaces, and wear marks, and no apparent marks are allowed. The bearing seal is measured, and there is no percussion injury and noticeable color difference.

3. The oxide coating is not allowed on the surface of parts. The chamfer, inner diameter, and inner diameter of the ring need to be polished.

4. When pickling parts of bearing rings, the working surface should not be burned, and the working surface should not be damaged without pickling, and it will not affect the hardness test.

5. Assembly chamfering.

A. The size and shape of the chamfered assembly should meet the requirements of our product drawings.

B. The chamfered surface will not be corroded and scratched.

6. Steel Ball

The appearance quality standards of steel balls should meet the requirements of JB / T10861.

7. Cage

The surface should be flat, smooth, without burr, bruise, no rust, and noticeable color difference. It is not allowed to have appearance defects such as compression, contusion, deformation, and sand eye.

For example, the full cylindrical roller bearing RSL18 is designed to withstand heavy loads. The bearing has a very high load capacity at the same width as the traditional bearing with a cage. The radial cross-section is small, which can save space, but the speed is relatively low. All multi-row cylindrical roller bearings have a lubrication groove and a lubrication hole on the outer ring.

To make the bearing work regularly, in the case of continuous operation, the bearing must bear a specific minimum load, that is, C / P<25. Otherwise, the wear will be exacerbated due to insufficient lubrication and high-speed operation.

Full-load bearings should be GB / t307.1-94 (iso492-1994) P0 grade, and the radial clearance (CO) is average, and may require the original radial clearance from (C2) to (C4), but should be Letters with corresponding clearance suffix should be added after the bearing code when ordering. Rubber-plastic screw extruders usually use C3 clearance.

For the fit tolerance, refer to the selection principle of bearing seat and shaft tolerance limits.

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According to a report from National Public Radio (NPR) on December 17, the Biden transition team revealed that the U.S. Congressman Cedric Richmond tested positive for the new crown virus. He also served as Deng consultant has a close relationship.

According to reports, a spokesperson for Richmond said in a statement that Richmond has not had close contact with Biden. He will be quarantined for 14 days and be tested for the new coronavirus twice. He will not return to work until he has fully recovered post.

The spokesperson said that Richmond went to Georgia alone on the 15th local time to participate in activities related to the states Senate election. At that time, Biden and Richmond had interacted in the open arena, but both of them wore masks for no more than 15 minutes.

The spokesperson also revealed that Biden had been tested for the new coronavirus on the 17th local time, and the test result was negative.

According to information published by the Biden camp government transition website (buildbackbetter.com), Richmond is a Democratic congressman from Louisiana. He served as the national co-chair of the Biden campaign team and was Biden earliest support.

After Biden wins the election, Richmond will resign his position in the House of Representatives and become Biden senior adviser and director of the White House Office of Public Participation. It is generally believed that joining Biden White House staff will bring the deep relationships established in Congress to the White House.

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Frontrunner Vaccine Will Affact the Price of Iron(II) sulfate heptahydrate (FeSO4 7H2O)- 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.

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07.05.2022 LISTEN

Friends, please get ready for today's English lesson. Tenses show when an action took place. There are five types of tenses. 1. Simple tenses, under which we have present, past and future. Example: climb, climbed, will climb.

2. Perfect tenses, under which we have present perfect, past perfect and future perfect. Example: have climbed, had climbed, will have climbed. 3. Progressive tenses, also under which we have present progressive, past progressive and future progressive. Example: am climbing, was climbing, will be climbing.

4. Perfect progressive tenses, under which we have present perfect progressive, past perfect progressive, future perfect progressive. Example: have been climbing, had been climbing, will have been climbing.

5. Emphatic form, under which we have present emphatic and past emphatic. Example: do/does climb and did climb. There is no future emphatic because one can't emphasize something that hasn't been done yet.

In congruence with the above lesson, the following ensued between a teacher and his pupils:

Teacher: One day Bawumia will become the president of Ghana. Which tense is that? A boy raised up his hand and shouted, "Teacher, teacher."

Teacher: Yes, Samuel, tell us the answer.

Samuel: Future impossible tense, sir.

Kikikikikiki, Samuel is bad paa. But I may want to agree with him because of the history of the Elephant in choosing its rider.

The Late Alhaji Aliu Mahama was the Vice President of Ghana under the NPP from January 2001 to January 2008, but didn't succeed in becoming the flag-bearer of the NPP.

He was one of the contestants for the NPP presidential primary election which was held at the University of Ghana campus on December 22, 2007. He garnered a paltry 146 votes, representing 6.384 of valid votes cast, while the eventual winner, Nana Akufo-Addo had 1096 or 47.965.

H.E. Alhaji Aliu Mahama told Joy News Evans Mensah that he had expected to perform better than what delegates gave him, and that the results really did not reflect the run of play.

As you know I had 146 votes as has been announced here but I didnt expect that actually because I had done a lot of work and I thought that truly, that certainly did not reflect the run of play," he said.

If the alleged statement by a leading member of the NPP: Yen Akanfuo di3, ye do yenho meaning, We the Akans, we love each other, is anything to go by, then Richard's "future impossible tense" answer seems to make some sense.

I want to be honest here. Alhaji Bawumia's association with Christianity dates way back, perhaps decades, and he is not doing it now because he wants to be president, I think. I remember somewhere in 2007 he visited a church where I was worshipping, in the company of his friend who is now a Supreme Court judge. Dr Bawumia looked more affable, innocent, sweeter and happier without the weight he now carries. How I wish he had remained like that.

When I was growing up, there was this saying in Akan that, "It is only at the end of a movie that you will see Charlie." The movie of who leads the NPP to the 2024 presidential election is getting fascinating by the day, but the picture does not look good for my friend, Dr. Bawumia even though he has worked very hard for the NPP as the Late Aliu Mahama did.

The latest national tracking poll conducted by the Global InfoAnalytics Limited has tipped Alan Kyeremanten, as the man to lead the NPP in the 2024 elections.

The polls, which were conducted in all 16 regions in the country, saw Alan Kyeremanten lead Dr. Bawumia by 36% to 33%.

Allan won all the regions except the Northern, North East, Upper West and Upper East regions.

In the first poll conducted by the same institution in January this year, Dr. Bawumia won by 40% as against Allan's 28%. Sharp decline, isn't it?

Ah, well, the movie is still ongoing and we will definitely see Charlie in the end. But as to whether Richard will succeed in changing English grammar with his "future impossible tense" as the sixth type of tense, time will tell.

Anthony Obeng Afrane
K1  Koo, have you heard?

K2  Heard what? All you ever do is to hear and hear of things ....

K1  But if I don't, you will sit here in your blissful ignorance and someone will come and catch you and sell you to some white man, who will take you to the planet Mars, and experiment with your body to see whether he can make it survive on that dead planet or not!

What?

Ahah! Now you are interested?

Of course I am!

No, you sit there! They will sell you and I shall have to sit here and sing laments like Madamfo pa beko agya me, ah-ah-ah... [My good friend has gone and left me alone! Blah-blah-blah!]

Hey, that's a very beautiful song.

All nice songs in Ghana have a melancholic, bitter-sweet content, don't they? Take Stormy Ass... or Bebrebe yi.... or Wobegyaa me o, Jack;, mabedu!....or Wofa Nono.... and Odoyewu akoda agya me....Or the mother of all pathos: Mmoborowa!..

Yiee! I didn't know that you carried the whole list of Ghana's Ancient Top Ten in your head!

There's so much you don't know. Well, what's eating you?

An American guy called Elon Musk has just bought 44 billion dollars worth of shares in a company called Twitter....

Isn't that the one that threw out Trump?

Ei, you knew that? Well done.

Did you say 44 billion dollars?

Yes I did.

44 billion dollars? One man?

Yes. It's such a huge amount that as soon as it became known, some of your people in Ghana who have earned certificates from educational institutions but haven't got an ounce of sense in their heads, began to get highly intoxicated merely thinking about it. They began to think of how they could lay hands on some of Musk's loot, and they came up with the idea of relating it to Ghana's external debt/gross domestic product ratio!

What? In what way is Ghana's external debt connected to somebody buying shares in a company in his own country?

Ask me! One of these counterfeit Ghanaians even suggested that since Musk was bringing Twitter Africa to Ghana, he should be invited to go the whole hog  pay off Ghana's debts for us, in exchange for us allowing him to take over Ghana!

What? Are they mad? Do they know that the Asantes (who were stark illiterates in today's sense) valued their independence so much that they paid to the British, by way of tributes, enormous sums designated in gold dust, after the British had overcome the Asantes in the wars the Asantes fought against the British to try and retain their sovereignty? The British charged the Asantes money for fighting in defence of their own nation! And some of us want to sell the country in exchange for settling our foreign debts?

My God! How could they even think of it?

The annoying thing is the sheer ignorance behind the suggestion. Do they know how much profit British and American companies have made in the past 200 years, by buying Ghana's cocoa, timber, gold and manganese at prices dictated by themselves? Whilst, meanwhile, selling the goods we buy from their countries at whatever prices they demand for those imports?

Yes! Cocoa  they told us how much they would pay us for it. But when it came to corned beef, or sugar, or cutlasses, we couldn't tell them what we would pay for it! No; they would tell us its price!

And this has been going on for how many centuries?

It's still being going on for over 300 years! For all brilliant economists know, this Elon Musk bloke owns shares in the British, American or French or German businesses that carry out the export-import trade with Ghana! Maybe he already deals in commodities as part of his investment portfolio!! And we are being asked to throw our cocoa at his feet!

Ei, these brilliant book-long Ghanaians heard that he had been able to buy 44 billion Twitter shares and they thought: Him who has, more will be added to it?

Ei, you remember your Scriptures? Yes, it's made them crazy: Hey The Almighty wants us to invite Musk to come and buy Ghana and be our 'Salvation'!

And if you check, you may find out that many of those people went to big foreign Universities!

Yes, when they were abroad, they didn't ever hear a Briton, a Frenchman or German even joke that America should buy Germany, because after the Second World War, America helped Germany to rebuild its industries.

Or that since Britain was bailed out during and after the war with American lend-lease largesse, Britain should be owned by the USA!

Man, what's wrong with OUR so-called intellectuals?

Koo, the problem is that many of them are not true intellectuals at all. They dote on these reputable overseas educational institutions, but haven't caught on to the fact that the institutions value their British, Americans or French origins, which they strive to preserve. The institutions exist to serve their NATIONAL purposes. But our great scholars imbibe knowledge from them wholesale, without being able to subtract what was in it that was meant to meant to deceive foreigners to regurgitate to the benefit of the originators! The better foreigners become at parroting back what's been taught them, the more highly valued are the certificates bestow on them. And they come back to Africa and begin to apply that foreign knowledge to our local problems. You've got external debts? Sell the country to a foreign millionaire!
07.05.2022 LISTEN

Every human being on earth made by the creator deserves some level of dignity and respect. When a whole nation of some 20 million is taken over by some armed bandits, it takes some other men to stand up to liberate them.

So was the story of the man John Ndebugre and his colleague Akoto Ampaw in or around 1990.

The passing away of former Lawyer and Lawmaker MP, John Ndebugre of Zebilla, at the young age of 72, should make most Ghanaians who love their country sit up and reflect on our nation!

Do we as Ghanaians have enough guts and love to stand up against oppression and to save Ghana, or like some of us, we are planning to cross the ocean by fair or foul means to seek greener pastures in foreign lands and abandon our land because of oppressors of our own kind?

Every nation has a destiny, like every human. The collective destiny of a nation is the collective good and bad thoughts and deeds of the members.

Can a cowardly nation survive the dangers of foreign or domestic assault?

This question was answered in the negative in the 13th Century when the mass of the people around the Niger Belt called the Ghana Empire, reputed to be one of the wealthiest nations on earth, endowed with excess gold reserves, was raided by some Arab states from the North. This was around 1235-1237 AD.

Opinions can vary but History cannot be refuted. The opinions of the great Arab traveller and writer Ibn Battutah, was that the people of the old Ghana Empire seemed to lack discipline in their behavior and running of their nation state. Obviously it seems they were cowards also- as they did not even stand to fight the invading tribes! They just took their stuff and run southwards, all the way towards the current Location of Ghana and some neighboring states like Cote dIvoire and Togo.

The most important observation are that:

1. The people did not stand up to fight, and

2. They would not live under the rule of the Moslem conquerors, and

3. They would rather migrate to other lands.

In the last 18 years as I move back and forth from my adopted state of California in USA, to my adopted home in East Legon, Accra, Ghana, my country of birth, many thoughts and emotions go through my mind:

A. One is the emotional pain of seeing and watching a totally almost hopeless and selfish group of lawmakers and administrators, elected and appointed Ghanaians, whose sole duties seem to be to scrape and siphon and steal part of any funds they are made responsible for, to serve their personal selves and families!

B. The other is to see and watch how neglected we as a people have allowed our society to become: dirty and filthy, no planning of roads as we build our homes, no planning for supply of water and for electricity, and

C. How we the educated have become worse than the uneducated rural folks in human relationships.

It will take me too long to explain but as an Engineering, Management and Leadership author and Consultant, it hurts to see how the so-called affluent areas have lost the human collaborative spirit we used to have growing up in the Pre-Colonial times of the 1950s and the first decade after Independence.

It will be easier for me to assign blame and say the coup makers of 1966 and those they handed over power to have contributed most to the demise of the nation-state of Ghana. However that will be too simplistic.

The bottom line is that there is a spirit in all human societies, an endemic culture, that distinguishes them from others and help in their survival. In my first book, Leadership Concepts and The Role of Government (Danso, K.A., XLibris, New York) I analyze and explain this well.

Ghanaians have lost our spirit as a cohesive people and courage has become a rare human quality. We refuse even to stand up and challenge authority when our own moneys are used to pay elected and appointed officials who have now been openly reported as having accumulated debts that future generations of Ghanaians can never pay. This is simply speaking, totally selling the nations wealth and assets and leaving an impoverished masses behind.

Greedy and selfish politicians have sold Ghanas diamonds, gold, bauxite, manganese, and other minerals as well as oil to the highest bidders while they collect their share for their families and secure their future, which perhaps may be outside Ghana. As the case in Nsawam exemplifies, Ghanaian land have been sold to foreigners by Chiefs, against the Constitution. The people are being driven away from their homes at midnight by paid guards.

No public officials - elected politicians and appointed local Chief executives, seem to have any love of nation anymore!

It is in this context that one day men like John Ndebugri will stand out in our history as one of the greatest men. At a time in the mid to late 1980s military dictator, Jerry Rawlings and his cohorts of the PNDC had destroyed the will and morale of Ghanaian Businessmen and driven most of them out of the country. This created hundreds of thousands of unemployed till we see today. Many left the country and those outside could not return. It took men like Lawyers John Ndebugri and Akoto Ampaw to stand up and call for a constitutional government.

Coincidentally some of us in the US, Canada and Europe had started and been involved in massive media campaigns for almost a decade. This Ndebugri-Akoto Ampaw declaration was a big relief. We sensed that the end of the decade long oppressive and unconstitutional rule of Jerry Rawlings and the PNDC was coming to an end. Today all what is left is for the Youth to learn to stand up! They have a right to! It is their duty to save the land of their birth!

May the soul of the brave man and lawmaker John Ndebugri Rest In Peace till the next time and perhaps life yonder.
In the last two year, under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 several initiatives have been unrolled to achieve the objectives of access, equity, inclusivity and quality, observed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday while reviewing the implementation of the policy.

From special efforts to track out of school children and bring them back into the mainstream, to introduction of multiple entry and exit in higher education, many transformative reforms have been initiated that will define and lead the progress of the country as we enter the 'Amrit Kaal'," the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Modi was apprised that the work of formulation of National Curriculum Framework, under the guidance of the National Steering Committee, is in progress.

In school education, initiatives like quality ECCE in Balavatika, NIPUN Bharat, Vidya Pravesh, examination reforms and innovative pedagogies like Art-Integrated Education, toy-based pedagogy are being adopted for better learning outcomes and holistic development of children.

"He observed that a hybrid system of online and offline learning should be developed to avoid overexposure of technology of school-going children," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.

Prime Minister Modi suggested that the databases maintained by Anganwadi centres should be seamlessly integrated with the school databases as children move from Anganwadis to Schools.

Regular health check-ups and screening for children in schools should be carried out with the help of technology; emphasis should be laid on use of indigenously developed toys to develop conceptual skills in students, and the secondary schools with science labs should engage with farmers in their area for soil testing to create awareness about soil health, were among other suggestions by the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister was also informed that the guidelines for Multiple Entry-Exit for flexibility and lifelong learning, along with the launch Academic Bank of Credit on Digilocker platform will now make it possible for students to study as per their convenience and choice.

Similarly, in order to create new possibilities for life-long learning and centrally involve critical and interdisciplinary thinking in learners, UGC has published guidelines according to which students can pursue two academic programmes simultaneously.

The National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) is also at an advanced stage of preparation. UGC is revising the existing "Curriculum Framework and Credit System for Undergraduate Programme" in alignment with NHEQF, the meeting was told.
08.05.2022 LISTEN

Maverick politician and regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for Savannah Region, Alhaji Iddrisu Sulemana popularly called Kalamonia has announced his intention to seek re-election as chairman when the party gives the green light for nominations.

His declaration message was contained in a statement copied to Modern Ghana News' Savannah Regional Correspondent.

According to him, he has made broader consultations with the delegates and grassroots of the party to arrive at the decision.

He stressed that he has demonstrated enough faith to the course of the party in the region and believed that the party has a greater chance of making the Savannah Region its world bank with his re-election.

He also noted that per his leadership and enormous experience in politics he will deliver beyond expectations if given the nod again.

He revealed that since taking charge of the party as regional chairman, the fortunes of the party has improved tremendously noting that the Savannah Region was the only region to increase its parliamentary seats by two in the 2020 elections.

He further stated that he will stand for a reform agenda that will place much focus on empowering the youth of the party to help consolidate the gains of the party in the region.

Find the full statement below:

07-05-2022

For Immediate Release

DECLARATION OF INTENT

Fellow Patriots, after extensive consultation with my respected delegates, the grassroots of our great party and various stakeholders in the Region, I wish to humbly present myself once again to you honourable delegates of our region for re-election as Regional Chairman.

In 2019, I presented myself to you honourable delegates to elect me as the Regional Chairman of our great party, the NPP, and you gave me a resounding victory of 70.4% of the total valid votes cast.

Fellow Patriots, permit me to reminiscence the state of our party in the Savannah Region before I assumed office as Regional Chairman. In the 2012 Presidential election, the NPP had 54, 425 votes out of a total of 99,413 valid votes cast. This represented 34% of the total votes cast.

Then, in the 2016 Presidential election, we had 55,485 votes out of a total of 166,303 valid votes cast. This represented 33% of the total votes cast. In the Parliamentary elections in 2012, we had zero seats out of the seven parliamentary seats in the region. Then, in the 2016 Parliamentary elections, the party managed to win only one parliamentary seat, which was the Salaga South Constituency.

Fellow Patriots, upon assumption of office as Regional Chairman, within one and half years, we went to elections and came out with three solid seats. This was a result of the leadership we provided with the support of in you my respected Constituency Executives, Government Appointees and the grassroots of our party in the region. All of us worked very hard to change the narrative in a region that our President and then flag-bearer, Nana Addo Dankuah Akuffo-Addo, described as a Lion Den not just because it was considered as NDC strong hold, but the constituency of the NDC flag-bearer.

Fellow Patriots, the result of my leadership and hard work is that, our party garnered 80,605 votes out of a total of 229,085, representing 35.19% of the valid votes cast. As that was not enough, we increased our parliamentary seats from one (1) to three (3). This is, indeed, unprecedented in the history of our party in the region!!!

Fellow Patriots, it is an undeniable fact that my region is one and only one region that went beyond the expectations of many in our party. At various fora before the elections, this region was targeted below our current status by the National Party. But we worked against all odds to achieve our current feat.

Fellow Kukurudus and Kukurudites, let me put it on record that there was no region in the country that was able to increase its parliamentary seats by two constituencies in the 2020 elections except the Savannah Region. Fellow Kukurudus and Kukudites, it is for this many other reasons that I am seeking re-election to continue to lead this infant region to greater glories.

Fellow Patriots, in the area of employment, I assisted a number of our youth to gain employment into various state and private institutions.

The 2024 elections is not going to be business as usual. It will require someone who has been tried, tested and proven; someone who is decisive, selfless, hardworking, courageous and bold to lead our infant region so that we can consolidate our gains from the 2020 general elections.

I am counting on all of you to join hands to renew my mandate to do more for our great party and dear Region.

Long Live NPP.

Long Live Savannah Region

Thank You.

.....*SIGNED*.....

Alhaji Iddrisu Sulemana (Professor Kalamonia)

(Savannah Regional Chairman, NPP
Ace Nigerian BBC Broadcaster, Peter Okwoche says he will continue to hold African Leaders accountable by asking the right questions.

Peter is well-known across Africa for asking very tough questions that plunges African leaders into uncomfortable positions. He has interviewed all of Ghana's Presidents under the Fourth Republic with the exception of late President Rawlings.

Ghanaians will readily recollect his interview with former President John Mahama on corruption, when he asked him whether he had ever received a bribe or not. The former president answered with a question whether Peter Okwoche was asking him as a President or as a human being. This interview became a subject of Social Media trend on Twitter some 5 years ago.

In his latest interview with Ghana's current president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, 4 April 2022, Okwoche asked certain critical questions and made some assertions that got Nana Akufo-Addo on the edge. The Ghanaian leader appeared very reprehensive and quite confrontational by even describing his question as provocative. Once again, social media was awash with several comments and reactions to the interview.

Some Political Commentators and Communications experts have described this as one of President Akufo-Addo's lowest interviews.

In an interview with Alfred Ocansey on 3FM Sunrise Morning Show on Friday 6 May 2022, the highly respected International Journalist said I don't put too much on reactions. My job is to hold all the presidents across the continent accountable. I have a lot of respect for Ghanaian presidents. They are very capable and widely intelligent men but it is my job to hold governments to account, and that is all I try to do.

According to Peter, he assumes that he is asking the questions on behalf of the tomato seller in the market who wishes to ask the president such questions but doesn't have the opportunity to do so.

He insisted that he is not an apologist for any government and will continue to hold governments to account.

Peter Okwoche also urges African leaders to learn from the lessons of the past events to equip them to be able to handle similar situations in the future. One thing about life is that, you take the test before you learn the lesson unlike school where you learn the lesson before you take the test.

---3news.com
The Russia-Ukraine crisis has captured the world's attention, and understandably so, but at the risk of eclipsing the visibility of massive humanitarian crises elsewhere. In particular, it has muted attention to Ethiopia's ongoing civil war, which started in November 2020 and has caused enormous human suffering. Millions have been left without access to adequate food, healthcare and basic services.

Some characterise Ethiopia's conflict, between the central government and the regional Tigrayan government, as the deadliest war in the world at the present time.

The conflict played out in most parts of Tigray and has also spilled over into parts of the neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions. In October 2021, the World Food Programme stated that up to 7 million people across the three affected regions were in dire need of food assistance. Tigray continues to be under de facto aid blockade.

To date there has not been any micro-level assessment of the welfare impacts of the armed conflict on households in Tigray. To fill this gap we recently conducted a study , using data from phone surveys, to provide the first empirical evidence of the impacts of the conflict on food security, access to food markets and disruptions to livelihood activities.

The major finding from our study, involving 1,982 households (followed for several rounds), was that the armed conflict increased prevalence of food insecurity by 38 percentage points. This is a 106% increase from pre-conflict levels, observed only seven months into the conflict.

Our findings provide new evidence on the near-real-time impacts of an ongoing civil conflict. Our work also highlights the potential of phone surveys to monitor active and large-scale conflicts. This is especially useful in contexts where conventional data sources are not immediately available. Phone surveys have become a common method since the onset of COVID-19, replacing in-person surveys to avoid physical contact.

Phone surveys

Our research used data from phone surveys by the World Bank , which we combined with data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project's conflict database. This records conflict events at specific locations and times.

Households were asked about access to food and the extent to which their livelihoods had been disrupted.

Households were interviewed before the war broke out and later during the first phase of the war, between November 2020 and May 2021. Immediately after the outbreak of the war on 4 November, telecommunication and electricity services were suspended or intermittent in areas under the control of the Tigray region government. These services were later restored, which allowed access to some households by phone. But in June 2021, all communications were cut off and interviews were no longer possible.

Comparing data before and after the outbreak of war allowed us to assess the scale and the impact of the war. We also compared data from affected and unaffected households.

Key findings

In addition to establishing that the conflict increased food insecurity by 38 percentage points , there were other important findings.

For each battle event that took place within 20km of a household's residence, the share of households that reported being worried about getting enough food, being unable to eat healthy foods or eating few food varieties increased by approximately one percentage point.

The impact on the share of households that skipped a meal or ate less food was similar  one more battle event in this intense conflict was associated with about one percentage point increase in these coping strategies.

The war also significantly reduced households' ability to buy enough staple foods and essential goods, like medicine.

Some of these effects were likely due to supply chain disruptions. But they also reflected the diminished purchasing power of households. The outbreak of the civil war curtailed major livelihood activities, especially non-farm activities.

Unsurprisingly, at that stage, wage-related activities were affected the most while farm activities were relatively resilient to the disruptions.

Similarly, economic activities in urban areas were disproportionately affected in comparison to rural areas.

Read more: How Ethiopia's conflict has affected farming in Tigray

Underestimates

These estimates from the early months of the war are very likely underestimates of the true impacts for the population as a whole. For instance, a larger share of poorer and more remote households (or those unable to receive calls due to disruptions in communications) wouldn't have been represented in the sample.

The study also wasn't able to account for what happened after June 2021, when the conflict spilled over to Afar and Amhara.

Nevertheless, our findings confirm intuitive assessments that many of the ultimate impacts of the violent conflict included massive disruptions to markets and supply chains and severely diminished economic livelihoods . Both contribute to food insecurity and suffering.

The overall humanitarian disaster triggered by the war may be much more widespread and will likely leave long-lasting scars, especially if humanitarian assistance continues to be obstructed and limited. Mobilisation of all available resources  both informational and humanitarian  is urgently required to save lives and livelihoods.

Kibrom Abay receives funding from USAID and other donors for conducting research on food security, agriculture, social protection and nutrition.

Guush Berhane receives, via his employer, funding from USAID & others for research on food security and livelihoods as part of the regular activities of the employer.

Jordan Chamberlin, Kibrom Tafere, and Mehari Hiluf Abay do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

By Kibrom Abay, Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) And

Guush Berhane, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) And

Jordan Chamberlin, Spatial Economist, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
Former Director of Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Professor Kwame Karikari says security agencies in the country should be blamed for Ghana's low ranking in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index.

He said journalists have been the worst victims of attacks by various security officials  a situation he believes primarily accounted for the country's poor performance on the index.

Mr. KariKari believes these attacks persist because security agencies have not changed their character, colour and modus operandi.

We have a security system that has not weaned itself from the culture under military regime The security system itself needs questioning. Why will they take arms to arrest a journalist, when he or she is either using a pen or just taking a photograph? Mr. Karikari asked on Citi TV/Citi FMs The Big Issue.

Ghana dropped 30 places to 60th globally and 10th in Africa on the World Press Freedom Index.

This is Ghana's lowest-ever ranking in almost two decades, after it ranked 66th and 67th in 2005 and 2002, respectively.

The report, by Reporters Without Borders, said, although the country is considered a regional leader in democratic stability, journalists have experienced growing pressures in recent years.

To protect their jobs and their security, they increasingly resort to self-censorship, as the government shows itself intolerant of criticism, the report mentioned.

Some have suggested that these attacks could dwindle if journalists are more circumspect in their reportage.

However, Mr. Karikari disagrees. How do you treat irresponsible journalism? You do not treat it with security people going in cars, armed to the teeth, and dragging broadcasters from their studios and harassing them. It is not right to go and close down Radio Gold with armed men, he asked.

He said political parties have also failed to play their part in raising some of the really important questions about democracy and human rights.

In his view, politicians tend to neglect issues affecting journalists as they are more concerned about getting power by all means.

On a day-to-day basis, they do not address these questions, and drum into the head of citizens so that we all develop the culture of tolerance.

---citinewsroom
08.05.2022 LISTEN

Northern Ghana Heritage of Georgia celebrated Eid Al Fitr (Sanla) with a grand picnic at Alexander Park in Norcross, a suburb of Atlanta. The occasion was well attended by members of the Northern Heritage, the larger Ghanaian community, friends and family.

The special guest of honor for the occasion was Honorable Elaine Amankwah Nietmann, Candidate for Gwinnett County State Court Judge. Honorable Amakwah Nietmann told the gathering that it is important to vote for her to the high office of Gwinnett County because she is one of us and understands the culture of Ghanaians. She said she will bring fairness and to the judicial system and would abide by the rule of law. She said she would be honored to be elected to the State Court of Gwinnett because not only is she the daughter of Ghana but she is also very qualified in all aspects.

The Acting President of the Northern Heritage of Georgia, Dr. Ali Yallah thanked all those who took time out of their busy day to come and celebrate the occasion with group. He urged all present to make sure to cast a vote for Honorable Elaine Amakwah to the Gwinnett County State Court as we will all be proud to have a daughter of Ghana elected to such a high position. Given the high number, and continues growing number of Ghanaians in Gwinnett County, Dr. Ali said it is possible to elect Honorable Elaine Amankwah if all of us turn out to vote.

Dr. Ali also expressed great joy and delight at the large number of attendees, given that it is the first picnic of the newly formed Northern Ghana Heritage of Georgia. He urged the group to remain united and to look out for one another. He assured the group that more functions would be coming on between now and the end of the year.

Everyone was treated to traditional dishes of Tuo Zafi (TZ), Wachey, Jolloff, Light Soup, fish and kenkey with fresh pepper, BBQ chicken and Lamb, etc. The attendees danced the rest of the evening away with the latest Ghanaian dance songs. All had fun.

The newly formed Northern Ghana Heritage of Georgia was inspired by a common determination to promote unity among ALL GHANAIANS of any Northern Ghana Heritage regardless of tribe, religion and political affiliation.
08.05.2022 LISTEN

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filled a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari, asking the court to declare illegal, and incompatible with the oath of office, and public interest the recent pardon granted to former governors of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye, and Taraba State, Rev Jolly Nyame who are serving jail terms for corruption.

Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame were recently pardoned alongside 157 others convicted for various offences. The two men were investigated, prosecuted and convicted for stealing N1.16 billion and N1.6 billion respectively from their state treasuries, while they were in office between 1999 and 2007.

In the suit number FHC/L/CS/825/2022 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Lagos, SERAP is asking the court to determine whether the exercise of the power of prerogative of mercy to grant pardon to Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame is compatible with the public interest, the oath of office, and constitutional duty to combat corruption.

SERAP is asking the court for a declaration that the exercise of the power of prerogative of mercy to grant pardon to Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame is compatible with the public interest, the oath of office, and constitutional duty to combat corruption.

SERAP is also asking the court for an order setting aside the pardon granted to Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame in the public interest, and for the sake of the integrity, well-being and prosperity of Nigeria, and the countrys international obligations.

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that: If the presidential pardon is not set aside, impunity for corruption will increase, and many influential politicians will continue to escape justice for their alleged crimes.

SERAP is also arguing that, It is in the interest of justice to set aside the pardon for Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame. Presidential pardon for grand corruption cases is incompatible with the rule of law, as it undermines equality before the law.

According to SERAP, the pardon power ought not to be exercised to shield influential politicians and politically exposed persons from justice and accountability.

SERAP is also asking the court for an order directing and mandating President Buhari and future presidents to consider the public interest, the requirements of oath of office, and constitutional duty to combat corruption in any future exercise of the pardon power.

SERAP is further arguing that, the presidential pardon power must be exercised in good faith, and in line with the provisions of Chapter 4 of the Nigerian Constitution on fundamental rights.

Joined in the suit as Defendant is Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi, read in part: The pardon power, if properly exercised, can help to protect citizens against possible miscarriage of justice.

Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) provides that The State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.

Article 26 of the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party requires the government to ensure effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions including criminal and non-criminal sanctions, in cases of grand corruption.

Article 26 complements the more general requirement of article 30, paragraph 1, that sanctions must take into account the gravity of the corruption offences.

The pardon for Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame is antithetical to the public interest, the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution, and the countrys international obligations including under the UN Convention against Corruption.

The pardon also constitutes an interference in the exercise of judicial power. Because the pardon appears to be arbitrary, it undermines the authority and independence of the judiciary, and access to justice for victims of corruption.

While there is no doubt that Section 175 of the Constitution vests wide discretionary power in the Nigerian president to grant pardon, it does not stipulate the conditions under which such power should be exercised.

However, when section 15(5) of the Constitution is read together with the oath, it would seem to impose some ethical conditions on the Nigerian president to ensure that the exercise of the discretionary power of prerogative of mercy is not such that it will encourage corruption or impunity of perpetrators.

The latest Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index shows that Nigeria scored 24 out of 100 points, ranking 154 out of 180 countries surveyed, and falling back five places from the rank of 149 in 2020. This places Nigeria as the second most corrupt country in West Africa.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo didnt force the former Auditor-General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, to go on pension because of his age. He forced that man to retire because he was scared Domelevo was going to expose his corruptible activities. That impact of corruption has collapsed Ghana and its economy today.

By nature, human beings are not perfect, but being a leader, everyone looks upon you as their president. Thus, the need to be truthful is very important because thats what will boost the peoples confidence in you. Yet despite the corruption and cunning lifestyle of Nana Akufo Addo, Ghanaian writers and journalists dont have problems with that but have problems with Mahama, a man who is not in power.

I just dont follow people because they are presidents. I take efficiency, intelligence, and what a person is capable of before I will begin to give that person attention. Akufo Addo thinks he is very clever, but he is not. If he deeply thought about what he said or did, he wouldnt have messed up himself in such a bad manner, amid a collapsed economy, political instability, and depressed currency.

A section of Ghanaians keep supporting, applauding, and praising Akufo Addos cunning lifestyle, which seems intelligent to him and his supporters, but I am not interested. I find it necessary to bring out certain past cases to prove that Akufo Addo is not worthy to be trusted in whatever he does or says. Those too scared to speak about his wrongdoings, together with him, are nation-wreckers.



Tales of lies and deception from Nana Akufo Addo. Left: Maxwell Kofi Jumah, close to 72, is the Director of GIHOC, while Daniel Domelevo, the former Auditor-General, was forced to retire at 60.

By nature, human beings are not perfect, but being a leader, everyone looks upon you as their president. The need to be truthful is very important because thats what will boost the peoples confidence in you. Mr. Daniel Domelevo was appointed the Auditor-General on December 30, 2016. Domelevo, who was born on June 1, 1960, was then 61.

Akufo Addo made Ghanaians believe that the age issue was the reason he asked Domelevo to retire. If that's the case, the president should explain why Maxwell Kofi Jumah, who was born on June 26, 1950, and is now nearly 72 years old, is still working as the Director of GIHOC distilleries. Is Jumahs age not important because his son is married to the daughter of the president?

If the presidents decision to keep Jumah as Director for GIHOC at 72 is upheld, then everyone will agree with me that nepotism and family governance have dented and impacted this government to destruction. Thats why nothing is working in this administration because it is a government built on the foundation of deception, lies, hypocrisy, and corruption. Unfortunately, some corrupt judges, journalists, and heads of churches have made the current abysmal political and economic situation in Ghana worse.

Everything surrounding Akufo Addo has many questions to answer. His education, his claim as a human rights lawyer, his election victory in 2020, and many others need to be investigated because Akufo Addos government is a total disaster, yet many find it hard to accept due to greed and nepotism, but I dont dwell on nepotism to promote evil, hypocrisy, lies, and corruption in a government.

The former Auditor-General, Domevelo, should be happy about the lies of Akufo Addo that sent him away because if he were to be in this government, he would have been linked to every corruption, debt, and stolen funds by the NPP government that collapsed this state. Its good that Ghana has a president called Akufo Addo, but he will always remain the worst leader in Ghanas political history.

How many international investors will be encouraged to invest in Ghana if they become familiar with the dishonesty and deception of the Ghanaian president? Many in Ghana waste their time on things that dont matter and ignore issues that affect our country. The clever ones can find out the investment opportunities Ghana has lost since this NPP government came to power.
Dear spectators, eii, sorry, citizens: this is my English lesson for today. Its not appropriate to say poisonous snakes, a snake is not poisonous, it's venomous. Things that are poisonous have to be touched or drank, but venom have to be injected.

Folks, to be honest with you, the 2020 elections results caused a stab of pain to ran through me. I thought it was unfair for H.E. John Mahama not to have ascended the presidential throne again after all that he did for Ghana. But on a second thought I have been mollified by the fact that what happened is an opportunity for the people of Ghana to compare leadership qualities and appreciate the man John Dramani Mahama.

I believe God has a reason for what happened. In 1 Samuel 8:4-18 of the Bible, the elders of the tribes of Israel went to Samuel and requested for change  they wanted a king. Their reason was that Samuel was too old and his sons were corrupt. This displeased God, but He had to grant them their wish. He, however, warned them that the request for a king would be expensive and disastrous; and would cost them their freedom.

Similarly, Ghanaians have chosen change, possibly against the wish of God, and I have no doubt that we have made an expensive and a disastrous choice as the Israelites did.

President Akufo-Addo and the NPP promised us an Edenic country, but the outlook for Nana's government is far from bright. The hardship he promised to ameliorate is now snowballing, and the exigencies of reducing the burden of Ghanaians seem not to matter anymore. As I write, prices of goods and services are escalating on a daily basis.

Interestingly and shamefully, most media houses, religious leaders and civil society groups who shouted on rooftops whenever fuel price was increased by the slightest margin during the Mahama regime are now reticent.

The future of this government looks gloomy and somber. I'm not reading more into the situation than there is because that is exactly what it looks like. The people of Ghana may not be able to contain their disappointment and anger beyond 2024; and that will be a natural response to a crisis situation.

Oops! I nearly forgot a joke. In a science class test, the following questions were asked:

1. What is matter? Answer: matter is a song by Shasha Marley.

2. Mention the 3 states of matter. Answer: matter pui, matter tui and matter fush.

Managing a country in Africa is not a childs play. I can see some people peeing in their pants out of exhaustion, desperation and lack of ideas: and I can also hear them sing: maata pui, pui; maata tui, tui; maata fush.

Anthony Obeng Afrane
The birth of Mali's nonuplets  nine babies born at the same time  was such an unusual event that some believed it was a hoax. But as they marked their first birthday this week they're all in good health and the family hopes to head back home to Timbuktu soon.

The birth of nonuplets to a Malian couple on 4 May 2021 was a world first and the siblings achieved the Guinness World Records title for the most children delivered at a single birth to survive.

The five baby girls (Adama, Oumou, Hawa, Kadidia, Fatouma) and four baby boys (Oumar, Elhadji, Bah and Mohammed VI) were born prematurely via Caesarean section.

It was a high-risk pregnancy for the mother Halima Cisse, and the babies were delivered after just 30 weeks.

Some of them spent more than three months in an incubator and there were concerns they might not all survive.

But this week all nine marked their first birthday in Casablanca, Morocco where they were born.

They're crawling and some are taking their first steps says their father Abdelkader Arby, even if looking after nine infants is exhausting.

This is the most difficult time when they need a lot of attention," Arby told RFI's Amelie Tulet. When they start to move, when they start to want to go from left to right, you always have to be there."

Arby has just come back to Morocco for the first time in six months, along with their three-year-old daughter, Souda.

She had remained in Timbuktu while her mother was transferred first to Bamako, then Casablanca, and met her nine siblings for the first time this week.

It was a moment of joy and stress for her," says the father, laughing. "She wanted to smile, but was also stressed to see them together. Mashallah, it was very, very beautiful."

He plans to stay in Casablanca for several weeks before returning to his job as a sailor in the Mali army.

The family is planning to return to Mali soon, but have yet to fix a date.

Ahead of the birth, Cisse was flown to Morocco by the Malian government for specialist care and the authorities continue to support the family from a distance.

She and her nine offspring are being take care of in a kind of medicalised flat belonging to the owners of the private Ain Borja clinic in Casablanca where the babies were born.

Dr Khalid Mseif has been monitoring them from birth.

The parents have been helped from the outset, he told RFI. Nurses come and help them because it's not easy to take care of nine babies at the same time. It's very hard, a lot of work."

The babies have had "the usual problems affecting infants in their first year: bronchiolitis, bronchitis. But in principle everything's going well and they haven't had many health problems.

"We're very happy to see them all here, a year later, in good health.

The health and wellbeing of the children was made possible thanks to a number of doctors in Mali and Morocco, the Malian authorities and King Mohammed VI of Morocco who allowed the mother to be transferred to the kingdom in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nigerias airlines are to stop domestic operations from Monday, May 9 in protest of the spiralling cost of jet fuel.

It has risen almost fourfold this year, which was unsustainable, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) said.

No airline in the world can absorb this kind of sudden shock from such an astronomical rise over a short period, its statement said.

The hikes have been triggered principally by Russias invasion of Ukraine at the end of February.

AON, which represents Nigerias nine domestic carriers, said the airlines had been having to subsidise services over the last four months.

There have been many flight cancellations and delays since March, often blamed on a shortage of jet fuel. The price of tickets has also tripled on some routes in recent weeks.

Passengers in Nigeria pay for fares in naira, the local currency that has been devaluing. However, fuel suppliers need to be paid in US dollars.

Despite being Africas largest oil producer, Nigeria imports almost all its jet fuel.

AON said that it had told the government, MPs, the state-owned oil company and the association representing fuel sellers that something needed to be done to bring costs down.

The hikes could not be fully passed on to passengers as they were already experiencing a lot of difficulties, it said.

The government has not yet commented on the planned strike.

Kidnapping fears AON said operations would cease indefinitely from Monday, apologised to customers and urged them to make alternative arrangements.

The manager of one of the airlines told the BBC the suspension would not affect international flights  though those with internal connections will be hit.

It will be a massive disruption for travellers in Nigeria and another blow for one of Africas largest economies, reports the BBCs Ishaq Khalid from the capital, Abuja.

Flights are often the preferred option for travel these days for those who can afford it because of insecurity on roads across the country, he says.

Kidnapping gangs operate on highways, targeting vehicles and then abducting passengers who they hold for ransom.

There has been general outrage on social media after the announcement  with people bemoaning the state of the economy, and advising those that opt to travel by road to factor in ransom money.

Last month, a train was targeted on the high-speed link between Abuja and the city of Kaduna and at least 62 people are known to have been taken hostage.

According to security risk management firm Beacon Consulting, in the first three months of this year, more than 3,500 people were killed and many more kidnapped by armed groups in Nigeria.

Source: BBC
Ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's three-day Assam visit, various organisations in the northeast have once again threatened to restart their agitations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) if the Centre tried to implement it in the region.

Shah who is likely to arrive in Guwahati late on Sunday night, would attend at least eight different events on Monday and Tuesday, coinciding with completion of one year of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led second government in Assam, headed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was sworn in on May 10 last year.

The All Assam Students' Union, the Raijor Dal, a political party headed by Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi, the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad in Assam, and the the Khasi Students' Union (KSU) in Meghalaya announced to resume their agitations against the CAA after Shah on Thursday announced in West Bengal that the government would implement the CAA as soon as the Covid-19 pandemic ends.

KSU President Lambokstar Marngar said in Shillong that any attempt to implement the CAA would provoke unrest in the hill state.

"The Centre, instead, responding the Meghalaya Assembly's unanimous resolution and and demands of all most all political parties, should extend the Inner-Line Permit system, an 1873 regulation, in the entire Meghalaya to curb the entry of illegal immigrants," Marngar told the media.

The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (CoMSO), an umbrella body of more than 17 organisations, has been spearheading the agitation since 2019 for the introduction of ILP in the remaining parts of the state.

If the ILP - a temporary official travel document that allows an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period - is enforced in the entire Meghalaya, like in four other northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur, the state would keep itself out of the purview of the CAA.

Gogoi said that the people of Assam would never accept this "anti-people" law.

Gogoi, who is also the President of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, said that the BJP should realise that all sections of people are against the CAA as this is an anti-people law.

He had spearheaded the massive protests against the contentious citizenship law in Assam since 2019 and was arrested in connection with violent protests in the state in 2019 and was charged under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The Central government had earlier announced that the CAA would not apply to the ILP and the Tribal Autonomous District Council (TADC) areas.In the northeastern states, there are 10 TADCs, constituted under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

While Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram have three TADCs each, Tripura has one.

All the eight northeastern states and neighbouring West Bengal witnessed violent protests in 2019 end and early in 2021 against the CAA, which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims minorities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, who have migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, after facing faith-based persecution. At least five people were killed in Assam in police firing and clashes during the violent agitation.
Former Asokwa Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and an aspirant for the Ashanti Regional Chairmanship position, Mr. Robert Asare-Bediako has boldly admitted taking money from party leaders to declare support for Wontumi in 2018 polls.

In an interview he granted to the State Broadcasting Cooperation on Thursday, May 5, 2022, he said "I was called by party leaders to step-down for Wontumi at the time. They promised to pay all I've spent so I accepted. I left for the USA to move on with my life after the elections. Later I was invited by the party hierarchy, and they paid an amount as compensation. So yes if you ask me...I was paid, in fact all the debt incurred was paid in full. If for nothing at all I campaigned on the ticket of the party and that alone is a plus for them," he stated.

According to Asare-Bediako, his decision to bow out of the race then was due to circumstances beyond his control so there was nothing he could do but to step aside for incumbent Regional Chairman, Mr. Bernard Antwi Bosiako, aka Wontumi to go solo.

NPP Mounting pressure on contestants to step down?

Recall that, earlier this year there was growing disquiet within the ranks and file of the ruling NPP party in the Ashanti Region.

It followed that pressure from some party elders at the national level" compel some contestants to step down in the just ended constituency and forthcoming regional chairmanship polls.

The contradictions

Robert Asare-Bediako, on Wednesday, 11th April, 2018 issued and signed a letter explaining his exit from the chairmanship race.

Portions of the letter read: The 'panin pa wo fie' campaign has the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at heart. But, upon sober reflection and introspection, and circumstances beyond my control, I, Robert Asare Bediako, gracefully suspend my campaign.

Then on April 12, 2018, barely 3 days to the polls denied, on Accra based Peace FM any machinations by party big guns in his decision to withdraw from the Regional Chairmanship race.

Bediako claimed that he was not paid to step down as was earlier reported in the media, adding that the move was in the spirit of unity ahead of the 2020 elections.

However, many people after Asare Bediako's interview and subsequent contradiction have argued that based on his confessions, he could step down again for Wontumi should he decide to pay him, and effectively end his ambition to be the Ashanti Regional chairman.

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French far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen has returned to the campaign trail announcing herself as a candidate in France's parliamentary elections in June after weeks of silence after she lost the presidential vote to Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking in her northern Pas-de-Calais constituency on Sunday, Le Pen said she hopes to have a "strong presence in parliament to lead, once again, the fight against the social policies that Emmanuel Macron wants to put in place."

Le Pen was on a visit to the town of Henin-Beaumont to mark Victory in Europe Day - the anniversary of the Allies' victory in 1945 over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Defeated by Macron in the 24 April runoff election, Le Pen pitched herself as the centrist president's main opponent and took aim at far-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Melenchon, who came third in the first round of the presidential election, is leading a coalition of left-wing parties that hope to deprive Macron of a majority in parliament.

The so-called NUPES alliance launched its campaign on Saturday.

"The reality is that Jean-Luc Melenchon helped get Emmanuel Macron elected, so that completely discredits his ability to position himself as an opponent," Le Pen said, highlighting her disagreement with the left-wing politician on immigration and law and order issues.

Le Pen's National Rally (RN), currently holds only seven seats in the National Assembly.

The party, which has sought to soften its image, will not form an alliance with far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour and his Reconquest party.
The transition from an aid seeker to a donor country is a matter of great pride for the people of Bangladesh. Now, Bangladesh has achieved the status of being a donor country. It is the combined efforts of all Bangladeshi people and leadership who have made it possible to achieve this milestone.

Bangladeshs medical and monetary help to Sri Lanka will increase its picture and status. As soon as upon a time, Bangladesh was a bottomless pit and a donation seeker within the worldwide area. Now its a donor and lending nation. It exhibits all-South Asian nations find out how to revive from ashes. Bangladesh establishes an instance in South Asia how to make sure financial development amidst numerous socio-political points. Debt-ridden Bangladesh a couple of years in the past is now a rustic of unprecedented success in debt aid. The world as we speak appears at Bangladesh in amazement.

As a good friend and shut neighbour, it is usually Bangladeshs privilege to face by Sri Lanka in no matter approach it might, throughout instances of disaster. Bangladesh has donated emergency medication value 2.3 million USD to crisis-hit Sri Lanka.

This medical help by the government of Bangladesh to the pleasant individuals of Sri Lanka is an expression of solidarity and friendship between the 2 nations when theyre celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations this year.

In this regard, a programme was held on May 04 on the State Visitor Home Padma the place Overseas Minister Dr A.Okay. Abdul Momen and Wellbeing Minister Zahid Maleque handed over a couple of packing containers of medication as a token to the Sri Lankan Excessive Commissioner to Bangladesh Professor Sudharshan D.S. Seneviratne.

Overseas Secretary Ambassador Mr Masud Bin Momen, MD & CEO of EDCL and DG (Medication), President of Bangladesh Affiliation of Prescribed drugs Industries (BAPI) Nazmul Hassan, were additionally current within the programme.

In his quick remarks, Bangladesh Overseas Minister, D. Momen termed the provide of medication, as an expression of solidarity and friendship between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, at a time when the 2 nations are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations.

Nonetheless, what occurred that Bangladesh is creating one shock after one other? Economists say there are some causes behind this: exports, social progress and financial foresight. There are three extra causes apart from financial functionality viz. sympathy, financial diplomacy and political will.

When this was the case, the sudden information got here that Bangladesh had supplied 200 million in monetary help to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan media has raised the query if Bangladesh could be self-sufficient, why cant we? In June, the finance ministry of Bangladesh gave extra startling information. It has been mentioned that Bangladesh stands by Sudan, the poorest nation in Africa. 65 crores Bangladeshi Taka has been supplied to scale back the debt burden of the IMF. The nation borrowed Rs 510,000 crore, Taka, from the IMF. The financial disaster was so extreme that the nation couldnt repay the debt. Bangladesh has come ahead after sending messages asking for assist from nation to nation.

Bangladeshs finance ministry says Sudan is closely indebted and poor. The federal government hopes the funding will strengthen Sudans combat in opposition to poverty. At one time Sudan was a British colony. The nation gained independence on January 1, 1956, below a treaty. It could be recalled that final 12 months, Bangladesh additionally supplied greater than Tk 80 million to Somalia, one other African nation. That was additionally in repaying the IMF mortgage. Sudan, a member of the Group of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, has been crippled by debt and poverty, and monetary help is anticipated to assist overcome the disaster.

Final 12 months, Bangladesh additionally handed Tk 80 million to assist Somalia fight poverty as a part of the IMF initiative. Everyone seems to be fascinated by the event of Bangladesh.

The picture of Bangladesh and the respect for the individuals of this nation has elevated as a result of help to Sri Lanka and Sudan from overseas alternate reserves. Bangladesh is now a lending nation! If Bangladesh could be self-sufficient, a lender and a financial miracle in South Asia, why cant others do this?

He added that below the in a position management of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh by no means hesitates to increase help to any nation in difficulties, particularly, to its neighbours for guaranteeing shared peace and prosperity within the South Asian area. He ensured that Bangladesh stands able to assist Sri Lanka in all potential methods.

The Sri Lankan Excessive Commissioner, whereas making his remarks expressed his gratitude to the federal government of Sri Lanka Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the federal government of Bangladesh for this pleasant gesture of supplying medication to the individuals of Sri Lanka.

He famous that Sri Lanka values the pleasant relationship with Bangladesh and is dedicated to additional strengthening it within the coming days.

He termed the gifting of the medicines, which was one other demonstration that the trajectory of the bilateral relations was transferring in the proper route.

Each EDCL and BAPI have contributed medication of BD taka 10 crores every, Taka 20 Crores in complete as items to Sri Lanka.

The medication is anticipated to succeed in Sri Lanka inside a couple of days time.

The provide of medication would definitely manifest the potential of the prescription drugs industries by way of its capacity in producing high-quality medication, and monetary capability and it additionally demonstrates Bangladeshs overseas coverage resolve of sustaining pleasant and cooperative relations along with her neighbours.

Earlier, Bangladesh supported Sri Lanka by offering $ 200 million via a forex swapping association. Everyone around the world is praising the sustainable development of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is being recognized as a rising star in South Asia. Bangladesh is improving so much today, said an economist in Pakistan. Abid Hassan said in an article in a Pakistani newspaper, that Pakistan may seek financial assistance from Bangladesh by 2030. The former World Bank economist has just predicted the future. If Bangladesh can pay 20 million US dollars to Sri Lanka, waive the IMF's Bangladeshi share of money from Somalia and Sudan, help India and Indonesia with Covid-19 medical equipment, shelter a large number of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, it can also help Pakistan financially. Bangladesh is a humanitarian state in South Asia.

The picture of Bangladesh and the respect for the individuals of this nation has elevated as a result of monetary help to Sri Lanka and Sudan from its overseas alternate reserves. Bangladesh additionally agreed to supply medical support to Afghanistan. Bangladesh in December, 2021, introduced humanitarian assist for the Afghan individuals whereas expressing deep concern over the financial and humanitarian disaster looming in Afghanistan. The nation introduced a humanitarian support bundle within the type of meals and medicinal help, the Overseas Ministry mentioned following the seventeenth extraordinary session of the Group of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Overseas Ministers on the Afghanistan state of affairs held in Islamabad, Pakistan. Now, Bangladesh gave medical help to disaster hit Sri Lanka. It proves that its a actual humanitarian state in South Asia.

From a humanitarian perspective, the short response of Bangladesh was lauded by many, nationally and globally.

Biggest humanitarian instance?

Bangladesh has already portrayed its picture firmly as a humanitarian nation, when she warmly welcomed about 1.1 million forcibly displaced Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. Regardless of many diplomatic efforts, the repatriation of Rohingya individuals has been lingering for fairly lengthy. The exodus of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh launched into quite a few strategic, financial and environmental points as Bangladesh is already an over populated nation. Nonetheless, Bangladesh continues to generously host the worlds largest and rising refugee settlement regardless of enormous burden on financial system, meals administration, restricted assets and different circumstances. Even Bangladesh deliberate to relocate a few of the Rohingyas to Bhashanchar to make sure higher residing customary for them via Ashrayan 3 Challenge by itself financing. Moreover, Bangladesh has been monitoring a powerful report in improvement and development since final decade which is able to make it extra able to providing assist to different nations in disaster.

1000s of extra examples could be drawn the place Bangladesh was among the many quickest nations to face beside others. By way of quantity, medical support to be supplied by Bangladesh to Sri Lanka may be small in scale of the required fund however its immediate response is definitely praiseworthy.

Now the query is legitimate. Bangladesh is now a donor and lending nation! If Bangladesh could be a self-sufficient, donor, lender, a financial miracle in South Asia, why cant others do this? Why does South Asia not take lessons from Bangladesh? After all, South Asia can study so much from Bangladesh.
As nations marked Victory in Europe Day on Sunday, the EU is set to celebrate its anniversary this Monday, with the bloc transforming into a more muscular global actor - a shift that has been accelerated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking before the weekend, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen declared the war in Ukraine is "fundamentally challenging" Europe's peace architecture, and that can be seen in the EU's evolution.

What began seven decades ago as a trade bloc binding former warring nations together, is today a political heavyweight funnelling weapons to Kyiv and imposing unprecedented sanctions on Russia.

The EU is also challenging an assertive China, and it learned bitter lessons from Brexit and four years of Donald Trump in the United States.

EU 'crosses the rubicon' over Ukraine

However analysts say the bloc still has a long way to go to become the strategically autonomous goliath championed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who currently holds the EU presidency.

According to Luuk van Middelaar, a Dutch political theorist who served in the cabinet of former European Council president Herman Van Rompuy: "Fundamentally, for Europe to morph into a geopolitical actor, this requires more than some policy fix or institutional fixes."

The EU indeed "crossed a Rubicon" by deciding to finance 1.5 billion of arms deliveries to Ukraine, says van Middelaar - a "striking" turnaround from its pacifist history.

Yet it has a poorly defined common strategy towards its near neighbours, whether they be Russia or the "grey zone of countries" aspiring to join, including Ukraine.

'Pragmatic federalism'

Newly re-elected Macron is expected to pursue his agenda more vigorously, backed by some other leaders this week and a bloc-wide citizens' consultation for ground-up changes to the EU's underpinning treaties.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi argued to MEPs last week that the EU needs "pragmatic federalism" which would see member states lose their ability to veto decisions agreed by a super majority.

If there is any treaty revision, it should be embraced "with courage and confidence", he said.

He added that current EU institutions and processes were "inadequate" to address the fall-out from the Ukraine war.

When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February everything changed.

Not only was EU foreign and security policy affected, but also its agriculture, migration, energy and industrial policies.

Ditching vetoes?

The European Parliament has endorsed a rewrite of EU treaties, brandishing over 300 recommended changes formulated by the Conference on the Future of Europe citizen consultation, drawn up into 49 proposals.

One idea is qualified majority voting advanced by Macron and Draghi to streamline decision-making.

Another is more powers for the European Commission over areas jealously guarded by national governments, such as defence.

EU officials said the list of proposals - due to be formally handed to Macron on Monday - would be assessed, but it is too early to say whether any of those retained would require a treaty reform.
The President of Breast Care International (BCI), Dr Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, has cautioned women not to compromise on their health in order to provide efficient services to their families.

She said if women, especially mothers, who are the managers of their homes fall sick, it grossly affects the strength of their families.

Dr Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, gave the caution during free health screening and education for women at Kejetia in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital, on Sunday, May 8, 2022.

The exercise, according to her, was to show appreciation to women on the occasion of the Mothers Day celebration.

The women were educated on the causes and prevention of breast cancer, diabetes, hypertension and non-communicable diseases.

Dr Mrs. Wiafe Addai, who is also the CEO of Peace and Love Hospitals advised them to regularly do checkups at the health facilities, but not to wait till they are hit by sicknesses.

It is the woman who manages the home so when she falls sick it affects the whole family and children suffer most so it is prudent for the woman to be health conscious to prevent fallen homes she advised.

I thus entreat women to go for checkups at the hospitals, at least every four months to know their health status, they shouldnt wait till they fall sick before going to the hospitals, she added.

Breast cancer

Dr Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, who is breast cancer specialist, reminded the women that breast cancer is curable, treatable and preventable, if detected early.

She then urged the women to regularly check their breasts and report any abnormalities to health care professionals immediately.

Breast cancer is preventable, treatable and curable when detected early so anytime you find any unusual thing in the breasts, report it to the nearest health post for intervention, she advised.

Breast cancer is not caused by witchcraft, so if you see any changes in the breasts please report it to any health facility for help, dont send it to any spiritualist for assistance, Dr Wiafe Addai added.

She noted that though the cause of the disease is yet to be known, she advised them to avoid health styles like drinking alcohol, too much fatty foods, cigarette smoking which fall under the breast cancer risk factors.
May 08, 2022

The MoA Week In Review - NOT Ukraine OT 2022-61

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:

> Last Summers adoption of Renminbi by Europe, and significant food aid from the countries of the African Union have stabilized, to a degree, the macroeconomic situation. It should be noted, however, that due to the severe difficulties of collection of information and inability of Staff to travel to the Formerly Belligerent Areas (FBAs) (separately), all National Account data have to be taken with a great dose of caution.

...

Labor and social issues. Staff note that in the conversation with all FBA (separately), it has been pointed out to the massive high-skill labor shortages. In the United States, the number of people with college degree has been reduced by an estimated two-thirds (in line with the overall casualty rate), but the outflow of high-skilled workers to other countries has additionally exacerbated the problem. It was thus estimated by the Bismarck authorities that the US has lost more than 80% of its college graduates. The US authorities mentioned the plan to build a wall which would stop further outflow of skilled labor but the costs of construction (especially given extremely high level of US foreign indebtedness; see below) are prohibitive. <

---

Other issues:

Covid-19:

Empire:

Boeing:

Use as open - Not Ukraine - thread ...

Posted by b on May 8, 2022 at 14:04 UTC | Permalink

Comments

next page 
May 08, 2022 Ukraine Open Thread 2022-62 Only news & views related to the Ukraine conflict ... Posted by b on May 8, 2022 at 14:04 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
The People are winning because they are clearer, more intelligent and are way ahead of the politicians.

by Col R Hariharan

The Rajapaksas  President Gotabaya and PM Mahinda  are fighting a losing battle to retain their hold on power, after public protests demanding their removal gathered momentum. During the first half of the month Sri Lanka went bankrupt, when the government announced that it would temporarily default on $35.5 bn in foreign debt as the war in Ukraine aggravated the countrys economic woes. Officially, Sri Lanka has requested emergency financial help from the IMF as bailout talks got underway in Washington. Finance Minister Ali Sabry is leading the negotiations with the countrys creditors on restructuring loans, which is required for an IMF package.

As the Sri Lankan media headlined it was confusion, confounded, as both the President and PM played political hopscotch to form an all-party government (APG) as though it is the panacea for the national crisis. The President convened a meeting of leaders of all parties to discuss the issue. But it seems to have made no breakthrough. Former President and SLFP leader Maithripala Sirisena speaking to the press after the meeting, said President Rjapaksa agreed to appoint an interim government and also a cabinet of ministers without the current PM. Is interim government different from APG? Or are they the same? Who will lead it as PM, if Mahinda is out?

The political talkathon on the subject even within the ruling SLPP coalition partners and 42-breakaway independent MPs from the coalition, has yielded no firm results. More time seems to have been generated on pulling the rug under the feet of the elder Rajapaksa to remove him as PM, while some others wanted both of them out.

With political jabberwocky dominating the news, few things seem certain. For the time being, PM Rajapaksa seems to be reconciled to quit, if the President so demands. At least for the time being, Mahinda seems to have blinked in the eye-ball to eye-ball stareathon. He has also lost the support of Mahanayaka Theras, Buddhist prelates. But the moot point is do these political manoeuvres help in overcoming the national crisis? The short answer is zilch.

Even if the APG is formed with some under the table manoeuvres so common in Sri Lanka politics, does President Gotabaya have a plan ready for the government to implement? After all, one of the first things the President did on his election was to arm himself with full executive powers through the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, breaking the fetters imposed by the 19th Amendment. He had his elder brother as PM and the Rajapaksas controlled the key ministries. In spite of this, the President compounded his errors of judgement, by implementing his grandiose election promises and now the country is paying for it.

The Gotabaya governments clumsy handling of the burgeoning public protests during the last three weeks, conflated them into a national anti-government mass movement, with all sections of society  students, consumers, tradesmen, trade unions, medical and media men, lawyers and even clergy  joining in. If we go by this example, it is difficult to be confident about the chances of success of any national recovery plan, the President may have up his sleeve.

In any case, the APG may never come through, as two no confidence motions (NCM)  one against the President and the other against the government are to be submitted by the opposition in the first week of May. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will be moving the NCM against the President while the main opposition party SJB is the sponsor of the NCM against the government. Even after two NCMs are passed in parliament, what do opposition parties propose to do? As of now, they do not seem to have come together to evolve a consensus, let alone a plan.

The total loss of public support to the Rajapaksas was demonstrated by hundreds of bhikkus who gathered in Colombo. Once staunch supporters of Gotabaya, they called upon the President and the government to resolve the current economic crisis by implementing the Mahanayaka Theras proposal. If the proposal was not implemented the Mahanayake would issue a Sangha Convention edict calling on monks to shun politicians. They called upon PM Rajapaksa to resign forthwith to make way for an interim government of all parties.

Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera asked President Gotabaya to beg for forgiveness from the people for all the bad decisions he made, causing much harm. He also criticised PM Rajapaksa for showing open disdain for the Mahanayaka Theras request to step down and make way for the appointment of a new PM. On the opposition parties, he said they were only interested in using the crisis to come to power instead of thinking how they can help douse the flames and bring some relief to the people.

In the rat race of politics, the common man (like Indian Penal Code, man includes woman) seems to have been left on the fringe of national discourse by politicians. But that may not reflect the ground situation. The massive protest movement is gathering more strength as politicians dither, like a distant thunder before the squall. The continuing Aragalaya (struggle in Sinhalese) at GotaGoGama at the Galle Face promenade in Colombo has become the focal point of the anti-Rajapaksa struggle. It showed that regardless of caste, creed, religion and language people have lost faith in the political class, who are trying to hitch a ride on the public protests. Can they succeed? As Sanja Jayatilleka wrote in Colombo Telegraph, Its The People vs the Political Class, in the Aragalaya. The People are winning because they are clearer, more intelligent and are way ahead of the politicians. The parliamentarians who cant seem to get what the people have crystal clear, can play silly buggers only the people stop them. High time the politicians realised this is testing time for democracy and if they fail the people, democracy will be in peril. [Written on April 30, 2022]

[Col R Hariharan, a retired MI specialist on South Asia and terrorism, served as the head of intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka 1987-90. He is associated with the Chennai Centre for China Studies. Email: haridirect@gmail.com ]
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HAVANA (AP)  The death toll of a powerful explosion at a luxury hotel in Cuba's capital increased to 31 Sunday evening as search crews with dogs hunted through the rubble of the iconic, 19th century building looking for people still missing.

The Hotel Saratoga, a five-star 96-room hotel in Old Havana, was preparing to reopen after being closed for two years when an apparent gas leak ignited, blowing the outer walls into the busy, midmorning streets just a block from the countrys Capitol building on Friday.

Several nearby structures also were damaged, including the historic Marti Theater and the Calvary Baptist Church, headquarters for the denomination in western Cuba. The church said on its Facebook page that the building suffered significant structural damage, with several collapsed or cracked walls and columns (and) the ceiling partially collapsed, though no church workers were hurt.

In releasing the names of those who were killed, the Health Ministry said the dead included four minors, a pregnant woman and a Spanish tourist, whose companion was seriously injured.

The ministry also said 54 people were injured, with 24 hospitalized. It previously reported 85 injured, but that tally turned out to include those killed by the explosion.

Nineteen families had reported people missing as of Saturday evening, but authorities did not say Sunday whether the number had changed.

Authorities said the cause of the explosion at the hotel owned by Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA was still under investigation, but believed it to have been caused by a gas leak. A large crane hoisted a charred gas tanker out of the rubble Saturday.

Burials for victims had begun, municipal authorities said, while some people still waited for news of missing friends and relatives.

We are hoping that something will be known about my cousins mother, Angela Acosta told The Associated Press near the site of the explosion. Her relative, Maria de la Concepcion Alard, lived in an apartment adjacent to the hotel with a black Labrador, which was rescued along with another dog Sunday.

Crews have worked to clean up streets around the hotel and by late Saturday, substantial pedestrian traffic had resumed.

There are mothers who are without their children today, Matha Verde, a manicurist who was walking near the Saratoga, said Sunday, when Mothers Day was celebrated in Cuba. She said she tells women who lost their sons or daughters in the explosion that they have to keep going.

The explosion added to the woes of a crucial tourism industry that had been stifled by the coronavirus pandemic as well as tightened sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump and kept in place the Biden administration. Those limited visits by U.S. tourists to the islands and restricted remittances from Cubans in the U.S. to their families in Cuba.

Tourism had started to revive somewhat early this year, but the war in Ukraine deflated a boom of Russian visitors, who accounted for almost a third of the tourists arriving in Cuba last year.

The Saratoga, which had been closed through the pandemic, was one of the elite lodgings in Havana, often hosting visiting VIPs and celebrities. Its owner is one of the Cuban military's businesses.

Some attention in Cuba began to shift to an official visit by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who arrived Saturday night at the end of a five-country tour that began in Central America.

Lopez Obrador met Sunday with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who awarded him the Order of Jose Marti for his great achievements for humanity. It is the most important award the country gives to a foreigner.

Diaz-Canel's office stated in a tweet that Lopez Obrador said he would insist to U.S. President Joe Biden that Cuba not be excluded from the Summit of the Americas it will host in Los Angeles in June.

Lopez Obrador said the objectives of the trip included signing agreements on trade, health, education and cooperation with the island, while he ratified his foreign policy stance.

We are not in favor of hegemonies, he said. Let no one exclude anyone because we are independent countries, we are sovereign countries, and no one can place themselves above the rights of peoples and nations.

Diaz-Canel visited Mexico during its independence day celebrations last year. Lopez Obrador has recently spoken out against the apparent U.S. government intention of to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the upcoming summit.
AVILLA, Ind. (AP)  A pair of ospreys that nested near live electrical lines atop a northern Indiana utility pole now have a safer home thanks to a utility crew that moved their nest.

Indiana Michigan Power workers installed a new, stand-alone pole Thursday near the nest the raptors had built on a utility pole inches from live electrical lines in the Noble County town of Avilla.
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JERUSALEM (AP)  Two Palestinians, one a teenager, were killed in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, hours after police apprehended two Palestinian men suspected of killing three Israelis last week.

It was the latest episode of violence during weeks of Palestinian attacks in Israel, and Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank that have left at least 18 Israelis and more than 30 Palestinians dead.

The Palestinian man died after he was shot by Israeli troops trying to cross Israel's separation barrier near a military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said soldiers spotted a suspect" attempting to sneak across the barrier near the West Bank city of Tulkarem and fired at him. It said the man was evacuated to receive medical treatment, but declined commenting on the mans condition. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed his death.

The Israeli military also said an Israeli civilian shot a Palestinian armed with a knife who entered a West Bank settlement south of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 17-year-old Mutassim Atallah was killed in the Tekoa settlement. Searches were under way for a second Palestinian, the army said.

In a separate incident, police said a Palestinian stabbed and wounded a police officer outside Jerusalem's Old City, and that officers shot the assailant. Paramedics said the officer was hospitalized in moderate condition. The attackers condition was not immediately clear.

Sunday's incidents were the latest in string of violent episodes in recent weeks, including deadly attacks inside Israel, an Israeli military crackdown in the West Bank, and clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at a major holy site in Jerusalem sacred to Jews and Muslims.

The ongoing conflict plays out against the backdrop of Israels occupation, now in its 55th year, of the West Bank and other lands Palestinians seek for a state. Serious peace talks collapsed more than a decade ago, while Israels settlement expansion on occupied lands has continued unabated.

This week, Israel said it is set to advance plans for the construction of 4,000 settler homes in the West Bank. If approved, it would be the biggest advancement of settlement plans since the Biden administration took office.

Sunday began with Israeli police capturing two Palestinians who killed three people in a stabbing attack last week and fled the scene, sparking a massive manhunt and keeping the country on edge.

The two attackers went on a stabbing rampage in the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad on Thursday, Israel's independence day, killing three and wounding at least four others before bolting.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told his Cabinet on Sunday that forces captured terrorists awash with incitement who killed with axes and unimaginable cruelty.

He said Israel was entering a new stage in the war on terror," and said Israel was establishing a civilian national guard that would be deployed in emergency situations like the kinds of attacks the country has witnessed in recent weeks.

The Israeli governments main goal is to restore personal security to Israeli citizens, he said.

A joint statement by police, the military and the Shin Bet internal security agency said the men, identified as 19- and 20-year-old Palestinians, were caught near a quarry not far from Elad following a search that began Thursday by special forces and commando units using helicopters and other means.

Images in Israeli media showed masked security forces confronting the men, who appeared to be beneath a green shrub in a rugged patch of land.

As forces scoured the area looking for the men, police called on the public to avoid the area, and urged Israelis to report suspicious vehicles or people to them.

Police said the attackers were from near the city of Jenin in the West Bank. The city and an adjacent refugee camp have reemerged as a militant bastion in the latest wave of violence  the worst Israel has seen in years. Several of the attackers in the recent violence have come from Jenin.

The Israeli military said it began preparations to demolish the homes of the two suspects in the village of Rummanah. Israel says the policy of demolishing homes of Palestinians who kill Israelis serves to deter would-be attackers, while rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment.

At least 18 Israelis have been killed in five attacks since March, including another stabbing rampage in southern Israel, two shootings in the Tel Aviv area, and a shooting last weekend in a West Bank settlement.

Most of the Palestinians who have died in the violence had carried out attacks or were involved in confrontations with Israeli forces in the West Bank. But an unarmed woman and two apparent bystanders were also among those killed and rights groups say Israel often uses excessive force.

The violence has been fueled by tensions at a Jerusalem hilltop compound holy to both Muslims and Jews, where Palestinians have clashed recently with Israeli police.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is the third holiest site in Islam and is built on a hilltop that is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It lies at the emotional heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Both school bond ballot propositions by Ector County Independent School District (ECISD) totaling nearly a combined $400 million were overwhelmingly rejected by voters on Saturday with similar margins of defeat for each proposition.

Proposition A, which totaled $215,255,000, would have provided funding for various school maintenance projects, as well as funding for the construction of a new career and technical school campus. The proposition failed to pass, with final results showing 4,768 votes against (61.45%) to 3,003 votes for, or (38.55%).

Proposition B, which totaled $183,000,000, would have provided for the construction of a new high school located at the corner of Faudree and Yukon in Northeast Odessa. The proposition also failed to pass, with final results showing 5,043 votes against (64.75%) to 2,746 for, or (35.25%).

According to data from the Ector County Elections Office, just shy of eight thousand voters turned out for the May 7 election, a number that GOP Chairwoman Tisha Crow tells Odessa Headlines is a very high turnout for this election cycle.

While we would always like to see more people vote, historically speaking this is a good turnout, and I am so proud of everyone who turned out and made their voices heard, Crow said.

The Ector County Republican Party took a neutral position on the bond proposals.

The bond propositions were met with scrutiny from community members, particularly the proposed new school, with residents saying the selection of the Northeast Odessa location overlooked more pressing population growth needs in West Odessa.

The school district will now have to go back to the drawing board and decide if they are going to present another bond proposals for a future election date, and, what that proposal will look like.

--

Editor's Note: For more stories about Odessa issues, go to odessaheadlines.com
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If there is ever a Bad Boy of American History Hall of Fame, Dan Sickles should get his own wing.

He served in Congress; married a woman half his age; murdered her lover and beat the rap with a dubious legal defense; became a Civil War general, losing a leg while nearly losing a big battle; dabbled in diplomacy and fooled around with a queen; filled his pockets with money that wasnt his; received the Congressional Medal of Honor; and lived to be 94.

Oh, and he did something weird with his lost leg, too.

Daniel Sickles started life working in a New York print shop and studying law. So far, so good.

Then everything went haywire.

At age 33, he married a 15-year-old girl, understandably upsetting both families. Elected to New Yorks legislature, he was reprimanded for bringing a prostitute into the Senate chamber.

A stint in Congress followed. Sickles quickly made himself notorious there, too.

Discovering his wife was having an affair with Phillip Barton Key, son of Francis Scott Key (of "Star-Spangled Banner" fame), Sickles spotted Key in Lafayette Park, pulled out a gun, and killed him. Then he calmly confessed to the crime and turned himself in.

The Congressman Killer got the kid-glove treatment. So many senators, congressmen, and society types visited, Sickles was given the jailers personal apartment. President James Buchanan sent a handwritten note of encouragement. Sickles even kept the murder weapon!

His legal dream team had Mrs. Sickles submit a tear-jerker statement confessing her infidelity. Sickles made sure newspapers ran it. Then his lawyer gambled on a legal technique that had never been tried in the U.S. He argued Sickles was so enraged he was momentarily mad and thus wasnt responsible for pulling the trigger. It was temporary insanity.

And it worked. Sickles was acquitted. But his popularity vanished because of what he did next.

Sickles forgave his wife.

Americans were outraged. Not because hed killed a man, not because he literally got away with murder, but because he stayed married to a fallen woman. With his approval ratings nose-diving, Sickles knew he had to do something fast to restore his image.

The Civil War came to his rescue.

Patriotism, they say, is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Sickles made a big show of marching off to war as colonel of a New York infantry regiment. He pulled strings in Washington and in weeks was a general. By 1863, he commanded an entire corps of the Army of the Potomac.

Fast forward to that July. Ordered to take up a position south of Gettysburg, Sickles had a better idea. Against orders, and without telling anyone, he sent his men several hundred yards forward into a peach orchard, making them vulnerable to attack from multiple sides.

Union commander George Meade ordered all corps commanders to meet at his headquarters. Wheres Dan Sickles? he asked when everyone had assembled. An officer pointed to the peach orchard. History failed to record the torrent of obscenity that followed.

The Confederates fell upon Sickles men like a thunderstorm. A cannonball slammed into his right leg, mangling it beyond recovery. Sickles was carried off on a stretcher, calmly smoking a cigar while shouting words of encouragement. The leg was amputated hours later. Sent to Washington to recover, he told reporters his version of events, thus making sure Dan Sickles looked good in newspaper accounts. And while Sickles healed, his amputated leg was with him.

It sounds creepy, but there was a reason for keeping the lost limb. The surgeon general had recently asked that specimens of morbid anatomy ... together with projectiles and foreign bodies removed be forwarded to the new Army Medical Museum in Washington. Studying them produced advancements in medical science.

The general wanted to be helpful, but in true Sickles style, he carried it to an extreme. He had a special wooden coffin made for his bones, accompanied by a card reading, With the compliments of Major General D.E.S. For years thereafter, Sickles visited the leg in the museum on the amputations anniversary. Strange, even for Victorian times, where strangeness was the rule rather than the exception.

Sickles spent the next 50 years hobbling around on crutches. There was no fallout from disobeying orders at Gettysburg. Sickles friends in D.C. made sure of that.

He later served as U.S. ambassador to Spain, where President Ulysses S. Grant figured Sickles couldnt get into mischief.

Grant figured wrong.

Even with crutches and one leg, it was widely believed Sickles had an affair with Spains Queen Isabella II. In 1871, he married a wealthy and beautiful senorita (his poor, soiled dove of a first wife having died of tuberculosis). Returning home, Sickles was even elected to Congress one final time. Incredibly, the man who had defied his commanders orders was given the Congressional Medal of Honor at age 75 for his heroism at Gettysburg. (Again, it paid to know the right people.)

When his body finally wore out in 1914, tens of thousands of people lined New Yorks streets for the funeral procession. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

But Sickles remained Sickles right up to the very end. For many years, he served on a commission that raised money to erect monuments to New Yorks Civil War soldiers  until $27,000 (almost $150,000 in todays money) turned up missing. That was the end of his association with the commission.

All major Union commanders at Gettysburg are represented by statues  except Sickles. Asked about that omission late in life he replied with characteristic bravado, The entire battlefield is a memorial to Dan Sickles.

Hes been gone for more than 100 years now, but you can glimpse Sickles bones at Washingtons National Museum of Health and Medicine.

Love him or hate him, youll have to look hard to find anyone else like him.
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HONG KONG (AP)  John Lee, a hard-line security chief who oversaw a crackdown on Hong Kongs pro-democracy movement, was elected as the citys next leader on Sunday in a vote cast by a largely pro-Beijing committee.

Lee was the only candidate and won with over 99% of the vote in which nearly all 1,500 committee members were carefully vetted by the central government in Beijing.

He will replace current leader Carrie Lam on July 1. Her five-term was marked by huge pro-democracy protests calling for her resignation, a security crackdown that has quashed virtually all dissent, the recent COVID-19 wave that had overwhelmed the health system  events that have undermined Hong Kongs reputation as an international business hub with Western-style freedoms.

I look forward to all of us starting a new chapter together, building a Hong Kong that is caring, open and vibrant, and a Hong Kong that is full of opportunities and harmony, Lee said in his victory speech.

Lam congratulated Lee in a statement and said she would submit the election results to Beijing.

The election followed major changes to Hong Kongs electoral laws last year to ensure that only patriots loyal to Beijing can hold office. The legislature was also reorganized to all but eliminate opposition voices.

The elaborate arrangements surrounding the predetermined outcome speak to Beijings desire for a veneer of democracy. The committee members voted in a secret ballot, and Lees 1,416 votes were the highest support ever for the citys top leadership position.

Without opposition, Lee would likely have easier time governing Hong Kong compared to Lam, said Ivan Choy, a senior lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kongs Department of Government and Public Administration.

A major reason for easier governance is that the electoral system has changed, he said. In the legislature and the election committee, there is almost no political opposition and the political spectrum is concentrated towards the pro-establishment camp.

With no democrats, it will be easier for the chief executive to govern as there are fewer checks and balances, he said.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Lee's election violates democratic principles and political pluralism in Hong Kong.

Selection process is yet another step in the dismantling of the one country, two systems principle, Borrell tweeted.

The Chinese governments liaison office in Hong Kong congratulated Lee and said the election was conducted in a fair, just and orderly manner in accordance with laws and regulations.

Mainland Chinas Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said in its congratulatory note that the successful election proved that the citys new electoral system is good and in line with the one country, two systems framework that Hong Kong is governed by.

Critics say freedom of speech and assembly that Hong Kong was promised to keep for 50 years when it was handed over by Britain to China in 1997 has vanished as Beijing exerts greater control over the territory.

On Sunday morning, three members of the League of Social Democrats, a local activist group, protested the election by attempting to march toward the election venue while displaying a banner demanding universal suffrage that would allow Hong Kongers to vote both for the legislature and the chief executive.

Human rights over power, the people are greater than the country, the banner read. One person, one vote for the chief executive. Immediately implement dual universal suffrage.

One protester was handing out flyers before police arrived and cordoned them off. Police also searched the protesters belongings and took down their personal details, though they made no immediate arrests.

The pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong has long demanded universal suffrage, which they say is promised in its mini-constitution, the Basic Law. It was also a key demand during massive protests in 2014 and 2019.

Lees role as Hong Kongs next leader has sparked concern that Beijing could further tighten its grip. He spent most of his civil service career in the police and security bureau, and is a staunch supporter of a national security law imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 to stamp out dissent.

As security secretary during 2019 clashes between police and demonstrators, he oversaw the use of tear gas and rubber bullets and arrests that snuffed out further protests.

More than 150 people have been arrested under the security law, which outlaws secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces in the citys affairs. Almost all prominent pro-democracy activists have been jailed, with others fleeing abroad or being intimidated into silence.

Thousands of residents have left the city of 7.4 million people amid the 2019 protests and subsequent harsh pandemic restrictions, including many professionals and expatriates.

In his election campaign in the weeks leading up to Sundays polls, Lee pledged to enact long-shelved local legislation to protect against security threats and vowed to increase housing supply in the worlds most expensive real estate market.

He also said he would improve the citys competitiveness and set a firm foundation for Hong Kongs development.
Beijing loyalist John Lee elected as Hong Kongs next leader View Photo

HONG KONG (AP)  John Lee, a hard-line security chief who oversaw a crackdown on Hong Kongs pro-democracy movement, was elected as the citys next leader on Sunday in a vote cast by a largely pro-Beijing committee.

Lee was the only candidate and won with over 99% of the vote in which nearly all 1,500 committee members were carefully vetted by the central government in Beijing.

He will replace current leader Carrie Lam on July 1. Her five-term was marked by huge pro-democracy protests calling for her resignation, a security crackdown that has quashed virtually all dissent, the recent COVID-19 wave that had overwhelmed the health system  events that have undermined Hong Kongs reputation as an international business hub with Western-style freedoms.

I look forward to all of us starting a new chapter together, building a Hong Kong that is caring, open and vibrant, and a Hong Kong that is full of opportunities and harmony, Lee said in his victory speech.

Lam congratulated Lee in a statement and said she would submit the election results to Beijing.

The election followed major changes to Hong Kongs electoral laws last year to ensure that only patriots loyal to Beijing can hold office. The legislature was also reorganized to all but eliminate opposition voices.

The elaborate arrangements surrounding the predetermined outcome speak to Beijings desire for a veneer of democracy. The committee members voted in a secret ballot, and Lees 1,416 votes were the highest support ever for the citys top leadership position.

Without opposition, Lee would likely have easier time governing Hong Kong compared to Lam, said Ivan Choy, a senior lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kongs Department of Government and Public Administration.

A major reason for easier governance is that the electoral system has changed, he said. In the legislature and the election committee, there is almost no political opposition and the political spectrum is concentrated towards the pro-establishment camp.

With no democrats, it will be easier for the chief executive to govern as there are fewer checks and balances, he said.

The European Unions foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Lees election violates democratic principles and political pluralism in Hong Kong.

Selection process is yet another step in the dismantling of the one country, two systems principle, Borrell tweeted.

The Chinese governments liaison office in Hong Kong congratulated Lee and said the election was conducted in a fair, just and orderly manner in accordance with laws and regulations.

Mainland Chinas Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said in its congratulatory note that the successful election proved that the citys new electoral system is good and in line with the one country, two systems framework that Hong Kong is governed by.

Critics say freedom of speech and assembly that Hong Kong was promised to keep for 50 years when it was handed over by Britain to China in 1997 has vanished as Beijing exerts greater control over the territory.

On Sunday morning, three members of the League of Social Democrats, a local activist group, protested the election by attempting to march toward the election venue while displaying a banner demanding universal suffrage that would allow Hong Kongers to vote both for the legislature and the chief executive.

Human rights over power, the people are greater than the country, the banner read. One person, one vote for the chief executive. Immediately implement dual universal suffrage.

One protester was handing out flyers before police arrived and cordoned them off. Police also searched the protesters belongings and took down their personal details, though they made no immediate arrests.

The pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong has long demanded universal suffrage, which they say is promised in its mini-constitution, the Basic Law. It was also a key demand during massive protests in 2014 and 2019.

Lees role as Hong Kongs next leader has sparked concern that Beijing could further tighten its grip. He spent most of his civil service career in the police and security bureau, and is a staunch supporter of a national security law imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 to stamp out dissent.

As security secretary during 2019 clashes between police and demonstrators, he oversaw the use of tear gas and rubber bullets and arrests that snuffed out further protests.

More than 150 people have been arrested under the security law, which outlaws secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces in the citys affairs. Almost all prominent pro-democracy activists have been jailed, with others fleeing abroad or being intimidated into silence.

Thousands of residents have left the city of 7.4 million people amid the 2019 protests and subsequent harsh pandemic restrictions, including many professionals and expatriates.

In his election campaign in the weeks leading up to Sundays polls, Lee pledged to enact long-shelved local legislation to protect against security threats and vowed to increase housing supply in the worlds most expensive real estate market.

He also said he would improve the citys competitiveness and set a firm foundation for Hong Kongs development.
Eight-year-old one of the youngest hams in Arkansas

On April 29 Silas Kriner, aged 8, passed his amateur radio exam, he is now waiting for FCC to issue his license permitting up to 1,500 watts output



Silas is the son of radio amateurs Eric KF5KVE and Florence KF5OBU, his Technician license is the entry level license in the USA, it permits 200 watts in parts of the 3.5, 7, 21 and 28 MHz bands and up to 1,500 watts on all amateur allocations above 30 MHz.

The Jonesboro Sun newspaper reported on his achievement:He said he was excited when he passed his Technician Class license examination on April 29.Now I am just waiting for the FCC to send me my license so that I can started transmitting, he said.I wanted to help the community in case of a natural disaster, like a tornado or an earthquake, Silas said, because they are scary and I want to help people with that.He said that he became interested in the radio after he watched his parents on their radio, which he will soon get to use, as well. He began studying a few weeks ago and then took and passed his test a couple weeks later.Read the full story at
Live updates | UN chief appalled at reported school attack View Photo

UNITED NATIONS  The United Nations chief says he is appalled at the reported attack on a school in the Ukrainian town of Bilohorivka, where many people were apparently seeking shelter from fighting.

A U.N. spokesman said Sunday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be spared under international law.

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric says: This war must end, and peace must be established in line with the Charter of the United Nations and international law. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners in Ukraine will continue supporting those whose lives have been shattered by war.

___

KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Dozens of Ukrainians feared dead after Russian strike on school

 Patriotism, unease mix in Russia ahead of big Victory Day celebrations

 G-7 leaders call Ukraines president, vow to ban or cut back on Russian oil imports

 Jill Biden makes surprise Mothers Day visit to Ukraine, meets first lady there

 Ukrainian volunteers work to craft body armor, camouflage nets for soldiers

Follow all AP stories on Russias war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  More than 170 people have been evacuated from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after weeks of shelling and fighting as Russia attempts to take over the port city.

Thats according to a Sunday statement by Osnat Lubrani, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine.

The evacuees have been taken to Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeastern Ukraine. Lubrani says more than 600 people have now been evacuated from the Mariupol area.

The most recent evacuation was the latest effort to rescue people from tunnels beneath the Azovstal steel mine, where Ukrainian fighters are trying to hold off Russian attackers.

The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been coordinating the evacuations.

___

KYIV, Ukraine  U2 frontman Bono performed in a Kyiv subway station that serves as a bomb shelter on Sunday, showing his support for Ukrainians trying to fend off the Russian invasion.

The Irish singer has tweeted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited us to perform in Kyiv as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and so thats what weve come to do.

Bono, alongside guitarist the Edge, sang the Ben E. King song Stand By Me in the Khreschatyk metro station. He was joined by another singer in Ukrainian military fatigues.

He also visited Bucha, a town outside Kyiv where hundreds of bodies were found after Russian troops withdrew last month. The town is considered a possible war crimes site.

__

KYIV, Ukraine  Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys surrender in 1945.

Cutting out Russian oil supplies will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement.

We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies, they added.

Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.

We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community, they said.

U.S. President Joe Bidens call with the G-7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.

___

ROME  Italian Premier Mario Draghi told fellow G-7 leaders during a meeting via video call that a sixth package of sanctions must go forward against Russia.

His office shared details of the call in a Sunday evening statement. Draghis office says he told other world leaders at the same time, we must make every effort to help reach as soon as possible a cease-fire and to give new thrust to peace negotiations.

He also pressed for continued commitment by the G-7 grouping to help poor countries at risk of a food crisis. Exports of grain from Ukraine and Russia cover much of the needs of other nations, especially in Africa. The war is threatening Ukraines grain production, and the fighting in and around Black Sea ports makes food shipments impossible.

The premiers office says the G-7 leaders reiterated their committment to diversify energy sources to reduce dependent on Russian supplies. Italy, heavily dependent on Russian natural gas when the war began, has since secured several agreements for alternative gas supplies from other countries. But Hungarys objections last week to proposed sanctions on Russian oil have complicated European Union efforts.

___

WASHINGTON  The United States has announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

The penalties include cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian and more restrictions on Russias industrial sector. Those additional restrictions included cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

The U.S. also says the Group of Seven leading industrialized powers have committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil. The U.S. announced its own ban on Russian oil and energy products in March but the U.S. had few Russian energy imports compared to Europe.

The new round of sanctions will hit three of Russias most popular television stations  Channel One Russia, Russia-1 and NTV  which the U.S. says have been forefront of spreading misinformation about Russia invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. says it has imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials and issued a new visa restriction policy that applies to Russian military officials and authorities suspected of human rights abuses or corruption.

The U.S. also sanctioned 27 executives from Gazprombank, a bank that facilitates sales by Russias energy giant Gazprom.

___

KYIV, Ukraine  The Ukrainian army said Sunday that Moscow was focusing its main efforts that day on destroying airfield infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine, in order to prevent Ukrainian air forces from operating effectively.

At least five explosions were heard in the key Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa on Sunday, according to reports in local news media. Odesa, Ukraines third-largest city and a cultural center of deep significance to both Ukrainians and Russians, has so far been largely spared in the ten-week-old war.

Multiple photos and videos appeared to show trails and clouds of smoke in the sky above the city. Local media also reported that at least one missile had been shot down. As of Sunday afternoon, there have been no reports of casualties, although one newspaper claimed that civilian infrastructure had been damaged.

According to a Facebook post Sunday on the profile of Ukraines General Chiefs of Staff, Russia also ramped up operational and tactical aviation activity in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.

The Kharkiv regional administration says three people were killed in shelling of the town of Bogodukhiv, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

___

IRPIN, Ukraine  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made a surprise visit to Ukraine amid Russias war on the country.

Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne and Irpin Mayor Olexander Markushyn announced Trudeaus visit to Irpin, which had been damaged by Russias attempt to take Kyiv at the start of the war. Markushyn posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeau is the latest Western leader to come to Ukraine to offer their support to the country. Later in the day he raised his countrys flag at Canadian Embassy in Kyiv.

His office later confirmed the visit, saying in a statement the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

___

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraine and Canada will return to work on expanding the Free Trade Area Agreement between them, with a view to finalize it within weeks, the Ukrainian economy ministry announced Sunday following an online meeting between top trade officials.

The meeting between Ukraines first deputy minister for the economy, Yulia Sviridenko, and Canadas international trade minister, Mary Ng, coincided with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus visit to Kyiv on Sunday afternoon.

Ukraines Economy Ministry said Sviridenko expressed hope for Canadas support in overcoming the food crisis sparked by the blocking of Ukrainian seaports. Sviridenko also said that the abolition of Canadian duties on Ukrainian goods  a step previously taken by the E.U. and the U.K.  would be an important move towards boosting the Ukrainian economy.

This will help exporters increase the volume of produce leaving the country, and thereby strengthen the Ukrainian economy and the defense of our state, the ministry statement quoted her as saying.

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UZHHOROD, Ukraine  U.S. first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting with the nations first lady, Olena Zelenska, as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.

Her visit follows recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, as well as a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

The first lady traveled by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod from a Slovakian village that borders Ukraine.

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WASHINGTON  A U.S. official says the top American diplomat in Ukraine has temporarily returned to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the capital  an announcement tied to V-E Day.

The official says the return of the acting ambassador, Kristina Kvien, fulfills a pledge that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made to Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during the Americans recent visit to Kyiv with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The official says the return of select U.S. diplomats to the embassy is a testament to Ukraines success, Moscows failure, and our effective and enduring partnership with the government and people of a sovereign, democratic, and free Ukraine.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the developments before an official announcement.

Its not clear when the U.S. embassy will fully reopen. Video showed a convoy of American vehicles drive into the embassy on Sunday afternoon.

 AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington.

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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school sheltering about 90 people in its basement, while Ukrainian troops refused to surrender at a besieged steel plant that Moscows invading forces sped to seize before Russias Victory Day holiday.

The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturdays bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said.

Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

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KYIV, Ukraine  The Norwegian parliament speaker joined the slew of top Western officials meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and other leaders in Kyiv on Sunday.

According to a statement by the Ukrainian presidential press service, Zelenskyy thanked Masud Gharakhani, president of the Norwegian Storting, for Norways transfers of defensive weapons to Ukraine, as well as its financial support and humanitarian aid.

Speaking in Kyiv on VE Day, Gharakhani said:

Today, my country celebrates the day when we managed to regain our democracy and independence after the Second World War. Unfortunately, your country is again facing aggression and violence.

Gharakhani also joined his Ukrainian counterpart, Ruslan Stefanchuk, in laying flowers at the Kyiv memorials to those who died in World War II and the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war.

In addition, he met with Ukraines premier Denys Shmygal, who later said on Twitter that the two had discussed defense, energy support to Ukraine and that the Norwegian proposed the joint creation of rehabilitation centers for veterans in Ukraine.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraines foreign minister says he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Dmytro Kuleba made the comment Sunday on Twitter.

He added: New stiff U.S. sanctions on Russia are coming. Discussed ways to unblock Ukraines food exports and ensure global food security.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the German parliament speaker during her visit to Kyiv on Sunday, discussing further defense assistance as well as sanctions against Russia, Zelenskyys press office said in a statement Sunday afternoon.

According to the statement, Zelenskyy told Barbel Bas, the President of the Bundestag, that Ukraine expects strong and confident leadership from Germany when it comes to helping Kyiv beat Russian aggression.

He noted the recent adoption by the Bundestag of a resolution calling on the German government to expand and accelerate the provision of heavy weapons to Ukraine. He also expressed confidence in Berlins official support for granting Ukraine E.U. candidate status.

We really appreciate that on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation itself, and in what for us is such a trying time of war, the President of the German Bundestag Barbel Bas came to support Ukraine, said a post published Sunday afternoon on Zelenskyys Telegram channel.

The Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for those who died in World War II, marked on May 8 and 9, is an annual international day of remembrance designated by a 2004 U.N. resolution.

In an interview with the German newspaper Rheinische Post, Bas called her meeting with Zelenskyy very good and friendly, adding that she had come to Ukraine because she felt it was important to me to personally express Germanys solidarity with Ukraine to him.

She added that Germany will do everything in its power to support Ukraine, including backing its efforts to join the European Union and providing aid to help with rebuilding.

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MARIUPOL, Ukraine  To demonstrate success in time for Russias key Victory Day holiday on Monday, the Russian military worked Sunday to complete its takeover of the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which has been under relentless assault since the start of the war.

The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making a last stand is the only part of the city not under Russian control.

All the remaining women, children and older civilians who were sheltering with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. The Ukrainian troops rejected deadlines given by the Russians who said the defenders could leave with their lives if they laid down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, a Ukrainian National Guard battalion holding the steel mill, told an online news conference Sunday that the site was targeted overnight by three fighter jet sorties, artillery and tanks.

We are under constant shelling, he said, adding that Russian infantry tried to storm the plant  a claim Russian officials denied in recent days  and to lay landmines. Palamar said there was a multitude of casualties at the plant.

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant.

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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  Sparks fly as a circular saw slices into metal, while welders nearby work feverishly to the sound of blaring heavy metal. Upstairs, sewing machines clatter as women mark patterns on cloth being shaped into bulletproof vests.

An old industrial complex in the southeastern Ukrainian riverside city of Zaporizhzhia has become a hive of activity for volunteers producing everything from body armor and anti-tank obstacles to camouflage nets, portable heating stoves and rifle slings for Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russias invasion. One section specializes in vehicles, armor-plating some, converting others into ambulances. Another organizes food and medical deliveries.

With front lines all across Ukraine, some sections of the operation, such as the stitching of bulletproof vests, are working around the clock in shifts to meet demand. Crowdfunding has brought in enough money to buy steel from Sweden, Finland and Belgium, which is lighter than local steel, organizers say, a crucial quality for body armor.

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KYIV, Ukraine  After rescuers evacuated the last civilians from the besieged steel mill in Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that work would continue Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the fighters remaining in the plants underground tunnels and bunkers.

The Ukrainian leader was expected to hold online talks Sunday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from other Group of Seven countries. The meeting is partly meant to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys 1945 surrender.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Explosions echoed again Sunday across the major Black Sea port of Odesa, which Russia struck with six cruise missiles on Saturday, while rocket fire damaged some 250 apartments, according to the city council.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, the May 9 holiday when Russia celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a video address Sunday marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russias invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism.

The black-and-white video, published on social media, showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, one of the Kyiv suburbs pummeled before Russian troops withdrew from the capital region weeks ago.

Every year, on May 8, along with the whole civilized world, we pay our respects to everyone who defended the planet against Nazism during World War II, Zelenskyy said, adding that prior generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow to never allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.

By The Associated Press
Syria President Assad visits Iran for meetings in rare trip View Photo

TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  Syrian President Bashar Assad met with Iranian leaders in Tehran on Sunday, Iranian and Syrian media reported, marking his second trip to major wartime ally Iran since Syrias civil war erupted in 2011.

Nour News, a website close to Irans Supreme National Security Council, reported that Assad met Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi. It said the leaders praised the strong ties between their nations and vowed to boost relations further. Assad was reported to have left Tehran for Damascus later on Sunday.

Everybody now looks at Syria as a power, Khamenei told Assad in the meeting, according to Irans semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to the countrys powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The respect and credibility of Syria is now much more than before.

Assad, for his part, said that strong relations between Iran and Syria served as a bulwark against American and Israeli influence in the Middle East.

America today is weaker than ever, Syrian state news agency, SANA, quoted Assad as saying. We should continue this track, he added, praising Irans help in Syrias fight against terrorism.

In an apparent reference to a recent string of deadly attacks in Israel by Palestinian assailants, Assad also said that the Palestinian cause has again captured the worlds attention because of the sacrifices of the Palestinian resistance.

Iranian media published photos of Assad shaking hands warmly with Khamenei and grinning beside Raisi.

Assad has rarely travelled abroad since his governments crackdown on Syrias civil unrest in 2011 led to a devastating civil war and made him a global pariah.

He has visited key patrons Russia and Iran, and made his first trip to the United Arab Emirates since the conflict earlier this year  the clearest signal yet that the Arab world is willing to re-engage with the once widely shunned president as Arab states seek to blunt the expanding influence of their Shiite foe in Syria.

Tehran has given the Syrian government billions of dollars in aid and sent Iran-backed fighters to battle alongside his forces  assistance that, along with Russian air power, has helped turn the tide in Assads favor.

The Tehran visit marked Assads first trip to the Iranian capital in over two years. The visit was not announced beforehand.

Police were out in force at major thoroughfares and intersections in Tehran on Sunday.
Jill Biden pays surprise visit to Ukraine, meets first lady View Photo

UZHHOROD, Ukraine (AP)  Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

She became the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during the war, while Zelenskas public appearance was her first since since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility.

Zelenska thanked Biden for her courageous act and said, We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day  even today.

The first ladies met at a school being used to temporarily house Ukrainian migrants. Zelenska arrived first and waited in her black SUV until Biden arrived in similar fashion. The women stepped out of their vehicles and embraced, with Biden  who wore a wrist corsage for Mothers Day  handing over a bouquet of flowers before they entered the school.

The women came together in a small classroom, sitting on either side of a wooden table and greeting each other in front of reporters before they met in private. Zelenska and her two children have been staying at an undisclosed location for their safety.

The visit allowed Biden to conduct the kind of personal diplomacy that her husband would like to do himself.

President Joe Biden said when he visited Poland in March that he was disappointed he could not cross the border and go into Ukraine to see conditions firsthand but that he was not allowed, likely due to security reasons. The White House said as recently as last week that the president would love to visit but there were no plans for him to do so at this time.

The meeting came about after Jill Biden expressed interest in visiting the region, including the school where she and Zelenska met, and settled on the idea of spending Mothers Day with Ukrainian moms, said Michael LaRosa, the first ladys spokesperson.

He said the Ukrainian government informed the United States that Zelenska would like to meet, if possible, and that a meeting was finalized in recent days. The first ladies also had recently exchanged correspondence, according to U.S. officials who declined to provide further details because they were not authorized to discuss those private communications.

After meeting privately for about a half hour, the first ladies joined a group of children who live at the school in making tissue-paper bears to give as Mothers Day gifts.

LaRosa described their conversation as more of a personal mother-to-mother exchange and said Biden was interested in how Zelenska was coping through that lens.

He said Zelenska told Biden that she was able to hold her childrens hands every night even though she could not be with her husband.

The Bidens spoke by telephone afterward, he said.

Bidens visit followed recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, and a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Her visit was to western Ukraine; Russia is concentrating its military power in eastern Ukraine, and she was not in harms way. On the same day as Bidens visit, a Russian bomb flattened a school in eastern Ukraine that had been sheltering about 90 people in its basement, with dozens feared dead. Also Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine to meet with the president and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people, according to his office.

Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, Biden toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel, where a priest intoned, We pray for the people of Ukraine.

And before that, at a school in Kosice, Biden offered support to Ukrainian mothers in Slovakia. She assured them that the hearts of the American people are behind them.

At a bus station in the city that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center, Biden found herself in an extended conversation with a Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children because she cannot understand it herself.

I cannot explain because I dont know myself and Im a teacher, Victorie Kutocha, who had her arms around her 7-year-old daughter, Yulie, told Biden.

At one point, Kutocha asked, Why? seeming to seek an explanation for Russias decision to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Its so hard to understand, the first lady replied.

Biden also dropped in at a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students. Slovakian and Ukrainian moms were brought together at the school for a Mothers Day event while their children made crafts to give them as gifts.

She went from table to table meeting the mothers and kids, telling some of the women that she wanted to come and say the hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine.

I just wanted to come and show you our support, she said before departing for Vysne Nemecke.

Biden is on a four-day visit to Eastern Europe to highlight U.S. support for Ukrainian refugees and for allied countries such as Romania and Slovakia that are providing a safe haven for them.

She spent Friday and Saturday in Romania, visiting with U.S. troops and meeting with Ukrainian refugee mothers and children.

With her trip, the American first lady followed the path of prior sitting first ladies who also traveled to war or conflict zones.

Eleanor Roosevelt visited servicemen abroad during World War II to help boost troop morale. Pat Nixon joined President Richard Nixon on his 1969 trip to South Vietnam, becoming the first first lady to visit a combat zone, according to the National First Ladies Library. She flew 18 miles from Saigon in an open helicopter, accompanied by U.S. Secret Service agents.

Hillary Clinton visited a combat zone, stopping in Bosnia in 1996. Laura Bush visited Afghanistan twice, in 2005 and 2008, during the U.S.-led war there. Melania Trump accompanied President Donald Trump to Iraq in December 2018.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that the name of Ukraines first lady is Olena Zelenska, not Zalenska.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE

Associated Press
After leak, religious rift over legal abortion on display View Photo

Americas faithful are bracing  some with cautionary joy and others with looming dread  for the Supreme Court to potentially overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and end the nationwide right to legal abortion.

A reversal of the 49-year-old ruling has never felt more possible since a draft opinion suggesting justices may do so was leaked this week. While religious believers at the heart of the decades-old fight over abortion are shocked at the breach of high court protocol, they are still as deeply divided and their beliefs on the contentious issue as entrenched as ever.

National polls show that most Americans support abortion access. A Public Religion Research Institute survey from March found that a majority of religious groups believe it should be legal in most cases  with the exception of white evangelical Protestants, 69% of whom said the procedure should be outlawed in most or all cases.

In conservative Christian corners, the draft opinion has sparked hope. Faith groups that have historically taken a strong anti-abortion stance, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have urged followers to pray for Roes reversal.

The Rev. Manuel Rodriguez, pastor of the 17,000-strong Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic church in New York Citys Queens borough, said his mostly Latino congregation is heartened by the prospect of Roes demise at a time when courts in some Latin American countries such as Colombia and Argentina have moved to legalize abortion.

You dont fix a crime committing another crime, Rodriguez said.

Bishop Garland R. Hunt Sr., senior pastor of The Fathers House, a nondenominational, predominantly African American church in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, agreed.

This is the result of ongoing, necessary prayer since 1973, Hunt said. As a Christian, I believe that God is the one that gives life  not politicians or justices. I certainly want to see more babies protected in the womb.

No faith is monolithic on the abortion issue. Yet many followers of faiths that dont prohibit abortion are aghast that a view held by a minority of Americans could supersede their individual rights and religious beliefs.

In Judaism, for example, many authorities say abortion is permitted or even required in cases where the womans life is in danger.

This ruling would be outlawing abortion in cases when our religion would permit us, said Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, scholar in residence at the National Council of Jewish Women, and it is basing its concepts of when life begins on someone elses philosophy or theology.

In Islam, similarly, there is room for all aspects of reproductive choice from family planning to abortion, said Nadiah Mohajir, co-founder of Heart Women and Girls, a Chicago nonprofit that works with Muslim communities on reproductive rights and other gender issues.

One particular political agenda is infringing on my right and my religious and personal freedom, she said.

According to new data released Wednesday by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 56% of U.S. Muslims say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, a figure thats about on par with the beliefs of U.S. Catholics.

Donna Nicolino, a student at Fire Lotus Temple, a Zen Buddhist center in Brooklyn, said her faith calls on followers to show compassion to others. Restricting or banning abortion fails to consider why women have abortions and would hurt the poor and marginalized the most, she said.

If we truly value life as a culture, Nicolino said, we would take steps like guaranteeing maternal health care, health care for children, decent housing for pregnant women.

Sikhism prohibits sex-selective killings  female infanticide  but is more nuanced when it comes to abortion and favors compassion and personal choice, said Harinder Singh, senior fellow of research and policy at Sikhri, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that creates educational resources about the faith.

A 2019 survey he co-led with research associate Jasleen Kaur found that 65% of Sikhs said abortion should be up to the woman instead of the government or faith leaders, while 77% said Sikh institutions should support those who are considering abortions.

The surveyed Sikh community is very clear that no religious or political authority should be deciding this issue, Singh said.

Compassion is a virtue emphasized as well by some Christian leaders who are calling on their ardently anti-abortion colleagues to lower the temperature as they speak out on the issue.

The Rev. Kirk Winslow, pastor of Canvas Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California, said he views abortion through a human and spiritual lens instead of as a political issue. Communities should turn to solutions such as counseling centers, parenting courses, health care and education, he said, instead of getting drawn into a culture war.

He has counseled women struggling with whether to have an abortion, and stresses the importance of empathy.

Amidst the pain, fear and confusion of an unexpected pregnancy, no one has ever said, Im excited to get an abortion, Winslow said. And there are times when getting an abortion may be the best chance we have to bring Gods peace to the situation. And I know many would disagree with that position. I would only respond that most havent been in my office for these very real and very difficult conversations.

Likewise, Caitlyn Stenerson, an Evangelical Covenant Church pastor and campus minister in Minnesotas Twin Cities area, called on faith leaders to tread carefully, bearing in mind that women in their pews may have had abortions for a variety of reasons and may be grieving and wrestling with trauma.

As a pastor my job isnt to heap more shame on people but to bring them to Jesus, Stenerson said. We are called to speak truth, but with love.

Ahead of a final court ruling expected to be handed down this summer, faith leaders on both sides are preparing for the possibility of abortion becoming illegal in many states.

The Rev. Sarah Halverson-Cano, senior pastor of Irvine United Congregational Church in Irvine, California, said her congregation is considering providing sanctuary and other support to women who may travel to the state to end their pregnancies. On Tuesday, the day after the draft opinion leaked, she led congregants and community members in a rally for abortion rights in nearby Santa Ana.

Our faith calls us to be responsive to those in need, Halverson-Cano said. Its time to stand with women and families and look into how to respond to this horrible injustice.

Niklas Koehler, president of the Students for Life group at Franciscan University of Steubenville, a private Catholic college in eastern Ohio, said he and others regularly attend a special Mass on Saturday with prayers for an end to abortion. They then travel across the state line to nearby Pittsburgh to hold a prayer vigil and distribute leaflets outside an abortion clinic.

Actions like that will continue to be necessary even if the draft opinion becomes the law of the land, Koehler said, because abortion will likely remain legal in states such as Pennsylvania.

We will still be going to pray outside the clinic, he said.

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Bharath reported from Los Angeles and Henao from New York. Associated Press writers Giovanna DellOrto in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Peter Smith in Pittsburgh contributed.

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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.

By DEEPA BHARATH and LUIS ANDRES HENAO

Associated Press
OBERAMMERGAU, Germany (AP)  Almost 400 years ago, the Catholic residents of a small Bavarian village vowed to perform a play of the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ every 10 years, if only God would spare them any further losses from the plague known as the Black Death.

Legend has it that ever since 1634, when the villagers of Oberammergau first performed their passion play, no more residents died of that pestilence or any other plagues  until 2020, when the world was hit by a new plague, the coronavirus pandemic. Oberammergau, like so many places worldwide, suffered some COVID-19 deaths, though residents who confirmed that were unsure how many.

Another consequence: The villagers could not fulfill their vow to stage the play after a 10-year interval. It was set to open in the spring of 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic.

Now, after a two-year delay, the famous Oberammergau Passion Play is finally opening on May 14  the 42nd staging since its long-ago debut. Almost half of the villages residents  more than 1,800 people, including 400 children  will participate in the play about the last five days before Christ's crucifixion.

It's a production modernized to fit the times, stripped of antisemitic allusions and featuring a diverse cast that include refugee children and non-Christian actors.

The play will be one of the first major cultural events in Germany since the outbreak of the pandemic, with almost half a million visitors expected from Germany and all over the world, notably from the United States.

Just a few weeks ago, many could not believe that the Passion Play would premiere, said director Christian Stueckl, who was born in Oberammergau and has been in charge of the play for more than 30 years.

We dont know what COVID-19 will do, if there will be another wave," he said. "But we have an endless desire to bring our passion play back to the stage and we are highly motivated.

All the actors tested themselves for the virus before every rehearsal and will continue to do so for all 103 performances which run through Oct. 2, Stueckl said. They have all been letting their hair grow  and the men letting beards grow  for over a year, as tradition dictates.

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine still underway, themes such as war, hunger, persecution and displacement play prominent roles in this years production  showing the timelessness of human suffering from 2,000 years ago and from today.

The play  which for hundreds of years reflected a conservative, Catholic outlook  has received a careful makeover to become reflective of Germanys more diverse society. It includes a leading Muslim actor for the first time and has been purged of the many notorious antisemitic plot lines which drew widespread criticism.

The history of the Oberammergau Passion Play as being one which manifests these antisemitic tropes  Jews as villainous, Jews as deceptive, Jews as bloodthirsty, Jews as manipulative, Jews as Christ killers  was always part of the story, Rabbi Noam Marans told The Associated Press in a recent interview in Oberammergau.

Marans, the director for interreligious and intergroup relations for the American Jewish Committee in New York, has been advising Stueckl together with a team of Christian and Jewish American experts for several years on how to rid the play of antisemitic content.

Its been a success story. The play no longer depicts the Jews as Christ's killers, and shows clearly that Jesus was a Jew himself. It places the story of Jesus last days in historical context, with all its intra-Jewish tensions and the Jews oppression by the Romans.

The male performers wear yarmulkes, making them clearly recognizable as Jews. Of course, there are many Christian elements as well, such as the famous choir and orchestra whose musical compositions go back to the early 19th century.

The mix of Christian and Jewish influences on the current performance is vividly illustrated during the depiction of the Last Supper, when a huge Menorah is lit on the table and the disciples of Jesus recite both Hebrew prayers and the Christian Lords Prayer.

Let there be no doubt: in Oberammergau, in the play, antisemitism has no place, and it has no place in the lives of the performers either, Stueckl said.

Along with tackling the plays antisemitism, Stueckl made it a more inclusive performance overall.

Until the 1990s, when Stueckl took over as director, performers had to belong to one of the two major German churches, Roman Catholic or Lutheran. These days, people who have left the church, atheists, Muslims, and members of any other religious affiliation are welcome to participate as long as they are residents of Oberammergau.

Judas is played by Muslim actor Cengiz Gorur. The deputy director, Abdullah Karaca, is the son of Turkish immigrants. And several children of refugees from Africa and elsewhere, who only recently arrived in Oberammergau after fleeing their home countries, were invited to perform.

When it comes to women, theres still some work to be done. Stueckl called the play very male-dominated  all leading roles are male, with the exception only of Jesus mother, Mary, and Mary Magdalene.

Asked whether he could imagine a future performance in which women played leading male roles, Stueckl shook his head.

I dont think I will live to see Jesus being played by a woman  or Mary by a man, he said. Then he paused for a moment, smiled, and added: Even though the world would not come to an end because of that.

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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.
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  More than 60 people were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school being used as a shelter, Ukrainian officials said, while Moscow's forces pressed their attack on defenders inside Mariupol's steel plant in an apparent race to capture the city ahead of Russia's Victory Day holiday.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was appalled by the reported school bombing Saturday in the eastern village of Bilohorivka and called it another reminder that it is civilians that pay the highest price in war.

Authorities said about 90 people were sheltering in the basement. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, but "most likely all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk province, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said. Luhansk is part of the Donbas, the industrial heartland in the east that Russia's forces are working to capture.

As Moscow prepared to celebrate the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany with a Victory Day military parade on Monday, a lineup of Western leaders and celebrities made surprise visits to Ukraine in a show of support.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden met with her Ukrainian counterpart. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised his countrys flag at its embassy in Kyiv. And U2's Bono, alongside bandmate The Edge, performed in a Kyiv subway station that had been used as a bomb shelter, singing the 1960s song Stand by Me.

The acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Kristina Kvien, posted a picture of herself at the American Embassy, and described plans for the eventual U.S. return to the Ukrainian capital after Moscow's forces abandoned their effort to storm Kyiv weeks ago and began focusing on the capture of the Donbas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others warned in recent days that Russian attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, and some cities declared curfews or cautioned people against gathering in public. Russian President Vladimir Putin may want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square.

They have nothing to celebrate tomorrow, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN. They have not succeeded in defeating the Ukrainians. They have not succeeded in dividing the world or dividing NATO. And they have only succeeded in isolating themselves internationally and becoming a pariah state around the globe.

Russian forces struggled to complete their takeover of Mariupol, which has been largely reduced to rubble. The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making what appeared to be their last stand was the only part of the city not under Russian control.

The last of the women, children and older civilians who were taking shelter with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. Buses carrying over 170 evacuees from the steelworks and other parts of Mariupol arrived in the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, U.N. officials said.

The Ukrainian defenders in the steel mill have rejected deadlines set by the Russians for laying down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment, a unit holding the steel mill, said the site was targeted overnight by warplanes, artillery and tanks.

We are under constant shelling, he said online, adding that Russian ground troops tried to storm the plant  a claim Russian officials denied in recent days  and lay mines. Palamar reported a multitude of casualties."

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant but declined to reveal how many able-bodied fighters remained. He said fighters didn't have lifesaving equipment and had to dig by hand to free people from bunkers that had collapsed under the shelling.

Surrender for us is unacceptable because we cannot grant such a gift to the enemy," Samoilenko said.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the defenders.

On the economic front, leaders from the Group of Seven industrial democracies pledged to ban or phase out imports of Russian oil. The G-7 consists of the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.

The United States also announced new sanctions against Russia, cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest TV stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services, and cutting off Russia's industrial sector from wood products, industrial engines, boilers and bulldozers.

Trudeau met with Zelenskyy and made a surprise visit to Irpin, which was damaged in Russias attempt to take Kyiv. The Ukrainian president also met with the German parliament speaker, Barbel Bas, in Kyiv to discuss further defense assistance.

Jill Biden visited western Ukraine for a surprise Mothers Day meeting with Zelenskyy's wife, Olena Zelenska.

Zelenskyy released a video address marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russias invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism. The black-and-white footage showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, a Kyiv suburb.

Zelenskyy said that generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of the words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow not to allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Elsewhere, on Ukraines coast, explosions echoed again across the major Black Sea port of Odesa. At least five blasts were heard, according to local media.

The Ukrainian military said Moscow was focusing its main efforts on destroying airfield infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine.

In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days. A satellite image by Planet Labs showed smoke rising from two sites on the island.

But Moscow's forces showed no sign of backing down in the south. Satellite photos show Russia has put armored vehicles and missile systems at a small base in the Crimean Peninsula.

The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeast near Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, is making significant progress, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank.

However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from the embattled eastern city of Popasna, regional authorities said.

Rodion Miroshnik, a representative of the pro-Kremlin, separatist Luhansk Peoples Republic, said its forces and Russian troops had captured most of Popasna after two months of fierce fighting.

The Kharkiv regional administration said three people were killed in shelling of the town of Bogodukhiv, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Kharkiv city.

South of Kharkiv, in Dnipropetrovsk province, the governor said a 12-year-old boy was killed by a cluster munition that he found after a Russian attack. An international treaty bans the use of such explosives, but neither Russia nor Ukraine has signed the agreement.

This war is treacherous, the governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, wrote on social media. It is near, even when it is invisible.

___

Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP)  Strong, fast winds complicated work for firefighters in northeast New Mexico on Sunday as they battled two major blazes, though the rural area's major population center appeared to finally be safe from the worst danger.

Its been a challenging day. The winds have picked up; they havent let up, fire spokesperson Todd Abel said Sunday evening.

The rural areas largest town  Las Vegas, New Mexico, population 13,000  sits on the eastern edge of the fire area and appeared safe for now thanks to fire lines dug with bulldozers and other preparations over the past week. But the northern and southern edges of the blaze were still proving tricky for firefighters to contain, particularly given winds as fast as 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour), Abel said.

The fire's perimeter stretched more than 60 miles (96 kilometers) from Las Vegas, New Mexico, on the southeast flank to near Holbrook about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of the Colorado line. The National Interagency Fire Center said early Sunday that more than 20,000 structures remained threatened by the fire, which has destroyed about 300 residences over the last two weeks. The fire center said full containment wasnt anticipated until the end of July.

The ferocious winds were expected to continue with little break Sunday night and at least into Monday. Strong, gusty winds are in many ways firefighters worst nightmare, especially in conditions so hot and dry as the crews in the Southwest have been battling since early April.

In addition to fanning and spreading the flames, such winds ground airtankers and light planes that can drop water directly on the fire or lay down retardant ahead of its path to allow bulldozers and ground crews to dig firebreaks in places where theres no highways or roads that can help stop the progression of the flames.

In extreme conditions, like the ones in New Mexico, even the helicopters that typically can get up in the air  at least during the early morning hours before winds start to pick up in the afternoon  are grounded. That means they're unable to gather intelligence about the overnight developments critical to making new attack plans or placing new orders for firefighters, engines and more aircraft from across the region where demand grows exponentially as summer nears and the more traditional fire season begins.

Aircraft were able to fly early Sunday but were grounded by early afternoon, Abel said.

Its not good, obviously; it takes away a tool in our toolbox, but were not stopping, said fire spokesperson Ryan Berlin.

Firefighters prepared to protect homes if needed in several other rural communities along the state highway that connects Las Vegas to Taos, a small community popular for outdoor recreation activities like skiing. Officials repeatedly urged people to evacuate if they have been told to do so.

Its a dogfight out there folks, fire spokesperson Bill Morse said Sunday evening.

As of early Sunday, the biggest blaze northeast of Santa Fe had grown to an area more than twice the size of Philadelphia. Thousands of residents have been forced to flee their homes.

For now, the city of Las Vegas appears to be safe, said Berlin. Some residents of the area were able to return to their homes on Saturday, and some shops and restaurants had reopened.

We even started to repopulate a section of town already," he said. Our concern right now is on the southwest portion of the fire which the wind is helping us out, sort of, because its blowing the flames back into the fire."

But Wendy Mason with the New Mexico Forestry Division warned that by no means is anyone out of potential danger.

Just because the winds are coming from one direction doesnt mean they cant change direction so its better to be prepared and have residents ready to go, she said.

Nationwide, close to 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) have burned so far this year, with 2018 being the last time this much fire had been reported at this point, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. And predictions for the rest of the spring do not bode well for the West, where long-term drought and warmer temperatures brought on by climate change have combined to worsen the threat of wildfire.

___

Sonner reported from Reno, Nevada. Associated Press reporter Kathleen Ronayne contributed from Sacramento, California.
LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP)  With the worst of the thick wildfire smoke having blown out of town, residents of this small northern New Mexico city tried to recapture a sense of normalcy Saturday as their rural neighbors hunkered down amid predictions of extreme fire conditions.

Shops and restaurants reopened, the historic center was no longer just populated by firefighters, but there was a widely felt sense of anxiety, loss, and wariness of what lay ahead.

Its literally like living under a dark cloud," said Liz Birmingham, whose daughter had persistent headaches from the smoke. "Its unnerving.

While the city for now seemed spared of danger, rural areas were still threatened as the fire was driven by winds so fierce all firefighting aircraft had to be grounded. And the worst could be yet to come.

A combination of strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity were forecast by the National Weather Service to create an "exceptionally dangerous and likely historic stretch of critical to extreme fire weather conditions" for several days.

Some 1,400 firefighters worked feverishly to contain the largest fire burning in the U.S. The blaze, now more than a month old, has blackened more than 269 square miles (696 square kilometers)  an area larger than the city of Chicago.

Part of the fire was started by Forest Service workers who lost control of a prescribed burn meant to reduce fire risk. State leaders have called on the federal government for accountability, including reparations.

Nationwide, close to 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) have burned so far this year, with 2018 being the last time this much fire had been reported at this point, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. And predictions for the rest of the spring do not bode well for the West, where long-term drought and warmer temperatures brought on by climate change have combined to worsen the threat of wildfire.

Thousands of residents have evacuated due to flames that have charred large swaths of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northeastern New Mexico.

The fires main threat was now to the north, where flames burning vegetation clogging the forest floor threatened several small rural communities, fire spokesman Ryan Berlin said.

Firefighters, who typically rely on calmer winders and lower temperatures to make progress in the evening, have been hindered by unexpectedly strong winds at night.

The threat to Las Vegas, a city of 13,000, was reduced after vegetation was cleared to create containment lines. Local officials on Saturday allowed residents of several areas on the citys northwestern outskirts to return to their homes, Berlin said.

The city looked like a ghost town earlier in the week, with businesses shuttered, schools closed and the tourist district empty but for resting firefighters. By Saturday, it was in a partial state of recovery.

National Guard troops carried cases of water, people lined up to sign up for relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., met with local officials and toured the shelter housing some of the displaced.

We dont know if our houses are getting burned, or if its gonna stop, said Domingo Martinez, an evacuee from rural Manuelitas northwest of Las Vegas. I hope it dies down so we can go home.

Martinez, who is staying with his son on the east side of town, visited an old friend and neighbor who had been living in the middle school shelter for 15 days.

Outside the school, Martinez got a free haircut from Jessica Aragon, a local hairdresser who volunteered her time.

I love that everyone is coming together, Aragon said. I think a smile is worth a thousand words."

Birmingham was one of four dog owners leading German shepherds and a black Labrador through an obedience course in a park next to a library. All had been touched in some way by the fire.

One was a construction worker whose work sites had all been reduced to ash.

Fire officials warned Las Vegas residents that they should still be ready to leave and not to let their guards down because winds will pick up. High winds and increasing smoke will also make it difficult  or impossible  to fly water-dropping choppers and planes dumping fire retardant.

On a mountain ridgeline outside of town, a sloppy line of red retardant could be seen on the trees. Residents were praying that the line and the wall of rock would hold.

___

Melley reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan, Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Paul Davenport and Michelle A. Monroe in Phoenix contributed to this report.
Head-on crash in Bangladesh leaves at least 7 dead, 20 injured

Xinhua) 16:30, May 08, 2022

DHAKA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- A head-on collision between two passenger buses in Bangladesh's Natore district, some 200 km northwest of capital Dhaka, on Saturday left at least 7 people dead and 20 injured, a senior police official said.

Mashiur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Natore's Bonpara Highway Police Station Station, told journalists that "at least 7 people were killed in the head-on collision."

The road accident occurred at around 11:00 a.m. local time and also left some 20 people injured, he said.

All the injured were rushed to local hospitals and clinics, he said, adding that the cause of the accident is under investigation.

Bangladesh has a higher fatality rate for road accidents in the world due to shoddy highways, poorly maintained vehicles, violation of traffic rules by inept drivers and lack of monitoring by the traffic department.

Road Safety Foundation, a non-government organization, said in a press release Saturday that at least 543 people were killed and 612 were injured in 427 road accidents across the country last month.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Bianji)
Lambert and I, and many readers, agree that Ukraine has prompted the worst informational environment ever. We hope readers will collaborate in mitigating the fog of war  both real fog and stage fog  in comments. None of us need more cheerleading and link-free repetition of memes; there are platforms for that. Low-value, link-free pom pom-wavers will be summarily whacked.

And for those who are new here, this is not a mere polite request. We have written site Policies and those who comment have accepted those terms. To prevent having to resort to the nuclear option of shutting comments down entirely until more sanity prevails, as we did during the 2015 Greek bailout negotiations and shortly after the 2020 election, we are going to be ruthless about moderating and blacklisting offenders.

Yves

P.S. Also, before further stressing our already stressed moderators, read our site policies:

Please do not write us to ask why a comment has not appeared. We do not have the bandwidth to investigate and reply. Using the comments section to complain about moderation decisions/tripwires earns that commenter troll points. Please dont do it. Those comments will also be removed if we encounter them.

* * *

Astronauts Have Distinct Brain Changes Even Months After They Return to Earth Science Alert

Twitter bots, explained Trung T. Phan

Climate

#COVID19

Sri Lanka president declares state of emergency amid unrest Channel News Asia

China?

U.S. Presses Taiwan to Buy Weapons More Suited to Win Against China NYT. Not agreement-capable (1):

Very worrying sign of the direction the US is taking. The State Dpt removed from their website the fact they recognize that Taiwan is part of China (under PRC gvt) and that they don't support Taiwan independence. Left: 3rd May. Right: today, 8th May (https://t.co/OxeRgdSq7h) pic.twitter.com/ktlxBGTdoU  Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) May 8, 2022

Not agreement-capable (2):

EXCELLENT example that NO COUNTRY can EVER TRUST the US with any agreements. pic.twitter.com/uC6GwEE1dV  Shank Hu  (@ShankHu15) May 8, 2022

UK/EU

New Not-So-Cold War

Shortages

Biden Administration

George Cheeks, the president of CBS, tests positive for coronavirus after attending the White House Correspondents Dinner. NYT. The networks leader sat between the president and first lady, all unmasked, at the event.

Supremes

The New Abortion Battleground (PDF) Columbia Law Review. From the Abstract: Judges and scholars have long claimed that abortion law will become simpler if Roe is overturned, but that is woefully naive. Overturning Roe will create a novel world of complex, interjurisdictional legal conflicts over abortion. Some states will pass laws banning their citizens from out-of-state abortions while others will pass laws insulating their providers from out-of-state prosecutions. State legislatures are already introducing and drafting bills to this effect. The federal government will also stake a claim. Beyond promoting access to medication abortion, federal regulations may preempt state abortion bans and federal land could provide shelter for abortion services. Ultimately, once the constitutional protection for pre-viability abortion disappears, the impending battles over abortion access will transport the half-century war over Roe into a new arena, one that will make abortion jurisprudence more complex than ever before. Commentary: The year: 2035

Today, your smart toilet sent you a text: "Urinalysis shows you are pregnant. Congratulations. Your mobility status has been updated. You will not be permitted to leave the state until this life is born."  Annalee Newitz (@Annaleen) May 6, 2022 Never, ever buy smart products. Why I, As a Libertarian, Think Youre Silly To Worry About Your So-Called Abortion Rights Roy Edroso Breaks It Down

Democrats en Deshabille

A top California official pushed hard for a $600-million mask deal. Fraud claims followed Los Angeles Times. Betty Yee.

Rules For Conservative Radicals The American Conservative. TAC thinks liberal NGOs are more effective than they are.

The Bezzle

Blink, Bid, Buy London Review of Books. Digital advertising.

Imperial Collapse Watch

Watchdog group finds F-35 sustainment costs could be headed off affordability cliff Defense News

Sports Desk

Class Warfare

The Guitar as the Instrument of Seducers The Honest Broker

Getting in the groove Aeon

Antidote du jour (via):

Bonus antidote:

See yesterdays Antidote du Jour and Links here.
(Natural News) The Unzipped Staff at Levi Strauss & Co. just announced that every purchase of Levis jeans from here on out will help pay for some womans abortion.

Levis employees who work in states where abortion becomes illegal or inaccessible will now be reimbursed for healthcare-related travel expenses for services not available in their home state, including those related to reproductive health care and abortion.

There is also a process in place through which employees who are not in our benefits plan, including part-time hourly workers, can seek reimbursement for travel costs incurred under the same circumstances, the announcement further explained.

Levis claims that the pandemic already clearly showed the world that public health issues are workplace issues. Now, those issues extend to abortion on demand in light of the Supreme Courts impending ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Business leaders are responsible for protecting the health and well-being of our employees, and that includes protecting reproductive rights and abortion access, Levis said.

Women who murder their unborn babies are more successful, Levis says

According to the company, reproductive health care, including abortion, has been a critical factor to the workplace gains and contributions women have made over the past 50 years.

In other words, since being allowed to terminate the lives of their unborn children legally, women have achieved massive success in the workplace as opposed to in the home.

To deprive women of the right to murder their unborn babies would set them back by jeopardizing that progress and disproportionately affect women of color, putting their well-being at risk and impeding diverse hiring pipelines.

Translated into laymans terms, Levis is concerned that black women will have to start delivering their babies as opposed to ending their lives inside the women. Notice that Levis is only concerned about black women having babies, and not white women.

The reason for this is that abortion has always been rooted in eugenics, meaning it is a tool to eradicate certain racial groups. Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger was obsessed with stamping out blacks, calling them human weeds that need to be culled.

Does Levis support this same eugenics agenda? It sure sounds like it, based on the women of color rhetoric from its Unzipped Staff.

The entire announcement leaves one with the impression that Levis wants its dark-skinned female employees to be able to get abortions as easily as possible, which is why the company is now paying for their travel and accommodations to make that happen.

Just like the Black Lives Matter psy-op, this new focus on abortion is another attempt at dividing America based on race while pushing an agenda that ultimately harms the very people it claims to support.

If Roe is overturned, abortion restrictions in 26 states would immediately go into effect, in some cases making abortion illegal at any point in a womans pregnancy, wrote Chris Pandolfo for the Blaze.

Levi Strauss & Co. joins Amazon, Yelp, Citigroup, and other companies that have announced abortion benefits plans in recent weeks in anticipation that some states will enact new restrictions on abortion.

Amazon, by the way, is the second-largest employer in America, and it is promising to reimburse employees up to $4,000 a year for traveling expenses to get an abortion.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced a bill this week that would prevent companies like Levis and Amazon from deducting expenses related to abortion benefits, as well as those for gender-affirming care.

Our tax code should be pro-family and promote a culture of life. Instead, too often our corporations find loopholes to subsidize the murder of unborn babies or horrific medical treatments on kids, Rubio said.

My bill would make sure this does not happen.

The latest news about the Lefts love affair with abortion can be found at Abortions.news.

Sources include:

LeviStrauss.com

NaturalNews.com

TheBlaze.com
(Natural News) It is no secret that Elon Musk is shaking up the established order. What seemingly started as a joke about buying Twitter has morphed into reality and the establishment left is in complete panic over the fact that they may soon have to defend their ideas in the public sphere.

(Article by Matt Agorist republished from TheFreeThoughtProject.com)

As a result of this panic, the mainstream media has taken to waging a massive smear campaign against the eccentric billionaire. Over the weekend, CNN went into full meltdown as David Zurawik ranted about how the establishment needs to keep control of the narrative that Musk threatens.

Theres a bigger problem here about how were going to control the channels of communications in this country, Zurawik tellingly stated, adding that Musk allowing free speech on a single social media platform is dangerous.

CNNs David Zurawik: Dangerous with Elon Musk buying Twitter, we need to look to Europe. You need regulation. You cannot let these guys control discourse in this country or we are headed to hell. We are there. Trump opened the gates of hell and now theyre chasing us down. pic.twitter.com/QubyKZwVCQ  Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) May 1, 2022

After CNN melted down and exposed their true intentions of complete information control, the blowhards at NBC have taken to comparing Musk and other supporters of free speech to Nazism and far right fascism.

NBCs @mehdirhasan on @elonmusk: If [the neo-Nazi faction of the GOP expands in Nov.], we may look back on this .. as a pivotal moment, when a petulant & not-so-bright billionaire casually bought one of the most influential messaging machines & just handed it to the far-right pic.twitter.com/bIpiIlFlwR  Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 2, 2022

The idea that NBC is fear mongering over Musk being able to fix elections by controlling the flow of information on Twitter is outright laughable given the fact that the entire Big Tech apparatus, along with a large chunk of the US intelligence community conspired together in 2020 to do just that with the Hunter Biden story.

Burying the laptop story arguably swung a large portion of votes toward Biden that may have otherwise gone to third parties or Trump.

In reality, free speech is a danger to no one except for the people with hateful and illogical ideologies. As we have pointed out time and again, racists, woke cultists, and staunch statists all hate free speech because none of their ideas hold up to being challenged in the public sphere. In order to spread their obstinance and hatred, they must silence others from easily exposing their philosophy as the garbage that it is.

Public discourse is what reduced racism and hatred over the years, not censorship. In fact, censorship has proven repeatedly to do the exact opposite by driving racists and extremists into dark private spaces where their illogical and hateful ideas are shielded from the public sphere, allowing them to fester.

Anyone who thinks discourse is dangerous is the real danger. Whats more, CNN and NBC both have a long and dangerous track record  especially when it comes to sexual predators in their ranks. Last year, CNN fired a top producer for training girls as young as 7 to be sexually submissive.

Lets not forget that NBC not only has a history of sex abuse among their ranks but they also have a history of covering it up, as Musk conveniently pointed out this week.

Same org that covered up Hunter Biden laptop story, had Harvey Weinstein story early & killed it & built Matt Lauer his rape office. Lovely people.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 2, 2022

As the establishment media attempts to smear a man whose innovations are making the world a better place, many inside their ranks are doing the exact opposite. In fact, just this week, an NBC News anchor, Zach Wheeler was busted allegedly trying to meet a child for sex.

Before being busted over the weekend and fired, Wheeler was an anchor and News Director at NBCs WETM in New York. Last week, Wheeler was caught by the 607 Predator Hunters  a vigilante group who hunts child predators by posing as children online  attempting to meet a 15-year-old boy for sex.

When the folks from 607 confronted Wheeler, he denied all of it as he is heard telling him, heres the thing, I was not looking to meet him.

The man filming then tells Wheeler, thats not what the chat logs say.

Wheeler then shifts gears and claims to be meeting with the boy to help him and says he has no intention of having sex with the child.

Im not here to have any kind of sexual relations with a young person. I was here to talk to this kid to get him off of these apps. Listen, Im not having sex with anybody. He said, Im not a pedophile.

Wheeler then he tries to claim victimhood, saying that this group is targeting gay and lesbian folks  as if sexual preference is an issue when youre trying to rape children.

Why they do this to gay and lesbian people? asked Wheeler to which the vigilante group members respond they do it to everybody.

Are you guys here to ruin peoples lives, Wheeler asks at another point, noting that the group was going to ruin my whole entire life and he is going to lose my job and everything. At another point, Wheeler argues that the group is engaging in cancel culture because of his job.

But the group did nothing to cancel Wheeler. It was Wheeler who decided to meet a 15-year-old boy for sex, not anyone canceling him.

When the group begins reading out the sexually explicit messages Wheeler sent, he then asks them if they need money or help to catch more predators or to get their organization on television.

The video of Wheeler was enough, however, to get the group all the exposure they need.

BUSTED: NBC News Anchor, Zach Wheeler drove 3 hours to meet what he thought was an underage child. Upon arrival he was met by the 607 Predator Hunters. I was here to talk to that kid to get him off of these apps  EVERY PEDOPHILE EVER pic.twitter.com/DIWhf2cVIC  Tayler Hansen ?? (@TaylerUSA) May 2, 2022

Full video below:

Earlier this year, Wheeler was named the News Director for WETM  a position he no longer holds thanks to his alleged affinity for children. Rest assured, as the attacks continue to unfold on Musk, NBC will likely choose to remain entirely silent on stories like this one. Shameful indeed.

Read more at: TheFreeThoughtProject.com
(Natural News) Tennessee has just passed a law declaring that the state must recognize natural immunity to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) as having the same protective ability as the vaccines. But the states Republican Gov. Bill Lee refused to sign it.

The immune protection gained from a prior COVID-19 infection is at least as protective against COVID-19 as a COVID-19 vaccine, reads the text of the bill. There is, therefore, no rational basis to treat individuals who have had a previous COVID-19 infection differently than individuals who have received a COVID-19 vaccine. (Related: New study confirms natural immunity provides longer, better protection against COVID-19 than vaccines.)

The law was sponsored in the states House of Representatives by Republican Rep. Bud Hulsey and in the Senate by Republican Sen. Joey Hensley, who is a physician.

In the House, the bill passed by a vote of 66 to 20. In the Senate, the vote was 26 to 5. State legislators voted mostly along partisan lines.

The bill defines natural immunity as an acquired specific immune system response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus [that is] acquired naturally as a result of an individuals prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus.

A persons status of having natural immunity can be verified with a letter from a licensed physician or documentation from tests showing that a person has antibody, memory cell or T cell immunity against COVID-19.

The law also prevents any government entity or public educational agency or school from adopting or enforcing a statute, ordinance, rule, policy or practice arising from COVID-19 that refuses to recognize amendments adopted by new state legislation. This includes mandates that do not recognize natural immunity.

The same stipulations apply to private businesses, which are not allowed to place measures that do not recognize acquired immunity as providing a level of immune protection that is at least as protective as a COVID-19 vaccine. Private entities are also not allowed to treat individuals with natural immunity differently than people who have received the vaccine.

Governor refuses to sign natural immunity law

The states natural immunity recognition bill became law without the signature of Lee.

In a letter addressed to Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and State House Speaker Cameron Sexton, Lee wrote: I write to inform you that I am letting SB 1982 / HB 1871 become law without my signature. Although I agree that individuals with acquired immunity should be treated the same as individuals who are vaccinated against COVID-19, this bill imposes a business mandate, and businesses should be allowed to operate without undue government interference.

Eric Mayo, a legislative liaison and federal relations officer for the governors team, expressed similar concerns when the law was still working its way through the state legislature.

During an appearance at a Senate hearing on the bill, Mayo told senators that the governor was concerned about businesses being put in the situation where they arent able to make the decisions best for their businesses.

Lees decision to not show his support for the law is baffling given that he signed a sprawling state law last year that largely prevented state and local government entities and businesses from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccinations.

With a Republican supermajority in the state legislature, Lee does not need to sign laws for them to become law. He has also not vetoed any bills while in office, but he has at times returned bills without signing them to express his concerns.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and mandates in America by reading the latest articles at Pandemic.news.

Watch this episode of Brighteon Conversations as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, interviews Dr. Gaston Cornu-Labat about a COVID-19 vaccine exemption strategy that is very effective.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Mississippi officially bans COVID-19 vaccine mandates and passports.

Major airlines to allow passengers banned for mask mandate violations back onboard.

Louisiana House of Representatives passes bill that bans state and local governments from imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

STUDY: 99% of people with previous COVID-19 infection develop natural immunity that lasts over a year.

Sources include:

UncoverDC.com

LocalMemphis.com

APNews.com

Brighteon.com
A researcher seeking to identify a mystery box jellyfish seen in Sydney waters believes it may be a different species completely.

Appearing Out of Nowhere

The jellyfish's appearance outside of tropical waters has prompted advice on treating marine stings properly.

Scott Belcher, a Sydney resident, had two encounters with the jellyfish on camera. He first observed it a fortnight ago during a group water swim near Cronulla's Shark Island.

"We swam a bit farther south to Shelly beach and came across what I thought was an enormous jimble," he explained, "but after watching it, we realized it's much meaner."

The jimble, Carybdea rastoni, is a box jellyfish species with just four tentacles that may sting painfully but not fatally.

Also Read: Study Showed that Flying Insect Population Decreased by 60% Since 2004

Resembling Australian Box Jellies

The new species resembled the deadly Australian box jelly, Chironex fleckeri, also known as the sea wasp, with several tentacles around 30cm long.

"The jellyfish's head was roughly the size of your hand," Belcher remarked.

Six days later, he videotaped another encounter with what appears to be a second jellyfish of the same species.

"It's incredible that I was at the right place at the right time with my camera functioning."

According to Dr. Lisa-ann Gershwin, the Cronulla specimens might belong to a new species, a jellyfish researcher in Hobart.

"It's not Chironex fleckeri, the box jellyfish," Gershwin said.

"However, it's a box-shaped jellyfish linked to Chironex." "That doesn't belong in Sydney," I thought at first.

She collaborates with the Australian Museum to identify the species, which she claims is similar to an unexplained specimen stored in the museum's collection since 1984.

Other Sightings

Another hypothesis is that the sightings in Cronulla were bigger individuals of Chiropsella saxoni, a 3cm pygmy box jellyfish found in Queensland and described as a new species by Gershwin in 2015.

Gershwin said it was impossible to tell whether the new jellyfish was poisonous since it possessed characteristics of both non-dangerous jellyfish and the world's most venomous marine critter, the Australian box jelly.

"In my experience researching the world's box-shaped jellies, all of the ones with thick tentacles are hazardous, and all of those without thick tentacles aren't," she added. "The issue is that the ones from Cronulla have large tentacles."

Other structural aspects of the new jellyfish, such as spherical gastric saccules - "little gelatinous knobs on the interior of the body" - mirror those of non-dangerous species.

According to Gershwin, there have been sporadic sightings of lethal Australian box jellies in New South Wales during the last several decades, but no film or recovered specimens.

"Any jellyfish that stings someone outside of the tropics is thought to be a bluebottle," she explained.

"Most people are unaware that an Irukandji [the species Morbakka fenneri, which Gershwin described in 2008] endemic to NSW has been stinging people... since 1905," says Gershwin.

Out of Its Place

Outside of tropical climates, the Australian Resuscitation Council suggests thoroughly cleaning the sting with seawater and treating the discomfort with hot water or ice. Gershwin described it as "standard and proper therapy," emphasizing the significance of first cleaning the sting with seawater.

She cautioned avoiding treating suspected box jellyfish stings with hot water right away. "Freshwater causes stinging cells to release, increasing venom load, while heat dilates capillaries, thus opening the floodgates for the venom to circulate."

According to Gershwin, a good rule of thumb for jellyfish stings is to look for bluebottles in armadas.

"If you are stung and get out of the water with no bluebottles all over the beach, the correct presumption is that it's not a bluebottle."

Related Article: Crocodile Population Thrives Due to Feral Pigs

For similar news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Scientists examining the DNA of the vaquita porpoise, the world's smallest cetacean and rarest marine animal, have found an unexpected and heartbreaking finding.

The findings have been published in the journal Science.

Also Read: Rare River Dolphin Found Hanging Out With Anaconda

Genetically Challenging

With only at least ten individuals remaining, environmentalists felt the animal was at risk of deleterious mutations and inbreeding, as do other species with limited gene pools.

However, a group of international researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA), and other institutions discovered that porpoises (Phocoena sinus) have fewer harmful mutations than other species and are thus likely to be better at avoiding the dangers of inbreeding.

Unfortunately, illegal fishing with gillnets - flat nets suspended vertically in the water that are notorious for trapping whales and turtles - is the greatest threat to the animals, which have a minimal geographical range and only live in the upper part of the Gulf of California, between Baja California and Mexico. Experts think the species is unlikely to survive if this does not halt promptly.

"Interestingly, we found the vaquita is not doomed by genetic variables, such dangerous mutations, that tend to afflict many other species whose gene pool has shrunk to a comparable extent," said Christopher Kyriazis, a UCLA Ph.D. student in ecology and a co-lead author of the study. The most serious threat they face is illegal fishing."

Poaching

Poachers employ enormous mesh gillnets to hunt the totoaba, an endangered fish that sells thousands of dollars on China's illicit market for its alleged medicinal virtues. The little porpoises are approximately 1.2-1.5 meters (4-5 feet) long and frequently become entangled and perish in the gillnets. While totoaba fishing and gillnets are prohibited in the vaquita's habitat in Mexico, many people claim that the rule is not always followed.

Genetic Search

The scientists looked at the genomes of 20 vaquitas that lived between 1985 and 2017 and used algorithms to forecast their extinction probability over the next 50 years. They determined that if gillnet fishing was stopped immediately, the vaquita stood a good chance of recovering from its population fall without suffering from inbreeding's genetic effects. However, if the practice continues, even in a bit way, the chances of recovery are dim.

"A conventional notion in conservation biology and population genetics is that small populations might accumulate detrimental mutations," said Kirk Lohmueller, senior co-author and UCLA assistant professor of ecology. Our discovery that the vaquita population has fewer severely harmful mutations suggests that they are better positioned to survive future inbreeding, which is good news for their overall recovery."

According to the experts, the vaquita is the marine equivalent of an island species because of its limited population and habitat.

Stopping the Trade

The unlawful totoaba trade has reduced the population from 576 to seven or eight people in the previous decade.

Related Article: Florida Manatees are Starving to Death Despite Feeding Efforts

For similar news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
The arctic town of Qaanaaq, Greenland, is planning to incorporate renewable energy to save the lives of some of its financially-stricken residents, who were gripped by the burdens to pay for fossil fuels required to heat and power their homes.

Qaanaaq, the country's northernmost human settlement, has also been affected by the environmental repercussions of climate change.

In light of the potential establishment of renewable energy in the town, residents can use natural processes to fight nature once and for all.

Quest for Renewable Energy

A Greenland hunter named, Toku Oshima, traveled from Qaanaaq to attend a climate conference in the municipality of Ilulissat, situated 621 miles (1,000 kilometers), to the south of Greenland, according to a news article posted on Nature.com.

Oshima reportedly wanted to bring the quest for renewable energy to the town by discussing how Earth's rapid climate change is threatening "traditional ways of life" in the North American island nation.

Located between the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean, the hunter claims the climatic and environmental impacts of climate change have affected indigenous methods of fishing and hunting.

However, the most crucial point that Oshima reportedly came for was to tackle energy security in her town.

Also Read: Renewable Energy: Buoys Harness Power of Undersea Waves For First Time

Energy Security

Over the years, many of the town's inhabitants have resorted to migration to reportedly escape the financial and mental depression from the deteriorating energy security in the town.

Anecdotal evidence also shows that some hunters in the town are unable to feed their sled dogs, as cited by Nature.com.

During the 2015 conference, Oshima's concern was raised to Mary Albert, a snow physicist at Dartmouth University in New Hampshire.

Albert expressed that there are possibilities to cut energy costs in Qaanaaq.

These measures include utilizing the power of renewable energy, which the scientist also purportedly showed a picture of her home attached with solar panels.

A Glimpse of Hope

Over the years after Oshima and Albert's encounter, the snow physicist has sent students from Dartmouth to conduct various projects, including the design of energy-efficient homes and testing of the Qaanaaq's solar energy capability.

In May, Albert has been reported to be heading towards the town to test novel solar and wind devices, which can relatively warm and heat up homes there.

Climate Change and Energy Crisis

In July 2021, the government of Greenland stated that the future of the country does not reside in the oil industry, but rather, belongs to renewable energy, which the island nation has much more to gain, as cited by Euronews.

The statement pertains to the government's decision last year to seriously tackle climate change and deviate from all oil exploration, despite the country's potential large vast of oil and mineral waiting to be revealed by retreating ice due to global warming.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Greenland has an estimated 17.5 billion untapped or undiscovered barrels of oil and 148 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off its shores, as cited by the global environmental think tank Earth.org.

Related Article: Experts are Saying that Renewable Sources are Not Enough to Solve Europe's Energy Crisis
This undated photo of UNB shows the view of air pollution in Dhaka. -- UNB photo

Dhakas air quality continues to be unhealthy, though it is no longer the worlds most polluted city.

On Sunday, the densely populated capital of Bangladesh occupied the fifth position in the latest list of world cities with the worst air quality.

The capitals air quality index was recorded at 159 at 10:31am.

Pakistans Lahore, Kuwaits Kuwait city, Irans Tehran and Indias Mumbai occupied the first four spots, with AQI scores of 188, 176, 172 and 166, respectively.

An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered unhealthy, particularly for sensitive groups.

Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be poor, while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered hazardous, posing serious health risks to residents.

AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.

In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants  Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.

Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.

A report by the Department of Environment and the World Bank in March 2019 pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites.

With the advent of winter, the citys air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction work, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources.

Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a persons chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.

As per the World Health Organisation, air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.
Railways minister Nurul Islam Sujan on Sunday said that they had decided to withdraw the suspension against the travelling ticket examiner of Bangladesh Railway, who was suspended on Thursday.

The minister, talking to reporters at the Rail Bhaban in Dhaka on Sunday, also said that they had also decided to issue a show cause notice to the Pakshey divisional commercial officer for suspending the TTE.

On Thursday, the TTE fined three passengers, who introduced themselves as relatives of the railways minister, for traveling without tickets.

Later it was revealed that they were relatives of the ministers wife Shammi Akhter and that the TTE was suspended after Shammi's phone call to Bangladesh Railway's Pakshey divisional commercial officer.

The minister said that they had been investigating the incident.

We have asked the DCO to show the cause of suspending the TTE instantly, he said.

Before that, he admitted that the youths were his relatives from in-laws but also said that he did not know about them during the incident.
State minister for disaster management and relief Md Enamur Rahman speaks with the reporters at his office in the Secretariat in Dhaka on Sunday.  UNB photo

There is no possibility of Cyclone Asani, lying over the Bay of Bengal, hitting Bangladesh, state minister for disaster management and relief Md Enamur Rahman on Sunday.

It may move towards Bangladesh after it makes landfall along the Indian coast on May 12, he said in response to a question from reporters at his office in the Secretariat.

He said the cyclone is moving north-westwards. It will weaken while passing through Odisha, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar and West Bengal in India. So far, no possibility of the cyclone hitting Bangladesh has been found.

Due to the cyclone, there may be storms and rains in Bangladesh but there will be no cyclone or tidal wave, he added.

This is the latest information we have.

The state minister further said that the cyclone currently lies in the Bay 1,175km from Chattogram port and 1,250km from Coxs Bazar. The speed of the cyclone is 55 kilometres per hour.

Asani, which formed in the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean on May 4, has gradually crossed the four levels of lows and turned into a cyclone at 6:00am on Sunday, he informed.

Asked which part of Bangladesh may be hit if the direction of the cyclone changes, he said the direction of the cyclone changes all the time. It can take any turn at any time. If the cyclone moves northwards, it may hit Satkhira, Khulna, Barishal and Patuakhali districts of our country.

We had a meeting last Thursday. There we have instructed our ministry, department, fire service, Meteorological Office, Cyclone Preparedness Programme and all, he said.

At the same time, the deputy commissioners of the coastal districts and the district disaster management committee have been warned about the cyclone.

We have also instructed the cyclone shelters to be prepared, he said.

We have paid for the rice and for cooking there. cyclone shelters are instructed to maintain safe distances in compliance with health protocols, the state minister said.
Rumana Islam

Rumana Islam, a professor of law department at the University of Dhaka, on Sunday joined the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission as its first female commissioner.

The government issued a circular on Sunday, appointing her for four years to the BSEC.

The government nominated Rumana as a panel judge in the World Banks International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in April 2021, according to a BSEC press release.

In 2015, Rumana completed her PhD in international investment law from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

In 2008, she joined the faculty of law at the University of Dhaka as an assistant professor.

Rumana received bachelors and masters degree in law from the University of Dhaka in 2003 and 2004 respectively.

After her bachelors and masters degrees, Rumana obtained her second masters degree in international commercial law from the University of Cambridge, the UK in 2006, the press release said.
Vladimir Putin

Russian president Vladimir Putin believes that he cannot afford to lose in Ukraine and is doubling down on the war, but shows no signs of planning to use tactical nuclear weapons, CIA director Bill Burns said Saturday.

Despite the failure of Russian forces to capture Kyiv and their struggle to advance along the wars main frontlines in the southeastern Donbas region, the Russian leader has not changed his view that his troops can defeat Ukraines, Burns said.

Putins belief in the Russian militarys ability to wear down Ukrainian resistance probably has not been shaken despite key battlefield defeats, the US spy chief told a Financial Times conference.

I think hes in a frame of mind in which he doesnt believe he can afford to lose, Burns said.

He said Putin has been stewing for years over Ukraine  once part of the Soviet Union  in a very combustible combination of grievance and ambition and insecurity.

Putin has not been deterred by the resistance in the war because he staked so much on the choices that he made to launch this invasion, Burns said.

I think hes convinced right now that doubling down still will enable him to make progress, Burns said.

Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia who has spent much time studying the Russian leader, said his and other Western intelligence agencies see no sign that Moscow is prepared to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in order to gain a victory in Ukraine or to target Kyivs supporters.

Russia placed its nuclear forces on high alert shortly after launching the invasion on February 24.

Since then Putin has made thinly veiled threats hinting at willingness to deploy Russias tactical nuclear weapons if the West directly intervenes in the Ukraine conflict.

We dont see, as an intelligence community, practical evidence at this point of Russian planning for the deployment or even potential use of tactical nuclear weapons, Burns said.

Given the kind of saber-rattling that ... weve heard from the Russian leadership, we cant take lightly those possibilities, he said.

So we stay very sharply focused as an intelligence service ... on those possibilities at a moment when the stakes are very high for Russia, he said.

Burns did not offer any assessment of the current battlefield situation or predict how the war would end.

But he said that China, which Washington now sees as its primary adversary, is studying closely the lessons of the war and what they mean for Beijings desire to take control of Taiwan.

Burns said he does not believe that Chinese president Xi Jinping has altered his goal of eventually uniting Taiwan with China, by force if necessary.

But he said he thinks Beijing has been surprised by the poor performance of Russian military forces as well as the tough resistance coming from the entire Ukrainian society, as well as the strong defence support the West has provided Kyiv.

Russias experience in Ukraine is probably affecting Beijings calculation about how and when they try to gain control of Taiwan, which China views as a renegade province.

I think theyve been struck by the way in which particularly the transatlantic alliance has come together to impose economic costs on Russia as a result of that aggression, he continued.

Beijing has been unsettled by the fact that what Putin has done is to drive Europeans and Americans closer together, Burns said.

What conclusions get drawn from all that remains a question mark, he said.

I think the Chinese leadership is looking very carefully at all this, at the costs and consequences of any effort to use force to gain control over Taiwan.
Wazed Miah

The 13th death anniversary of renowned nuclear scientist of international repute and prime minister Sheikh Hasinas husband, MA Wazed Miah (Sudha Miah), is today.

The nuclear scientist, who has a colourful working life experience, was born on February 16, 1942 in a respectable Muslim family of Laldighee Fatehpur village in Pirganj upazila of Rangpur.

He died on May 9, 2009.

The Pirganj upazila administration, Awami League and its associate bodies, Dr Wazed Smriti Sangsad, Dr Wazed Foundation, Begum Rokeya University, family of Wazed Miah, and other organisations will observe the death anniversary.

The day will begin with the placing of wreaths at the grave of Wazed Miah in Laldighee Fatehpur village in the morning, followed by offering Fateha, jiayarat, milad mahfil, and distribution of foods to the poor.

Dr Wazed Foundation and family members of Wazed Miah will organise a memorial discussion on Joy Sadan premises at Laldighee Fatehpur village.

Nephew of Wazed Miah and Pirganj municipal mayor Tazimul Islam Shamim said that preparations had been completed to observe Wazed Miahs death anniversary at Laldighee Fatehpur village today.

Mayor Shamim, Pirganj upazila administration, family members of Wazed Miah, leaders of Pirganj upazila AL and its associate bodies, representatives of Dr Wazed Smriti Sangsad, Begum Rokeya University, Dr Wazed Foundation, and other organisations will place wreaths at the grave of Wazed Miah.

Dr Wazed Smriti Sangsad has taken programmes to observe the death anniversary at his paternal village, Laldighee Fatehpur, and in Rangpur city.

The programmes include the placing of wreaths at the grave of Wazed Miah in Laldighee Fatehpur village at 9:00am today, followed by offering Fateha and jiayarat there.

After Asr prayers, Dr Wazed Smriti Sangsad will organise milad and dua mahfils at different mosques in Rangpur city, seeking eternal peace for the departed soul of Wazed Miah and his other deceased family members.

A memorial discussion on his life and works will be arranged at the temporary office of Dr Wazed Smriti Sangsad in Rangpur city at 7:00pm with Dr Wazed Smriti Sangsad president, professor Hamidul Haque Khandker, in the chair.

Wazed Miah was the youngest of four sons and three daughters of his late father, Abdul Quader Miah, and his late mother, Moyzunnesa.

He studied up to class four at the primary school in his native village and then up to class six at a high school in Pirganj town.

He passed matriculation from Rangpur Zila School in 1956 in first division with distinctions and then enrolled in Rajshahi Government College, from where he passed the Higher Secondary Certificate examinations brilliantly.

Wazed Miah was admitted to the Department of Physics at Dhaka University in 1958 and secured first class in both the BSc (honours) and MSc examinations in 1961 and 1962, respectively.

He joined the then Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission on April 9, 1963 and obtained his diploma from Imperial College of London after completing the Diploma of Imperial College Course in 1963-1964.

Wazed Miah returned home in September, 1967 after obtaining his PhD degree in physics from Durham University in the United Kingdom and joined as a scientific officer at the Atomic Energy Research Centre in Dhaka.

In 1969, Wazed Miah got the associateship of the Italy-based International Theoretical Physics Research Centre of Nobel Laureate Professor Dr Salam where he was engaged in a research project.

Later, he was involved in post-doctoral research on nuclear science from November, 1969 to October, 1970 at Daresbury Laboratory in Washington, DC, USA.

After returning home, he resumed work at the Atomic Energy Research Centre.

Wazed Miah married Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangladeshs founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, on November 17, 1967. They have a son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and a daughter, Saima Wazed Putul.

In 1975, he was in the then-West Germany to pursue higher training in atomic reactor science. Sheikh Hasina was also with him at that time.

Wazed Miah also conducted research work at the New Delhi-based laboratory of Indian Atomic Energy Commission from 1975 to 1982.

On returning home, the nuclear scientist rejoined the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and retired as its chairman in 1999.

Apart from his publications on scientific research and nuclear science, Wazed Miah also authored a number of books on social and political issues, including one on the memories of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Wazed Miah was a greedless and honest man, who always maintained a low profile in his personal life and led a very simple life. He was a cordial person but never compromised on anything unjust.

President Md Abdul Hamid on Sunday paid rich tributes to the memory of MA Wazed Miah.

In a message on the eve of the day, Abdul Hamid recalled that Wazed Miah had made notable contributions to the field of atomic research during his lifetime.

He said that the area of Wazed Miahs research was wide, covering issues like Fundamental Interaction and Particle Physics, Nuclear and Reactor Physics, Solid State Physics, Electromagnetism, Health, and Radiation Physics, Renewable Energy, and so on.

Abdul Hamid said that the Jatiya Samannita Unnayan Foundation was established in 1997 on the advice and under the patronage of Wazed Miah.

Wazed Miah will remain a source of inspiration to the future generation for his works, he said.

The president said that Wazed Miah had also contributed to national politics silently, side by side with carrying out scientific research.

He recalled that Wazed Miah was arrested during the movement against Aiyub Khans military rule in 1962.

The president said that Wazed Miah tied the knot with the elder daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina, on November 17, 1967, and stood beside the family of Sheikh Mujib during the Liberation War in 1971.

He prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul of Wazed Miah.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

A few passing clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
I do believe that, from the time they leave home, when they get here is the first time they can take a breath, says Cunningham Children's Home CEO and president Marlin Livingston.
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Researchers at EMBL Heidelberg found that inversions in the human genome are more common than previously thought, which impacts our understanding of certain genetic diseases.

Our DNA acts like a blueprint for the cellular machinery that lets cells, organs, and whole organisms function. Mutations in the DNA can result in genetic diseases. Such genetic variation can include point mutations at a single site, as well as deletions, duplications, and inversions.

The term 'inversion' describes a piece of DNA flipping its orientation in the genome. Inversions are poorly understood because they are more difficult to analyze than other types of mutations. Scientists at EMBL Heidelberg, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Washington, USA, and Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf, Germany, have now shown that inversions are one of the most common mutational processes in humans.

The researchers uncovered how inversions are formed and investigated in detail a set of 40 inversions that form recurrently in the genome, where the DNA sequence flips back and forth. These 'flip-flopping' inversions typically lie in regions linked to the development of certain human diseases called genomic disorders.

We found that inversions form at a much higher rate than previously thought. In humans, at least 0.6% of the genome repeatedly changes direction, making inversion one of the fastest mutational processes in humans. At these sites, the genome is not stable  the direction of the DNA code continues to switch back and forth." Jan Korbel, EMBL Senior Scientist and Head of Data Science

Many important human genes lie within these unstable regions. For scientists, this means they must consider this flipping behavior of genomic regions when they study aspects such as long-distance gene regulation or epigenetics.

Inversions are also relevant for the development of human diseases, such as developmental delays in children or neuropsychiatric disorders in adults. "Despite their importance, these regions have been very difficult to study before because of their complexity. Showing that these inversions indeed flip-flop back and forth required a new set of computational methods," said Tobias Marschall, Director of the Institute of Medical Biometry and Bioinformatics and the Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf. "We can now provide human geneticists with a new tool to understand the origin of disease in their patients."

Evan Eichler, group leader at the University of Washington, said: "We showed for the first time that inversions can be associated with rare genomic rearrangements found in pediatric autism, developmental delay and epilepsy. The question now is why? We hypothesize that certain configurations at the flanks of the inversions either predispose or protect individuals and their offspring from disease-associated rearrangements. This could have a practical application in the clinic, where it could be used to identify families at risk for developing these disorders."
New research shows that a rapidly-growing environmental science field-; which measures nature's effects on human well-being-; has a diversity problem that threatens its ability to make universal scientific claims.

The field-; which combines psychology and environmental research-;has produced numerous important studies detailing the benefits of nature, forests and parks on human well-being and mental health, including happiness, depression, and anxiety. The findings have been popularized by books like Your Brain on Nature and The Nature Fix, which champion the great outdoors' health benefits.

But when University of Vermont researchers analyzed a decade of research from the field-;174 peer-reviewed studies from 2010 to 2020-; they found that study participants were overwhelmingly white, and that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities were strongly underrepresented. Over 95% of studies occurred in high-income Western nations in North America, Europe and East Asia-;or Westernized nations such as South Africa-; while research in the Global South was largely absent. Less than 4% of studies took place in medium-income nations, such as India, with no studies in low-income countries.

This narrow sample of humanity makes it difficult for the field to credibly make universal scientific claims, say the researchers, who published their findings today in Current Research in Environmental Sustainability.

This field has great potential to address urgent issues-;from the global mental health crisis to sustainability efforts worldwide-;but to do so, we must better reflect the diversity of world's populations, cultures and values." Carlos Andres Gallegos-Riofrio, Lead Author, University of Vermont's Gund Institute for Environment

Just one study in Africa? That's WEIRD

Gallegos-Riofrio credits a landmark 2012 analysis of human psychology and behavioral science for inspiring the study. That earlier team, led by Joseph Henrich, highlighted the problem of drawing universal conclusions about human behavior from experiments that primarily used college students from nations that are WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic). Given that most humans live in non-WEIRD nations, with different styles of perception and reasoning and values, Henrich's team argued that WEIRD studies could not credibly support universal scientific claims.

The UVM team applied Henrich's lens-;but dug deeper into the question of ethnicity for studies of nature's mental health benefits. While they expected a Western bias, they were surprised by the level of bias: sample populations were not only primarily from WEIRD countries-;but also overwhelmingly white.

Researchers were also surprised that 62% of studies did not report participants' ethnicity at all (although the team acknowledges some studies used anonymized data sources, such as Twitter). Of the 174 studies, only one study occurred in Africa (South Africa), and one study took place in South America (Colombia)-;neither tracked ethnicity. Only one study focused on North America's Indigenous peoples.

"We hope our study is a wake-up call for this promising field that sparks positive change," says co-author Rachelle Gould of UVM's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Gund Institute for Environment. "A more inclusive and diverse field that embraces the research needs of the global community-;and the full spectrum of ways that humans interact with the non-human world-;will ultimately be more impactful."

In addition to studying ethnicity and geography, the team also explored cultural values. They report that many studies conceptualized the human-nature relationship in human-centered, individualistic, and extractive terms, rather than with concepts like reciprocity, responsibility, and kinship, which are more common in many Indigenous and other non-Western cultures, the researchers say.

How to expand the field

The team offers several recommendations, including: more collaboration with diverse communities, greater diversity of participants, improved demographic tracking, enhanced focus on the Global South, culturally sensitive experiments and tools, cross-cultural research training, and an emphasis on equity and justice. Funding agencies and foundations should encourage greater diversity-;of study participants and settings-;in their funding calls, the researchers say.

The team also highlights the importance of diversifying environmental science, with better support for students and faculty from diverse backgrounds, and greater collaboration with diverse communities. Research by Dorceta Taylor and others demonstrates that BIPOC scholars are under-represented in U.S. environmental institutions, and that the environmental concerns of BIPOC communities are strongly underestimated.

"We need all cultures working together to tackle the global emergencies we face," says Amaya Carrasco, a co-author and UVM graduate student. "That requires understanding what's universal about the human-nature relationship, and what is culturally specific. Those insights are critical to driving social change, and require research to be more inclusive. We need all hands on deck."
Most services for sexual assault survivors focus on the survivor. A UW Medicine researcher is studying a new program that instead focuses on survivors' friends, family and other supporters.

The CARE Program is designed to assist a survivor of recent sexual assault by giving their chosen supporter skills to help with the healing process.

I think we can all look back on a time in our life where we were going through something difficult and we didn't get the kind of support that we needed. I think all of us can appreciate how much more difficult that would be after something like sexual assault." Emily Dworkin, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine and study's principal investigator

"A lot of the time, the people around us want to help, but just aren't sure how."

Dworkin's experience as a rape crisis advocate inspired her to create the CARE Program, which involves two confidential, video-based appointments via computer or smartphone. Survivors and supporters enroll together in the study, which is evaluating the program's effectiveness. (Study link: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05345405)

"The supporter can be anybody in their life who already knows about the assault and is able and willing to provide them good support moving forward," Dworkin said.

The first session, which must happen within 10 weeks of the sexual assault, is hosted by an expert who teaches support skills and provides a workbook to help the pair practice their skills over the next two weeks. The follow-up session involves meeting with the expert again to discuss how the skills practice is going.

Some supporters attend the two sessions alone while others attend with the survivor; the study is examining whether one approach is more effective.

CARE is based on an earlier program in which survivors of a traumatic injury or illness paired up with a supporter of their choice. A study of this earlier program found that none of the participating survivors had PTSD two years after the trauma, compared with 26% of survivors who did not have access to the program.

"What we wanted to do (with CARE) was give survivors and their support people an opportunity to learn some skills that would help that process of communicating in ways that support the survivor's recovery," said Dworkin.

The CARE Program is being offered in English and Spanish. Survivors and supporters ages 14 and older are eligible to take part in the study. The study is designed for survivors of a sexual assault, defined as unwanted sexual contact without consent, which has occurred within the past 10 weeks.

Participants will receive compensation in this confidential research study, which is being conducted by the Program for Trauma Recovery Innovations in partnership with the Harborview Abuse and Trauma Center.
A research team from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health found that employee and company resiliency may be enhanced through the opportunity for employees to work remotely during natural disasters and other events that cause workplace displacement.

The team, which was comprised of Kamrie Sarnosky, Mark Benden, Garett Sansom, Leslie Cizmas and Annette Regan, worked with a large oil and gas company in Houston, Texas, to analyze ergonomic software data from 264 employees. During the study period, the company was forced to close its offices because of flooding from Hurricane Harvey, which required employees to work remotely for an extended period.

The researchers looked at employee technology data before, during and after Hurricane Harvey. They found that although total computer use declined during the hurricane, employees' work behaviors during the seven-month period of working remotely returned to pre-hurricane levels. This finding suggests that remote work does not negatively impact workplace productivity.

This study, which was published in IOS Press in February, offers important insights into information workers who have become increasingly used to and interested in working remotely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the future, there will be a greater percentage of the workforce who is involved in some sort of office-style technology work activities. Almost all of the study's employees were right back up to the same level of output as they were doing before Hurricane Harvey. This is a huge message right now for employers because we're having national debates about whether or not employees should be able to work remotely or in a hybrid schedule." Mark Benden, Texas A&M University School of Public Health's Ergonomics Center

This study is part of a large effort by the Ergonomics Center that is looking at the health of information workers. Although seemingly less taxing than blue-collar work, information workers are prone to injury such as carpal tunnel syndrome. "The research says that if you work a certain way at a certain pace over a certain duration, you're more likely to become injured from that work," Benden said. "But if you work a little less or a little less often or break up the duration or have certain other character traits -; like posture -; then you're less likely to develop a problem from doing your office work."

The Texas A&M researchers believe this information can be used to promote healthy behaviors for employees, including those working remotely, and to inform corporate policies. They also will be looking at tracking the ergonomic environment in employees' home offices. The team believes that tracking this type of data can help companies address remote employee health issues, including stress, depression and substance abuse.

"The question was whether we could track people and rather than letting them stay in a bad place, a bad habit or bad behavior, could we give them a healthful nudge over the computer to remind them that it was time to take a walk or a break," Benden said. "We as humans are not very good at keeping track of time, especially when we're in the zone. In order to keep us from physically hurting our bodies, we need to have nudges and reminders, which people respond to, and which work really well."

Benden noted that taking breaks does not hinder employees' quality of work.

"The people who took the recommended breaks were more productive overall. They got more done," he said. "We need to learn this about people, we need to teach people about it, and then we need to help people actually do it."
The 2022 Economic Report of the President cited Associate Professor of Health Administration and Policy Priyanka Anand's research on the impact of paid family leave mandates on labor supply and caregiving decisions following a spousal disability or health shock.

Having our research recognized in the President's Economic Report is an honor and emphasizes the importance of research on paid leave. Only nine states and DC currently have paid leave mandates, but more are considering adopting their own policies and the American Families Plan proposed by President Biden in 2021 would have permanently guaranteed all workers in the US 12 weeks of paid leave. It is important to understand what type of impact these policies would have on employment." Priyanka Anand, Associate Professor of Health Administration and Policy, George Mason University

The 2022 Economic Report of the President discusses the economic progress the United States has made over the past year and includes the Council of Economic Advisors Annual Report. Anand's work is featured in Chapter 4 of the report titled "Investing in People: Education, Workforce Development, and Health."

The full paper, "The role of paid family leave in labor supply responses to a spouse's disability or health shock," was published in the May 2022 Journal of Health Economics.

When a family member is injured or suffers an unexpected health setback, they may need additional care. Workers without paid family leave often face the tradeoff between staying at work to earn income or leaving their job to provide care for their family member. Job protection, such as what the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides, is important too, but often unpaid and not all families can afford to go without income while caring for a family member. Additionally, paid leave policies do not always include job protection.

"There is a large body of existing research that examines the impact of paid leave on women's careers after childbirth, but very little on the impact of paid leave on potential caregivers after a spouse's work-limiting health shock or disability. The recent global pandemic brought the issue of paid leave for family caregiving to the forefront, with many workers having family members affected by COVID-19 and needing care," Anand said.

Anand and her fellow researchers sought to better understand paid family leave policies' effect on employment in relation to a spouse's disability or sudden health issue (health shock). They questioned whether paid leave and/or job protection may further support families since they would not have to choose between caregiving and income.

The team used data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to compare employment and caregiving decisions before and after a spouse's work-limiting health shock or disability, specifically in states that have a paid leave mandate (California and New Jersey) versus states that eventually had a paid leave mandate, but didn't at the time of the spouse's health shock.

They found that paid leave mandates reduce the likelihood of decreasing paid work hours to provide caregiving after a spouse's health shock. However, paid leave mandates also reduce employment if they are not provided together with job protection. For caregivers who may not qualify for FMLA or have other sources of job protection, paid leave mandates increase the likelihood that they will leave their job to care for their spouses.

They did not find evidence of an impact of paid leave mandates on other measures of employment. The research team acknowledges that the small number of states (two) that have paid leave and the limitations of SIPP survey data are limitation of the research.

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth is funding a new project that is an extension of this research. The new project will examine the characteristics and long-term outcomes of individuals who have a need for paid leave (due to their own or a family member's health shock), but lack access either through their employer or a state mandate.
Women who have had weight loss surgery should wait at least two years before trying for a baby, new research presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Maastricht, the Netherlands (4-7 May), suggests.

Bariatric surgery is increasingly common in women of reproductive age and reduces the risk of obesity-related complications, such as pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes, in pregnancy.

Women are, however, more likely to have a baby who is very underweight (small for gestational age, SGA), after bariatric surgery.

Small for gestational age neonates are more at risk of a range of problems, including hypothermia, hypoglycemia, infections and neonatal asphyxia, than those of normal weight.

As a result, women are generally advised to wait at least 12 months after bariatric surgery before trying for a baby. Many European countries, including the UK, recommend waiting two years after gastric banding and 12 months after other types of bariatric surgery.

The optimal bariatric surgery-to-conception interval (BSCI) has not, however, been determined.

To find out more, Dr Ana Carreira and Dr Barbara Araujo, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Centro Hospitalar e Universitario de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal and colleagues carried out a retrospective study of 48 pregnancies after bariatric surgery.

The women were 34.3 years old, on average, at conception, and had an average BMI of 30.9.

They had had the following types of bariatric surgery: gastric bypass (37.5%), sleeve gastrectomy (35.4%), gastric banding (22.9%) and biliopancreatic diversion (4.2%).

14.6% of babies were conceived less than 12 months after bariatric surgery, another 14.6% at 12 to 24 months after surgery and 70.8% had a BSCI of over 24 months.

Average birth weight was 2980g and 26.3% of babies were SGA (defined in this study as one that is smaller than more than 90% of babies born at the same number of weeks of pregnancy).

Time from bariatric surgery to conception was significantly lower in the SGA babies (23.1 months versus 64.7 months).

The analysis also revealed that the longer a woman waited to get pregnant, the lower her chances of having an SGA baby.

Each additional month's wait was associated with a 5% lower risk of having an SGA baby and a 4.2g increase in birth weight.

The optimal time to wait was found to be at least 24.5 months. Women with a BSCI of under 24.5 months were 15 times more likely to have an SGA baby than those who waited longer to conceive.

Finally, risk of having an SGA baby was similar for different types of bariatric surgery.

Dr Araujo says: "Bariatric surgery-to-conception interval has a significant impact on birth weight, with shorter intervals associated with a higher risk of having a very underweight baby.

"This is likely due to the rapid weight loss that occurs after bariatric surgery making it difficult for the woman to gain adequate weight during pregnancy. The rapid weight loss can also lead to nutritional deficiencies which may be harmful to the baby.

"A longer interval from surgery to conception allows the woman's weight and nutritional status to stabilize."
(Newser)  The first person to try climbing North America's tallest summit this season has lost his life in the attempt. Rangers at Denali National Park in Alaska say they spotted the body of 35-year-old Austrian climber Matthias Rimml, who had set out on a solo attempt to scale the 20,310-foot Mount Denali, reports CNN. "Rimml likely fell on the steep traverse between Denali Pass at 18,200 feet and the 17,200-foot plateau, a notoriously treacherous stretch of the West Buttress route," says the National Park Service in a statement. Authorities began searching when friends reported they had not heard from Rimml, who was providing regular updates of his progress, since April 30, per Alaska's News Source.

Rimml's body was spotted in an aerial search on Friday, though rangers say they have not yet been able to retrieve it. Rimml was an experienced climber and a professional mountain guide in his native Austria. He planned to climb Denali in what's known as Alpine style, meaning with light gear and relatively quicklyfive days instead of the more typical 17 to 21 days, per the AP. Rimml is the 13th climber known to have died in that particular traverse, though most of the deaths have occurred on descent. (Read more mountain climber stories.)
(Newser)  "All women, children and elderly people" have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced Saturday, CNN reports. "This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed," she said. Russia made the same announcement, per the BBC, but the UN and the Red Cross, which coordinated the evacuation, have not provided confirmation. Russia has laid siege to the plan for weeks while demanding the troops defending it surrender. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 300 civilians had been evacuated, while Russia put the number at 51. Other developments include:

Russian fallback : Ukrainian forces are forcing Russian troops back near Kharkiv, an embarrassment for President Vladimir Putin with his nation's Victory Day holiday less than 48 hours away. Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, has been a major Russian target since the start of the invasion, per the New York Times; it's the closest big city to Russia and has a large Russian-speaking population. Ukrainian troops have taken back towns and villages around Kharkiv in the past few days, leading a military research group in Washington to predict the city will be in Ukrainian control again "in a matter of days."

: Ukrainian forces are forcing Russian troops back near Kharkiv, an embarrassment for President Vladimir Putin with his nation's Victory Day holiday less than 48 hours away. Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, has been a major Russian target since the start of the invasion, per the New York Times; it's the closest big city to Russia and has a large Russian-speaking population. Ukrainian troops have taken back towns and villages around Kharkiv in the past few days, leading a military research group in Washington to predict the city will be in Ukrainian control again "in a matter of days." Shelter bombing : A military official in the Luhansk region said a Russia aircraft bombed a school where 90 people had taken refuge, seven miles from the front lines. "Almost the entire village was hiding," the official said, "everyone who did not evacuate." Serhiy Hayday said 30 people had been rescued from the wreckage.

: A military official in the Luhansk region said a Russia aircraft bombed a school where 90 people had taken refuge, seven miles from the front lines. "Almost the entire village was hiding," the official said, "everyone who did not evacuate." Serhiy Hayday said 30 people had been rescued from the wreckage. More evacuations : In his nightly address, Zelensky said preparation has begun for the second phase of the evacuation of the Azovstal plant, which will focus on getting "the wounded and medics" out. "Of course, if everyone fulfills the agreements," he said. "Of course, if there are no lies." The president said he still intends to evacuate the troops remaining"all heroes who defend Mariupol."

: In his nightly address, Zelensky said preparation has begun for the second phase of the evacuation of the Azovstal plant, which will focus on getting "the wounded and medics" out. "Of course, if everyone fulfills the agreements," he said. "Of course, if there are no lies." The president said he still intends to evacuate the troops remaining"all heroes who defend Mariupol." G7 meeting: Zelensky is scheduled to meet virtually on Sunday morning with President Biden and other G7 leaders. Sanctions against Russia will be on the agenda, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council said.

(Read more Ukraine stories.)
(Newser)  If the numbers are correct after the rubble is cleared, it would be one of the worst single attacks in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, reports the New York Times. Ukrainian officials say Russia bombed a school sheltering civilians in the eastern village of Bilohorivka. While about 30 people survived, Ukrainian authorities say up to 60 are feared dead, reports the BBC. The village is located in the republic of Luhansk, part of the region known collectively as Donbas, where Russian forces have recently renewed their focus, per the Wall Street Journal.

The Russians dont care whom they kill," said Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai in a Telegram post. "If they cant kill a soldier, they kill an innocent child." Russia has not responded to reports about the attack, which have not been independently verified. On Sunday, meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet virtually with leaders of the G7, including President Biden, to request more money and ammunition. The meeting comes one day before Russia celebrates its annual Victory Day, where Vladimir Putin is expected to sound a triumphant tone about the war. (Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
(Newser)  Demonstrators met outside the Washington-area homes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh over the weekend to voice their opposition to overturning Roe v. Wade. "You dont get to take away my bodily autonomy and get enjoy your Saturday at home," one protester said. "You can do one or the other." A draft of a majority opinion that would throw out the Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed access to abortion became public last week. Police watched the demonstrations at both homes, WUSA reports.

The group went to Kavanaugh's house first, chanting "No uterus, no opinion." At Roberts' home, protesters shouted, "The world is watching." Neighbors and passing drivers were supportive, though organizers said there have been some complaints. "It is such a high- stake situation that if it is a little noisy in the neighborhood, in comparison to what people in the country are facing, it's not a big deal," a resident of Kavanaugh's neighborhood said. Organizers plan protests this week at the Supreme Court Building as well as outside the home of Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the draft opinion.

One of Kavanaugh's neighbors has been protesting his views on abortion rights for months in front of his house, often by herself. Lacie Wooten-Holway, 39, said she's a sexual assault survivor who's had an abortion. She said Kavanaugh should know how strongly people living around him disagree with him on access to abortion, per the Washington Post. Wooten-Holway has debated the home visits with neighbors. "This constant escalation, I think, makes it dangerous," one man told her. A woman who's lived in the neighborhood for 50 years said she wasn't quite comfortable with joining the protest at Kavanaugh's. "I totally understand and respect the idea that people do not wish to go to his house or that people are not ready to do that," Wooten-Holway told her. "So I will do it for you." (Read more Supreme Court justice stories.)
(Newser)  Arooza was furious and afraid, keeping her eyes open for Taliban on patrol as she and a friend shopped Sunday in Kabul's Macroyan neighborhood. The math teacher was fearful her large shawl, wrapped tight around her head, and sweeping pale brown coat would not satisfy the latest decree by the country's religiously driven Taliban government. After all, more than just her eyes were showing. Her face was visible. Arooza, who asked to be identified by just one name to avoid attracting attention, wasn't wearing the all-encompassing burqa preferred by the Taliban, who on Saturday issued a new dress code for women appearing in public. The edict said only a woman's eyes should be visible, the AP reports.

The decree by leader Hibaitullah Akhunzada was a major blow to the rights of women in Afghanistan, who for two decades had been living with relative freedom before the Taliban takeover last August. Akhunzada has taken the traditions of tribal villages, where girls often marry at puberty and rarely leave their homes, and called them a religious demand, analysts say. The Taliban have been divided between pragmatists and hardliners, but until now, the two sides have avoided open confrontation. Some of the more pragmatic leaders appear to be looking for quiet workarounds that will soften the hard-line decrees. Since March, there has been a growing chorus, even among the most powerful Taliban leaders, to return older girls to school while quietly ignoring other repressive edicts.

In Kabul on Sunday, women wore the customary conservative Muslim dress. Most wore a traditional hijab, consisting of a headscarf and long robe or coat, but few covered their faces, as directed by the Taliban leader a day earlier. Those wearing a burqa, a head-to-toe garment that covers the face and hides the eyes behind netting, were in the minority. Several women stopped to talk, all challenging the latest edict. "We don't want to live in a prison," Parveen said. "This isn't about hijab, this is about the Taliban wanting to make all women disappear," said Shabana, who wore bright gold bangles beneath her flowing black coat, her hair hidden behind a black head scarf with sequins. This is about the Taliban wanting to make us invisible."

(Read more Afghanistan stories.)
(Newser)  Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show US support for the embattled nation trying to fight off the Russia invasion. Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, the AP reports, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during the war. She spent Friday and Saturday in Romania. "I wanted to come on Mother's Day," the US first lady told Zelenska on Sunday. "I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine."

Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about 10 minutes from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility. The wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Biden for her "courageous act" and said, We understand what it takes for the US first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every dayeven today." The two first ladies came together in a small classroom before they met in private. Zelenska and her children have been at an undisclosed location for their safety. The school where they met has been turned into transitional housing for Ukrainian migrants from elsewhere in the country.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Sunday. "He came to Irpin to see with his own eyes all the horror that the Russian occupiers had done to our city," the mayor of Irpin posted on Telegram. Ukraine regained control of the Kyiv suburb in late March from Russian troops who had tried to reach the capital, per Axios. Mayor Olexander Markushyn wrote that the destruction shocked Trudeau. "After all, he saw burned and completely destroyed not military facilities, but the homes of Irpin residents, who until recently enjoyed life and had their own plans for the future," Markushyn said. Trudeau's spokesperson said the prime minister planned to meet with Zelensky, per the Independent. (Read more Jill Biden stories.)
(Newser)  Leaders of the Group of 7 nations agreed Sunday to another round of punishments for Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine: a ban on Russian oil imports and more sanctions. The decisions were announced after a virtual meeting that included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as President Biden, USA Today reports. A joint statement reiterated the nations' support for Ukraine. "We, the G-7, reassured President Zelenskyy of our continued readiness to undertake further commitments to help Ukraine secure its free and democratic future," the statement said.

The US, which didn't use much Russian energy anyway, had already announced its oil ban. It's a tougher issue for European nations, many of which are dependent on Russian oil, per the New York Times, and the change won't be instant. The G7 statement said the leaders "committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil" without setting a date. Fresh US sanctions announced Sunday by the White House involve the largest state-controlled TV outlets in Russia, per CBS News. They also will bar Americans from providing services such as accounting or management consulting to any Russians.

In addition, the G7 statement condemned Russia, with comments anticipating the nation's Monday celebration of the Allies' defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine violated the international order "conceived after the second world war to spare successive generations from the scourge of war," it said, per the Guardian. "His actions bring shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people." (Read more Group of Seven stories.)
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

A few rain showers this evening mixing with snow showers overnight. Low 34F. Winds light and variable. Chance of precip 60%..

Tonight

A few rain showers this evening mixing with snow showers overnight. Low 34F. Winds light and variable. Chance of precip 60%.
Alaska_news

Manley Hot Springs sees worst flooding in decades

Tanana Chiefs/Homeland Security The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Manley Hot Springs Friday night as an ice jam formed on the Tanana River downstream from Manley Hot Springs. Tanana Chiefs conference/Homeland Security Tanana Chiefs/Homeland Security Tanana Chiefs/Homeland Security The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Manley Hot Springs Friday night as an ice jam formed on the Tanana River downstream from Manley Hot Springs.

The worst flooding seen since 1956 hit Manley Hot Springs Friday night and Saturday morning as an ice jam on the Tanana River sent water into the small Yukon-Koyukuk community.

North Pole resident Dee Born, whose family owns and operates Manley Hot Springs Resort, said the lodge was at full capacity offering shelter for those impacted.

The resort offered shelter to help people get out of the wet areas, Born told the News-Miner Saturday. The resorts rooms were filled with cots to accommodate any influx and people were setting up tents and trailers nearby. As of 1 p.m., Born said the resort had about 20 people on its grounds.

Power was reported turned off to the community, so the lodge has its generators running. Born said some agencies were sending some assistance, including generators.

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Manley Hot Springs Friday night. The warning stated that an ice jam has formed on the Tanana River downstream from Manley Hot Springs.

The Yukon area near Eagle and the Kuskokwim between Stoney River and Crooked Creek were placed on flood watches as well.

DHSER spokesperson Jeremy Zidek the State Emergency Operations Center are coordinating efforts with the Tanana Chiefs Conference, which provides mutual air services for emergency responses in the area.

TCC has a Village Public Safety Officer there who is assessing the situation, Zidek said. They are taking cautionary measures in case an evacuation is warranted, but for now they have been moving people to higher communities within the area.

A request for evacuation hasnt been issued yet, however.

Power was turned off in the town as a precautionary measure to prevent problems with electrical lines and equipment, Zidek said. He added some communications disruptions are to be expected.

Zidek advised that impacted residents work with or contact their local community officials, leaders and the VPSO officer so that state agencies and other organizations can respond with the needs.

State of emergency

Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared a disaster emergency Saturday evening because of the ice jam flooding Manley Hot Springs and said his office was monitoring the flooding.

The declaration directs state of Alaska agencies to respond to the event. The release stated the governors office also is monitoring the beginning of breakup on the upper Yukon River near Eagle and Circle.

The National Weather Service stated an observer in the area reported that almost all roads in Manley are flooded and that several houses on the slough bank have water either in or surrounding them.

The Fairbanks American Red Cross said it remains aware of the flooding.

We are tracking but have not been asked to provide assistance just yet, said Amanda Blanchard, the Fairbanks American Red Cross executive director.

Zidek said that of the 150 people living in Manley Springs, 50 to 75 reportedly lived in the lower

At 9:30 a.m., water levels were just a foot below the lowest girder on the bridge over the Manley Slough.

Water was over the Elliott Highway across from the Manley Hot Springs bathhouse.

According to the NWS, water was at its highest in 45 years and was fast approaching a 1956 record flood.

Zidek said the Alaska State Parks and the Civil Air Patrol have launched aerial surveys of the Manley area and the National Weather Service is deploying a hydrologist to assess the flooding situation.

The Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Response issued a statement Saturday morning stating that its Kuskokwim River Watch Team was in the air monitoring the situation and offering updates.

Zidek said the Kuskokwim River Watch Team has been active since last weekend. The Yukon River Watch Team launches Monday.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Rain and snow showers this morning. The rain and snow will change to all rain for the afternoon hours. High 41F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Periods of rain and snow. Low 34F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 80%.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Staff Reporter

A leading Indian lawmaker has praised Bahraini parliamentarians for their democratic efforts to bring welfare to the Kingdoms population. I have had the unique opportunity to interact with many Parliamentarians from the Kingdom of Bahrain and other Gulf nations as part of Inter-Parliamentary Union initiatives, said Indian politician and one of the most respected parliamentarians in the country, N K Premachandran, during an interaction with The Daily Tribune.

The parliamentary culture and systems in Gulf countries including Bahrain is very promising and I believe it has a great future in terms of addressing the issues faced by citizens and expatriates, the Indian MP, who is on a visit to the Kingdom, pointed out.

Bright future for democracy

Despite the world being divided by conflicts and ill-governance, he said democracy has a bright future. It is the only form of political governance system that has successfully survived throughout the history of mankind.

I agree there are many defects and deficiencies when it comes to successfully implementing democracy. One of the major threats to democracy is vote-bank politics, which is fuelling sectarianism, communalism and regionalism.

Another threat to democracy is welfare populism. Welfare populism has no ideological or philosophical backings. In India, many political parties are practising welfare populism, which will do no good to the democratic framework in the country. Earlier, all political formations were based on certain ideologies or philosophies, which is gradually shifting towards welfare populism led by charismatic leaders.

This tendency, backed by charismatic leadership, could easily jeopardize democratic values and practices, most often leading to ill-governance. Across the world, if you examine, you can find such tendencies blocking the ways for democratic progress.

China not pursuing communist policies

A staunch leftist throughout his political career, Mr Premachandran said communists must cease viewing China as their role model. China, to be very frank, is not strictly pursuing communist policies. They are systematically and scientifically managing a capitalistic economy using structures once established under the Communist Party frameworks.

Although China is widening its capitalistic horizons, it has got its own distinction in terms of discipline and strong character. With regard to growing relations between India and GCC countries, the leading lawmaker said the changing geo-political situation will definitely give a platform for India and West Asian nations to further boost diplomatic ties and relations.

The Indian Parliamentarian said his country is yet to legislate a bill or enact a slew of measures that will provide comprehensive solutions to all issues faced by the expatriate community. Mr Premachandran said policy formulators in India, both at the Central and Provincial levels, have failed to devise clear cut policies aimed at the overall welfare of expatriates.

I am not saying that nothing has been done by successive governments for the welfare of expatriates, but the steps are not adequate and more needs to be done in the form of executive policies, parliamentary resolutions and legislations, said Mr Premachandran, who is also a member of the Parliament Standing Committee on External Affairs. The Central and State governments have initiated many policies for Non-Resident Indians.

But there are no clear-cut policies regarding the rehabilitation of an expatriate if he/she returns home after serving in a foreign country. NRIs have been integral contributors to the economy of India. And in Kerala, needless to say that they are the backbone of the economy.

But, unfortunately, the successive governments have not offered them adequate consideration visa-vis their contributions. Living and employment rehabilitation of expatriates are of great importance, which is being largely overlooked. Many schemes are available, but they dont reap any benefits for expatriates returning home in the absence of a clear-cut policy. Even during the pandemic season, Indian expatriates have to suffer a lot of hardships as there were travel bans between countries.

As a member of parliaments standing committee, I have taken special initiatives to legislate bills for the welfare of expatriates. I have already introduced a private member resolution and private member bill for the safety, security and welfare of expatriates in the Indian Parliament House. It is now pending in Lok Sabha (the Lower House of Indian Parliament). I hope it will be considered and passed, paving the way for the overall welfare of all Indian NRIs.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

On average, 25 cars crossed into Bahrain from Saudi Arabia per minute during the Eid Al Fitr holidays, revealed new statistics. Meaning, that during the three days of Eid, around 107,000 cars rolled into Bahrain from Saudi Arabia through the King Fahd Causeway, figures released by Al Edhbariya TV said.

The King Fahd Causeway Authority earlier said on its Twitter that 16,796 cars had used the bridge during 12 hours of the second day of the Eid that began on Monday. The operator also posted a video showing its personnel handing gifts to travellers on the Eid occasion.

The King Fahd Causeway, inaugurated in 1986, is a 25 km (15.5 mi) long series of bridges and causeways connecting Khobar, Saudi Arabia and Al Jasra, Bahrain. Last March, Saudi Arabia lifted several restrictions, including the mandatory vaccination certificate, PCR tests before and upon arrival, and quarantine for travellers.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Two men, who challenged a five-year jail term awarded to them in a human trafficking case, had their prison terms upheld by the High Appeals Court. The men were found guilty of trafficking two girls, Asian nationals, and forcing them into prostitution before luring them with fake job offers. The court also ordered their deportation after completing jail terms. Court files say the victims reached Bahrain with the help of an accomplice of the defendants, another woman from their hometown.

Police said she orchestrated the entire episode with the help of the defendants in Bahrain. She completed all the paperwork for processing the visas and offered the victims to work as waitresses in the Kingdom.

Trusting the woman blindly, the victims accepted the offer, dreaming about settling into a good life here in Bahrain. However, things that appeared rosy at first did not take long to flip to the dark side. Police told the court that soon after landing in Bahrain, the woman confiscated their passports, took them to an apartment and locked them up.

However, the real horror began when the woman came up with customers for the victims. The victims were startled by the prospect of their violent future of working as a prostitute instead of waitresses. Police said the victims tried to resist the defendant and had also demanded to return to their home countries.

However, their protests remained short-lived when the woman threatened to spoil their lives by exposing them as prostitutes to their families back home. Their ordeal continued until they got an opportunity to call the police. The second accused, an Asian man, was responsible for delivering them to clients apartments. The Public Prosecution charged the defendants with human trafficking, forcing the victims into prostitution, and establishing and running a brothel.
By CAPT. MAHMOOD AL MAHAMOOD

When things happen in real-life Hollywood, clearly it reverberates around the world, sparking a hundred debates and generating a thousand opinions. It was the case with the horrible Harvey Weinstein scandal when so many women testified to having been taken advantage of by the powerful movie mogul and other men in the industry and it sparked a global clean-up of sorts of workplace assault.

Now the newspapers are full of the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard domestic abuse courtroom trauma and the graphic details made public are shocking. How can two people so talented, publicly charismatic and so good-looking have such a dark and abusive relationship? The truth is that domestic violence has for long been the elephant in the room  the secret that everybody knows, the bruises that haunt faces and limbs without apparent reason.

Globally, an estimated 736 million womenalmost one in threehave been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life (30 per cent of women aged 15 and older). In fact, men also suffer at the rate of one in seven who end up as victims.

And this is the tip of the iceberg  it represents reported cases and not the countless cases that go unreported. As a father to beloved daughters, this is a matter that concerns me deeply  our family may be lucky that our children found loving partners who cherish them but does it not make it even more imperative for us as the privileged class to work even harder to set right the statistics and recognize the dangers of domestic violence? In Bahrain, luckily, the conversation around domestic violence is no longer a whisper.

For some years now, government authorities across ministries  of health, justice and the interior  have been working together to ensure that the voices of victims are heard and that they find shelter and justice. We have a system of halfway protection centres and most importantly, police and health frontliners have been taught to recognize signs of abuse and gently steer the victims towards support and help.

The Holy Quran is full of sayings of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) on how wives must be cherished: He wanted to put a stop to all cruelties to women. He preached kindness towards them.

He told the Muslims: Fear Allah in respect of women. And: The best of you are they who behave best to their wives. And: A Muslim must not hate his wife, and if he be displeased with one bad quality in her, let him be pleased with one that is good. And: The more civil and kind a Muslim is to his wife, the more perfect in faith he is. Let us all use these vibrant words as messages on how to avoid the scourge of domestic violence and treat the women in our lives as precious partners.
NEW FAIRFIELD  An altercation between two men at a home near the New York border on Saturday night ended when one fatally stabbed the other, police said.

State police said they arrested Patrick Griffin, 59, of New Fairfield, in connection with the death of 65-year-old Sandy Hook resident James Knapp. Griffin was charged with first-degree manslaughter, the police said.

Officers responded to a reported active assault at a home on Hillview Drive East around 11:20 p.m. and found Knapp with a stab wound to the chest. He was rushed to Danbury Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

The police report shows the stabbing took place at Griffins residence. According to town property records, the single-story home sits less than a half mile from the New York border.

A former educator at Pomperaug Regional High School, Knapp was the father of Newtown Legislative Councilman Ryan Knapp.

In a statement, the younger Knapp said his father traveled to New Fairfield to watch the Kentucky Derby with Griffin on the night he was killed.

My family is devastated by my fathers untimely passing. It still doesnt seem real, he said. The outpouring of condolences and support from family, friends and his former students has been overwhelming; we really appreciate how many people cared for him.

Police said Griffin was also transported to the hospital, but officials did not describe the extent of his injuries. He was later taken into custody on the manslaughter charge and held on a $1 million bond.

Police said Griffin will be arraigned in Danbury on Monday.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, a state with a national reputation for progressive social justice.

An acute shortage of public defenders means at any given time at least several hundred low-income criminal defendants dont have legal representation, sometimes in serious felony cases that could put them away for years.

Judges have dismissed nearly four dozen cases in in the Portland area alone  including a domestic violence case with allegations of strangulation  and have threatened to hold the state in contempt.

Were overwhelmed. The pandemic is exposing all the problems that we have, said Carl Macpherson, executive director of Metropolitan Public Defender, a large Portland nonprofit public defender firm. It just became abundantly clear that we are broken.

Public defenders warned the system was on the brink of collapse before the pandemic and some staged a walkout in 2019. But lawmakers didnt act and then COVID-19 shut down the courts. Now, the system is buckling before our eyes, said Kelly Simon, legal director for the Oregon American Civil Liberties Union.

The crisis in Oregon, while extreme, reflects a nationwide reckoning on indigent defense, as courts seek to absorb a pandemic backlog of criminal cases with public defender systems that have long been underfunded and understaffed. From New England to New Mexico to Wisconsin, states are struggling to keep public defender services running.

Maine this month earmarked nearly $1 million to hire that states first five public defenders, with a focus on rural counties, after relying entirely on contracts with private attorneys until now.

In New Mexico, a recent report found the state was short 600 full-time public defenders. In New Hampshire, where an estimated 800 defendants were without attorneys, state lawmakers in March approved more than $2 million to raise public defenders salaries. And in Wisconsin, where starting pay for public defenders is $27 an hour, theres a shortage of 60 attorney positions statewide.

This is Americas dirty little secret: Thousands of people in courtrooms all across the country go to jail every single day without having talked to a lawyer, said Jon Mosher, deputy director of the nonprofit Sixth Amendment Center.

An American Bar Association report released in January found Oregon has 31% of the public defenders it needs. Every existing attorney would have to work more than 26 hours each week day to cover the caseload, the authors found.

Its horrifying. I dont want to mince words about this. I am not going to make excuses for this, said state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, who co-chairs the state Legislatures Ways and Means committee. That being said, we cant manufacture attorneys out of thin air.

For victims, the situation is devastating and its hurting the most vulnerable.

Cassie Trahan, co-founder and executive director of an Oregon nonprofit that works with teen and young adult victims of sex trafficking, said trust in the judicial system is fading, especially in minority and immigrant communities. Victims no longer want to come forward when they see cases being dismissed or ending in weak plea bargains to relieve pressure on the courts.

One such victim in a pending trafficking case lives in constant fear that its going to be dismissed, Trahan said.

Prosecutors can get an indictment from a grand jury when cases are dismissed for lack of a public defender and police will re-arrest the alleged perpetrator  but thats small consolation to victims.

In her mind, its like, Now Ive outed myself, now Ive talked against him and whats going to happen if he gets off? Trahan said of the victim. Thats what were seeing more of, especially in communities of color and groups that dont trust the judicial system anyway.

The Legislature recently approved $12.8 million in one-time funding for the four hardest-hit counties, as well as a suite of legislative reforms. New contracts coming this summer will institute lower attorney case caps. And lawmakers are withholding $100 million from the agencys budget until shows good faith on numerous reforms, including restructuring, financial audits and performance metrics.

A working group of all three government branches will convene this month to begin tackling a comprehensive and structural modernization of the system.

Autumn Shreve, government relations manager for the state Office of Public Defense Services, said the pandemic finally forced the hand of state lawmakers who havent taken a close look at public defenders in nearly 20 years.

Its been a rag tag group of people trying to cover the caseloads year-to-year and because of that theres been a lot of past papering over of problems, she said.

Meanwhile, the situation in the states courtrooms is dire.

Often those going without attorneys are charged with heinous crimes that come with hefty prison sentences if convicted, making it even harder to find public defenders qualified to handle such complex cases. And those who handle misdemeanors are often young attorneys carrying 100 cases or more at a time.

You cant keep everything in your head when you have that many clients at the same time. Even things like, you know, Whats your current plea offer? I cant remember that for 100 people. Or I cant remember, What exactly does the police report say? said Drew Flood, a public defender at Metropolitan Public Defender.

This is the scariest thing they have going on in their life, he said.

Other public defender services, including private investigators and legal advisors, have also reached a breaking point.

Renardo Mitchell, who is jailed on attempted murder charges, chose to represent himself after he said he didnt hear from his public defender for five months. The legal advisor assigned by the court to help him hire expert witnesses and file motions died suddenly in February and hes been without legal counsel since then.

Two years after his arrest, he still hasnt seen all the discovery in his case, said Mitchell, 37. His public private investigator  Mitchells only connection to his proceedings  recently had to petition the court to get more paid hours developing evidence for his defense.

Were all innocent until proven guilty. Nothing has been proven yet  I havent been found guilty, said Mitchell, who faces more than 22 years in prison if convicted. Even if I did those things that they allege, I still have a right to due process of law. 

The chief prosecutor in Portland has become an outspoken advocate of public defender reform for that very reason.

The most important thing is everybody has a right to an attorney, its a constitutional right, said Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schmidt.

Its an ecosystem, like a coral reef. If you take away one aspect of this system, then all the other aspects fall apart."

____

Associated Press writers David Sharp in Portland, Maine; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire contributed to this report.

___

Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus
Members of the Group of Seven (G7) will meet virtually with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, including US Vice President Joe Biden today.

G7 leaders sat today to examine the latest developments in Russias special military operation in Ukraine, its global consequences, and attempts to support Ukraine by exacting significant costs on Russia.

Members of the Group of Seven (G7) will meet virtually with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, including US Vice President Joe Biden today.

Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine is advocating for greater solidarity among EU countries when it comes to sanctions against Russia.

Zelenskyy has stated that The European Union should be united in its approach. They dont have it when it comes to some sanctions. We are grateful for the sanctions imposed by the European Union. They must, however, be grateful to themselves since Russias action in Ukraine is a battle against the ideals that Ukraine protects, which are the values of European Union countries.

Earlier President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen delivered the sixth package of sanctions on Russia on Wednesday, which must be agreed by all member states in order to take effect. It proposes, among other things, a ban on Russian oil imports, which Hungary and Slovakia have stated they are not ready to implement right away and would seek exemptions.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday that EU ambassadors had till the end of this week to seek an agreement on matters connected to the blocs planned oil embargo.
The Muslim side on Saturday filed an application to remove Ajay Kumar Mishra as the court-appointed commissioner over his alleged bias in the matter.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee has sought the removal of the court-appointed Advocate Commissioner in the dispute regarding the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi. The Muslim side on Saturday filed an application to remove Ajay Kumar Mishra as the court-appointed commissioner over his alleged bias in the matter.

We filed an application against the (Court) Commissioner as he is biased and should be removed. The court will hear the application and its orders will be followed, Advocate Rayeed Ahmed of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee told the press.

The court-appointed commissioners team failed to conduct the survey and videography of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex on Saturday after facing protests from members of the Muslim community.


A revised Iran nuclear deal based on the 2015 JCPOA could provide the basis for a new Biden administration strategy that would limit Irans nuclear program to peaceful purposes and ensure that Tehrans public pronouncement that it is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons becomes a de facto reality.



Righting the Wrong

Regardless of how flawed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; aka Iran nuclear deal) may be, it was by far better than having no deal. Trumps withdrawal from the deal was most unfortunate as it did nothing but bring Iran ever closer to the nuclear threshold. Despite its public pronouncements to the contrary, Tehran remains determined to acquire nuclear weapons at some point in the near future; however, it can change its position once it returns to the original deal and together with the US builds upon it. Nonetheless, to change the dynamic of the conflict and determine what it might take to modify Irans position, we need to better understand what is behind its nuclear ambitions. Thus, it is important to first examine the clergys mindset and their motivation to acquire nuclear weapons in spite of Western powers objections and irrespective of the weighty, if not crippling sanctions that have been imposed on the country over the years.



With a long and proud history, vast natural and human resources (with a population of more than 90 million), rich culture, and geostrategic location, Iran feels that it is entitled to become the regions hegemon where it can exert considerable influence. Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has felt threatened and isolated, living in fear of a US-orchestrated regime change. As such, Iran commits nearly $25 billion of its annual budget to the military (an increase of 11 percent from 2020, making it the 14th largest military spender in the world) and over the years it has built a powerful conventional armed forces led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).



Given however the limitations of Irans conventional military power projection, the next phase of its national defense doctrine was the development of a nuclear weapons program designed to achieve three main objectives.



Why Iran seeks nuclear weapons

First, Irans determination to realize its ambition of regional hegemony would be substantially augmented by the possession of nuclear weapons. Iran has no intention of threatening or using such weapons against any of its adversariesespecially Israel, which is in possession of second-strike nuclear capability that could wipe out half the countrybut the mere fact of being a nuclear power will give it the prestige and regional sway that it desires.



Second, by acquiring nuclear weapons, Iran wants to establish the doctrine of mutual assured destruction (MAD) and thus deter any nuclear power, such as the US or Israel, from attacking it, knowing full well that no country with nuclear weapons has been attacked since World War II. India and Pakistan, who fought three conventional wars over Kashmir, have refrained from waging another war since they acquired nuclear weapons. The same can be said about North Korea, and if Ukraine kept its nuclear arsenals, Russia very likely would not have dared to invade it.



Third, as a predominantly Shiite state, Iran seeks to be on par with Sunni Pakistan and Jewish Israel, and cannot allow itself to be overshadowed by either. Moreover, Iran would feel confident that it can shield itself from regime change orchestrated by the US in particular.



Irans nuclear weapon strategy

Although Iran has time and again stated that it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons and may remain true to its public narrative, based on solid intelligence evidence, Iran is seeking to achieve nuclear latency and produce enough weapons-grade uranium to construct three to four nuclear weapons in short order. However, it may well take Iran 18 months to two years to miniaturize a nuclear head to be fitted onto a ballistic missile.



Meanwhile, the clergy is prepared to sign off on a return to the original deal provided that their demands are met. This would include removing most if not all the sanctions to get the financial relief they desperately need, unfreezing tens of billions of dollars, and removing the IRGCs militant arm, the Quds Force, from the US terrorist list, which Iran is insisting upon and should not be a deal breaker. As things stand now, once Iran returns to the original deal, it will wait for the expiration of the sunset clauses in 2031 to resume its nuclear weapon program; the Iranians are known for their patience, and they feel that time and God are on their side.



For the Biden administration to address Irans concerns and dissuade it from taking the final leap to acquire deliverable nuclear weapons, it must develop a three-pronged strategy: a) change its public narrative and convey to the Iranian public that the US has no intention of undermining Irans sovereignty and national security; b) craft a renewed JCPOA, build on it, and help Iran to become a constructive member of the international community; and c) establish a regional security architecture that will include all the countries from the Gulf to the Mediterranean.



Changing the public narrative

How the Iranian government and people perceive the US intentions matters greatly in shaping their public opinion. Any bellicose statements and threats emanating from the US or Israel plays directly into the hand of the clergy, as they will use these adversarial pronouncements to show their public that the US is Irans foremost enemy. In so doing they not only justify their enmity toward the US but also blame it for the economic hardship the public is experiencing. For the Biden administration to impact Iranian public opinion, it must refrain from using acrimonious rhetoric and make it clear by every possible means that the US holds no animosity toward Iran and is open to settle any and all disputes with the government peacefully and collaboratively.



It should be noted that even after 43 years of reign by the clergy, the majority of the Iranian population, especially the youth, remain Western-oriented and would like nothing more than to restore normal relations with the West, to where they can travel and study. We should also remember that before the 1979 revolution, Iran was one of the closet allies of the US, and two or three generations has not changed the publics Western-leaning cultural foundation. Similarly, seventy years of Soviet communist domination did not alter the eastern European countries political orientation, which sought to join the Western democracies immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union.



Needless to say, changing public narratives in and of itself will not be sufficient  it must be accompanied by action and sincere efforts to create a new environment not only to lend credibility to the new approach but in fact change the dynamic of the conflict.



Building on the renewed JCPOA

For that to happen, the Biden administration ought to make it clear to Iran that by returning to the original deal it can benefit greatly, not only from the initial phase of lifting the sanctions and unfreezing tens of billions of dollars but also by building on the new deal through: Beginning a process of normalizing relations between Washington and Tehran by establishing initial diplomatic relations; Renouncing publicly any effort to seek regime change, which is a prerequisite for any kind of Iranian cooperation; Starting trade relations between the two countries and supporting Iran in joining the World Trade Organization; Committing to not undertaking military or cyber-attacks on Irans nuclear facilities as long as its nuclear program remains peaceful; and finally, Creating a joint commission to address a host of conflicting issues to reduce tensions and build trust.

In return, Iran will be required first and foremost to end its nuclear weapons program and agree to unfettered and permanent monitoring of its nuclear facilities, stop threatening other countries, especially Israel, and cease its support of extremist and terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad. Certainly, given that Israel is consistently threatened by Iran, it should be allowed to give its input regarding these issues through the US, without blowing its national security concerns out of proportion. Since Iran denies being engaged in any nefarious activity, the negotiation about these sensitive issues, including its cruise and ballistic missiles program, ought to obviously take place behind the scenes.



There will be many who would argue that such an approach amounts to nothing more than a pipe dream. They maintain that the Iranian government is religiously fanatic, politically radical, militarily aggressive with grandiose strategic ambitions, illogical, and a major destabilizing force in the region. Indeed, anyone who listens to the clergys denunciations and condemnations of the US and Israel would concur that the Iranian regime is perhaps irredeemable and that only regime change would alter its behavior. One cannot dismiss this argument out of hand as Irans conduct in the region and beyond speaks for itself.



That said, the people of Iran want to grow, flourish, and live in peace, and the ruling clergy knows that they cannot achieve this as long as they remain economically hamstrung by sanctions while continuing to treat the US as a mortal enemy. Culturally, the Iranians are known to be calculating and strategically savvy. To be sure, notwithstanding the leaderships adversarial public posture and utterances against the US, they certainly prefer normal relations with America than perpetual enmity.



This however, should not preclude the US from pursuing a new Middle Eastern strategy that would effectively compel Iran to choose between two options: either to become a constructive player in the region or a perpetual enemy who must always be constrained by any means necessary, including the use of force.



Establishing a regional security architecture

As the Biden administration embarks on the process of reconciliation with Iran, it should concurrently begin discussions with its Middle Eastern alliesthe six Arab Gulf states, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and Egyptto form a regional security alliance. Such an alliance is more likely to be established at the present than at any other time in the past, especially because of the Abraham Accords, where Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf, along with Sudan and Morocco, have normalized relations with Israel. The remaining Gulf statesSaudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Omanare already collaborating with Israel on many fronts, especially on security and intelligence-sharing.



The purpose of such an alliance would be to challenge Irans regional ambitions and pose a veiled threat to its national security, compelling Iran to choose between two options. Iran can either gradually moderate its position and become a constructive player in and outside the region or stick to its ambition to become a nuclear power once the new deal runs its course. If Iran chooses the latter, the Biden administration should then consider building the infrastructure that would provide a nuclear umbrella to all member states of the alliance, something that was floated by Hillary Clinton when she ran for president.



This strategy may seem far-fetched and undoable simply because of the huge differences in perception and the ultimate objectives of each side. But then we have to admit that since the 1979 Iranian revolution, the enmity and distrust between the US and Iran has only deepened. Indeed, if there was an opportunity to build on the original deal and create more constructive relations between the US and Iran, it was blown away by Trumps withdrawal from the deal. This has only further deepened Irans distrust of the US, which predates the 1979 revolution and is rooted in the US-backed overthrow of the democratically elected Mosaddegh government in 1953, despite the fact that they continued to maintain good relations from 1953 to 1979.



After 43 years of continuing hostility, it is time for a new approach. Iran is a large and powerful country and is not going anywhere. It occupies one of the most strategic locations in the world and thus it cannot be simply ignored, or written off as an irredeemable enemy that responds only to the threat or use of force. A return to the original deal offers a perhaps rare opportunity to open a new chapter in the relations between the US and Iran and bring an end to a consuming conflict that will otherwise continue to dangerously destabilize the region.



The US can now change the dynamic of the conflict by offering Iran a promising prospect for economic prosperity and growth while enhancing its national security, or be subject to constant sabotage, crippling sanctions, and potential military attacks on its nuclear facilities, as President Biden and Israel vowed to never allow Iran to become a nuclear power. The US can make this overture not only because it has nothing to lose, but also because it can demonstrate resolute leadership and be ready to change course by offering a solution from a position of strength, even if it stands only a small chance of success.



Since Iran consistently denies having any ambition to acquire nuclear weapons, this strategy will allow it to forsake its nuclear weapons program without losing face, while leveraging constructively its vast potential as a major regional power.
Conrad Sangma spoke about his vision for the state and how he plans to encourage people take up the task of employment generation through entrepreneurship in the state.

iTV Network hosted Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma for the third day of its 20-day long series, The Chief Ministers Podium. In the exclusive interaction, Sangma talked about the various challenges faced by Meghalaya and the schemes being implemented by his government to solve those problems. He also spoke about his vision for the state and how he plans to encourage people to take up the task of employment generation through entrepreneurship in the state. Sangma also talked about the various inter-state disputes in the region and much more. Read the excerpt from the interview here:

Sangma talked about the issue of connectivity in the northeastern states and said that his government has worked at a radical pace to ensure better road connectivity in Meghalaya. He stated, We have moved every aggressively to ensure road connectivity is better. We have more than 8-9 flights connecting every N.E states capital and Delhi.

Speaking about his governments vision for Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma stated, Governance is a continuous process. Our goal is to see Meghalaya as one of the top ten states. Highlighting his model of governance, Sangma said, My focus was on overall governance, delivery mechanism and improving the efficiency of the system.

The Meghalaya CM also told us about his plans for the economic upliftment of the state. Sangmas plan involves utilising the resource Meghalaya has in abundance  the topography. The plan is to focus on areas like agriculture and food processing. The other focus sectors are tourism which we would like to push forward.

Talking about representation for the entire North-East region, CM Sangma remarked, Our goal has always been to provide a platform for the North-East region as a whole and I strongly believe that we need a regional voice. Sangma then highlighted steps taken to develop the education infrastructure in Meghalaya and said, 14 new colleges have been set up in Meghalaya to boost the education infra and more institutes will be set up soon.

On the issue of employment, CM Sangma said that entrepreneurship holds the potential to unlock the door of economic prosperity for the state. Entrepreneurship is very important. We have a great opportunity to create entrepreneurs in Meghalaya, said Sangma.

The interview then took a turn towards politics and we asked about the dynamics between the National Peoples Party (NPP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to which Sangma stated that though they are allies under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the NPP has always fought elections on its own terms. Sangma was quoted as saying, We have made maintained our individual stand in terms of politics.

CM Sangma also put forth his opinion on the various inter-state disputes in the North-East and said that amicable solutions are the path to embrace to solve such situations. Proper dialogue is needed for long term solutions to various disputes, stated Sangma.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Telecommunications industry groups on Wednesday ended their bid to block California's net neutrality law that prevents broadband providers from throttling service.

In a federal court filing in Sacramento, the groups and California Attorney General Rob Bonta jointly agreed to dismiss the case.

The move followed a January decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing enforcement of the 2018 law, which bans internet providers from slowing down or blocking access to websites and applications that dont pay for premium service.

The case is finally over," Bonta said in a statement. With this victory, weve secured a free and open internet for Californias 40 million residents once and for all.

Messages seeking comment from an attorney representing the groups weren't immediately returned.

The law was signed by former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown after regulators during the Trump administration killed federal net neutrality rules designed to prevent AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and other major internet providers from exploiting their dominance to favor certain services or apps over others.

In response, seven states and Puerto Rico enacted their own net neutrality policies. The most expansive effort was in California, which started enforcing the law last year, with potentially significant consequences for the rest of the U.S.

In addition to barring internet providers from throttling service or charging companies like Netflix for a faster route to customers, the California law banned some forms of zero rating  a term for when a cable or phone company exempts a service from data caps.

Net-neutrality advocates say such programs undermine competition by potentially tilting users to the sponsored app and away from rivals.

Big telecom companies fought the measure fiercely in court. They argued that the regulations can undermine investment in broadband and introduce uncertainty about what were acceptable business practices.

The Trump administration sued to block Californias 2018 law, preventing it from taking effect for years, but the Biden administration dropped that lawsuit.
Leora Levy is running to be your next U.S. senator because, why wouldnt she? Leora is rich so that checks one box. She raises money for other Republicans so check that box, too. Shes also an opportunist of the highest order whose principles and convictions are determined by whichever way the wind is blowing, and right now the Republican way forward is to be a name-calling, xenophobic, anti-science, pseudo-tough guy populist who uses the word freedom a lot, so, check.

But why is Leora running? Listen to Levy for a few minutes and youll come away with chapter and verse about her Cuban ancestry and how her family fled Castro and his mob, a situation she swears shell never let happen here. Which is weird, because in a way it did, Leora saw it coming, and actually let it happen. See, in the 1950s a failed baseball player named Fidel Castro seized on Cuban nationalist fervor, leading an angry and disenchanted working class to stage a populist uprising to take back their country from who they saw as disconnected and oppressive internationalist elites who were keeping real Cubans down. The end result being that Castro won, ran the country into the ground and disenfranchised anyone who didnt fall in line.

Sound familiar? The revolution in Cuba may have happened at gunpoint, but a similar movement washed over America in 2016 with the rise and election of failed celebrity businessman Donald Trump. Then, Americans who had been seething for years over elites and multiculturalism and the feeling that they were being left behind, embraced the MAGA movement and decided it was their time to somehow take back their country. Populism unleashed angry nationalism, and like Castro, Trump played his supporters for suckers, ran the country into the ground and redefined the new low for what it means to be a Republican politician.

Did we just compare Communist Cuba to Republican America? Yes, because its not about labels, its about methodology. Now while Levys hatred for Cuban Communists is real, she fails to recognize Castro and Trumps similarities. They both led status quo-breaking nativist movements with a goal of taking back their country from out-of-touch elites, and establishing a political party of inflexible nationalists, leaving behind shattered national landscapes.

And like we said, Levy saw this coming before and after the election, and what did she do? When she saw America sinking into a sewer of right-wing nationalist jihad, did she climb the ramparts to defend America and shout with all her righteous anger, Ive seen this before ... beware!? No, she capitulated to the mob and joined in.

Here was Leora speaking out against candidate Trump: He is vulgar, ill-mannered ... His modus operandi is to try to intimidate people then call them names... See, she knew. She was staunchly anti-Trump before the election, but as Trumps fortunes shifted so did Leoras position. Levy remained firmly pro-Trump up to and including when she represented Connecticut at the 2020 Republican convention saying, I agree with his policies and the direction in which he is taking our country, and re-nominated him with praise for his great leadership.

Similarly, in pre-Trump America, Levy was pro-choice when it came to abortion, but now that the prevailing winds blow toward fascist Gilead, Levy has recently become a pro-life Republican.

Interestingly though, the primary reason Republicans want Leora to run has little to do with her politics or positions, its her ability to raise money. This paper ran an enormous story on Levys campaign and nowhere does it say anything about why Levy is running other than because she can raise the money to do so. The goes on and on about the dark money, superPACs and consulting firms that are mushrooming up all over in support of Levy. That alone should be worth a dozen more damning stories about how races are bought and sold.

Still, why is Levy is running? She parrots all the terrible right-wing talking points. She hates Communists, but to say were becoming a Communist country is just plain dumb. Is it really only because shes rich, raises money and Freedom!? The Senate has enough of the rich and unprincipled already.

David Rafferty is a Greenwich resident.
MIDDLETOWN  A couple was in custody Tuesday night after a 4-year-old boy was found safe soon after an Amber Alert was issued for him, police said.

The Middletown child, Armel Muhammed, was found safe at a 5th Avenue Motel in Wethersfield, police said.

Middletown police said Mario Jenkins, the childs uncle, had been entrusted with his care. When Jenkins went to work, the child was in the care of Stephanie Fonda, a family friend, police said.

Fonda, 39, had taken Jenkins car without his permission, according to police. Police said she was last seen driving a 2010 Chevy Malibu and was believed to be with her husband, 37-year-old David Fonda.

Police said David and Stephanie Fonda were in custody Tuesday night and charges were expected to be filed by New Britain police.

The child had been last seen in New Britain Monday around 9 p.m., according to police. Middletown Police had been notified the child was missing Tuesday around 3:20 p.m., a release read.

Amber Alerts are typically issued when law enforcement believe a child has been abducted and there is imminent danger, according to the Department of Justice.

Before the child was found, Middletown police spokesperson Lt. Brian Hubbs said he didnt know of any specific danger to the child. In an update to press streamed by NBC Connecticut, police said the boy would be sent to a hospital as a safety precaution, to make sure the child is OK.
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SHERMAN  When Kristen Vogt got pregnant at the age of 16, she said she was fortunate.

I was lucky I had the support system that allowed me to continue to thrive. I had a mom who supported me and I was able to get through high school. I was never on my own, said Vogt, a Sherman resident who is now 39.

Yet, when she read about the possibility of the overturn of Roe v. Wade  the 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States, it hit like a ton of bricks, she said.

It took her back in time more than two decades  to when she was pregnant while in her junior year at New Milford High School.

I left high school halfway through my junior year. I would work during the day, said Vogt, who grew up in New Milford. She chose to keep her baby because her mother assured her that she would help and doesnt regret it.

She took a job as a bank teller at the First National Bank of Litchfield and was given the chance to earn her high school diploma at night through the New Milford Adult Education program.

My daughter would go to child care at the high school while I went to my classes, she said. It took about two years for me to complete the program.

She said she knew of other girls at the time, however, who got pregnant and did not have it as easy as she did.

Girls that were in my high school didn't have the same advantages I had, and having a child was just not an option for them, said Vogt, who is now a mother of five children ages 2 to 22. Those girls would not have survived  literally. They couldn't afford to.

Infertility

The impact of Roe v. Wade came up a second time in Vogts life when, in her late 20s and early 30s, she and her husband Matt were unable to get pregnant and used in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

We went through four years of infertility treatments, she said. I had done everything under the sun and our first IVF failed.

On her second IVF attempt, four embryos were able to be transferred.

As a last ditch effort, my doctor agreed to transfer all four of them, she said.

Two of the embryos took and Vogt ended up carrying twins.

She said she would have considered using selective reduction  the practice of reducing the number of fetuses in a multiple pregnancy  if her pregnancy was in jeopardy and she was at risk of losing all the fetuses.

We were grateful that we only had twins because had it been more than twins, it would have put the entire pregnancy at risk, she said. We had spent so many years trying  to lose them all is just a heartbreaking thought.

Access to IVF could be restricted if Roe v. Wade is overturned since the anti-abortion movement has maintained that life begins at conception, experts say.

Vogt, who said shes pro-choice, said to put a woman in the position where she's left with no choice ... is outrageous. We're going backwards. I don't understand why you would take away basic health care from women.

She said one never knows another persons story or struggles unless that person has lived in the others shoes.

While in Connecticut, state laws protect womens right to an abortion, Vogt said if abortion is made illegal in other states in the United States, it could set a precedent to become illegal closer to home.

I'm still speechless, Vogt said. I can't believe that in 2022, this is what we're dealing with.
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WEST HAVEN  Its name may be Marginal, but Kathie Hebert believes it could be something significant.

Marginal Drive, a road that runs along the West River and connects New Havens Westville neighborhood to the Allingtown neighborhood in West Haven, is underutilized and has not been recognized for its potential in recent years, Hebert said.

Hebert, a West Haven resident involved in cleanup and beautification efforts along West Havens shoreline, has been meeting with like-minded people in both New Haven and West Haven for weeks. Her ultimate goal is to lobby the two city governments to work together to revitalize Marginal Drive into a well-lit, properly-maintained trail for jogging, biking and birding.

Weve come up with a proposal that University of New Haven students have worked on with me to revitalize Marginal Drive, to hopefully connect UNH to Southern (Connecticut State University), she said. Were hoping by starting to have cleanups and bringing awareness that people might think its a good idea.

Ultimately, Hebert said she would like to raise enough awareness about Marginal Drives potential that more people will be on board with the vision to create a trail that is smooth for joggers, with lights for safety and signs that provide history as well as information about native birds.

We want to utilize it in a safe, healthy manner. Right now, its just a dumping ground, she said.

Hebert and others have complained that the site is currently plagued by illegal dumping, as the area does not invite a lot of foot traffic.

Its sort of been a forgotten place, because even though the land of Marginal Drive is in West Haven, the closed-off section and part of the open section near the river has been maintained by the New Haven parks department, said Stephanie FitzGerald, a member of the West River Watershed Coalition. Its always been confusing as to who has the responsibility for making it beautiful, cleaning it up, policing it. It keeps going back and forth.

FitzGerald said that when Marginal Drive was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, it was envisioned as a beautiful, pastoral drive on the riverside.

Theres over a 100-year history there, FitzGerald said.

It was initially open to vehicular traffic, but has not been for decades. FitzGerald said she would like to see attractive public works infrastructure that would keep the drive open to cyclists and pedestrians, but would prevent vehicles from backing up onto the area and illegally dumping.

In the public section theres no impediment to a truck backing up onto grass, dumping and going into the night, she said.

Len Speiller, spokesman for New Haven, said illegal dumping in the area is an ongoing battle. He said the citys Youth and Recreation Departmentemploys a part-time cleanup crew that focuses much of its efforts on West River Memorial Park, and two newly-hired park rangers will also help to enforce anti-blight measures in the area.

The New Haven Youth and Recreation Department also is in the process of replacing missing trail signs in the park, Speiller said.

FitzGerald said she believes the brush could also be groomed to provide better views of the water from the drive.

Beyond blight, Marginal Drive has been most notable as the site of a tent city for unhoused people. Officials from New Haven and West Haven cooperated on taking legal action to shut down the tent city in 2010, but then ran into obstacles as the cities looked to determine how the cleanup efforts of the tent citys remnants would be funded.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Maine's two U.S. senators want their colleagues to ratify an agreement that would phase out a greenhouse gas linked to climate change.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware sent a letter in late April to the chair and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee calling for ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine was among a bipartisan group of senators to co-sign the letter.
Davidetta Browne-Lansanah

Arguably, the most conflicted & corrupt Chair of the NEC ever Presidential elections in Liberia are deeply consequential because they constitute the primary source of rice and palm oil for many in the winning party and an instant accumulation (corruptively) of wealth, affluence, and power by those in the highest echelon of power (e.g., the Sirleaf and Weah governments). An election is an emotional and rational exercise of the individuals constitutional right to freely choose a representative government in a democracy. I further argue that it is more emotional in less sophisticated countries (like Liberia); as a result, when the outcome is perceived to be shrouded in a stratocumulus cloud, chaos and anarchy ensue (e.g., Liberias 1986 election). The National Election Commission (NEC) is the nuclear nerve center of this delicate political drama, and for that, it is required to exhibit the ultimate integrity. Based on samplings from headlines and editorials in varied Liberian newspapers and conversations with ordinary Liberians, the current Liberian NEC seems to exhibit grave ineptitude. This is petrifying. As we move forward to the 2023 presidential elections, there are glaring symptoms of a grave omen looming over the Republic. To ward off the oncoming meteoritic bombardment, Liberians in the diasporas and at home must find the answer; we must not depend on the United States as the White Knight to save us. A case in point: A detachment of 225 U.S. Marines swept into Liberias embattled capital of Monrovia early Sunday to evacuate Americans after a rebel leader threatened to arrest foreigners in an attempt to provoke international intervention in the nations civil war. But the Marines, who flew in from four U.S. ships that had been stationed offshore for months, were under orders not to actively intercede in the fighting among government forces loyal to President Samuel K. Doe and two separate rebel groups, according to U.S. officials in Washington (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-08-06-mn-73-story.html). Here are a few examples of the symptoms that suggest grave uncertainties that threaten the stability of the Republic: extreme economic hardship on the masses (the majority of daily telephone calls from Liberia to relatives in the US and elsewhere in the world is: please send me anything to feed my family), unsolved ritual killings and wonton murders, the unsafe landings of international flights at Roberts International Airport (for a Republic that is the oldest in Africa), the unrelenting economic hardship of the masses (while Weah and his coterie of sycophants live the gilded life), the endemic corruption alluded to by the United States Ambassador to Liberia, the Lofa County constitutional crisis, etc. These symptoms will continue to metastasize if serious and patriotic Liberians (students, professionals, retirees, old and young, men and women) everywhere act like ostriches burying their heads in the sand. WAKE UP, LIBERIANS! LIBERIA IS IN A SLOW MELTDOWN.





J. Patrick Flomo

Columbus, OH

zamawood@gmail.com

614 707 3636
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)  The United Nations' highest court ruled Thursday that Colombia breached Nicaragua's rights in waters of the Caribbean Sea, including by hindering Nicaraguan fishing vessels and granting fishing permits for Colombian and other boats.

The majority ruling of the International Court of Justice gave Nicaragua a victory in a lengthy legal battle, although it may not fully end the dispute between the two Latin American nations.

Nicaragua filed the case in 2013, claiming that Colombia violated its sovereignty in the western Caribbean, a region of the sea long claimed by both countries that is home to a UNESCO-listed biosphere reserve inhabited by dozens of endangered species.

In a 9-6 vote, the world court ruled that Colombia must immediately cease the conduct, ICJ President Jean E. Donoghue said during a public reading of the decision.

The judges voted 10-5 to establish that Colombia infringed Nicaragua's rights by interfering with fishing and marine scientific research activities of Nicaraguan or Nicaraguan-licensed vessels and with naval activities and by purporting to enforce conservation measures in Nicaragua's waters.

Colombia said the ruling had positives for Bogota, despite imposing limits on its naval activities.

They limited some of its functions in the sense that they cannot undertake environmental control activities, which is a shame because we do have the ability to do that," Colombia's representative to the court, Carlos Gustavo Arrieta Padilla, told reporters. "But nevertheless, the court maintained the possibility of the Colombian navy being there and doing operations in the fight against organized crime in the area.

A 2012 ruling by the world court gave Nicaragua fishing rights over much of the western Caribbean, but Colombias navy has continued to patrol the waters, which are also used by traffickers to smuggle drugs into Central America.

At hearings last year, Nicaragua argued that Colombian naval ships were infringing on its fishing rights by patrolling the area that the court had awarded to Nicaragua as an exclusive economic zone.

The country also alleged that Colombias navy has dissuaded vessels with Nicaraguan fishing permits from operating in the area while providing protection to vessels with Colombian permits.

Colombia denied the accusations and said its navy patrolled the area to fight drug trafficking and to protect the Seaflower Marine Reserve, an area created by Colombia that is on UNESCOs global list of biosphere reserves and overlaps the economic zone awarded to Nicaragua in the 2012 ruling.

In a win for Colombia, the court majority said in Thursday's ruling that points used by Nicaragua to delineate its territorial waters after the 2012 judgment were not in conformity with customary international law.

Rulings by the court are final and legally binding.
The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has suspended its plan to shut down flight operations across the country. The AON had, on Fri...

The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has suspended its plan to shut down flight operations across the country.

The AON had, on Friday, announced its decision to stop operations from Monday over the hike in the price of aviation fuel.

Earlier on Sunday, the association said it would not back down on its decision to suspend operations.

Ibom Air, Aero Contractors, Dana Air and Arik Air had, however, said they would continue operations as usual.

In another statement issued on Sunday evening, the AON said the decision to suspend the planned shutdown was taken after numerous calls from the highest echelons in government.

The association said the federal government promised urgent intervention, adding that the suspension of the operation shutdown would be followed by dialogue.

The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) wishes to inform the general public that further to numerous calls from the highest echelons in government with promises to urgently intervene in the crises being faced by airlines due to the astronomic and continuously rising cost of JetA1, that the AON has acceded to requests to withdraw the action for the time being while we allow for a fresh round of dialogue with government in the hope of reaching an amicable solution, the statement reads.

We have also reached this decision with the highest consideration for our esteemed customers who have been faced with uncertainty over the last few days and to enable them to have access to travel to their various destinations for the time being during the period of discussions with relevant authorities.

In view of the above and in the interest of national economy and security considerations, AON hereby wishes to notify the general public that the earlier announced shutdown of operations on May 9, 2022 is hereby suspended in good fate pending the outcome of hopefully fruitful engagement with government.

Signatories to the statement included Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, AON president; Shehu Wada, executive director, Max Air; Obiora Okonkwo, chairman, United Nigeria Airlines; Roy Ilegbodu, chief executive officer (CEO), Arik Air; Abdullahi Mahmood, CEO, Aero Contractors; Faisal Abdulmunaf, managing director, Azman Air; and Allen Onyema, chairman of Air Peace.
Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, has endorsed Nasiru Gawuna, his deputy, to become the next governor of the state. The decision ...

Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, has endorsed Nasiru Gawuna, his deputy, to become the next governor of the state.

The decision was said to have been taken at a recent stakeholders meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano.

At the stakeholders meeting presided over by the Kano governor, Murtala Garo, former commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, was reportedly selected to be Gawunas running mate in the 2023 governorship election.

According to sources, Garo is believed to have the capacity to deliver votes for the party, considering his influence at local government level.

Meanwhile, Ganduje is reportedly making plans to obtain the nomination and expression of interest forms to represent Kano north senatorial district.

The Kano north senatorial seat is presently occupied by Barau Jibrin.

Ganduje was deputy governor of Kano to Rabiu Kwankwaso for two terms  1999 to 2003, and 2011 to 2015  before he became governor of the state in 2015.

Kwankwaso had endorsed Ganduje to succeed him but the relationship between the two became relatively frosty over the years.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given all political parties June 3, 2022 as deadline to conduct primaries and present candidates for the 2023 elections.
Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, is making efforts to stop the defection of Abdulmumin Jibrin, former house of representatives member,...

Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, is making efforts to stop the defection of Abdulmumin Jibrin, former house of representatives member, from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

On Saturday, Jibrin said he was going to announce his new political party, adding that he has done his best for the party.

The former lawmaker is the director-general of Tinubu support group.

In a statement on Sunday, Abdullahi Abbas, APC chairman, said Ganduje has asked that the crisis among those seeking to represent Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency be resolved.

Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state has directed the state secretariat of the All Progressives Congress to immediately take measures for the amicable resolution of the internal differences arising from interested parties seeking nomination to contest election into the Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency, Abbas said.





To this end, the party secretariat has complied and summoned a stakeholder meeting to discuss the situation in the constituency.





An invitation has been sent to all the aspiring candidates for the position.





Abdulmumin Jibrin Kofa has already accepted the proposal and is ready to attend the meeting.





The chairman said stakeholders should cooperate with the party in order to resolve the issues among the hopefuls.





Jibrin represented Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency in the eighth assembly. He won reelection in 2019, but was sacked by the court.
Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, says he will address the issue of devolution of powers if he becomes president in 2023. Atiku...

Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, says he will address the issue of devolution of powers if he becomes president in 2023.

Atiku spoke on Saturday when he visited Abeokuta, the Ogun capital, to seek the support of delegates ahead of the presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scheduled for May 28.

He met with PDP leaders, including Ladi Adebutu, Ogun governorship aspirant, and Sikirullahi Ogundele, the state party chairman.

The former vice-president said he is better qualified to be president due to his experience and maturity, adding that if he is voted into power, he would also focus on unity, security, economy, and education.

I promise to give every part of this country a sense of belonging as we did in the past, NAN quoted him as saying.

When we came to power in 1999, we experienced lack of unity and the first thing we did was to form a government of national unity which engendered the peace we needed for successful governance.

I am going to tackle insecurity because once you tackle insecurity, there will be peace and when there is peace, you can now begin to implement economic reforms which will create jobs and bring about development.

I am also going to tackle the issue of decentralisation or rather, devolution of powers to the state and the local governments.

Speaking further, Atiku also explained why he did not visit Ogun during the 2019 presidential primary of the PDP.

I was angry with you people because you allowed outsiders from the south-west region to manipulate you and dictate the way you ran your affairs, he said.

As long as there is disunity, you will continue to lose election in Ogun.

Ogun has provided political leadership for the entire nation several times and you are too politically sophisticated and advanced to allow outsiders to interfere in your affairs.

I am, however, happy because you are now united and I urge you to sustain this unity.
The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

May 8, 2022

PRESS RELEASE

03 May 2022

At an alarming rate, Liberia is moving dangerously downward into an abyss. It is a very troubling and discouraging situation considering the recent past history of our Country. The fratricidal civil conflict that commenced on 24 December 1989 claimed the lives of more than two hundred thousand Liberians. It was a conflict deeply rooted in the rigged Presidential and Legislative Elections of October 1985. Those Elections were conducted by the then Special Elections Commission (SECOM) under the Chairmanship of the late Emmett Harmon, a veteran of traditional True Whig Party Politics, who was recruited by Samuel Doe to do for his National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL) what Harmon and his likes did over many years for the Grand Old TWP.



Indeed, those Elections were conducted in the most unpatriotic and selfish manner with no regard for the general good of Liberia. As a consequence, the 12 November 1985 attempted coup led by the late General Thomas Q. Quiwonkpa occurred. The Quiwonkpas rebellion resulted in the death of more than four hundred Liberians and was the prelude to Charles Taylors rebellion of 24 December 1989 from which Liberia is yet to fully recover. With the help of the International community led by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the prevailing fragile peace in Liberia was established following the death of numerous West African Peace Keepers who paid the ultimate price in the cause of saving Liberians from themselves. Moreover, more than six billion United States Dollars was reportedly expended by the International Community to extinguish a fire that Liberians, to a large degree, ignited themselves.

It is very sad that history is about to repeat itself. Again, the National Elections Commission (NEC), this time around, under the leadership of Madam Davidetta Browne-Lansanah, has been conducting itself in a questionable and non-credible manner that glaringly undermines its independence. The unilateral decision by the NEC to conduct a mobile voter update exercise prior to the conduct of the 2020 Special Senatorial Election, a situation that could culminate in fraudulent Election results if the ECOWAS DATA MANAGEMENT TEAM had not intervened to salvage the Final Registration Roll (FRR) is a case in point.





Davidetta Browne-Lansanah

Arguably, the most conflicted & corrupt Chair of the NEC ever

Additionally, the Commissions acquiescence in the non-certification of Former Defense Minister J. Brownie Samukai who decisively won the 2020 Senatorial Election in Lofa County is another case worthy of emphasis. Having filed an application at the National Elections Commission as a Senatorial Aspirant for Lofa County consistent with Section 4.5(2) of the 29 September 1986 New Elections Law, the NEC scrutinized and qualified Hon. Samukai as a candidate in accordance with Section 2.9(n) of the 29 September 1986 New Elections Law. Moreover, the Commission proceeded to conduct the Special Senatorial Election across Liberia, an election, as announced by the NEC, that Hon. Samukai undisputedly won in Lofa County. For the NEC to abandon Hon. Samukai, and subsequently failed to certify his election because of a legal challenge that should have been prior to and not after the election, seriously eroded the credibility, transparency, and independence of the National Elections Commission. That colossal failure by the Commission made a large segment of Liberias population perceive the National Elections Commission (NEC) as an extension of the ruling Congress for Democratic Change (CDC).



Rather than embarking on serious efforts to rebuild its credibility, the National Elections Commission has by its recent actions created more doubts relating to its resolve, impartiality, and competence to conduct in a free, fair, and credible manner, the very crucial Presidential and Legislative Elections of 2023. The recent ruling made by the NEC in the case brought by the Musa Bilitys faction of the Liberty Party (LP) and the Alternative National Congress (ANC) against the All Liberian Party (ALP) and the Unity Party (UP) relating to withdrawal from the CPP generated more questions than answers. It was a decision enveloped by ambiguity devoid of clarity.



The NEC Junior Hearing officer, Atty. Fomba Swaray ruled that the NEC lacks jurisdiction to provide an answer to the question as to whether one can associate fully with others or refuse to associate with Political Parties, trade unions, and other organizations in accordance with Article 17, under Fundamental Rights, of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia. He further indicated that the Supreme Court of Liberia is the sole authority to answer said question.



But surprisingly, Atty. Swaray, having conceded NECs lack of Jurisdiction over a Constitutional matter, complicated and created ambiguity by concluding that no further action would be taken relating to UP participation in the Lofa County By-Election pending a decision by the Honorable Supreme Court. By that action, Atty. Swaray assumed jurisdiction of a case in which he earlier indicated that his entity lacks jurisdiction. In accordance with international best practice, the Elections Management Body (EMB) would refer the plaintiff to the Authority that has jurisdiction in such matter and proceeds with the execution of its mandate until prohibited by the Authority that has said jurisdiction. The Commissions failure to maintain consistency with its earlier admission of lack of jurisdiction has made a significant percentage of Liberians to perceive the NEC as a party to the conflict.

The National Elections Commission (NEC) is not an archive where documents belonging to Political Parties and Independent Candidates are to be filed and kept. Rather, the Commission is the Agency responsible to conduct all Public Elections throughout the Republic of Liberia in accordance with Section 2.9 of the 1986 New Elections Law. Also, the Commission has the authority to regulate the activities of Political Parties and independent candidates. As such, documentation submitted to the Commission by Political Parties and Independent Candidates must be thoroughly scrutinized by the Commission to ensure that all provisions are fully in conformity or consistent with the Constitution of Liberia.



If the Commission had meticulously done its job, the current confusion relating to the Framework Document of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) would have been avoided. In effect, there could be no contention relating to the alteration of any provision of the said CPP Framework document be it original or photocopy that was submitted to the National Elections Commission (NEC). Had the NEC not neglected its duties, Section 8.5 of the CPP Framework Document would have been ordered corrected by the NEC prior to the accreditation of the CPP as a coalition or collaboration. Said directive by the NEC could have been fully justified because the said section 8.5 of the CPP Framework Document is inconsistent with Article 17 of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia. The failure of the NEC to fully discharge its duties is a cardinal part of the crisis that has balkanized the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP).

Section 2.2 of the New Elections law grants the President of Liberia the power to nominate, and following Senate confirmation, appoint Commissioners of the National Elections Commission (NEC).In granting said power to the President, the framers of Liberias Electoral Laws had envisaged, that the President, in pursuit of the collective national interest, would appoint individuals of good moral character, qualification, and requisite experience to administer the affairs of the National Elections Commission, a very critical national institution. To emphasize their intent, the framers of Liberias Electoral Laws, in Section 2.3, indicated that the Commissioners shall be of good moral character.



Regrettably, there is no evidence to suggest that President Weah, in the exercise of the powers granted him by the aforementioned Section 2.2 of the 1986 New Elections Law, devoted much attention to the nomination and appointment of individuals, adequately competent, to protect the collective national interest, as opposed to the protection of the narrow partisan interest. The result is the prevailing credibility and competency crisis that confronts the Electoral Management Body (EMB) of Liberia. If this crisis is not reversed until the conduct of the crucial 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections, the potential for the retrogression of Liberia into a State of anarchy would be very huge. According to Khabele Matlosa, et al, in the masterpiece, (When Elephants Fight, pages 2-3), Peaceful and credible elections can only be a possibility if the Electoral Commission manages the elections in a manner that is consistent with international best practice which considers compliance with the legal framework, including electoral regulations, procedures, and manuals, as a prerequisite for the achievement of professionalism by the Elections Commission.

Since the possibility of peaceful and credible elections depend on the manner in which the Electoral management Body manages the election, it is imperative that the current inadequacy associated with the operation of the National Elections Commission be urgently addressed to ensure a safe electoral landing in 2023. The prevailing credibility and integrity crisis confronting the National Elections Commission (NEC) can be addressed as follow:

1. That a five (5) member counter-part Commissioners comprising representatives of the United Nations, the African Union (AU), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) be urgently organized by the International Community to validate all actions of the current National Elections Commission (NEC) to ensure that the planning and conduct of the 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections are executed in accordance with international best practice. This would ensure the consolidation of our democratic experiment and the protection of the collective interest;



2. That International IT Experts be assigned to operate the Data Center in conjunction with the NEC Data Team to ensure the protection of the collective interest. Moreover, the Data Center should be accessible to all Political Parties and Independent Candidates to erase the existence of doubts regarding the transparency of the process;

3. To prevent a repeat of the fraud that was associated with the application of the Optical Marked Recognition (OMR) system during the conduct of the 2017 Presidential and Legislative Elections, there is a critical and compelling need for the application of the Biometric Enrollment System (BES) during the conduct of the 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections; 4. Section 6.1 of the 1986 Elections Law mandates that complaints arising from the conduct of elections conducted by the Elections Commission, be filed with the Commission. This mandate places the Commission in the position of judge and jury. Additionally, it distracts the Commission from its key functions of conducting and declaring the result of elections in a timely manner. To avoid a repeat of this situation in 2023, there is an urgent need to establish a temporary election court to primarily focus on the adjudication of election complaints to enable the Elections Commission to focus on the execution of its key mandates and thus enhance its credibility.

Signed: ------------------------------------------------------

James M. Fromayan

Director- General
Star Trek actor William Shatner speaks after flying into space on Oct. 13, 2021, near Van Horn, Texas. Shatner is featured in a new documentary about UFOs. Mario Tama/Getty Images/TNS
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Plenty of sunshine. Near record high temperatures. High 82F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 61F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
RTHK: Taliban order women to cover up in public

The Taliban on Saturday imposed some of the harshest restrictions on Afghanistan's women since they seized power, ordering them to cover fully in public, ideally with the traditional burqa.

The militants took back control of the country in August last year, promising a softer rule than their previous stint in power between 1996 and 2001, which was marked by human rights abuses.

But they have already imposed a slew of restrictions on women -- banning them from many government jobs, secondary education, and from travelling alone outside their cities.

On Saturday, Afghanistan's supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada approved a strict dress code for women in public.

"Those women who are not too old or young must cover their face, except the eyes, as per sharia directives, in order to avoid provocation when meeting men who are not mahram (adult close male relatives)," said a decree approved by Akhundzada and released by Taliban authorities at a ceremony in Kabul.

It said the best way for a woman to cover her face and body was to wear the chadari, a traditional, blue, all-covering Afghan burqa.

"They should wear a chadari as it is traditional and respectful," it said.

Akhundzada's decree also said that if women had no important work outside then it was "better they stay at home".

The Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which released the new order, announced a slew of punishments if the dress code is not followed.

It said a woman's father or male guardian would be summoned and could even be imprisoned if the offence was committed repeatedly.

Women working in government institutions who did not follow the order "should be fired", the ministry added.

Government employees whose wives and daughters do not comply will also be suspended from their jobs, the decree said.

The new restrictions were expected to spark a flurry of condemnation abroad.

Many in the international community want humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and recognition of the Taliban government to be linked to the restoration of women's rights.

"It is an unexpected regressive step and will not help Taliban in winning international recognition," said Imtiaz Gul, head of the Islamabad-based Centre for Research and Security Studies.

"Such steps will only intensify opposition to them."

During their first regime, the Taliban made the burqa compulsory for women.

Since their return to power, the much-feared vice ministry has issued several "guidelines" on dress but Saturday's edict is one of the harshest restrictions on women.

"Islam never recommended chadari," said a women's rights activist who asked not to be named.

"I believe the Taliban are becoming regressive instead of being progressive. They are going back to the way they were in their previous regime."

Another women's rights activist, Muska Dastageer, said Taliban rule had triggered "too much rage and disbelief".

"We are a broken nation forced to endure assaults we cannot fathom. As a people we are being crushed," she said on Twitter.

The hardline Islamists triggered international outrage in March when they ordered secondary schools for girls to shut, just hours after they reopened for the first time since their seizure of power.

Officials have never justified the ban, apart from saying girls' education must be according to "Islamic principles". (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-05-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
UN rights body urges transparent probe into recent inter-religious clashes in Ethiopia

Xinhua) 16:31, May 08, 2022

ADDIS ABABA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Saturday called on Ethiopian authorities to promptly initiate and conduct transparent investigations into recent inter-religious clashes in Ethiopia.

"I am deeply distressed by the recent violent clashes between Muslims and Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia in which at least 30 people were reportedly killed and more than 100 others injured," an Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) statement quoted Bachelet as saying.

Bachelet called on the Ethiopian authorities "to promptly initiate and conduct thorough, independent and transparent investigations into each of these deadly incidents and ensure that those found to be responsible are held to account."

The inter-religious clashes, first reported in Gondar city, in the northern Amhara region, on April 26, reportedly in connection with a land dispute, appear to have quickly spread to towns and cities in many other regions across the country.

"I understand two mosques were burnt and another two partially destroyed in Gondar. In the apparent retaliatory attacks that followed, two Orthodox Christian men were reportedly burnt to death, another man hacked to death, and five churches burnt down in Silt'e zone, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region, located in the southwest of the country," Bachelet said.

Police have reportedly arrested and detained at least 578 people in at least four cities in connection with the violent clashes, it was noted.

"Those arrested must be fully accorded their due process and fair trial rights in accordance with international human rights law, without discrimination," Bachelet said.

The OHCHR emphasized that individual accountability of perpetrators is essential to preventing further violence.

To prevent further inter-religious violence, Bachelet said, it is crucial that the underlying causes of this shocking violence are promptly addressed, with the meaningful participation of survivors, families and affected communities.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Bianji)
The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

May 8, 2022





When the Charles Taylor regime in Liberia (1997-2003) was facing collapse, the Liberia elite, backed and advised by local and international forces, prepared the ground for a transition to a democratic regime. The various presidents, from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to George Weah today, have run corrupt regimes, doing nothing to alleviate the suffering of the Liberian masses, while enriching themselves and their cronies in the process.



Rubber accounts for an overwhelming majority of Liberian export earnings followed by iron ore, diamond, coffee, and cocoa, but more than 80 percent of the money generated by those exports ends up in the hands of a mere 1 percent of the population. According to the study of the second edition of the Economic Update of Liberia released last November by the World Bank, extreme poverty has increased in Liberia by 51.0 percent (up from 38.6 percent in 2014). The report, among other things, indicated that most Liberians lack access to good jobs that provide sustainable earnings. Three out of four of those in the labor force are self-employed in agriculture (36 percent of all employment) or nonagricultural activities (almost 40 percent). Only 20 percent of workers are in wage employment, which tends to provide higher and more stable earnings. The Economic Update also revealed that the Liberian government spends more than the average in Sub-Saharan Africa and countries with similar GNI per capita.



All of this explains the discrediting of the two major parties, the Unity Party (UP), in power between 2006 and 2018, and the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in office since 2018. Next year, in October 2023, presidential elections are scheduled to be held and there is much speculation about the possible outcome, given the discrediting of all the established politicians.



What we are facing in Liberia is a similar process that we have seen around the world. The old-established former ruling Unity Party that has run the system for years has seen its base of support slowly whittled away while the CDC as the current ruling coalition has gotten involved with massive corruption with public officials building mansions and duplexes overnight. The leaders of the opposition, in this case, the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), have failed to offer a credible alternative. With court battles after battles, they do not mobilize seriously and have failed to build a political alternative. Liberia is the only country in the world that I know where you can go to bed as a member of UP and wake up the next morning as a CDC member. What is the difference? But, what you can see is that Liberians are tired of this kind of government. In this context, a huge vacuum has been created on the political front, and because the CPP leaders refuse to fill it, someone else will do it. It is in this context that Tiawan Gongloe has appeared on the scene. His decision to stand in the elections has raised hopes among a layer, particularly of the youth and the elderly, that here we have a candidate who can clean up and modernize Liberia.



A layer of the youth, and also the working class, is looking to Gongloe in the hope of finding the change they so desperately seek. Does Gongloe have the programs necessary to eliminate poverty, improve our education system, create jobs, build an efficient infrastructure and modernize Liberia, as the millions of Liberian workers, youth, and the poor urgently need? And more fundamentally, does he represent the interests of the Liberian poor? Gongloe promises a lot: Free Compulsory education, fighting corruption, power supply, security, food security, roads, health care, and unemployment are major issues. Nobody would argue against the fact that the free compulsory education, security, food security, roads, health care, and power supply in Liberia needs to be increased massively, that an efficient transport system across the whole country must be built, and that millions of jobs need to be created, but how is he going to achieve all this, how is he going to finance it all? He says by combating corruption he can target resources for development. He is right. The cost of corruption through earlier periods till the present has seen the massive deterioration of public services and infrastructure.



Corruption also undermines democracy, and good governance by flouting or even subverting formal processes. Sadly, since Liberia's inception, the country has been facing corruption as a major problem. In some cases, it has attained levels of gross and egregious theft, for which no possible moral or historical justification can be advanced, and which has played a major role, both in the impoverishment of the country as a whole and specifically in the alienation of its people from its rulers. Corruption in Liberia has evolved into an alternative wealth and power structure, it has equally acquired the capacity to fight back against those seeking to tame or control it. Yet, with the present fiscal out-turn of the country, in which governments at all levels, and especially are struggling to meet their obligations to citizens. The existence of widespread corruption, especially in Liberia beset by mass poverty and very high levels of unemployment, has a deeply corrosive effect on trust in government and contributes to crime and political disorder. It is not by chance that the most powerful and wealthiest men in Liberia are to be found among former and current government officials who became rich on the back of the Liberian people.

Cllr. Gongloe has gone one more step forward by calling for the expropriation of these ill-gotten riches. His records of honesty and integrity as well as his symbolic sweeping of corruption with the Liberian Peoples Party symbol, the broom corruption, and his denouncement of inefficiency and his promise to modernize the country must be commended. His calls for purposeful reforms across governments and key institutions including lifestyle audits for public officials is the right step in the right direction. It is more than high time that we kill corruption in Liberia, or corruption will completely kill our country.




The Revivalists saluted the Foo Fighters at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Saturday by covering Times Like These.

But they didnt make people weep the way Stevie Nicks did by dedicating the bittersweet ballad Landslide to her pal Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters late drummer.

That extremely intimate moment played out in front of a massive crowd at the main Festival Stage. The crowd was even denser than the throng that watched the Red Hot Chili Peppers fill in for the Foo Fighters at the Fair Grounds last Sunday, even spilling onto the dirt track.

Maybe it was pent up demand. Nicks first performed at the festival with Fleetwood Mac in 2013. Fleetwood Mac was supposed to replace the Rolling Stones in 2019, only to bow out as well.

Then Nicks was booked for both the 2020 and 2021 Jazz Fests, which were scuttled by the pandemic. She finally made it to the festival on a hot, sunny Saturday.

Rory Block, Samantha Fish

Saturdays schedule was dominated by female artists.

Rory Block grew up as a student of the blues. At the Blues Tent, the 72-year-old sat alone with a guitar and the ghosts of long-gone blues guitarists. She told tales about, and revisited the songs of, Muddy Waters, Son House, Tommy Johnson and Robert Johnson in her country-blues style. She picked and pulled at the guitar strings with power, but her whole show needed to be louder. Her song introductions and stories were mostly inaudible toward the rear of the tent, and even much of her guitar work was lost.

Volume was not an issue for Samantha Fish. Sheathed in bold white and black stripes at the Festival Stage, she and a brawny three-piece band powered through a set of blues-rock custom-built for big stages.

+26 Photos: Jazz Fest shifts into high gear for final Saturday Blue skies and sizzling music greet music fans at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Saturday, May 7, 2022.

Since three calendar years have elapsed since the previous Jazz Fest, she played a song that expressed her feeling: Hello, stranger, it seems so good to see you back again/How long has it been/Seems like a mighty long time.

She delivered one hearty guitar solo after another on a succession of electric guitars, as her band's keyboardist filled in arrangements driven by the band's drummer. In Better Be Lonely, Fish's solo followed the songs melody line. Elsewhere, she sheered off bluesy tones and gritty riffs, totally in command.

Rickie Lee Jones goes local

Rickie Lee Jones, a New Orleans resident of recent vintage, has been waiting to play at Jazz Fest. At the Shell Gentilly Stage, she and an ensemble anchored by drummer, percussionist and vibraphonist Mike Dillon eased into the set.

That set took flight with Young Blood. All poetry and playfulness, her voice skated atop the keyboards and horns. She strummed an acoustic guitar for Chuck Es in Love as Dillons percussion provided structure. Heading into the refrain, the horn section from local jazz-funk band Naughty Professor gave the arrangement a Van Morrison feel.

Jones switched to grand piano for the Pirates title track. In Dannys All Star Joint, she sang of coffee and coins and butcher knives and a chicken-in-a-pot over a jazzy electric bass.

On the day before Mothers Day, she celebrated motherhood. She was focused but clearly having fun. As her 2021 memoir Last Chance Texaco made clear, she has lived a remarkable life, with extreme highs and lows, but is comfortable where she is now: Its nice to have lived so long to have a history with great musicians.

Daigle, Badu, Nicks bring it home

Saturday's female headliners included Mavis Staples filling in for Melissa Etheridge in the Blues Tent. (The Zac Brown Band will substitute for Willie Nelson on Sunday.) Erykah Badu casting her spiritual soul sister spell for a big crowd at the Congo Square Stage.

A relatively modest crowd bore witness to Lauren Daigle, the contemporary Christian pop star from Lafayette, at the Gentilly Stage; it was far smaller than Elvis Costello's crowd the previous evening.

Covered in glitter and sporting a fabulous hat, Daigle welcomed Troy Trombone Shorty Andrews and members of the Wild Magnolias and the Black Hatchet Mardi Gras Indian tribe to help out on Hey Pocky Way. Daigle delivered a benediction via her hit ballad You Say.

At the opposite end of the Fair Grounds, Nicks opened her first show in nearly three years with "Outside the Rain." I have been home watching miniseries, wearing really comfy pants and teaching my dog how to shake hands, she said of her pandemic activities. He doesnt quite have it yet.

Getting back to work, Nicks cruised through Fleetwood Macs Dreams and her own Enchanted and Stop Dragging My Heart Around, with guitarist Waddy Wachtel also lending his voice to the latter. Between Gypsy and Rhiannon she showed off the original cape she wore on the cover of the 1981 album Belladonna," part of a multi-layer ensemble she wore in defiance of the day's heat.

All the familiar characteristics of her voice were present. She prefaced "Landslide" with, "Taylor, this song is for you." Set against Wachtel's acoustic guitar accompaniment, she caressed such lyrics as, "I've been afraid of changing, cause I've built my life around you/But time makes you bolder, even children get older/And I'm getting older too," which took on a different meaning in reference to Hawkins.

A persistent boom, boom bedeviled and distracted her throughout the show. She couldnt pinpoint the source, but it may have been the bass from Badus stage.

Nevertheless, she pressed own. She covered Tom Pettys Free Fallin, another tribute to a fallen friend. She revived "New Orleans," a song she wrote after Hurricane Katrina.

Her finale was a charge through Led Zeppelins Rock n Roll. It had indeed been a long time since Nicks rocked and rolled.

It was a journey, a relieved Nicks said of her Saturday show.

A journey that concluded in front of a staggering crowd at Jazz Fest.

Note: This story has been updated.

+23 Black Crowes rocked, Busta Rhymes was hit and miss at New Orleans Jazz Fest on Friday Members of the Stooges Brass Band lost 20 minutes of their Friday morning set at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. But they gained
At Margots, the new pizza and cocktail spot on Frenchmen Street above St. Claude Avenue, there are a few things you cant eat.

There are no french fries, fried oyster po-boys or red beans and rice. These dishes arent on the menu because the kitchen doesnt have a fryer or even a stove. And thats not going to change.

But what chef Adrian Chelette is happy to make for diners is eight flavors of wood-fired pizza. Pies are cooked in just under two minutes at 850 degrees, yielding a blistered sourdough crust that has just the right amount of chew. There also are two salads  a house salad with a buttermilk ranch dressing and a Caesar with house-made croutons and a charred pepper dressing.

Margot's What Margots Where 1243 Frenchmen St., (504) 224-2892; margotsnola.com When 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Thu.-Mon. How Dine-in, with delivery coming soon Check it out A short list of sour-dough crust pizzas

When we were ready to set the menu up, we just wanted to do what we could do well and not overextend the staff, says Chelette, who previously manned the kitchen and was co-owner of Ancora, a pizzeria on Freret Street. The kitchen is pretty straightforward. What you see is what you get. No burners, no fryer. Just the oven and a place to make salad.

Margots has been in the works longer than the 2-year-old for which the restaurant is named. New Orleans cocktail veteran Brad Goocher bought the building and spent the last five years on the renovation. He and his wife Amanda and their daughter Margot live upstairs, with the compact eatery on the ground floor. The restaurant space is well designed, with a row of booths flanking one wall across from Goochers bar. The kitchen, with its sliding glass doors and commanding pizza oven, is in back.

Since opening in early April, the restaurant has been busy and staffing remains a challenge. I even asked a friend from Texas to stay with me and work during Jazz Fest, Chelette says.

He is making an average of 100 pizzas a night, including takeout, he says. Online ordering for pickup is available through the website, and once Jazz Fest is in the rearview mirror, the restaurant will use Door Dash for delivery. When the restaurant is fully booked, the noise level is considerable, making quiet conversation difficult.

Keeping everybody happy here is No. 1 right now, he says. Theres plenty of time to expand the menu and hours as we go.

For now, Margots is open from Thursday to Monday. Diners can build their own pizza off of a $13 Margherita, with its base of tomato sauce fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil. Additional toppings such as shaved garlic, pork sausage and mozzarella are $1-$3 each. The list of eight house pies includes the Supremo, with ricotta, strips of pepperoni, sausage, pepperoncini peppers, shaved red onion and Pecorino-Romano. The Inverno is a vegetarian option with roasted sweet potato, mascarpone cheese, honey, chili flakes and black olives.

Chelette says he was surprised to find that the Cavoletti pizza is outselling them all. The pie has garlic confit, ricotta cream, buffalo mozzarella, lemon zest and finely shaved Brussels sprouts leaves. Its a winner, bright with citrus notes and the crunch of fresh greens.

I didnt think people would be so crazy about a pizza with Brussels sprouts on top, but they are, he says.

Goocher previously worked at Cane and Table. At Margots, his menu includes five variations on a Negroni. The idea was like, hey, what if somebody made a Negroni and didnt do it in Florence? Goocher says.

Each version uses a base spirit, a bitter spirit and a fortified wine, but the flavor profile is different in each one. The San Juan is pina colada-inspired, with pineapple rum, Cappelletti, coconut-infused vermouth and lime bitters. The Warsaw uses beet-infused vodka, Bitter Bianco, dill vermouth and absinthe. All the infused spirits are made in house, and while the variations are tasty, the classic Negroni is still his favorite.

Goochers cocktail menu is longer than the food menu, with a line of spritzes (topped with prosecco) and cocktails running from a rhubarb Old Fashioned to an espresso martini mixed with cold brew.

D.J. Piazza is handling the wine selection. The house red and white wines come from a small producer in Italys Piedmont region, and there isnt a set wine list. Piazza will have a seasonally changing array of wines from small wineries.

The food and drinks menus are compact, but they deliver a concentrated taste of Italy.
Five boaters were rescued in the Gulf of Mexico Friday afternoon nearly 200 miles from Mobile, Ala., according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

No one was injured, and the boat's GPS and distress signaling gear allowed those aboard to be easily rescued, said Scott Talbot, a search and rescue mission coordinator for District Eight.

The Coast Guard got a call at 1 p.m. Friday from Madam X, a 36-foot sailing boat that had a broken mast with five people aboard.

Coast Guard aircrew found the boat and told the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Edgar Culbertson ship, who towed the boat close to Destin, Florida.

The Edgar Culbertson towed them Friday and Saturday before another ship, BoatUS, took over to bring them home 20 miles from shore, the Coast Guard said.

"We urge the public to always carry a properly registered EPIRB, GPS, or other locating devices on board their vessels in case of emergencies like this," Talbot said.
Kia Corporation and The Ocean Cleanup have formally commenced a seven-year cooperation to explore innovative ways to co-create solutions that will support a more sustainable future.

Ho Sung Song, President and CEO of Kia Corporation and Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, attended a signing ceremony at Kias Headquarters in Seoul on April 27 to officially confirm the global partnership between Kia and The Ocean Cleanup.

The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organisation based in the Netherlands, developing and scaling technologies to rid the worlds oceans of plastic by stemming the inflow via rivers, as well as by cleaning up what has already accumulated in the ocean.

Plastic removal

For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup is developing large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. To curb the inflow of plastic via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor Solutions to halt and extract river plastic before it reaches the ocean.

Seen as an essential initiative in Kias journey for a sustainable future, Kia will support The Ocean Cleanup financially to initiate ocean and river cleanup projects, and create a resource circulation system that will help avoid harvested plastics ending up back in the environment by integrating part of the catch from The Ocean Cleanups innovative devices into Kias production and value chain process.

For seven years, Kia will support The Ocean Cleanup as an official global partner via financial contributions and in-kind supplies to support ocean operations and the construction of the various river cleaning devices The Ocean Cleanups Interceptor Solutions. In addition, Kia will supply four electric vehicles including one EV6 and three Niro EVs to the organisations headquarters in the Netherlands. In return, The Ocean Cleanup will also supply usable fractions of the collected plastic and share the organisation's research results and relevant data on reducing plastic pollution with Kia.

Positive changes

Song commented: The key to Kias vision for a sustainable future is not just to change the product and service areas, but to make positive changes for the planet. Kia will continue to make inspirational movements through open partnerships with various partners with organisations like The Ocean Cleanup that have innovative technologies and ideas," he added.

Slat added: Plastic is not inherently a bad material, but we must use it responsibly. We demonstrate how we can turn pollution into a solution by launching applications that help clean the oceans and simultaneously  together with our partner Kia  provide proof that recycled plastic can be used sustainably. I hope we can inspire others to do the same. This cooperation is the next step in our efforts to ensure that our catch does not end up back in the environment while using its value to support our cleanup efforts further.

Key strategies

This partnership is one of the key strategies in Kias corporate vision to build a sustainable future for mobility. Kia plans to increase its percentage of plastic re-use to 20 percent by 2030, and expects to further contribute to environmental protection by establishing and activating a Virtuous Recycling Loop to minimise climate impact when disposing of vehicles.

Kia embodied its commitment to take steps towards a more sustainable future by revealing the all-new Niro at the 2021 Seoul Mobility Show on November 25, 2021. The all-new Kia Niro used sustainable materials developed from recycled wallpaper, eucalyptus leaves, and water-based paint to minimise the impact on the environment and reduce waste. Kia plans to continuously expand its eco-friendly materials throughout the vehicle, including a plan to phase out the use of animal leather in all vehicles in the future.-- TradeArabia News Service
The Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance Inc. recently held its 26th annual Safety Excellence Awards.

The award program was established in an effort to recognize excellent safety performance by contractors working in industrial facilities.

The top award, the 2022 Hal G. Ginn Safety Excellence Award, was earned by Specialty Welding and Turnarounds for the best overall safety performance.

Excel was the winner of the Community Service Award and the Alliance Safety Council won the Innovation Award.

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Louisiana Economic Development honored 10 companies as Louisiana Growth Leaders at the 2022 Spotlight Louisiana event.

The 10 companies honored were:

Flexicrew Technical Services, Metairie; Brandon Smith, president

NANO Architecture | Interiors, New Orleans; Terri Dreyer, managing partner

Online Optimism, New Orleans; Flynn Zaiger, CEO

Southern Scripts, Natchitoches; LeAnn Boyd, CEO and co-founder

Southern Services & Equipment, St. Bernard; Mindy Airhart, president and CEO

Thomas Pump & Machinery, Slidell; James Thomas, CEO

Trigon Associates, New Orleans; Michelle Herbert, CEO

Universal Data, New Orleans; Jim Perrier, president

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Utiliserve, Bossier City; Zach Raley, president and owner

VPG Construction, Harvey; Michael Merideth, CEO,

The inaugural Growth Leader Legend award was presented to Ruston-based Argent Financial Group, an independent wealth management firm.

Louisiana Growth Leaders are selected by a statewide panel of economic development professionals who evaluate businesses in the LED Growth Network for community involvement and business success. The criteria include growth, strategy, innovation, philanthropy and leadership.

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The American Hospital Association has presented its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, to Teri G. Fontenot, CEO emeritus of Womans Hospital.

The AHA presented the Distinguished Service Award to Fontenot in recognition of her significant lifetime contributions to the nation's health care institutions and unwavering commitment to improving health care in Louisiana and neighboring states. Fontenot led Womans Hospital for 23 years and oversaw its expansion throughout the state and region with needed services, such as breast and gynecologic cancer care and specialized obstetrics.

Fontenot has played an active role in AHAs committee groups since 1997, serving in multiple leadership roles including chair of the AHA Operations Committee, Health Forum, Medicare DSH Advisory Group and the Committee on Nominations. She also chaired AHAs Board of Trustees in 2012, reforming the Associations guidance on quality improvement and delivery.

Fontenot is the chair of LHC Groups Audit Committee and serves on Orlando Healths board. She retired from Womans Hospital in 2019.

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Camille Bryant, a partner in McGlincheys New Orleans office, has been named to the National Association of Women Lawyers 2022 Rising List.

This list includes women lawyers advancing in their careers, helping others advance in their careers and fighting to advance women under the law.

Bryant is a member in McGlincheys Labor and Employment and Product Liability practice groups.

She currently serves as president of the Greater New Orleans Chapter of the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society and state membership chair of the Defense Research Institute, Bryant is past president of the New Orleans Association for Women Attorneys and past chair of the New Orleans Bar Association Young Lawyers Sections Public Service Committee.
New Orleans

Margaux T. Dastugue and Ryan B. Gonzales have joined Baker Donelson as associates in the New Orleans office.

Dastugue focuses her practice in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, business planning, corporate governance and general business and corporate matters. Prior to joining Baker Donelson, she practiced in Washington, D.C., and London at an international law firm headquartered in London.

She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia and a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School.

Gonzales focuses his practice in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, finance, tax, corporate contracts and governance. Prior to joining Baker Donelson, Ryan worked as in-house counsel at a Fortune 500 integrated energy company. He previously served as a law clerk at the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance and as a senior tax associate in the New York office of Ernst & Young.

He graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree and Master of Accounting degree from Tulane University. He earned his law degree from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and a master of laws in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.

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Cecilia Sanchez has been named chief scientific officer and vice president for research and development at Obatala Sciences.

Sanchez earned her doctorate in Strasbourg, France, working in the laboratory of Pierre Chambon, an international leader in transcriptional biology. She then moved to Tulane University in New Orleans for post-doctoral fellowships,

Sanchez later joined the Tulane Department of Medicine's Pulmonary Division.

Obatala Sciences is a New Orleans biotech firm with the goal of advancing tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

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Korey Patty has been named regional economic competitiveness officer for The New Orleans BioInnovation Center.

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Patty will coordinate resources and facilitate collaboration within south Louisianas life sciences industry in conjunction with the Gulf Coast Health Sciences Corridor.

Prior to joining the center, Patty served as the executive director of Feeding Louisiana, the state association of Louisianas five Feeding America food banks. His experience also includes business and economic development for the state of Louisiana, as well as management, public policy and advocacy across a variety of industries.

He earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Tulsa and a master's degree in business from LSU.

The New Orleans BioInnovation Center is a private, nonprofit business incubator, supporting entrepreneurship and dedicated to the development of bioscience innovation throughout Louisiana.

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Inman J. Houston has been named CEO of Baptist Community Ministries, a faith-based Christian foundation serving greater New Orleans.

Houston is the first ordained minster to lead the foundation. He has been senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia, since early 2008.

Previously, Houston served for five years with First Baptist Church in New Orleans, concluding as associate pastor of global impact and director of the Baptist Crossroads Project. Among other roles, he coordinated the response in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which utilized nearly 10,000 volunteers to assist over 800 homeowners, and he helped start the home rebuilding effort of what is now referred to as Musicians Village.

He earned a bachelor's degree in management from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Following graduation, he undertook a nine-month internship with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He later earned a Master of Divinity degree in Christian thought and a master's degree in theology from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Baton Rouge

Dennis Blunt, a partner in the Phelpss litigation group, has been named vice managing partner for the Baton Rouge office.

Blunt will lead initiatives that expand the firms relationships with policymakers, industry leaders, nonprofits and other community influencers.

Blunt has a history of directing projects and working with community partners to revitalize the Baton Rouge area. He serves in leadership roles with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, Capital Area Finance Authority and 100 Black Men of Metro Baton Rouge.
An Orleans Parish Sheriff's deputy shot and injured a man in the 7900 block of Earhart Boulevard Sunday afternoon.

The New Orleans Police Department said at 2:55 p.m. that it was investigating a deputy-related shooting that resulted in a man being taken by paramedics to the hospital.

The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office said that the man got into a fight with another man and fired two rounds at him in the process. An Orleans Parish Sheriffs Office deputy who was working a paid security detail at a nearby business then shot at him to stop him, the release said.

A woman near the scene said she saw people scrambling away in the initial aftermath of the shooting.

The NOPDs Public Integrity Bureaus Force Investigation Team is investigating this incident, and the Sheriff's Office is cooperating with this investigation, the NOPD said.

No additional information was made available.

Check back on this developing story.
After two tumultuous years of COVID, labor unrest and the abrupt departure of its last leader, the New Orleans Public Library has a new executive director.

The library board made interim director Emily Painton the permanent head of the city's library system at the end of April, five months after the previous city librarian resigned amid questions about whether he met the citys residency requirement.

Unlike her predecessor Gabriel Morley, Painton is an internal hire and a known quantity to the rank-and-file. And while she can rely on steady finances thanks voters' approval of a new millage in December, she still faces challenges.

The library has reduced its branch hours as it has struggled to hire enough staff. And as some patrons shift from physical to digital books, others are struggling to navigate the internet era. Acknowledging those issues in an interview, Painton still struck an optimistic note.

This city deserves a fantastic library. I think we do a lot of great things. I think we can do even more, she said.

Pandemic problems

It took 13 years for the system to fully reopen after Hurricane Katrina. Nineteen months after the last of six libraries destroyed by the storm was brought back into service, COVID closed the system.

The system adapted with curbside book pickups and virtual book clubs. But many staffers complained that library leaders were too slow to shut the library down and too quick to reopen it.

In addition to fears about COVID exposure, some staffers felt like they were singled out for potential budget cuts. Those fears came to a head with a 2020 millage vote in which Mayor LaToya Cantrell proposed redirecting library funds to early childhood education and other priorities.

The property tax proposal set board members against each other and library staffers against Morley, who backed Cantrell. Voters rejected the plan. Then came the revelation last November that Morley claimed a homestead exemption in Mississippi despite a requirement that he live here. He resigned within hours.

From Austin to Orleans

Painton, 50, said she lives in Hollygrove. An Oklahoma native, she grew up visiting New Orleans often and earned a library degree in Austin. She worked as an archivist and in leadership at the library on Delgado University's west bank campus before Katrina.

In 2005, she evacuated to Austin and worked in that citys library system until 2015. She returned to New Orleans to work as the main library manager. As the librarys public services director since June 2020, Painton was responsible for implementing many of the librarys responses to COVID.

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Paintons elevation to the chief librarian job came a month before the December 2021 vote on a 20-year, dedicated library millage, which meant that Painton quickly became a public face of that successful effort. Turning her attention back to ordinary operations, Painton said she has drawn on her experience in Austin despite the two cities' differences.

While Texas capital has comparatively high rates of reading literacy and digital literacy, many adults in New Orleans struggle with both. The needs in New Orleans are so great that Painton plans to hire a social worker who can help guide patrons through online applications for jobs or government assistance.

Everything is online. Even fast food job applications are online, she said. Theres a much heavier social services need in this city that the library fills.

Tackling turnover

While she has plans for expanding library services, one of her biggest immediate challenges is rebuilding morale and stopping turnover. The system is roughly 50 staffers short of the number it had before COVID, Painton said.

Shes touring branches for coffee with staffers to try and improve communication. The book on Paintons nightstand is a business management tome: Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity.

Last month, the City Council approved wage increases for some staffers that Painton hopes will slow attrition. But she acknowledges that the pay hasnt been enough to stop her from losing two promising job candidates recently.

We can't do great stuff if we don't have great people, so that's why I really want to make sure we're able to compensate people properly, she said.

The staff shortages mean that many branches have shorter hours. The Nix, Mid-City and Alvar branches are also closed to all physical traffic thanks to a mix of water and termite damage, but Painton is hopeful that all will be reopened soon, beginning with the Mid-City branch on May 16.

New ways of reading

Painton is also trying to respond to consumer shifts that were accelerated by the pandemic. More patrons are reading books digitally or watching movies online.

Painton said the library is adapting by buying more digital books and expanding its digital literacy training. As a former archivist, she has an attachment to old, beautiful, irreplaceable books, but she usually reads recent works on her Kindle.

To me what I think is exciting about it, is that people who may not come into the library every day but do pay taxes, and do support us, have more access to us, she said.
As part of its strategy to transform the aftersales journey for its customers, Nissan AL Babtain has launched Nissan Service across its dealership partner network in Kuwait.

Deepening Nissans commitment to customer satisfaction, this suite of aftersales products and services aims to offer greater value and convenience and solidify Nissans reputation as a trusted brand among customers in Kuwait.

Designed around evolving customer needs and expectations in Kuwit, Nissan Service offers an innovative, seamless aftersales customer experience across online and offline channels. It features a charter of eight promises encompassing various touchpoints during the customer journey, focused on building trust with clear and transparent communication, and offering convenient digitalised options.

Eight promises

The eight promises and corresponding services listed within the Nissan Service charter cater to growing customer expectations around convenience, transparency, and value. An updated online platform provides customers with a seamless experience, enabling them to make service bookings in real-time for an appointment within 24 hours, as well as easily manage all payment transactions with the nearest local service centre.

To maintain clear and transparent communication with customers, Nissan Service provides a detailed account of the variety of aftersales services on offer and their individual pricing  helping customers make informed choices about the services they choose to avail.

Nissan AL Babtain has also transformed the periodic minor maintenance process with Nissan Express Service, which ensures the same level of high-quality inspection, cleaning and adjustment of over 50 car components, while ensuring the car is ready within 60 minutes. Offering additional convenience to customers is the Nissan Pick-up and Drop-off service, which sees the entire service process managed by the Nissan team  with an option for Same Day delivery to minimise disruption to daily schedules.

Access to genuine parts

Nissan Service dials up the customer benefits of servicing Nissan vehicles at certified aftersales centres, which also includes customer access to genuine parts, and certified technicians with advanced equipment to conduct thorough vehicle inspections and efficient repairs.

Furthermore, in line with Nissans high health and safety standards, all service appointments are inclusive of a car wash and sanitisation to provide added peace of mind to customers.-- TradeArabia News Service
Future energy security and sustainable production to meet the growing demand are top priorities for Bahrain and nogaholding is taking steps to meet these key goals, the chief executive of Bahrains energy investment and development arm said in an exclusive interview.

Nogaholding is looking at a broader energy mix to ensure the security of future energy supply in accordance with the brief set by His Majesty King Hamads representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs and nogaholding chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

As the country drives ahead with the economic plans of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, there will be an increasing need for energy to power that growth, Mark Thomas, the group CEO of nogaholding, told the GDNs sister publication, the OGN energy magazine in an exclusive interview.

Bahrain is faced with the dual challenge of maximising the wealth of its existing natural oil and gas resources, and decarbonising production, in line with the kingdoms net-zero emissions target by 2060.

It is critical that the country assesses where the greatest opportunities exist and where it makes sense for it to participate. Bahrain will continue to explore oil and gas because it was a valuable product and a monetary instrument for the kingdom, he said.

Thomas said a three-part strategy would be implemented to reach the goals.

They are: Looking at Bahrains overall supply and ensuring the security of supply so as to support its economic growth; maximising the wealth of the kingdoms existing natural resources (oil and gas). That means looking at how oil and gas was found, developed, extracted and produced, and bringing world-class technology and latest best practices for the purpose; and thirdly, finding ways to decarbonise the countrys oil and gas production and produce lower carbon, more sustainable sources of energy.

Thomas doesnt see the demand and market for oil and gas decreasing in the foreseeable future. If not in the form of fuel, it may be in the form of petrochemicals and other derivatives. So there is going to be a market for our products, and it will still be a valuable market, he added.

For now, the focus has shifted away from unconventional offshore to conventional onshore and offshore, both showing promising potential. Drilling of wells is underway for both oil and gas.

It was worth mentioning that Bahrain had, in April 2018, announced the largest discovery of oil since 1932. The unconventional Khaleej Al Bahrain field offshore was said to contain up to 80 billion barrels of tight (or shale) oil.

However, extraction still remains a challenge, with geological and geophysical (G&G) analysis still continuing.

One of Bahrains major investments and a significant project for the oil sector is the $7 billion Bapco Modernisation Programme (BMP) where work is in progress to build a highly-efficient refinery. The project is expected to enter full capacity in 2024, he said.

Also under consideration of nogaholding is the diversification of energy sources with investments in renewables, and especially solar.

Bahrain could presumably jointly produce power on large solar farms in neighbouring countries and transmit it through submarine cables, Thomas said highlighting lack of enough land for such projects in the kingdom.

In addition to its existing energy assets, the country will offer opportunities both for investment in conventional oil and gas, as well as in renewables, he added.

Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bahrains energy sector has continued to attract investment. It recently refinanced a $1.6-billion murabaha facility, which was well oversubscribed. --OGN
While Americans await an official abortion ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, expected before the end of June, here are facts about abortion in Indiana, including how many are performed, who has them and the hurdles to obtaining one.

Unless otherwise noted, the data cited below come from the 2020 Terminated Pregnancy Report compiled by the Indiana Department of Health covering calendar year 2020.

The state health agency is due to issue its annual abortion report for the 2021 calendar year by July 1, 2022.

In 2020, 7,756 women had an abortion in Indiana, up from 7,637 one year prior, a total of 119 more abortions, or a 1.6% increase, following a 5% decline in 2019.

Records show there were 79,058 live births in Indiana in 2020, or more than 10 times the number of abortions.

Hoosier women, coming from 90 of the state's 92 counties, accounted for 7,372 abortions, or 95%. Residents of other states obtained 384 abortions at Indiana clinics and hospitals, primarily women from Kentucky.

Women in their 20s procured 4,599 abortions, or 59.3% of the state's total. Women in their 30s had 28.2% of Indiana's abortions; those age 19 and younger, 9.2%; and age 40 and up, 3.3%.

Altogether, 5.7 per every 1,000 Hoosier women between ages 15 and 44 had an abortion in 2020, up from 5.5 per 1,000 Indiana women of childbearing age in 2019.

Married women comprised 15% of the 2020 abortion tally. Women who previously gave birth to one or more children accounted for 63.5% of the state's abortions.

A total of 49.4% of abortions were procured by women identifying as white, 34.6% by black women and 10.7% by Latina women.

All but 69 terminations (99.1%) occurred prior to 14 weeks gestation. Nearly 68% of Indiana abortions were completed within the first eight weeks of pregnancy.

No fetuses were born alive and no women died due to abortion in 2020. A total of 45 women (0.6%) reported experiencing at least one of the 25 potential physical or psychological abortion complications listed in Indiana law.

In comparison, 60 pregnancy-associated deaths occurred during pregnancy or within one year of the end of pregnancy in Indiana in 2019, the most recent year with data available from the Indiana Department of Health.

There were 4,252 pill-induced abortions in 2020 as non-surgical abortions grew to 54.8% of total procedures, up from 44% in 2019, 41% in 2018, 36% in 2017 and 26% in 2016.

Approximately 70% of the state's abortions were obtained at three clinics and three hospitals in Indianapolis.

There were 1,039 abortions, or 13.4% of the state's total, performed at the Planned Parenthood location in Merrillville.

There is no "abortion on demand." To obtain a surgical or pill-induced abortion in Indiana, a woman must first visit an abortion clinic, or an affiliated health clinic, at least 18 hours prior to her abortion appointment to receive state-mandated, in-person counseling intended to deter the woman from getting an abortion.

The woman also must undergo an ultrasound at her pre-abortion visit and be offered the opportunity to view the ultrasound imaging and listen to the fetal heart tone  unless she declines in writing.

Either way, the woman must, by law, be provided a printed copy of her ultrasound image at no cost.

Abortion-inducing medication only may be administered up to eight weeks post-fertilization and the first of the two doses must be taken in the presence of the physician.

Telemedicine may not be used to obtain abortion-inducing pills in Indiana, even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized telemedicine prescription and mail delivery of abortion pills at up to 10 weeks gestation.

An Indiana woman undergoing a surgical abortion is required to decide whether she will take responsibility for burying or cremating the abortion remains, or allow the abortion provider to handle disposal, which must be either by burial or cremation.

State law imposes additional, significant restrictions for abortions after 13 weeks gestation, even more barriers after 20 weeks, and mandates, in nearly all circumstances, parental consent for an abortion performed on a person less than 18 years old.

A state statute, set to take effect July 1, creates a new crime of "coerced abortion" that will punish anyone "who knowingly or intentionally coerces a pregnant woman to have an abortion" with up to 2 1/2 years in prison.

House Enrolled Act 1217 was relatively noncontroversial compared to most new Indiana abortion measures because state law already requires "the voluntary and informed consent of the pregnant woman" prior to obtaining an abortion, and coercing a woman into having an abortion already is a crime under Indiana's intimidation statute.

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Frederick "Fritz" Olthof Sr. started Olthof Homes in 1961 as a young man of 21.

Sixty-one years later, his home-building business is going strong and thriving under the operation of his sons and a grandson.

"I'm basically retired," Olthof said. "I check in with the boys. They have taken over the business."

Olthof, 82, who served as president of the company he started, credits his dad for his strong work ethic.

"My father was a painting contractor, so I was introduced to construction at an early age. I fell in love with the business, and it was my dream in high school to be a building contractor," Olthof said.

The Dyer resident, who started his business in Lansing, is one of this year's inductees into the Northwest Indiana Business & Industry Hall of Fame.

Olthof Homes is based in St. John and has an office in Indianapolis. Olthof estimates that his business has built some 7,000 homes over the last 61 years, as far south as Indianapolis, as far east as Fort Wayne and as far west as Plainfield, Illinois.

"We are doing very well," Olthof said.

He built his first building, a seven-flat in Lansing, and never looked back.

My first building was located on Torrence Avenue, and I did pretty much everything myself, Olthof said.

He said he learned the basics by going to work for his dad at his painting business, scraping loose paint at a young age.

"I went to work for him when I was in the 8th grade. My parents taught me a work ethic and I taught my kids a work ethic. It made them better people. They are used to working hard," Olthof said.

Olthof Homes is a three-generation family-run business which includes the four sons, Scot, Todd, Dennis and Fritz, along with Olthof's grandson, Matt. They all earned degrees from Purdue University in Construction Management.

Today they all are managing different aspects of the home building process.

Olthof's daughter, Michelle, who works part-time as an accountant, is the only one of his children who didn't follow in his shoes, Olthof said. Michelle's husband, Greg Bouwer, is a real estate attorney utilized by Olthof Homes.

"So everything stays in the family," Olthof said.

In addition to experiencing longevity in his business, Olthof has also enjoyed longevity in his marriage to his wife, Karen. They were married in 1962, after being high school sweethearts, and will celebrate 60 years of marriage in August.

Karen also worked along with her husband in his business and was an integral part of its success.

"She started out cleaning, and then ran one of the sales offices until she retired. She is part of helping make my business a success," Olthof said.

Olthoff said that during the operation of his longtime business, it hasn't always been smooth sailing, especially during the 1980s recession.

"It's a high risk business. We went through the '80s recession and made it out of it. In the middle, I didn't think I'd get out of it. We worked 10 times harder and got out the other side," Olthof said.

Olthoff called the first recession tough times.

"I didn't go broke but it ate up all my cash," Olthoff said. "Everything hasn't been sweet."

Lessons were learned from that recession and helped them with the most recent recession that occurred in late 2007 to mid-2009.

"We went through the last recession but knew what to expect and had capital behind us," Olthof said.

Olthoff said he had a heads up in regard to the most recent recession by getting a tip from a builders' group in California that warned no one was buying.

"We were told the wave is coming your way," Olthof said.

Olthof Homes took immediate action, discounting by $15,000 some 68 spec homes, then stopping all field construction after those houses were sold.

One of the biggest changes Olthof has seen during his 61 years of building has been the use of technology, whether in the offices or on job sites.

The use of technology has made construction more efficient in a number of ways, including payments to tradesmen, Olthof said.

"We didn't have computers. We had to take the bill and hand write it into a ledger system. Each house had a handwritten ledger," Olthof said.

Even closings on new homes can be done by use of technology.

"We used to spend hours at the title company," Olthof said.

Olthof said his favorite part of the job, early on, was working in the field.

"I enjoyed working out in the field the most; making sure the job was done right," Olthof said.

Phone calls, prior to cell phones, had to be made before work or after the work day ended.

"To get hold of people you had two choices  either when they came home at night or before they got to work. ...You got to know everyone's habits," Olthof said.

These days, Fritz and Karen travel and spend time at their homes in Florida and Michigan.

"We have traveled a lot. Before COVID, we always made one major trip a year," Olthof said.

And Olthof said he can relax knowing his business is in good hands with family members.

"They are doing an unbelievable job. I'm proud of them," Olthof said.

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Tri-State Industries in Hammond has long innovated to stay relevant in the manufacturing industry, moving factory technology forward.

The 42-year-old company serves a number of industries and created the sister business Tri-State Automation to help other manufacturers become more lean, efficient and productive. Founder Don Keller is credited with advancing robotics and economic development in Northwest Indiana.

After decades of growth, investment and innovation, Tri-State Industries is being inaugurated into The Times Business and Industry Hall of Fame as the 2022 Enterprise of the Year.

The city of Hammond and our economic development team are thrilled and frankly not surprised with Tri-State's upcoming Enterprise of the Year award," Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said. "They are a true leader in Hammond. They are innovative and forward-thinking, while still remaining grounded and connected to our community. Don Keller and his team have repeatedly expanded their operations within the city, with no sign of stopping. We are proud to have them in Hammond.

Keller founded Tri-State Industries in 1980. It initially made industrial pipe glides and slides. It has since grown to become a contract manufacturer for large Original Equipment Manufacturers in the railcar, construction and mobile trailer industries, serving customers in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.

He's now retired and has turned the company over to his sons, President Tim Keller and Sales Manager Dan Keller.

"It's a great story of a family business that's now in the second generation," Tri-State Industries Director of Operations Colin Noone said. "Don believes in the family business and taking care of the people who work here. There's a high level of respect that's carried on."

Tri-State Industries produces thousands of trailers a year, as well as trailer components and other products. Its client base includes Fortune 500 companies.

As the steel manufacturing sector grew more competitive, it adopted lean manufacturing practices in the 1990s that had been popularized by the Lean Six Sigma philosophy of continual process improvement. It turned to automation, especially of welding, to cut costs, boost productivity and improve accuracy.

Tri-State ended up branching out by adding the Tri-State Automotion division to help other manufacturing companies with the lessons it learned by supplying them with robotic welding machines.

"Every business is tough. You have to stay consistent," Noone said. "We're positioned for long-term growth because of investments, especially investments in our team. We have a training partnership with Purdue University Northwest and an investment in technology, definitely with the robotic welding and other types of machines like laser machines and press breaks that allow us to increase our capacity. They've invested in the company and the team. It's the secret sauce."

The company operates Tri-State Industries Inc. at 4923 Columbia Ave. in Hammond, Tri-State Automation at 710 Michigan St. in Hammond and Tri-State Industries of Louisiana. It offers services like welding, fabrication, assembly, tooling, machining, coating and plasma cutting to a wide variety of industries.

The company aims to deliver to clients on a just-in-time basis and help them make their manufacturing processes more efficient.

Keller started making industrial robots after looking unsuccessfully for 10 years for someone to provide that service, realizing it was a perfect business opportunity.

In 2016, Tri-State Automation underwent a $2.5 million expansion to meet increased customer demand after it outgrew the corner of the Tri-State Industries factory it originally occupied. It hired more workers to assemble and install more robots to help metal fabricators and other manufacturers throughout greater Chicagoland be more competitive in an increasingly globalized market.

The company bought and renovated a 13,000-square-foot building at 710 Michigan St. in Hammond for the robotics shop. It also operates the 70,000-square-foot Tri-State Industries facility on Columbia Avenue.

"He's grown his company through lean manufacturing," said Don Koliboski, vice president of economic development for the Lake County IN Economic Alliance. "He always listened to his employees. He had a suggestion box for ideas on how to make it more efficient and better. He's applied those efficiencies to his manufacturing business. He's a businessman through and through."

When he was on the East Chicago City Council, Koliboski helped Keller move Tr-State from the Chicago south suburbs across the state line in Illinois to Northwest Indiana. Tri-State eventually relocated to a vacant bus barn in Hammond where the fabrication business took off.

"He relocated because he had an opportunity to expand and the cost of doing business in Indiana was lower," Koliboski said. "He's a great man and a great person. He's always giving back. He was always giving to the Hammond robotics team and extremely engaged with Purdue Northwest, teaching lean manufacturing there."

Keller also served as chairman for two years on the board of the Lake County IN Economic Alliance and now serves as past chairman.

"He represents manufacturing and is a great advocate for the area," Koliboski said. "When a company calls, it helps when they can listen to a guy like him telling them his experience instead of listening to a guy like me or someone from the state government. He was a major asset in attracting companies. He's been invaluable. I can't tell you the value he's had to our growing economy in Lake County."

Tri-State built its business by supplying fabrication services to a number of clients, such as the refining industry, the Department of Defense and Union Tank Car, expanding to Louisiana when the rail car manufacturer moved operations there, Koliboski said. The company even at one point fabricated Christmas tree frames.

"He was always looking for ways to minimize costs and increase efficiency," Koliboski said. "It's a success story from going from a small to medium-sized business. He listens to employees and remodeled houses to offer to employees to retain his employees. He's a big advocate for the workforce and always looking to improve the quality of life for his employees. He's a good-hearted business leader who sought to improve quality of life."

Keller truly valued his employees, Koliboski said.

"I've seen him talk to welders and take advice from them on how they can do their job more efficiently," Koliboski said. "He applied that to add value to the company. He believed in employee engagement and was a big advocate for lean manufacturing. He really believed in lean manufacturing."

Tri-State Automation makes robots that weld, haul materials or serve other customized industrial functions. Its robotic welding machines have proven especially popular due to a shortage of qualified welders in the manufacturing sector as more baby boomers retire.

Widely used by the automotive industry for decades, robotic welding is now commonly used in factories where high-volume, repetitive welding tasks are needed. Keller has previously said its automated welders, which don't tire or require breaks, are two to five times more efficient.

The robotic welding machines also reduce the risk of burns, limit employee exposure the hazardous fumes, grow throughput on the assembly line, shrink the space needed for welding and shorten the time it takes to finish the job.

Tri-State Automation mainly services customers within a two-hour radius so it can handle installations of automated systems, service them and provide replacement parts as needed. Keller has previously said there's still plenty of opportunities as the Chicago metro has the second-largest industrial sector in the country after Los Angeles.

The company does all the programming, trains its clients' employees and walks the customers through a production run. It also refurbishes and repurposes used robots for smaller companies with tighter budgets. It will install industrial robots purchased from other suppliers and provides field service for a number of vendors, including repairs, updates, routine maintenance and expansion.

"Tri-State refurbished robots for smaller companies that can't afford a brand new system," Koliboski said. "They're very common in automotive but they've very expensive. Not everyone is Ford Motor."

Offering turnkey service, Tri-State Automation installs Yaskawa Motoman, FANUC, and OTC-DAIHEN robots and welding equipment from Fronius, Lincoln Electric and Miller Electric that can be used to weld carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum and thin-wall aluminum tubing. It can fabricate customized tools and fixtures for robots so they can be integrated into manufacturing processes.

It proved to be a successful market niche.

"They're definitely a pioneer," Koliboski said. "They saw an opportunity to bring robotics to smaller manufacturers. He thought about how manufacturers like him could capitalize off automation without that major capital cost and did a very good job with it."

Tri-State also does engineering and manufacturing feasibility studies to determine how to scale automated production to levels companies could not do without an in-house development team of its own. It provides clients with technical insights in various manufacturing areas to help them implement lean manufacturing principles, lower costs and maximize profits.

"Tri-State has been a great source of business investment and capital investment in the city of Hammond," Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce President Dave Ryan said. "It helped start up the robotics teams at the schools and has been a great advocate for the school robotics programs. They rejuvenated buildings in Hammond, including the Elks Building. They've been a strong community advocate."

Don Keller was named Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce's Business Person of the Year in 2016.

"On the robotics side, they're the largest around that I've seen," Ryan said. "They've really pushed that forward by teaching younger people robotics. They've been a total asset to their community. They've been a great asset for Northwest Indiana that Don's boys are carrying on. The businesses has brought a lot of new jobs and new investment to Hammond."

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General Hotel Management Ltd (GHM), renowned for internationally-acclaimed luxury resorts and unrivalled lifestyle experiences at exotic destinations, has appointed James Reppuhn as the new Executive Chef of The Chedi Muscat, Oman.



In his new role, Reppuhn will oversee culinary operations and provide strategic counsel to reimagine the global cuisine served at eight distinctive F&B venues, including six restaurants and two lounges.



Born in Chicago, USA, Chef Reppuhn began his professional journey at The Ritz-Carlton following extensive training in Italian, French and Modern American cuisines at the Culinary Institutes of America. He has since spent over a decade in the kitchens of notable hospitality groups across Asia Pacific, including iconic brands like Aman Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts and JW Marriott. Through his reputation at Asias top restaurants, Chef Reppuhn was invited to serve on the International Judges Panel Culinary Competition in Southeast Asia and conferred with the Chaine Des Rostisseurs De Chine Certificate.



I feel extremely honoured to join the celebrated culinary team at The Chedi Muscat. Our legacy of exceptional dining experiences inspires me to bring the gourmet indulgence to greater heights, said Chef Reppuhn, who is currently getting familiar with Arabic and Levantine cuisines. Im excited about infusing more Asian flavours, such as Japanese Teppanyaki, Thai, Chinese and sub-Continental otherwise known as Indian cuisines, to the menus while refining the classic flavours that our guests have come to love and appreciate.



The Chedi Muscat enjoys critical acclaim for our exceptional hospitality excellence in Oman, and culinary pleasures played a big role in our success, said Thomas Guss, General Manager of The Chedi Muscat. With James impressive experience garnered from some of Asias best restaurants, we are confident that he will elevate the culinary standards at our resort. We look forward to showcasing James contemporary interpretation of Asian cuisine in our award-winning restaurants.



Chef Reppuhns addition to the GHM family comes at an exciting time as the group celebrates its pearl anniversary this year. The group recently launched its commemorative 30th anniversary stay experiences, with specially curated dining and wellness offerings to be introduced in the months ahead.  TradeArabia News Service
The Indiana Supreme Court is poised to act with unusual expediency to decide whether the Gary Housing Authority followed proper procedures when it acquired through condemnation a since-demolished restaurant building at 624 Broadway.

Just one day after agreeing to resolve the dispute, the state's high court on Friday scheduled oral arguments for 10 a.m. Region time June 9, with each side allotted 20 minutes to present their case and answer any questions posed by the five justices.

The quick hearing suggests the Supreme Court may be looking to resolve the dispute before Justice Steven David retires sometime this fall.

At issue is whether the housing authority provided sufficient notice to the property owner prior to taking the building that John Allen was in the midst of renovating into the Nations Restaurant and Bar.

In its most recent ruling, the Indiana Court of Appeals said that despite complying with the notice by publication provisions of Indiana law in effect at the time, the Gary Housing Authority had a further obligation under the U.S. Constitution to make an extra effort to directly contact Allen, the registered agent for the building owners.

The housing authority in 2020 tore down the building, as well as the other structures in the 600 block of Broadway, as a prelude to constructing a new, mixed-use housing development in downtown Gary.

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HOBART  Some city leaders appear apprehensive about advancing a proposed light industrial complex at 61st Avenue and Colorado Street.

The City Council on Wednesday decided to table an ordinance that would rezone about 156 acres of land for Becknell Industrials proposed development that could include multiple buildings and offer about 2 million square feet of space in total.

Mayor Brian Snedecor said hes not a voting member on the council and doesnt have veto power, but he would consider vetoing the rezone at this time if he did.

Because I feel its important that we need to do the right thing at the right time, understanding that we have a lot of people that we have to answer to, Snedecor said. I trust this council will make the right decisions.

Snedecor said hes been a supporter of Becknell and development in the city, but he has become troubled about this project following two public hearings in which residents have strongly opposed the development.

Sufficient infrastructure?

My concern moving forward on this project, at this point, at this time and at this location, I dont think were ready from an infrastructure standpoint. ... I think that we still got work ahead of us, Snedecor said.

He said there are a variety of projects the city is pursuing, including a new Interstate 65 interchange and a variety of enhancements to Colorado Street as well as 61st Avenue.

Snedecor said many of those projects involve collaboration with other entities such as the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. That means Hobart doesnt have the sole decision regarding when some projects will take place.

Councilman Lino Maggio said that advancing the Becknell project at this time could be too early because of the infrastructure needs in that area.

Its kind of like putting the cart before the horse, he said.

Councilman Mark Kopil said hes confident Becknell would create a quality product, but he believes the 61st Avenue and Colorado Street property isnt the right location for the proposed development.

The Plan Commission on April 7 gave a favorable recommendation for Becknells proposed rezone, which would change the 156 acres at 61st Avenue and Colorado Street from a residential classification to a light manufacturing district. The council has 90 days from that decision to act on the matter.

The commissions recommendation came with a condition the city will restrict the permitted uses there. The council is expected to meet in an ordinance committee meeting at 6 p.m. May 25 to discuss a list of uses that would be prohibited for the property.

Residents cite concerns

There were two public hearings when the Plan Commission considered the rezone, and residents filled City Hall to speak out about the possible development. Nearly all of the public comments have objected to the project.

Many have expressed concerns about traffic, the environment, crime, health and property values. Snedecor on Wednesday said he believes property owners havent received a satisfactory answer regarding the impact the project could have on properties.

Although many objected to the project, Paul Thurston, of Becknell, said it would bring many benefits to the city. That includes creating hundreds of jobs and about $200 million in investment in Hobart. A conceptual plan shows six speculative structures for the site.

Snedecor said Hobart has a strong relationship with Becknell, and the city has benefited from Becknells other projects in Hobart.

Weve done huge developments and Becknell has been an exceptional partner in this city, Snedecor said. Weve done great projects together, great union projects, lot of jobs, lot of food on the table.

Thurston also indicated the development isnt something thats going to happen overnight. Other projects of similar size have taken about 15 years to complete. He said he hopes it wouldnt take as long for this development, but it wouldnt be done in a five-year period.

As Wednesdays meeting concluded, some residents seemed appreciative the project will receive additional review before the council acts on the rezone request.

There wasnt a public hearing about the matter during Wednesdays council session, but some residents wanted another opportunity to address city leaders about the proposal.

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MICHIGAN CITY  A divided City Council voted 4-3 to reject a plan to create a grant writer as well as boost some supervisors salaries.

Our city is poised to lose around $600,000 from incorrectly managed grants, and I think if we had somebody managing it, it would pay for itself many times over, Councilwoman Dalia Zygas, D-at-large, said.

That total includes Community Crossing grants last year and this year for roadwork.

Former City Engineer Jeff Wright apologized for his error in administering the grant money last year. No grant was awarded this year.

Councilman Paul Przybylinski, D-2nd, defended Wright. The grant was awarded. It was just the way it was let out that it was rebuked, Przybylinski said.

Council President Angie Deuitch, D-at-large, was less forgiving. In my own opinion, I would like Mr. Wright banned from doing any work with the city ever again, she said.

Weve never had any issues before, she said. I just dont see how he was a benefit for the city.

To belittle or condemn our city engineer isnt the right thing to do, Przybylinski said. The grant was approved. It was an internal problem within the administration of the city of Michigan City.

Przybylinski said Wright did engineering work in-house, saving the city about $1 million in consulting fees.

He might have saved us a million, but in my opinion, he lost us a million, Deuitch said.

I sure would like to see that number of $1 million saved. Thats huge. That would be awesome, Councilman Bryant Dabney, D-1st, said.

The defeated ordinance that would have created the grant writer position also would have boosted salaries of some city employees in key positions.

Revenue would have covered 100% of proposed salaries, Dabney said. The ordinance would have raised salaries of the positions in the ordinance to 75% of the amounts recommended in a compensation study done for the city. Hourly workers got 100% of the recommended salaries this year.

Its not a cost issue. Its a political will issue, Dabney said. I feel like we are playing with peoples livelihoods.

In other business, the council unanimously supported a plan to give Sustainability Commission members a $50 monthly stipend, the same as for other city commissions. The Sustainability Commission has been one of the citys most active, Zygas said.

The council also advanced a plan to use American Rescue Plan Act funds to improve security at City Hall and the central services department, improve cybersecurity and purchase equipment for emergency services volunteers at the police department.

Przybylinski said he wants to see prices first to make sure he agrees with the equipment being purchased. The volunteers would be getting a utility terrain vehicle to patrol the beach at Washington Park and a crew cab pickup truck to transport people and materials for festivals and other events.

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INDIANAPOLIS  On Monday, Politico broke the story of a leaked SCOTUS draft opinion that had by a 5-4 margin the termination of Roe v. Wade which has legalized abortion over the past 49 years.

We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled," wrote Justice Samuel Alito. "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the peoples elected representatives. Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.

When the Dobbs case out of Mississippi is announced in late June or early July, Gov. Eric Holcomb will almost certainly call a special session of the General Assembly and Indiana is expected become one of 26 states to outright ban abortions. This will likely preclude the traditional carve outs that had allowed abortion in the case of rape, incest or the life of the mother is in peril.

The vast majority of House Republicans, including myself, have been abundantly clear that we want to take action to further protect life should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn, in full or in part, Roe, Republican House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, said in a statement Tuesday. We will continue to await the courts final decision.

I have a hard time being the person thats part of taking of a life, Holcomb said on Wednesday. And Ill review the decision that has impact on that. Holcomb said a special session is obviously on the table, but said there are a lot of ifs, ands and what-ifs that potential legislation will look like.

The outright outlawing of all abortion will bring more children into our state. I was curious about how the children already with us are doing, so I read the 2022 Kids Count Data Book published by the Indiana Youth Institute.

Indiana is home to the 14th largest population of children nationally, with more than 1.57 million children younger than 18 residing, including 51% who were males and 49% females. Some 4.5% of Indianas population identify as LGBTQ+, and 34% of the LGBTQ+ population has children.

According to the Indiana Department of Health, the number of abortions in Indiana grew by 119, or 1.6%, to 7,756 during 2020. That increased number remained below the some 8,000 performed in 2018, Indianas highest number since 2014.

Indiana ranks 36th in the United States in kids health, with 8.2% of babies born with low birthrate in 2019. In 2020, some 101,618 Hoosier children did not have health insurance, or 6.3%. However, Indiana is higher than the U.S. rate for children without health insurance, which was 5.1% in 2020.

Indiana ranks 40th in the nation for children without health care; it is also the lowest-ranked state for children without health insurance compared to our neighboring states: Michigan (10th), Illinois (18th), Kentucky (20th), and Ohio (24th).

Indianas 2020 infant mortality rate was 6.6 per 1,000 live births and there were 527 deaths. Black infants were more than twice as likely to die before their first birthday (13.2 per 1,000) than white infants (5.5 per 1,000) and Hispanic/Latino infants (6.0 per 1,000).

The infant mortality rate stood at 5.26 in Illinois, 6.23 in Kentucky, 6.5 in Michigan and Ohio, and 3.8 in Massachusetts. In Canada it was 5, in Cuba 5.8, in Germany 3.9, in Japan 2.8, in Russia 10.5 and in Mexico 18.4.

In 2020, some 10.9% of expectant Hoosier mothers smoked while pregnant. This percentage has steadily decreased since 2008, when 18.5% of expectant mothers smoked.

Indianas teen birth rate for ages 15-19 continues to decrease (22 per 1,000 in 2018 improved to 21 per 1,000 in 2019), though it is still above the national rate (17 per 1,000). In 2020, some 4,126 babies had a mother between the ages of 15 and 19. This represents 5.3% of total births.

The report states upfront that "Indianas overall child well-being ranking has stayed consistent at 29th since 2019. Overall, Indiana ranks third best among neighboring states with Illinois (21st), Michigan (28th), Ohio (31st), and Kentucky (37th).

Indiana ranks 25th with 8% of our kids living in high poverty areas. Some 35% of Hoosier children are living in a single-parent family, which ranks 27th.

In 2019, neglect was reported as a reason for 87% of referrals to remove children from homes, and 91% of reasons for foster care placement. Of the 7,547 total removals conducted in 2020, some 61.1% included parent drug and/or alcohol abuse as a contributing reason. Some 20.9% of Hoosier children have experienced two or more adverse childhood experiences.

Hoosier children living with a grandparent stood at 19% in 2014, 23.9% in 2016, 29.9% in 2018, and 23.5% in 2020. In 2018 and 2019, 6.0% of Indiana adults reported having an alcohol use disorder in the past 12 months, compared to 5.7% nationally; 9.9% of Indiana children have lived with someone who had a problem with alcohol or drugs, higher than the national rate (8.6%).

The Number of Indiana children in foster care were 20,763 in 2014, 34,269 in 2018, 30,237 in 2019 and 26,913 in 2020. There were 8,676 open Children In Need of Services (CHINS) cases in 2020, prompting 7,547 removals.

If medically supervised abortions are going to be banned, the question here is: What will Hoosier leaders do to protect those children arriving from the womb?

Brian Howey is publisher of Howey Politics Indiana. Follow him on Twitter @hwypol. The opinions are the writer's.

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Imagine being able to walk or bike from Chicago to Michigan, unimpeded by motorized traffic.

Along the nearly 60-mile path, youd see the rich heritage and culture of Northwest Indiana along with its ecological and economic diversity.

Thats what the Marquette Greenway trail will bring to Portage and all Northwest Indiana when completed as well as the opportunity to connect with each other and learn of our similarities and differences.

The Marquette Greenway, when completed, will be an uninterrupted span of non-motorized trail running from Calumet Park in Chicago to New Buffalo, Michigan. It will traverse through 15 individual communities.

It will connect nearly 200,000 residents living within a half mile of the corridor as well as connect communities to each other and to the Indiana Dunes National Parks beaches, historical sites, and ecological wonders.

It will provide opportunities to promote healthier lifestyles by increasing access to physical activity as well as providing access to natural and scenic areas along the way.

The trail will traverse through nature, neighborhoods, industrial/business complexes.

The Marquette Greenway will boost tourism in Northwest Indiana by opening a connector pathway from Chicago to New Buffalo, providing opportunities for our visitors to see, up close and personal, what we in Northwest Indiana love and enjoy about the Region.

It will also create jobs and boost property values of homes nearby the trail.

In Portage alone, those who will use the Marquette Greenway will have access to the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk; travel through the AmeriPlex at the Port commercial/business development before heading east through forested area and along Salt Creek to the citys limits at Burns Harbor.

Portage has been a long-time supporter of trail development. We began over 20 years ago with the development of the Prairie Duneland Trail and the Iron Horse Heritage Trail, which not only connects our residents with each other, but connects them with neighboring communities. Our two trails are among the most utilized amenities within our parks system.

On any given day, you can see people biking or hiking along the trails, utilizing the unique recreational system for exercise, improve mental well-being or to simply safely cross the city to access adjoining neighborhoods or our parks dotted along the trails.

The Marquette Greenway project began in 2003 as a project within the regional Marquette Plan. Funding for the trail has come from local municipalities as well as grants, applied for and managed by NIRPC and local partners. Most recently segments of the trail have been funded through state Next Level Trails and a federal RAISE grant.

Portage has benefited from both of these programs. We received a $2.5 million Next Level Trails grant from the state last year which is allowing us to continue construction of the trail from Deer Trail Park to the city limits with Burns Harbor, including a bridge over Salt Creek. That work has started and will be completed this year.

The US Department of Transportations $17.8 million 2021 RAISE grant will help fund 17 remaining segments of the trail including 1.5 miles of paved trail, 575 feet of boardwalk trail along the Burns Waterway, construction of a new pedestrian/bike bridge over the waterway and reconstruction of the old Crisman Road bridge within Portage.

I am looking forward to the completion of the Marquette Greenway as yet another amenity Portage and Northwest Indiana can tout and add to our vast recreational opportunities which improve the quality of life for our present and future residents and visitors.

Sue Lynch is mayor of the city of Portage. The opinions are the writer's.

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When most people think about railways, they think in terms of the movement of raw materials and finished goods across markets and industries. In northern Indiana, people also think about a fun-filled weekend adventure where they might take the South Shore Line to Chicagos museums, restaurants, shopping district, and theater. These are great things that provide our Region with the quality of life most of us appreciate.

Recently, however, with the progress being made on double track construction along the South Shore Line, some have begun to see rail lines through a slightly different lens. For highly competitive industries, such as health care, the importance of rail and transit-oriented development cannot be overstated. With more trains at faster speeds to Chicago from various points along the line in northern Indiana, the idea of making your home in Indiana suddenly has become much more attractive, thanks to greatly reduced commuter times.

It should come as no surprise that the health care industry requires large numbers of highly trained and well-educated professionals. Quite possibly, no other industry rivals the scale and magnitude of specialists and experts needed to provide quality services to its customers. For a variety of reasons largely beyond the scope of this discussion, health care professionals are in short supply. As a result, competition for qualified professionals is fierce, with candidates sought nationally, and in some cases, internationally.

Take the physician specialty of endocrinology as one example. The Endocrinology Workforce Report published by The Endocrine Society stated the approximate supply of adult endocrinologists in clinical practice in 2011 was 4,841. Approximately 280 board-certified endocrinologists enter the workforce each year. However, almost 40% of these will end up not practicing in the U.S.

With an ever-increasing demand resulting from the aging of our population and increasing prevalence of endocrine conditions and diseases, the report estimated a large gap between supply and demand of nearly 1,500 full-time endocrinologists across the nation and growing subsequently each year.

As we have all heard by now, similar negative trends in supply and demand exist in staffing for nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and down the long list of health care experts necessary to provide quality care.

With intense competition for qualified candidates, other factors in the recruitment process become more important. For example, we know commuting time is important to job seekers because survey after survey tell us so.

In fact, in some surveys, length of commute ranks even higher than traditional measures such as salary. How do we improve our chances of attracting top talent to our Region? One way is to differentiate our Region from other markets by improving access to a major metropolitan area with international airports and offering a high quality of living with low taxes, safe neighborhoods, good schools, and proximity to beautiful natural assets along the Lake Michigan corridor in northern Indiana.

And this is where the double-track project becomes so important. Transit-oriented development affords greater opportunities to both the candidates we seek as well as their spouses. In fact, it is not inconceivable with the scope of the double-track project and the improved commuter times, that a professional couple could live in Michigan City with one half working here and the other half working in Chicago or at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend.

This is how a region differentiates itself from competition that is national and international in scope. In its pursuit to attract highly trained and skilled professionals, it emphasizes what others dont have: a one-of-a-kind location that matches the majesty of the Indiana Dunes with easy access to one of the worlds great cities.

Hows that for a recruitment pitch?

Dean Mazzoni is the President & CEO of Franciscan Health Michigan City and member of One Region.

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Keeping the community safe and healthy has been Jodi Allens core focus since becoming a nurse.

For those who know her, it came as no surprise when she was asked to serve on an important committee at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The goal: Safely return Purdue Northwest staff and students to campus during an ongoing health crisis.

In nursing, Allen says clinical decisions are made based on best-available evidence, but healthcare specialists lacked this information because COVID-19 was a novel virus. Instead, Allen had to rely on available data, her experience as a nurse practitioner and her desire to protect the community when making recommendations to the task force.

I used a lot of known information about coronaviruses in general, basic infection control, epidemiology knowledge and followed the infection rates closely in our area, Allen said. When we were approached about increasing vaccination rates in the state of Indiana, I knew that vaccinating our campus community would increase the chances of keeping the PNW community safe as well as our surrounding community.

She began with organizing 12 vaccine clinics at the end of the Spring 2021 semester that focused on students, staff, faculty and their families. On the first day, volunteers administered 800 vaccines. That number quickly grew, reflecting Allens desire to serve and help others.

She is committed to the health of our communities, particularly the most vulnerable and underserved, said Lisa Hopp, dean of the College of Nursing at PNW. She demonstrates this commitment every day and especially during the pandemic when she led and supervised 22 vaccination clinics at Purdue Northwest and helped give the 3,000 immunizations that she and other volunteers administered.

For this and more, Allen was won the popular vote in The Times of Northwest Indianas Nurses: The Heart of Health Care polling.

She serves as the Family Nurse Practitioner Program director and an assistant professor within the College of Nursing at Purdue Northwest. She is also a family nurse practitioner with the Community Healthcare System and Sojourner Truth House, which provides assistance for homeless and at-risk women and their children.

At Purdue Northwest, Allen helps educate hundreds of primary caregivers so they can then serve Northwest Indiana and beyond.

Its a bit of a homecoming for Allen, who completed her bachelors and masters degrees, as well as her doctorate, at what was then Purdue Calumet. She began her career at Community Hospital in Munster as a nurse practitioner for three years, followed by five years with Franciscan Health. She then transitioned to full-time teaching and part-time practice.

I have always wanted to keep people out of the hospital by providing quality primary care and focusing on health promotion and disease prevention, Allen said. Ive enjoyed taking care of families over the years.

Once she decided to pursue her doctorate in nursing, she knew she wanted to focus on vulnerable and underserved populations where she could improve health equity in the Region.

I also pursued my doctorate to ensure that I was most effectively able to teach future nurse practitioners to be safe, prudent, excellent NPs who can provide care for and improve the health of our Northwest Indiana community, she said.

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Alexandra Scott Goodman was perusing Tinder in September 2017 when the three-word bio of Christopher Nicholas Masullo, who went by his nickname Chris on the dating app, caught her eye. Perpetually in awe, it read.

Ms. Goodman, who goes by the nickname Zan, was struck by its brevity. Her bio on the dating app also contained just three words: Design and disco.

I actually liked that he didnt have a lot of information, said Ms. Goodman who matched with Mr. Masullo. After exchanging messages, they decided to go on a date at the Richardson, a bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

There, each had a few drinks, which is kind of a lot for a Tuesday night, Ms. Goodman, 35, said. So I immediately was like, Oh, wow, this is something special. Later that night, we made out on top of a trash can, Mr. Masullo, 35, said. We had an instant connection.
Following advice from a therapist he was seeing, Mr. Kugler was going to wait a couple more years to tell Matthew. But within a couple of months of Mr. Kugler coming out to Joshua, Matthew overheard a conversation between his older brother and their mother about their father, and put it all together.

The realization that he was the last to know upset him at first. I was supposed to go to dinner with Matthew, and he said, I dont want to go to dinner with you, said Mr. Kugler, who got in the car to pick his son up anyway. It was one of the scariest drives Ive ever had, not knowing what I was going to say to him.

When Matthew got into the car, Mr. Kugler asked him, Do you notice anything different about me? He replied that he didnt, and Mr. Kugler explained that this was because nothing had changed. Im still your father, he said. The same father who took you to the orthodontist yesterday and to the prom on Saturday.

Reflecting on that period, Matthew, now 34 and a writer and executive producer at a podcast production company in Los Angeles, said, certainly we went through some weird times.

But it says so much about our family that we got through it, he added.

When Ms. Kugler married her second husband, in 2005, Mr. Kugler walked her down the aisle. The following year, in 2006, their son Joshua died of cystic fibrosis at age 23. After his death, Matthew said, I think my parents felt they were living on borrowed time. He added that the loss of their elder son helped them move into this second phase of their lives, where they could be best friends.
Police and fire officials could not offer more information about the students identities, the cause of death or the possible drugs involved. The Franklin County Coroners Office did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

Columbus Public Health issued an alert on Thursday about fake Adderall, a prescription drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The agency issues safety alerts about fake drugs, which can originate from its tip line, its community outreach program for overdose reduction or the providers in its alcohol and drug treatment services, said a spokeswoman, Kelli Newman.

She could not address the alerts connection to the students deaths but said the agency was told that there are fake pills circulating that could be laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be far more powerful than heroin and is cheaper to produce and distribute.

More than 90 percent of overdose deaths in central Ohio are tied to street drugs adulterated with fentanyl, she said.

The students deaths come amid a rising death toll of drug overdoses in the United States. The toll reached a record high of more than 100,000 deaths in the 12-month period that ended in April 2021. The majority of the deaths were linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
More than 50 business deals are set to be agreed at the Future Aviation Forum from May 9 to 11 in Riyadh, turbocharging collaboration between governments, major corporations, international airlines and airport operators.



The Forum will set the future direction of aviation following the Covid-19 pandemic by tackling the aviation sectors most pressing issues around business growth, sustainability, and passenger experience. The event also heralds Saudi Arabias ambition to become the Middle Easts preeminent aviation hub by 2030.



Saudi Arabia is at the start of the most significant aviation industry reform of the 21st Century, which will bring huge opportunities for the private sector and create thousands of jobs for Saudi Arabias people. We are bringing together the top leaders and brightest minds from the global aviation sector to collaborate and develop innovative solutions that will drive the sector into the future, said Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Saudi Arabias Minister of Transport and Logistics.



Global aviation leaders speaking at the Forum include Salvatore Sciacchitano, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council President; Tony Douglas, CEO, Etihad Airways; and Willie Walsh, Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). As well as senior representatives from Boeing, SITA, Airbus and SAP.



Travel thought leader and author Doug Lansky will speak at the Forum, alongside world-renowned futurologist Magnus Lindkvist, and the worlds leading aviation blogger, Sam Chui. Representatives from around 30 different countries, ranging from the UK, to Malaysia, to Sweden, are set to speak at the event, including a raft of government ministers.



The theme of the Forum is innovation, sustainability, growth, reflecting both the key challenges and areas of greatest opportunity for the global aviation sector. Hosted by Saudi Arabias General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), the Forum will feature more than 120 speakers, with over 2,000 attendees and representatives from every continent expected to attend. A policy proposal to benefit the global aviation system will also be unveiled by GACA at the Forum.



Delegates have been invited to attend more than 40 sessions and side events looking at issues such as aviations role in the post-pandemic global economy, alternative low-carbon aviation fuels, and how new design will transform the passenger experience. Key side events happening at the Forum include a meeting of the Regional Safety Oversight Organization in Mena (Mena-RSOO), a roundtable for director generals of civil aviation authorities hosted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), and the first meeting of the Mena Aircraft Accident and incident Investigation Regional Cooperation Mechanism (Mena ARCM) Committee.



The dozens of deals and agreements that will be made at the Future Aviation Forum will help foster collaboration and mobilize the investment needed to modernize the global aviation sector, said GACA President Abdulaziz Al-Duailej.



Under Vision 2030, we are opening the Kingdom to welcome the world and unlocking the potential of the Kingdoms aviation sector. We are investing in our aviation system on an unprecedented scale, and we are actively seeking private-sector partners with the expertise to help us to achieve our ambitions.



Saudi Arabias transport and logistics sector, a major pillar of the Vision 2030 economic transformation plan, is undergoing rapid development. The Kingdom aims to generate SR356 billion  or just under $100 billion  in investment into its aviation sector by 2030 to make Saudi Arabia a global aviation hub. GACAs National Aviation Sector Strategy (NASS) aims to increase air connectivity to 250 destinations, reaching 330 million passengers, and to double air cargo capacity to 4.5 million tons.



The Kingdom also has plans to launch a new national airline to complement its existing national carriers and to build a major new international airport in Riyadh, in addition to eight new regional airports.  TradeArabia News Service
Elsewhere, Russia launched six missile strikes on Saturday aimed at Odesa, Ukraines Black Sea port, according to the city council. Four hit a furniture company and destroyed two high-rise buildings in the blast, and two missiles were fired on the citys airport, which already had been rendered inoperable by a Russian missile that knocked out its runway last week.

The goal of Russian forces  for now at least  appears to be seizing as much of the eastern Ukrainian region known as the Donbas as possible, by expelling Ukrainian forces that have been fighting Russian-backed separatists for years in the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Since Russias invasion began on Feb. 24, about 80 percent of those two provinces have fallen under the Kremlins control.

The regional governor of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, Serhiy Haidai, said on Facebook on Saturday that a Russian bomb hit a school in the village of Bilogorivka where about 90 people had taken shelter. About 30 people have been rescued so far, he said. The bodies of at least two people were recovered from the rubble, according to Ukraines State Emergency Service. Rescue operations were suspended on Saturday night and were to resume on Sunday, officials said.

Russian forces are trying to break through Ukrainian lines and encircle troops defending the area around the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk but are for now being held in check, Mr. Haidai said on Saturday.

It is a war, so anything can happen, but for now the situation is difficult but under control, Mr. Haidai said in a telephone interview. They have broken through in some places and these areas are being reinforced.

The Russians seemed unlikely to successfully surround the town, according to the latest update from the Institute for the Study of War.
Ncuti Gatwa, a star of the Netflix series Sex Education, will be the first Black man to play the lead role of the Doctor in Doctor Who, the long-running British science fiction franchise about a time-traveling adventurer, the BBC announced on Sunday.

He will portray the 14th Doctor, replacing Jodie Whittaker, who announced her departure last July after three seasons as the shows first female Doctor.

Mr. Gatwa, 29, a Rwandan-Scottish actor, plays Eric Effiong, a gay man navigating his sexuality and identity in a religious Nigerian family, in Sex Education, the hit British teen comedy-drama series on Netflix.

It feels really amazing, its a true honor, Mr. Gatwa told the BBC on Sunday as he arrived for the EE British Academy Film Awards, commonly known as the BAFTAs, where he was nominated for best male performance in a comedy program for his work on Sex Education.
Despite knowing this story will end badly, we get attached to Barstow and her cronies. I blame Bohjalian. Throughout his bloody, often shocking jumble of twists and turns, he weaves life stories with such deftness, its impossible not to care how they end (or continue, as the case may be). Im an animal-loving vegan who hates hunting, hot weather and the company of spoiled elitists. Yet there I was, breathlessly following these people like the hyenas who stalked  .

No, no. Lets not spoil that one for you.

Katie Barstow was born to the Broadway musical producers Roman and Glenda Stepanov and made her stage debut at 12. Critics swooned, but she wanted to escape her monstrous parents. In adulthood, she changed her last name to Barstow and bolted from the family business to become a screen star in Hollywood, which kept her at least three time zones away from them.

Her publicist, Reggie Stout, sums up her appeal: Katie Barstow was who she was not simply because she could act and the camera loved her (though both were true), but because she had an indefinable but almost corporeal specialness, the quintessence of dreams: a quality that transcended her beauty and her brains. It was an aura: She was damaged. You could sense it, you could feel it, you could see it.

To Benjamin, a local porter and guest liaison, the movie star is a welcome contrast to most white foreigners on safari. On the first night, when her waterproof canvas bathtub springs a leak, soaking the floor of her tent, Barstow shrugs and apologizes; she knows Benjamin and his co-workers will have to boil more water.

Over the years, he had seen other clients who would have become enraged, Bohjalian writes. They had been promised so much and were spending so much and came from such privilege that they managed to forget where they were: a world where a group of trained men created civilization in one small spot for a night, and then tore it all down, leaving as the only remnants tire tracks, flattened grass, a fire pit (or two) and the bones of whatever game they had cooked. Benjamin had had women scold him because they chipped their nails and men berate him because the dining tent lacked the right bourbon. Their behavior was always embarrassing and sometimes it was dangerous.
Missing in action

Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York, had a bombastic style that defined the image of a big-city leader in the 1980s. But as open as Koch could be, my colleagues Matt Flegenheimer and Rosa Goldensohn wrote in a new profile of him, he strained to conceal one aspect of his life: He was gay.

I spoke to Matt about the story.

Why write about Ed Koch and his private life now?

This isnt a story about his sex life. Its about his life and how that life had profound implications for his city. As much as he tried to compartmentalize his public and private existence, he was fundamentally one man. Our aim was to capture that  the ways in which his choices and burdens shaped the city he was leading.

Kochs mishandling of the AIDS crisis is a big part of your story. Did his sexuality play a role?

Its really impossible to measure what effect his own identity might have had on the citys stewardship of the crisis.

But some of Kochs aides explicitly told activists at the time that this was a sensitive issue for the mayor, given the rumors about him. They suggested he had to keep a political distance.
What will May 9 bring?

Today is Russias Victory Day, a militaristic holiday that commemorates the Soviet Unions defeat of the Nazis in World War II. Under President Vladimir Putin, the holiday has come to celebrate modern Russian military might.

Over the weekend, Moscows forces renewed their assault in eastern Ukraine in a scramble to show progress before the holiday. On Sunday, Ukrainian officials said a Russian airstrike leveled a school in the region that was being used as a shelter. Dozens of civilians may have died.

In congratulatory messages on Sunday, Putin praised the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk peoples republics  two Russia-backed breakaway territories in the east  for their role in what he described as a fight against Nazi filth.

Both sides are focusing on one village at a time. Ukrainian forces, mounting a highly mobile defense, took back territory around Kharkiv, once the countrys second-largest city.
On Monday night, an alert popped into a New York Times internal messaging channel: A draft United States Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and end federal protection of abortion rights had been leaked and published. A court leak was an incredibly rare event and, if the document was confirmed as authentic, the decision would reshape womens access to abortion in many states and send a shock through U.S. politics.

It was 8:47 p.m., and leading The Timess report was war news from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The first print edition had closed at 8 p.m. There were two more deadlines before the last edition of the newspaper closed at 10:30.

In an instant, the direction of the night changed. Over the next several hours, dozens of Times journalists sprang into action to confirm the leak, report the news and put the story into as many newspapers as possible. They worked across time zones and from the office, home and the printing plant.

It was a slow tsunami of a news story, said Steve Kenny, director of the newsrooms night coverage. We see the wave, but how big is it going to get?
A 25-year-old homeless man is believed to have committed suicide at the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City on Saturday evening, according to people familiar with the case.

The man, Dashawn Carter, was found hanging from a window in his cell at the Anna M. Kross Center just two days after being transferred back to Rikers from a state psychiatric hospital, according to a person with knowledge of the circumstances surrounding his death.

Mr. Carter is the fourth person to die in custody there this year, during a time when correction officials face increasing pressure to show that they can keep inmates safe in the notorious jail complex in the East River.

Louis A. Molina, the recently appointed commissioner of New York Citys Department of Correction, has less than two weeks to present a plan to address the crisis at Rikers or risk a federal takeover of the jail.
Ms. Hochuls exposure comes as the state battles yet another variant that is more transmissible than previous versions of the virus. Over the past two months, case numbers have steadily ticked upward, though deaths have remained relatively stable.

For weeks, officials have warned that New York could be on the brink of a new spike, though the proliferation of at-home tests has made it difficult to assess the scope of the problem.

The rise in cases comes as coronavirus precautions, such as vaccine and mask mandates, have been rolled back across the state.

According to public schedules, Ms. Hochul spent the weekend in Albany, where the risk of infection is high, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases upstate have swelled in recent days, one of just a few such spikes in the country.

The governors team said that she was following regular precautions with regards to masking.

Ms. Hochul is far from the only public official to have been exposed to the virus recently  in April, New York Citys mayor, Eric Adams, also tested positive.
When Mr. Perez announced in a Facebook post in December 2021 that he had a life expectancy of only 6 to 12 months following a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, the testimonials came quickly. They included articles like How George Perez Changed Comics Forever, which noted his enjoyment of comics that teamed up superheros, his depiction of female characters with a diversity of body types, his positive interactions with his fans and his charitable initiatives.

We lost another of the absolute greats this weekend, Jim Lee, the chief creative officer and publisher of DC Comics, wrote in an Instagram post. His career is truly a testament to what one can achieve in life when singularly focused on what one loves to do. (Neal Adams, a comic book artist who helped revitalize Batman, died on Thursday.)

George Perez was born on June 9, 1954, in the South Bronx to Jorge Guzman Perez, who worked in the meatpacking industry, and Luz Maria Izquierdo, a homemaker. Both were from Puerto Rico and had met in New Jersey. They survive him, along with his wife, Carol Flynn, and his brother, David.

Mr. Perez was a self-taught artist who got his start in 1973 as an assistant to the comic book artist Rich Buckler. He received his first professional credit the next year, for a two-page satirical story for Marvel about the character Deathlok.

In 1975, he and the writer Bill Mantlo created the White Tiger, the first Puerto Rican superhero in the series Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu. The editor of the series was Mr. Wolfman, who was initially critical of Mr. Perezs grasp of anatomy and perspective.

He asked me years later why, considering I had problems with his art in those early days, did I continue to use him, Mr. Wolfman recalled in a telephone interview. Perspective is something you can learn, but you cant teach storytelling. George was a natural storyteller from Day 1.
Imagine a world in which the United States has a contested presidential election, as it did in 2020 (to say nothing of 2000). If one candidate was friendlier to Chinese interests, might the Chinese Communist Party insist that ByteDance give a nudge to content favoring that candidate? Or if they wanted to weaken America rather than shape the outcome, maybe TikTok begins serving up more and more videos with election conspiracies, sowing chaos at a moment when the country is near fracture.

None of this is far-fetched. We know that TikToks content moderation guidelines clamped down on videos and topics at the Chinese governments behest, though it says its rules have changed since then. We know that other foreign countries  Russia comes to mind  have used American social networks to drive division and doubt.

It is telling that China sees such dangers as obvious enough to have built a firewall against them internally: Theyve banned Facebook and Google and Twitter and, yes, TikTok. ByteDance has had to manage a different version of the app, known as Douyin, for Chinese audiences, one that abides by the rules of Chinese censors. China has long seen these platforms as potential weapons. As Chinas authoritarian turn continues, and as relations between our countries worsen, it is not far-fetched to suspect they might do unto us what they have always feared we would do unto them.

No analogies are perfect, but the closest analogy I can think of is to imagine if the Brezhnev-era Soviet Union had decided to plow some of its oil export profits into buying up broadcast television stations across the U.S., my former colleague Matthew Yglesias wrote in his newsletter, Slow Boring. The F.C.C. wouldnt have let them. And if the F.C.C. for some reason did let them, the Commerce Department would have blocked it. And if a judge said the Commerce Department was wrong and control over the information ecosystem didnt meet the relevant national security standard, Congress would have passed a new law.

As analogies go, I think thats a good starting point. But if the Soviet Union had bought up local television stations across the nation, wed know they had done it, and thered be an understanding of what those stations were, and what they were attempting, just as was true with Russia Today. The propaganda would be known as propaganda.

TikToks billion users dont think theyre looking at a Chinese government propaganda operation because, for the most part, theyre not. Theyre watching makeup tutorials and recipes and lip sync videos and funny dances. But that would make it all the more powerful a propaganda outlet, if deployed. And because each TikTok feed is different, we have no real way of knowing what people are seeing. It would be trivially easy to use it to shape or distort public opinion, and to do so quietly, perhaps untraceably.

In all of this, Im suggesting a simple principle, albeit one that will not be simple to apply: Our collective attention is important. Whoever (or whatever) controls our attention controls, to a large degree, our future. The social media platforms that hold and shape our attention need to be governed in the public interest. That means knowing whos truly running them and how theyre running them.

Im not sure which of the social network owners currently clear that bar. But Im certain ByteDance doesnt. On this, Donald Trump was right, and the Biden administration should finish what he started.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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The recently concluded ILTM Latin America in Sao Paulo brought together 290 buyers from 28 cities across 9 countries  20% Latin and 80% Brazilian, with 275 exhibiting companies from 40 countries, 30% of whom were new to the event.



Over 25,000 one-to-one meetings took place throughout the week in addition to an extensive programme of networking events.



Philippe Trapp, COO Lifestyle Brands at ACCOR South America commented: Hotels, restaurants, spa, lifestyle - people are back, business is back, possibly stronger than ever before. Todays climate continues to challenge and ILTM Latin America is perfectly timed to support our global properties. It has definitely been the right place and the right time to strengthen our business.



Diana Plaza, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Marriott International added: Brazilians and Latin Americans travel further and stay longer. The region is an important market for us and our hotel teams from Europe, US and are delighted to be able to take this time at ILTM Latin America to personally highlight our many new offerings - 40 alone this year  as well as the breadth of our brand.



The show welcomed new openings from across the world including the Hotel La Palma Capri and Thompson Madrid plus Brazilian luxury in the form of the new Bara Hotel in Joao Pessoa, Caiman Pantanal Eco-Lodge and Rosewood Sao Paulo, properties in exotic destinations including the Maldives and on the other side of the world, the islands of Anguilla and St Barts.



By 10am on the first day, we knew wed made the best decision to attend ILTM Latin America. All the luxury agents that matter are here, the influencers and networkers who will clearly spread the word about our new property and destination to their wealthy clients. We are riding the crest of a wave of Brazilians exploring their own country and ILTM is integral to our business plans, commented Gefferson Alves, Managing Director, Bara hotel.



ILTM is key because luxury is key to Anguilla and the luxury and extra luxury segment in Brazil has returned with a vengeance. These travellers are trend-setters and we absolutely meet their agents here at ILTM Latin America, said Danielle Clouzet Roman, Anguilla Tourism.



Oetker Collections Ernesto Draque added: We are here to reconnect with our very important Latin American audiences and introduce La Palma Capri, Oetker Collections first Italian property. There was no question that ILTM Latin America would be the perfect event to set the scene for the significant demand we expect from Brazil and beyond. Our expectations have been exceeded.



The connection between France and Brazil was also evident with a strong French presence including the Dorchester Collection, Peninsula Paris, L'Apogee Courchevel and also new properties from Maybourne on the Riviera plus Bulgari and Cheval Blanc in Paris.



Bulgari Hotel Paris just opened in December 2021, so ILTM Latin America has been an incredible opportunity to spread the word to not just the most important Latam agents, but also the influential media from across this key market for our brand, commented Paul Moreau at the Hotel Bulgari Paris.



ILTM Latin America Exhibition Director Simon Mayle said: Wealthy Latin Americans and Brazilians especially are embracing the return to travel like no other nation. With the role of the travel agent never more important than in todays world of luxury travel, ILTM Latin America has been an important catalyst for professionals and brands to build and renew rewarding relationships. So many new openings, so many developments, so much to catch up on from all four corners of the world.



ILTM now looks forward to its next editions: ILTM Asia Pacific in Singapore, 5  8 September and ILTM North America in Mayakoba, Mexico, 19  22 September 2022.  TradeArabia News Service
The argument goes like this: More women now work and have access to health care, some legal workplace protections and information about adoptive services. Therefore, pregnancy and parenthood are not the hardships they once were.

Lawyers representing the State of Mississippi, the appellant in the lawsuit that could bring about the end of Roe v. Wade, claim that sweeping policy advances now promote womens full pursuit of both career and family.

Lynn Fitch, the state attorney general, went further in an interview with a local television station: Fifty years ago, for professional women, they wanted you to make a choice. Now you dont have to. Now you have the opportunity to be whatever you want to be, she said. You have the option in life to really achieve your dreams, your goals, and you can have those beautiful children as well.

Not everyone agrees with that claim. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, a professor of African-American studies at Princeton, argued that by focusing on the relative gains, the draft opinion obscures existing inequities. She described this idea as a fantasy  one she believes is particularly detached from reality during a pandemic that has been exceptionally brutal for women.

Perhaps whats hardest to bear for abortion rights advocates is the implicit suggestion that the progress women have made is a reason to throw out Roe, Emily Bazelon, a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, wrote.

In a sense, he turns feminism against itself.

A place of multiple feminisms

Many second-wave feminists have been quick to speak out against the draft opinion, lamenting a prospective loss in one of their movement's defining fights. But unlike 50 years ago, the coalition of abortion rights supporters is vast  and cuts across many demographics.

Polls have consistently shown that a majority of Americans oppose overturning Roe v. Wade. A Gallup poll in June found that 58 percent of Americans were opposed, a figure that has been relatively unchanged for three decades. A Public Religion Research Institute poll recently found that 61 percent oppose overturning Roe, and 36 percent support it.
It was meant to mark the start of their lives out of college, but the adventure quickly turned into a nightmare. Beginning with what seemed to be a lucky whale sighting, three friends set out on a sea-kayaking trip through Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, watching out for bears, and having a good time, when tragedy struck.

In recounting the days preceding and following the accident, which seriously injured one of his friends, the Times journalist Jon Mooallem explains how he was forced to reckon with his fears. Detailing the incidents surprising repercussions, he muses on the importance of overcoming ones fears, and finding poetry in lifes darkest moments.
UZHHOROD, Ukraine  Jill Biden, the first lady, traveled to western Ukraine in an unannounced trip on Sunday, the latest show of support from the United States, which in recent weeks has significantly increased military aid for Ukraine and sent others close to President Biden into the country.

Dr. Biden met Ukraines first lady, Olena Zelenska, at a school converted to assist refugees who had come from other parts of the country to Uzhhorod, a town of 100,000 people a few miles from the border with Slovakia. Ms. Zelenska, the wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky, had not been seen in public since Russias invasion began on Feb. 24.

I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop, and this war has been brutal, Dr. Biden told reporters as she sat at a table across from Ms. Zelenska, and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

Dr. Biden made her trip on a day of public displays of support for Ukraine, with visits from Bono and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, and as rescuers searched for survivors from a Russian airstrike on a school in the east that officials feared had left dozens dead. In Kyiv, a team of senior American diplomats returned to the U.S. Embassy for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine, a move that coincided with Victory in Europe Day.
WASHINGTON  Democrats rang alarm bells on Sunday about the likelihood that Republicans would try to restrict abortion nationwide, two days after an interview was published in which Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, said a ban was possible if his party gained control in Washington.

On the Sunday talk shows and in other public statements, Democratic senators said Republicans would not stop at letting the states decide the issue, but would most likely push for federal restrictions. That made it paramount, they said, that the Democratic Party maintain control of the Senate as it tries to codify abortion rights into federal law.

We need to make sure that every single voter understands that the Republican Party and Mitch McConnell does not believe that their daughters, that their mothers, that their sisters have rights to make fundamental life and death decisions, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, said on CNNs State of the Union. We are half-citizens under this ruling. And if this is put into law, it changes the foundation of America.

After a leaked draft decision indicated that the Supreme Court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established a constitutional right to abortion, Mr. McConnell said in an interview with USA Today that a national abortion ban was possible if that draft document became an official opinion of the court.
Three Americans died under mysterious circumstances and another was hospitalized on Friday while they were staying at the Sandals Resort on Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas, the authorities said.

The Bahamian police went to the hotel after a staff member found one of the travelers, a man, unresponsive in his villa on Friday morning, the police said in a news release. Officials were then informed that two more people, a man and a woman, had been found unresponsive in another villa.

The man in the first villa was on the ground. In the second villa, the man was slumped against a wall in the bathroom, and the woman was on a bed. All three were pronounced dead by a doctor, the police said.

Chester Cooper, the tourism minister of the Bahamas, said on Facebook that the cause of the deaths was unknown but that foul play was not suspected. A fourth American, a woman, was airlifted to a hospital in Florida, where she was in serious condition, Commissioner Paul A. Rolle of the Royal Bahamas Police Force said at a news conference on Monday.
Russias invasion of Ukraine has created a dilemma for nations and corporations that pits values against economics. Much of the world agrees that Russia should be punished for its invasion of Ukraine, but government officials and business leaders are grappling with the economic realities of doing so.

The biggest example is Russian oil and gas, a far larger economic lifeline for Mr. Putin than fertilizer. Countries across the world have continued to buy fuel from Russia, while trying to cut off Moscow in other ways.

Russian fertilizer presents a similar quandary.

Ukraine and Russia are among the worlds largest exporters of wheat, corn and barley, and the war has kept much of those crops bottled up, increasing prices and exacerbating global food shortages.

Russia also accounts for roughly 15 percent of the worlds fertilizer exports. Blocking those exports would deprive Mr. Putin of another revenue stream that can fuel Russias war against Ukraine. But United Nations officials and other experts have warned that restrictions on Russian fertilizer would raise prices even more and deplete food supplies.

Facing the prospect of such a crisis, the United States created a carve-out in its sanctions in late March to explicitly allow purchases of Russian food and fertilizer. While financial sanctions are still complicating transactions, American officials have been working to reassure other governments and business leaders  including meeting with government and industry officials in Brazil  that buying Russian fertilizer is not prohibited.

Europe placed a one-year ceiling on imports of certain Russian fertilizers, allowing only 2.6 million tons into the continent in a year  less than half of what Europe imported in 2021.

With some of that fertilizer now reaching farmers in Brazil, economists predict a slow down in recent price hikes and improved crop yields, increasing the chances that farmers can make up some of the food shortages inflicted by Russias invasion.
KABUL, Afghanistan  Thousands of Afghans had piled into buses and set out down the countrys once perilous highways bound for relatives they had not seen in years. Afghanistans only national park was filled with tourists who had only dreamed of traveling to its intensely blue lakes and jagged mountains when fighting raged across the country.

And Zulhijjah Mirzadah, a mother of five, packed a small picnic of dried fruit, gathered her family in a minibus and wove for two hours through the congested streets of the capital, Kabul, to a bustling amusement park.

From the entrance, she could hear the low whoosh of a roller coaster and the chorus of joyous screams from Afghans inside celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. But she could not go further. Women, she was told at the gate, were barred by the Taliban from entering the park on Eid.

Were facing economic problems, things are expensive, we cant find work, our daughters cant go to school  but we hoped to have a picnic in the park today, said Ms. Mirzadah, 25.
HONG KONG  John Lee will make Hong Kongers and international investors feel relaxed, at ease and full of confidence, a pro-Beijing newspaper declared. He will help the city start anew to achieve greater glories, the state-run China Daily wrote, in one of a series of articles praising him.

His rise to the top leadership position is a concentrated embodiment of public opinion, said Chinas official arm in Hong Kong, though only 1,424 members of a government-vetted committee voted for him on Sunday, in an uncontested race controlled by Beijing.

Having officially become the next chief executive, Mr. Lee is now Beijings man, a security-minded official who can be relied on to follow orders and keep Hong Kong in line.

His political agenda is the next chapter in Chinas vision for the former British colony, set in motion by the sweeping national security law imposed two years ago, which quashed dissent in a city once known for its vibrant civil society and freewheeling press.
Leaders of the Group of 7 nations pledged during a virtual meeting on Sunday with President Volodymyr Zelensky to ban or phase out Russian oil, aiming to still further erode Russias economic standing as it pursues its invasion of Ukraine.

The group did not provide details but said in a statement that the plans would be enforced in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies.

Oil bans are a two-edged sword. Oil is a top export for Russia, and Moscow would almost certainly sustain a big economic blow should it be banned, but parts of Europe are heavily dependent on its oil and thus are also vulnerable.

The United States, which imported a relatively small amount of energy resources from Russia, has already banned the import of Russian oil and gas.
Ukrainian soldiers with the 93rd Brigade place camouflage netting on artillery captured from Russian forces near Sumy, in eastern Ukraine, on Sunday.

PARIS  On a day of commemoration of the end of World War II in Europe, the war in Ukraine was marked by posturing and signaling on Sunday, as each side ramped up its rhetoric and resolve.

Leaders of the worlds wealthiest democracies vowed to end their dependence on Russian energy and ensure that Russia does not triumph in its unprovoked, unjustifiable and illegal aggression, as President Vladimir V. Putin pursued his indiscriminate bombardment of eastern Ukraine and orchestrated celebrations for Russias Victory Day holiday on Monday.

A statement by the Group of 7 major industrialized nations said that on a day when Europe recalled the devastation of World War II and its millions of victims, including those from the Soviet Union, Mr. Putins actions bring shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people.

The leaders, signaling to Mr. Putin that their unrelenting support of Ukraine would only grow, said, We remain united in our resolve that President Putin must not win his war against Ukraine. The memory of all those who fought for freedom in World War II, the statement said, obliged them to continue fighting for it today.

The tone was firm, with no mention of any potential diplomacy or cease-fire.

In Moscow, as fighter jets streaked across the sky and nuclear weapons were put on display in preparation for Victory Day, Mr. Putin appeared to signal back to Western leaders that he was determined to double down on the war until he could conjure something that might be claimed as victory.

There was fresh evidence of that on Sunday, as rescuers picked through the rubble in Bilohorivka, a village in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine where a Russian bomb had flattened a school building the day before, killing people sheltering there, local authorities said.

Image Emergency crews trying to extinguish a fire at a school in Bilohorivka, in the Luhansk region, on Sunday. Credit... State Emergency Service of Ukraine, via Reuters

Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. But it was unclear how many people were in fact in the school and that toll may prove inflated. If confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest single Russian attacks since the war began in February.

Despite the World War II commemorations in most of Europe on Sunday and in Russia on Monday, a painful reminder of the tens of millions of people killed, there was no indication that the war in Ukraine was anywhere near ending. If anything, all signals pointed in the opposite direction. Russian attacks on Ukrainian towns and villages met a crescendo of Western rhetoric, accompanied by the constant danger of escalation.

Mr. Putin, whose steady militarization of Russian society in recent years has turned the May 9 celebration of the Soviet defeat of the Nazis into an annual apotheosis of a resurgent nations might, is expected to portray a war of repeated setbacks in Ukraine as a successful drive to de-Nazify a neighboring nation whose very existence he denies.

His much-anticipated speech may go further, possibly signaling that whatever conquest in Ukraine there has been up to now will become permanent through annexation. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and began stirring military conflict in the eastern Donbas region.

In Mariupol, the Ukrainian port city now in ruins after sustained Russian assault, and a place Mr. Putin wants to showcase as evidence of his victory, the citys last Ukrainian defenders vowed to fight on. Russian forces were cleaning the streets on Sunday in possible preparation for a celebratory parade on Monday.

Across eastern Ukraine, Russia appeared intent on making its occupation permanent through Russian flags, Russian-language signs and the introduction of the ruble. The Group of 7 leaders said any attempts to replace democratically elected Ukrainian local authorities with illegitimate ones would not be recognized.

Image A Soviet-era flag marking the anniversary of victory over the Nazis in front of a damaged apartment building in Mariupol on Sunday. Credit... Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

Visits to the region by the first lady, Jill Biden, who crossed into western Ukraine to meet Ukraines first lady, Olena Zelenska, in an unannounced visit to Uzhhorod, and by Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, who appeared unexpectedly in a war-scarred suburb of Kyiv, were clearly intended to drive home a message of unwavering Western commitment.

Senior American diplomats returned to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv for the first time since the war began.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine released a black-and-white video address on Sunday marking the Allied victory in 1945. Standing in front of a destroyed apartment block in a Kyiv suburb hit hard by Russian troops before their withdrawal from the region around the capital, he said, We pay our respect to everyone who defended the planet against Nazism during World War II.

Mr. Putin has portrayed Mr. Zelensky, who is Jewish, as the leader of a nation threatening Russia with revived Nazism. His aim has been to instill the spirit of the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is known in Russia, among Russian troops, but to little apparent avail.

In the vast Azovstal steel mill that is the last remaining part of Mariupol not under Russian control, Ukrainian troops again rejected Russian deadlines to surrender. In a virtual news conference, Lt. Illya Samoilenko, an officer in a Ukrainian National Guard battalion known as the Azov regiment, said: We are basically dead men. Most of us know this. That is why we fight.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, a deputy commander of the regiment, said, We dont have much time, we are under constant shelling, with attacks from Russian tanks, artillery, airplanes and snipers.

The remaining civilians in the steel plant were evacuated on Saturday. Local officials estimate the death toll in the city at over 20,000.

Image Jill Biden, the first lady, visiting children who had fled from Ukraine at a school in Kosice, Slovakia, on Sunday. Credit... Zuzana Gogova/Getty Images

If the United States and its allies have refused to commit military forces for fear of sparking World War III, they have moved to support Ukraine in every other way, their determination mounting and their actions expanding with each Russian atrocity.

The Group of 7 statement included a series of economic, military and judicial steps, with the apparent aim of bringing the Russian economy to its knees and increasing the pressure on Mr. Putin to turn back from a war of choice that has turned him into a pariah and threatens much of his countrys progress over the past two decades.

We commit to phase out our dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, the statement said. It added, without being specific, that this would be done in a timely and orderly fashion. Alternative sources, they added, would be found to ensure affordable prices for consumers.

It was unclear how this commitment from the Group of 7 went beyond existing undertakings, if at all.

The 27-nation European Union has already committed to a complete import ban on all Russian oil, with most countries phasing out Russian crude oil within six months and refined oil by the end of the year. The European Union is too dependent on Russian gas to consider banning it in the short term.

The war has already driven up gasoline prices across much of Europe in a generally inflationary climate. If the war drags on for a long time, it is likely that support for the Wests commitment to Ukraine may waver among consumers paying the cost at the pump or in their utility bills.

Image Three-year-old twins Nika and Miya inspecting destroyed vehicles in Irpin, Ukraine, on Sunday. Credit... Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

The statement of the Group of 7, meeting remotely, said the seven nations  the United States, France, Britain, Japan, Germany, Canada and Italy  had already provided or pledged $24 billion to Ukraine for 2022. In the coming weeks, we will step up our collective short-term financial support, they said.

We will continue to take action against Russian banks connected to the global economy and systematically critical to the Russian financial system, they added. More generally, they would take measures to prohibit or otherwise prevent the provision of key services on which Russia depends.

Military and defense assistance would continue to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself now and deter future acts of aggression.

The leaders said they would spare no effort to hold President Putin and his accomplices accountable for their actions in accordance with international law.

The charges of illegality leveled at Mr. Putin for the invasion of a sovereign country are certain to anger the Russian president. The NATO bombing of Belgrade in 1999 during the Kosovo War, the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 and Western support for the independence of Kosovo in 2008 have given him a healthy distrust of American invocations of the United Nations Charter and international law.

War raged in Ukraines east on Sunday, with a Ukrainian counteroffensive near Kharkiv, the countrys second largest city, gaining ground in the northeast. However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from the city of Popasna after two months of fierce fighting.

In general, the planned Russian offensive in the east of the country, like the rest of Mr. Putins war, has gone less well than planned. Mr. Putins broad aim, at least for the time being, seems to be to connect Crimea through Mariupol to other occupied areas in eastern Ukraine, and to Russia itself, forming a cohesive and strategic swath of territory.

Image A boy climbing on a tank outside the World War II memorial in Kyiv on Sunday, a day Ukraine designates as the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation. Credit... David Guttenfelder for The New York Times

William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director and former U.S. ambassador to Russia, said the current phase of the war was at least as dangerous as Russias initial attempt to attack the capital and topple the Ukrainian government.

Speaking on Saturday in Washington, he said Mr. Putin was in a frame of mind that he thinks he cannot afford to lose, and was convinced that doubling down still will enable him to make progress.

In the 77 years since the end of World War II, the possibility of a broad conflagration in Europe has seldom, if ever, appeared more plausible.

Reporting was contributed by Emma Bubola in London; Eduardo Medina in New York; Marc Santora in Krakow, Poland; Maria Varenikova in Kyiv, Ukraine; Katie Rogers in Uzhhorod, Ukraine; Julian E. Barnes and Michael Crowley in Washington; and Cassandra Vinograd in London.
According to the CPEC Authority, the progress review of the projects revealed that all the schemes having socio-economic benefits for Gwadar, considered as the crown jewel of project, were falling behind their original completion schedules, The Express Tribune reported.

The CPEC Authority, which Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal wants to wrap up, gave the status update report to the new government last month.

So far, only three schemes have been declared completed by the CPEC Authority, including $4 million Gwadar Smart Port City Master Plan, which cannot be called a project, The Express Tribune reported.

The other two schemes are the Physical Infrastructure of Gwadar Port and the Free Zone Phase-1 costing $300 million and Pakistan-China Technical and Vocational Institute that has been built with a $10 million Chinese grant.

Even there is no indigenous electricity for the port, as the country imports power from Iran to meet the city's energy needs.

CPEC remained dormant during most of the time of the previous PTI government but lately there had been some progress after the last political regime brought in Khalid Mansoor as special assistant to the PM on CPEC affairs.

Yet, he could not take these schemes across the finishing line.

The $179 million Eastbay Expressway, a road link connecting the port with free zone and the city, that should have been completed a few years ago, is still shown as an under-implementation scheme, although on documents the project is 99 per cent completed.

China has provided interest-free loan for the scheme.

The CPEC Authority expects that the project will be completed by June.


Dozens of people are feared dead after a Russian airstrike leveled a school in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, local officials said, as Russian forces kept up their unrelenting bombardment of towns and cities across the region.

The Ukrainian government said the basement of the school in the village of Bilohorivka, in the Luhansk region, was sheltering civilians, a claim that could not be independently verified. The village is only a few miles from the front line and has come under repeated assault.

After a social club was recently destroyed in shelling, the school became the last refuge for civilians, according to local officials, who said there were about 90 people in the building on Saturday when it exploded into flames.

Initial reports suggested that some 30 people made it to safety or were not caught up in the explosion, but that as many as 60 could be trapped. If the death toll is as high as local officials fear, it could be one of the deadliest single attacks since Russia renewed its offensive in eastern Ukraine less than a month ago.
Olga Romanovas grandmother served as a frontline nurse in World War II. She was small and thin, Ms. Romanova said, but somehow carried big, grown, wounded men to safety. She met her husband in her four years on the eastern front.

To Ms. Romanova, Russias May 9 holiday, marking the Soviet victory over the Nazis, is about remembering those grandparents, a day to extend our love to them, to somehow express what we couldnt when we were little.

But this year, for President Vladimir V. Putin, May 9 means something very different. Mondays commemoration will be a lavish government-orchestrated show of Russian might and a claim of rightful dominance over a lost empire  a day to galvanize public support for the war by slandering Ukraine as a successor to Nazi Germany.

Warplanes will fly over Moscow in a Z formation  the symbol of support for this years invasion  and airborne troops who fought recently in Ukraine will parade through Red Square in their armored personnel carriers. In the Baltic navy town of Baltiysk, the local organizers of the Immortal Regiment march  a solemn procession of people with portraits of their World War II veteran relatives, held across the country on May 9  are having wounded marines back from Ukraine join in.
JERUSALEM  Israeli security forces captured two Palestinians on Sunday who were suspected of perpetrating an ax attack that killed three Israeli Jews in the central town of Elad on Thursday night. Their arrests ended an intensive search but left Israels fragile government grappling with how to combat the recent surge in terrorist attacks.

The detentions calmed immediate fears that the assailants could come out of hiding and strike again, but Israel remained on high alert for possible copycat attacks. An Israeli police officer was stabbed and wounded outside Jerusalems contested Old City on Sunday night by a Palestinian, according to the police.

The killings in Elad on Thursday followed Arab assaults that have caused deaths in four other cities across Israel since late March.

Capturing the murderers is not enough, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of Israel said Sunday at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting, adding, We are at the start of a new stage in the war on terrorism.
An Offaly woman gave a false name and address when stopped by the Gardai at a Garda checkpoint, a recent sitting of Tullamore District Court was told.

Geovana Brandao, formerly of St Mary's Hill, Edenderry and now living in Ballymacaw, Dunmore East, Co Waterford pleaded guilty.

The defending solicitor Donal Farrelly said his client didn't have a driving licence at the time but does have a driving licence now. She was also summonsed for no insurance.

She is 23 years of age and has no previous convictions. She works as a customer adviser and lives with her husband. When she was stopped she was very nervous about the situation and therefore gave a false name and address.

My client has been living in Ireland since 2013. She has done nine driving lessons with the eventual aim of getting a driving licence. Mr Farrelly said she bought the car in November 2020 and was using it to drive to and from work.

Judge John King convicted and fined 100 for giving a false name and address and 300 and two years disqualification for no insurance.
WHO would have predicted that as we entered the 2020s nearly 28 months ago now that it would be such an eventful decade already?

First, we have experienced a global pandemic which has certainly challenged us all in many different ways. Then, just as the world felt that we were over the pandemic, a war started in Europe as Russia invaded Ukraine. All of Europe is currently feeling a significant ripple effect from this devastating war being waged on the Ukrainian people.

Approximately five million people, the majority children and their mothers, have had to flee from their country and loved ones. Ireland has already welcomed over 20,000 Ukrainian refugees since February 2022. In addition, in the first few months of this year, communities across Ireland have experienced other devastating tragedies, often (but not always) random and fatal attacks on people going about their daily lives.

In our clinical practices over the past few months (and further back) we have certainly witnessed clients shock, pain and sense of helplessness as these events have unfolded. However, alongside this pain is often something else, resilience.

Coping, adjusting, re-adjusting and living with Covid-19, over the past two years, has certainly tested our resilience stores. How have five million people in the 21st century, been able to uproot themselves, their families and make their way across Europe to safety in appallingly stressful conditions?

All of these bigger events are of course layered on top of all our individual, personal stressors and the challenges and demands we face in our everyday lives.

We wondered what it is about people that keeps them going in the face of challenge and adversity. We wondered how some people seem naturally more resilient than others and if this is something that can be taught. Dr Chris Johnstone, a medical doctor, author and resilience trainer has written a really useful book called 'Seven Ways to Build Resilience' (book cover pictured below).

In this article we are going to look at some of Johnstones ideas and how they fit into the broader field of positive psychology.

Johnstone defines resilience as the ability to cope with and recover from difficult situations. He says it includes our capacity to make the best of things, to deal with stress and to rise to the occasion. Encouragingly  since he is an expert in this area  he says that we can learn to be more resilient. Each of the seven ways to build resilience is described in each of seven chapters and Johnstone describes a range of tools that can help us with the building work.

Like with all psychological tools, some people will find particular tools really help them while other people will prefer different tools. As we say to clients, get familiar with the psychological tools and techniques, practise them and see which work best for you. This applies to a range of psychological conditions and life stressors, not just to building resilience.

Johnstone starts with illustrating a core concept in clinical formulation, the interplay between factors such as protective and risk factors. For all of us, we face challenges with our own unique strengths and skills and life circumstances and experiences. Protective factors quite literally protect us from adversity; they can include a healthy childhood, healthy, supportive adult relationships, being psychologically flexible in our thinking, having a job we like and so on. Risk factors make it harder to cope; examples might be a problem with alcohol, chronic insomnia, a fixed, inflexible thinking style, a highly developed self-critic.

Johnstone uses a visual analogy of a boat and water level to illustrate his point.

When we have good protective factors in our lives this buoys up the boat (us) and stops it hitting the rocks. Risk factors on the other hand, push down the water level and the boat is more likely to hit the rocks. Johnstone urges us to check our water level and address and adjust risk and protective factors accordingly. So, for example, if poor sleep/staying up late at night is a risk factor then maybe we need to improve our sleep hygiene. Self-compassion (a topic we discuss regularly in this column) is an example of a personal protective factor that fosters resilience.

In addition, Johnstone tells us that this boat and water level mapping tool can be applied to anything we would like to change by analysing the factors that help and hinder.

Johnstone talks about emotional first aid using the very clever acronym SSRI.

In psychiatry and psychology SSRIs are usually the shorthand description for commonly prescribed antidepressants. Johnstones SSRIs are of the non-pharmaceutical kind: S stands for individual coping strategies; S stands for individual strengths/qualities; R stands for resources available to us that offer help and support; I stands for Insights into problems (maybe what has helped us in the past...). When we examine ourselves and the challenges using this framework we can really enhance our resilience.

Johnstone looks at how problem solving can be enhanced by our beliefs. He normalises our tendency not to believe we can do something and views disbelief rather than as an endpoint, but as part of the process whereby we accept our disbelief and move along from there to belief. He looks at how we can develop flexible thinking when we are fixed in our thoughts and ideas but unwilling to let them go - that sort of my way or the highway mentality that we are all guilty of at times. Johnstone urges us to look for a more helpful way of thinking about problems, mirroring one of the core concepts of Steven Hayes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

One chapter that has particularly resonated with us has been Johnstones advice on overload management. We have all been there. Felt overloaded and overwhelmed. Johnstone gives some very practical advice that we often forget when our stress levels are running amok. For example, we need to examine the demands on us and really try to see what is necessary/unnecessary. He calls this commitment cropping. He urges us to remember our assertive rights and skills; we are allowed to say no to others when we need to say no.

There is considerably more good advice for the development of resilience in this book, but we will end here on the final chapter in which he urges us to strengthen our supports in ourselves, in our relationships with others, with our friends and families and in our wider communities and networks. At a time when our local, national and global communities are facing all sorts of challenges and adversity this seems very fitting advice.



Julie O'Flaherty and Imelda Ferguson are chartered clinical psychologists, both based in private practice in Tullamore. Through Mind Your Self Midlands, they run courses on Positive Psychology and Mindfulness through the year. They will present 'Mindful Compassion for Wellbeing', a practical half-day course, on June 13 next.

Topics will include -

What is mindful self-compassion and how is it helpful for emotional wellbeing?



What happens in our bodies and minds when we are self-critical and self-compassionate?



Paul Gilberts model of emotional regulation



Managing difficult emotions and everyday struggles such as anxiety and low confidence using mindful self-compassion



Experiential exercises and meditations





Imelda Ferguson and Julie O'Flaherty recently returned to hosting positive psychology courses with a half-day course in Tullamore which was well attended and rated as successful by the participants.

The Mindful Compassion for Wellbeing course will take place on Monday, June 13 from 10am to 1pm in the Central Hotel, Main Street, Tullamore (opposite Lidl).

The course facilitators, Imelda Ferguson and Julie OFlaherty (who write the fortnightly Positive Psychology column on this page) are both chartered clinical psychologists with extensive experience in the adult mental health field.

The course cost is 90 (a reduced early bird fee of 75 is available for those who pay by May 27). The fee includes course materials, tea/coffee and hotel parking.

For further information or to book a place contact Imelda on 087 2271630 or Julie 087 2399328 or send a private message on their Facebook page, Mind Your Self Midlands.
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Rumble 08 May 2022

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Diane Abbott has become the first Labour MP to publicly say Sir Keir Starmer should "consider his position" if he is fined by police over "beergate".
A further 1.3bn in military support will be provide by the UK to Ukrainian forces as they fight against Russia's invasion.
Newsy 08 May 2022

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Jaliha, Iraq (AFP) May 8, 2022



Iraqi farmer Kamel Hamed looks at the golden ears of wheat waving in the wind, unable to hide his anguish over the baking heat that is decimating his harvest. "The drought is unbelievable," said the 53-year-old in a white dishdasha robe and keffiyeh head covering at his farm in Jaliha village of central Diwaniya province. "Even the well water can't be used, it's salt water." Searing
LANSING  With the final passage of the state House and Senate versions of the state school aid budget this week, State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice says some improvements have been made that lead up to negotiations with Governor Gretchen Whitmer to provide needed investments in Michigans public schools.

We have the resources and the opportunity in the state right now to make a significant difference for our children, Dr. Rice said. Such an opportunity will likely not exist in the foreseeable future. Lets make the most of the moment and do something life-changing for the next generation of Michigan children.

The legislature is working on the budget for the state's next fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023.

Rice acknowledged that before final passage Thursday, the House added over $100 million to help address the mental health needs of Michigan students coming out of the pandemic.

We greatly appreciate the additional funding by the House, Rice said. Its still not enough, but far better than it was.

Also Thursday, the state Senate added $70 million to address students disrupted learning over the past two years. In remarks made during a Thursday afternoon press conference in Grand Rapids, Rice said Whitmers budget proposal is a generational budget that lifts up Michigan students and staff.

The governors budget is the best school budget that many educators have ever seen and has the potential  if adopted in substantially similar form  to drive significant improvement in our childrens education, Rice said.

Thursday comments from Rice To read State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice's full comments during the Thursday press conference, visit here. See More Collapse

The governors budget increases the per-pupil foundation allowance by 5% or $435 per child; raises categorical funding for economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, English learners, students in rural and isolated districts, and students in career and technical education; increases school safety funding; provides for a $1 billion infrastructure modernization fund; adds $361 million in childrens mental health funding; and includes $2.3 billion for teacher recruitment and staff retention.

Both the Senate and House budgets have strengths; both have gaps.

Like the governors budget, both the Senate and House budgets include significant and appreciated per-pupil foundation allowance increases, needed investments in school safety, and some funding for teacher recruitment initiatives.

The legislature did not increase categorical funding for economically disadvantaged students or English learners; did not provide resources for the governors $1 billion school infrastructure modernization fund for low-taxable-value school districts, many of which are rural; and did not fund teacher and school staff retention bonuses, which the governor recognized as an important mechanism for stabilizing the profession during a critical teacher shortage.

Michigan needs a K-12 school aid budget that focuses on the unique needs and costs of all students, strengthens the teaching profession, and provides better supports for students and staff, Rice said. The governors proposed budget does just that.

We appreciate the earnest work that the legislature has done to this point and think that legislators would do well to review again the governors budget that fully supports students and staff as the negotiations begin between the governor and legislative leaders, Rice continued.

Related content

State Superintendent says House K-12 budget still lacks appropriate funding

Midland leaders discuss Michigan Senate K-12 budget proposal
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Fourteen Midland High School alumni were killed in action during the Vietnam War. Over 50 years later, their memories were honored on Friday with a plaque presentation and dedication service.

The endeavor to honor these fallen soldiers began in 2015, when MHS class of 1966 classmates Roger Bishop, Ellen Smith Grebe and Tom Erickson created a tri-fold poster listing the names of the 14 young men  ranging from MHS classes 1964 to 1967  who died in the Vietnam War.

The poster was displayed at several MHS class reunions as well as the schools Veterans Day celebration in 2018.

While talking with MHS administration, Bishop expressed a desire to have the poster permanently displayed. He was put in contact with history teacher Connie Steger, who then worked with Bishop and others to put a plaque together. Together, they found Geri Horsley to engrave the inscriptions and Jon Horton to craft the signs wooden back.

In constructing the plaque, the decision was made to use the mens high school pictures instead of their official military pictures for a more personal touch.

When we saw (their high school pictures), everybody knew who they were, Bishop said. Thats the reaction we wanted.

Meanwhile, Bishop conducted research on the men, reaching out to their families  with the help of MHS classmates  as well as local resources when the touring Vietnam Wall came to the region.

Bishop, who went to school with each of the 14 fallen soldiers, knew about half of them personally and a handful very well.

Ive always said that everything about this is for them, Bishop said. Its something they never got and the family never got.

The finished plaque honors 14 young men who attended Midland High School, served in either the Army or the Marines, and were killed in action during the Vietnam War:

Duane Cabala

Michael Conklin

Larry Costley

Michael Cox

Ralph Cutler

Alan Groom

William Keyes

Richard Kuchek

Ronald Lyvere

Michael Maidens

Gary Plante

Vern Root

Steven Rugar

James Tewksbury

On Friday, about 150 people attended a dedication service for the plaque at Midland First United Methodist Church. Guests included representatives from local veterans organizations, MHS alumni from classes 1964-1968, and family members and friends of the 14 fallen soldiers.

May this plaque serve to remind us all to live courageously, make and keep commitments, and to serve, even if it calls for sacrifice, said the Rev. Jeffrey Maxwell during the opening prayer.

Ashton Bortz, district chief of staff for U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, and Steve Tracy, a Vietnam War veteran and member of the Midland American Legion Post 165, read the names of the fallen while a bell was rung. Dave Selley played taps on his trumpet.

The plaque, which Bishop originally intended to hang in Midland High School, is currently on display at American Legion Post 165 on Hedgewood Drive. It was officially presented by Vietnam combat veteran Greg Purtell to Steve Schuman, commander of Sons of the American Legion at Post 165.

This is one of the greatest honors of my life, Purtell said. I appreciate Roger (Bishop) asking me to do this.

For me, this plaque is a reminder of both the 14 who did not come back as well as their families, Schuman said. I pledge that I and everyone at the Legion will honor their memories.

After the ceremony, guests were invited to take a closer look at the plaque before heading to the American Legion for dinner.

Among the family members present were Donald and Debra Sherwood of Midland, representing Debras cousin, Michael Cox. Debra was 4 years old when Cox was killed, but remembers attending his funeral.

Ron Sexton of Midland and Terry Beehr of Mount Pleasant came to honor their good friend, Alan Groom.

They did so much for us and did everything they could for their country, Beehr said. We appreciate it.

Terry and Alan stood up with me in our wedding. Less than two months later, I was (Alans) pallbearer, Sexton said. It was tough.

It means a lot for the plaque to be at the American Legion because Michaels dad was a Marine in the Korean War and my dad was in the Navy in World War II. Michaels brother, Chris, was also in Vietnam in the Army, Debra said. Its very special.

Its been a long time coming and Im glad it all came together so well, Donald said.
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LONDON (AP)  The U.K., U.S. and Irish governments have urged rival parties in Northern Ireland to come together to resurrect its power-sharing government after Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein scored a historic victory to become the biggest party in Northern Ireland's Assembly.

Sinn Fein, which seeks union with Ireland, won 27 seats in the 90-seat legislature, beating the Democratic Unionist Party, which secured 25 seats. It's the first time in Northern Ireland's history that an Irish nationalist party has topped the voting.

But it's not clear whether Sinn Fein will lead a new government because of Northern Ireland's delicate power-sharing politics and ongoing tussles over the legacy of Britain's exit from the European Union.

While Sinn Fein's vice-president Michelle ONeill now has the right to the post of first minister, a functioning Northern Ireland Executive  or devolved government  cannot be formed unless the largest unionist party agrees to join in the role of deputy first minister.

In February the DUP's Paul Givan quit as first minister in protest against post-Brexit border arrangements, collapsing the Executive. His party has said it will not return to government unless their demands over the customs arrangements are met.

Leaders in London and Dublin said all parties must now re-establish Northern Ireland's government as soon as possible.

Irish prime minister Micheal Martin said late Saturday that it is now incumbent on all political parties and elected representatives to deliver on their mandate.

Power-sharing and principles of partnership, equality and mutual respect are at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement, through which peace has been secured and progress achieved for almost 25 years," he added. A new power-sharing Executive is vital for progress and prosperity for all in Northern Ireland.

In London, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he will meet with party leaders Monday to discuss how to re-establish a functioning government.

Lewis reiterated his position that the U.K. government would like to reach an agreement with the EU to resolve disputes over post-Brexit rules known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The DUP is strongly opposed to the rules, which have imposed customs and border checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. Unionists say the new checks have created a barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. that undermines their British identity.

Britains Conservative government is trying to get the EU to agree to major changes, but negotiations have reached an impasse.

The U.K. governments position is we want to secure a deal with the EU. Were very clear about that," Lewis told the BBC Sunday. We have worked very hard on that for over a year now across a series of conversations. We made proposals. The EU havent shown any flexibility.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said post-Brexit problems are an obstacle to stability in Northern Ireland, and that the government in London will take whatever measures are necessary to try to resolve it.

Its clear from the dynamic that we now see that we wont get to that position of stability unless and until it is fixed," Raab said.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price also urged Northern Irelands political leaders to take the necessary steps to re-establish a functioning government.

Brexit's legacy adds an extra challenge to Northern Ireland's politics, which operates under a delicate system splitting power between the largest British unionist party and largest Irish nationalist party. The system was created by the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement that ended decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict.

If no power-sharing Executive can be formed within six months, a new election may be triggered.
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - Already reeling from COVID-19, the fighting in Ukraine has introduced significant and worrying new risks likely to heavily impact Africa, UN development experts have warned
The President of the Greater Accra Council of Bissa Chiefs Mohammed Ali Dabre (iii) has called on Ghanaian Muslims to support the needy and underprivileged during the Eid celebrations by giving out Zakat to the poor.



He encouraged Muslims to be guided by the beautiful lifestyle of the holy prophet(PBUH), which was demonstrated during the month of Ramadan.



He said that Muslims all together deserve to celebrate and feast in moderation during the festival of the breaking of the fast , popularly known as Eid-Ul-Fitr after the rigorous 30 days of fasting.



Delivering his Eid message at his palace in Nima, which coincided with a courtesy on him at his Palace (Faada) by the chiefs and people in Klagon and Tema to wish him Barka Da Sallah, on Eid-ul-Fitr day, Chief Dabre, advised family heads particularly men to be patient with their families, especially their wives and children. This is because women and children form the back bone of every family, thereby making it almost impossibilities for families to survive and succeed without taking good care of them.



Families need support, I Pray to Allah to strengthen families economically, to be able to cater for themselves and the education of their children Chief Dabre said.



Touching on education, chief Dabre also a retired educationist in America urged Ghanaians especially Muslims to take advantage of the governments free SHS policy to enroll their wards into schools in order to create a better future.

Muslims all over the world went into the traditional month of fasting in the holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month on the Islamic calender in the entire month of April on the Gregorian calender.



The holy month of Ramadan, the month of fasting came to an end on Sunday May 1, 2022.

Eid-ul-Saeed and Eid-ul-Mubarak



Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat has condemned the terrorist attack perpetrated by Al Shabaab militants against an African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) base in the Middle Shabelle region on May 3, 2022.



The AU Chairperson also condemned the attack on a passenger train between Abuja-Kaduna on March 29, 2022, stressing that the heinous act which led to the tragic loss of lives, with others declared missing was unacceptable.



The AU Chairperson, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Tema, while condemning the two attacks, paid tribute to the Burundian peacekeepers who lost their lives helping to bring peace and stability to Somalia.



The chairperson extended his condolences to the bereaved families, the Government, and the people of the Republic of Burundi, and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded as a result of the attack.



The chairperson reiterated that this heinous attack will not lessen the determination of ATMIS forces and reaffirms the continued and unwavering commitment of the AU to support the Somali Government and people in their pursuit to achieve sustainable peace and security.



The chairperson called on the international community to increase support to the Somali security services and the ATMIS mission commensurate with the security challenges at hand.



The chairperson extends his sincere condolences to the bereaved families in Nigeria and wishes a full recovery to the injured.



The Chairperson urged the Nigerian authorities to take measures to ensure that the missing passengers were found, and the perpetrators of the heinous acts brought to account.



The Chairperson reaffirmed the solidarity of the African Union with the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria during this difficult time.

Source: GNA









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Reverend Dr. Cyril Fayose, General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) has said every Ghanaian has a role to play in reviving the economy to recover from the global post-COVID-19 shocks.



Rev. Dr. Fayose who said this at the opening of the 12th Ho East Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (EPCG) at Ziavi Dzogbe in the Ho Municipality during a three-day Synod on the theme " Revive us again, o Lord, heal us; asked Ghanaians to stop blame-games and forge ahead for recovery.



The Synod is being attended by over 100 delegates from all the 29 Pastoral districts in the Presbytery made up of Pastors, Catechists, Presbyters, representatives from all the church's groups and second and tertiary institutions.



Rev. Dr. Fayose who was the Guest of honor noted that ordinary Ghanaians were also holding the economy to ransom by their nefarious activities not only politicians.



On the environment, Dr. Fayose noted that the degradation of the forest and other unfriendly environmental practices were the cause of erratic rainfall patterns, global warming, and the destruction of the ozone layer.



"According to the experts there are more plastics in the sea than fishes.," he said.



The General Secretary appealed to the Church to be at the forefront of planting trees and the proper disposal of plastic wastes.



He said the mandate of the CCG was not only to unite Churches but also to be a voice for the vulnerable in society and urged member Churches to take up the care of the "severely mentally ill" in their localities.







Source: GNA









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China's BRI projects greatly benefit Cambodian economy, people: officials, experts

Xinhua) 17:49, May 08, 2022

Aerial photo taken on Dec. 2, 2020 shows an asphalt mixing station at the construction site of the first expressway in Cambodia in Koh Kong Province, Cambodia. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua)

"Generally speaking, the BRI has provided tremendous opportunities and benefits to all participating countries around the world, helping to boost regional and global economies during and after the pandemic," said Vasim Sorya, undersecretary of state and spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. "This initiative, in my view, is importantly contributing to building a community of shared future for mankind."

PHNOM PENH, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Projects under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have been greatly boosting Cambodia's economy and improving local people's livelihoods, Cambodian officials and experts said.

Large BRI projects in the Southeast Asian country include the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, hydropower plants, Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, new Siem Reap International Airport, Morodok Techo National Stadium, roads and bridges, hospitals, and rural water supply among others.

"These projects have provided and will continue to provide a lot of tangible benefits to the economy and people of Cambodia," Vasim Sorya, undersecretary of state and spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, told Xinhua.

"The BRI projects here are sincere with no strings attached, and their aim is to help boost our socio-economic development and improve our people's livelihoods," he said.

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, all BRI projects in the kingdom have made headway steadily, Sorya said, giving an example of the construction work on the 2-billion-U.S. dollar Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway.

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 15, 2020 shows a concrete mixing plant at the construction site of the first expressway in Cambodia in Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia. (Photo by Li Zhen/Xinhua)

Begun in 2019, the project is expected to be fully finished on schedule this year, he said, adding that it has generated more than 3,000 jobs for Cambodians during the construction.

"The 190-km expressway is the largest project under the BRI in Cambodia, and it will add a new impetus to Cambodia's economic development since it links the capital Phnom Penh with the international deep-water seaport in Sihanoukville," he said.

The BRI, a reference to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was initiated by China in 2013 to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

Sorya said that all BRI projects have been built in an environment friendly manner.

Aerial photo taken on Sept. 20, 2019 shows a view of the Lower Sesan II hydroelectric power station at Sesan District of Stung Treng Province, Cambodia. (Photo by Chen Gang/Xinhua)

Since its inception in 2013, the BRI has significantly boosted regional and global cooperation in terms of hard and soft infrastructures, economy, trades, investment opportunities, cultural exchange, and people to people connectivity, he said.

"Generally speaking, the BRI has provided tremendous opportunities and benefits to all participating countries around the world, helping to boost regional and global economies during and after the pandemic," Sorya said. "This initiative, in my view, is importantly contributing to building a community of shared future for mankind."

Ministry of Commerce's undersecretary of state and spokesman Penn Sovicheat said the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) is the a perfect example of a win-win cooperation under the BRI.

"The SSEZ has provided a lot of jobs to the workers and served as a role model for the cluster industries and as a base for exports," he told Xinhua.

According to an operator's report, the SSEZ recorded a surge of 42 percent year-on-year in the value of imports and exports, reaching 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2021.

For the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, Sovicheat said the project is crucial to reducing travel time and transportation cost, improving the logistics connectivity, and increasing the import-export activities between Cambodia and the world, especially China.

People walk by a China-funded power transmission system in southern Kandal province, Cambodia, April 28, 2016. (Xinhua/Sovannara)

Neak Chandarith, director of the Cambodia 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Research Center, said the BRI has been greatly contributing to Cambodia's development strategies, such as the Rectangular Strategy Phase IV, the Industrial Development Policy 2015-2025, the logistic system improvement master plan, and the multipurpose special economic zones in the coastal city of Sihanoukville.

"It will help Cambodia to achieve its ambitious goal of becoming an upper-middle income country by 2030 and a high income country in 2050," he told Xinhua. "The BRI projects will be the major contributors to Cambodia's economic growth in the post-pandemic era."

Mak Chamroeun, vice president of Phnom Penh-based online market Smile Shop, said the BRI is building a connected world with peace, harmony, common development and prosperity, and for Cambodia the BRI projects have delivered many potential benefits to businesses and local residents.

"China, ranked top among foreign investors in Cambodia, has various investments in Cambodia's backboned sectors such as special economic zones, transport infrastructure, energy, agriculture, telecommunication, and tourism among others," he told Xinhua.

"All these infrastructure projects have been playing a key role not only in improving people's daily lives, but also in promoting economic growth and modernizing rural areas," he said.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Bianji)
The body of the captain of a fishing vessel that sunk between Elmina and Sekondi has been retrieved.



Three other people on board the vessel have been rescued by the Ghana Navy and have been taken ashore.



However, one other person said to be the observer from Fisheries Commission who was onboard is missing.



The vessel said to be of the size of about a 50-seater bus sunk between the sea waters of Elmina and Sekondi.



The three are undergoing treatment.



The Menghxin 11 vessel sunk in the early hours of Saturday with all the crew on board.



Some of them were able to swim to a nearby vessel, with the name Menghxin 6.



The crew was hauling a net that had so many fish in it.



The crew, it is reported had some difficulty pulling the net full of fish to the vessel.



Around that same time, it was raining heavily with thunderstorms.



The vessel, according to the survivors, could not sustain the balance on one side and sunk with all the crew on board.



The rescue mission began with the nearby vessel, Menghxin 6, and the Ghana Navy later joined.



The Navy has been combing the incident area and is still in a search of other survivors.



So far, the body of the captain of the vessel has been recovered but the observer onboard the vessel is yet to be found.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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Sammy Gyamfi has reacted to comments from the ruling government that the NDC is being deceptive with their promise to repeal the Electronic Transactions Act (E-Levy).



Former President John Mahama's promise has generated mixed reactions. Some pundits believe his assurance will give the biggest opposition party in the country more votes in 2024.



However, the NPP believes based on previous record, there's no way an NDC administration will cancel e-levy which has generated some level of outcry.



Former Flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Captain (Rtd) Nkrabea Effah Dartey has asked Ghanaians to disregard Mahama's claims.



According to him, the former President lacks the moral right to label the E-Levy as an uncalled for levy because he knows the importance of taxes.



The Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa, has described Mahama's promise as "a scam and a cheap attempt to gain attention in his party".



However, the National Communications Officer of the NDC insists that "E-levy is sacrilegious" and that it will go.



Speaking in an interview on Neat FM's 'Me Man Nti' programme, he said: "no matter the money being generated it will be cancelled . . . there are creative ways of generating revenue into the economy. He (Mahama) has been President before and there was nothing like e-levy. He has invested in digitalization than any government and there was no e-levy . . . "



"We will look for a different way to raise money, set our priorities right, and use the money judiciously not like what is happening now," he added.



Listen to him in the video below





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Authoritarian Belarusian leader and Vladimir Putin's ally, Alexander Lukashenko, has defended the war in Ukraine but rallied against suggestions that Russia might use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.



Russian strongman, Vladimir Putin helped Lukashenko cling to power in 2020 after his widely disputed presidential re-election sparked mass protests in Belarus and Lukashenko returned the favor by backing Putin's invasion of Ukraine even allowing Russian forces use Belarus to launch the invasion into Ukranian territory.



In an interview with AP, published Thursday, May 5, Lukashenko said Russia's leader had no choice but to act because Ukraine was "provoking Russia".

"I am not immersed in this problem enough to say whether it goes according to plan, like the Russians say, or like I feel it.

"I want to stress one more time: I feel like this operation has dragged on."



Lukashenko said he wanted the war to end, claiming Belarus had "done and are doing everything" to stop it.



By calling it a war, Lukashenko refused to describe the invasion as a "special military operation", the term Moscow has used to describe its war effort.



When asked about possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Lukashenko said;



"It's unacceptable because it's right next to us", but added he did not know whether Russia intended to use them.



Belarus was already under Western sanctions following the 2020 election, and faces further sanctions from the West over its role in the conflict.



Out of the 193 UN member states, Belarus didn't join the 141 countries that condemned the war, with some major countries like China and India choosing to abstain.













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A Former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Kwabena Agyapong has said he does not think Ghana needs a new Constitution.



Some Ghanaians including members of the Economic Fighters League , have said the current constitution of Ghana is to blame for what they describe as, rot, suffering and ill-governance being experienced in the country, which according to them, gives life to retrogression and discrimination.



In a statement to mark Constitution Day, the Fighters said the 1992 Constitution was deliberately drafted, gazetted and adopted just to benefit a few elites.



The Fighters have been at the forefront of the demand for a new constitution saying the current one has put Ghanaians through 30 years of retrogressive governance, constitutional dictatorship, poverty and underdevelopment.



To buttress their demands, the Fighters said every constitution must be the foundation upon which freedoms are built which they say is unfortunately missing in Ghanas constitution.



But asked whether Ghana needs a new constitution while speaking on the GhOne television on Thursday May 5, he said No, I dont think so.



Recently, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said if required, the 1992 Constitution should be amended to meet the needs of contemporary and future times.



He said this in his address on the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Constitution on Thursday April 28.



The Constitution is a living document and so whenever circumstances require, we should be prepared to make the necessary amendments to affect the needs of contemporary and future times, he said.



Mr Akufo-Addo further said that there are persons who seek to cut short the democracy of Ghana by pronouncing coups.



He said such persons either do not respect the Ghanaian people or fear that they will be rejected in an election hence calling for overthrow of an elected government.



Mr Akufo-Addo urged all Ghanians to reject such persons.



Several attempts to take Ghana down the path of multiparty democracy was met with stiff opposition and cynical response.



They will rather have authoritarian rule foisted on the citizens claiming Ghana was underdeveloped and we needed to get things done in a hurry. They claimed that democracy was cumbersome and will divide Ghanaians along along tribal lines . However, the word was widespread and unanimous to have a decade-long ban on party political activities imposed in 1981 lifted and the return to multiparty democracy established. The Ghanaian people wanted a living condition of freedom where there was respect for individual liberty, he said.



He added Simply because they have no respect for the Ghanaian people , they are either unwilling to subject themselves to the open scrutiny of the Ghanaian people or because they know that that they will be rejected by the Ghanaian people. Thus seeking a short cut to office in power. Let us resist such persons for our common good.





Source: 3news.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Former President John Dramani Mahama has been told that he rushed in making a promise to repeal the e-levy if the National Democratic Congress (NDC) wins the next elections.



Mr Mahama had indicated that a government of the NDC would abolish the e-levy following the commencement of the policy on Sunday May 1.



We in the NDC do not oppose taxation as a principle. We will not be pretentious and couch fanciful slogans to condemn the principle of taxation like the NPP did in the past. We are, however, implacably opposed to distortionary and burdensome taxes like the e-levy that only force Ghanaians to endure more suffering.



A new National Democratic Congress Government, God willing and with the votes of the sovereign people of Ghana  in 2025  will repeal the E-Levy Act, he said while delivering an address titled Ghana at Crossroad on Monday May 2.



The controversial levy started amidst public outcry.



The NDC heavily opposed the introduction of the levy. In their view, it is punitive and amounts to double taxation. The bill was passed by Parliament on Tuesday March 29 after the Minority staged a walkout.



But a private legal practitioner, Mr Kwame Jantuah says Mr Mahama who was the presidential candidate for the NDC in the 2020 elections spoke as though the NDC will win the elections both the Presidential and Majority in Parliament.



I dont know whether he knows what 2024 elections is going to turn out to be. It is not an executive decision to repeal the e-levy, it is parliament. If you dont have majority in Parliament how do you repeal it?



In terms of his comments that they will repeal it, it depends on Parliament. He spoke a little too soon, Mr Jantuah said on the New Day on TV3 Friday May 6.







Source: 3news.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has attributed his victory in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections to Gods grace.



President Akufo-Addo was speaking on Thursday, 5 May 2022 at the Museum of the Bibles inaugural Africa lecture held in Washington, USA.



According to President Akufo-Addo, despite being in public office for the most part of his adult life, that could not qualify him to become president.



He indicated that becoming president, finally, was a vindication of Gods word.



President Akufo-Addo said: I have been in the maelstrom of public life in Ghana for 45 years, that is most of my adult life.



I had been dissatisfied with the condition of life of the majority of our people, and that is why I have struggled to get the opportunity to do something about it, he said.



The story of my struggles to become president of my country are well known, he recalled.



My experiences have been a testimony of Gods love and a vindication of the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Chapter 19 verse 26



He continued: It took three tries between 2008 and 2016 for me to get elected, recalling: By which time, the popular catchphrases of Akufo-Addo cannot be president, God does not want Akufo-Addo to be president, Akufo-Addo is short, and does not have the stature to be president' were popular among his opponents.



He added: I committed that third election campaign to God, and indicated to the Ghanaian people that, The Battle is the Lords. By Gods grace, I won a famous victory against an incumbent president by a gap of nearly a million votes, the largest margin of victory for two decades.



And, by the same grace, I won re-election in the December 2020 elections, and I am now in my second and last term as president.

Source: kasapafmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Deputy General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party(NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen, has warned former Chief Executive of the [email protected] Secretariat to stay away from continuously exposing his penchant dislike for President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo.



According to him, his barrage of attacks on the President constantly exhibits his hatred for him.



Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobbey, a pioneer of private radio broadcast in Ghana has stated that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was directly to be blamed for the countrys huge drop in the annual press freedom ranking.



According to him, to the extent that all the security agencies accused of excesses and manhandling of the press were directly under the office of the President, he had to take the blame.



But Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, the astute lawyer explained that the President cannot be blamed for everything that goes on in the country.



"Though he is the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, he cannot be held responsible for anything that goes wrong in the country.



"The President certainly has other important functions to attend to so if things are not going as expected, you cannot pin it down to the President.



"It looks like your bigotry and hatred for the President still abounds and you should just stop that.



"The President over the years has fought for press freedom in this country so if there is anybody to be worried about Ghana's current drop in the index report then it should be the President who has constantly been fighting for press freedom in this country.



"You may not like the President but that does not mean you should blame him for everything in this country. Just give us a break," he fumed.



Ghana dropped to 60th place in a ranking of 180 countries according to the latest Reporters Without Borders annual press freedom rankings.



The report lamented the deteriorating state of press freedom. Ghana dropped from third to the tenth spot in Africa.





Watch video below





Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









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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Excessive partisan consideration for positions in the State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) and within the Public Sectors are fueling corruption in the country, the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has unveiled.



Mr. Michael Boadi, GII Fund Raising Manager said persons appointed into a position based on political considerations, hold allegiance to the appointing person instead of the state, the possibility of their decision being influenced by partisan considerations is very high.



He said almost all the reported corruption cases were perpetrated by personalities with partisan political connections; it, therefore, becomes difficult for the state to take action against the perpetrators.



The States impotency in dealing with political affiliates who indulge in corrupt deals has created fertile ground for corruption and because no required action had been taken, other people are not deterred from indulging in such activities.



Mr. Boadi was speaking at the 12th monthly stakeholder engagement seminar organized by the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office which is a platform rolled out for state and non-state actors to address national issues.



The monthly engagement also serves as a motivational mechanism to recognize the editorial contribution of reporters towards national development in general and the growth and promotion of the Tema GNA as the industrial news hub.



Speaking on the topic: Is the fight against corruption a mirage or reality? Mr. Boadi said political party campaign financing served as a major bane to the fight and the cause of the increasing corruption in Ghana.



Mr. Boadi said GII had engaged political parties on campaign financing and its repercussions on the country and acknowledged that corruption investigation could take a considerable long time you have to be meticulous to do it and we are in a country where people dont volunteer information.



He urged the media to do an intensive investigation on corruption to educate the public on such issues.



Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Manager commended journalists among frontline fighters of corrupt public officials even at the peril of their lives.



He encouraged the media practitioners to continue to expose all corrupt activities and persons and create public awareness of the dangers of corruption.



Mr. Ameyibor appealed to all stakeholders to re-visit and re-examine the countrys moral values by ensuring that the necessary citizens' education on morality was given the needed attention to assist in the fight against corruption.



Mr. Ameyibor urged all public servants to come out and champion the fight against corruption by changing their attitudes towards work since most public servants were being accused of corrupt acts on daily basis.



He called on citizens to make efforts in collaborating with the media to help in naming and shaming all persons engaged in corrupt acts and actions.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
One of Ghanas finest musicians, Gambo has thrilled music lovers at this years Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA23) with a truly dazzling performance.



Gambo is unarguably the best Unsung Act in the history of the VGMA and he displayed through his impressive performance on Friday night, May 6, 2022, that he has broken his chains into the Ghanaian music industry.



His performance at the 2022 VGMA was nothing short of a brilliant display of musical talent.



He left thousands of music fans in the Grand Arena and viewers across the country and around the world virtually mesmerized and ecstatic with his enthralling performance, clearly demonstrating that indeed, he deserved to win the VGMA Unsung Act of The Year Award for 2022. He beat competition from several other artistes to win this years Vodafone Ghana Music Awards Unsung Act of The Year, demonstrating his relevance in the Ghanaian music industry over a short period of time.



Even though this year was his first time performing at the VGMA, his performance was nothing short of expectations, as he showcased that he is an artiste who knows his craft and can deliver a great performance at any given moment on big stages like the VGMA stage.



He opened his performance with his yet to be released song, setting the Grand Arena on fire and moving on to wrap up his performance with his hit song 'Boys Aye Wild' in which he featured Strongman.



The controversial musician, Gambo has come to be loved for marketing the beautiful side of Ghana in music videos, always urging his fellow musicians to do good music videos, showcasing that life in Ghana is good.



Watch Gambo's performance at the VGMA below:



https://twitter.com/AfricanEnt/status/1522750379255029761?t=1VGGKUTSxwfMWLjJPOiy1Q&s=09



https://www.instagram.com/tv/CdPLwUMKvVN/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The "Golden Boy" Kidi, real name Dennis Nana Dwamena, has been crowned the 2022 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards Artiste of the Year.



The 23rd edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) held at the Accra International Conference Center on Saturday, May 7, 2022 saw electrifying performances from various artistes like Mr. Drew, Joe Mettle ft Neilla, Ohemaa Mercy and MOG, Camidoh, Black Sheriff and the multi-talented undisputed champion of this year's awards, Kidi, among others.



Kidi also won the Vodafone Most Popular Song of the Year.



Credentials



KiDi's released his "The Golden Boy" album that has made massive waves all over the world and social media platforms like TikTok.



By close of the year 2021, the "Touch It" hit maker's masterpiece had amassed over 30 million streams on Spotify making it the most-streamed album by a Ghanaian of all-time on Spotify.



Kidi treated his fans and all music lovers to great tracks like his hit singles "Touch It', "Send Me Nudes", "Mon Bebe", "Spiritual" and "So Fine", "Like A Rockstar" with all the songs making great strides on music charts in Ghana and on the globe.



The artiste's songs transcended the borders and charted in 51 countries on Spotify and 49 countries on Apple Music.



Five months after the release of Touch It, the tune became the most streamed Ghanaian song ever on Spotify! 14 million views were reached on YouTube within that 5 months.



In December 2021, TikTok related videos of Kidi's song were close to 300 million.



Indeed hard work pays and it has really paid well for Kidi in this year's VGMA!



Congratulations to the "Golden Boy"!!!

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.

Featured Video
Hawkins Says I Will Pay Him When I Can After Backer Calls Him Out Again!

May 07, 2022 Chad Holloway Executive Editor U.S.

Three years ago, Randy Garcia called out poker pro Maurice Hawkins, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuits all-time leading ring winner, for failing to live up to a backing agreement. At the time, a final judgment was issued by the Circuit Court of the 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County, Florida. Case No. 502019CA000052XXXXMB awarded Garcia a $115,828 judgment.

When first reported, Garcia said, My lawsuit against Maurice Hawkins is currently in the process of being amicably resolved.

That no longer appears to be the case as Garcia has once again called out Hawkins for failing to make good on their agreement, this despite the 14-time ring winner, who according to the Hendon Mob has nearly $4.4 million in career earnings, having recently topped a field of 194 entrants to win the 2022 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Event #8: $400 Black Chip Bounty for $7,895 back in March.

According to Garcia, he has only been paid back roughly $10,000 over the course of four years.

I will pay him when I can, Hawkins told PokerNews in regard to the latest accusation. He also claimed repayment is closer to $35,000 (he provided PokerNews with receipts allegedly showing approximately $20,000 in payments). I got more things in life to worry about than others perception of me.

Garcia is Fed Up

Garcia recently spoke with PokerNews about the situation, which has now spanned more than half a decade.

He has probably paid me back around $10k or over four years all while cashing for well over a million, he said. We come to terms with payment plans agree on it then will pay the first month or two and then comes the excuses and can't pay anymore.

"I don't wish ill will on anyone as I know he has a family and kids, but so do I. Bottom line is we had a deal and he screwed me over."

He added: When it came to paying me back he has zero respect for me and my family. He couldn't even make an effort to pay me back even $100 a month as a sign of good faith and to show some kind of effort yet he still continues to buy into tournament after tournament. I was there for him personally and professionally when he needed me, but he decided to screw me over again and again and so enough is enough. I don't wish ill will on anyone as I know he has a family and kids, but so do I. Bottom line is we had a deal and he screwed me over.

Maurice has screwed over so many people. He tries to act like a tough guy at the table by constantly talking down and degrading people like he is the best poker player there is. Who cares if he has 14 rings if he is broke. I think the poker community should kick Maurice out as he is a jerk to everyone and has lied and screwed so many people over. I have backed other players with zero issues because they have integrity and high character. Maurice has neither. So, he can continue to hit the circuit and act like he is the best there is and degrade people. Things will catch up to him sooner or later, if the court doesn't get him first.

Maurice Hawkins won an event in South Florida back in March.

Forbearance Gone Wrong

According to court documents provided to PokerNews, Garcia and Hawkins entered into a forbearance agreement on July 24, 2019, for the latter to pay $2,000 a month plus 15% of the gross winnings as part of a repayment plan. There was also a buy-out option for Hawkins to pay 72.5% of any remaining balance. It appeared Hawkins did make several payments on tournament cashes leading up to mid-2019.

On August 23, 2019, Hawkins finished runner-up in the WSOP Circuit Foxwoods $1,700 Main Event for $88,557, of which 15 percent amounted to $13,028.55. Four days later, Garcias lawyer Joel B. Blumberg, Esq. reached out to Hawkins via email, which was provided to PokerNews.

"My previous arrangement is not doable with my income and business arrangement."

[We] will look for the payment of $13,028.55 within 7 days. You may want to use this opportunity to make a double payment which will substantially reduce your total obligation. If it at least the agreed payment is not received, my client will consider you the Forbearance Agreement and will no longer be bound by any confidentiality restriction.

Hawkins pointed out that he fired two bullets in the tournament so a more accurate amount was $12,774. Despite that, on September 1 he emailed the following:

"I am emailing to inform you that. My previous arrangement is not doable with my income and business arrangement. What is doable is 2500 a month to be paid on the 1st or every month, only. Talk this over with you client and draw up the same agreement, with the same language before. Just input you are to be paid 2500 a month. I will pay the 2500 this month and every month following. Include the pre-payment ability with the discount. If this deal if not paid off prior would take roughly 3 years. This is not a negotiation or a ploy. To be clear I am trying to pay you what I can.

Five days later, Blumberg responded:

I have spoken with my client. Obviously, he is apoplectic that you keep making, and then breaking, your commitments. You first had an arrangement to pay one half of your earnings and didnt follow through. You then worked out a payment plan, and didnt follow through. We negotiated a post judgment settlement and you have made over $200k in earnings, but have paid next to nothing. Now you want to return to the paying a small, no interest, monthly sum. I can only assume that other creditors have threatened your life if you dont pay them first. So here is what my client is willing to do: 1. You can pay $10k immediately and then pay $2,500.00 month. Both payments are due now.

2. Or you can pay $3k per month, with the first payment due now. Let me know today, or I have been instructed to move forward with the lawsuit. Please understand that Mr. Garcia is now freed from the confidentiality provisions of the agreement because of your violations.

Both parties negotiated further and appeared to come to an understanding. Then, on September 13, Blumberg offered Hawkins an alternative.

Because of a medical emergency in his family, Randy Garcia has informed me that he is willing to accept $60,000.00 in full settlement of your judgment. This would save you approximately $55,000.00, almost half. The settlement funds must be paid immediately given the situation. Mr. Garcia has explicitly stated that he will not entertain any counter-offers.

If I win something in the next week I will keep this in mind, Hawkins replied. Ultimately, he did not take Garcia up on the buy-out offer.

Read about the original judgment against Hawkins here.

No Love Lost Between the Two

Email correspondence provided to PokerNews shows that both Garcia and Hawkins negotiated different repayment plans with the former at times offering a 75% discount to satisfy the debt if Hawkins could make a one-time lump-sum payment. While Hawkins started that was his intention and goal, it never came to fruition.

More recently on March 21, 2022, Garcia sent the following email to Hawkins:

You dont even have the respect the contact me and let me know. You dont even have the respect to send me $100 a month or show some kind of good faith. You have zero respect for me and my family. Its been almost 4 years and you give two shits about me. I will proceed to have my judgment against you enforced and will be sure to let the poker community know. Ive had it. you can find the money to continue to play in tournaments and travel but you cant pay me not even a penny. Youll hear from my lawyer and mark my words on this, I will take every measure necessary to continue with the judgment. You are not the tough guy that you portray and I will be sure everyone knows this. You have disrespected me for the last time. See you in court!!!

Hawkins responded in part: Stop with your condescending ass email. I going through shit like everyone else. My intention have always been to pay you.

A day later, Hawkins added: Oh by the way. So you can be real clear. You are a piece of shit. No matter how you try to destroy me. Its not going to work. So in the immortal words. F*** YOU.

Hawkins Responds  I Will Pay Him When I Can

Maurice Hawkins

I paid him as I won and even when I really couldnt afford it, Hawkins said when reached by PokerNews. The fact that you writing articles and not really caring what it does to my lifestyle as a whole is truly sad. Trying to make it as a poker player and have a family is hard enough. So my comment is I am greater than anything you could possibly write to destroy me.

He added: Maurice pays his ass when he can. Write the article about a businessman that owns million-dollar restaurants that is trying to end a poker players staking abilities and future  At the end of the day he gets to go back home to his stable income while [you try] to end my career.

According to the Hendon Mob, Hawkins cashed for $549,003 in 2019. In 2020 during the onset of the pandemic, he had $66,615 in cashes, while in 2021 it jumped to $191,841. Thus far in 2022, Hawkins had $85,419 in tournament earnings.

And remember there was COVID in between, Hawkins pointed out. His ass is a brat and he wants to be the victim. Ask him if he broke the contract between us. As in he stated he would do one thing but then said his finances had changed  Nobody talks about how the backers are dealing with real people and real lives when they choose to just pull out of deals. Write an article that doesnt just slander but actually tells the true side.

Garcia indicated that he will seek to pursue post-judgment collection against Hawkins via legal means. PokerNews will continue to monitor the situation and offer any updates as they happen.

Sharelines The former backer looks to enforce a court judgment against Maurice Hawkins. Get all the details here
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The world's largest maker of batteries for electric vehicles has South Carolina on its short list for a new manufacturing site.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. is in talks with BMW Manufacturing Co. officials and others to open a plant that would serve the German automaker's sprawling campus in the Upstate. The Chinese battery maker also is considering a site in Kentucky, which would serve a Ford Motor Co. factory in the Bluegrass State.

The battery maker's plans were first reported by International Business Times.

If the South Carolina plant is built, the target date to begin production is 2026, the newspaper reported.

CATL chairman Zeng Yuqun said the company wants to localize production for overseas automakers in their countries. He told International Business Times that the company started mass production for overseas markets in 2021 and was looking to lock in its standing as their major vendor "in the next round of supplier sourcing," which he said would begin in 2026.

BMW has said it plans to build a battery factory in North America to serve its Spartanburg County plant and is in talks with several potential partners.

CATL's other customers include Tesla and Volkswagen.

Several other Asian companies are looking to open U.S. battery plans, including Japan's Panasonic Corp. and South Korean firms LG Energy Solution, SK Innovation and Samsung SDI.

The interest in electric vehicles is growing, and the Southeast had more EV sales in 2021 than during the previous two years combined, according to a report by Atlas Public Policy and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

"You see really significant growth across the Southeast," said Tom Taylor, a policy analyst for Atlas Public Policy. "Whether it's EV sales or charging deployment, there's a really strong trendline upwards, which is exciting for EV adoption."

BMW, which builds X-model SUVs in the Upstate, is focusing on boosting its electric vehicle sales throughout its lineup.

"We aim to break through the sound barrier of a total of two million all-electric vehicles sold overall by 2025," Oliver Zipse, BMW's chairman, said in a March conference call with investors. "By 2030, at least half our global deliveries should come from battery electric vehicles. And we are doing everything we can to meet this goal earlier."

Volvo Cars, which builds the S60 sedan in Ridgeville, has said all of its new cars will be electric by 2030. Volvo will start producing an all-electric successor to the popular XC90 SUV at the Lowcountry plant by the end of this year. In addition, Mercedes-Benz Vans will start making an electrified Sprinter van at its North Charleston manufacturing site starting next year.

BID proposal

A Dorchester County wood processing business plans to spend $10.6 million on an expansion that will create 25 jobs for skilled machinists, welders and drafters.

BID Group, which is in St. George, said it is acquiring equipment including robotic welding cells and a computerized numerical control horizontal milling machine that will boost manufacturing capacity. The investment includes the expansion of the companys manufacturing footprint with the acquisition of the adjacent Dover Hydraulics South facility.

"The multiple projects within this investment will allow the company to increase capacity, advance efficiency and improve lead time," Adam Infanti, BID's chief financial officer, said in a written statement.

The expansion is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2023.

Get a job

Several state agencies will be sponsoring a virtual job fair on May 11 and 12 for military veterans interested in positions with South Carolina manufacturers and other industries with openings.

More than 40 employers will be looking to fill roughly 500 positions, including maintenance, information technology, law enforcement, financial services, logistics, administrative management, health care and construction. Salaries start at $36,000 per year.

Participating companies include Bausch+Lomb, BMW Manufacturing Co., Electrolux Home Products, Oshkosh Defense and Lockheed Martin. They will be looking to hire veterans, transitioning military personnel, military spouses and their family members.

To register for the free event, go to https://www.mypingapp.com/sc-military, click Join an Event and scroll to the "May S.C. Military Community Hiring Fair" to complete an online profile. It's being sponsored by the S.C. Department of Veterans Affairs, S.C. Commerce and SC Future Makers, a group affiliated with the S.C. Manufacturers Alliance.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Cloudy skies with periods of light rain this afternoon. High 72F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Rain showers early becoming a steady light rain overnight. Low 64F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
If you've got it, flaunt it.

It's not only the flora and fauna that make May so spectacular in Charleston. For decades, the merry month has enjoyed an artful amp-up of visual splendors made by human hands, too.

Since the 1970s, when Spoleto Festival USA and Piccolo Spoleto forever changed the look and feel of a Charleston May, it is the time of year when we prepare to celebrate the city as an international arts hub.

A seasonal groundswell has long been part of the city's rhythm, and we've grown accustomed to this cultural cash crop heading toward the Memorial Day opening of the festivals.

Lately, I've spotted a particular surge in the visual arts, one that extends beyond the white walls of galleries to enliven public places and commercial spaces.

Artful parks, streets and lobbies

On April 15, Joe Riley Waterfront Park recently welcomed "Lilly," the winsome bronze statue of a young girl blithely reaching upwards. It is the work of artist Mary Whyte, who donated the sculpture to the city.

"We thought of a place where, number one, it would be seen, and that's here at Joe Riley Waterfront Park," Mayor John Tecklenburg said at the opening ceremony, noting its fitting position near the fountain where children play.

On the West Ashley Greenway, artist Hirona Matsuda recently installed new work in a trio of clean white art boxes punctuating the verdant pathway, part of an ongoing art activation in the public space.

There will soon be another work of public art in the Cannonborough-Elliotborough neighborhood in downtown Charleston. The Coastal Community Foundation has made possible a work at the new Shiloh Park off Smith Street between Morris and Cannon streets, an undulating landscape of Palmetto trees, water features and flowing walkways.

Columbia-based artist Cedric Umoja has been elbows-deep in cobalt blue paint, the dominant color of a multimedia installation, which will integrate found materials and interplay with bordering plants.

In search of a locale for such an installation, the artist landed on Charleston. "Where do I think it could be done where people would actually appreciate it, the space would be appreciated?," he mulled, and determined this city's residents would take care of both the work and the park in which it was to be installed.

Art Charleston, a new initiative launched by the Gibbes Museum of Art, will launched May 9-13, with the aim of transforming a week in May into an annual visual arts celebration.

Angela Mack, executive director of the Gibbes, recently told The Post and Courier, We have always been thinking about creating a week in Charleston thats devoted to the visual arts, something that really encompasses the community," something akin to arts immersions like Art Basel.

Along with events, including marquee happenings that spill onto the street like the May 12 Gibbes on the Street event, an eventual goal is to radiate through Charleston.

This year, The Charleston Place has unrolled a coinciding program that will take place throughout the month of May and feature four artists-in-residence: New York-based, multimedia illustrator Meredith Wing; Charleston-based artist Sam Sidney; Charleston photographer Leigh Webber; and New Orleans-based watercolor artist and jewelry designer Annie Moran.

They will each spend time on-site, in a lobby-based glass "arthouse," and will engage in art sales, special events and workshops.

There are other modes of artistic expression, too. On May 15, the art is set to flow through Charleston streets in the form of street performance with Indonesian artist Arahmaiani's Flags Project, a community-based, ecologically driven work performed previously in European and Asian countries. The artist's Charleston residency represents a new initiative of the Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts.

Starting at the College of Charlestons Alumni Center at 86 Wentworth St. around 1:30 p.m., it traverses landmarks, monuments and houses of worship to culminate with brief interfaith choral performance at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim at 90 Hasell St.

On May 20, Gap Gallery mounts its third show at its new pop-up spot at Hed Hi Studio on 654 King St. Titled "Ladies Gap Show," the all-woman lineup curated by Marie Carladous takes place from 5 to 8 p.m.

Those who want to join in the creative process can visit Marion Square from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 30-31, when South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind Foundation invites the public to lend a hand, quite literally, to the making of its community-sourced, handprint-rich "I Love You" sculpture.

A call to artful action

Sometimes, a momentary embrace of visual art begets art that endures. Take, for instance, the evocative Shepard Fairey murals on Calhoun and King streets, which made their debut in May 2014 for the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art's "The Insistent Image: Recurrent Motifs in the Art."

Another recent work can be found at Gap Gallery's previous location at 638 King St., which restaurateur Ben D'Allesandro had invited Carladous to use as a gallery. While Gap was there, artist Jonathan Rypkema was in search of a blank wall for a short-term project. D'Allesandro was game to offer one up. Pleased with the artist's result, he now plans to keep it there.

Carladous has no time to bask in such dynamic triumphs. On the heels of her May 20 Gap show, she will shift her focus to Piccolo Spoleto to serve as the juror of the exhibition of local artists at City Gallery.

A place shaped by hope

When "Lilly" was unveiled at Waterfront Park, Tecklenburg observed, "Mary did an incredible job just capturing the spirit of joy and opportunity and hope for the future," also underscoring that the work is "a great example of what we can do in the city of Charleston for more public art."

Yes, local artists face formidable obstacles  nosebleed-high rents, scarce studio space and fiercely competitive resources, not to mention our screen-addled world's tenuous hold on its most crucial connective thread, the arts.

And, to be belabor my May flower metaphor, nascent moments of vitality can easily die on the vine. Sustained growth requires steady oxygen and light.

During the pandemic, Charlestonians time and again demonstrated their creativity in eye-popping, uplifting displays. Halloween skeletons artfully scaled historic Charleston homes. Lavish holiday garlands next-leveled gateways and porticos. Extravagant chalk tableaux flourished afoot.

Imagine what magic we could collectively conjure in a communal visual wink each May by similarly art-ing up our facades and curbsides, our store vitrines and piazzas.

By check or by chalk, by talk or by walk, there is no time like the present month of May to ensure that Charleston remains true to its claim as a cultural haven, truly, madly and artfully.
Years of inertia in the Charleston County courts are threatening reform efforts by local criminal justice officials.

The typical criminal case in the county took 592 days  more than a year and a half  to resolve in 2021, according to the Charleston County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council's recently released annual report.

That is nearly six months longer than it took to resolve a case in 2015.

Officials managed to halt the growth of the case backlog last year, despite the increasing delays. But the method used to address the problem  dismissing thousands of criminal cases that were lingering in the system  is only a temporary solution, the report states.

The delays mean defendants will spend more time in jail, which may hamper efforts to reduce the jail population. As cases crawl through the court system, defendants who are free on bail awaiting trial have more opportunity to reoffend or miss court hearings.

The CJCC is a collaborative body made up of criminal justice officials, behavioral health professionals and local community leaders. Since its founding in 2015, the council has become an incubator for reform efforts in the state's criminal justice system, particularly related to jail overpopulation, the bail system and racial disparities.

Criminal justice coordinating councils are not a new concept. The first CJCC was founded in the 1930s in Los Angeles to address a perceived increase in juvenile crimes. The concept began to spread across the country in the 1960s and 1970s as a way for officials to collaborate on tackling systemic issues in the criminal justice system.

Charleston County created the first CJCC in South Carolina in 2015 with a $150,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation. The foundation has since provided an additional $6.2 million to fund various reform efforts in the community.

The council said in its annual report that efforts to transform the county's jail population continues to be successful.

Since 2014, the number of people booked into the jail has decreased 63 percent, from more than 19,200 people booked in 2014 to roughly 7,200 people in 2021. Almost 400 fewer people were booked into the jail in 2020 compared with 2021, the report states.

The decline has largely been driven by an initiative to stop booking offenders for certain petty offenses. In 2014, the most commonly booked charge was simple possession of marijuana, with more than 2,700 charges resulting in an arrest in that year alone. Arrests for several other low-level offenses, such as trespassing and open-container violation, also added to overcrowding.

After reviewing the data, local law enforcement officials took a different approach to enforcing these low-level crimes: Instead of jailing someone, police began citing and releasing the person from custody.

Charleston police Capt. Jason Bruder, who is a member of the CJCC, said the new policing strategy has freed officers up to focus on more serious offenses, such as gun crimes.

In 2021, firearm possession violations were the No. 1 reason why a person was booked into the Charleston County jail, overtaking first-offense drunken driving. Meanwhile, marijuana possession has dropped out of the top 10 offenses that land someone in jail.

Besides the cite-and-release strategy, law enforcement officers have also taken more people to mental health facilities rather than the jail, helping to reduce the population, the report states.

The racial disparity between White and Black adults booked at the jail declined somewhat in 2021, but the problem remains. Roughly three Black adults were booked into the jail for every one White adult last year.

The council has been studying ways to improve the bail system, which has recently come under scrutiny as several defendants awaiting trial on bail have landed back in jail on new charges.

The CJCC report says that, historically, magistrates in Charleston County have had little information about the defendants who appeared before them asking for bail. Solicitors and public defenders did not appear at bail hearings to argue the merits for or against pretrial release, and no one was responsible for providing pertinent information about the person, such as their criminal history.

To help judges assess a defendant's true risk of violating bail conditions, the CJCC started providing Charleston County magistrates a pretrial service report for each defendant  a simple questionnaire that provides information on the person's criminal history, probation or parole status, and prior problems making court appearances. An assessment tool is also used to determine the person's likelihood to reoffend if granted release on bail.

In 2021, the council's staff provided magistrates a report in 95 percent of cases transferred to Charleston County's General Sessions Court, meaning felony cases and and certain high-level misdemeanors.

The tool appears effective in measuring a defendant's risk for violating bail, according to early data. Level-one defendants, or those deemed least likely to violate bail conditions, successfully avoided trouble while on bail in 83 percent of cases, the report states. Level-four defendants, those at highest risk, violated bail 55 percent of the time.

The Charleston County Public Defender's Office has also been attending more bond hearings. In 2021, a public defenders represented a client at 43 percent of bond hearings, the report states.

A recent study by the CJCC found that 92 percent of defendants were ultimately released into the community while awaiting trial, whether they posted bail or were released on personal recognizance.

Kristy Danford, director of the CJCC, said the organization was interested in developing a pretrial-services system to ensure defendants make court appearances and stay out of trouble while on bail. Currently, bond companies are largely responsible for ensuring clients do not violate the court's orders while awaiting trial.

But Danford said the lengthy case delays were a barrier to developing such a system  a problem impacting not only Charleston County, but the entire state.

"As you can see, historically, across the state  this is a perpetual problem," Danford said. "It was a perpetual problem before COVID, and it's just been made worse."

To halt the growing case backlog last year, the solicitor's office dismissed more than 3,000 criminal cases, double the number of cases that were tossed out in 2020, the report states. The office declined to prosecute another 1,500 cases that were already indicted.

Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said prosecutors still disposed of cases through trial and guilty pleas last year, but her office made a "concerted, hyper-focused" effort to dismiss cases that would not impact public safety.

That included some cases where defendants had no other arrests, or were charged with "regulatory type offenses." Defendants facing serious charges also had cases containing lesser offenses dismissed, the solicitor said.

Wilson said similar measures had been taken during previous court crises, including Hurricane Hugo in 1989, but "it won't be the norm."

"We took extraordinary steps in an extraordinary time," she said. "But it is past time for the court to create a system that works."

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct the median criminal case disposition time in Charleston County. The story has also been updated to reflect that overcrowding is no longer an issue at the jail.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Cloudy skies with periods of light rain this afternoon. High 72F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Rain showers early becoming a steady light rain overnight. Low 64F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
At a time when legislatures around the country are making it almost impossible for women to get abortions, America still leads the developed world in maternal deaths. In other words, we expect women to have their children, but we are doing worse than any other developed country in protecting mothers who give birth. Why do we focus so much on preventing abortion and so little on protecting mothers?

Most maternal deaths are preventable, but the American rate of maternal mortality is double that of every other developed country. According to The Commonwealth Fund, more than half of maternal deaths occur after childbirth, when serious bleeding, high blood pressure and infection can overwhelm a mother. Cardiomyopathy can also be a factor. This is simply outrageous. What is going on? Why haven't we addressed this issue of preventable deaths?

Most Americans are under the impression that our health system is the best in the world, but most believe this because they don't really know anything about health care elsewhere. It clearly isn't the best, if maternal mortality is so high.

There are many forces at work that contribute to high maternal mortality, but one of the most significant is the low number of maternity care providers in this country. America has about 12 OB-GYNs and midwives per 1,000 births; all other developed countries have from 2 to 6 times that number. This means that it is difficult for mothers to find the care they need, especially in rural or poorer communities. A 2020 March of Dimes report shows that seven million women in the United States live where there is no maternity care or where access is limited.

Having more midwives would help, because they could serve mothers who are not facing problems during their pregnancy, freeing physicians to focus on problematic pregnancies. But many state laws as well as insurance requirements discourage the growth of midwife services. This makes no sense, when they have been such a positive factor in other countries.

But the most serious problem is the most simple: Many mothers and families simply cannot afford reasonable care, which means prenatal care, delivery care and care after the birth of the child for both the mother and the baby. And if there are complications connected to the birth, the cost goes up significantly. This is true for the poor, but even middle-class mothers and families can face a financial crisis trying to pay for care. When I was a young man, I had a respectable job as a professor at a prestigious college. My wife, who was also a professor, had complications with one of her births, and even with insurance, the amount left over for us to pay was about four times our yearly salaries. And we were not among the poor, who have it much worse.

Our private insurance system in the United States is broken. As James Suddeth pointed out in a recent op-ed in The Post and Courier, insurance companies are structured to maximize their profits rather than help patients. And most people's insurance is still linked to their employment, which means they can lose their insurance if they lose their job. The Affordable Care Act has made some improvements, but there are still about 30 million Americans who are uninsured and many more who are underinsured.

There are 4 million births in the United States every year, and about half of them are to mothers who do not have insurance, which means they must turn to Medicaid, which is designed to help the poor. Even though this is a federal program, it differs widely from state to state, where income limits for eligibility are often set so low that many mothers cannot qualify. And some states aggressively oppose expansion of Medicaid benefits for the poor. Just last month, the Mississippi legislature rejected a bill that would have extended postpartum care from the federally mandated two months to one year. South Carolina has thankfully taken a different path and recently decided to extend postpartum care to one year, although much more work needs to be done here as well as in other states.

Another issue is, of course, disparity based on race or ethnicity. The CDC reports that black women are three times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period than white women. This is also true of Native American and Asian Pacific Islander women. The reasons for this are many, and include differences in getting high-quality health care, chronic medical conditions and racism.

We have a lot of work to do. All of these things have to be addressed before America's maternal mortality crisis can be overcome. If we want to have a truly great America, we must care for our nation's mothers.

Solomon D. Stevens earned his doctorate in political science from Boston College and taught constitutional law, American government and political theory. He lives in North Charleston.
Most Americans awoke Tuesday morning to a strange new political landscape.

For nearly 50 years, abortion law has been dictated not by the once-normal give-and-take of political consensus-building but by the U.S. Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade decision that declared abortion a constitutional right.

Public opinion polling has shown for decades that most Americans dont want to ban abortion or allow unrestricted access to it. What nearly everyone agrees on is that it would be better if people didnt have abortions  indeed, thats why all but the most radical opponents of legal restrictions insist on being called abortion-rights advocates instead of abortion supporters.

The constraints of Roe have allowed and even encouraged our elected officials to appeal to the narrow constituencies of no-exceptions abortion opponents and no-limits abortion advocates, creating ever-deepening tribalism that has spread far beyond abortion. Those on the right knew they were free to make extreme promises without having to actually deliver, because the court wouldnt let them. Those on the left had no incentive to compromise as long as the court had their back.

As a result, although people across the political spectrum pay lip service to it, we have done an abysmal job of enacting policies that would reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and the number of women who believe that an abortion is their best or even their only option. We have not done enough to ensure that women have access to reliable birth control and prenatal and postpartum care. We have not done enough to ensure that women will be able to care for their children once they give birth. We have not done enough to make adoption easy and attractive.

But an early draft of a high court opinion overturning Roe and returning abortion decisions to the states  a draft whose leak marked the latest in a growing string of deeply disturbing breaches of long-respected institutional norms  promises, for good or ill, to change all that.

We dont believe that elected officials should govern based on opinion polls. But neither should they ignore public opinion and cater to narrow constituencies on the extremes  particularly on a matter with such significant ramifications as abortion.

Whatever each of us thinks about the 1973 decision or the draft made public last week, if the court overturns Roe as appears likely, that will give us the opportunity  and the obligation  to work toward a consensus on where to draw the lines around abortion. It is time for those of us in the nuanced middle to insist that our elected officials listen to us and craft policies that respect those nuances.

Last year, South Carolinas Legislature passed a law to ban abortions after about six weeks. Lower courts put the law on hold because its at odds with the current understanding of Roe. Tuesdays news suggests that the six-week ban could take effect by July, immediately cutting the already-declining number of abortions performed in South Carolina by more than half.

Thats a dramatic change to the law of our state, coming on the heels of what will be a dramatic change to our entire political landscape. All of us, voters and lawmakers alike, need time to digest those changes and think through what additional restrictions make sense for our state.

For Gov. Henry McMaster, that means standing down from his threats to call the Legislature into special session once the court releases its opinion, likely next month. Even if quick action were necessary, or desirable, the S.C. Supreme Court has made it clear that the governor does not have the authority to call the Legislature back to work as long as it is operating under the extended-session rules that it has been using for more than a decade.

And for our legislators, it means rejecting the idea of rushing through any changes during the final week of this year's regular legislative session  or returning to work this summer to pass abortion legislation. Quick action may satisfy those who wind up on the prevailing side, but it's unlikely to reflect a political consensus, and almost certain to prolong the time it takes to reach one.
A former professor at the University of Guam spending a year in federal prison for his part in a bid-rigging scheme wants the court to vacate, set aside and correct his sentence for a charge he admitted to in the District Court of Guam.

Thomas E. Marler, 63, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to restrain trade, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, filed his request in the District Court of Guam on April 18.

He wants the third charge to be tossed out, claiming his attorneys were at fault and did not provide effective counsel.

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According to court documents, Marler said federal authorities initially approached him in 2016 with a pre-indictment agreement, which he rejected based on the advice of his attorney, David Lujan. A second offer was made in 2017, but Marler contends Lujan rejected it without showing it to him.

"These unethical actions of Mr. Lujan caused the government's continued pursuit of the indictment," Marler stated in his argument.

An indictment was handed down against Marler in August 2019.

Marler contends Lujan told him he would initiate plea bargaining to bring the case to a quick close, but that did not occur.

Attorney Clyde Lemons, who works with Lujan, picked up plea negotiations, but Marler contends Lemons "deceived" him in the same manner Lujan had.

Lujan was unable to comment when reached by email. Lemons declined to comment.

Marler said he wanted a rapid plea deal to protect UOG from "negative public relations that would result from the slander-mongering journalists," which he argues could have been avoided.

"These unethical and deceptive behaviors of Mr. Lujan and Mr. Lemons were perpetrated despite (Marler's) clear communication that he was opposed to trial and his desire for a rapid plea agreement was partly to protect the University from the negative press that would accompany a lengthy litigation process," the request states. "(Marler's) Sixth Amendment rights were not upheld by this law firm by virtue of the fact that they refused to obey his clearly communicated instructions as their client."

Marler also argued that while he was recovering in the Philippines from skin cancer surgery, Lemons told him of a plea deal that included only two of the three charges he admitted to in court. But when he returned to Guam, he learned that he had missed the government's deadline to respond to the agreement.

Marler contends the issue was his attorney's fault, but the government was no longer willing to honor the agreement and instead presented another deal that included the third charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Marler said in his filing that his attorneys missing the deadline "sabotaged" his Philippine retirement plans, adding that Philippine banks ended up closing his accounts in 2020 after they learned of his money-laundering indictment.

Marler wants the court to set aside or dismiss the charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which he contends would allow him to get a Philippine bank account, acquire a Philippine permanent resident visa and maintain integrity with the retirement life that he has been planning, documents state.

"More importantly, it will hold accountable Lujan & Wolff LLP for ineffective assistance of counsel and protect future clients from being victimized by what (Marler) experienced as predatory behaviors," Marler stated.

Marler is set to be released Nov. 24 from a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in Hawaii and then will serve two years of supervised release.

Scheme

The scheme was carried out between November 2013 and June 2015.

His co-defendant, John Hobart "Bart" Lawrence, 62, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture employee from Gresham, Oregon, was sentenced separately to spend four months in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to restrain trade and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

John Lawrence's daughter, Jayanika Lawrence, 33, was sentenced to one year of probation after she admitted to cutting trees on U.S. land, as a misdemeanor, in connection with the case.

Marler conspired with the Lawrences and others to rig bids for federally funded project work in connection with cooperative agreements between the U.S. Navy and UOG, Post files state.
Writings on the Wall

We are less than six months away from the general elections and as I have said in earlier columns, I believe the 2022 elections will be mired  Read more
Like most conservatives, I used to think that most liberals are nice people who are misguided because they havent studied economics, dont know anything about history or foreign policy, and so on. I no longer believe that to be the case. I dont think it is possible to observe todays liberalism without concluding that it is largely demonic.

For todays case in point, observe this demonstration of pro-baby killers in front of Chief Justice John Roberts home:

The scene in front of Chief Justice John Roberts house pic.twitter.com/vJVxxFoMNO  Douglas Blair (@DouglasKBlair) May 7, 2022



These people are not nice, but ill-informed. They are evil. Anyone who says that abortion saves lives is, best case, deeply disturbed. Their protest also violates federal law and, if Roberts lives in Virginia, state law. (I havent followed the libs vicious doxxing posts to see where each Supreme Court justice resides.)

I believe there are January 6 election integrity protesters who have been imprisoned for well over a year despite, in many cases, doing nothing whatsoever wrong. How about these pro-abortion libs? Their mission is more sinister and their methods are more plainly illegal, since many and likely most of the January 6 protesters entered the Capitol at the invitation of Capitol Police.

So, will any of these pro-abortion criminals be jailed, let alone held without bail for a year and a half? Personally, I would be satisfied if each of them serves a mere three months in prison. But there is zero chance that will happen. Being a liberal has its privileges, as we have all come to understand.
President Biden went to United Performance Metals in Hamilton, Ohio to talk up the Bipartisan Innovation Act this past Friday. The act has passed into law, so I cant say dont let it be. It is. The White House has posted the text of Bidens remarks here.

Biden took the occasion to look back on his career and reminisce about the good old days in the United States Senate. The New York Post covered Bidens remarks here.

Biden observed, You know, things have kind of changed since the days when I first got there. Referring to retiring Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who was in attendance, Biden said, Hes been there a couple terms. I was there  I got elected when I was 29 years old, in the United States Senate, from a very modest background. And I was there for 36 years before becoming Vice President.

Biden was from a very modest background when he arrived in the Senate at age 29 in January 1973. Does anyone wonder how he became a multimillionaire while serving continuously in public office from January 1973 to January 2017?

Biden contrasted the good old days in the Senate circa 1973 with the contemporary scene: We always used to fight like hell  and even back in the old days when we had real segregationists, like Eastland and Thurmond and all those guys  but at least wed end up eating lunch together. Working a variation of the Dylan song, Biden commented, Things have changed. We got to bring it back.

Let it be noted that Eastland was Bidens fellow Democrat in the Senate until his retirement in 1978. So were all those guys except Strom Thurmond. Thurmond switched from Democrat to Republican in 1964. However, he seems to have abandoned the segregationist faith by the time Biden became his Senate colleague in January 1973. Indeed, Thurmond was one of Clarence Thomass champions in the Senate when Biden sought to tube his nomination to the Supreme Court in 1991.

In the video below Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown looks on impassively as Biden walks down memory lane. What is he thinking? Id love to see the thought balloons on this one. My guess: Please, please Lord, make him stop.

One more thought. Can we go to Kamala Harris for comment?
Famous Nigerian fashion entrepreneur Toyin Lawani has revealed why she turns down Nollywood movie roles, despite efforts to lure her into the industry.

Ms Lawani, who features in the ongoing Real Housewives of Lagos reality show (RHOLagos), told PREMIUM TIMES that Nollywood filmmakers cant afford to pay her.

She said: Nollywood filmmakers have been trying to get me into acting, but they cant afford me. Thats the problem, and again I am busy. I do a lot of things; how am I going to be able to do a whole movie project, but once in a while, I appear in movies, like the feat of the Alakadas, I appear as myself Tiannah.

There is a new movie in which I starred alongside Dr Sid. I appeared as myself too. So once in a while, when I get to appear as myself in short scenes, I will do them, but I am still afraid to do a whole film, but anything that is not a Tiannah project that I have to pull every year like that where I showcase to the world as Tiannah projects.

The Real Housewives of Lagos

The mother-of-three revealed that she did not join the show for drama but to showcase her brand.

She said: I went on the show to sell my brand. I said that I was not here for the drama from day one. I am there to sell my brand, and I am a working billboard. I have over 33 businesses, but nobody is big enough. Until today, even coke cola is still doing advertisements to sell themselves, so you cant tell me that Tiannah is already too big to be on a show like that.

Before The Real Housewives of Lagos, Ms Lawani had a 20-episode reality show, Tiannahs Empire fashion which aired on DSTV and EbonyLIfe.

Speaking about the successes of her show, the fashion entrepreneur said that she uses her show to motivate aspiring entrepreneurs.

She said: I am sure everybody knows my show before this one which was Tiannahs empire, I had a reality show with DSTV, and it was a laudable one on tv. It was a huge success selling my brand, showing people that it is possible to run all these businesses and still be a mum and a wife and so much amazing things at the same time, it is not easy, and I am aspiring a lot of young ones that want to put their hands in a lot of businesses.

When I started my entrepreneurship business, many people told me that it wouldnt work. They would bully me and say all sorts of things against me, but today, look at me; everybody wants to be me, emulate my footsteps, and I am happy. I am inspiring people all around the world,  she said.

More than just fashion

Ms Lawani is a proud owner of over 33 businesses under the name Tiannah empire, and she is unapologetic about that.

She has more than 1.8m followers on Instagram with her verified handle tiannahsplacempire, where she showcases various trending and recent fashion styles and designs.

But beyond fashion, the celebrity stylist also has her hands on many other businesses.

She also runs a fashion academy, Tiannah Styling Fashion Academy.

She also owns a beauty products line called Tiannahs Glow.

She is the brain behind Denim Agbadas designs and collections Dream Collection, The Transformer Collection, Face Collection, Asiko Collection, Ready To Wear Collection and many others. She showcases these multiple businesses on the RHOLagos.

She said: So I am glad that I am on the show, and you guys would get to see how I create all my beautiful videos every year, how I script and direct, and I need people would know that I am more than a stylist, I am not just a stylist or a fashion designer, I need people to see all my directing part all my production part, how I come up with all those creative ideas you guys watch, how I come up with my creativity and how I juggle all the various businesses, and my personal life. 

Incoming episodes, you will see how I planned my birthday shoots, we have over ten shoots, and we shot at four different locations across the southwest metros. It is also encouraging the tourism aspect of the country. I am also showcasing different beautiful places in Nigeria to the world. I am making people see how beautiful Nigeria can be, places you would not even have the fun to travel to.

She also noted that she spends millions on her birthday shoots, as she promotes tourist attractions and creates employment through her businesses.

She said: I spend over 20 million nairas every year whenever I am shooting my birthday project, its a massive project, and I am seeing and showing Nigeria to the broader world, and giving people jobs to do, reducing unemployment.
Series title: Blood sisters

Running time: Average of 50 minutes per episode

Directors: Biyi Bandele and Kenneth Gyang

Creator: Temidayo Makanjuola

Cast: Ini Dima-Okojie, Nancy Isime, Ramsey Nouah, Kate Henshaw, Gabriel Afolayan, Uche Jombo, Kehinde Bankole, Daniel Etim Effiong, Wale Ojo and Deyemi Okanlawon.

Date of Release: May 5, 2022

From the streaming platform that gave Nigerians films such as Man of God, Chief Daddy, and King of Boys comes an original crime thriller series that has captured the hearts of many Nigerians, Blood Sisters.

In partnership with Ebonylife films, Netflix released its first Nigerian limited series on May 5. Several hours after its release, viewers took to various social media platforms to applaud the efforts of the cast and crew, with the hashtags of the series and its characters trending on Twitter.

Blood Sisters primarily tells the story of two best friends, Sarah and Kemi, who become fugitives after murdering a man. They find themselves running away from the law and the ruthless family of their victim.

Meeting the demands of what it takes to be a blockbuster, it is no surprise that the series has become a national sensation. However, as with other films, this four-part limited series has shortcomings.

The Tea (plot)

If you think the opening of King of Boys is enough to send chills down your spine, then Blood Sisters will have you sitting at the edge of your seat. We are introduced to two young ladies digging in the ground and suddenly pushing a wrapped-up body into the hole.

A flashback takes us to the two ladies, Sarah (Ini Dima-Okojie) and Kemi (Nancy Isime), talking about Sarahs marriage to Kola (Deyemi Okanlawon) and appreciating the bond that exists between them. Meanwhile, Kolas elder brother, Femi (Gabriel Afolayan), tells his wife, Yinka (Kehinde Bankole), that he has found an assassin to kill his brother at the wedding.

Fresh from his meeting with the board, Kola arrives at the rehearsal dinner and sees Sarah. He gets angry when Sarahs ex-boyfriend, Kenny (Ibrahim Suleiman), shows up, causing a commotion. In an attempt to apologise, a remorseful Sarah gets punched in the stomach by Kola.

The next scene shows both Sarah and Kolas family at a dinner table, and its glaring that Kolas family, especially his mother (Kate Henshaw), hates both Sarah and her family because they are poor. After dinner, Sarah opens up to Kemi and her mother about Kolas abuse. While Kemi asks her to stop the wedding, her mother orders her to tolerate it as the familys financial well-being is at stake.

Kola manages to overcome the hitman sent to assassinate him during the engagement party. Sarah, after reflecting, has a change of mind about getting married. This doesnt sit well with Kola, so he strangles her but is cut short when Kemi shoots him, causing his death.

The opening scene becomes apparent when both ladies desperately look for ways to cover up their crime.

Following Kolas disappearance, his family is worried. While his drug-addicted sister, Timeyin (Genoveva Umeh), accuses their brother of killing him, his mother is optimistic that he has come to his senses and is taking a break. Meanwhile, the ladies have a problem when a photographer has incriminating pictures.

Due to his impossible blackmail, they resort to killing him. Kolas body is later found, and a search begins for the girls.

To escape the police, the girls run away, facing different challenges thrown their way. With help from Kenny, the girls plan to flee to another country, but their plans are cut short when he dies at the hands of an organ trafficker.

Kemi sustains a significant injury following their encounter with the organ trafficker, so the girls journey to her grandmothers town for assistance. During their stay, they were arrested by the police and taken to an abandoned warehouse by Kolas uncle, Uncle B (Ramsey Nouah).

Kolas mother, who seeks revenge, asks Femi to kill the girls. Seeing his hesitance, Timeyin offers to do the job, but she shoots Uncle B instead of attacking the girls.

The movie ends on a cliffhanger with Timeyin pointing a gun at her mothers head.

The good

It would be a crime not to appreciate the stellar acting performances of the entire cast. The chemistry between Nancy Isime and Ini-Dinma was astounding as they portrayed what a real friendship entails. Kate Henshaw also does an excellent job playing the role of the hostile and wicked mother, who delivers very savage lines. And there is the breakout star, Genoveva Umeh, who plays a convincing drug addict sent to rehab and fails to know a mothers love.

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Other cast members like Deyemi Okanlawon, Ramsey Nouah, Kehinde Bankole, and Gabriel Afolayan also did a great job in their respective roles.

The cinematography is also top-notch as the production crew delivers on capturing stunning locations that represent Nigeria. From the high brow areas to places like Makoko, the series delivers on portraying a realistic picture of the country.

The costumes worn by the characters also stood out, as the designer opted to create striking pieces that, to a certain extent, reflect the characters identities.

There is also the commendable exploration of themes like physical abuse and manslaughter, which remain controversial issues in society.

Through storytelling, the producers shed more light on abuse victims from Sarah and Kolas ex-girlfriends perspective.

Themes like friendship, the importance of family, class, and the quest for power were recurring in the series.

Lastly, the stunts were not something one might expect from a Nollywood movie. They were professionally executed and had me on the edge of my seat.

The Bad

Dialogues and delivery: While many of the dialogues were good, some were unnecessarily straight-up. And for those that were good, the mode of delivery felt unnatural, making it hardly convincing.

Unnecessary scenes: Video editors, take note: not all locations must be included in the final cut. There are quite some scenes that do not contribute to the development of the plot. All they did was just make up for the time frame.

Cameos: While its entertaining for the audience to see their favourite celebrities suddenly pop up during a scene, it becomes obnoxious when they dont correctly deliver a single line.

Camera movements: In Episode 3, I noticed that the camera was shaky. At first, I felt it was a mistake, but I was thrown off when it continued to happen. It made me wonder if I was watching a single-camera show.

Final Verdict

8/10. Blood sisters takes a fresh spin on how African stories are portrayed and promises to take viewers on a thrilling experience.
The House of Representatives has called for an emergency plenary session to discuss urgent national issues.

The clerk of the House, Yahaya Danzaria, in a statement on Saturday, said the lawmakers will hold the session on Monday. He did not state the subject of discussion.

This is to inform all Hon Members, staff, media and the general public that the House hereby recalls all Hon. Members for an emergency plenary session against Monday, 9th May, 2022 at 2:00pm. It is particularly intended to discuss critical issues of national importance. The House regrets any inconvenience this short notice would have caused, the terse notice reads.

Normally, the House sits three days in a week  Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

However, in the last couple of weeks, the lawmakers in the lower chamber have not been holding plenary sessions. They claim that the chamber is being renovated.

Last week, the House held a session to consider some executive bills.

It is, however, suspected that their failure to sit is not unconnected with the ongoing pre-election activities of the political parties, as several of the lawmakers are involved in the electoral process.

Avert shut down of local aviation  Minority reps tell Buhari

Meanwhile, the Minority Caucus of the House has called on President Muhamadu Buhari to avert the planned shutdown of airline operations by local operators.

The caucus made the call on Saturday, in a statement by the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu.

Airline operators had on Friday in a letter addressed to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said they will halt operations from Monday due to the high increase in aviation fuel price.

The letter was jointly signed by the President of the Airline Operators Association, Serina Abdulmunaf, and the Chief Executive Officers of eight domestic airline operators, including Mfon Udom, CEO, Ibom Air.

Mr President should critically address the crisis in the petroleum industry by reviewing the counter-productive policies and curbing the corruption in his administration so as to save our national economy from collapse under his watch, Mr Elumelu said.

However, Ibom Air in its statement on Saturday, said its inclusion as a signatory to the statement released by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) must have derived from its active membership of the AON.

Previous intervention by the House

In March, the House of Representatives had brokered an agreement between airline operators, aviation fuel marketers and aviation authorities.

Nnaji Nnolim (PDP, Enugu), the Chairman of the House Committee on Aviation, had moved a motion, urging the House to intervene to avoid a crisis in the sector.

In the meeting chaired by the Deputy Speaker Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria reached an agreement to forestall the shutdown.

The two unions agreed to peg the price of Aviation Turbine Kerosene also known as Jet A1 fuel at N500 per litre from the N630, the price at the time.
His office insulates him from partisan politics. He was not known to be a politician let alone a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). But on Friday Godwin Emefiele found his name trending from the ongoing sale of presidential nomination forms by the ruling party. Several newspapers reported that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had picked the N100 million form.

The reports seemed to confirm months of speculations that Mr Emefiele would throw his hat in the ring as the APC prepares for the nomination of its flag bearer for the 2023 presidential election.

In February, PREMIUM TIMES joined its voice through an editorial in calling on Mr Emefiele to speak up on the speculations or resign from his office to face his presidential ambition, if he had one. Mr Emefiele had ignored the calls, kept his lips sealed and continued to hide in plain sight on the critical issue.

Thus when the news broke that a coalition of Rice Farmers Association, Emefiele Support Group and Friends of Godwin had contributed the hefty fee and picked the form for Mr Emefiele, there were instant recriminations from different quarters. But the reactions were of anger rather than surprise.

The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Itse Sagay, said he was shocked by Mr Emefieles decision to join the presidential race but argued that he was not breaching any law by doing so. However, many of the other commentators were more concerned by other implications than the issue of legality pointed out by the constitutional lawyer.

Resign or be sacked

Setting the tone, Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who is a member of the APC and Chairman of the multi-party Southern Governors Forum, warned that Mr Emefieles action, if unchecked timeously, portends great danger to the fragile economy of the country and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack him from his position at the CBN.

It is incontrovertible that Mr Emefiele enjoys a constitutionally protected right to belong to any group or association and participate fully, just as any Nigerian. It is, however, difficult to imagine that a person who occupies the exalted and sensitive office of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria will be this brazen in actualising his ambition.

There is no gain asserting the obvious. The combined effect of the Public Service Rules, CBN Act and the 1999 Constitution, as amended, exposes not only the oddity inherent in this brash exercise of presumed right to associate. It also confirms the illegality of the act should he proceed to submit the forms while occupying the seat as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He cannot combine partisan politics with the very delicate assignment of his office. Should he refuse to quit, it becomes incumbent on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to remove him forthwith. This is a joke taken too far.

A human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, agreed with Mr Akeredolu. Speaking with Punch newspaper, Mr Ogun said the treasury of Nigeria is no longer safe in the hands of Mr Emefiele.

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has picked the APC N100m presidential nomination and expression of interest form. Clearly, this is illegal, morally reprehensible and weakens whatever is left of our institutions.

Mr Godwin Emefelie must immediately resign his position as CBN Governor to save our country from this unthinkable absurdity. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must immediately commence thorough investigation into Emefieles period in office.

The lawyer called on President Muhammadu Buhari to invoke his statutory powers under Section 11(2) of the CBN Act to sack Emefiele.

Speaking in the same vein, also with The Punch newspaper, the spokesperson of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Debo Ologunagba, said the CBN Act clearly states that the governor and deputy governors of the bank must be fully dedicated to their jobs.

The CBN governor is governed by the CBN Act. Section 9 is unambiguously clear about what the CBN governor and deputies should do and it says they shall devote the whole of their time to the service of the bank and they will not engage in any other vocation.

Now, his action is completely in contravention of that Act and that amounts to gross misconduct and that qualifies him to be removed from office in line with Section 11 of the Act. This is completely irresponsible and at variance with our laws, Mr Ologunagba said.

An alarmed Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Seyi Sowemimo, also warned that the CBN governor cannot afford the distraction of a presidential bid.

I have been seeing posters and been hearing that he is interested, but I saw it as a joke because when you are managing the economy, I dont think you have the time for this sort of distraction. With the way the economy is now, they should be fully engaging his attention and it even requires more than the time he can spare. But if he wants to do it, he should resign.

For many of those people who want to contest, they should resign because the time and the effort that they will require to do these things will definitely impact adversely on their abilities to discharge the functions of the offices they are occupying.

Of all offices, the one that will really require the occupants to stay away from politics is that of the CBN governor and more so because the way the economy now requires somebody who will devote 100 per cent of his time; so, what does he want to be doing campaigning all over the country and leaving the office to the deputy governor or what?

Waiting for Gods Divine Intervention  Emefiele

When he finally reacted to the furore Saturday afternoon, Mr Emefiele merely thanked those who had urged him to contest and said he was yet to decide on whether to do so.

I am humbled by the growing interest of those asking that I run for the Office of President in the 2023 general elections: I have not come to that decision. I note and salute the sacrifices of those farmers and patriots going as far as raising personal funds and offering me Presidential Nomination Forms: I thank them most profusely.

However, should I answer their calls and decide to seek presidential nomination, I will use my own hard-earned savings from over 35 years of banking leadership to buy my own Nomination Forms, without proxies in an open and transparent manner in full compliance with the laws and Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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And should I not run for elected office, I will continue to serve and sacrifice for the good people of Nigeria under the able leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. This is a serious decision that requires Gods Divine intervention: in the next few days The Almighty will so direct, he wrote on his verified Twitter handle.

Technocrat fishing in murky water

Mr Emefiele, 60, became the CBN Governor on June 4, 2014, upon his appointment by then President Goodluck Jonathan. He was reappointed to a second term by President Buhari in 2019. Before moving to the Central Bank, Mr Emefiele had lectured finance and insurance at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the University of Port Harcourt. He also had a short stint working for Vodafone before gaining over 18 years of banking experience, culminating in his appointment as the chief executive officer and group managing director of Zenith Bank Plc.

Although he has yet to confirm that he wants to run for president, many vehicles branded for his campaign have been seen in Abuja and other cities. A prominent media proprietor from his home state of Delta has for months been coordinating a media campaign to polish his image and boost his profile for the race.

At the National Convention of the APC in Abuja on March 26, Mr Emefieles campaign posters jostled for attention with those of other presidential aspirants at the Eagle Square and in the Central Business District of the city where the CBN is located.

Mr Emefiele has never participated in partisan politics, at least not to public knowledge  not in the PDP whose government first appointed him to his current position or in the APC. His home state has been run by the PDP since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999, while the APC has only one of the six governors in his South-South zone  Ben Ayade of Cross River State who is a defector from the PDP.

If Mr Emefiele enters the APC presidential nomination race, he would be one of the aspirants to be closely monitored as a potential preferred candidate of Mr Buhari. These aspirants, especially late entrants into the race and, as in Mr Emefieles case, into the party know they stand little chance of nomination unless as the consensus candidate on the dictate of the president or of the faceless cabal in his office.

South-west APC feels the heat

There is an unprecedented number of presidential aspirants in the APC  over 30 have declared and about 25 had picked the nomination forms as of Friday. But not many observers expected seven of the aspirants to be from the South-west, after the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, announced his ambition back in January.

However, since then, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Ekiti Governor Kayode Fayemi, former Ogun governor Ibikunle Amosun; Deputy Senate Majority Leader, Ajayi Boroffice; pastor of the Citadel Global Community Church, Tunde Bakare, and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, have joined the fray.

Political tension had risen in the region following the declaration of Mr Osinbajo in April, with supporters of Mr Tinubu branding him a traitor and betrayer. Mr Osinbajo was Mr Tinubus commissioner in Lagos throughout his eight years of governorship and the APC national leader was pivotal to Mr Osinbajos nomination as running mate to Mr Buhari in 2015. Mr Tinubu had wanted the nomination for himself until Mr Buhari was persuaded that a Muslim-Muslim ticket would not fly.

The relationship between the two has since deteriorated, as suspicion of Mr Osinbajos presidential ambition unnerved his former boss. Mr Tinubus supporters saw Mr Osinbajos declaration as drawing the battle line and there were fears that the conflict could lead the region back to the dark years of Wild Wild West of the First Republic when a dispute between the former Premier of the then Western Region, Obafemi Awolowo, and his successor, Samuel Akintola, dragged the region under the pall of terror.

To avert that history being reenacted, leaders of the APC in the region, on Friday, met in Lagos with the presidential hopefuls.

At the meeting, which was held behind closed doors at the Lagos House, Marina, the leaders cautioned the aspirants to measure their utterances and discourage their supporters from name-calling and personal attacks.

The meeting was convened by the former interim National Chairman of the APC, Bisi Akande, and a former governor of Ogun State, Segun Osoba.

In attendance were four aspirants: Mr Osinbajo, Mr Tinubu, Mr Fayemi and Mr Amosun.

Also at the meeting were the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo; and governors Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun and Gboyega Oyetola of Osun states.

Others include the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola; the APC National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore; a former governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel; a former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Moses Adeyemo; and a former National Vice Chairman of the APC, South-west Zone, Pius Akinyelure.

However, three aspirants, Mr Bakare, Mr Bankole and Mr Boroffice did not attend the meeting.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Mr Akande said: We the APC are united and we will ensure that the presidency comes to our region, the South-west. We had a fruitful discussion at the meeting today (Friday).

We had a fruitful discussion. We also resolved that everybody should maintain absolute decorum because we are united.

Supporters of the main aspirants would be disappointed that the meeting did not ponder a consensus candidate to brighten the chances of the region at the primary. However, the two other southern regions also have multiple aspirants with the South-east having nine and the South-south seven.

The three northern regions, which were assumed to have conceded the presidency to the southern regions, now have six aspirants gunning for the APC ticket. There have been speculations that the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, may also pick the partys presidential nomination forms.

Zoning, what zoning?

South-east politicians are exasperated over the interest of aspirants from the two other southern zones in the presidential tickets of the APC and PDP, saying it is a betrayal of the principle behind the rotation of political offices among the regions.

The Senate Chief Whip and former governor of Abia, Orji Kalu, in April spoke passionately on the issue.

I am even shocked with the number of aspirants coming from the South-west and the South-south. It is embarrassing that these aspirants (APC and PDP) have no single respect and concern for the South-east. I had thought they would think about the South-east; I thought they would support us, Mr Kalu said in a statement in April in which he hinted that he might withdraw from the presidential race.

The two regions that are yet to produce a President are South-east and North-east. If this means anything to Nigerians, the APC and PDP should be fair enough to prioritize these regions. If power should come to the South and not the South-east or North and not the North-east, the essence for which the six geopolitical zones were created is long dead, he said.

On Friday, Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi, who has procured the APC presidential nomination form, echoed the same feelings. He said it would be against the spirit of justice, fair play and equity for aspirants from other southern regions to contest against those from the South-East.

Speaking on Channels Television, Mr Umahi said, When we as southern people are asking our brothers and sisters in the North for fairness, equity and justice for this thing (power) to rotate, it is expected that on the basis of that equity and justice, when it comes to the South, the three regions should leave it for the region (South-east) that has not produced the President. Otherwise, what is the basis for insisting that power should rotate to the South?

The two major parties are yet to decide on zoning. But it is increasingly looking like they will throw their primaries open to aspirants from all the zones, despite both having northerners as national chairman. The two parties have sold their forms to all comers and it is difficult to see them prevailing on some to step aside because of zoning. Of the 25 aspirants to have paid for the APC forms, five are from the North, the same number as in the PDP where 17 aspirants obtained the presidential nomination forms.

The argument of the South-east is based on the fact that it is the only southern zone yet to produce the president in the Fourth Republic  President Olusegun Obasanjo who served two full terms is from the South West while Goodluck Jonathan who served five years is from the South-south.

But politicians from the two regions have argued that even when those two presidents were nominated, they faced competition from the other regions in 1999, 2003 and 2011.

Withdrawal form

With the suspicion that some power brokers are determined to foist a consensus candidate on the APC, every detail is being carefully scrutinised in official documents and communications of the ruling party.

An addendum in the presidential nomination form of the party, titled, Letter of Voluntary Withdrawal, led some members under the APC Rebirth Group to caution the party against arm-twisting aspirants into stepping down as it did in the March 26 national convention.

On Friday, the groups president, Aliyu Audu, in a statement urged the party chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, to review the content of the forms, saying provisions for withdrawal infringe on aspirants freedom.

The Form 18, which seeks for aspirants voluntary withdrawal amounts to tacit coercion and violation of the freedom of aspirants to freely decide on their own. At what point, for instance, would the party activate the signed form of withdrawal by aspirants?

Anticipated withdrawal from an election that has not yet been conducted, such as the one being solicited via Form 18, would not give aspirants the needed confidence in the process, and the party would do well not to give the impression that it is working to suppress the rights of members to a fair and transparent contest.

While the party, through its secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, did say the signing of Form 18 was optional, the fact that such caveat was not indicated on the form makes such a claim highly suspect.

The group argued that once aspirants append their signature to the declaration page of the form, they had inadvertently validated all the information or commitments on any part of the form.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, will not join the 2023 presidential race, the commission has said.

In a statement published on its Twitter handle Sunday morning, INEC said its chairman will definitely not join the presidential race.

It is a preposterous proposition. It will not happen, the commission said of suggestions Mr Yakubu could throw his hat into the ring.

The Chairman remains an umpire committed to free, fair and credible elections, Rotimi Oyekanmi, Mr Yakubus chief press secretary, wrote in the statement.

Many Nigerians had joked on social media that with the number and diversity of persons declaring interest in the presidential race, even the INEC boss may declare an ambition.

About 25 people have bought the presidential nomination forms of the ruling party, APC, while 17 people bought the presidential nomination forms of the main opposition party, PDP. This is despite both parties fixing what many Nigerians considered exorbitant prices for their forms.

The APC presidential nomination form is sold for N100 million while that of the PDP is sold for N40 million.

Both parties are expected to hold their primaries and elect their candidates by the end of May.
Barely 24 hours after bandits killed 56 people in three villages in Bakura Local Government Area of Zamfara state, gunmen have killed another another seven people in Maradun Local Government Area of the state.

Maradun and Bakura local government areas share boundaries.

In the fresh attack on Saturday afternoon, a local source in Maradun said, two villages, Faru and Kauyen Minane, were attacked.

I was at the Maradun General Hospital when the soldiers brought the corpses of those killed, Jamilu Muhammad said. Our people in the village of Garin Minane said the bandits stormed the town some minutes before 2pm and began shooting sporadically. What they used to do was to conduct house to house search for domestic animals or other valuables but yesterday, the moment they entered the village, they began shooting sporadically, he said.

According to him, six people were killed in Garin Minane while one was killed in Faru. He said the number of those killed may increase because many are still missing in the affected villages.

They have buried the deceased here in Maradun because going back to do the burial in the villages was impossible for fear that they (bandits) may return.

He said the seven people killed were all male. Four of them were killed at the outskirts of the Garin Minane village while they were returning from the farm.

The police spokesperson in Zamfara State, Mohammed Shehu, did not respond to calls and SMS sent to him on the attack.

READ ALSO: Bandits kill over 50 in fresh Zamfara attack

Zamfara, like other areas in Nigerias North-west region, is convulsing under attacks by gunmen locally called bandits who attack mostly rural communities and travellers.

These bandits have been blamed for killing thousands of people. They have also abducted many more in what is shaping to become one of the worst kidnap-for-ransom syndicates in the history of the country.

In the face of the failure of the government to protect residents of the area, many communities have set up vigilante groups to protect residents from attacks by bandits but this has worsened the security challenges in the area as it has given rise to an explosion of tit-for-tat killings between the bandits (who are mostly of Fulani extraction) and the vigilante groups set up by the majority Hausa communities in the area.
Indications emerged Friday that fuel queues have resurfaced in petrol stations across Abuja, the nations capital city, with many motorists scrambling to get petroleum products.

The immediate cause of the latest queues in Abuja remains unknown as filling stations in the Wuse, Bwari and Lugbe areas of the FCT sold petrol at prices ranging from N162 to N165.

However, a PREMIUM TIMES correspondent who visited petrol stations around the metropolis Sunday morning found that some filling stations were shut to buyers.

Shafa filling station located opposite Optima fuel station, airport road Lugbe was shut. An official told PREMIUM TIMES that they just exhausted their stock.

Similarly, the NIPCO filling station along the same airport road, Lugbe, was opened but an official said the station had no petrol stock.

A long queue was seen at NNPC retail outlet central business district area and Oando in Wuse Zone 1 while Saddi Kamal, Mrs oil, Dan oil and Danmarna petroleum limited, located along Lugbe airport road, were under lock Sunday morning.

Scarcity

Earlier in the year, fuel scarcity hit major Nigerian cities including Abuja and Lagos as people scrambled to get petrol for their cars and their electricity generators at a time of rising temperatures.

In February, the Nigerian government said methanol found in imported fuel exceeded Nigerias specifications. The development resulted in a shortage of petrol and queues reappearing in major cities.

The crisis lingered for weeks  and in some places like Abuja, for several months  despite the federal government saying it had sufficient stock of petroleum products for distribution across the country.

Nigerians especially in Abuja have endured an unpredictable supply of fuel for over a year now, with filling stations operating at reduced capacity.

The crisis started in 2021 after the government announced its plan to remove fuel subsidies. Marketers, who the regulators accuse of hoarding the product, have refused to resume normal operations even after the suspension of the subsidy removal plan.

As fuel queues resurfaced across parts of the capital city on Friday, many Nigerians are worried that they may have entered yet another season of suffering and lamentations.

Lamentations

When PREMIUM TIMES visited Shema filling station along Lugbe, Airport Road, a crowd of motorists struggled among themselves to buy petrol Sunday morning.

We are so surprised to see this queue this morning, I cant figure out the reason for this, a pump attendant at the station, who craved anonymity, said.

A civil servant who identified himself simply as Joseph said: From what Im seeing, I dont think this is panic buying, I think theres no fuel and whatever the reason might be I dont know but the government needs to save us this time around because we dont want to experience the suffering we had some months ago.

Mr Joseph said the filling stations were hoarding the fuel because most fuel stations were shut against buyers.

I drove to town and the only fuel station that I saw selling was Total opposite NNPC Tower. There was too much queue there, thats why I had to come down to this airport road, he said.

The fuel in my car is about to run out and I dont want my car to stop on the way. The government should try and address the issue.

A taxi driver, Adeniyi Usman, lamented that the queues resurfaced Friday, adding that it may have been caused by the scarcity of aviation fuel.

This queue started on Friday. That was when I noticed it but it was worse yesterday evening. Now, I dont even know the reason but the way things are now, I must say it is because of the scarcity of aviation fuel, he said.

I was at Shafa fuel station in Lugbe and they were selling the product, all of a sudden the attendant said the fuel was finished. I think fuel stations have started hoarding, he said.

Another civil servant at the station, who gave his name as Patrick, lamented that the government was aware of the situation.

I dont understand what is going on. Yesterday I bought fuel without stress but I was surprised this morning. What is happening I dont know the way the government is treating us, I dont like it at all. Im tired of this administration.

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How can we be suffering for the fuel each time when the country has enough? If they want to increase it, let them increase it so that everybody will be buying. They did not increase it, so why all this suffering for Gods sake?

I think the best thing to do now is to wipe all the people handling these fuel issues away and put a new set of people there. Because I dont understand this country again and the government will not tell me that they are not aware of this situation, he said.

More Troubles

A car user, Nathan Ello, expressed fears over the ripple effect of the queues in the next few days.

By tomorrow the situation might be worse than what is already on the ground, he said.

I heard a few days ago that the airline wants to go on strike on Monday, then the next thing we saw was the long queues in filling stations. This is a country where the government says one thing and you see a different thing on the street.

So we dont depend on what the government is saying because the last time this same thing happened the minister of the state of petroleum said fuel queues are gone forever as far as this administration is concerned but weve seen it again.

It is more like the government just sits in the comfort of their own and says things without backing them up with facts about what is happening on the streets.

My prayer is that the airline strike should not come to pass because if that happens, it will ground business activities all over the country, he said.

When PREMIUM TIMES arrived at one of the NNPC outlets along the Bwari expressway, the gate of the station was locked but some motorists were seen parked in front of the station.

But when some military personnel got to the gates, the petrol attendants immediately opened the gates.

A pump attendant at the station, Monday Igire, who had told PREMIUM TIMES that there was scarcity, explained why the gates were opened for the military personnel.

Army is very important so we sell the little we have to them. If youre an NNPC staff, we will sell to you too, he said.

A driver at the station, Sani Baba, lamented the poor treatment of ordinary Nigerians. Theres fuel but the station is just refusing to sell to people, he said.

Some motorists were also seen leaving the filling station after remaining on the queues in futility.

The spokesperson of Nigerias state-owned oil company, NNPC, Garbadeen Muhammed, did not return a phone call as of press time Sunday afternoon. Messages sent to his known telephone lines were also not responded to.
Airline operators on Sunday announced that they have acceded to appeals from the government to withdraw plans to suspend operations from Monday over high cost of jet fuel and other operational costs.

The information was conveyed in a letter signed by Serina Abdulmunaf, president, Airline Operators Association, and jointly signed by the chief executive officers of six domestic airline operators.

the AON has acceded to requests to withdraw the action for the time being while we allow for a fresh round of dialogue with the government in the hope of reaching an amicable solution, the letter read in part.

Airline operators had on Friday in a letter addressed to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said they will halt operations from Monday, amidst an astronomical increase in aviation fuel.

In reaction to the letter, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, pleaded with Nigerian airlines to suspend their planned shutdown of operations from Monday over the increase of cost of aviation fuel from N190 to N700 per litre.

Following the move, four airlines separately pulled out of the plan and said they will continue their operations. The airlines are Ibom Air, Arik, Air Peace, Aero Contractors and Dana.

On Sunday, AON said all airlines have suspensed the plan and operations will no longer be halted.

We have also reached this decision with the highest consideration for our esteemed customers who have been faced with uncertainty over the last few days and to enable them to have access to travel to their various destinations for the time being during the period of discussions with relevant authorities, the airlines said.

Read the Airlines dull statement below:

AON ACCEDES TO CALLS FROM GOVERNMENT, SUSPENDS ACTION IN GOOD FATE

Lagos; May 8, 2022. The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) wishes to inform the general public that further to numerous calls from the highest echelons in government with promises to urgently intervene in the crisis being faced by airlines due to the astronomic and continuously rising cost of JetA1, that the AON has acceded to requests to withdraw the action for the time being while we allow for a fresh round of dialogue with government in the hope of reaching an amicable solution.

We have also reached this decision with the highest consideration for our esteemed customers who have been faced with uncertainty over the last few days and to enable them to have access to travel to their various destinations for the time being during the period of discussions with relevant authorities.

In view of the above and in the interest of national economy and security considerations, AON hereby wishes to notify the general public that the earlier announced shutdown of operations on May 9, 2022 is hereby suspended in good faith pending the outcome of hopefully fruitful engagement with the government.

Signed:

Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina

President

Jointly signed by:

1. Shehu Wada  Executive Director, Max Air

2. Obiora Okonkwo  Chairman, United Nigeria Airlines

3. Roy Ilegbodu  CEO, Arik Air

4. Abdullahi Mahmood  CEO, Aero Contractors

5. Faisal Abdulmunaf  MD, Azman Air

6. Allen Onyema, Chairman, Air Peace
The Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) expects that at least 10,000 faithful will go on pilgrimage from Nigeria in 2022.

The 2022 pilgrimage begins in Nigeria on May 31 when the faithful will travel to Israel and Jordan.

NCPCs Executive Secretary, Yakubu Pam, made these disclosures on Saturday in Yola when he inspected facilities at the Yola International Airport, one of the take-off points for the pilgrims.

Im in Yola to inspect the facilities at the airport as part of preparations for the 2022 holy trip to Israel and Jordan.

From what I have seen, I am highly impressed that the management of the airport is ready for the exercise.

We are going to start taking pilgrims to Israel and Jordan from May 31. They will spend five days in Israel and three days in Jordan, Mr Pam said.

He explained that the Yola International Airport would serve about 400 pilgrims from Adamawa and Taraba.

He noted that the visit to Jordan was added because that was where John the Baptist baptised Jesus Christ and it was a place where Moses also died.

Jordan is also a place from where Elijah ascended to heaven alive, Pam said.

ALSO READ: Gombe governor pledges support for better Christian pilgrimages

He expressed delight that Adamawa government had been giving the commission maximum cooperation.

In his remarks, Dali Jackson, the airports Chief of Security, said that its management was ready for the exercise.

The Federal Airport Authority is ready and Yola International Airport is ready for the pilgrims flights, he said.

Mr Jackson represented the Airport Manager, Dan Musa, when Mr Pam visited.

(NAN)
Another member of the House of Representatives from Kano State, Kabiru Alhassan, has resigned from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Alhassans resignation followed that of his colleague, Abdulkadir Jobe, member representing Dawakin-Tofa/Rimin Gado/Tofa Federal Constituency, who resigned due to an internal crisis in the Kano State chapter of the party.

Mr Alhassan represents Rano/Bunkure/ Kibiya Federal Constituency at the National Assembly.

The lawmaker, who is vying for the governorship seat of the state, accused the state chapter of the party of preferential treatment.

Mr Alhassan, who is also a former Speaker, Kano House of Assembly, confirmed his resignation to Solacebase, a Kano-based online platform.

He said he would soon announce the political party he is moving to.

Mr Alhassan from Kano South Senatorial District was reportedly endorsed by political stakeholders from the district to succeed the governor Abdullahi Ganduje in 2023.

Other aspirants under the APC are: Barau Jibrin, senator for Kano North and Shaaban Sharada, member representing Kano Municipal.
Endorse him as a leader of peace

Ahead of the primary elections of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the statutory and ad hoc delegates from Enugu West Senatorial District, on Sunday, rose with one voice, assuring Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State that they are solidly behind him, and will vote according to his direction in the selection of PDP candidates for the 2023 general elections in the state.

The delegates, who gave the assurance when they paid a solidarity visit to Mr. Ugwuanyi at the Government House, Enugu, applauded the governor for entrenching peace and good governance in Enugu State.

They also commended Ugwuanyi for the peaceful conduct of the ward congress of the PDP across the 260 electoral wards of Enugu State, on April 30, 2022, stressing that the outcome of the exercise was an eloquent testimony that the governor is a leader of peace.

The delegates from the five local government areas of Enugu West Senatorial District comprising Aninri, Awgu, Ezeagu, Oji River and Udi, told the governor that they have never taken, and will not take, his peaceful disposition and uncommon leadership qualities for granted.

They expressed delight that Enugu State is a reference point for peace in Nigeria, pointing out the cherished feat was made possible because of the governors commitment to peace, security and wellbeing of residents of the state.

Speaking on behalf of the delegates, the Chairman of Ezeagu LGA and State Deputy Chairman, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Mr. Chukwudi Ozoeluba, said: We assure you (Ugwuanyi) that we the delegates are for you and wherever you say we should go, we will go with you. Other decisions you will take, we will stand with you. In any condition we are with you.

Flanked by the other four council chairmen from Enugu West Senatorial District, Mr. Ozoeluba added: We equally to thank you for the peace you have given Enugu State. We have never seen a peaceful three-man delegate election in Enugu State like this one of April 30, 2022.

This shows that you are a father and a leader of peace. And that peace you have given Enugu State has made our state one of the best states in Nigeria. Thank you for making it possible.

In his remarks, the pioneer State Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Charles Egumgbe, also described Gov. Ugwuanyi as a man of peace and tranquility, deserving of the unalloyed support and solidarity of the people of Enugu West Senatorial District and beyond, as the Governor of Enugu State and leader of the PDP in the state.

According to him, The issue of leadership is not changeable and PDP has established that precedence as a party. I commend you (Ugwuanyi) for the peaceful ward congress of our great party last weekend. It was tranquil in my ward and I know it was tranquil everywhere.

We are a family and we have a leader in the person of Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. As a political party, let us continue to follow our leader, he is leading us alright.

Dignitaries that graced the event include the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo; the Deputy Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly (ENHA), Mr. Uche Ugwu; Senator Ben Collins Ndu; former Members of the House of Representatives, Dr. Ogbuefi Ozomgachi, Mr. KGB Oguakwa and Mr. Garry Eneh; former Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze; Chief Whip of ENHA, Mrs. Jane Eneh; Mr. Chinedu Okwu (Otaka) and other state legislators from the zone; Dr. Festus Uzor; Dr. Uche Uzochukwu; Mr. Okezie Nwanjoku, among others.
The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali (IGP), has ordered the arrest of a police officer who allegedly pledged allegiance to a cult group in a viral video.

The force spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

The police officer, Matthew Isaac, was said to have been caught in a viral video clip while singing, dancing and brandishing a rifle in praise of an undisclosed cult group.

Mr Isaac, a police corporal, was attached to the Ebonyi State Police Command.

Mr Adejobi said the IGP has condemned the action of Mr Isaac describing it as an unruly conduct.

The act of the officer in question, which is clearly calculated to portray the Nigeria Police Force negatively, is a discreditable conduct in line with the provisions of the first schedule to regulation 370 of the police regulations, Mr Adejobi said.

The force spokesperson said the officers actions equally violated the provisions of the Nigeria Police Forces Social media policy, penal code and other extant laws regulating the conduct of police officers.

Mr Adejobi also said the IGP has directed the commissioner of police in Ebonyi State to ensure the handing over of the erring officer to the force provost marshall for necessary disciplinary actions.

The IGP warned officers to ensure total compliance with the laws guiding the Force, noting that any breach of the laws would attract severe sanction.
A coalition of support groups has bought the expression of interest and nomination forms for the President of Africa Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina.

Punch newspaper reported that a coalition of 28 groups raised the N100 million used in procuring the forms for Mr Adesinaon Saturday in Abuja.

According to the report, among the 28 groups are Youth Arise Movement, Nigerians in Diaspora, One Nigeria Group, Prudent Youth Association of Nigeria, women groups and farmers.

Over the past couple of days, buying of presidential forms by support groups for aspirants has become a trend.

On Friday, a support group bought the APC form for the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.

Following outrage by Nigerians, Mr Emefiele rejected the gesture, stating that if he decides to run, he will purchase the form with his money.

Mr Adesina, who served as the Minister of Agriculture under former President Goodluck Jonathan, was re-elected as the president of the African bank in 2020.

Despite the N100 million fixed by the ruling party, it has not deterred supporters from buying the tickets for their preferred aspirants.

The Chairman of the Party, Abdullahi Adamu, had justified the exorbitant price with the argument that it would deter mischief-makers from causing problems for the party.

Our party is the ruling party, if we fix the amount less, the same opposition can sponsor some people to come and participate before you know court cases will arise everywhere. Lets see if any devil can pay N100m to sponsor some, he said.

Supporters also bought the forms for aspirants like the former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajuiba.

So far, about 24 aspirants have bought the nomination forms.
Nigerias former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to resign and stop embarrassing Nigeria.

Mrs Ezekwesilis reaction followed reports that Mr Emefiele picked the All Progressives Congress N100 million presidential nomination and expression of interest form on Friday in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

I just read your waffling neither-here-nor-there tweet reacting to news of your payment of N100M for the APC Nomination form for 2023 Presidential election, Mrs Ezekwesili tweeted.

Seems you did not read what the APC Spokesperson said to @Bloomberg . Resign. Stop embarrassing the country. Stop.

The former minister also alleged that Mr Emefiele handed over the apex banks control to the president since he assumed office.

She added that the ill-advised monetary policies of the bank in the last seven years were political.

The wrong monetary policies put in place by Mr Emefieles CBN since Buhari assumed office in 2015 were testament that the bank had handed over its independence to the president, she said

She tweeted: If you did not know all along that Nigerias serial wrong and ill-advised Monetary Policies of the last 7 years were political because the @cenbank long handed its independence to the Villa @NGRPresident @MBuhari , at least now you know. Theyve outed themselves. Finally.

Resignation

The former minister asked the CBN boss to resign his position and pursue his ill-fated political career.

The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria @cenbank must now immediately tender his resignation to stop further destroying whatever little remains of the countrys monetary policy reputation, she said.

Mr Emefele should leave immediately- tonight- to pursue his ill-fated political career.

Under Fire

Mr Emefiele has been subject of criticisms since posters and other campaign messages promoting his political ambition surfaced across Nigeria in recent weeks.

On Friday, many Nigerians called on the CBN governor to resign or be sacked by the president.

The Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, had also called on Mr Emefiele to resign from his position immediately following his intent to engage in partisan politics and contest the 2023 presidential election.

In a statement he personally signed on Friday, Mr Akeredolu asked the president to fire Emefiele if he refused to voluntarily resign.

The Ondo governor described the CBN governors partisan move as a joke taken too far.
The Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, on Sunday, directed the state secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to immediately resolve the crisis at Abdulmumin Jibrins Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency.

Mr Jibrin, a former lawmaker, is the Director-General of the Bola Tinubu Support Group, a group campaigning for the election of Bola Tinubu as Nigerias president.

He announced his resignation from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Twitter on Saturday.

The former lawmaker also promised to announce the party he would be defecting to within 24 hours.

Mr Jibrin was allegedly prevented from contesting for the Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency by the leadership of the party in the state.

I have done my best for APC. Its time to move on. I will announce my new political party within the next 24 hours Insha Allah. I will make a formal statement in due course, Mr Jibrin said.

But the governor has reportedly directed the state secretariat of the party to resolve the grievance that forced Mr Jibrin out of the party after Mr Tinubu, a national leader of the APC, appealed to him to see that Mr Jibrin is placated.

The states chairman of the party, Abdullahi Abbas, in a statement said Mr Ganduje has urged the party to settle the internal differences arising from interested parties seeking nomination to contest election into the Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency.

Mr Abbas said the party secretariat has complied and summoned stakeholders meeting to discuss the disagreement.

He said letters have been sent inviting all the aspirants for the position.

Mr Abbas said Mr Jibrin has already accepted the proposal and will be attending the meeting.

He called on the parties to remain calm and cooperate with the party with a view to resolving the internal crisis. He further assured that the meeting would come up with a position acceptable to all the aspirants.

Mr Jibrin is believed to have been blacklisted by the state chapter of the APC after he made some comments interpreted in favour of the opposition candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP) Abba Kabir, in the stiffly contested 2019 elections.

Mr Jibrin, who was, in 2019, declared winner of the Reps seat in his constituency, was later sacked by the Court of Appeal. The court ordered a rerun of the election in the Bebeji federal constituency of Kano State.

Mr Jibrin lost the rerun to Ali Datti-Yako of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who is believed to have enjoyed the support of the APC leadership in the state.

Interestingly, Mr Datti defected to the APC some weeks after he was sworn in as a lawmaker.

Both men are among those vying for the seat of the Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency.
A member of the House of Representatives from Kano State, Abdulkadir Jobe, has resigned from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Jobe, who represents Dawakin-Tofa/Rimin Gado/Tofa Federal Constituency, said he resigned due to an internal crisis at the Kano State chapter of the party.

He, however, did not say if he would be joining another political party. But he was pictured with a former governor, Rabiu Kwankwasos, of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), following a visit on Friday at the latters residence in Abuja.

Mr Jobe, in a letter of resignation sent to his ward chairperson, at Joben Kudu Ward, said: I formally write to tender my resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) with effect from Thursday 05/05/2022.

After careful consultations with my teaming supporters and political allies we realised that it will serve no meaning to remain in the APC due to the current crisis in Kano state.

 Nevertheless, I thank you for the opportunity given to me to serve our people, Mr Jobe wrote in the resignation letter.

Mr Jobes decision to leave the ruling party followed a supreme court judgement that reaffirmed the control of the party structure to Governor Abudullahi Ganduje after months of legal tussles.

Two factions of the party in the state had conducted parallel congresses on October 18, with a former governor of the state Ibrahim Shekarau faction where Mr Jobe belonged had elected Haruna Danzago as chairman while governor Gandujes camp elected Abdullahi Abbas.

Members of the group include Barau Jibrin, who is the senator for Kano North, and four members of the House of Representatives from the state, namely Nasiru Abdua, Abdulkadir Jobe, Shaaban Sharada and Haruna Dederi.
President Muhammadu Buhari will on Sunday leave for Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, to attend the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

The presidents Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Mr Shehu said the conference was aimed at addressing the future of the land, regarding desertification, drought, degradation, rights, restoration and implications for national and world economies.

He said the Nigerian leader would join other world leaders at Sofitel Hotel, Abidjan, for the 15th session of the COP15 of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, with the theme, Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity.

According to the presidential aide, the convention aims to take action to ensure that land, the lifeline on the planet, continues to benefit present and future generations.

To achieve the visionary objective of land restoration and balance, COP15 will bring together leaders from governments, the private sector, civil society and other key stakeholders from around the world to drive progress in the future of sustainable management of one of the most precious assets, land.

The convention will explore links between land and other key development issues, which will be discussed during the high-level segment, including a Heads of States Summit, high-level roundtables and interactive dialogue sessions.

COP 15 is a key moment in the fight against desertification, land degradation and drought.

Accordingly, it will build on the findings of the second edition of the Global Land Outlook and offer a concrete response to the interconnected challenges of land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss as the world steps into the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, he said.

He added that drought, land restoration, and related enablers such as land rights, gender equality and youth empowerment were among the top items on the conference agenda.

The president, who is also the President of the Great Green Wall in Africa, will be accompanied on the trip by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi.

Others are Minister of Agriculture, Mahmoud Mohammed and Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu.

Also on the presidents team to Abidjan are National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, Director General, National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufai and Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri- Erewa.

(NAN)
The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) has reiterated the need for the Federal Government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resolve lingering issues to end the ongoing strike.

Chairman of the committee, Samuel Edoumiekumo, a professor, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

He said both parties needed to agree to end the strike as soon as possible.

He urged them to honour agreements entered into for academic activities to commence in the affected universities.

We have already given a press release arising from the meeting of the general assembly of the committee.

We said that ASUU and the Federal Government should amicably resolve all lingering issues, he said.

Mr Edoumiekumo, who is the vice-chancellor of Niger Delta University, expressed optimism that the issues would be resolved soon.

NAN reports that ASUU had on February 14 embarked on a strike to press home some demands including calls for the government to implement the Memorandum of Action (MoA) signed in December 2020 on funding for the revitalisation of the public universities.

Other demands are Earned Academic Allowances, renegotiation of the 2009 agreement and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), among others.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, had on Friday stated that the Federal Government and ASUU would resume negotiation this week.

(NAN)
As the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) continues across the country, there have been pockets of complaints from some candidates.

These complaints are either about power failure, failure of biometric capturing machines or other forms of technical hitches including incomplete questions.

There are, however, a majority of the candidates spoken to by our reporters who have hailed the process, even as they commended the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board for what they described as an improved system.

This years edition of the entrance examination into the countrys tertiary institutions commenced on Friday and would continue until Saturday, May 14.

JAMB said more than 1.8 million candidates have been scheduled to sit this years examination nationwide.

Faulty computers, power outages

Some of the candidates and parents who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES have expressed disappointment over their inability to take the computer-based examination due to the poor atmosphere at the computer-based test centres where they sat the tests.

But the examination body has repeatedly said it will not reschedule the test for any candidate for whatever reason.

JAMBs head of public affairs and protocol unit, Fabian Benjamin, did not respond to requests for additional comments on the matter on Sunday.

A concerned parent, Timothy Ikyurior, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES from Nasarawa State, narrated how his daughter and other students couldnt take their examination on Saturday despite getting to the venue hours before the scheduled time for their papers.

Mr Ikyutior, who said he drove his daughter to Mas Global Resources CBT Centre in Nasarawa State around 7 a.m for her 9 a.m session, said his daughter couldnt take the examination because her computer consistently developed faults.

He said the candidates were only called into the examination hall for an examination scheduled for 9 a.m. at 10:45 am.

He said at about 2 p.m. when his daughter and other candidates came out of the examination hall, she told him she was unable to take the test because her computer and that of others did not work.

He said: They were the second batch which was supposed to be 9 o clock. But they went in when it was 10:4 5a.m. After a long time, by 2p.m, she came and told me she couldnt write because her computer refused to start.

She said the system number 31 which she used and even 32 did not start. She even said that those whose computers started well also went off intermittently in the middle of the examination.

Mr Ikyutior said he tried to enquire from the officials but the only person that spoke to him was an unnamed supervisor from Zaria whom he said told him that students have to go to the JAMB office to request rescheduling of their examinations.

He said the supervisor also complained about the state of activities at the centre.

Another parent, who craved anonymity, also complained about the conduct of the examination at HF-Jemajo Technology CBT Centre in Benin City, Edo State capital.

The parent said candidates were reportedly given 10 only extra minutes to complete their work after the power generating set went off for more than 1 hour.

There was a power outage as the only generator set went off in the middle of the students taking their examination. It took hours before they brought in another generator set, a situation that prompted parents and students to be agitated.

However, when the new set was brought, they say, only 10 minutes was allowed for the students to conclude their examination, the source said.

Missing comprehension

Meanwhile, at the Tip-Top Schools, located on Unity Road, Isasi, a border community between Ogun and Lagos States, candidates said there were questions that were not accompanied by the expected passages.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how a candidate, Aishat Olokojobi, with registration number; 202210321095EF and examination number C58102067, complained that she experienced a challenge with the English Language subject.

Miss Olokojobi, who gave her seat number as 067, said she was part of those scheduled for 9 a.m. and that when they complained, the officials at the centre only told them to move on to other questions.

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She said: We just saw the questions but no comprehension passages. I was not the only one. We complained but we were told to move on to other parts. We never returned to those questions and we didnt receive any assurance that they would be addressed.

Other candidates across other centres in Lagos and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory also lodged similar complaints.

JAMB keeps mum

Meanwhile, efforts to get the reaction of the examination body on the development did not yield any result, as the spokesperson, Mr Benjamin, neither picked calls to his phone nor replied to messages sent to him.

Sakibu Olokojobi, publisher of Frontpage News, and Aishats father, urged the examination body to consider the fate of the innocent candidates by addressing their complaints.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.
The Governor of Akwa Ibom State and presidential aspirant, Udom Emmanuel, has vowed to restore security in Plateau State if elected president.

Mr Emmanuel also promised to restore the status of the state as a tourism destination in the country.

The governor stated this on Saturday when he led his presidential campaign team to consult with leaders and delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

This was contained in a statement posted on Facebook by the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information, Ini Ememobong.

Plateau State is one of the states in North-central Nigeria that has witnessed the worst killings in recent times.

Last month, this newspaper reported that at least 142 persons were killed in an attack in Kanam and Wase Local Government areas of the state.

The situation is a major reason the state has lost its tourism destination status, which Mr Emmanuel has vowed to restore if elected.

According to Mr Ememobong, Governor Emmanuel further promised to revitalise the economy of the state and cause the many companies that have either left or folded up, to come alive again and return to the state.

Mr Emmanuel is one of the two serving South-south governors vying for the presidential ticket of the PDP.

His counterpart in Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, is also in the race.

Mr Emmanuels campaign team was received in Plateau State by a former governor of the state, Jonah Jang.

Mr Jang expressed confidence in the capacity of the aspirant to restore the country to its glory days.

Mr Emmanuel had visited other northern leaders, including two former military leaders, Ibrahim Babangida and Abdusalami Abubakar, where he shared his vision for the country, anchored on a revamped economy, security of lives and property and durable infrastructure.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday, canvassed votes from delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo and Osun, ahead of the partys presidential primary slated for May 28.

Mr Atiku, who identified himself as a son of Osun, due to his marriage to Titi, one of his wives, from Ilesa town, urged the delegates to give him their support during the primary.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Atiku is one of the PDP presidential aspirants seeking the partys ticket for the 2023 presidential election.

On Saturday, he stopped over at Abeokuta to woo Ogun State delegates ahead of the primaries.

Mr Atiku, addressing the delegates at the partys secretariat in Osogbo, said he needed their support to win the ticket.

We are preparing for our presidential primary and as usual, there are delegates from Osun.

I want to appeal to you (delegates), request and plead with you, once again, to give me, your own son and family member, the opportunity to win this election.

There are serious challenges in the country and we cannot entrust these challenges to somebody who does not have the experience to deal with them.

In 1999, under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo, as Vice President, we faced similar challenges when we came in.

There was lack of unity, debts, and Nigeria had no foreign reserve.

What we did was that we brought all the political parties into the government to form the government of national unity, which provided us with peace, stability and unity to govern.

My experience and attribute are what I will bring onboard to address the disunity and other challenges facing the country.

And, I can assure you that every part of the country will have a sense of belonging, he said.

Mr Atiku said, if elected, he would support restructuring and tackle the nations economic crisis, by engaging experienced and talented Nigerians, irrespective of ethnicity or religion, to run his administration.

He, however, appealed for unity among the PDP members in the state.

The aspirant said that Osun would be a stepping stone to his presidential ambition, based on the outcome of the forthcoming governorship election on July 16 in the state.

He said PDP lost the last governorship election in the state due to disunity and disagreement within the party, adding that a similar crisis was happening again ahead of the governorship election.

Mr Atiku appealed to the party leadership in the state and the state PDP caretaker committee to unite all the warring parties.

I want you all to unite and make sure you win this forthcoming gubernatorial election, no matter the differences, he said.

In his remarks, Adekunle Akindele, the Osun PDP Caretaker Committee Chairman, said his committee was working to unite all the warring and aggrieved members of the party.

Mr Akindele said that the committee was working toward resolving the crisis within the party.

Earlier, Dino Melaye, a former senator, introducing Mr Atiku and his entourage, appealed to delegates from Osun not to be swayed by money bags during the party primary in Abuja.

Oyo delegates

Mr Atiku had on Saturday met the party delegates in Oyo State at the party secretariat in Molete, Ibadan, where he promised to tackle what he described as disunity in the country.

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According to him, every part of the country, every ethnicity, and every religion will be given a sense of belonging, if given the opportunity to rule.

He also promised to address the issue of insecurity by ensuring that the lives and property of Nigerians were secured.

He recalled that the PDP administration from 1999 to 2015 stabilised the nations economy, saying the party would bring back the nations glorious economic days if Nigerians return PDP to power.

Mr Atiku promised that, if given the opportunity, he would work toward constitutional reform so that more powers and resources could be devolved to various components of the country, from the state to the local governments.

He said people were closer to government at the grassroots, adding that the local governments should be more empowered to perform their statutory responsibilities to the people.

He urged Nigerians to put their confidence in PDP and allow the party to return to power so as to provide good governance again.

The PDP Chairman in Oyo State, Dayo Ogungbenro, while describing Mr Atiku as one of the greatest leaders in the country, said Nigerians needed to return PDP to power.

Mr Ogungbenro described Mr Atiku as a leader of note, who has what it takes to lead the country.

(NAN)
The government of the United Kingdom has confirmed a monkeypox infection in an unidentified individual who travelled from Nigeria to England.

The infection, which was reported by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), is believed to have been contracted in Nigeria before the patient arrived in the UK.

Without disclosing the identity of the patient, the UKHSA, in a publication on the official UK government website, noted Saturday that the patient is receiving care at an infectious disease unit.

It added that experts in collaboration with colleagues at the National Health Service (NHS) in England are working together to contact people who have been near the patients to curtail a possible spread of the infection.

The patient is receiving care at the expert infectious disease unit at the St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, London.

As a precautionary measure, UKHSA experts are working closely with NHS colleagues and will be contacting people who might have been in close contact with the individual to provide information and health advice

This includes contacting a number of passengers who travelled in close proximity to the patient on the same flight to the UK. People without symptoms are not considered infectious but, as a precaution, those who have been in close proximity are being contacted to ensure that if they do become unwell they can be treated quickly. If passengers are not contacted then there is no action they should take.

Confirming the development, Nicholas Price, a Consultant in Infectious Diseases at Guys and St Thomas, said: The patient is being treated in our specialist isolation unit at St Thomas Hospital by expert clinical staff with strict infection prevention procedures.

This is a good example of the way that the High Consequence Infectious Diseases national network and UKHSA work closely together in responding swiftly and effectively to these sporadic cases.

More on the infection

The Director of Clinical and Emerging Infections in UKHSA, Colin Brown further explained that Monkeypox is a rare viral infection that does not spread easily between people. It is usually a mild self-limiting illness and most people recover within a few weeks. However, severe illness can occur in some individuals.

The infection can be spread when someone is in close contact with an infected person; however, there is a very low risk of transmission to the general population.

The initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion. A rash can develop, often beginning on the face, then spreading to other parts of the body. The rash changes and goes through different stages before finally forming a scab, which later falls off.

He added that UKHSA and the NHS have well established and robust infection control procedures for dealing with cases of imported infectious disease and these will be strictly followed.

About Monkeypox

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, hence the name monkeypox.

The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox.

Since then, monkeypox has been reported in people in several other central and western African countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote dIvoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone.
A former Nigerian senator, Arthur Nzeribe, is dead.

Mr Nzeribe, a popular businessman, was born November 2, 1938, in Oguta, Imo state.

He died at the age of 83 years.

His family confirmed his death in a statement on Sunday.

The statement, jointly signed by three members of his family, Ojiabu Francis Anyegbu Nzeribe, Anthony Akpati Nzeribe and Ojiabu Oliver Nwedo Nzeribe, said the famous politician died on Thursday.

The Nzeribe Royal Family of Umudei Royal Village of Oguta in the Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, in total submission to the will of God Almighty and in appreciation of a remarkably worthy life, hereby announce the death of our son, cousin, uncle, husband, father and grandfather, distinguished Senator Chief Francis Arthur Uzoma Nzeribe (Ogbuabu Oshiji, Dimanze, Oyimbaof Oguta on May 5, 2022, the family said in the statement.

While we are pained by this loss, we are proud of this African Legend who distinguished himself in various fields including sports, international business, politics and gave the Nzeribe brand worldwide acclaim, the statement added.

It said the family had commenced the necessary traditional consultations and would in due course release a programme for his funeral rites.

The First Republic politician represented Orlu Senatorial Constituency, as it was then called, from October 1983 to December, 1983.

He attended Holy Ghost College, Owerri, the state capital.

He would later win a scholarship from the Nigerian Ports Authority, in 1958, to study marine engineering at Portsmouth College of Technology in England.

He worked with many African leaders including Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, whom he worked for as a public relations officer.

Mr Nzeribe will be remembered by many Nigerians for his role in scuttling Nigerias 1993 general elections which M.K.O. Abiola, then a presidential candidate, won.

His Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) secured a controversial court order which the military government used as a basis to annul the election, considered the fairest in Nigeria. He is believed by many to have been sponsored by the military government.

He returned to the Senate in May 1999 and stayed till May 2007, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Mr Nzeribe would later be indefinitely suspended by the then Senate President of Nigeria, Anyim Pius, now a presidential aspirant, over an allegation of N22 million fraud.
Dana Air, Arik and Aero Contractors have rejected the plan by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), to suspend operations from Monday over high cost of aviation fuel and other operational expenses.

In a statement Sunday, Dana Air said while it agreed with AON on the challenges facing airlines in Nigeria, we have taken a decision not to join the suspension of flights on May 9, 2022.

We acknowledge that the present cost of jet A1 is unsustainable and should not be passed to the flying public, we therefore call on the government to act urgently to resolve these unending operational challenges while Dana Air will continue to support every effort by the AON to achieve a quick and peaceful resolution in the interest of our dear country Nigeria, Dana Air management said.

Airline operators had on Friday in a letter addressed to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said they will halt operations from Monday, amidst an astronomical increase in aviation fuel.

In reaction to the letter, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, pleaded with Nigerian airlines to suspend their planned shutdown of operations from Monday over the increase of cost of aviation fuel from N190 to N700 per litre.

The letter was signed by Serina Abdulmunaf, president, Airline Operators Association, and jointly signed by the chief executive officers of eight domestic airline operators, including Roy Ilegbodu, CEO, Arik, Abdullahi Mahmood, CEO, Aero Contractors and even Sukh Mann, Deputy CEO, Dana Air.

However, the managements of some of the domestic airlines, including Ibom Air, who had signed the aforementioned letter disagreed with the plan to discontinue operation on Monday.

Arik Air and Aero Contractors too

Similarly, in a joint statement on Sunday evening, the managements of Arik Air Limited and Aero Contractors said both airlines will be operating all their scheduled flights on Monday, May 9, 2022.

The management of Arik Air Limited (In Receivership) and Aero Contractors (In Receivership) wish to bring to the notice of the traveling public that both airlines will be operating all their scheduled flights on Monday, May 9, 2022, the statement partly reads.

It said both managements fully identify with and endorse the efforts of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to bring about a conducive operating environment for Nigerian carriers as the current price of JET A1 is unsustainable and could result in the untimely demise of most airlines.

However, the Airlines management noted that we have assurances that the government is looking at the issues raised by the AON and will come up with a decision that will be in the best interest of the industry and the traveling public.

Passengers who are booked to travel on both Arik Air and Aero Contractors tomorrow and beyond should proceed to their airports of departure to board, the statement read.
The riches and glories of this world are counterfeit.

If we were to ask Christians what Jesus saves us from, many would say we are saved from the torments of hell. However, the hell Jesus spoke about is a real place called Gehenna; a valley outside Jerusalem where apostate Israelites sacrificed their children to idol gods. This later became a rubbish dump where criminals were burnt alive.

Thus, while the hell Jesus spoke about was well-known to the Jews, it is entirely imaginary to us. The hell we know today is in this world.

Hell is Nigeria; where armed robbery and kidnapping are rampant; and the Boko Haram murder innocent Christians at every opportunity. Hell is Norway; where Anders Breivik massacred 100 people in cold blood. Hell is Germany, where millions of Jews were gassed to death. Hell is Ukraine; where Russia rains bombs on the hapless daily.

Hell is in every home; every neigbourhood; every city, and every country of this God-forsaken world. It is in the water we drink; the food we eat, and the very air we breathe.

Salvation from Egypt

While the Israelites were saved from Egypt, for them a real hell hole; it is this world that represents Egypt today. Accordingly, Jesus saves us from this sinful world. But when we love the hellish Egypt of this world, the good news of salvation from Egypt becomes bad news. The gospel we believe is about how God will cause us to prosper in Egypt. We want to be the multi-millionaires of Egypt. We want to own the best houses in Egypt; drive the best cars and wear the most fashionable clothes.

But if we hate Egypt, we can receive the gospel about how God will take us out of Egypt to His heavenly kingdom. The good news then is that: the Egyptians whom we see today, we shall see again no more forever. (Exodus 14:13).

However, if we buy the lie, as many Christians do, that God is going to make us rich in this Egyptian world, then we cannot believe he is going to save us from the world. One belief contradicts the other.

If we believe that Jesus is going to save us from this world, then we must know that the riches and glories of this world are counterfeit. In short, we cannot receive the gospel of the kingdom of God unless we first hate this world. Accordingly, Jesus warns: He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25).

John echoes Jesus: Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love these things you show that you do not really love God; for all these worldly things, these evil desires  the craze for sex, the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you, and the pride that comes from wealth and importance  these are not from God. They are from this evil world itself. And this world is fading away, and these evil, forbidden things will go with it, but whoever keeps doing the will of God will live forever. (1 John 2:15-17).

Nevertheless, Christians remain, by and large, lovers of life and lovers of this world.

Unacceptable salvation

For 120 years, Noah preached the gospel, but nobody believed him. Noah preached that God would destroy the whole world in a flood but would save only those who sought refuge in the ark.

However, the people could not believe him because they loved the world. At the same time as Noah was saying God would destroy the world, there must have been others saying God would prosper His people in the world. Just as many pastors are doing today, they must have been preaching about forthcoming breakthroughs and showers of blessings in the world.

Of course, the people believed these false prophets rather than Noah. After all, why would God destroy the world when He Himself created the world? Why would He destroy the world when there are so many wonderful things in the world?

Not surprisingly, Noah could only persuade the members of his family. Even those he employed to build the ark were not foolish enough to go into it with him.

Jesus says: Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the time of the Son of Man. (Luke 17:26). That time is today.

Lot also preached the gospel in Sodom, but nobody believed him. He preached that God was going to destroy the city but would save those who fled immediately to the hills.

But the people were more interested in hearing about how to prosper in Sodom. Their problem with Sodom was that NEPA was unreliable. They preferred the gospel about how to get a degree by grace through faith from the University of Sodom. They were more inclined to the gospel about who wants to be a millionaire in Gomorrah.

Jesus warns: Remember Lots wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Luke 17:32-33). That warning is for now.

Salvation of Jesus Christ

In short, the gospel fails woefully to address the issues of primary concern to Christians. We want God to establish heaven on earth and make the world free of diseases; poverty; killings; floods; earthquakes; and other calamities.

However, that agenda is not included in Gods plan of salvation. When the Messiah finally appeared, He did not reform the world or enrich believers in the world. When Jesus failed even to save John the Baptist from Herods prison, He sent His disciples to ask him: Are you really the Messiah or shall we look for another? (Matthew 11:3).

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Therefore, pastors have given Christians another Messiah. They recognise Jesus is not the kind of Saviour they want. So, they have created a more politically correct Jesus. This new-improved Jesus became poor that all Christians may be multi-millionaires. This Father Christmas Jesus is going to bring about a major transfer of the wealth of unbelievers to Christians. But all this remains till date a pie in the sky.

Jesus provides no solutions to the problems of this world. All He offers is how to overcome them spiritually. Indeed, He assures us the problems will increase and not decrease. He says: These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. (John 16:33).

What Jesus offers believers is peace in the midst of the vicissitudes of this life. He then promises an eternity of bliss in the bosom of God the Father, for those who endure to the end. (Matthew 10:22).

Preferred salvation

I attended a wedding at one of the parishes of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. The guest pastor preached a passionate message of salvation. The crux of it was: If you give your life to Jesus, you too will buy a Pathfinder.

One man answered the altar call and gave his life to Jesus. I sat there wondering which Jesus he received. Certainly, it was not Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the living God.

Faribisala@yahoo.com; www.femiaribisala.com
Section 9 of the CBN Act makes it quite clear that the CBN governor just cannot choose to run for elective office while still holding on to office. In any case, he has to first secure the approval of the CBN Board, which is not the case here. He could, of course, choose to resign in order to pursue his ambition. For this, section 11(3) of the CBN Act requires him to give at least three months notice in writing to the president of his intention to do so.

In November 2017, it emerged that the governor of Nigerias Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, had significant interests in an off-shore company registered in Bermuda, which held an account with UBS in London. UBS is a multinational investment bank and financial services company with its headquarters in Basel and Zurich in Switzerland.

Disclosures released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in the Paradise Papers revealed that Mr Emefiele owned 49 per cent of Oviation Asset Management since 2009 and was a director in the company since January 2013.

According to The Guardian newspaper in London, Oviation was part of a structure that imported two jets via the Isle of Man. The latest purchase, a $50m Gulfstream G550, arrived in November 2015. It replaced a $33m Gulfstream G450, imported in 2013.

15 months before the import of the second Gulfstream, in June 2014, Mr Emefiele became the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In this capacity, he also leads The Mint, which prints Nigerias currency.

Section 9 of the CBN Act of 2007 requires of both the governor of the Central Bank and his deputies that they shall devote the whole of their time to the service of the Bank and, while holding office, shall not engage in any full or part-time employment or vocation, whether remunerated or not, except such charitable causes as may be determined by the Board and which do not conflict with or conflict with their full-time duties.

This prohibition places three constraints on the CBN governor: one substantive, another procedural, and a third ethical. Substantively, it bars him from moonlighting in any other job or vocation, whether or not remunerated. Procedurally, he needs the approval of the Board of the CBN before taking on any role outside the bank. Implied in this is an obligation of full and honest disclosure on the part of the CBN governor. As an (additional) ethical standard, the Act precludes the CBN governor from putting himself in a position that conflicts with his full-time duties.

As the head of a public corporation (which the CBN is), Mr Emefiele, as CBN governor, is also subject to the Code of Conduct for senior public officers contained in the 5th Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution, which imposes on him standards of conduct with reference to asset disclosures, acceptance of gifts and donations, and holding of overseas interests.

For Mr Emefiele, it seems these standards are ornaments of convenience. Three years into his office as the CBN governor, his interests in Oviation were still intact. Contacted by The Guardian for an explanation in November 2017, Mr Emefiele claimed that he gave instructions for his shares to be handed back to his former employers, a Nigerian bank, in 2014. For a central banker, this claim shows either a tendency for the cavalier or habit of casuistry. The former puts his professionalism in question and the latter is a question of character.

He has got the CBN involved in schemes and scams that almost assuredly violate Section 34 of the CBN Act; from taking over the management of the National Theatre (despite pending litigation) to making himself a willing instrument for the persecution of #EndSARS protesters. Premium Times in a February 21 editorial fears that his tenure at the CBN will be remembered for having wilfully shredded the guardrails in the CBN Act.

On or about May 4, Mr Emefiele was a guest of President Muhammadu Buhari in the presidency. The following day, some characters claiming to be armed Niger Delta militants endorsed Mr Emefiele for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), promising to lay down their arms if the party were to hand the ticket to him. It is too soon to say whether or not these two developments, which appear unrelated, have anything to do with what happened next.

Putting months of speculation and hide-and-seek to rest, it emerged on May 6 that one Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) and two other shadowy organisations had purchased for Mr Emefiele forms to run for the presidency on the ticket of APC. His political organisation goes by the brand #Meffy2023. The following day, May 7, Mr Emefiele claimed that he awaits Gods Divine intervention, which he hopes to receive in the next few days.

Mr Emefiele has been nothing if not consistent in his convenient attitude to rules. As CBN governor, he has maintained a ruinous regime of multiple exchange rates, sustaining a deliberate scheme of profitable arbitrage, which is conducive to cronyism at his discretion and insider abuse. The result is this his version of Farmers Earnestly Yearn for Emefiele (FEYE).

He has got the CBN involved in schemes and scams that almost assuredly violate Section 34 of the CBN Act; from taking over the management of the National Theatre (despite pending litigation) to making himself a willing instrument for the persecution of #EndSARS protesters. Premium Times in a February 21 editorial fears that his tenure at the CBN will be remembered for having wilfully shredded the guardrails in the CBN Act.

In a country where consequences follow malfeasance, Mr Emefiele will already be in prison. In Nigeria, he longs for the presidency.

The question whether Mr Emefiele can run for the presidential ticket of a political party, while also continuing to serve as the CBN governor is both moral and legal. Premium Times addressed the former, pointing out that the operational and administrative autonomy granted the central bank by its enabling statute was precisely to protect the governor from political influence.

The governor of Ondo State, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Rotimi Akeredolu, puts it even more pointedly in a release issued on the same day that Mr Emefiele collected the form to actualise his aspiration: it is difficult to imagine that a person who occupies the exalted and sensitive office of the Governor of the CBN will be this brazen in actualizing his ambition.

In the end, it would appear that Mr Emefiele is relaxed about having the fate of his ambition decided by a college of Nigerian judges. He carries on with the cockiness of a man who has assured himself that, as the boss of The Mint, he can issue enough notes to buy any number of judges on his march to whatever he fancies. If he ultimately suffers a bloody nose, itll be just dessert for a man who clearly believes everything can be bought and sold.

A partisan politician grubbing for votes while hanging on as CBN governor messes with more than the statutory independence of the Bank. It is inconceivable that he can retain independence, while seeking the presidency. On the same May 6 on which he collected his presidential forms, news of Emefieles presidential bid sent the naira close to a record low, confirming that his is no ordinary ambition.

But this is, even more, a legal issue. To be sure, Mr Emefiele, as an adult citizen of Nigeria, is entitled to run for any office he desires. Two of his predecessors have preceded him into elective politics. Clement Isong, the second governor of the CBN from 1967 to 1975 became the first elected governor of old Cross-River State in October 1979. Chukwuma Soludo, who was CBN governor from 2004 to 2009, is currently serving as the governor of Anambra State, having been elected on November 6, 2021. Both Dr Isong and Professor Soludo ran for office after the expiration of their terms.

Section 9 of the CBN Act makes it quite clear that the CBN governor just cannot choose to run for elective office while still holding on to office. In any case, he has to first secure the approval of the CBN Board, which is not the case here. He could, of course, choose to resign in order to pursue his ambition. For this, section 11(3) of the CBN Act requires him to give at least three months notice in writing to the president of his intention to do so.

So, section 9 of the CBN Act precludes Mr Emefiele from political activities and section 11(3) requires him to give three months notice of resignation. As a matter of law, he should have resigned at least three months before the primaries in which he is to be a contestant. The possibility that such a notice from the CBN governor can be concealed for this long in political season would require terminal skills in political self-immolation.

But, as with his holding in an offshore company, despite being prohibited from doing so, Mr Emefiele would wish this away as yet another inconsequential encounter with an inconvenient guardrail. The presidency, however, is ultimately about guardrails. As Lincoln is reported to have said and many more since then have shown, it is a test of character.

In pursuit of his audacious project, Mr Emefiele has not encountered any guardrails which he has not been willing to destroy. For those who wish to turn over to him the keys to the presidency at this time and in this manner, Governor Akeredolus words bear repeating: this is a joke taken too far.

In the end, it would appear that Mr Emefiele is relaxed about having the fate of his ambition decided by a college of Nigerian judges. He carries on with the cockiness of a man who has assured himself that, as the boss of The Mint, he can issue enough notes to buy any number of judges on his march to whatever he fancies. If he ultimately suffers a bloody nose, itll be just dessert for a man who clearly believes everything can be bought and sold.

Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a lawyer and teacher, can be reached at chidi.odinkalu@tufts.edu.

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Nigeria is currently facing serious challenges and concerns. While I have not retired yet, and I am not living in the African continent, there is no day that for some minutes I do not reflect on the pain and suffering that millions of people are going through on the continent. Yet in spite of all of this, one often comes across news of especially African youth and middle-aged persons accomplishments in spheres that are very spectacular and deserve not only recognition but affirmation. Indeed, spectacular accomplishment is metaphorically speaking like a pedagogy of hope. Without hope, given the challenges confronting many ordinary people in Africa, the people can easily end up in a state of despair. It is in this respect that any serious discussion about nation-building and human development needs to begin by among other things asking these two questions: what does it mean to be human and what do we owe each other for being human? Whatever your religion, ethnicity, or nationality, these are important questions that are foundational to building a just and fair society for all because we know very well that without identifying what constitutes our shared humanity and building our society on that philosophy, we may end up creating what some economists call the tragedy of the commons. The tragedy of the commons happens when each of us in pursuing his or her narrow selfish interests and totally ignoring the common good, contributes immensely to creating a social environment that becomes similar to the Hobbesian state of nature where life is nasty, brutish, and short.

I have been prompted to think deeply about Nigeria, my country of birth for several days recently, after I came across a piece of reflection written by Professor Toyin Falola, one of Nigerias most renowned scholars and public intellectuals in the diaspora and in Africa. In the piece of reflection that he wrote, he commended some Nigerian youth for their spectacular accomplishment in completing their doctoral studies in reputable universities in the United States and Britain and starting new chapters in their lives as professionals, who will immensely contribute to the betterment of the human condition. As part of the reflection, Professor Falolas message went beyond congratulating the youth to address some deep issues of concern that he has been ruminating on with some degree of ambivalence and lamentation regarding the state of affairs in Nigeria today. One of his lamentations is that there are many African scholars in the diaspora who would like to retire back in Africa so as to use their golden years to give back to the continent in a special way by mentoring cohorts of the younger generation, but they are unable to pursue that for numerous reasons. For instance, at the current moment, the situation in Nigeria is so complicated and unstable that many in the diaspora find it too risky to retire back home in spite of their sincere desire to do so. This is really a painful situation in the sense that despite living abroad for so many years, there is a way in which home is home and it is different. Professor Falola is lamenting the state of affairs in Nigeria where the country produces brilliant folks who cannot go back and work in the country.

Professor Falolas concern about the need to contribute to nation-building and elevating the lives of those at the bottom of the Nigerian social pyramid was further extended by Bishop Kukah. Bishop Kukah commented on Professor Falolas reflection and analysis by calling on all of us to ensure that the accomplishments of Nigerian youth can, should and must effect a change and that change must happen in our lifetimes. He further observed that we can and must reverse this sad run of events on our continent. While each African country has its own struggles in the area of nation-building and elevating human development, Bishop Kukah asserted that Nigeria has become the theatre of all that is wrong with our people.

The concerns that the two of them expressed touched my heart and soul deeply. When I was an undergraduate, even though I grew up in the social margins and periphery of the Nigerian society, I still had great hope for the progressive transformation of the country, especially when I came across the goals of Nigerias Second National Development Plan to build: a united, strong and self-reliant nation; a great and dynamic economy; a just and egalitarian society; a land of bright and full opportunities for all citizens; and a free and democratic society. The two goals that I find deeply penetrating are building: a just and egalitarian society; and a land of bright and full opportunities for all citizens. How things turned out to be where they are today in Nigeria really bothers me deeply given the visionary nature of the goals of the Second National Development Plan. I know that I am a mortal human being, and my time here is limited. So, I am concerned about how others and myself can make the best use of my lives to contribute and make a difference in some way for the benefit of present and future generations in the country.

We cannot change the whole of history, because if we try to do that as Nietzsche said, we will be overwhelmed, and chances are that we will end up becoming very cynical because there are too many things that can disappoint us and maybe even feel a sense of despair. But we can do our best by creating a niche and making a difference in that area within our limited time and with our limited resources. The little we do in the chosen niche, can inspire others, and give us a relative sense of satisfaction that we have at least tried to make a difference in touching the lives of some people, especially those on the other side of history. Some economists argue that even if we cannot have a revolutionary change in society, if every day, every one of us will decide to engage in a random act of generosity to another person, the cumulative effect of that will make the world a better place. When one engages in a random act of generosity, it means he or she does not know the beneficiary of the generous act and they are not likely to ever meet again. So, the goal of the generous act is not to win a vote or create a hierarchy of power, but to make a difference in the lives of fellow humans because of our shared humanity.

When I was an undergraduate in the mid-1980s, I read one newspaper commentary in Nigeria where Late Chief Moshood Abiola and Professor Wole Soyinka celebrated their birthdays. The commentator in the newspaper made the point that the two persons come from more or less the same generation, but they interpreted their life history differently as they celebrated their birthdays then. Late Moshood Abiola celebrated the great accomplishments and achievements of his generation, but Professor Wole Soyinka according to the commentator titled his birthday speech then, Wasted Generation. The commentator argued that they come from the same generation, but they were using different yardsticks to evaluate their accomplishments and so they consequently arrived at different conclusions.

Personally, I agree with Professor Soyinka about my own generation,  I completed my undergraduate studies in 1986. I always ask myself what has my generation done to really improve the lives of the Wretched of the Earth in Nigeria? Many of the members of my generation in Nigeria today are occupying positions of power and authority broadly speaking and are indeed the ones looting the national treasury and creating conditions that will not allow Professor Falola and many like him to return to teach in Nigeria after retirement. I recalled how while we were undergraduates, my generation criticized the Nigerian elites/ruling classes and we went on strike several times in protest against some policies adopted and implemented by the then Federal Government of Nigeria. I do not know how other people feel, but personally, I feel too much obligation to humanity, particularly the people of Africa and Nigeria. Growing up poor in rural Bauchi State, without subsidized education using public money in Nigeria, I could not have had access to undergraduate education. On a critical note, the public money used to educate me was money that every Nigerian citizen was equally entitled to.

The economic logic that informed how the public money was used then to educate us was that the money invested to educate my generation will train and equip us to become professionals and future leaders, so that we can contribute to nation-building and the promotion of inclusive economic development that would benefit all Nigerians, including those that were denied access to the money used to educate us, even though they needed good roads, rural clinics, healthy drinking water, and good electricity supply, etc. But after being trained with public money, my generation became empowered and used its bureaucratic and institutional power to act in a predatory manner to enrich themselves, their friends, and relatives at the expense of the masses. Some of us out of despair explored ways for leaving the country and we left. The elites and ruling classes from my generation further focused more on promoting differences among ordinary Nigerian citizens instead of focusing on our shared humanity. For millions of ordinary Nigerian citizens, it was double jeopardy. White people treated Africans badly, especially during the colonial period because of their assumption of being a superior racial group, but today, my conclusion is that the problem was not simply being White or European, but something about the moral and ethical cultivation of the human heart and soul. Simply because someone is Black and African (i.e., not White, or European), if he or she has no moral and ethical cultivation, the person can be as oppressive as the Europeans were to Africans, if not worse. The naked fact is that even though I am a Black person who grew up poor, if I have power and privilege over other people, my being Black and growing up poor does not automatically immune me from abusing or oppressing other people and treating them like trash. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, we totally ignore this kind of moral and ethical imperative, which calls for the need for all of us in humility and sincerity to interrogate ourselves.

As a doctoral student in the United States, I came across a book that contained the names of all people from various African countries that received a scholarship through USAID to come and study in the country. They attended prestigious universities. Their names were listed by country. Some of them graduated long before I finished my teachers grade three certificate studies in Bauchi State. I remember how overwhelmed I felt after going through the list of those from Nigeria who received their education in prestigious universities in the United States. I wondered then whether there was anything new I would learn and do to make a difference in Nigeria after completing my doctoral education when there was a list of these highly educated people who were back in Nigeria, but the country did not change for the better in spite of their spectacular educational accomplishments.

From then on, I started thinking about the fact that we need more than just education to transform Nigeria, Africa, and the world. Later, I became interested in the history and evolution of Western civilization from the time of the ancient Greeks, through the Roman republic and empire, the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, modernity, postmodernity, globalization, hyper-globalization, etc. There is indeed a huge amount of erudite scholarship and wisdom that has been accumulated in the evolution of Western civilisation (as in many other civilizations) during all these historical periods, notwithstanding the effort by some Afrocentric scholars to dismiss everything that is not African in origin. The conundrum is that when one looks around today, in spite of all the reservoirs of erudite scholarship and wisdom in the Western tradition, we are still dealing with a lot of crap in terms of human development. If people like Auguste Comte will resurrect today and see that despite all the availability of scientific knowledge and industrial-technological achievements, there are still people who go hungry even in advanced nations, he would be very disappointed and realize that creating a just and fair society requires more than just having scientific knowledge and industrial-technological accomplishments. One just needs to pay attention to the kinds of debates going on among some of the elites in the Western world with regard to how they perceive people who are not of Western ancestry as inferior beings. De jure racism is gone, but de facto racism is still used to perpetuate injustice and oppression.

All these have made me to experience pessimism of the intellect, although I try to balance that out with optimism of the heart. If knowledge per se will change the world for the better and for all, we should be in a kind of New Jerusalem by now or Dar es Salaam, and not be dealing with some of the issues we are dealing with such as in Nigeria where life has become nasty, brutish, and short for many innocent people. Thus, I am now at the point of asking myself, what do we need to add to knowledge (broadly speaking) as such, so as to be sure that it will create a more just and fair society, or a just and egalitarian society and a land of bountiful opportunity for all citizens? Is it wisdom, courage, sacrifice, authenticity, compassion, etc., etc., that we need to add to our knowledge? Surely, the kind of moral and ethical cultivation of a people and society is important is very important in this respect as they phenomenally shape the kind of social institutions that emerge in a society. Two people or societies with the same kind of excellent knowledge (scientific, religious, and technological) will use it differently depending on the kind of moral and ethical compass that informs their vision for humanity and the common good.

I know and agree that knowledge and technological-industrial resources are necessary for development, but they are obviously not sufficient; neither are they the only things that are needed to create a more just, fair, and egalitarian society for all. Moreover, the more I explore this conundrum and concern, the more I am scared, reflecting even on myself that the modern and postmodern world we are living in is built around a human conception and caricature known as homo economicus. In our world today, one is directly and indirectly conditioned to acquire the social orientation and personality of homo economicus as the quasi-character quality necessary for success. This homo economicus is, however, at his or her core, a kind of human being that is so self-absorbed, and even when he or she is in that state, instead of admitting such moral limitation, if not a failure in some cases, in humility and sincerity, he or she uses certain strategies, to come up with a sacred canopy that covers the self-absorption and narcissism. The self-absorption and narcissism now become sacralised through the backdoor. Thus, in many contexts, the desires, and aspirations of homo economicus have gradually gotten a seat at the inner sanctum of many government and religious institutions, where instead of scriptures or ethics interrogating life and disciplining it, crude human desires inspire a reinterpretation of scripture and social ethics to fit the Zeitgeist of homo economicus. This notwithstanding, there is an attempt to cover or hide all this with a sacred canopy as many religious teachings are used to dehumanize others and promote hatred and prejudice. Frankly, I am worried not just about Nigeria but about the fact that humanity has no clear direction or destination as Patrick Deneen says based on his discussion and analysis of liberal democracy in Why Liberalism Failed.

While I am committed to doing my best and working with others to make a difference in some way, I still feel terribly overwhelmed that my youthful idealism and hope for Nigeria, Africa, and the world will not be realized in some way up to the time I will die, and this is truly and sincerely painful. The ideals of pursuing and creating a more just, fair, and egalitarian society for all may not be realized, and if this happens, it is not because of a lack of knowledge or scientific and technological resources per se, but because some people have chosen to use their knowledge and power to create private pleasures, which result in public pain or plight. Even if personally, I have accomplished something, and assuming I own the tallest building in Abuja, Nigeria, I feel my generation has failed the country. I pray that the younger generation does not repeat the mistakes of my generation. I will always remember the French philosopher who said, metaphorically speaking, there is no growth without death, just as no seed will germinate, grow, and produce yields that become a great harvest without first dying. The world will not be a better place without us making some sacrifices. But what kind of mindset comes to terms with sacrifice not just for now but for future generations and for the common good? What kind of worldview and culture creates a social atmosphere among not just elites and the ruling classes but ordinary members of society also, to value and honor making sacrifices for the common good and humanity at large? This is my reflection and lamentation at this historical moment where Nigeria is again at crossroads.

Samuel Zalanga is a professor of Sociology at Bethel University, Minnesota, USA. Email: szalanga@bethel.edu
Despite the official assurance, even as it sounds fairly tentative, and with the unfolding situations in many places across the country, it remains to be seen how elections will manage to take place in the different communities that have been impacted by or are presently zones of hibernation of unknow gunmen, bandits and terrorists.

The security situation in the country may affect voter mobilisation, deployment of personnel and materials to different parts of the country.  INEC

Mr Festus Okoye, a national commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in charge of Information and Voter Education, made the above remark in a paper he presented at a brainstorming session between the Department of State Services and the civil society/non-governmental organisations held at the DSS Headquarters in Abuja on April 6.

Participants at the meeting were drawn from various CSOs/NGOs, the diplomatic corps, INEC, the media, and other relevant security agencies. The programme was aimed at building a synergy between security agencies and CSOs/NGOs to enhance communication for national peace and security.

I was among the few media executives invited to the session, which focused more on national security and the forthcoming general elections in Nigeria. The engagements at the meeting reminded me of a similar brainstorming session hosted by the then National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki on February 11, 2015, a month after Boko Haram fighters had overrun the former headquarters of the Multinational Joint Taskforce (MNJTF) in Baga, Borno State and massacred innocent citizens.

The Dasuki media parley had happened two days after the erstwhile Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega announced the postponement of general elections for one month over insecurity in the North-East.

The president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors at the time, Mr Femi Adesina, led journalists to the security parley with the media, which was very blunt, sincere and constructive.

While providing insights into the next anticipated phase of the war on terror, which was to be very decisive, Dasuki yet reassured the attending editors that despite the temporary setback, the 2015 elections would still be conducted throughout the federation. He said that the then incumbent administration of President Goodluck Jonathan had provided enough funds for the active participation of Nigerias neighbouring countries in the MNJTF, seeking to contain terrorists around the Lake Chad basin and swathes of the Sahel, while it had also created facilities for recruited Military Technical Advisers (which others would rather describe as mercenaries) from South Africa and the Eastern bloc.

Insisting that the parley was strictly confidential, in order to carry the media along the counterinsurgency efforts being made by the Jonathan administration, Dasuki explained the new security measures being taken to enhance military deployments, coupled with the coordination of operational and logistic provision for the speedy defeat of terrorists in Nigeria and the region.

Currently, not only are some communities not easily accessible in the North-East because of the activities of terrorists, in North-West and North-Central of Nigeria, armed bandits are calling the shots. Coupled with the attacks on security personnel and facilities by unknown gunmen, especially militants of Eastern Security Network (ESN)/Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other violent secessionist agitators in the highly volatile Southern parts of the country.

Within a short period and with the movement of the MNJTF to Chad, troops recovered and cleared the border towns, while the technical advisers truly advised and assisted the Nigerian troops  day and night; from the air and on the ground  in repossessing more than a dozen towns, which guaranteed the respite that enable the smooth conduct of elections in 2015.

Some of the towns recovered and liberated included Abadam, Askira, Baga, Bama, Bara, Buni Yadi, Damboa, Dikwa, Gamboru-Ngala, Goniri, Gujba, Gulag, Gulani, Gwoza, Hong, Kala Balge, Konduga, Kukawa, Marte, Madagali, Michika, Monguno, Mubi, and Vimtim, among other communities.

As we approach the forthcoming elections in 2023, with politicians spending fortunes to buy nomination forms rather than using these huge funds to invest in the people and communities, while all sorts of strange fellows are staking claims for the presidency, I wonder  even as I remain optimistic  if the security situation in the country would guarantee for free and smooth elections. Would the country be safe and secure enough for these as we gradually move towards the appointed period?

Currently, not only are some communities not easily accessible in the North-East because of the activities of terrorists, in North-West and North-Central of Nigeria, armed bandits are calling the shots. Coupled with the attacks on security personnel and facilities by unknown gunmen, especially militants of Eastern Security Network (ESN)/Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other violent secessionist agitators in the highly volatile Southern parts of the country.

In the South-East, for instance, which has become a sprawling location for the recurrent retailing of violence by non-state actors, INEC officials carrying about their duties were recently shot dead as warning to government that no elections would be allowed in some parts of the region.

Some other communities have been turned into the dens of terrorists and camps for captives. Even President Muhammadu Buhari just confirmed that dozens of the Kaduna train passengers kidnapped in March, who are now captives in communities where they are being held, are being used as human shields by their abductors.

He said: The kidnappers are using civilians as human shields, thereby making it difficult to confront them directly. They dont care about killing their hostages if they come under attack.

One can only hope that the present administration is putting together a formidable strategy to ensure that our present democracy will not only be able to continue but will equally be deepened, despite all these manifest challenges.

Last week, a PRNigeria report indicated that at least 42 villages in Kebbi State are currently occupied by bandits, following persistent attacks on, abductions and the killing of dwellers of these places. That investigative report of PRNigeria was produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability project (CMEDIA) funded by MacArthur Foundation.

Most of the displaced victims of the Kebbi banditry are now living in camps in Chonoko town where humanitarian agencies are yet to provide them with relief materials and medications, while the INEC is still unable to confirm if many of these victims of violent attacks would be able vote since their communities have now become havens of bandits and terrorists.

While he was reluctant to raise alarm over the coming elections in Nigeria due to all manners of concerns, especially along the lines of insecurity, Commissioner Festus Okoye nevertheless disclosed that INEC would work with the security agencies to safeguard electoral processes and elections, as we move towards 2023.

He even emphasised that Nigerians who have become internally displaced and are in IDP Camps would be registered, as the Commission is determined to create the conditions that will enable all eligible Nigerians to vote. It is important for security agencies to do all in their power to degrade the current security challenges in several states of the federation, he added.

Despite the official assurance, even as it sounds fairly tentative, and with the unfolding situations in many places across the country, it remains to be seen how elections will manage to take place in the different communities that have been impacted by or are presently zones of hibernation of unknow gunmen, bandits and terrorists.

One can only hope that the present administration is putting together a formidable strategy to ensure that our present democracy will not only be able to continue but will equally be deepened, despite all these manifest challenges.

Yushau A. Shuaib, the author of An Encounter with the Spymaster, blogs at www.YAShuaib.com, and can be reached through yashuaib@yahoo.com
I believe one of the easiest ways to push this Agenda forward is through education. Africa acknowledges the fact that social and economic development is not possible without substantive investment in education and research, especially at the tertiary level.

Over time, it has become imperative for Africa to map out a strategy of regional cooperation and integration and lay the foundation for sustainable development. The establishment of the African Union (replacing the Organisation of African Unity) has been a step in that direction. The Union aims at achieving greater unity and solidarity and accelerating the political and socio-economic integration of the continent.

In great efforts by the African Union to accomplish what it has set out to achieve in making the continent a better one, AGENDA 2063 was introduced.

Now, what exactly is agenda 2063?

Agenda 2063 is Africas blueprint and master plan for transforming the continent into the global powerhouse of the future. It is said to be the continents strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development and it is a concrete manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity, pursued under Pan-Africanism and towards African Renaissance. Agenda 2063 encapsulates not only Africas Aspirations for the Future but also identifies key Flagship Programmes which can boost the continents economic growth and development, and lead to the rapid transformation of the continent. It also identifies key activities to be undertaken in its 10-year Implementation Plan, which will ensure that Agenda 2063 delivers both quantitative and qualitative transformational outcomes for Africans.

I believe one of the easiest ways to push this Agenda forward is through education. Africa acknowledges the fact that social and economic development is not possible without substantive investment in education and research, especially at the tertiary level.

Getting an education is not just a fundamental human right, It is pivotal to increasing employment and income opportunities. It is fundamental to breaking the cycle of poverty. Education is the key to unlocking the golden door of freedom for all in Africa. It is the bedrock of social and economic development.

Education is crucial as it is an investment in human capital. This yields tremendous benefits on many levels and spheres. It benefits the individual, family community, and nation. Education is a sustainable means of alleviating poverty and bring lasting change.

Consequently, to effect permanent change, any effort to bring lasting change must include education, in one way or the other.

Recently, the executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Architect Sonny Echono, played host to a team from the African Union Commission for Education, led by Professor Mohammed Belhocine, the commissioner for education who came to the Fund on an impactful courtesy visit, which I was privileged to witness.

The Fund, generally known for providing support for research and development in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, revealed its readiness, through its management, to forge a partnership with the Pan African University to push the African Union agenda forward. Arc. Echono further said that the Nigerian government is actually thinking in the direction of promoting technology and is in the process of establishing a national institute in Abuja, which will be a post-graduate institution for the promotion of the technological transformation of the country.

I personally think this would be a plus for the education sector in Nigeria, considering the fact that there hasnt been much attention given to technology in most of our tertiary institutions recently.

The Pan African University (PAU) is the culmination of continental initiatives of the African Union Commission to revitalise higher education and research on the continent. According to the African Union, the PAU will greatly boost the population and retention of high-level human resources, alongside quality knowledge outputs and will attract the best intellectual capacity from all over the world.

Fortunately, the Pan African University partnership with TETFund will most definitely yield positive results with the latter providing tremendous support in terms of the construction of more classrooms, procurement of laboratory equipment and all other basic infrastructure needed. This major development will provide a conducive environment and enable student researchers to learn one or two things to attract value. It will also be a huge opportunity for scholars to troop to the university.

With this, the goals of the African Union is being geared towards the right direction with education as an early foundation, encouraging research through the Pan African University and bringing young Africans together to study and conduct research for about three to five years, and in the process they get to know each other better in terms of their cultures, languages and beliefs. And this will create the real momentum for Pan Africanism, and a step towards realising Agenda 2063.

Rahma Olamide Oladosu writes from Wuye District, Abuja.
Nigerian businesses registering .ng domain names have the immediate benefit of being ranked first on search engines when they conduct an online search. Using it and maintaining a good search engine optimisation (SEO) for the website will, over time, lead to an increase in local traffic.

Recently, I read about the inauguration of a 14-man enforcement committee to monitor the implementation of the National Second Level Domain Policy across all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) both at the state and federal levels by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and was astonished why after six years Nigeria government is still advocating for the compliance of the local .ng domain.

The Federal Executive Councils (FEC) drive toward economic diversification and commitment to the development of a robust digital economy resulted in the approval of the National Second Level Domain Policy on February 16, which required the use of the Nigerian Second Level Domain by all government-owned websites and official emails.

I was surprised when a diplomat issued his card for confirmation and on it read .co.uk and our top public officials were not aware of the use of .ng in their ministries.

It will also be surprising to many that Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) is the registry for .ng Internet Domain Names and maintains the database of names registered in Nigeria.

The .ng is the internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Nigeria. Nigerias domain name system identifies Nigeria-related websites and is currently available for registration in the following variants, with most of them being restricted to Nigerian entities such as biz.ng, org.ng, gov.ng, edu.ng, and so on.

Many Nigerian business platforms still struggle with the indulgence of .ng, not aware of the immense benefit it will offer to boost their business outlook both local and international.

For instance, Nigerian businesses registering .ng domain names have the immediate benefit of being ranked first on search engines when they conduct an online search. Using it and maintaining a good search engine optimisation (SEO) for the website will, over time, lead to an increase in local traffic.

A strong online presence is essential. Your prospective customer will likely conduct a web search when looking for your product or service, and a website that is relatively easy to find and navigate will greatly increase your chances of making a sale, which .ng provides.

It was also disturbing to receive the report by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) that the number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the country dropped by about two million between 2017 and 2021.

The 2021 MSME survey revealed that there are 39 million MSMEs in Nigeria, which is a significant drop from the 41 million reported in the 2017 survey report.

Now, think of the amazing impact on these MSMEs if a significant number used the .ng domain for the development of their websites, with the national identity and all the attendant benefits.

For international trade merchants, .ng is a strong provider of mobility for online presence. Whether they decide to switch hosting services, relocate to a different country, or switch to using their in-house server, the domain name stays with them, allowing them to build their brand without having to start all over.

Another interesting fact is the use of .gov.ng for government organisations (MDAs), especially at the state and local government levels, where about 80 per cent of administration websites and mail addresses lack the .ng validation.

While Nigeria seeks to dominate the digital economy through its online presence, however the use of generic domains and personal e-mail for business and correspondence by MDAs compromises their identities, security, and global reputation on the internet.

The use of .ng in all state and local governments will make a very good first impression as being patriotic, credible, and a crucial tool for meeting the needs of citizens and connecting with the community.

The slow connectivity that many local governments complain of can be resolved by the local domain identity, .ng. There is usually a delay associated with any website that utilises a foreign string because of URL demand for the web page to load. By using the .ng string and also hosting websites locally, these organisations can enable their websites to operate faster.

Therefore, MDAs should serve as good examples for all in using the .ng domain at all levels. To build Nigerias digital presence in the global space, MDAs should stop using domains from the internet providers or mail providers.

In contrast to registering a foreign domain, the .ng domain is affordable and payments are made in naira. This will save businesses and the country huge amounts of foreign exchange.

What amazes me is that Nigeria has the highest number of tech hubs in Africa, with South Africa coming second. Yet South Africa has over one million domains in the .co.za registry, while Nigeria has only about 100,000 domains in the .ng registry.

Many federal and states government institutions fancy the use of other national domain name applications like .co.za, .com, .co.uk, .com.gh at the expense of the .ng domain which still suffers poor recognition.

NITDA as the authority that manages and administers Nigerias ccTLD (.ng) has taken the bold step to inaugurate a 14-man enforcement committee to monitor the implementation of the National Second Level Domain Policy and ensure compliance to actively increase registration on the .ng domain.

This is a commendable effort by NITDA as it works closely with relevant organisations to ensure that all government entities have access to dedicated domain names.

Also, service providers are encouraged to support this initiative by ensuring that any government domain they register conforms to this directive to ensure the general adoption of the .ng. domain.

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It is expected that the new policy will significantly enhance the publics confidence in the authenticity and security of information accessible from government-owned websites.

Furthermore, the application of .ng domain websites or email does not invalidate our already existing emails or website addresses. They can be synchronised with .ng appropriately and utilise the existing application with no complications or delay.

The cooperation of all Nigerians is highly necessary for the increasingly important adoption pf the use of the .ng domain, which will help advance the countrys digital transformation and economic fortunes.

Zeenat O. Sambo writes from Abuja.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has fixed May 9 for the conduct of the partys North West Zonal Congress to elect Zonal Executive Officers and National Ex-Officio members of the party in the North West Zone.

The party announced this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in Abuja on Saturday night.

Mr Ologunagba said that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party approved the conduct of the congress at the Zonal Headquarters of the party in Kaduna, Kaduna State.

The NWC requests all leaders, critical stakeholders and teeming members of our party in the North-West to be guided accordingly for a smooth and hitch-free exercise.

ALSO READ: Nine PDP members in Kano Assembly defect to NNPP

The exercise will be conducted in line with the Constitution and Guidelines of our great party, and in adherence to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Protocol on COVID-19, he said.

(NAN)
Despite failing to constitute a substantive board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has claimed that he effectively repositioned the agency to meet its core mandate.

The minister made this claim while declaring his aspiration for the office of the president of Nigeria in 2023 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at Ikot Ekpene Stadium, Akwa Ibom State, on Wednesday.

A new board is yet to be constituted for the Commission after the dissolution of the previous one by President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2020.

But Mr Akpabio, whose ministry oversees the interventionist agency, described his achievements  completion of abandoned projects  as an uncommon feat.

As a Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, we have completed Projects abandoned for decades and thought to be beyond salvage, he said.

We have had key projects commissioned by Mr President. This uncommon feat was achieved through the support of Mr President.

We have effectively repositioned NDDC to meet its core mandate.

Corruption haven

The NDDC has been enmeshed in several contract-related scandals and sundry allegations of mismanagement of funds.

To sanitise the system, a forensic audit team was set up to scrutinise the operations of the agency.

Mr Akpabio had claimed that a substantive board for the Commission would be constituted once the forensic auditors concluded their work and submitted their reports.

After inaugurating the forensic auditors in September 2020, the minister in September 2021 presented the final report of the forensic audit to President Buhari.

But eight months after submitting the report, Mr Akpabio has failed to constitute the governing board of the NDDC as promised.

Failure

In his reaction to Mr Akpabios claim, the executive director We the People, a non-governmental organisation based in the Niger Delta, Ken Henshaw, told PREMIUM TIMES in an interview on Friday that NDDC has failed woefully under Mr Akpabio.

Mr Henshaw lamented how Mr Akpabio continues to direct the affairs of the NDDC with no regard for extant rules, citing example of the appointment of a sole administrator for the agency.

If you doubt me check reports of past panels of enquiry, including the recent probe by the National Assembly. What youd hear are tales of corruption, mismanagement and the rest, he said.

It is still the same story of corruption, mismanagement and now a spice of authoritarianism represented by the sole administrator in the Commission.

It is in the time of Mr Akpabio that we have heard all scandalous corruption including the NDDC sharing money among themselves as covid-19 palliatives.

Mr Henshaw noted that Mr Akpabio introduced a sole administrator to the commission, an unprecedented development in the history of the agency.

It is also under Mr Akpabio that the forensic audit was commissioned, he sad.

Its been months and going to a year since the report was concluded and submitted to the president and up till now weve not heard a word about the outcome of the report.

Mr Henshaw also said the agencys development interventions are weak since theres no substantive head.

He blamed the presidency for the rot in the NDDC, describing the agency as a cash cow used to reward politicians who lost elections in Akwa Ibom State.

He recommended the entrenchment of transparency, accountability and citizen participation into the framework of the Commission as parts of the solution to the challenges of the agency.

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Mr Henshaw further urged the Federal Government to release all the entitlements due to the NDDC to ensure optimal performance.

Reckless Claim

On his part, human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, described Mr Akpabios statement as very reckless because the minister has no evidence to back up such claim.

He said: Mr Akpabio has turned NDDC to a Caretaker Committee  instead of a Commission established by law; NDDC under Mr Akpabio is now functioning like a Caretaker Committee.

He has been moving from sole administrator to interim management and what have you contrary to the provision of NDDC establishment Act. They have refused to inaugurate the governing board of NDDC and then in terms of delivery I personally have not felt the impact of this illegal committee or sole administrator or whatever name they choose to give it.

Mr Effiong who said Mr Akpabio is playing to gallery also accused the presidency of being complicit in constituting the governing board for NDDC.

Mr Akpabio knows hes just playing to the gallery but that is Akpabio being Akpabio for you. The minister is just being who he has always been but then you must also not divorce it from the President who is complicit because under the NDDC Act the power to appoint the Commissions board is rested in the president.

When asked about the way forward for the Commission, Mr Effiong said: I do not see any way forward as long as Mr Akpabio is still the minister of the Niger Delta Affairs.
The Director-General of Ikeoha Campaign Organisation (ICO), Charles Asogwa, has raised alarm over what he called the growing attacks on supporters of Ike Ekweremadu in Enugu.

Mr Asogwa disclosed this on Friday while briefing journalists on the controversy that trailed the delegates congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

ICO is the campaign organisation of the former deputy senate president, Mr Ekweremadu.

The lawmaker has indicated his intention to run for governor of the state in 2023 on the platform of the PDP.

On April 30, the party held its ward congress for the election of three-member ad-hoc delegates for its governorship primaries across the country.

The exercise in Enugu was, however, marred by violence with some party members, loyal to Mr Ekweremadu, receiving machete cuts.

Others were also reportedly manhandled with their phones and other devices confiscated by suspected hoodlums.

Mr Asogwa said some of the centres attacked by the hoodlums include, Awgu ward two and Oduma ward four in Aninri Council Area, Ugbaike, Enugu Ezike in Igbo-Eze North Council Area and Agba Umanna ward in Ezeagu Council Area.

The director-general stated that some of the hoodlums scaled the fence of his residence in Ede Oballa, Nsukka Local Government Area of the state in an attempt to attack him.

The ICO boss said the attacks were part of the unsuccessful attempts to scuttle the actual legitimate process by people who decided to play against the rule of the party and the countrys constitution.

We call the attention of the nation to the appointment of known deadly thugs and cultists into state and local government offices all in the bid to intimidate and stop distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Mr Asogwa said.

While expressing worry at the resurgence of attacks in the state, the director-general said the growing culture of political violence, cultism and banditry was condemnable.

He recalled that Mr Ekweremadus supporters had been attacked by the hoodlums on April 9, during a monthly meeting of the PDP members from Aninri Local Government Area, where the lawmaker hails from.

Mr Asogwa, who played video clips of the Aninri attack by the hoodlums, accused agents of state of being responsible for the attacks.

He regretted that the violence against their supporters has continued unabated despite being reported to the governor and security agencies.

He said the attacks were deliberate efforts to truncate the governorship ambition of Mr Ekweremadu in the 2023 general elections.

The director-general, however, called on the security agencies to fish out and prosecute all the perpetrators of violence in the state.

He also urged all lovers of peace and democracy to join hands to persuade the authorities to take the necessary and decisive steps to arrest the growing violence ahead of the partys primaries and 2023 general elections in the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, when contacted, said he was not aware of any attack during the PDP congress.

Mr Ndukwe, however, said he would get confirmation from the police divisions where the attacks reportedly happened.

Mr Ekweremadu represents Enugu West Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senate.

The lawmaker, who has been in the Nigerian Senate for 19 years, is a member of the PDP.
The Lagos State government has declined the request by the family of the late Bamise Ayanwola, who was allegedly raped and murdered in a BRT vehicle for an independent prosecution.

The family through their lawyer, Adeshina Ogunlana, had written to the Lagos State Attorney-General, Moyosore Onigbanjo, seeking a fiat to prosecute the murder trial against the sole defendant, Andrew Ominikoron.

Mr Ogunlana told PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday that he was informed by Babajide Martins, the director, the Directorate of Public prosecution (DPP) that the government did not grant their request.

Ms Ayanwola, 22, got missing while returning to Ota from Ajah on February 26. She had boarded a BRT bus going to Oshodi at about 7 p.m. at Chevron Bus Stop. Her body was discovered some days later.

In March, the state government arraigned the suspect on a four-count charge at the High Court in Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos Island. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Request

In a letter dated May 4, 2022, and addressed to the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, the deceased ladys family said they had formally expressed their wish to have a more independent body conduct the prosecution.

In their view, the Lagos State government, agency, and officials are involved in the matter and may not be reasonably expected to act as the prosecutor against themselves, said the family through Mr Ogunlana.

Mr Ogunlana, a former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch, said the family was concerned that the second rape allegation against the suspect by another person may complicate their matter.

Mr Omininikoro is also accused of raping another young lady (name withheld) last November, along the Lekki Ajah expressway.

The hearing will formally begin on Monday.
BEIJING, May 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On International Mother's Day, which falls on the second Sunday of May every year, people across the world share stories about their mothers and express their love and gratitude to the person who brought them to this world.

Parents serve as role models for children, and it's no exception for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He recalled stories about how his mother Qi Xin has influenced him through his life.

Born in 1926, Qi joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1943 at the age of 17 and became a staunch supporter of the Party's values and beliefs.

"Parents and seniors should pass on good morals to their children when they are young, helping them build moral integrity and a sense of goodwill, so that they can grow into people who can contribute to the country and the general public," Qi once said.

'Serve the country with the utmost loyalty'

When Xi was around five or six years old, his mother bought him picture books and told him the story about Yue Fei, a legendary general who fought battles to defend his nation with utmost loyalty during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

The mother told the boy how Yue Fei's mother tattooed four Chinese characters, which literally translate as "serve the country with the utmost loyalty," on the back of her son.

"I said it must have been a great pain to have those words tattooed on the back," Xi recalled. "But my mother said that although it was painful, he remembered it by heart."

Xi has since used those words as a goal to pursue in life.

The greatest filial piety

As a filial son, Xi chats with his mother and takes a walk with her whenever he has time. A photo of him walking hand in hand with his mother is placed on his bookshelves.

During the Spring Festival of 2001, Xi, then governor of southeast China's Fujian Province, could not get together with his parents because of work.

Qi called her son, saying that as long as he did his best on the job, he would be showing the greatest filial piety to her and his father.

Her words of support have greatly inspired Xi to serve the public with the goal of achieving a good life for Chinese families.

Xi has repeatedly said that he "loves the people just like loving his parents."

Passing down family tradition

Qi led a simple life, which became a tradition for the family. Her lifestyle and the family atmosphere guided Xi's values.

"A person who failed to be incorruptible and self-disciplined will become a person with no guts. Keep in mind that honesty is a blessing and greed is a curse, while establishing a correct view of power, status and interests," Qi once wrote in a letter to Xi, reminding him of self-discipline.

Xi has incorporated these beliefs into his ideology and governance practices.

In 2000, Qi spent 40 days visiting the CPC's old revolutionary base area of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia. In Zhaojin, the center of the area, she saw shabby classrooms of a local primary school and mobilized her family to donate 150,000 yuan to rebuild the school.

In May 2018, the students of the school wrote a letter to Xi, reporting their study and the development of the school. One week later, the president wrote back, encouraging them to inherit and pass on the spirit of the CPC with concrete actions.

Mother's Day: Stories of Xi Jinping and his mother Parents serve as important role models for children, and it's no exception for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

SOURCE CGTN
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Oosterdam becomes Ninth Cruise Ship to Sail Again for Holland America Line since Spring 2020 Tweet this

"Our teams work incredibly hard getting the ships ready for a return to service, and the smiles when they see our guests walking up the gangway that first time are so heartfelt and sincere," said Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line. "Each ship back to cruising means more team members back to sea, and we look forward to the restart being complete next month."

Since Holland America Line restarted cruising in July 2021, Eurodam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Nieuw Statendam, Noordam, Rotterdam and Zuiderdam have returned to service with cruises in Alaska, the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, California Coast and South Pacific. Volendam currently is under charter by the government of the Netherlands, positioned alongside in Rotterdam accommodating Ukrainian refuges.

Following its first cruise back in service, Oosterdam will spend the summer in the Mediterranean, offering seven- to 19-day itineraries roundtrip from Trieste (Venice), and between Trieste and Piraeus (Athens), Greece; Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy; or Barcelona, Spain. The ship will explore the entire region with ports in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Montenegro, Croatia, Albania and Malta.

After the Mediterranean season, Oosterdam departs on a transatlantic crossing to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, before heading through the Panama Canal and down the western coast of South America to position for a winter season of cruises around the tip of the continent between San Antonio (Santiago), Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 14-day itinerary will journey to ports in Chile and Argentina, including the coveted Falkland Islands, along with cruising in the Strait of Magellan, Glacier Alley and Cape Horn. Three 22-day itineraries add four memorable days of scenic cruising in Antarctica.

Holland America Line will complete the restart of the remaining ships in the fleet through June with Zaandam (May 12 in Fort Lauderdale) and Westerdam (June 12 in Seattle, Washington).

For more information about Holland America Line, consult a travel advisor, call 1-877-SAIL HAL (877-724-5425) or visit hollandamerica.com.

Editors note: Photos are available at https://www.cruiseimagelibrary.com/c/timseltc.

Find Holland America Line on Twitter, Facebook and the Holland America Blog. Access all social media outlets via the home page at hollandamerica.com.

About Holland America Line [a division of Carnival Corporation and plc (NYSE: CCL and CUK)]

Holland America Line has been exploring the world since 1873 and was the first cruise line to offer adventures to Alaska and the Yukon nearly 75 years ago. Its fleet of premium ships visits nearly 400 ports in 114 countries around the world, offering an ideal mid-sized ship experience. A third Pinnacle-class ship, Rotterdam, joined the fleet in July 2021.

The leader in premium cruising, Holland America Line's ships feature innovative initiatives and a diverse range of enriching experiences focused on destination exploration and personalized travel. The best live music at sea fills each evening at Music Walk, and dining venues feature exclusive selections from Holland America Line's esteemed Culinary Council of world-famous chefs.

CONTACT: Bill Zucker, Erik Elvejord PHONE: 800-637-5029, 206-626-9890 EMAIL: [email protected]

SOURCE Holland America Line
The annual ceremony recognized top academic graduates, outstanding seniors, retiring faculty, Professor of the Year Matthew Gaetano, and entrepreneur Bill Atherton

HILLSDALE, Mich., May 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillsdale College celebrated its 170th Commencement on Saturday, May 7. The College has held this ceremony annually since 1860. Jordan B. Peterson, author, clinical psychologist, and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, delivered the keynote address, and the College conferred honorary degrees and recognized top academic graduates.

Larry P. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, thanked the faculty, administration, parents, and friends of the College for making the ceremony possible. He encouraged the graduating class to live out the things they learned while at Hillsdale.

"You are awesome people, and you will be greatly missed here. Except you are not leaving, after all, are you? You're going to live the life that you have prepared yourself to live, and you are going to live in contact with this College, with is a partnership which includes, until death us do part, and beyond."

Dr. Arnn then introduced Dr. Peterson, who addressed the senior class and encouraged them to live in a way that helps them to find purpose in their lives.

"If you are going to act ethically ... you act in a way that works for you now, that works for you tomorrow, that works for you next week, and next month, and next year, and in five years, and in 10 years, and for you and your family, and your friends, and your broader community, and all of that simultaneously. That is a place to find purpose in your life  to manage that balancing act simultaneously."

Three hundred twenty-nine undergraduates from the Class of 2022 received their degrees. Twenty graduate students received their degrees.

Dr. Arnn recognized five faculty members who have retired this year: Barbara Bushey of the Art Department; Ken Hayes of the Physics Department; Jim Stephens of the Philosophy Department, Michael Sweeney of the Accounting Department, who retired in December 2021; Dan York of the Biology Department. Dr. Arnn also recognized the 2022 Professor of the Year  Matthew Gaetano of the History Department  as well as this year's top academic graduates and outstanding seniors.

Photos of the event can be viewed here. A transcript of Dr. Peterson's address is available upon request.

About Hillsdale College

Hillsdale College is an independent, nonsectarian, Christian liberal arts college located in southern Michigan. Founded in 1844, the College has built a national reputation through its classical liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies, even indirectly in the form of student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 6.3 million. For more information, visit hillsdale.edu.

CONTACT: Emily Stack Davis

517-803-3745

[email protected]

SOURCE Hillsdale College
Jammu, May 8 : Army foiled an infiltration bid on the Line of Control (LoC) on late Saturday evening during an operation in which one infiltrator was killed in J&K's Rajouri district.

A defence ministry statement said that the army gunned down an infiltrator on the LoC in Lam area of Nowshera sector in Rajouri district and thwarted an intrusion bid by the militants.

"The body of the slain infiltrator has been recovered".

Reports said the army intercepted militants trying to infiltrate into the Indian territory in Lam area and opened fire to neutralize the militants.
Itanagar, May 8 : More than 110 years after the 'Anglo-Abor Wars', the villagers of Arunachal Pradesh have built a museum with the local forest resources to showcase the sacrifice of the warriors and the history of the battle.

The eco-friendly museum, 'Misum-Miyang Kumsung', in Arunachal Pradesh's Siang district was recently constructed where Noel Williamson, the British political officer, was killed during the fourth and last Anglo-Abor war in 1911-12.

The 'Misum-Miyang Kumsung', meaning "ancient artefacts museum", was built at Komsing village, about 12 km from Siang district headquarters Pangin.

Tanyup Kopak, President, Nugong Banggo Kebang, a community-based organisation, said the Adi community villagers constructed the unique museum without any government support to highlight the war history, documents, photographs and various other war material and antiques for the knowledge of the young and future generations.

The museum also displays local and traditional handloom and handicraft items, hunting and battle gear, farm instruments and other items associated with the culture and history of the indigenous people.

Kopak first took the initiative to build the museum and motivated the villagers.

Uttaran Dutta, a US-based research scholar, helped the villagers to set up the indigenous museum.

"A committee constituted by the villagers would supervise the various affairs of the museum. The local people and the committee members would apprise the tourists and other visitors about the significance of the museum and the Anglo-Abor Wars," Kopak told IANS over phone.

He said that the income generated from the tourists and in other ways would be used for the maintenance and development of the museum as well as to procure medicines for the needy members of the community.

"The British force had arrested many Adi community warriors and taken them to Assam and other places. According to some elderly people, a few of the arrested Adi fighters were sent to Kala Pani (Cellular Jail) in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, but evidence is yet to be found," Kopak said.

Siang district's Deputy Commissioner Atul Tayeng said that the villagers, without taking any kind of support from the government, constructed the museum.

"The kin of the slain British officer Noel Williamson have already visited the site where he was killed. The museum will attract the people of other districts in Arunachal Pradesh and tourists from other states and abroad," the Deputy Commissioner told IANS over phone.

There are 26 major tribes and 110 minor tribes in Arunachal Pradesh with the Adi tribe having the largest population.

The Adis fought four battles against the British between 1858 and 1912 to protect their land from the colonialists and they were called the Anglo-Abor Wars.

The fourth and last war in 1911-12, which is one of the most important Anglo-Abor Wars in the history of the freedom movement in Arunachal Pradesh also known as the Poju Mimak, was fought from October 6, 1911 to January 11, 1912.

The Adi warriors during the battles and other fighting used the conventional skills and weapons of tribal warfare such as bows and arrows, spears, swords, booby traps, stone chutes and succeeded in stalling the invading British forces for more than three months at the historical battlefield.

The British forces ultimately got the upper hand in the war with the help of modern weapons. Many officials including Noel Williamson, Greigorson and many sepoys were killed in that war by the brave freedom fighter Matmur Jamoh and other heroes such as Tajong Tamuk, Lomlo Darang, Lotiyang Taloh and many others, who remain unsung in the history of India's freedom movement.

Writer and social activist Gandhi Darang, who is familiar with the 'Misum-Miyang Kumsung' museum, said that a research team headed by Prof. Ashan Riddi and Dr David Gao of Rajiv Gandhi University is now on a 9-day visit to Lower Dibang Valley district, East Siang district and Siang district for research and documentation on the unsung heroes of Arunachal Pradesh who fought against the British.

The History Department of the Rajiv Gandhi University, a central varsity, constituted the research team, who during their visits will speak with all stakeholders and collect documents.

In this year's Republic Day Parade in Delhi, the theme of the Arunachal Pradesh tableau was on the Anglo-Abor Wars, conceptualised and designed by the Art and Exhibition Cell of the state's Directorate of Information and Public Relations.

The tableau showcased the valour of the Adis to protect their land from the British in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
New Delhi, May 8 : A CCTV footage from West Delhi's Subhash Nagar accessed by IANS shows a group of armed assailants opening fire on their rivals in full public view.

In the incident that took place on Saturday night, two persons, Ajay Chaudhary and Jassa Chaudhary, suffered bullet injuries, the police said, adding that the two men are businessmen.

The two men were taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where they are undergoing treatment and their condition was stated to be critical.

The police said that prima facie appeared to be a case of personal rivalry.

"The victims were going somewhere when they were attacked by the armed group in Subhash Nagar. One of the attackers was riding a scooty. Around nine to 10 rounds of shots were fired," the police said.

A case of attempt to murder read with sections of arms act has been lodged with the local police station.

A source said that the attackers have been identified but no arrests have been made so far.
Patna, May 8 : Shifting caste equations in Bihar could set the alarm bells ringing for the Bharatiya Janata Party for the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 Vidhan Sabha elections.

The preparations for working out the caste and community equations have already begun in Bihar and this was reflected in the recently concluded Bochahan by-election and the polling for 24 MLC seats.

The biggest worry for the BJP is the traditional upper caste votes, especially the Bhumihar and Brahmin communities, shifting towards the RJD and the latter grabbing them with both arms.

The people of the Bhumihar community are complaining that the BJP continuously ignored them despite their having wholeheartedly supported the saffron party for decades.

Ashutosh Kumar, the founder of the Bhumihar Brahman Ekta Manch (BBEM), told IANS that his community worked at the ground level to strengthen the BJP but its leaders did not get active participation in the party and the government.

"We worked at the ground level and unanimously gave 100% votes to the BJP or its alliance partners in Bihar but its top leaders believe that we are their traditional vote banks and we would never go away from them. Hence, they have started reducing the quota of the Bhumihar community and started promoting OBC leaders in the party," Kumar said.

"We want active participation in the party according to our strength but BJP leaders think otherwise. Hence, we have finally decided to support the RJD. Tejashwi Yadav is a good leader and he has a smart brain. He knew our strength. He had given 5 seats out of 24 MLC seats to candidates of the Bhumihar community in the recently concluded elections and three of them managed to win. The RJD gave 20% seats in that election which was satisfactory for our community. We have also supported the RJD in the Bochahan by-election and its leader Amar Paswan won the contest," Kumar said.

"We have a simple demand and that is active participation according to our strength. Tejashwi Yadav is showing a positive intent towards us which was also reflected in the recently concluded Parshuram Jayanti. We organised an event on Parshuram Jayanti at Bapu Sabhagar in Patna where he promised to provide equal participation in the party." Ashok Kumar, ex-member of BBEM told IANS: "Bihar has 242 assembly seats and whoever gives us 40 seats in Bhumihar dominant areas like Arwal, Jahanabad, Bhojpur, Buxar, Begusarai, Patna east, Nawada, Muzaffarpur etc, we will support them." "The trust deficit emerged between the BJP and the upper caste community people after the Narendra Modi government sidelined leaders like Rajiv Pratap Rudy who belongs to the Rajput community, Ravi Shankar Prasad who represents the Kayasths in Bihar and Ashwani Kumar Chowbey. The Bhumihar community was sidelined after former CM Sri Krishna Singh. The leaders of the Bhumihar community did not reach the top post in Bihar. Giriraj Singh is an exception. He is surviving in the Narendra Modi government due to his hardcore Hindutva ideology," he said.

The Bhumihars are considered the most educated, landlords and financially sound caste in Bihar. They have around 7% votes in Bihar. The Bhumihars were considered the traditional vote bank of the Congress before 1990. After the emergence of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bhumihars were confused about supporting a particular party. Hence, its votes were divided between the Congress, the BJP and the RJD from 1990 to 1995. Then in Bihar from 1995 to 2000 Dalits and upper caste people were killed on a mass level. People of the Bhumihar caste formed an illegal armed militia, the Ranveer Sena and its founder was the late Brahmeshwar Singh Mukhiya of Belaur village in Bhojpur district.

During that period, a number of massacres like Laxmanpur Bathe, Senari, Bathani Tola, Afsar etc took place in Bihar mainly in Arwal, Jahanabad and Bhojpur districts with the Ranveer Sena and the CPI (ML) pitted against each other. At that time, a slogan called "Bhura Baal Saaf Karo" meant to wipe out the Bhumihar caste, went viral in Bihar. The people of the Bhumihar community generally have brownish hair in Bihar.

That slogan was reportedly given by then CM Lalu Prasad, though there is no proof of it. Despite that, opposition leaders in Bihar often blamed Lalu Prasad for that slogan. Due to the massacres, the Bhumihar caste shifted completely towards the BJP and its alliance partners after 2000.

Ashutosh Kumar believes that Lalu Prasad was allegedly responsible for the massacres in Bihar as the majority of the massacres took place during his and his wife Rabri Devi's tenures as chief minister. But Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did the surgical strikes on the Bhumihar. During his government, many leaders including Brahmeshwar Singh Mukhiya were eliminated.

Tejashwi Yadav, during an event organised by the Bhuhar-Brahmin Ekta Manch in Patna on the occasion of Parshuram Jayanti said that he believes in walking together with the Bhumihars.

"The relations cannot sour or improve suddenly. We are not here to take your vote or play vote bank politics. We came here to win your trust," Tejashwi said.

"In the last MLC election for the 24 seats, we gave five tickets to Bhumihar candidates and three of them managed to win the election. It indicates that if you take the initiative towards us for the betterment of society and the state, we always support you," Tejashwi said.

After the Bhumihars went towards the RJD, the JD-U leaders are trying to polarize the Rajputs in its favour. A meeting of the Rajput Vichar Manch was organized at the official residence of JD-U MLC Sanjay Singh in Patna on Friday. The Manch has decided to organize an event on June 30 in Patna to bring the Rajput community together in Bihar.

Arvind Bhai, senior leader and spokesperson of the Bihar BJP, denied all these charges. He said: "the BJP is doing politics of Jamaat (Society) and not Jaat (Individual caste). We have lost in Bochahan but that does not mean any caste or community has gone away from us. In a Vidhan Sabha by-election, voting is done only on local issues. We are absolutely sure about thumping success in the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 Vidhan Sabha elections.

"People of our caste voted for Nitish Kumar in the past and it will continue in the future as well. Our participation in the party is also reducing in Bihar and that was the point of discussion in the meeting," Sanjay Singh said.

Bihar has a total of 72140945 electoral voters till January 2020 including 38088338 males, 34250262 females and 2339 transgenders. Among them, only 19 percent voters are from the upper castes and if the Bhumihars having 7% votes will separate from the BJP, it will be a big jolt for the party keeping in view the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Besides the upper castes, 16 percent voters are Dalits, 17 percent are Muslims, 16 percent Yadavs are already in favour of the RJD in Bihar. The remaining 38 percent belong to OBC.

During the 2020 assembly election, the division of Muslim votes was another factor for the defeat of the RJD in Bihar. At that time, around 20 seats were such where AIMIM created divisions in the Muslim votes. The AIMIM managed to win 5 seats in Bihar and at the same time it played the role of "Vote Katwa" in around 15 seats mainly in the Seemanchal region. The Muslim community is now realizing the consequences of giving votes to the AIMIM. The RJD failed to form the government in Bihar.
Ankara, May 8 : Turkey is making plans to send 1 million Syrian refugees home as public hostility to their presence in the country is escalating.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey is building homes and public facilities in parts of Syria held by Turkish-backed forces to support the new plan of encouraging the voluntary return of the 1 million refugees, reports Xinhua news agency.

Making the remarks in a video message to a Turkish-sponsored residential construction project in Idlib, a rebel-held province of Syria, Erdogan said some 500,000 Syrians have already returned to "safe regions" in their home country in recent years.

Erdogan's repatriation talks came after he vowed in mid-March not to send Syrians back despite mounting public unease at almost 4 million Syrian refugees taking shelter in the country.

Last week, Turkey banned Syrian refugees it has hosted from travelling back to Syria for Eid al-Fitr, in what seemed a first-ever shift from its "open door" refugee policy for Syrians since the outbreak of their country's civil war in 2011.

However, the Turkish decision of voluntary repatriation remains problematic, as the present security conditions in Syria are not conducive for them to rebuild a life, experts said.

"There are still clashes in certain parts of north Syria, and it is not favourable for the Syrians to return at this point," Metin Corabatir, an expert on refugee issues, told Xinhua.

As a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, Turkey is bound by the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of anyone to a place where they would be at risk, said Corabatir, head of the Ankara-based Research Centre on Asylum and Migration.

Turkey hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees in the world, in addition to several hundred thousand asylum seekers of other nationalities, mainly from neighbouring countries.

The sheer number of refugees has become Turkey's headache over the years, while they have been increasingly blamed for many of the country's social and economic ills.

Turkey is currently in the grip of an economic crisis as consumer prices accelerated to an annual rate of almost 70 per cent in April, the highest in over two decades.

"Since the start of Turkey's economic hardships in 2018 there is an intensifying opposition to Syrians, people believe that we are robbing them of their jobs and wealth," Wahid, a 34-year-old Syrian migrant told Xinhua.

A study carried out by Turkish-German University Migration and Integration Research Centre shows that over 70 per cent of Turkish respondents have a "negative perception" of Syrians in general.

But 77.8 per cent of Syrian respondents said they were not planning to return to Syria, according to the survey.

Wahid said he has been living and working illegally in Turkey's capital city Ankara for over eight years, and none of his close family are taking steps to return home.

He said he wanted to return but could not see a safe future for his family in Syria.
Dharamsala, May 8 : Posters of Khalistan on Sunday surfaced at the main entrance of the state legislative Assembly campus in this Himachal Pradesh town, home to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, the police said.

The posters, written in Punjabi, surfaced in the morning. Also the wall near the gate was inscribed with the word Khalistan, a separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state.

Dharamsala is some 250 km from the state capital.

The police said investigations were on and also asked the locals not to feel threatened by the posters.

"It is an act by some mischievous elements carried out in the night," a senior police official told IANS.

The legislative Assembly in Dharamsala has been hosting the winter session annually outside the state capital since 2005.
Chennai, May 8 : The cyber security wing of the Coimbatore police has warned residents against mobile apps that are luring people into loan traps.

In a statement on Saturday, the cyber security wing said that just downloading these loan apps would lead to trouble.

The police said that there are more than 300 loan apps and once any of these apps are downloaded, there will be regular calls and harassment to share personal details.

While the borrowers will have to share Aadhar, PAN, and photographs of the applicant, contactand other details in the gallery are also transferred into the app account by the loan app providers.

'Fraud Alert' messages are sent to the contact details of the person who has taken the loan if he has not repaid it on time and also defame the person by making WhatsApp groups with these contacts.

Police said that even after the loan is repaid in full, the staff of the app company blackmail and take money from the people.

More than 30 complaints have been registered to the cyber security wing in the past few weeks, the statement said.

Police said that stringent action will be taken against those behind these apps.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 8 : Police in Kerala's Alappuzha on Sunday arrested the district public prosecutor for vandalising the Congress office in Nooranad a few days ago.

Solomon, the public prosecutor is also a senior CPI leader in the district.

Five Congress and four CPI men are already under custody in the case in which the two parties clashed at Nooranad over the erecting of a flag mast.

Solomon, a senior district leader of the CPI, was arraigned in the case after a clip of his voice directing party cadres to attack the Congress office went viral, leading to his arrest.

The Nooranad area is in the grip of violence after Congress men uprooted a CPI flag post that was erected in front of the Congress local office.

This led to cadres attacking Congress office injuring several people.

Alappuzha district is also in the news for two back-to-back murders in a political clash between SDPI and RSS, BJP and the police are not taking any chances even if minor political clashes take place in the district.
Srinagar, May 8 : Hundreds of people participated in the funeral of a policeman who was killed by militants in Srinagar.

The funeral took place late Saturday night, barely an hour after a wreath laying ceremony was held for constable Ghulam Hassan Dar at the district police lines in Srinagar.

Police officers led by IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, DIG central Kashmir range, SSP Srinagar, SSP (Police control room) and other officials paid tributes.

Militants fired at Dar while he was going on his bike for his daily duty.

He was shifted to the SKIMS Soura hospital where he succumbed to injuries on Saturday night.

The funeral procession took place at his native Danwar Eidgah area.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Kabul, May 8 : Afghanistans Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock has denied Tehrans claim that Kabul trafficked wheat from Iran.

The Ministry said Afghanistan imports its wheat and flour from the Central Asia states and that there is no need to traffic the wheat from Iran, reports TOLO News.

A Ministry spokesman, Musbahuddin Mostayeen, said that Afghanistan imports the wheat legally from the Central Asian countries.

"There is no need for us to bring wheat from a neighbouring country. We import it legally to the country," he said.

According to the Iranian media, Mohammad Ghorbani, Deputy Ministry of Agricultural Jihad for Economic and Planning Affairs of Iran. expressed concerns over the trafficking of wheat to neighbouring countries.

"Every year, there is wheat trafficking, it means it is being trafficked to the neighbouring countries through various paths. The price of each sack of wheat is 38,000 (Iranian toman) but it is sold for 800,000 toman along the borders," he said.

This comes amid a drought in Afghanistan and a predicted drop in crop yield.

The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) said that imports of wheat will increase from the Central Asia nations to meet the demands in the market.

According to the ACCI, more than 10,000 tonnes of wheat are imported on a daily basis through Aqina and Hairatan ports.

"The traders and investors have made preparations and we will purchase 95 to 99 per cent of our wheat from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia," said Khanjan Alokozai, a member of the ACCI.

Russia and Ukraine are considered the main producers of wheat in the world. Economists believe that the ongoing war between the two countries will severely affect the price of wheat in the world.

Based on available figures, Afghanistan produces between four to five million tonnes of wheat annually, but last year the products dropped by one million tonnes, and a further drop in wheat is expected in the country this year as well.
Panaji, May 8 : It is very sad to note that many writers of substance are acting as 'cheerleaders' of this dispensation, which could could pose a threat to freedom of speech and expression, says noted writer from Goa Damodar Mauzo.

Known for his progressive writing in Konkani, Mauzo was provided with security cover in the year 2018 following intelligence inputs from the special investigation team probing the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh in Karnataka about a threat to his life.

"If freedom of speech comes under attack then not only writers but even the state's culture will come in danger. This is why we need to voice out and fight. We need to use our space to protect our speech and expression," Mauzo said at a programme in Margao, South Goa.

He said that award winners should not behave like they are supreme or superior.

"If they do so, people will hesitate to interact with them and will consider as shunned by such award winners. Our writings will be impactful and impressive only if we walk together with society," Mauzo opined.
Mumbai, May 8 : A mother is someone who motivates, shows the right direction, and encourages us to reach new heights. On International Mother's Day, TV actors express their love and gratitude for their mothers.

'Kundali Bhagya' actor Sanjay Gagnani mentions: "I am going to call my mother on Mother's Day and tell her that she's the best mother in the world and take her blessings. Since I live away from my family, I'll send her flowers, chocolates and a gift. Throughout my life, my mother has been my Wonder Woman because she is one of the strongest women I know." Chandni Sharma, who essays the role of Akanksha in 'Kaamnaa' says: "Indeed, mothers are our best friends. As a child, my mother was my constant companion, my playmate. Sometimes, she would bring out dry kitchen ingredients and I would whisk up fake meals for her. Being a sweetheart, she would complement my cooking 'skills' and declare that she had the best meal of her life." "I believe that all that I am today is because of her blessings and effort. Her love and trust in me could not be explained in words, much like I cannot explain how much I love her," she adds.

On the other hand, actor Vijayendra Kumeria says a mother's love is the purest of all in the world. She loves selflessly and unconditionally.

"My mother has always had my back, on good days and bad. Whenever I feel like I am having the absolute worst day, I just call her up. That one phone call is a stressbuster for me. Listening to her just eases my worries. Not a day goes when she does not worry for my wellbeing. I am her mischievous son. This Mother's Day, I want to soothe her, take her out on a dinner date and have loads of fun having everything she likes to eat. It will be our special mother-son day out!" Tina Philip, who plays the role of Rhea in 'Kumkum Bhagya' shares: "I believe the love a mother has for her child is unconditional and nothing in the world can beat that. The best advice that I have received from my mother is that ' You've never lost until you've given up'.

My mom is the head of the department of science in a school in the UK, and it's amazing how she balances her career and home so beautifully. You don't even have house help in the UK like one does in India, so she really does have a lot on her plate from cooking to cleaning to other household chores! She's my hero and I really look up to her." "This Mother's Day, I have planned to send her a cake and flowers. She's also a foodie so I've planned a dinner out for her so she doesn't have to cook on this day and can sit back and relax," she concludes.
Dublin, May 8 : Sinn Fein, the Irish nationalist party, has been declared the winner in the elections for the 90-seat devolved Assembly in Northern Ireland.

It means Sinn Fein leader Michelle O'Neill will replace the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson as First Minister, effectively the devolved Parliament's Prime Minister, reports Xinhua news agency.

Both were re-elected in Thursday's election.

Victory for Sinn Fein came when the party reached an unbeatable 27 seats in the Assembly late Saturday night.

It is the first time since the partition of the island of Ireland in 1921 that the unionists have been pushed into second place in what is a historic victory for the Irish nationalists.

O'Neill described it as a defining moment for Northern Ireland, which is still part of the United Kingdom.

"Today ushers in a new era which I believe presents us all with an opportunity to reimagine relationships in this society on the basis of fairness, on the basis of equality and on the basis of social justice," she said in a speech at the election count.

Professor Jon Tonge from the University of Liverpool, a renowned expert on Irish politics, told Xinhua that the result was a seismic triumph for Sinn Fein, which he said was once regarded as a pariah party.

"Sinn Fein has become the largest party in a state which had a built-in unionist majority." Tonge said Sinn Fein's advance will not itself bring about a referendum on a united Ireland.

But he added: "If its success in Northern Ireland is combined with the party becoming the largest south of the border in the Irish republic, a likely prospect, it increases the pressure for such a vote on a united Ireland." Political commentators said the success of Sinn Fein has brought closer the prospect of a referendum for Irish Unity, one of the long-standing aims of Sinn Fein.

Nationally, Sinn Fein has always demanded reunification since the partition of the island by the British in the 1920s.

During The Troubles, the Northern Ireland conflict from about 1968 to 1998, Sinn Fein was referred to as the political wing of the pro-unity Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Under the Northern Ireland peace accord signed in 1998, decades-long The Troubles came to an end and a system of power sharing was introduced.

This has meant the leader of the main party takes on the role of First Minister, and the winner of the second party name the Deputy First Minister.

Under power sharing, if one of the two main leaders refuses to take part in the assembly or its executive, it cannot function. Donaldson said a decision will be made in a few days on whether the DUP will take up the number 2 role.

The DUP indicated earlier it would not sit in the assembly, citing its opposition to the Northern Ireland protocol agreement which has seen a trade border down the Irish Sea as part of a Brexit deal between the British government and the European Union (EU) to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Oliver Dowden, chair of the British ruling Conservative Party, told local media on Saturday that the British government will honour a constitutional obligation to hold a border poll on the future of Northern Ireland if there is a sustained majority in favour of unification.

Dowden, however, insisted it was too early to start talking about a referendum on Northern Ireland's future.
Seoul, May 8 : Japan's plan to dump radioactive waste water from its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean will endanger marine life and contaminate the waters, a South Korean green activist said.

"Eleven years has passed since the Fukushima power plant accident occurred, but its radioactive contamination has not been mitigated much," Ahn Jae-hun, energy and climate change director at the Korea Federation for Environment Movement, a green advocacy group in Seoul, told Xinhua news agency.

The group's analysis of the 2021 data from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare showed that cesium was detected from 8 per cent of Japanese fishery products.

"If radioactive waste water is discharged into the ocean, it will endanger marine products and deepen marine contamination further. The contaminated water will inevitably spread into the Pacific Ocean, polluting oceans in neighbouring countries (of Japan)," said Ahn.

The Japanese government planned to release about 1.25 million tonnes of nuclear waste water into the ocean spanning 30 years from 2023.

Japan has claimed that the contaminated water could be diluted with water and discharged at a lower concentration, but Ahn said the claim repeatedly proved wrong as the purification equipment cannot eliminate radioactive materials completely.

The activist said the dilution with water cannot lessen the total amount of contamination, calling the irradiated sewage discharge "the worst way to resolve" as it can never be retrieved after being released into the ocean.

"The ocean is not a wastebasket. The international community should urge the Japanese government with one voice to stop its irresponsible push for the contaminated water discharge into the ocean, and find safer ways," said Ahn.

He added that neighbouring countries, including South Korea, may consider forming a consultative body to make concerted efforts to tackle the issue.

The incoming South Korean government of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has reportedly planned to sternly deal with the tritium-laced water release by Japan.

The Yoon government will strengthen radiation checks and the country origin mark of imported marine products while expanding the origin labeling in restaurants.

The outgoing Moon Jae-in government has completely banned the import of marine products caught in the Japanese waters near the Fukushima prefecture.
New Delhi, May 8 : The biennial polls for the seats of 70 retiring Rajya Sabha members may not have much effect on the balance of numbers in the upcoming Presidential election because of the BJP's recent wins in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and the north-east.

The BJP will be coasting along with more or less the same numbers it now has -- 101 on the completion of the last round of biennial elections -- even as the Congress, which has already lost seats in Assam and Himachal Pradesh, is set to lose another two in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, although it can be compensated by Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Mayawati's BSP, too, will lose two seats in UP.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been the biggest gainer in the recent round of the Rajya Sabha biennial elections. It won five seats, with which its strength in the House has gone up to eight.

The BJP-led NDA does not have a majority yet in the Rajya Sabha, but the alliance is on a stronger wicket than before following its recent Assembly wins, giving its presidential candidate a clear edge. The party will most certainly gain three Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, apart from its gains in the last round. Accordingly, the NDA's strength will also cross the 120-mark by the end of this year.

So far, out of the 70 seats up for Rajya Sabha biennial polls this year, the elections for 13 were held on March 31 in Kerala, Punjab, Assam, Tripura and Nagaland. Elections for the rest will be held before the Presidential election in July.

The BJP candidate from Himachal Pradesh, Dr Sikandar Kumar, was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha. He takes over the seat so far occupied by Anand Sharma of the Congress.

The ruling party has also won two seats in Assam (one on its own and the other with its ally, UPPL), one each in Tripura and Nagaland, dislodging sitting members from the CPI(M) and the Naga People's Front, respectively. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won five seats in Punjab and out of the three in Kerala, the CPI(M) and CPI one each and the Congress one (A.K. Antony).

As far as the Electoral College goes, the NDA has 335 seats in Lok Sabha , the United Progressive Alliance has 110 and the other political parties, 96 -- these range from BJP's critics, such as the DMK, Shiv Sena, TMC, NCP and AAP, to parties like the BJD and YSRCP, which generally vote for the NDA. In the state assemblies, the NDA has 1,716 seats, UPA 1,040 and the other political parties, 1,257.

In the electoral college, the NDA MPs (335 in the Lok Sabha + 107 in the Rajya Sabha) at present represent a vote value of 3,12,936 votes. The vote value of each MP is 708. And its numbers in the state assemblies, where the vote values of MLAs substantially varies from state to state, add up to 2,18,321.

Taken together, the NDA's combined vote value is 5,31,257, which is a tad short of the half-way mark of the majority mark of 5,49,452. Not a problem when you have friends such as Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnaik and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, to bail you out.
Lucknow, May 8 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday ordered speedy completion of projects under Jal Jeevan Mission in a time-bound manner.

While inspecting the progress of Kachnoda Dam Project in Lalitpur, the Chief Minister directed the concerned officials to complete the water projects within the stipulated time to benefit the needy. He also ordered frequent review exercises to expedite the pace of ongoing projects.

The Yogi government has been working in a planned and phased manner to address the concerns of the water-scarce regions. Through effective implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission at grassroots level, the state government is working to conserve groundwater and is also working towards construction of new ponds, wells, and dams throughout the state.

With completion of Kachnoda Dam project at a cost of about Rs 174.97 crore by the month of October, nearly 1,45,324 people will directly get benefits. The length of the proposed pipeline of this dam is nearly 564 km, which will benefit about 62 revenue villages.

After inspecting the dam project, the Chief Minister also held a review meeting with the officials regarding the development works being done in the district. He also took stock of the Gulara, Bacholi and Tilaitha government water supply schemes of Jhansi. Under this project, 114 villages will directly benefit. This is to be completed by June.

The Chief Minister also visited and offered special prayers at Pitambara Peeth Dham in Datia, Madhya Pradesh.

He also performed Jal Abhishek at Vankhandeshwar Temple.
San Francisco, May 8 : Tech giant Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos has donated $118 million to a nonprofit, but it is unclear to which nonprofit he donated, media report said.

According to a Securities and Exchange Filings (SEC) filing, Bezos transferred 47,727 shares of Amazon stock to an unnamed nonprofit, worth a total of $118 million based on that day's closing stock price, reports Forbes.

Bezos does most of his philanthropy through gifts of Amazon shares, which the receiving nonprofit is allowed to sell without paying capital gains taxes.

Since the beginning of this year, Bezos has gifted 84,030 Amazon shares worth $233 million to unnamed nonprofits, according to SEC filings.

A spokesperson for Bezos did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes about the donation.

Bezos is not required to disclose which nonprofits receive his shares, though he tends to publicly announce his large donations sometime after he has transferred the stock, the report said.

Bezos has made a smattering of $100 million donations in recent years as he's stepped up his philanthropy.

In 2021 alone, he gave $100 million to former President Barack Obama's Foundation, as well as to World Central Kitchen's chef Jose Andres and nonprofit founder Van Jones to give to charities of their choice.

And he made a $200 million pledge to the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum last July, just days before he blasted off into space on his Blue Origin rocket. He has also been giving away $100 million per year to organisations helping homeless families as part of his Day One Fund initiative.
New Delhi, May 8 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday interrogated IAS Pooja Singhal's CA Suman Kumar, in connection with a money laundering case pertaining to illegal mining in Jharkhand's Ranchi.

After being in ED custody for five days, he was placed under arrest on Saturday.

The ED had on Friday recovered Rs 19.31 crore and a few incriminating documents from the CA's premises.

Kumar, who also handles the accounts of Singhal's husband, came on the radar during the course of Investigation.

The ED had conducted raids at more than 18 places on Friday.

The raids were conducted at Ranchi, Chandigarh, Faridabad, Gurugram, Noida, Mumbai, Kollata, Mujjafarpur, Saharsa, and in several parts of NCR including Faridabad and Gurugram.

The ED had also recorded the ststements of the CA after seizing the whole cash. They had to take help of bank officials and a currency counting machine.
Afghanistan receives 32-mln-USD humanitarian cash aid

Xinhua) 19:52, May 08, 2022

KABUL, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan received a batch of 32 million U.S. dollars in humanitarian cash assistance on Sunday, the country's central bank said.

"Following a series of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, a shipment of humanitarian aid worth 32 million dollars reached Afghanistan on Sunday. The cash aid was delivered to a commercial bank," Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) said in a statement.

The central bank welcomed "the arrival of currencies into the country through principled and legal means."

While appreciating the humanitarian assistance of the international community, the Afghan central bank called for better relations with its partners in the financial and banking sectors.

The war-torn Asian country has received more than 8 million dollars in cash assistance since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August last year, according to figures issued by the bank.

Following the Taliban's takeover of the country, the United States froze more than 9 billion dollar assets of the Afghan central bank.

(Web editor: Xue Yanyan, Bianji)
Hyderabad, May 8 : The approaching presidential polls have once again put the spotlight on which way the Janata Dal (Secular) will vote in Karnataka. In the only southern state where the national parties, BJP and Congress are directly ranged against each other, the JD(S) has occasionally emerged as a kingmaker.

Over time, the party founded and headed by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, has largely remained confined to Karnataka. During this period, it has separately formed government in the state with either of these national parties on different occasions. Currently, with the BJP enjoying a comfortable majority in the 224 seat Assembly, the JD(S) with 32 seats is biding its time till the elections due early next year.

Although the 2022 presidential polls are not exactly a challenge for the BJP-led NDA, the votes of neutral parties like the BJD in Odisha, and the YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh will prove crucial for them this time.

Unlike these parties, the Janata Dal(S) is a marginal player with limited scope for bargaining. Political analyst Ramakrishna Upadhya feels that that the JD(S) may use the presidential polls to send out their messaging to the general electorate.

"It will be about posturing. They may try to say we are against the BJP. We are for the Muslims and secularism. They could even vote with the other group too. With Assembly elections due soon, they will try to set themselves apart from the BJP. They may play their cards but it won't have an impact on the final outcome of the presidential polls".

As far as Lok Sabha votes are concerned, the BJP is firmly in the driver's seat, with 25 of the 28 seats in its kitty. It can also bank on the vote of the sole independent candidate, actor Sumalatha who is the wife of late Ambareesh. The remaining two seats are with the Congress and Janata Dal (S).

In the Assembly, the ruling BJP has 122 seats, followed by the Congress with 69 seats, and the JD(S) with 32. With each vote valued at 131, the JD(S) doesn't compare to the combined vote value of 75,528 that BJD and YSRCP bring.

In Karnataka, the BJP and JD(S) are currently sworn rivals. Although party supremo Deve Gowda is known to enjoy a cordial equation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the compulsions of state politics may not allow the JD(S) to extend a helping hand to the BJP in these presidential elections.

Firstly, with Assembly elections due in less than a year's time, the Janata Dal (S) will be in no mood to disturb it's secular credentials. Especially since it has been trying to nudge out the Congress from its position as voice of the minorities. The recent past has seen a number of anti-Muslim developments taking place in Karnataka. While the Congress remained silent, it was the JD(S) that raised its voice over targeting of Muslims by pro-Hindu organisations and several BJP leaders.

"Theirs is a small shop. They will be content with bagging around 30 seats in the next Assembly elections. The JD(S )will focus on remaining relevant in the state. That's their main focus," Upadhya explains.

In an apparent bid to further seal its pro-Muslim credentials, the party has recently appointed C.M. Ibrahim as its Karnataka president.

For the moment, the Congress too doesn't seem too keen on an alliance with the JD(S). It all fits in neatly with the political players' plans for Assembly elections to be played out in a year's time.

Pointing to the animosity between the JD(S) and his party in Karnataka, a senior Congress leader from the state ruled out any truck between the two parties for the presidential polls. "Anyways it's a national issue and the national leadership will take a call on this matter at the right time," he said.

With all the three parties keen on the state Assembly elections, voting for the presidential polls is not expected to throw up any surprises. Incidentally, in 2007 presidential polls, as partners in the BJP government in Karnataka, the JD(S) had abstained from voting at the last moment despite BJP pleas. This time around, it may well adopt the same strategy to help the BJP.
New Delhi, May 8 : The tenure of the current President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, is coming to an end in July this year.

The head of state is constitutionally mandated to sign on the decisions of the council of ministers headed by the Prime Minister; he is also the commander-in-chief of the Indian armed forces.

The President is not directly elected by the people, rather indirectly -- through their representatives in both the Houses of Parliament, legislative assemblies of states and Union Territories.

Though the President is elected through an electoral college system -- where votes are cast by national and state-level lawmakers and overseen by the Election Commission of India -- the idea of having him/her elected directly through the people has not been alien to the political system.

The mode of presidential election was debated in the Constituent Assembly. K.T. Shah had proposed an amendment on December 10, 1948, suggesting the President be elected by adult citizens, instead of an indirect election.

Another member of the Constituent Assembly suggested that the President should be elected through adult suffrage, which will insulate the office of President from the vagaries of Parliamentary fortunes, and dissolution of legislative Assembly was cited as an example.

A member cited the example of the United States, where the presidential elections are held on adult suffrage -- and pressed that such a system will educate the masses. Against the backdrop of diverse political ideologies and other factors, some members emphasised that there should be a non-parliamentary executive.

Some emphasised that the person who would be at the helm of affairs and to whom so many powers and responsibilities would be bestowed, should be directly elected by the people, and the President should not be a puppet of the majority party.

However, B.R. Ambedkar had vehemently opposed these suggestions. He had said the size of the electorate is a major hurdle, making it impossible to conduct presidential elections through adult suffrage and since the President is "only a figurehead" -- without actual executive power -- direct elections would be superfluous.

According to Article 54 of the Constitution, the President should "be elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both the Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states".

Article 55 provides the manner of election through proportional representation using single transferable vote.

The election of a new President is expected to be a battle of ideologies between the political parties. In the 2017 presidential elections, Meira Kumar -- the candidate of the opposition camp -- had said it was her battle of ideology against NDA camp's Ram Nath Kovind.

The interesting aspect of the presidential elections is that the anti-defection law does not apply to it, and no party can issue a whip to compel its lawmakers to vote for a particular candidate.

And under such a scenario, there is a likelihood of cross-voting. Therefore, the most sanctified exercise -- the election for a head of state -- is also not insulated from political manoeuvres. Presidential election can only be challenged in the Supreme Court, which constitutes a five-judge bench to hear such cases.

In fact, from the first President Rajendra Prasad to Pranab Mukherjee, every presidential election has been challenged in the Supreme Court -- except the election of S. Radhakrishnan and Pratibha Patil.

Rajendra Prasad had defeated K.T. Shah -- in the first presidential election -- by accumulating over 80 per cent of the total votes. Prasad's second term was also challenged, but the top court did not entertain the petition.

Zakir Hussain's election was also challenged in the apex court. It was claimed that the then Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers influenced the lawmakers to vote for Hussain. However, the top court had junked the petition.

The elections of the next three presidents -- Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, N. Sanjiva Reddy and Giani Zail Singh -- were also challenged unsuccessfully by Supreme Court advocate-on-record Charu Lal Sahu.

He also filed a petition challenging the election of V.V. Giri, who was elected President in 1969, and also unsuccessfully challenged the elections of K.R. Narayanan and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The presidential election of Shankar Dayal Sharma and R. Venkataraman, as also unsuccessfully challenged by one Mithilesh Kumar Sinha.

Pranab Mukherjee's election was also challenged by defeated candidate P.A. Sangma. It was alleged that at the time of filing of nomination, Mukherjee held an office of profit being the chairman of the council of Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata. The Supreme Court with a 3:2 majority had ruled in favour of Mukherjee.

In its December 11, 2012 order, the top court had said, "Categorising it as an office of profit did not really make it one, since it did not provide any profit and was purely honorary in nature."
Thiruvananthapuram, May 8 : The election to the office of President is likely to be held in the last week of July, and there is no suspense on how Kerala will vote as it will be against the candidate fielded by the NDA.

In Kerala, the Left with 99 seats is ruling the state while the opposition UDF led by Congress has 40 seats in the 140- member assembly. One seat has fallen vacant after the death of Congress legislator P.T. Thomas and the by-lection to the Thrikkakara seat which he represented is to take place on May 31.

The Left parties have categorically said that the main agenda of the 23rd party Congress is to bring down the BJP government led by Narendra Modi at the Centre. This is a clear indicator that the party will all out oppose the candidate put up by the NDA for the presidential elections.

CPM and CPI - the two main parties of the Left front in Kerala - have clearly stated that they will oppose the candidate put up by the BJP-led NDA but the party is yet to take a final decision as to how it would vote in the election.

With the BJP or the NDA not having any legislators from Kerala, the vote for the candidate put by the BJP led NDA in the presidential election will be zero.

Senior leader of the CPM and special invitee of party Central Committee, S. Ramachandran Pillai told IANS, "The CPM is a political party that is stiffly against the BJP. We will be taking a stand for the president election according to our policies. However, the party has to take a decision on the same office in the days to come." The senior leader, however, said that the party committees have to finalise the decision. He did not comment on whether the party will be voting along with the Congress from Kerala.

While the CPM and the Congress are jointly opposing the BJP at the Centre, in Kerala, the two are opposed to each other and hence the CPM and the Left parties will have to tread a cautious line while voting in the presidential elections.

Senior CPI leader Annie Raja told IANS, "The party central secretariat is meeting on May 12 and after that, we will take a call on this." The Congress party in Kerala is of the opinion that the strategy regarding the election to the President post will be decided only after the Congress Working Committee meeting.

Former state president of the Kerala unit of the Congress party, Mullappally Ramachandran told IANS, "The Congress is the main opposition party to the BJP at the Centre and as far as the presidential election is concerned, the election will be held in July last probably and hence the party has time for that.

The party CWC meeting will decide on the strategies and alliances for the presidential election and these are early days to speak on that." CPM Politbureau member and former Kerala secretary A. Vijayaraghavan told IANS, "The party politburo will take a decision on this and CPM is totally against the policies and programmes of the BJP-led NDA. However, a decision on this will be taken only after the party politburo meeting." The CPM and CPI, the two major Left parties, will take a decision only after the Politburo and Central secretariat meetings respectively but by and large, the leaders agree that the main agenda will be to defeat BJP's presidential candidate.

With Kerala having no BJP representation or for that matter from the NDA, the candidate put up by the NDA for the post of president is certain to get no votes in the state.

However, the BJP-led NDA is better placed to win the presidential polls as the difference between the ruling front and the opposition in electoral college of 10.49 lakh votes in as high as one lakh.
Brasilia, May 8 : Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched his campaign for the presidency alongside his proposed Vice President, former Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin.

Lula announced his candidacy and unveiled the seven-party alliance, Let's Go Together for Brazil Movement, to a crowd of about 4,000 people here, reports Xinhua news agency.

"It is more than urgent to restore the sovereignty of Brazil," he said during his speech at the rally.

Lula added that if he wins the elections scheduled for October 2, he will work "again on the mission to combat hunger".

The 76-year-old has run for president several times before: he was defeated three times before triumphs in 2002 and 2006.

In 2018, he ran for a sixth time but was disqualified a month before the election after conviction of corruption, a charge ultimately overturned by the Federal Supreme Court in 2021.

Lula said during the rally that his proposed foreign policy would be "active", reinforcing regional blocs and pushing to "modify world governance", with an emphasis on the need to strengthen BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

He added that his government program includes the defense of public companies and banks, while maintaining that the driver of development should be the state oil company Petrobras.

Incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro, of the Liberal Party, has expressed his intention to stand for re-election.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 8 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced that it will not contest the Thirikkakara by-election to be held on May 31.

State convenor of the party P.C. Cyriac, who is a retired Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, in a press conference at Kochi on Sunday said that the party would not contest the bypoll as winning a single seat would not make any change.

He said that the party will contest all the 140 seats in the next Assembly elections and will capture power in the state by implementing public-friendly projects. The state Convenor of the party said that the decision was taken by the national committee of the party in New Delhi. The party-state convenor said that the AAP has a policy that it would not contest by-elections in states where the party does not have power.

P.C. Cyriac said that the AAP will be contesting all the constituencies in the next Lok Sabha elections as well.

The Thrikkakara by-election was necessitated following the death of the sitting MLA, P. T. Thomas and his wife, Uma Thomas is contesting on a Congress ticket. Dr. Joe Joseph, a cardiologist with a leading private hospital in Kochi, will be contesting on a CPI-M ticket. And A.N. Radhakrishnan, BJP's state senior vice president, will be contesting as the party candidate.

The AAP leaders said that they have conducted detailed surveys in the constituency and found that the people are interested in change but the party is not contesting the elections as the focus is on the next general elections in 2024.
Mumbai, May 8 : Kannada star, Kichcha Sudeep's 'Vikrant Rona' directed by Anup Bhandari is the latest pan-India movie project that is creating a buzz.

The 3D mystery thriller movie's overseas market distribution has been acquired by 'One Twenty 8 media' at a record price. According to sources, it is for the first time that a Kannada film has received such a huge price much before its release.

The movie's producer Jack Manjunath said "I've always maintained that the content of the film is universal. The emotions will hit the right chord across the world and this deal is a testament to it. Extremely happy about the purchase and will announce the remaining details at the earliest. It is the highest for a Kannada film and on par with the other South Indian Languages", he added.

Meanwhile, movie trade analyst Ramesh Bala tweeted, "Vikrant Rona sells its international distribution rights for USD 1.3 Million (10 cr INR) high for a Kannada film! The globe can't wait for this mega canvas action mystery thriller." 'Vikrant Rona' will release worldwide in 3D on July 28. Starring Kichcha Sudeepa, directed by Anup Bhandari, also starring Jacqueline Fernandez, Nirup Bhandari, and Neetha Ashok, is presented by Zee Studios, produced by Jack Manjunath under his production Shalini Artss, and co-produced by Alankar Pandian of Invenio Origins.
Guwahati, May 8 : Thirteen militants belonging to the outlawed All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA) on Sunday surrendered at the Bokajan police station in Assam's Karbi Anglong district.

A defence spokesman said that the AANLA militants deposited many sophisticated arms, including four AK rifles, five pistols and assorted live ammunition.

An official statement said that with an aim to promote peace and harmony in the region, the security forces of Spear Corps have always endeavoured to mainstream the misguided youth who have taken up the path of insurgency.

Families of the surrendered extremists also expressed their gratitude to the security forces for bringing back their loved ones.

Many other militants of different outfits in Karbi Anglong district have surrendered in recent times and deposited a large cache of arms and ammunition.
Barabanki, May 8 : In a tragic incident in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki, a police constable who was rushing an injured man to the hospital, was killed in an accident when his bike hit a stray bull.

The man, who was injured following a brawl at an eatery in Barabanki, also died.

According to reports, two groups of students of a private university got into a fight outside the eatery late Saturday night. It led to a brawl in which Suyash, 25, and Alok, 26, were injured.

Additional Superintendent of Police Poornendu Singh said: "Suyash had a rivalry with a group of students of the university. They got into an altercation at an eatery after the cultural event.

"Suyash and Alok were rushed to a hospital where the former succumbed to his injuries." Constables Raj Kumar Pandey and Jayash Ram, who took the injured to the hospital, met with an accident while returning.

Their bike hit the stray bull, the police officer said.

The constables sustained severe injuries and they were rushed to a trauma centre in Lucknow where Raj Kumar Pandey died during treatment, the ASP said.

The police have lodged a case in this matter and initiated a probe.
New Delhi, May 8 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has started questioning Abhishek Jha, the husband of Jharkhand IAS officer Pooja Singhal, in connection with an illegal mining case.

The ED had on Saturday arrested Charted Accountant Suman Kumar, who works for the IAS officer and her husband. Kumar is in the custody of ED for five days.

On Friday, the ED had recovered Rs 19.31 crore cash and a few incriminating documents from the premises of Kumar.

Kumar, came on the radar during the course of Investigation. He also handles the accounts of Singhal's husband.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had on Friday morning conducted raids at more than 18 places -- Ranchi, Chandigarh, Faridabad, Gurugram, Noida, Mumbai, Kollata, Muzafarpur, Saharsa, and in several parts of NCR, including Faridabad and Gurugram. The raids started early Friday and came to end at 8 p.m.

The ED had also recorded the statements of the CA after seizing the whole cash. They had to take help of the bank officials and a currency counting machine.

"Hariom Tower of Ranchi's Lalpur area, Faridabad and other places are being searched. We have recovered a few incriminating documents in the raid. Residents of senior government officials are being searched by the teams," a source had said.

It is important to be noted that Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren also hold the charge of the mining ministry.
Chennai, May 8 : A 60-year-old man set himself ablaze on Sunday to protest the evictions being carried out in Chennai's Govindswamy Nagar, despite the matter slated to be heard by the Supreme Court on Monday.

The condition of Kannayian, who is being treated at Kilpauk General hospital, is said to be critical.

The residents of the Govindaswamy Nagar, near the Buckingham Canal were in protest against the evictions being carried out by the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department even on Sunday despite their petition being before the Supreme Court.

After Kannayian set himself ablaze, there was a scuffle between the locals and the officials, and the eviction was temporarily stopped for the day.

Many of the residents had agreed to move out of their houses in Govindaswamy Nagar provided they were given alternate accommodation. Several residents who were evicted are staying at the Greenways railway station premises until they get an alternate accommodation.

Sources in the Tamil Nadu Housing Board told IANS that a big businessman, who has a large tract of land behind this property, was behind the move and he had got an order from the Supreme Court which is challenged by the residents in the court and the hearing is scheduled for Monday.
New Delhi, May 8 : Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday emphasised that a progressive, modern India must have a police force which meets the democratic aspirations of the people and called for a renewed thrust to implementing reforms in the police forces.

Addressing a gathering after releasing the book titled 'The Struggle for Police Reforms in India' written by former IPS officer Prakash Singh, the Vice President stressed the need to upgrade the skills of policemen to effectively tackle the 21st century crimes such as cybercrimes and economic offences which require special investigative expertise due to their sophisticated and often transboundary nature.

The Vice President highlighted issues that need to be addressed on a war footing, including filling up of the huge number of vacancies in the police departments and strengthening the police infrastructure in tune with the requirements of modern age policing.

Stressing that the behaviour of policemen towards the common man should be courteous and friendly, the Vice President said, "A visit to a police station should be a hassle-free experience for a person who goes there seeking help. The first thing to reform for this is the attitude of the police - they must be open-minded, sensitive and receptive to each individual citizen's concerns." Noting that police reforms is a highly important and sensitive subject, the Vice President said that although there have been various attempts at introducing reforms over the years, progress has not been made to the desired extent.

He called for a political will in the states to properly implement the reforms, according to the Supreme Court guidelines. Naidu said that over the years following Independence, the police force was perceived to be increasingly politicised with significant erosion in values and practices.

"Instead of being seen as a people-friendly force, it was seen as being elitist and power-friendly," he observed.

Referring to the instances of misuse of police force during the infamous Emergency, Naidu said that it was used with impunity to suppress human rights and imprison thousands of people, including all the political opponents of the ruling dispensation.

He also appreciated the Prime Minister's call for making the police a SMART force --standing for a force which is Strict and Sensitive, Modern and Mobile, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive, Tech-savvy and Trained.

Calling for reforms in all walks of public life, including politics, legislatures and judiciary, Naidu stressed the need for speedy disposal of criminal cases against politicians and civil servants to retain people's trust in the system.
New Delhi, May 8 : Rajasthan will become a political hotspot in the ongoing month as the country's two biggest parties - the BJP and the Congress - are scheduled to hold meetings in the desert state with a view to the upcoming Assembly elections.

While the Congress is scheduled to hold a two-day Chintan Shivir from May 13-15 in Udaipur to discuss how to improve its prospects, the BJP, will on May 20-21, hold a meeting of national office bearers in Jaipur to strengthen the organisation and prepare for the upcoming elections in the state.

Both parties will also formulate strategies for the Assembly elections in nine states to be held in 2022 and 2023.

Sensing the BJP high command's desire, BJP national Vice President and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has started efforts for reconciliation.

Though Raje's and party high command's up and down relationship is well-known, for the past month and a half, she has been trying to improve the ties.

In this time, she has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national President J.P. Nadda, and Union Minister and former party chief Nitin Gadkari and to present her point of view.

On March 24, Raje met the Prime Minister, Gadkari, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajasthan BJP in-charge Arun Singh.

Raje, who had gone to Dehradun for attending the oath-taking ceremony of the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, met Amit Shah at airport.

On March 29, she met Nadda in the national capital.

Now the question arises that whether Raje's efforts bore fruit? What is the BJP high command thinking about Rajasthan. Will BJP fight the polls announcing a Chief Ministerial candidate or under the collective leadership.

Talking to IANS, a senior BJP leader said currently, the party will try to root out factionalism prevalent in the state unit. That's why on April 19, Nadda had advised party workers to fight unitedly against the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government.

The meeting that lasted for around four hours and 45 minutes at Nadda's place was attended by national General Secretary, Organisation, B.L. Santosh, Arun Singh, Raje, party state President Satish Poonia, Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Arjun Ram Meghwal (both hailing from the state), state General Secretary, Organisation, Chandrashekhar, Leader of Opposition in Assembly Gulabchand Kataria, among other top leaders.

How important is Rajasthan for the BJP can be gauged from the fact that the before the May 20-21 meet of the party, Nadda will visit the state for two days from May 10.

Amit Shah will be visiting tribal areas of the state this month while Arun Singh will be on a seven-day visit to the state.

Asked about the party's strategy, the leader told IANS that Raje had served as Chief Minister and there is no doubt that, she is a strong BJP leader and that is why the party has given her the important responsibility but as far as chief ministerial face is concerned, it depends on the political situation of the state concerned.

It is being said that most of the leaders in the saffron party are of the view that the polls be fought under collective leadership. However, for the final decision and announcement of the BJP on a chief ministerial face will have to wait till the poll dates get closer.
New Delhi, May 8 : BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, who got protection from arrest by the Punjab and Haryana High Court till May 10, on Sunday said that he will not be afraid even if 1,000 cases are lodged against him.

Attacking Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bagga released a video saying that "if Kejriwal thinks that he has the power and the police and he can frighten the BJP activists, then he should register 1,000 cases against them not just one." Bagga went on to say that "Kejriwal used Punjab ministers and AAP spokespersons against me which proves that they are afraid and cannot sleep properly.

"I thank the Punjab and Haryana High Court which proved that the country has rule of law. I also thank the Minorities Commission which has questioned the Punjab government on the issue of not letting me wear the turban. I believe that after the Minorities Commission's notice, the guilty will be punished." Talking about the incident, Bagga said: "I had repeatedly told the Punjab Police that I cannot come out without a turban, let me wear it, but I was told that 'you will be allowed to do it in Punjab'. At the same time, a woman personnel of the Punjab Police had asked them to allow me to wear the turban but in vain." On the complaint of AAP leader Sunny Ahluwalia, the Punjab Police have registered a case against Bagga in connection with giving provocative speeches, promoting hostility and criminal intimidation.

After Bagga's arrest by the Punjab Police, his father Preetpal Singh Bagga had registered a case of kidnapping against the Punjab Police.
Chennai, May 8 : The Tamil Nadu government, amid stiff opposition from various Hindu groups and 'mutts', has revoked the ban on 'Pattina Pravesam' of the Dharmapuram Adheenam, or the practice of carrying the seer in a palanquin by his disciples, to be held on May 22.

Seers of various mutts across Tamil Nadu including the Dharmapuram Adheenam had held a meeting with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at the Secretariat on Saturday night and asked him to revoke the ban on 'Pattina Pravesam.

Myladuthurai RDO, L. Balaji, citing human rights violations in carrying the pontiff of the mutt on a palanquin, banned the practice leading to a major outcry from across the state and outside.

The Dharmapuram Adheenam had taken a position that the disciples were not engaged in any human rights violation, saying that the disciples carry the seer on their own and after the necessary penance.

BJP state President K. Annamalai has said that he would personally be part of the team to carry the seer in the palanquin if the Tamil Nadu government goes ahead with the ban.
Bengaluru, May 8 : The Karnataka government has constituted a Commission to conduct a study on suitable political representation for Backward Classes in local bodies.

The Commission is headed by retired Justice Bhaktavatsala while retired IAS officer CR Chikmath has been appointed as the member.

The Commission has been constituted following a Supreme Court direction in a case related to ensuring suitable representation for backward classes in Panchayat Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies.

The issue was discussed at the all party meetings held on March 23 and 31 after which it was decided to hold the elections to these democratic institutions only after making provision for reservation for these communities.

The Commission would make suitable recommendations after studying the political backwardness of backward classes in these democratic institutions.
Recently the Delimitation Commission for J&K submitted its report to the Election Commission of India, which gives a boost to Jammu, but fails to leverage the strategy of playing Pakistan down in its Kashmir game. The commission also falls short of addressing the aspirations of the displaced Kashmiri migrants, especially the Kashmiri Pandits.

India has declared the entire J&K, including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Shaksgam Valley, and Aksai Chin as an integral part of the country. The J&K Constitution, enacted in 1956, had earmarked 24 seats in the Legislative Assembly for PoK. These were left vacant and not contested during state elections.

When J&K's Constitution was abolished on August 5, 2019, and its status changed, the Government of India retained provisions related to the PoK seats. Home Minister Amit Shah had said in Parliament: "When I say Jammu & Kashmir, I include PoK and Aksai Chin, both are included in the territorial boundaries of Jammu & Kashmir." Passive on PoK, Missing Shaksgam & Aksai Chin

This spirit, however, seems to be missing in the Commission report. In the J&K Official Gazette of May 5, 2022, the Commission said: "As envisaged in Section 14(4) of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (34 of 2019) 24 seats have not been taken for the purpose of delimitation." While not making any mention of the 24 Assembly seats allocated to PoK, it has also not taken up the other occupied parts of the original J&K -- Shaksgam Valley and Aksai Chin. Both were illegally given to China by Pakistan.

The Commission has also failed to earmark any Lok Sabha representation to these occupied areas. Interestingly, the Lok Sabha never provided for a Parliament seat in PoK, despite India declaring PoK to be an integral part of the country and earmarking Assembly seats for it.

Mentioning and highlighting the Assembly and Lok Sabha seats for the occupied areas is strategically important because it reinforces India's claims on the territories that lawfully belong to it following the signing of the accession treaty by the last Maharaja of J&K, Hari Singh, in 1947.

Giving voting rights to PoJK refugees The Commission in its press note has recommended some representation for refugees from the PoJK areas, though the gazette notification does not mention this.

The press note says, "The Central government may consider giving the Displaced Persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir some representation in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly by way of nomination of representatives of the Displaced Persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir." The Commission should have specified this in the gazette as well. The reason for not doing so is intriguing. As the Narendra Modi-led government has been repeatedly talking about reclaiming the whole of Kashmir, the Commission could have delved deeper and calculatedly talked about the occupied areas.

Though the 24 Assembly seats meant for PoK are left vacant, the government can actually conduct elections to them by making the PoJK refugees vote from the areas where they lived before they took refuge in J&K.

The Delimitation Commission could have made the PoK seats active by enabling these PoJK refugees to vote from their places of origin. This way, India could have a tactical leverage of reaching out to the people in PoK and also reinforcing its claim and commitment.

The PoJK Refugee Forum, a common platform of refugee families from PoK areas -- Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Kotli, Bhimber, Dev Batla, and so on -- has been arguing against keeping 24 seats vacant and holding elections for the rest 83 (erstwhile J&K State). The POJK community of displaced persons has been demanding their right to vote for the 24 vacant seats.

It is high time the Centre wakes up to this demand, which can be a game-changing move for the Government of India against Pakistan and China.

Kashmiri Pandits neglected yet again The Gazette fails to mention the Kashmiri Pandits, who were made to flee Kashmir in 1990.

A press note talks about migrants and not specifically Kashmiri Pandits. The note says: "Provision of at least two members (one of them must be a female) from the community of Kashmiri Migrants in the Legislative Assembly and such members may be given power at par with the power of nominated members of the Legislative Assembly of Union Territory of Puducherry." This recommendation is not a part of the Gazette notification and hence is not binding on the government.

Kashmiri Pandits, who make up the majority of displaced people from Kashmir, have once again been given the cold shoulder. The Centre has not come up with any policy for their return and rehabilitation, nor has the Commission provided any clarity about their representation in the Assembly.

Much like reserving Parliament and State Assembly seats for the SC/STs, the Commission should have set apart seats for the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community and mentioned it in the Gazette.

After the forced exodus, the community of over seven lakh people has spread out all over the country and outside. Many have not been voting from their places of origin in Kashmir and only a few thousands, who live in Jammu, have been able to vote from their original Assembly limits.

Having a representation in the Assembly needs a representational character for which the Centre needs to formulate a policy for the return and rehabilitation of the community in Kashmir. Thirty years after the exodus, none of the governments at the Centre has come up with any concrete policy.

Commission fails to address people's aspirations The Delimitation Commission was meant essentially to redraw the boundaries of the Assembly and Lok Sabha seats. It has done so, but in sensitive places such as J&K, the spirit of the work matters more and it is here that it has fallen short.

It has failed to address the aspirations of a whole lot of communities who have been discriminated against over the decades and had felt that after a change in the status of the state, their status would improve. The Commission should have taken into account the views of the Supreme Court, which had said that "delimitation is not an exercise in mathematics. It should reflect the political aspirations of a society bound in a particular geography." Being a border state with Pakistan and China actively meddling in it, J&K needs active interventions from the Centre to pursue a tactical leveraging policy. Giving lakhs of PoJK refugees and displaced Kashmiri Pandits a say in the new dispensation in J&K, the government can checkmate Pakistan-sponsored separatist elements and also reinforce its position on the international stage.

(Deepika Bhan can be contacted at deepika.b@ians.in)
New Delhi, May 8 : The BJP chief J.P. Nadda has asked the party unit in the national capital to intensify attacks on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.

Nadda held a meeting with the Delhi BJP leaders on Saturday in which he was also briefed about the Punjab Police action against party youth wing national secretary Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga.

Sources said that national vice president and Delhi in-charge Baijayant Jay Panda, party state unit president Adesh Gupta and state general secretary (organisation) Siddharthan were present in the meeting with party chief Nadda.

Sources said that discussion took place about the organisational functioning in Delhi, Bagga and working of the Kejriwal government. "Delhi BJP leaders briefed party chief Nadda about the current political development in the city and the Bagga incident and the way the party handled the situation. A detailed discussion was also held about the functioning of the organisation in the national capital and upcoming future organisational programmes were also discussed," sources said.

It is learnt that Nadda asked the party leaders to intensify attacks against the misgovernance of the Kejriwal government. "Nadda ji suggested that failure and misrule or misgovernance of the Kejriwal-led AAP government must be highlighted," sources said.

In a midnight development, the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the arrest of Bagga and directed the Punjab government to not take any coercive action against him until the next hearing which is scheduled for May 10.

The Punjab Police on Friday arrested Bagga from his Delhi residence over his remarks against Chief Minister Kejriwal. Delhi Police, which reports to the Union Home Ministry, on Friday took Bagga's custody and later released him after a legal process. It also lodged two cases against the Punjab Police in connection with Bagga's arrest. Bagga moved to the High Court while challenging the non-bailable arrest warrant issued against him by a Mohali Court on Saturday.
Mumbai, May 8 : From TV to films Sudha Chandran has been in the industry for over three decades now and feels that she has established herself to a certain extent and credits her years of experience for it.

She said: "I know that I am a dependable actor. I feel it's because of my years of experience, my dedication to the profession, my understanding of the medium, and also the foundation that was laid for me by my directors in the films that I started with." "I was very lucky to have the best of directors who taught me how to act, and also the techniques of films and television, be it my first director Singeetam Srinivasa Rao from 'Mayuri' or Santram Varma during 'Kaahin Kissii Roz'. So I think I was very blessed to have the best of directors as a result of which today I consider myself a reasonably good actor." She called her 1984 Tamil debut film 'Mayuri', which was based on her life as a turning point in her career. The actress even won a National Film Award - Special Jury for her performance in the film. It was remade in Hindi in 1986 with the name 'Naache Mayuri'.

Sharing more on her career milestones, she said: "The second would be 'Kaahin Kissii Roz' where I played Ramola Sikand. The girl next door suddenly became a style icon of television. And of course, whenever I take a sabbatical and come back, I always get fantastic roles, and that's how 'Naagin' happened. So 'Naagin' also plays a very important role in my life." "And if you talk about the south, then there was 'Deivam Thandha Veedu' where I played a beautiful mother-in-law's character. Currently, I'm doing a wonderful series on Zee Telugu, where I'm playing the title role of Vagdevi, an educationalist. So there have been a lot of turning points, and these are the characters and roles that have actually made my career spin 360 degrees," she added.

For Sudha, when it comes to her performance, the biggest reward is her husband's compliments and the appreciation she receives from her fans.

"There are times when I feel 'Oh my god, Sudha you have done a fantastic job'. 'You have really nailed the scene.' But when my husband is watching my performance he is like 'Sudha, today you were fantastic in the scene.' 'You were brilliant.'" "I think that is the big award for me, but the biggest award is when I go out in public and my fans walk up to me and say, 'Sudha ji, you have taken or made this character to a different level' or 'This particular scene that you did was fantastic.' So I think that is the biggest achievement for me as an actor," she concluded.
Hyderabad, May 8 : Cannabis (ganja), valued at about Rs 2 crore, being smuggled from Andhra Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh via Telangana, was seized by Cyberabad police on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Sunday.

Acting upon specific information, the sleuths of Special Operations Team (SOT), Shamshabad Zone, along with Shamshabad police, apprehended two interstate drug peddlers and seized 800 kg ganja being transported by a truck.

Truck driver Khushi Mohammed and cleaner Sonu Singh have been arrested.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner Stephen Ravindra said both the arrested men are from Uttar Pradesh while three other accused including one from Odisha were absconding.

Sikinder, a resident of Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh, who was to receive the contraband, Somu alias Bhagawan, a resident of Malkangiri of Odisha who is the supplier and Bijender Singh, of Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, who owns the truck are absconding.

According to police, the accused have been running the illicit transportation of ganja from Odisha agency area to Bulandshahr of Uttar Pradesh via Hyderabad so as to earn easy money.

Khushi Mohammed has been procuring the ganja from the local cultivators of Visakhapatnam and Odisha agency area and supplying it to Sikinder, who was then selling it to the needy customers belonging to Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

About one week ago, Sikinder had given an order for 800 kg of dry ganja. The arrested truck driver, through his contacts, procured the required ganja from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

On the evening of May 6, the driver and cleaner started along with cottonseed-loaded lorry from Vijayawada to Rajahmundry. After reaching Rajahmundry, the driver spoke to the truck owner over the phone. Later an unknown person came to them and guided them to a remote place in the agency area near Rajahmundry. Some persons came there in two cars carrying ganja packets and loaded 32 bags of ganja containing 64 packets and loaded the same on the truck among cottonseed waste bags. The truck owner gave instructions over the phone to the driver on how to reach the main road. Later they left the agency area with ganja loaded lorry in the early hours of May 7 for Bulandshahr via Hyderabad, police said.
San Francisco, May 8 : Elon Musk-run Tesla has sued a former engineer for allegedly stealing "confidential and tightly guarded" secrets related to supercomputer technology.

The Verge reported, citing court documents, that the electric car-maker has sued Alexander Yatskov for downloading the confidential information to his personal devices which he declined to give back.

Yatskov violated company's policies by "removing Tesla confidential information from work devices and accounts, accessing it on his own personal devices, and creating Tesla documents containing confidential Project Dojo details on a personal computer".

Tesla said that it also discovered Yatskov sending emails with classified information from his personal email address to his work email.

Tesla has suing Yatskov for compensatory and exemplary damages, seeking a court order for Yatskov to return the classified information.

Last year, the electric car-maker sued a former software engineer for allegedly stealing trade secrets from its internal systems.

The lawsuit against Alex Khatilov alleged that he stole filed from Tesla's internal Warp Drive software.

The company also accused him of "deleting possible evidence when security teams confronted him", according to reports.

In 2019, Tesla sued self-driving startup Zoox accusing four of its employees who earlier worked at Tesla for stealing confidential documents.

The case was later settled, with Zoox admitting that "certain of its new hires from Tesla" were in possession of Tesla documents.

Another case against Guangzhi Cao, accused of stealing files related to Tesla's Autopilot system, was ongoing.
Chennai, May 8 : Tamil Nadu Minister for Municipal Administration, Urban and Water supply, K.N. Nehru said that the government would send a delegation of officials to Kerala for the release of water from the Siruvani dam.

He was speaking to reporters at Coimbatore on Sunday after inspecting the works undertaken by the department.

He said that the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has written a letter to the Kerala Chief Minister for the release of water from the Siruvani dam.

K.N. Nehru said that Tamil Nadu is yet to receive a reply to the letter from the Kerala Chief Minister, but will send officials to Kerala for the release of water from Siruvani that was due to Coimbatore.

The minister said that initially the Kerala government reduced the supply of water by six to seven million litres a day and has further reduced it by 20-30 million litres a day.

Nehru said that the government would contemplate a legal action only after trying to resolve the issue of sharing of Siruvani water through talks and discussions and added that attempting legal route without discussions does not augur well for the state.

The minister laid the foundation for 263 new schemes at a cost of Rs 49.63 crore.
Kabul, May 8 : Afghan citizens complained of an increase of worn-out banknotes in Kabul markets, saying the issue has caused them serious challenges, media reports said.

"Almost 80 per cent of the Afghanis are worn-out. There are no new banknotes in the markets," said Jaafar, a resident of Kabul, Tolo News reported.

"It is not clear if new Afghanis have been printed or not. But worn-out banknotes are increasing in transactions," said Agha Sheerin, a resident.

However, several Afghans criticised the way people protect banknotes, especially small banknotes.

"No problem would happen if everyone took a wallet for keeping money. The banknotes should be kept in a good way," said Doos Mohammad, Tolo News reported.

Meanwhile, experts said that the Central Bank of Afghanistan must attempt to print new banknotes to prevent a lack of viable Afghanis.

"A French company printing banknotes for Afghanistan stopped printing after the collapse in August 2021," said Seyar Quraishi, a banking and financial expert.

"The Central Bank in coordination with Ministry of Foreign Affairs could convince countries ... to print banknotes for Afghanistan," said Ahmad Muneeb Rasa, a political expert.

The Islamic Emirate's spokesman said the government is considering the needs of Afghanistan, and will print new banknotes.

"We will try to print new banknotes. We have no plan to print a lot, but as much is needed," said Zabihullah Mujahed, the government's spokesman, the report said.

This comes as the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said earlier that Afghanistan is encountering a lack of liquidity which will cause the collapse of the economic system.
New Delhi, May 8 : Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has said that he will be meeting Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday, the day the Congress working committee meets to finalise the agenda for 'Chintan Shivir'.

"Will meet CM @BhagwantMann tomorrow at 5:15 PM in Chandigarh to discuss matters regarding the revival of Punjab's economy . . . Punjab's Resurrection is only possible with an honest collective effort," said Sidhu in a tweet on Sunday.

Sidhu may face disciplinary action after the State in-charge Harish Chaudhary complained against him, but the meeting was postponed due to the non availability of the committee members.

Chaudhary had written to party President Sonia Gandhi for action against Sidhu for speaking against the party line.

In the letter, he said, "I am forwarding Shri Raja Warring's detailed note regarding Shri Sidhu's current activities along with this letter." He wrote that Sidhu's actions are inexcusable and he should be asked for an explanation and disciplinary action should be initiated.

The Congress Working Committee is meeting on Monday to drive the agenda for the party's 'Chintan Shivir (brainstorming session) in Udaipur. This will be the fourth such Shivir during Sonia Gandhi's presidency, with the earlier ones organised in 1998, 2003 and 2013. Only the 2003 Shivir was beneficial for the party which helped it to clinch power in 2004 for 10 years.
New Delhi, May 8 : With over 10,000-15,000 children are born in India with thalassemia every year, experts say that the key in battling this genetic disorder is identifying it at early stages.

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that causes the body to have less haemoglobin than normal. According to World Health Organisation, four million Indians are thalassemia carriers, while more than 100,000 are the actual patients battling the disease.

"This disorder is not as rare in the world as it seems because it has around 1.5 per cent prevalence across the globe, while in India, it has 1.5 to 3.7 per cent prevalence depending upon the region," Dr Prerna Chadda, consultant at Rajeev Gandhi Cancer and Research Institute, told IANS.

Early intervention of this disorder is the key and it depends on clinical presentation whether it should be called thalassemia minor, major, or intermediary, she added.

She said those with thalassemia major are easy to be detected but after a certain life span, they couldn't survive. But, problem in identification comes with those having thalassemia minor, and it goes undetected many times, added Dr Chadda.

She said that basic CVC and PS are two important measures for this disorder. In those having thalassemia major, the level of haemoglobin remains at lowest range while in minor it stands at lower range. "Thalassemia carriers are offered protection against severe malaria because the parasite is unable to survive in the defective red blood cells," she added.

"Minor thalassemia means the person infected are the carrier and they don't have active manifestation of this disorder," said Dr Archna Dhawan Bajaj, Delhi-based gynaecologist. She added that in the case of major thalassemia, it is inherited from both genes - mother and father results into multiple blood transfusion and lowest level of haemoglobin.

"Knowing thalassemia status at the time of pregnancy is must. If mother is normal, there is no need to follow up further. But, if mother is diagnosed with thalassemia minor, then father's status must be diagnosed. If father is also diagnosed with thalassemia, there is a possibility that child could inherit this disorder. If child takes from one gene, it would be thalassemia minor or carry from both side, it will be thalassemia major," she said.

Talking about the more prevalence of this disorder in north India, she attributes the reason of large scale of migration into the region from Central Asia where also it has the higher level of prevalence.
New Delhi, May 8 : Congress' Delhi unit on Sunday alleged that the city's Arvind Kejriwal government has taken huge amounts from the liquor mafia in kickbacks to liberalise the liquor policy even though liquor consumption is behind 70 percent of domestic violence.

Delhi Congress President Anil Kumar said that this "has not only shattered domestic peace, but also brought economic ruin to many families, as the bread-winners and unemployed youth have become addicted to liquor".

He alleged that the government has not only allowed 3-4 liquor outlets in every ward, but also extended liquor shop timings, to make liquor available almost round-the-clock, and with the latest order to extend bar/restaurant timings till 3 a.m, the crime graph, particularly offences against women, will soar in Delhi.

Anil Kumar said that Kejriwal had promised to end the liquor mafia's reign before coming to power, "but the lure of thousands of crores in commission from the liquor mafia, became too irresistible for him, to liberalise the liquor policy, blatantly flouting all his principled postures".

A Delhi Congress delegation has sought time to meet the Police Commissioner to complain against the "reckless and destructive" state liquor policy.
Mumbai, May 8 : Hollywood actor Ethan Peck, who has been receiving a lot of positive response for the recently released television series, 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds', spoke about the pressure that he had to endure for reprising the iconic character of Spock, a role that has been immortalised by Leonard Nimoy.

In a roundtable conversation, the actor told IANS, "I have felt huge amounts of pressure (for this role). In the beginning of the audition process, I didn't know which character I was reading for. And, when I discovered it, I had a moment with a friend at that point of time. I was so overwhelmed with the opportunity to play this role and the responsibilities that come with it." Talking about the potential of Spock to catalyse his evolution as a human being, Ethan further said, "It required me to grow in huge amounts as a person and as an actor. To be able to do all of that was very frightening back then because I knew that the role demanded to be done in a very deep and profound way. I still feel the pressure to this day, I would say that I'm a little less afraid of being fired this time (laughs)." He also shared how the role overlaps with his inner subconscious, "I have struggled a lot with existential thoughts. I contemplate that a lot and not in a morbid way. It sends me down the path of idea and self-awareness and I believe that Spock is very much the same - a person who belongs to two worlds, Vulcan and the Rarth and shares a very different relationship with both of them." Taking a more philosophical route, he said in closing, "I think the contemplation of death is a great igniter as it inspires you to work differently, more ambitiously, more creatively and to solve problems more quickly because time is limited, so far as we know." 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' is available to stream on Voot Select for Indian viewers.
New Delhi, May 8 : A Zero FIR of rape has been lodged with the Delhi Police against the son of a Rajasthan Minister for allegedly raping a 24-year-old woman of a different religion.

According to the information, the FIR was lodged against one Rohit, whose father Mahesh Joshi is a politician and a minister in the Rajasthan government.

The victim has alleged that Rohit has her obscene photos and videos which he recorded while she was unconscious.

"On 3 and 4 September 2021, I came to Delhi for an interview, Rohit had already reached Delhi. He booked a room for me in Hotel Smart and showed us as husband-wife. He promised me that he would marry me. After this he raped me on many occasions and filmed it. He had threatened me of dire consequences if I dared to spill the beans. He told me that he is getting a divorce from his wife and that he would marry me. On many occasions he thrashed me badly and forced me to dance. It was a huge trauma," the victim has stated in the FIR accessed by IANS.

Meanwhile, the police also came to know that Rohit had made an affidavit in which the victim has stated that both are major and make physical relations on their own will. The source said this might have been done in his defence because Rohit knew one day the girl would approach the police.

"I know Rohit and we both love each other. We have a physical relation. I know he is married, has a daughter, and is getting divorced. In future if we fight on any issue then we will not take legal action against each other," read the affidavit of the victim accessed by IANS.

The Zero FIR has now been transferred to the Rajasthan Police for further necessary action.
Srinagar, May 8 : Two terrorists, including Pakistani terrorist commander Haider, were neutralised in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district on Sunday, police said.

Police said acting on specific information generated by police regarding the presence of terrorists in Cheyan Devsar area of Kulgam, police and army launched a joint cordon and search operation.A "During the search operation, as the joint search party approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which was effectively retaliated leading to an encounter. Later on, a team of CRPF also joined the operation," police said.

In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists of proscribed terror outfit LeT, including Haider, were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. The other killed terrorist has been identified as Shahbaz Shah of Kulgam.

As per police records, Haider was a categorised terrorist who was active for more than two years in north Kashmir and had recently shifted his base to south Kashmir.

"The killed terrorist was part of groups involved in several terror crimes, civilian atrocities and various killings including recent killings of police personnel SgCT Mohammad Sultan and Ct Fayaz Ahmad on November 10, 2021 at Gulshan Chowk Bandipora. Besides, he was also involved in an attack on Naka party near Nishat Park Bandipora on February 11 in which SPO Zubair Ahmad attained martyrdom while as four other security personnel got injured including three police personnel and an ASI of BSF," police said.

"The other killed terrorist Shahbaz Shah was a hybrid terrorist and was involved in the killing of a civilian belonging to minority community namely Satish Kumar Singh on April 13 at Kakran area of Kulgam. After this attack said terrorist was categorised." IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar termed this operation a big success and congratulated the joint team for conducting successful operation and eliminating the top wanted Pakistani terrorist.

Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including an Ak-56 with four magazines, a pistol with a magazine, an UBGL, a Pouch and ID cards of LeT were recovered from the site of encounter.

Police have registered a case and investigations have been initiated.
Srinagar, May 8 : The Jammu and Kashmir Police rescued an abducted girl and arrested the accused person in South Kashmir's Pulwama district, officials said on Sunday.

The police said a written complaint was received from one Nazir Ahmad Mochi of Zasoo on Friday stating that his daughter was kidnapped by one person, namely Sohail Ahmad Wani, a resident of Zasoo.

"During the course of investigation, officers investigating the case, raided various suspected locations and after strenuous efforts, the team was able to arrest the kidnapper and recover the kidnapped girl within the shortest possible time from Tahab area of Pulwama," police said.

Police said after fulfilling all medico-legal formalities, the girl was handed over to her legal heirs. Further investigation into the matter is in progress.

"Swift action by police against anti-social elements has been appreciated by the locals. Community members are requested to cooperate with the police in curbing social crimes in their neighbourhood. They can share information pertaining to social crimes with police. We reassure the community members that our efforts in curbing social crimes shall continue," police said.
London, May 8 : While existing Covid-19 vaccines have largely helped prevent deaths, scientists must now train their focus on developing a jab that stops transmission of the virus, according to leading scientist at Oxford.

Covid vaccines have led to sharp declines in deaths and severe disease from the virus, but the virus which is continuing to spread is still a cause of concern around the world.

"We need a new vaccine to stop transmissions and there are lots of interesting ideas," Sir John Bell, Professor of Medicine at Oxford University was quoted as saying to the Guardian.

"Deaths from the disease, those really awful deaths, had largely been eliminated by the late spring (2021), and they rumbled along, at a very low level and very close to baseline, and they've continued to rumble along almost in a flat line since then," he added.

But as new variants are emerging, the efficacy of vaccines have shown to wane, increasing the risk.

"It's an interesting question whether any of the (current) vaccines have a long-term future," Bell said. "None of them are very good at stopping transmissions," he said and as variants emerged "they get less good over time" at preventing people becoming sick.

He said that instead of trying to make a vaccine each time a new variant emerges, it is best to develop something that can curb the spread and not harm people, the report said.

Although vaccine manufacturers have created booster doses for the elderly, the immunologist said "the booster had no impact on deaths, despite all the rah-rah," suggesting that two vaccine doses were enough to prevent death and serious illness.

Bell nodded in favour of another round of booster shots for those over 65 and vulnerable people with poorer immune systems, but he was "not massively enthusiastic" about offering repeat vaccinations to healthy younger people, children and teenagers, unless a more serious Covid variant emerged.

"Their risk of severe illness is low with Covid and they almost never die. If we had a great transmission blocking vaccine then doing kids would make sense but we don't. Most of the world is going to get Covid, we need to get used to it." He estimated a "very high" chance that any new variant will be relatively mild, like Omicron, while the chances of a more lethal variant emerging were "very low but not nothing".

"We need to be on the lookout for a highly pathogenic variant that might start killing people at scale and is evading the vaccine response but we see no sign of that today," Bell stated.
Guwahati, May 8 : Ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's three-day Assam visit, various organisations in the northeast have once again threatened to restart their agitations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) if the Centre tried to implement it in the region.

Shah, who is likely to arrive in Guwahati late on Sunday night, would attend at least eight different events on Monday and Tuesday, coinciding with completion of one year of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led second government in Assam, headed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was sworn in on May 10 last year.

The All Assam Students' Union, the Raijor Dal, a political party headed by Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi, the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad in Assam, and the the Khasi Students' Union (KSU) in Meghalaya announced to resume their agitations against the CAA after Shah on Thursday announced in West Bengal that the government would implement the CAA as soon as the Covid-19 pandemic ends.

KSU President Lambokstar Marngar said in Shillong that any attempt to implement the CAA would provoke unrest in the hill state.

"The Centre, instead, responding the Meghalaya Assembly's unanimous resolution and and demands of all most all political parties, should extend the Inner-Line Permit system, an 1873 regulation, in the entire Meghalaya to curb the entry of illegal immigrants," Marngar told the media.

The Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisations (CoMSO), an umbrella body of more than 17 organisations, has been spearheading the agitation since 2019 for the introduction of ILP in the remaining parts of the state.

If the ILP - a temporary official travel document that allows an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period - is enforced in the entire Meghalaya, like in four other northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur, the state would keep itself out of the purview of the CAA.

Gogoi said that the people of Assam would never accept this "anti-people" law.

Gogoi, who is also the President of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, said that the BJP should realise that all sections of people are against the CAA as this is an anti-people law.

He had spearheaded the massive protests against the contentious citizenship law in Assam since 2019 and was arrested in connection with violent protests in the state in 2019 and was charged under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The Central government had earlier announced that the CAA would not apply to the ILP and the Tribal Autonomous District Council (TADC) areas.In the northeastern states, there are 10 TADCs, constituted under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

While Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram have three TADCs each, Tripura has one.

All the eight northeastern states and neighbouring West Bengal witnessed violent protests in 2019 end and early in 2021 against the CAA, which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims minorities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, who have migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, after facing faith-based persecution. At least five people were killed in Assam in police firing and clashes during the violent agitation.
Kolkata, May 8 : The Bharatiya Janata Party's West Bengal unit received a much needed shake-up to arouse it from its slumber during Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to the state recently.

According to insiders, Shah, the former national President of the party, made it clear to state leaders that they are free to quit if they are dissatisfied with instructions from the top, and should only make their dissatisfaction public after quitting. The other option is to discuss the matter with the top leadership in New Delhi.

"Shah didn't seem too concerned with Babul Supriyo's defection to the Trinamool Congress. Rather, during closed door meetings with the state leadership, he cited Supriyo's example as Supriyo was irked after after he no longer remained a Union Minister.

"Shah is said to have told leaders in West Bengal how the top leadership knew that he would defect if not given a ministerial berth. Supriyo could have been accommodated and he would have remained with the BJP. But then, that is not how the BJP works, the party's No. 2 made it clear. Organisational work is of greater importance and that is where commitment comes in. Supriyo didn't have that level of commitment," a senior party source in Delhi said.

Over the last few months, the BJP's state leadership has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Dilip Ghosh, former state President, was irked after he lost the position, despite being appointed a national Vice-President of the party. Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar was appointed state president and Ghosh made his objections clear in public.

There is also an ongoing tussle between Ghosh and Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, due to their differences.

Ghosh is from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and contested his first elections as a BJP candidate from the Kharagpur Sadar Assembly Constituency in 2016 and won and in 2019, won the Medinipur Lok Sabha constituency to became a Member of Parliament.

"Adhikari, on the other hand, was a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the Nandigram crisis. He was also an MLA and minister in the state before he split ways with the Trinamool Congress before the 2021 Assembly elections in the state and contested as a BJP candidate from the Nandigram constituency. He defeated Mamata Banerjee, who contested this seat and a legend was born. People like Ghosh, however, don't fully trust people like Adhikari who are not from the Sangh. Hence the rift. The top BJP leadership, however, knows that Adhikari is a face the party needs if it wants to repeat its performance of bagging at least 18 seats in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," the leader in Delhi said.

No wonder, Ghosh has been put in place and asked to develop the organisation at the grassroots level along with Majumdar, who can handle affairs in north Bengal.

While barely, two years are left for the 2024 polls, but the BJP in the state is yet to get its act in order. Political pundits may say that Parliamentary elections are held on national issues and not on local ones. But there is a problem here.

The Trinamool remains contained to the state of West Bengal and there is little possibility of a credible Third Front emerging at the Centre. The common man in West Bengal will then have to choose between drastic economic reforms that the BJP wants and the doles granted by the Trinamool, notwithstanding that the state's debt stands at nearly Rs 5.5 lakh crore.

"Shah, during his visit, made it clear that the state BJP has to start working on people's minds about how there has been no industrialisation in the state and jobs are not being generated. The booth level worker will have to learn about how free rations (that ultimately get sold in the market) and payments into bank accounts don't help in the long run. There is a limit to how many Toto and Auto Rickshaw drivers can make sustainable earnings. Industry is the only hope. The Centre's policies will have to be explained clearly. For this, the state leadership will have to work together," a state BJP office bearer said on condition of anonymity.
Moscow, May 8 : The chief of Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, said that Russia would destroy NATO countries in the event of a nuclear war in half an hour, so he urged them not to allow such a scenario.

"In a nuclear war, NATO countries will be destroyed by us in half an hour. But we must not allow it," Rogozin wrote on Telegram, RT reported.

According to him, the consequences of the exchange of nuclear strikes will certainly affect the state of the Earth.

Rogozin also noted that the NATO countries are waging a war against Russia, although not declared.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned outside forces against interfering in the Ukrainian conflict, promising a "lightning-speed" response to such actions, with the use of Moscow's most advanced weaponry.

"If someone decides to intervene in the ongoing events from the outside and create unacceptable strategic threats to us, they should know that our response to those oncoming blows will be swift, lightning-fast," Putin said in an address to lawmakers in April end, RT reported.

"We have all the tools to do this. Tools that no one except us can brag about. But we're not going to brag. We'll use them if such a need arises," the president said, without specifying which tools could be deployed.

The Russian authorities have already made all the necessary decisions to prepare for such a response, he added.

Russia successfully tested its state-of-the-art RS-28 Sarmat inter-continental ballistic missile. The new nuclear-capable missile can carry several Avangard hypersonic gliders, which are said to be able to bypass any existing air defences due to their extreme speed and ability to make constant maneuvers during their flight, RT reported.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New Delhi, May 8 : Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda on Sunday said that there is a need for a nationwide awareness campaign through combined efforts of various government stakeholders to tackle thalassemia.

Addressing a webinar on the occasion of 'World Thalassemia Day' here, Munda said, "We celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is Prime Minister's vision that we make new resolves which will propel India towards Atmanirbhar Bharat during the period of Amrit Kaal. In this direction, we should also make a new resolve for tackling the problem of thalassemia." "There is a need to have a nationwide awareness campaign through the stakeholders of various ministries and state governments such as teachers-students, Anganwadi and ASHA workers, which is essential for mounting an attack on the problem of thalassemia. A teacher should give five minutes extra to create awareness among students and similarly Anganwadi workers should inform the villagers about the disease and its prevention," Munda said.

The webinar was jointly organised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs along with various ministries and the thalassemia association. Experts from India and various parts of the world took part in the conference.

Munda also suggested that there should be common literature in simple and local language to guide the local level workers and help them in creating awareness. "Apart from awareness and counselling, cheap medicines availability and community blood donation in rural areas should be promoted," the minister said.

In his address, Anil Kumar Jha, Secretary in Ministry of Tribal affairs, said that through awareness, effective participation and the whole of the government approach India can control, prevent and treat the disease. "The Ministry will provide support to all private and public institutions working in the field of controlling thalassemia," Jha added.
New Delhi, May 8 : The Ministry of Home Affairs has granted security clearance to Jet airways to resume its commercial services in the country in coming months.

The security clearance come in wake of the proposed change in Jet Airways's management control and shareholding pattern, for the scheduled operator permit, according to officials privy to the development.

The government move came after the Jalan Kalrock Consortium became the new promoter of the airline and approached the government for the security clearance. The airline, earlier owned by Naresh Goyal, had operated its last flight on April 17, 2019 before a financial crunch led to suspension of its operations.

On May 5, Jet Airways conducted its test flight to and from the Hyderabad airport after a gap of more than three years.

Now the airlines will soon be conducting proving flights under the watch of the sector regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation to demonstrate its ability to take to the skies again.

If successful, the DGCA will be granting it the Air Operator Certificate.

Once a pioneer in India's private aviation industry, Jet Airways had announced in April 2019 that it was temporarily shutting down its operations after it failed to secure emergency funding from any source.
Goa, May 8 : Kerala Blasters FC qualified for the Next Gen Cup with a convincing 4-0 win over Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) in the penultimate round of the Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) game at the Benaulim Ground here on Sunday.

Kerala have 15 points from six matches and join league leaders Bengaluru FC (18 points from six outings) to be the top two teams to book their tickets for the Next Gen Cup to be held in the United Kingdom.

Goals from Muhammed Basith (42nd), Nihal Sudeesh (47th), Vincy Barretto (76th) and substitute Sreekuttan (90+5) sealed the deal for the boys in yellow. RF Young Champs gave a good account of themselves, remaining in fifth place with seven points from six matches. They take on Goa in their last engagement on May 11 while Kerala and Bengaluru clash swords in the virtual title decider on May 12.

Santosh Trophy winner with Kerala and RF Young Champs graduate Basith opened the scoring, finding the back of the net from a tight angle after being set up by Givson Singh inside the box.

Kerala changed gears after the break, Sudeesh scoring off a rebound after RF Young Champs keeper Jackson Singh spilled a Givson effort from close. Sudeesh turned provider soon after, feeding Barretto who slotted past the keeper to make it 3-0 before Sreekuttan came off the bench to add gloss to the scorline, guiding the ball into an empty net after the keeper came out of his line.
New Delhi, May 8 : NEET PG 2022 aspirants held protests at Jantar Mantar here on Sunday seeking postponement of the examination scheduled to be held on May 21.

The aspirants are demanding the postponement of exam citing the small gap between 2021 counselling and exam, ineligibility of 5,000 medical interns to appear in the exam, and delay in counselling. The doctors had also urged the Union Health Ministry to further postpone the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) PG 2022 for a reasonable period of time so that the current NEET PG 2021 aspirants may have sufficient time to prepare for it.

In this regard, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) wrote a letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya requesting to postpone the exam.

Aspirants are also complaining that due to their Covid duties, many of them were unable to complete their internships on time.

"The demand of the postponement of NEET PG Exam is going for long now. NEET PG students are getting mentally traumatised and harassed," FAIMA President Dr Rohan Krishnan said, adding it was the time that a permanent solution for all this is found.

"NEET exam should be held twice in a year. If AIIMS conducts DNB exam twice in a year, so why cannot NEET exam can be conducted twice in a year, so that a bigger pool of doctors can come in the system, he said.

Krishnan said that junior doctors carried out the peaceful protest nationwide on Sunday.
Washington, May 8 : The US on Sunday announced new sanctions on Russia, targeting management consultancies and accounting services and media outlets funded directly or indirectly by the state. Also, among the new curbs, were export controls on equipment and machinery such as bulldozers.

The announcement followed an agreement between G-7 countries to further "ratchet up" costs on Russia by collectively taking further measures. A White House fact-sheet stated that sanctions in place "are already exacting an immense toll on Russia's economy and our export controls have strangled Russia's access to critical technology and the supply chains it needs to sustain its military ambitions".

The US and G7 partners also committed themselves "to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil". This group of countries includes some of the largest importers of Russian oil such as Germany and Japan.

"This will hit hard at the main artery of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war," the White House said in the fact-sheet, adding: "The G7 also committed to work together to ensure stable global energy supplies, while accelerating our efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels." The new curbs announced by the US target three of Russia's most widely watched TV channels that are also directly or indirectly controlled by the government - Joint Stock Company Channel One Russia, Television Station Russia-1, and Joint Stock Company NTV Broadcasting Company. "All three stations have been among the largest recipients of foreign revenue, which feeds back to the Russian state's revenue," the fact-sheet said.

The US has also banned American citizens and companies from providing management consultancy and accounting services to Russia. "These services are key to Russian companies and elites building wealth, thereby generating revenue for Putin's war machine, and to trying to hide that wealth and evade sanctions," the White House said.

Furthermore, the US will also slap new export controls on Russia, this time targeting "a broad range of inputs and products including wood products, industrial engines, boilers, motors, fans, and ventilation equipment, bulldozers, and many other items with industrial and commercial applications".

Control in place already have severely affected Russia's efforts to replenish the military weapons and equipment. Its top manufacturers of tanks, for instance, Uralvagonzavod Corporation and Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant are said to have halted work due to lack of foreign components. The US has also said, citing reports, more than 200,000 Russians, many of whom are highly skilled, have fled the country.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New Delhi, May 8 : One person was arrested on Sunday in connection with the sensational attack on two businessmen, who were shot and seriously injured in full public view on Saturday night in Subhash Nagar area of west Delhi, police said.

The accused was identified as Raju Khan alias Googa.

"The accused provided the two-wheeler used in commission of crime to accused persons," said a senior police official.

The CCTV footage of the incident, accessed by IANS, showed a group of armed assailants opening fire on their rivals in full public view.

Two businessmen, who were in a car, suffered gun wounds in the incident. They were identified as Ajay Chaudhary and Jassa Chaudhary.

Both were taken to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where they are undergoing treatment and their condition was stated to be critical by the doctors.

The police said that prima facie, it appeared to be a case of personal rivalry.

"The victim were going somewhere when they were attacked by a group of person in Subhash Nagar. One of the attackers was riding a scooty. Around nine to ten rounds were fired," the police said.

A case of attempt to murder, read with sections of Arms Act, has been lodged with the local police station.

Several teams have been formed to look into the matter. The statements of the victims have been recorded by the police.

A source said that the attackers have been identified. The police hopes to make more arrests in the case.
Chennai, May 8 : In the shocking double murder of a couple, who returned from the US, allegedly by their driver-cum-domestic help, in Chennai, police have recovered 1,000 sovereigns of gold and 50 kg of silver from the accused.

The couple, Srikanth, 58, and his wife Anuradha, 52, had returned to their home at Chennai after ten months of their stay in the US with their daughter, Sunantha.

Driver Lal Krishna, who is from Nepal and who was working with them for the past ten years, picked them up and dropped them at their home. However, when the daughter tried to contact her parents, their phones were found switched off.

The panicked daughter called their relativesAand asked them to file a police complaint. Police on reaching the home found blood stains and on enquiry, found that the couple had a farm House at Nemmeli on the ECR.

Police tracked Lal Krishna and his friend Ravi and found that they were travelling to Kolkata and informed the Andhra Pradesh Police, who intercepted the duo at Ongole. On questioning, they confessed that they had beaten the couple to death.

They also informed the police that they had buried the bodies at the farm house at Nemmeli and police recovered the bodies.

Lal Krishna and his parents were working for Srikanth and Anuradha over the past ten years. However, Lal Krishna, according to police, had sent his parents back to Nepal a few weeks ago.
Bengaluru, May 8 : Senior Karnataka Congress leader and MLA H.K. Patil called on Legislative Assembly Speaker Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri on Sunday and sought a probe into the issue of 19 lakh "missing" Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

A delegation led by Patil submitted a memorandum to the Speaker, demanding that the probe has to be conducted by the Special Committee headed by a Judge of the Supreme Court.

Patil stated that he had submitted 2,750 pages of documents in this regard. The document comprised the RTI replies by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and issues that have been taken up by the courts.

Addressing press conference after submission of documents, Patil expressed his anger over inordinate delay in taking up petitions by the courts regarding election petitions and EVMs.

"There has been debate in the country and the issue is surrounded by too much of confusion. The ECI should organise ethical hackathon in Vidhana Soudha (Legislative Assembly)," Patil said.

"I have raised issues related to financial transactions that are taking place within the Election Commission. I have also discussed about voters being paid through digital platforms," he asserted.

"In backdrop to this, we have urged to form a special committee headed by a Judge of the Supreme Court to look into the matter of 19 lakh missing voting machines. I have provided inputs of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) submitted by RTI activist Manoranjan Roy," the Congress leader told the mediapersons.

"EVMs which are older than 15 years should not be used. There had been a committee report in 2007 on how to dispose old EVMs. From 2007 to 2018, for 12 years, the Election Commission turned a blind eye to this recommendation," Patil said, adding that the Speaker should issue summons to the Election Commission and resolve this matter.
Ankara, May 9 : Turkey currently hosts 4,082,693 refugees, 3,762,686 of whom are Syrians, Turkish deputy Interior Minister Ismail Catakli was quoted by daily Hurriyet as saying on Sunday.

As many as 323,859 irregular migrants have been deported during the last 5 years, he was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

In 2022, a total of 21,087 people from 113 different nationalities were deported, topped by Afghanistan with 9,654 people, and Pakistan ranks second with 4,206, he added.

The number of Syrians that voluntarily returned to the "secure" areas in northern Syria is 497,926, Catakli said.

"Turkey is the only country that can manage its immigration policy in line with the law and humanitarian values," he noted.

The Turkish government has made an effort to stop migration at its source, and the number of Syrians in Turkey has not increased over the last 5 years, he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently announced that the government plans the voluntary return of 1 million Syrians to their homeland as the public hostility to their presence in the country is escalating. The government is building homes and public facilities in northern parts of Syria held by Turkish-backed forces.

Turkey hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees in the world, in addition to several hundred other nationalities, mainly from neighbouring countries. They have been increasingly blamed for many of Turkey's social and economic ills.
LivePerson is a global technology company founded in 1995 during the first tech revolution and its corresponding wave of innovation. Nearly two decades later, since 2018, the New York City-based organization, which is publicly traded under $LPSN, has been primarily focused on creating cutting-edge artificial intelligence powered messaging solutions and software for brands and businesses. As part of its growth strategy, the company acquired both BotCentral and Conversable in 2018, rapidly accelerating its mission of becoming the most advanced conversational AI provider in the world.

The worlds largest and most innovative brands, as well as a rising cohort of small and nimble next-generation superstars, are all embracing artificial intelligence-driven conversational commerce tools and intelligent relationship solutions as they seek to differentiate themselves from competition and provide a compelling, unique, and repeatable experience to their customers. LivePersons Conversational Cloud software platform alone is trusted by over 18,000 companies across the world to provide best-in-class conversational commerce at scale including category leaders like Citibank, HSBC, The Home Depot, IBM, Lancome, Virgin Atlantic, RBS, and many others.

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The companys intelligent bot solution tool integrates across major messaging platforms, including Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and others, as well as a client brands own website back-end. It optimizes the conversational experience and flow between a customer and brand based on predefined bot-powered templates, making it easy for a real-life customer service associate to jump into the chat when needed. Having a bot handle the background discovery and information gathering stage of shopper interactions frees up human associates for other tasks, allowing them to focus on higher level, more nuanced customer challenges. The smart bots analyze past customer messages and distill learnings from layers and layers of historical interaction data to determine recommendations and present relevant solutions and contextually appropriate content to provide an enhanced level of personalization along the shopper journey.

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This article originally appeared in the PSFK iQ report, Optimizing The Personalization Of The Customer Journey.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/08/2022



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[ Spoilers: This report contains spoilers that reveal if Jibri and Miona got married and if the couple is still together now.]

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So did Miona and Jibri get married or split, and is the couple still together now?

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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

couple Jibri Bell and Miona have just been shown moving in with Jibri's parents on the show's ninth season, so did the couple end up calling it quits or did they get married -- and is Jibri and Miona still together now?Jibri, a 28-year-old band frontman from Rapid City, SD, was living in Los Angeles, CA, when he met Miona, a 23-year-old makeup artist from Nis, Serbia, while touring with his band called Black Serbs, who create "space punk music," in Serbia.Jibri called Miona a sexy fireball and said they got engaged in Thailand during the ninth-season premiere of that aired on April 17.Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Jibri stopped touring and his creative work was put on hold.Jibri also had to pay for Miona's K-1 visa, and so the self-described "goofy" and "wild" artist decided to move back home and live with mother and stepdad in Rapid City to save money."Miona's K-1 visa getting approved was the best thing that's happened to me since the pandemic started. And after not seeing her for months, Miona is coming here very soon, and I really want her to feel welcome in South Dakota," Jibri explained in a confessional.Jibri admitted Miona was not excited about South Dakota, which he called "a hidden gem," and she'd prefer to live in Los Angeles, CA."Now that I'm older... I've realized, 'This is my home and this did turn me into who I am and who I'm growing to be as a man... I hope it's going to be okay," Jibri said.Jibri's mother worried Miona would try to pressure her son into moving to California, especially because Jibri may not be able to afford that kind of Beverly Hills life.Jibri told his mom not to fret because he's "a hustler" and could "sell meat to a vegan," and he believed only one good song would put him back on the map.Jibri's mom said her son tended to jump right into water rather than testing it first, and his stepdad was a little nervous about having multiple strong personalities in one household.Jibri new the living dynamic was going to be "interesting," and he anticipated a lot of conflict even though he was going to remain optimistic about the situation."I definitely can't provide for the Kardashian lifestyle Miona is used to," Jibri lamented. "Historically, I haven't been smart with my money, and so that's something I'm really trying to work on for the next year."Jibri told the cameras that Los Angeles could maybe happen one day, but not any time soon.Jibri asked Miona to give South Dakota a try during a FaceTime conversation, but she wasn't onboard with the idea."I really don't want to come to America and live like a 50 year old. I'm sorry," Miona told her fiance.Jibri said he envisioned living in South Dakota for six to 12 months and possibly getting married there, which Miona said sounded "even worse." She wanted to her wedding day to be really special and on a beach."I don't want to live there, Jibri," Miona vented."I really don't. I don't know what's the nicer way to say this but, if I wanted a small city life, I could have stayed just here in Nis," she said.Miona insisted she really loved Jibri, but he was concerned about her lack of patience. He also hoped Miona would respect his mother, who lived a modest lifestyle and didn't want Miona to dress really sexy in her home.While Jibri was waiting for Miona's arrival, his band was trying to get back together and make new music. Jibri's best friend David was curious if his love was going to "hold out," and Jibri said it hurt to not have full support from his friends.David apparently thought Miona came across rude and arrogant when he first met her in Serbia, but Jibri thought the real issue was that he wasn't able to dedicate 100 percent of his time to their music and his business partners weren't thrilled about that.Jibri felt he was in this alone and everyone was against him, but David assured his friend that he didn't want to see Jibri's talent "slow down or be destroyed" because of a girl."This 90 days does seem crazy to me... but f-ck it! I loved Miona since the moment I laid eyes on her, so I feel ready," Jibri said.Miona then finally arrived in America, and Jibri said it felt amazing to be reunited with the love of his life. He even pulled out a red carpet for her to walk on through the airport."America is usually always represented as a perfect life and chasing the American dream, so I definitely expect a better standard and way of living. And Jibri promised that we would move to [Los Angeles]. If that doesn't happen, then I would want to leave," Miona said in a confessional.Jibri brought Miona to his red pickup truck and surprised his love with cowgirl boots."Jibri's gifts are so thoughtful, and he always knows what I'm going to need. But I still don't want to live in Rapid City.Jibri proceeded to give Miona a tour through Rapid City, but she noted, "There is nothing."Miona thought the countryside looked nice, but she was not impressed by the downtown area. She was used to more people walking the city streets as well as taller buildings.Miona admitted she was nervous to live with Jibri's mom because she really wanted to be liked and not feel any "weird energy," and Jibri advised Miona to just be herself. Miona had been warned that Jibri's mother was very "direct."Miona then noted how she didn't want to be living in South Dakota come the winter, but Jibri's plans were to stay in his hometown for as long as possible."Miona is very stubborn. She has a hard time compromising, which is very hard for me to deal with because I'm stubborn as well and I have a hard time compromising," Jibri explained."So I think it's going to be tough for us to come to agreements, especially on where to live... and when [we move]. Miona has always dreamed of living in America and a big city, but I hope she can come down to reality and realize that we've got to work to make these dreams come true."Jibri said neither he or Miona seemed to know what they had gotten themselves into.Jibri and Miona were then shown arriving home, and Miona gave his parents -- Brian and Mahala -- a big hug. Mahala said she liked Miona right off the bat, and Brian agreed how she seemed nice and sweet.The family sat down for a lasagna dinner, and Miona immediately made it known how she didn't want to stay in South Dakota for long. It was the fall at this point, and Miona announced how she hoped to move to California -- where it was warm -- by December.Jibri said he wanted to spend Christmas at home with his family, and so Miona said they could move after that. However, Jibri said he wanted to spend Easter at home too, which Miona argued was way too long to stay in his hometown.Mahala noticed communication between the couple wasn't great and they didn't appear to be on the same page.Mahala also set some ground rules, including having Jibri and Miona cook once or twice a week. Mahala found Jibri's parents pretty strict.Miona shared how she'd like to start a business in America and also continue working as a makeup artist.Jibri wanted his parents to relax because Miona was tired from her flight, and Miona admitted the tense conversation had thrown her off a little bit.Jibri also wished his parents had more encouraging words for Miona rather than concerns, rules and requests. Jibri realized living with his parents may be more difficult that he ever could have imagined."Before we get married, we're definitely going to have to get our own house and move from here, whether he likes it or not," Miona said in a confessional.Miona, who revealed on Facebook in December 2021 that she "moved to the USA almost 3 months ago," according to In Touch Weekly, is definitely still dating Jibri.Not only do the couple share the same last name on Instagram, indicating they've tied the knot and gotten married, but Jibri also posted a video of Miona trying Starbucks drinks for the first time on May 5, 2022.Miona gushed about loving her coffee and dragonfruit lemonade before kissing Jibri on the lips.On May 4, Miona wrote about her new American life on Instagram Stories, "I can't eat a lot of American food. My stomach gets messed up, so we are coming to Balkan store regularly."And before that, Jibri uploaded a photo of the couple looking chic in attire Jibri called "Dakota Boho."Miona also uploaded a video of herself having a pillow fight with Jibri on April 20."We are both so stubborn," Miona captioned the video.It appears the couple is still living in South Dakota. Miona and Jibri, who are very active on Instagram TikTok and YouTube, often post videos featuring a prairie landscape in the background. Jibri also tagged his location as South Dakota in early May.In late April, Jibri posted a video of himself dancing on the beach with Miona and kissing her."We all deserve love! #love #90dayfiance," he captioned the video.Jibri also posted a video of himself flipping a coin to determine whether he and Miona should purchase a $700 above-ground pool. Miona won, and so Jibri later posted a video of her floating on it.Jibri has shared photos with Miona going back months and months.According to Miona and Jibri's Instagram accounts, they got engaged in December 2019."She said YES!!!" Jibri captioned a photo of the couple posing at sunset in Thailand."For those of you who truly know me know that I'm usually not nervous or scared to do anything... but this had my palms sweating... I'm talking almost dropped the ring and put it on the wrong finger!"He added, "Thank you for inspiring me and speaking to my heart. Today marks a new chapter for both of us."Six months after the couple got engaged, Jibri referred to Miona as his "wife" when speaking with a Serbian news publication, Telegraf, in June 2020."It's always been my second home, a home away from home for me," Jibri said at the time of Serbia.He added, "My wife's Serbian, and my life's Serbian, and everything Serbian to me is right. Serbia is my second home and I want everyone to see and see how open and friendly it is here."Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage!
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Vermont State Senator Jeanette White, D-Windham, raises her right hand while taking the official oath of office inside the Senate chambers of the Vermont Statehouse, in Montpelier, during the first day of the legislative session on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. To her right is Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham, who is also leaving the Senate to seek the open U.S. Congress seat being vacated by Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.
Federal agents execute a search warrant at Nathan Carman's residence at 3043 Fort Bridgman Road, in Vernon, Vt., after he was arrested and charged with the murder of his mother on Tuesday, May 10, 2022.
Susan Shea is a naturalist, writer, and conservationist based in Vermont. Illustration by Adelaide Murphy Tyrol. The Outside Story is assigned and edited by Northern Woodlands magazine and sponsored by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation: www.nhcf.org.
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Radio Free Asia is led by President Bay Fang.

Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation, funded by the U.S. Congress through the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), an independent federal government agency that oversees all U.S. civilian international media. RFAs non-partisan Board of Directors includes leading journalists, issue experts, former officials, and scholars who are all committed to RFAs founding principle of informing and empowering audiences living under authoritarian regimes, while holding those in power to account.

RFA Leadership

Bay Fang, President

As President, Ms. Fang provides Radio Free Asia with leadership, vision, and mission-based strategic and operational direction. She first came to RFA as Managing Director for East Asia, overseeing the management and editorial content of RFAs five East Asian language services. She went on to become RFAs Executive Editor, supervising coverage across all of Asia. Ms. Fang earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and was a visiting fellow at Oxford University and a Fulbright scholar in Hong Kong.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Carolyn Bartholomew, Chair

Carolyn Bartholomew joined RFAs Board of Directors in September 2021, bringing almost two decades of experience on nonprofit and corporate boards, in addition to a lifetime career of foreign policy expertise in RFAs region and markets. She is a Commissioner on the Congressionally-appointed U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), for which she has served as Chair five times and as Vice Chair six times. Prior to her service on the USCC, she held senior-level positions in Congress, including on key committees overseeing Asia foreign policy and funding foreign aid, and congressional leadership, as a long-time counsel, legislative director, and chief of staff. She has particular expertise in U.S.-China trade relations, security issues, and human rights, and has led efforts on the promotion of human rights and strengthening civil society in countries around the world. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, a Master of Arts in Anthropology from Duke University, and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center. She is a member of the State Bar of California.

Michael J. Green

Mike Green joined RFAs Board of Directors in September 2021 and is currently serving as senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and director of Asian Studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Previously, he served on the staff of the National Security Council (NSC) from 2001 through 2005, as director for Asian affairs and as special assistant to the President for national security affairs and senior director for Asia.

Michael Kempner

Michael Kempner has been on RFAs Board of Directors since 2014. He is the Founder, President and CEO of MikeWorldWide (MWW), a public relations firm he founded in 1986. From 2010-2012 he served on the White House Council for Community Solutions. He is currently a board member of Goodwill Industries International and a Founding Board Member of ConnectOne Bancorp.

Keith Richburg

Keith Richburg joined RFAs Board of Directors in September 2021 and is currently the Director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. While serving as bureau chief in Beijing and Hong Kong for the Washington Post, he reported on the 1997 Hong Kong handover and the Chinese Communist Partys 18th Party Congress in Beijing in 2012. He is also the President of the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club.

CHIEF OFFICERS

Rohit Mahajan, Secretary (Acting)

Rohit Mahajan is Radio Free Asias Chief Communications Officer. He joined RFA in 2009, and previously worked on Capitol Hill and as a journalist in community news.

Patrick Andrew Taylor Jr., Treasurer

Patrick Andrew Taylor Jr. has been RFAs Chief Financial Officer since March 11, 1996 and is currently the Treasurer. Prior to joining RFA he was the Vice-President & CFO of TransCentury Corporation.
Any reference to Chinese-American author Geling Yan has been removed from a 2020 film released in China, despite it being an adaptation of part of one of her novels, her husband and agent Lawrence Walker told RFA.



The removal of her name comes after she made an outspoken social media post after a trafficked woman from rural China was found chained by the neck in an outhouse belonging to her "husband" after giving birth to eight children.



Ever since I heard about this mother in chains, Ive been angry, sad, restless, and in a trance all dayI realized that maybe its time to set aside time for anger, just to let it happen. Anger makes poets, and anger fuels many of my novels, Yan wrote on the Survivors' Poetry account on the social media platform WeChat.



You ask: why are you angry? I answer: Because you are not.



The saga began with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and Yan signing an agreement in 2011 giving Zhang the movie rights to her novel "The Criminal Lu Yanshi," which tells the tale of a man sentenced to labor camp for the political crime of being a "rightist."



Zhang then made a movie based on the book called "Coming Home." However, he also completed a second movie based on the novel titled "One Second," but deleted any reference to Yan or her work of fiction from the publicity materials.



"Geling signed a contract with Zhang Yimou in 2011 because he wanted to make a movie adaptation of her book. He did make a film called 'Coming Home,' which was based entirely on the last part of the novel," Walker said.



"Then Zhang Yimou kept thinking about a second movie he could make from another storyline in the book about a prisoner who escapes from labor camp to watch a one-second-long appearance by his daughter in a movie," he said.



"Zhang Yimou had always felt drawn to this story, so he used it as the basic framework for the movie 'One Second'," Walker said. "We never expected that he would adapt this novel into two movies, although the terms of the contract didn't prevent it."



"Geling gradually started collaborating with him on it [for that reason]."



Zhang invited Yan to Beijing for screenings of the unfinished film on two occasions, and there was a dispute about Yan's credit on the movie, and Zhang had seemed keen to cooperate with Yan's wishes, Walker said.



"But then there was a disagreement between them, because the movie rights to The Criminal Lu Yan had originally been transferred to two production companies, but he didn't want to talk about getting them back from them; he wanted to go about it in an indirect way," he said.



"At the time, they offered Geling four options, none of which mentioned 'The Criminal Lu Yanshi'," Walker said. "But they did thank Yan Geling; the wording was 'inspired by Ms. Geling Yan, who has our greatest thanks'."



A scene from "One Second," a movie by famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou based on Yan Geling's novel, "The Criminal Lu Yanshi." Credit: Mubi In , the crew of 'One Second' traveled to Berlin for the Berlin International Film Festival. They met at Yan's house, looking forward to seeing it presented in competition for a Golden Bear award, and entered the venue on the red carpet together with her.



But the movie was withdrawn abruptly just one hour before its scheduled media screening, allegedly for "technical reasons."



Further delays ensued before the film was eventually released in after Zhang made a number of edits and deletions to satisfy Chinese officials.



When the film finally did appear, there was no mention of Yan.



Walker said he has requested that Zhang and the production company restore Yan's credit, as well as contacting the Hollywood Screenwriters' Guild, of which Yan is a member, French film distribution company Wild Bunch of Paris, online platform Mubi, the Toronto Film Festival and the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain.



He asked them to consider whether they wanted to show films that didn't respect the right of authors on their platforms. Mubi has since reinstated a reference to Yan as the author of the novel that inspired "One Second."



But Walker said he had stopped short of taking legal action in China.



"We did also discuss whether to pursue a lawsuit in China, but the judiciary ... are all of a piece with the government, so complaining about things in China meaningless," Walker said. "We started thinking that maybe we could stop this sort of thing happening abroad instead."



"They can do this in China, because they have all the power, but overseas, authors have copyright, intellectual property rights and moral rights," he said.



Zhao Yijun of the Huanxi Media Group, which invested in "One Second," told the couple that Yan's name was definitely removed for political reasons, on orders from the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), and that Huanxi was obliged to implement that order.



Zhao also tried to threaten Yan if she tried to speak out about the move overseas.



"He said it was the SARFT that insisted on removing her name," Walker said. "He said that Yan is up against an entire country, one individual, which immediately made [him] think about the Tiananmen Tank Man, meaning that the power of the state is many times greater than that of any individual."



Walker said Yan's outspoken criticism of official cover-ups in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan had also made her persona non grata in Beijing.



Yan also referred to CCP leader Xi Jinping as "also a human trafficker" in connection with the Jiangsu chained woman incident, not realizing that the conversation she was having was being streamed live online.



The CCPs ban has likely brought heavy economic losses for Yan, too.



Sweden-based translator Wan Zhi said Zhang Yimou, once lauded as a member of the cutting-edge fifth generation of Chinese directors, has long since sold out to Beijing.



"Zhang Yimou is basically the pet director of the hollow men ... he has no personality or rights of his own," Wan said. "He's like a puppet."



"The Chinese authorities are becoming more and more shameless and more and more like criminals," Wan said. "If it doesn't want you talking about politics, then you can't talk about politics."



Repeated calls to Zhao Yijun's cell phone were answered but the line immediately cut off this week.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Russia has imposed sanctions against units of Gazprom Germania and dozens of other former subsidiaries in countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia after Kyiv halted the use of a major transit route for Russian gas.

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 moves on May 11 came amid continued heavy fighting in the east and south of Ukraine and as Germany announced it had begun training Ukrainian soldiers to use a powerful artillery system.



Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine fell by a quarter after Kyiv announced it would stop Russian shipments through its Novopskov hub in the east, blaming interference by Russian forces in the region.



It is the first time exports have been disrupted since Moscow launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, but the immediate effect is likely to be limited because Russia can divert the gas to another pipeline and because Europe relies on a variety of suppliers.



Later on May 11, Russia announced its sanctions against units of Gazprom Germania, which was placed under German state control in early April, and other former Gazprom subsidiaries.

The 31 companies listed by the Russian government are banned from conducting transactions with Gazprom and their vessels are banned from entering Russian ports.



The German Economy Ministry is examining the announcement, a spokesperson for the ministry said, adding that the supply of gas is constantly being checked and currently is guaranteed.

As fighting raged in southern and eastern Ukraine, the German Defense Ministry some 60 Ukrainian soldiers began training on the Panzerhaubitze 2000 artillery system, an advanced, self-propelled howitzer. Germany has promised to send seven of the German-built systems to Ukraine.



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed how Berlin can offer further assistance to help Ukraine beat back the Russian invasion.



He said the talks covered "defensive aid, cooperation in the energy sector, increasing sanctions on the Russian aggressor," adding that Kyiv appreciated "the high level of dialogue with Germany and support in our struggle!"

Zelenskiy also informed Scholz about the status of Ukraine's intermittent negotiations with Russia to end the violence, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said.



At the same time, the U.S. State Department said Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan met with Russian officials to discuss "a narrow range of issues" in the bilateral relationship.



"These tend to be quite narrow. In many cases, these tend to be centered on the functioning of our embassy," spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing.



Ukraine's top prosecutor on May 11 disclosed plans for the first war crimes trial of a captured Russian soldier accused of killing a civilian.



Prosecutor-General Iryna Venediktova said on Facebook that the suspect was charged in the killing of a 62-year-old civilian who was riding a bicycle in the village of Chupakhivka in the northeastern region of Sumy.

The Prosecutor-General's Office has sent the case against Vadim Shishimarin, the commander of a tank unit, to the court, Venediktova said, adding that the 21-year-old, who is currently in Ukrainian custody, may face up to life in prison if convicted of murder.



Ukraine's National Police on May 5 said that since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24 more than 10,000 investigations had been launched into war crimes allegedly committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.



Many of the alleged atrocities came to light last month after Moscow's forces withdrew from towns around Kyiv after aborting their mission to capture the capital. In towns such as Bucha, residents' accounts of killings, rape, and torture shocked the world.

In the southern Kherson region, a Kremlin-installed politician said regional officials wanted Russian President Vladimir Putin to make Kherson a "proper region" of Russia.

"The city of Kherson is Russia," Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration, told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency.



Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it would be "up to the residents of the Kherson region...to decide whether such an appeal should be made or not." He said any move to annex territory would have to be closely evaluated by legal experts.



Ukrainian officials said an area around Zaporizhzhya was among those targeted in fighting on May 11. A Russian rocket attack destroyed unspecified infrastructure, but there were no reports of casualties. The southeastern city has been a refuge for civilians fleeing Mariupol.



Russian forces continue to pound a steel plant in Mariupol that is the last bastion of Ukrainian resistance, its defenders said. The Azov Battalion said on social media on May 11 that Russian forces carried out 38 air strikes in the previous 24 hours on the Azovstal steelworks.

Pope Francis on May 11 met with two wives of the fighters of the regiment. Katerina Prokopenko and Yulia Fedosyuk told the pontiff that there was no food or water left at the steelworks.



"You are our last hope. We hope that you will be able to save their lives. Please don't let them die," one of the Ukrainians told the pope in a meeting at the Vatican.



Francis replied that he would pray for those in the Azovstal plant, according to an account of the meeting in The Insider.

Ukrainian forces also targeted Russian air defenses and resupply vessels on Snake Island in the Black Sea in an effort to disrupt Moscow's efforts to expand its control over the coastline, according to the British Defense Ministry.



Ukraine said it shot down a cruise missile targeting the Black Sea port city of Odesa.



In the southeast, Serhiy Hayday, the governor of the Luhansk region, said mobile communications to the region had been cut off.



"We are working to resolve the situation, but there is little hope," he wrote on Telegram. He also said the humanitarian situation in the region has worsened and there is little aid left in warehouses, and what is there is difficult to deliver due to the shelling of the road.



Ukrainian armed forces' General Staff said it had recaptured Pytomnyk, a village on the main highway north of Kharkiv, a city located just 40 kilometers from the border with Russia.



The governor of the Belgorod region across the border to the north of Kharkiv said on May 11 it was shelled from Ukraine. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported at least one death and said six people were wounded.



The governor and the leaders of other Russian border regions have repeatedly said Ukraine has shelled Russian territory, but this was the first time they reported casualties.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, BBC, and dpa
The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has said that the Kremlin should initiate a cease-fire in Ukraine because Russia has "blatantly violated international law," even though Russian President Vladimir Putin has now "burnt so many bridges" he is now "very dangerous."

Dutchman Tiny Kox, who was elected to lead PACE in January, said Moscow's invasion triggered sanctions that "for the first time...really do hurt" the Russian elite but that "more importantat this stage [is] that Russia loses its friends."

Rebuilding international trust with Moscow will take "years and years" of hard work, Kox told RFE/RL's Georgian Service in an extended interview, and he can't envisage it happening under Putin's leadership.

"I don't see it. I don't see that because he has burnt so many bridges already," Kox said. "For him, there's no way out, but that also makes him very dangerous."

Russia formally quit the Council of Europe -- which has promoted human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Europe since 1949 -- in March ahead of its imminent expulsion after Putin launched the all-out invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Kox warned of Russia's corrosive, piecemeal approach to international institutions like the Council of Europe and cited Moscow's actions in Georgia, where its troops are supporting separatist leaders in breakaway regions, as a "prime example" of its disdain for international law.

It's a problem to decide whether to keep that gas supply open...or to cut it off and freeze this winter. The answer is yes, sometimes you should freeze. Just compare that suffering with the suffering of the Ukrainian people now."

"There's no way out for Russia, even if Russia withdraws from Ukraine, whether it is capable of that," Kox said. "We have seen that when Russia enters, it doesn't leave."

Kox contrasted the Ukraine war with the five-day war between Russia and Georgia in 2008, saying Russia capitalized on a "mistake" by then-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Saakashvili, he said, "gave Russia an argument" when he sent in troops after vowing not to use violence to rein in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Moreover, Kox said, the international community didn't respond to Moscow's actions in Georgia by saying, "Russia has to be excluded from everything."

Regarding Ukraine, Kox said that the Russian side must initiate a cease-fire. "It should be the Kremlin," he said, "because the authorities from the Russian Federation blatantly violated international law, so they should step back."

He cited the difficulty of predicting Russian actions, in part because of the dynamics between the Kremlin and the country's political and economic elite.

"We have a problem that in such a big country, we have such small circles of interest," Kox said. "I'm not a believer of the idea that there is only one man who decides everything in Russia. It's clear that the president decides a lot and people are very much afraid of him, but there are more people with interests in Russia. And Russia is not a democracy, not a rule-of-law country; it's a country where the rule of power is very important, [and] the rule of money."

He suggested that the severity of unprecedented financial and other international sanctions could affect decision-making in Moscow and eventually bring about "a moment that changes things."

"I think, for the first time ever, we are talking about sanctions that really do hurt," Kox said.

Years of lesser sanctions didn't appear to dent the fortunes of oligarchs, and revenues from Russian gas helped such Russians build "that filthy rich kingdom."

"The sanctions, they are far more powerful now, but we could do far more still," he said.

However, Putin and Russia's oligarchs "are committed to each other," he added. "They could stay committed to each other for months or years," Kox said. "So more important at this stage is that Russia loses its friends. If Venezuela, Nicaragua, Eritrea, and the great man in North Korea are the company you keep, and the other big powers abstain from voting but do not say, 'We support the Russian president,' that must be disappointing for [Putin]."

International reprisals to curb Russian gas supplies have proven prickly, with many EU members heavily reliant on them and caught off guard despite years of warnings.

"It's a problem to decide whether to keep that gas supply open and stop Russia getting our euros, or to cut it off and freeze this winter," Kox said. "The answer is yes, sometimes you should freeze. Just compare that suffering with the suffering of the Ukrainian people now."

Russia had been a member of the Council of Europe since joining in 1996 after the breakup of the Soviet Union, although for years it clashed with the council or ignored its findings.

Kox defended the council's record and its actions with respect to Russia.

"This is an intergovernmental organization; the decisions are taken by governments," he said.

Russia and its representatives, he said, "used and misused" their pariah status to cut off funding and ignore Council of Europe decisions, likening it to a customer at a buffet table.

"The Council of Europe is not a cafeteria," Kox said. "You should question more why did we bring Russia in 26 years ago? They were for 26 years a full-fledged member of the Council of Europe."

He also stressed that "there is never a country that is isolated forever."

"There will be a moment [for rapprochement]," Kox said. "But it's not like you can say, 'Let's wait a year or two.'"

Written by Andy Heil based on an interview by RFE/RL Georgian Service contributor Vazha Tavberidze
As frustration over its stalled war in Ukraine and curtailed goals on the ground has grown, it appears the Kremlin may have begun to look for enemies within.

Andrei Soldatov, a Russian investigative journalist who has covered the countrys shadowy security services for decades, reported in April that Colonel General Sergei Beseda, the head of the foreign intelligence branch of the Federal Security Service (FSB), was detained and later sent to Moscows Lefortovo prison.

[The Russian military is] quite pro-war, actually -- aggressively pro-war, Id say. They're just not happy with the way it has been conducted."

The reported move was seen as a sign of a deepening rift between the Russian military and the FSB over its alleged intelligence failures leading up to Russias February 24 invasion of Ukraine and of growing paranoia in Moscow that forces within the intelligence apparatus may even be working against the Kremlin.

With the brutal Ukraine war grinding on, Russias intelligence services and military planners are still grappling with how to respond to stronger than predicted Ukrainian resistance and more formidable Western support for Kyiv. As the war enters its 11th week, questions continue to swirl around how the Kremlin got its prewar planning so wrong, whether it may look to mobilize new soldiers for Ukraine, and what lessons it has learned from its early failures.

To get a better understanding of how things might progress, RFE/RL spoke with Soldatov, who is also a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington.

RFE/RL: Youve reported that Colonel General Sergei Beseda was detained and sent to prison. Whats your sense of what is behind this move and what does it tell us about the current state of the Russian intelligence services and Russias elite?

Andrei Soldatov: [That story] is getting more interesting and more complicated. We already see a lot of confusion, but also some attempts by the FSB to downplay the conflict [under way] among the security services and the military. There were some reports...about Beseda being present at a funeral of a very prominent former KGB officer, [Nikolai] Leonov, who was one of Fidel Castros handlers in Cuba years ago, and thats why he became a sort of legend [within] the KGB.

What that likely tells us is that if the FSB made this large effort to present [Beseda] at this funeral to [try to] kill the conversation [and speculation] about him [and this rift], then they actually have a big problem.



This problem is definitely there [and] right now the military is blaming the FSB for many things. [Its] not only about the decision to go to war [and how they did it], but also about how the war is being conducted and all the mistakes that are being made.



Of course, we are not talking about the [Russian] military thinking that it was better to not get into the war. Unfortunately, I don't see that as a big sentiment in the military. They're quite pro-war, actually -- aggressively pro-war, Id say. They're just not happy with the way it has been conducted.



RFE/RL: Intelligence within this war -- and in the lead-up to it -- has played a rather public and prominent role, both in terms of what appears to be a failure on the part of the Russian side and what looks like some well-informed intelligence about the Russian invasion from the West. How is this shaping things and what is the sense in Moscow about why this war went wrong?

Soldatov: [You] might expect the military to blame people like Sergei Shoigu, the minister of defense, for all the failures that the Russian Army has experienced, especially during the first two months of the war, but [I] don't see Shoigu being criticized by the army or by the security services, which [is] very surprising to me.

He's still very popular and widely respected, despite the fact that he has no military background and no military training, and despite all these big failures [since] February [in Ukraine]. The problem here is that the military is getting more and more apocalyptic in how they see this war. They started out thinking that it would be a very short campaign, and they blamed the FSB for misinforming President [Vladimir] Putin that they wouldnt face more resistance, but now they accept this new reality [on the ground].

And this new reality for them, as they see it, is that Russia still has a peacetime army while [they] face [a] completely mobilized Ukrainian Army that is now being supplied by the West with the best weapons on the planet.

That is why the Russian military feels completely outgunned and outnumbered. It [also] looks like the intelligence agencies [are beginning] to understand that and now they are adjusting to this new narrative. We now see top Russian spies like [Security Council Secretary Nikolai] Patrushev, [the head of the SVR, Russias foreign intelligence service, Sergei] Naryshkin, and others actually supporting this new narrative that it's not only about [fighting] with Ukraine, but that it's [actually] this big war between Russia and NATO. It's a more apocalyptic and a more global [view of the conflict].



RFE/RL: What is your sense about why this view is being adopted? Is this to justify pushing for mobilization across Russia, as some people have theorized could be coming, or do you see something else driving it?



Soldatov: I think it's not only the [prospect of] mobilization, it's also about the feeling [from the military and intelligence services] that they have picked a fight with NATO, but in the wrong place, because [they] are sustaining high casualties but are not in a position to inflict any damage [in return] on NATO. This is a source of big frustration [for] the military. Theyre fighting in Ukraine and suffering very high losses while losing lots [of] equipment, [but] are not in a position to fight back as they believe they should.

[This is] also a good explanation for why they are suffering from all these problems [in the first place]. [They] cant blame [themselves]. Psychologically, it's very uncomfortable to say that [they] did something wrong, that [the] planning was bad, or that the logistics were not sufficient. [It's] much easier to say [that] the problem is what [theyve] always suspected, which is that the West is being treacherous and attacking us in an [underhanded way]. [They believe] they started a small [conflict] in Ukraine and now they are getting attacked by the West disproportionately and that is why they are facing these problems.



RFE/RL: So where do you see this apocalyptic thinking, as you describe it, leading to?



Soldatov: The biggest problem is about objectives. As an example, I checked recently [on] some polls conducted by Telegram channels [that] are really close to the Russian military and [they were] quite astonishing to me. They asked questions about what [soldiers thought] an acceptable objective to declare victory for this war [would be], and you have around 25 percent saying that [they would] need the complete capitulation of Ukraine and more than 30 percent saying they would want to get Russian troops to the border with Poland.



But the most astonishing number is that only 6 percent said they would be happy with only [taking the] Donbas. That is very worrying. It means that the objectives pronounced by Putin at the beginning of the war are not necessarily the same ones the military sees as appropriate and acceptable.



RFE/RL: You have some unparalleled sources within the Russian intelligence services. Why do you think that they are still talking to you?



Soldatov: It was a big concern for me, obviously. After the war started, I thought we might lose some sources because my own anti-war position was very clear and, for [about] three weeks, [thats] exactly what happened. But after that, the sources came back, and it looks like [they did] for different reasons.

It's not like they are [talking] because they think the [war] is wrong. It's not that [at all]. It's about their sense of frustration and the need to blame someone for all these problems. You have the military blaming the FSB and the FSB blaming some particular departments within the FSB for the problems they are facing. So, it's basically a blame game.



RFE/RL: Is it just looking for a scapegoat or do you also get a sense that there is a genuine urge to understand the mistakes and learn from them?

Soldatov: The problem here is that [there isnt] a tradition in the Russian military or the Russian security services to [acknowledge] and [learn from] the mistakes theyve made.



That's part of why Putin was always so popular among the security services. His approach throughout all these years was that if something happened, and you think to blame the FSB or the military, the best option is actually instead to give them more [support and resources] because [they] need to be protected and defended from criticism and [scrutiny].

You have this new factor of the public opinion within the military on Telegram combined with a complete lack of tradition for how to talk about these things."

And that is a problem now [at a time] when they need to adjust and change their strategy. Theyre waiting for changes at the top, but they dont know how to talk about it.



They're quite happy with the decision by Putin to appoint [General Aleksandr] Dvornikov [to be in charge of the Ukraine campaign] because at least that is something thats been needed since Day One. But again, they still don't quite understand what to do next.



The other problem is that they're not quite ready. The fact is that this war is different from Putin's previous wars [in Georgia, Syria, and eastern Ukraine] because now we have Telegram channels. [On those], you have pro-military public opinion where you have lots of soldiers, lots of officers, [and] lots of veterans all talking -- not very openly -- but still expressing criticism toward the military.



It might be about very small things. For instance, there was a big frustration about radio sets for helicopters recently. [They were asking in these channels] why they dont have them and whether they need to collect some money, [which] led to a crowd-sourcing campaign [back in Russia.] In response, the Defense Ministry said that they dont need them [and] that sparked some bitterness among soldiers and veterans alike for seeing the leadership as out of touch with their needs and unable to listen.



So you have this new factor of the public opinion within the military on Telegram combined with a complete lack of tradition for how to talk about these things.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made multiple miscalculations in launching his invasion of Ukraine, a senior U.S. official has told RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service, repeating U.S. assurances that Washington will continue to provide Kyiv with assistance, including military equipment, to win this war and rebuild the country after the conflict ends.

Robin Dunnigan, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, was speaking on May 7 in a video interview from the Polish city of Rzeszow. Her comments came amid claims by Ukrainian officials of battlefield advances in the east and just days before Russia holds ceremonies on May 9 to mark Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.

A speech by Putin 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.

"I don't know what Putin's plans are for May 8th or May 9th," Dunnigan said. "I do know that it will not change our strategy, which is to continue to do everything we can with security assistance to help Ukraine win this war, and to continue to put economic sanctions [on Moscow] that are so severe that it cripples the Russian economy, and [to] continue to strengthen our own forces along NATO's eastern flank."

Washington has also approved legislation that would streamline a World War II-era military lend-lease program to more quickly provide Ukraine and other Eastern European countries with American equipment to fight the Russian invasion, Dunnigan noted.

"We've just requested another $33 billion from our Congress for Ukraine and $20 billion of that would be in security assistance," she said. "That's just an indication of our commitment to continue delivering security assistance to Ukraine day and night, 24 hours a day, to help Ukraine defend itself. Also in that $33 billion is another $8.5 billion for economic assistance and $3 billion for humanitarian assistance."

Support for Ukraine is deep not only in Congress but across the United States, Dunnigan said.

You have seen in the United States from the American people, from our Congress, bipartisan members of Congress from the administration, you have seen an unwavering willingness to support Ukraine. And I know that people are working 24 hours a day. Our Department of Defense, our humanitarian officials, everybody is working 24 hours a day to identify what Ukraine needs on the battlefield [and] to get it to you as fast as we can, Dunnigan added.

Dunnigan also expressed shock that, more than 70 years after the end of World War II, Europe finds itself again engulfed in conflict.

When we think about May 8th and May 9th, it's always important to remember what...May 8th at one time meant for all of us -- that it was the day where Europeans came together and liberated Europe from the scourge of Nazism and fascism during World War II," she said. "It's just unbelievable that here we are this year with Russia, you know, ignoring all international norms, its own commitments under the UN Charter, and waging an unprovoked, unjustified war against Ukraine.

Dunnigan's comments come also as the last Ukrainian defenders of the besieged port city of Mariupol face a bloody final confrontation with invading Russian forces, as the Kremlin seeks a symbolic win ahead of its May 9 holiday.

All women, children, and elderly civilians have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said on May 7, after a weeklong effort rescued hundreds of people during an ongoing Russian assault on the plant.

What is happening in Mariupol is a tragedy. Deliberate destruction of civilians is a war crime, said Dunnigan.

After suffering significant setbacks in the earliest weeks of the invasion of Ukraine, failing to seize Kyiv or other major cities, and incurring major casualties, Russian commanders and political leaders have recalibrated, shifting nearly all military units eastward for an offensive in the Donbas.

Russias failures on the battlefield are a result of a string of miscalculations by Putin, Dunnigan said.

The Kremlin's been wrong about a lot of things. The Kremlin's been wrong about how it was going to take Kyiv in a week, and here we are.... They were not able to take Ukraine. They were forced to retreat to the east, and Ukrainians continue to fight with resilience and bravery.

"They were wrong about NATO being divided. In fact, NATO is stronger than ever and more united than ever, Dunnigan said. Russia was absolutely wrong about Ukrainians willingness to defend their country. I think Ukrainians have never been more united than they are today. And the resilience of Ukrainians has humbled people around the world, and your bravery.

Dunnigan also addressed recent media reports that the United States was providing Ukraine with intelligence in its fight with Russia, but suggested some of that reporting was misleading.

News reports on May 6 said the United States provided intelligence that helped Ukraine sink the Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva last month.

The reports, by The New York Times and NBC News, followed other U.S. reports that said Washington had provided Ukrainian forces with intelligence to target Russian generals on the battlefield.

An unusual number of Russian generals have been killed during more than two months of fighting in Ukraine, with at least eight deaths confirmed.

Now you may have seen reports that we've provided intelligence that's been used to kill Russian generals, and we do not provide intelligence to specifically target Russian generals. I also want to say that this is Ukraine's field of operation. Ukraine has its own battlefield intelligence. It's excellent intelligence," Dunnigan declared.

"This is Ukraine [and] Ukrainian military and intelligence officials know more about the battle in their country than anybody else does. So they're also acting on their own actually excellent intelligence."

Dunnigan also addressed EU plans to phase out Russian energy to punish the Kremlin, which is dependent on revenue from oil and natural-gas exports, for its unprovoked invasion.

The European Commission has proposed a new package of sanctions against Russia, the sixth since the invasion was launched on February 24. The centerpiece of the package is a full phasing out of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year.

So the question is: How do we help Ukraine rebuild after you win this war? And that is something that I know we, and our partners and allies around the world, are ready to do."

Hungary and Slovakia immediately received exceptions to that deadline by another year, while the Czechs have also sought a more generous phase-out period. All three countries are heavily reliant on Russian energy.

[The United States] implemented our own embargo on oil, gas, and coal from Russia in March, and we welcomed the EU proposal to do the same with oil. But we also recognize that Europe is in a different position than the United States," Dunnigan explained.

"We are fortunate to have our own natural resources. And Europe is still in many cases...dependent on Russia for oil and natural gas. However, we welcome the commitment to try to decrease that dependence as quickly as possible. We should work as hard as we can in the coming months and years to really become -- once and for all -- not dependent on Russian energy," said Dunnigan, who served as deputy U.S. assistant secretary for energy diplomacy in the State Department from 2014 to 2017.

The United States, Dunnigan said, is ready to help Ukraine rebuild from the devastation wrought by Russia's invasion, with cities like Mariupol and Kharkiv largely reduced to rubble.

Physical damage to Ukraine's buildings and infrastructure from Russia's invasion has reached roughly $60 billion and will rise further as the war continues, World Bank President David Malpass said in an assessment on April 21.

"This war is taking a terrible toll on Ukraine's economy. Some estimates are that the economic damage will be -- or is already -- $1 trillion," Dunnigan said. "I don't think any of us know yet exactly what the damage is, but we know it's big. So the question is: How do we help Ukraine rebuild after you win this war? And that is something that I know we, and our partners and allies around the world, are ready to do.

We're already talking about reconstruction and look, you know, I've...been all over Ukraine. I've been in Kyiv before the war and seen the sort of hardworking entrepreneurial attitude of Ukrainians. And I think that we'll all work together after this war is over to rebuild your economy."

Written by Tony Wesolowsky based on an interview conducted by Valeria Yehoshyna.
The last Ukrainian fighters in the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the strategic port of Mariupol vowed on May 8 not to give up as they face a bloody final showdown with Russian invaders after the evacuation of civilians.

"We will continue to fight as long as we are alive to repel the Russian occupiers," Captain Svyatoslav Palamar, a deputy commander of Ukraine's Azov Regiment, told an online news conference.

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.

"We don't have much time. We are coming under intense shelling," Palamar said, pleading with the international community to help to evacuate wounded soldiers from the plant.

Officials on both sides said the evacuation of civilians from Azovstal had been completed. Eight buses carrying 174 Mariupol civilians, including 40 evacuated from the steelworks, arrived in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhya on May 8, AFP reported.

Azovstal, with an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian defenders holed up in its sprawling network of underground tunnels and bunkers, has achieved a symbolic value in the conflict, with the Russian forces seeking a celebratory win ahead of the Victory Day holiday on May 9.

The conquering of Mariupol would also give Moscow a land bridge between the Crimean Peninsula, which it illegally annexed in 2014, and regions run by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told leaders of the Group of 7 (G7) countries on May 8 that 60 civilians died in the bombing of a school on May 7 in the eastern Luhansk region.



"They were hiding from shelling in the building of a regular school, which was attacked by a Russian air strike," he said during a virtual meeting.

Serhiy Hayday, the governor of the Luhansk region, told reporters earlier that Russian forces had bombed the school in Bilohorivka where about 90 people were sheltering, triggering a fire that engulfed the building.

Hayday said 30 people were rescued from under the rubble.

Bilohorivka is an urban settlement about 10 kilometers west of Lysychansk, which is under heavy Russian bombardment.

Zelenskiy denounced Russia's heavy shelling in the east of the country, saying Russia has "forgotten everything that was important to the victors of World War II" a day before Moscow commemorates the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany.

WATCH: In the first stage of the operation to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steelworks, which is under attack by Russian forces in Mariupol, over 150 people were brought out by bus. Those who got out told harrowing stories on May 3 of bodies strewn around the plant.

After Zelenskiy met with the G7 leaders, the group condemned Russias "unprovoked, unjustifiable, and illegal military aggression" against Ukraine and its "attempts to replace democratically elected Ukrainian local authorities with illegitimate ones."

The G7 leaders commemorated the anniversary of the end of World War II by pledging to "spare no effort" to hold Putin and the architects "and accomplices of this aggression," including the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka in Belarus, accountable for their actions.

The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States said Putin's actions "bring shame on Russia and the historical sacrifices of its people."

The United States after the meeting announced sanctions against three Russian television stations and executives from Gazprombank along with a ban on Americans providing accounting and consulting services to Russians.

Ahead of the virtual meeting, British officials announced an extra $1.6 billion in military aid for Ukraine. The funding includes 300 million pounds of military equipment promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. This includes radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment, and night-vision devices.

Earlier in the day, Zelenskiy met with the president of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, Baerbel Bas, who traveled to Kyiv by train, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced new weapons and equipment for Ukraine and new sanctions on Russian individuals and entities connected with the invasion. He also said the Canadian Embassy would reopen.

Zelenskiy said securing the Bundestag's approval of heavy arms deliveries to help Ukraine fend off Russian attacks was one of his country's top priorities.

The visit came after a major shift in German policy to send heavy weapons to Ukraine, including self-propelled howitzers and Gepard anti-aircraft systems, also known as the Cheetah system.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has faced increasing criticism over Germany not doing enough to help Ukraine amid Russia's invasion. But Scholz's government reversed course last month and pledged to export heavier weapons to Kyiv.

On May 6, Zelenskiy called on Scholz to take a "powerful step" and visit Kyiv on May 9 -- the date that Russia commemorates as the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. There was no immediate word on whether Scholz had agreed.

The German chancellor emphasized Germany's historical responsibility in supporting Ukraine against Russia's war in a televised speech he was to deliver to mark the anniversary.

"We have learned a central lesson from our country's catastrophic history between 1933 and 1945," Scholz said, according to a transcript of the address quoted by dpa.

"Freedom and security will triumph -- just as freedom and security triumphed over violence and dictatorship 77 years ago," he said.

On the battlefront, Russia's Defense Ministry said on May 8 that it had destroyed a Ukrainian Navy ship near Odesa in an overnight missile strike.



The ministry's statement added that Russian air defenses also shot down two Ukrainian SU-24 bombers and a Mi-24 helicopter over Snake Island in the Black Sea at night.

The reports could not be independently verified.

The head of Ukraine's regional military administration said Russian troops launched a series of missile strikes in the Odesa region during the day on May 8.



According to Maxim Marchenko, the attacks took place beginning early in the day, and Ukrainian air-defense units shot down four missiles, but an apartment house was hit, wounding a young girl, and a substation was destroyed, knocking out power in six neighborhoods.

On May 7, the Ukrainian military said it had destroyed a Russian landing ship near Snake Island, hitting it with an armed drone. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Russian forces launched a new offensive last month along most of Ukraine's eastern flank, with some of most intense attacks and shelling taking place recently around Popasna in the Luhansk region.



There has also been fierce fighting around Popasna in recent days amid a sustained Russian assault, and Hayday said Ukrainian forces had been pulling back and that the town had been destroyed.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said his troops had taken control of most of the town.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and dpa
The bakery has the suggestion of Irish and French in its name, but OBriens Boulangerie is a family-run business whose owners have roots in Guatemala.

OBriens has been in business for nearly 30 years, but just recently moved into a spacious building in the Poway Business Park. It outgrew its Del Mar location earlier this decade, moved to Escondido and then to Poway this year.

We hit capacity in Del Mar, the place was 4,000 square feet, then moved to a 10,000-square-foot building in Escondido in 2013, said Sales Executive Sara Escobar, whose mother and father bought the business in 2006 from Jim OBrien, who retired after running it for 18 years. Now were here in Poway at 22,000 square feet and its looking like were going to hit capacity here, as well.

Edgar Escobar immigrated to the United States from Guatemala in the mid-1980s and worked for other people as a baker for 20 years. Twelve years ago, he purchased the business from OBrien, who stuck around one more year to teach them the ropes.

When that happened, we had maybe 30 accounts, Sara Escobar said. Now we have over 200 accounts and deliveries every day.

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The Escobar Family owned OBriens Boulangerie bakery in Poway is the latest location for the fast growing enterprise. Here are some of the Escobars, L-r, Sara, Yvonne, Eddie and mom Heli Escobar. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)

There are now six Escobars running the multi-generational business, which employs 60 people.

The operation includes seven huge ovens in which racks of 72 loaves each can be baked simultaneously.

Their clients include some of the best known spots in town: Barona Resort & Casino, the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, the Manchester Grand Hyatt, the San Diego Convention Center, Jakes Del Mar, the Del Mar Racetrack, and the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina.

When the Padres are playing, we make 200 to 300 dozen hot dog buns for Petco Park, Sara Escobar said.

When Comic-Con is in town, said Carmen Garcia, who handles ordering, its crazy.

This week, OBriens also opened up a retail cafe in the front of the warehouse-like building in the business park at 13615 Stowe Drive, a few blocks south of the Poway Costco and Home Depot complex. The cafe serves all sorts of freshly made pastries, muffins, tarts and many other items, along with coffee and sandwiches.

It is open daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is situated in the middle of a business park that employs more than 18,000 people.

Barrista Alexander Bermudz just started working for the family.

These are wonderful people, he said. A family business is where I like to be. I like to think of myself as an adopted Escobar.

The family includes Edgar and his wife Argelia Escobar, the owners; Juan Carlos Escobar, Edgars brother who is the head baker; daughters Yvonne Escobar, the general manager, and Sara Escobar, sales executive; and son Eddie Escobar, pastry chef.

A customer stood at the end of the well stocked bakery counter in the front of the bakery on Stowe Drive in Poway. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)

The Poway location is perfect, Sara Escobar said, because it is centrally located. The single biggest client the bakery serves is the Barona casino.

We go up there every day to Ramona, she said. Its a big load we drop off. They want it fresh every day.

Pastry Chef Eddie Escobar was busy making some fruit tarts while a worker next to him prepared dough for what would become cinnamon rolls for delivery the next day to Barona.

He said his day starts around 5 a.m. and often goes into the evening. The bakery operates on a 24-hour cycle.

Theres always someone here, Sara Escobar said.

There are over 1,000 varieties of baked good available from OBriens. Sourdough bread is the single biggest seller. The bakery produces about 500 loaves of it each day.

For information about OBriens go to obriensbakerysd.com on the web.

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
The first two tenants for Bikeway Village in Imperial Beach are expected to open as soon as April.

City Manager Andy Hall said Trident Coffee and a bicycle shop will be the first businesses to open at the village, built as an amenity to a regional bike path around the bay.

The project is positioned along the Imperial Beach portion of San Diegos Bayshore Bikeway at 13th Street and Palm Avenue. The bayshore bike path will be 24 miles long when completed, running through Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach, National City and downtown San Diego.

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Bikeway Village represents the first step in a better connection between Imperial Beach and San Diego Bay, Hall said.

The $4.9 million public-private project will have retail, commercial and recreational uses that overlook the bikeway and San Diego National Wildlife Refuge.

Its meant to accommodate bicyclists, after surf coffee-goers and inspire further outdoor recreation with all the modern comforts, according to information on the website.

The project, designed by Studio E Architects, has been a vision of Coronado resident and developer Rex Butler for more than a decade.

On Feb. 9, members of the California Coastal Commission amended a coastal development permit for the project, which will convert two existing 15,000 square-foot warehouse buildings.

One will house a coffee shop, bike shop and additional retail. The other will house a Coronado Brewing Company restaurant, brewery, distillery and have space for educational classes at 535 Florence Street.

An initial proposal by the city and Butler for a hostel was dropped.

After years of recruitment efforts and several meetings with potential operators, the city and Butler agreed the location isnt conducive to a hostel.

Coronado Brewing will take its place.

Weve been wanting to open another location for some time, and we felt like the South Bay has been under-served by craft beer, said Kasey Chapman, chief operating officer of Coronado Brewing Company.

He said the success of its other location in the city on Seacoast Drive has shown the demand is there.

Bikeway Village offers us a great location, with easy access to the freeway and the rest of the South Bay. Were looking forward to having a larger space for more people to experience the Coronado brand.

The company expects the project to take 12 to 18 months to complete, but has plans to open a temporary tasting room this summer.

In a Jan. 27 letter to the state Coastal Commission, Mayor Serge Dedina said the business would provide an experience for the public unlike any other in the South Bay.

He said the Bikeway Village project represents a new era of redevelopment and innovation.

Other amenities include a courtyard, deck, fire pit, bike racks, public parking, restrooms, a water bottle refill station and trail-side rest stop.

The original project permit was approved by the Coastal Commission in June 2013, and a ceremonial groundbreaking for Bikeway Village was held about a year ago.

Hall said the project is creating momentum for continued development along the bayfront. The City Council already is directing staff to look at other commercial opportunities along the bikeway, from 13th Street to Rainbow Drive.

Imperial Beach was awarded a $1.8 million transportation grant from the San Diego Association of Governments for the project and the city is also using $855,000 in bond proceeds.

Butler is expected to pick up the remaining cost of the project.
A North County man at the center of a Panamanian murder investigation pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court Wednesday, admitting to fatally stabbing his girlfriend, dismembering her body with a machete and dumping her remains in the jungle.

Brian Brimagers plea comes three weeks after the FBI Laboratory concluded that blood found under the handle of a machete he owned matched the victims DNA.

The retired Marine pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree foreign murder of a U.S. national, a rarely used charge that must be approved at the highest levels of the Justice Department. To bring the charge, both the defendant and victim must be U.S. citizens, and the defendant must have since left the country where the crime was committed, as in the 2011 case.

Brimager had previously been facing a first-degree charge, which meant prosecutors would have had to prove premeditation if the case had gone to trial.

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Family members of the slain woman, Yvonne Baldelli, sat in the front row of the packed courtroom Wednesday, eager to hear Brimagers admissions once and for all.

In the plea agreement read aloud by the judge, Brimager, 39, admitted stabbing Baldelli, 42, in the left side of her back with a knife, using a machete to dismember her body, stuffing the remains in a green military-style backpack and hiding the bag in the jungle.

The plea agreement calls for a recommended sentence of 20 to 30 years, although U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller has the discretion to sentence him up to the maximum of life in prison. Sentencing has been set for May 25. With the plea, Brimager also largely gave up his right to appeal the conviction.

With Brimager pleading guilty to all the things he did, it was good for us, Baldellis father, James Faust, said after the hearing. Its been 4 1/2 years of torture not knowing what really happened.

What continues to haunt the family is motive. The couple wasnt married, had no communal property. Why murder?

He couldve just walked away. She couldve just walked away... Faust said.

The Orange County couple moved to Isla Carenero off Panama in September 2011 for a fresh start after Brimager had left the Marines. Baldelli, with sewing machine in tow, had planned to start a bathing suit line in the tropics. Brimager would sing and play guitar in bars.

But paradise didnt last long, with witnesses later reporting that Brimager appeared to be abusing Baldelli. Shortly after arriving on the island, Brimager also began communicating with the mother of his child back in San Diego County, prosecutors said. Brimager promised to return to the U.S. to join them.

Prosecutors said Brimager was known to buy large amounts of cocaine for people on the island, and told one acquaintance that he had to leave the island because his nose was going to fall off.

Baldelli was last seen November 2011.

Brimager admitted concealing and destroying evidence of the Nov. 27 murder, including dumping a bloody mattress from their hostel in the ocean after the slaying, getting rid of Baldellis beloved King Charles spaniel and giving away many of her belongings.

Baldellis computer included a search for washing mattress blood stain, prosecutors said.

He also allegedly gave his machete to a neighbor before leaving Panama, and it was put up for sale online. Brimager is accused of posting a comment on the ad saying the machete had been his: Dont worry, I only dismembered one stripper with it so its hardly used ;), prosecutors said.

Over the next several months, Brimager sent emails from Baldellis computer pretending to be her, telling her family and friends she had happily left for Costa Rica with another man, according to the plea agreement. Brimager even traveled to Costa Rica and withdrew money from her bank account while there, he admitted.

Brimager headed back to San Diego, marrying the mother of his child within weeks and settling in Vista. He fathered a second child with her.

Baldellis family soon became suspicious and launched an investigation, eventually getting the FBI and Panamanian authorities involved. They traveled to Panama and organized search parties for her, coming up empty handed but convinced she was dead.

Meanwhile, Brimager continued to obstruct the investigation, lying to the FBI when questioned about the disappearance, the plea agreement states.

Two years after Baldelli went missing, a farm worker clearing brush in a swampy part of the island uncovered her remains, in the military-style backpack.

By then, Brimager had already been arrested in the case, on charges of lying to federal agents. A charge of foreign murder of a U.S. national was then added.

Authorities put little credence into an anonymous caller who told Panamanian investigators in 2012 that hed helped a man dispose of a missing foreign womans body in the jungle.

We dont believe anyone else was involved, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Conover.

Brad Patton, one of Brimagers defense attorneys, said a number of factors led to a change of plea but did not go into detail, noting more would be revealed at sentencing.

He wanted to resolve this matter and take responsibility for his actions, Patton told reporters outside the courthouse.

He described Brimager as a devoted husband and father who served honorably in the Marines. He said Brimager wanted to express deep condolences to Baldellis family and friends.

Brimagers wife continues to support him, Patton said. She has attended just about every, if not every, court hearing since his June 2013 arrest.

The case has made international headlines, including a 48 Hours episode on CBS that took an in-depth look at the investigation.

Brian Brimager took a young womans life in a heinous way and then further victimized her family by creating a cruel lie that she was happily traveling the world with another man, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in a statement Wednesday.

Now that Brimager has finally admitted his crime, we hope that the truth, and knowing that their daughters murderer will serve decades in prison, will give this grieving family a sense of justice and peace.
Yoon Suk Yeol is considered rather unfamiliar with global affairs and is likely to rely on his trusted advisers to frame policy

President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol (YSY), who will be sworn in as South Koreas new leader for a five-year term on May 10, is a first-time politician and a former prosecutor-general. He catapulted into politics after helping convict former President Park Geun-hye in her impeachment trial. Yoon Suk Yeol is considered rather unfamiliar with global affairs and is likely to rely on his trusted advisers to frame policy.

Prof. Kim Sung-han, the head of the diplomacy and security division of the incoming Presidents transition team, and was vice foreign minister in the 2008-13 Lee Myung-bak administration, is regarded by the South Korean media as the brain behind President-elect Yoons foreign policy architecture which focuses on reinforcing Seouls security alliance with Washington by restoring trust between the two countries.

In an article in Foreign Affairs prior to his March 9 election this year, YSY indirectly criticised the current policy of outgoing President Moon Jae-in and said that Seouls reluctance to take a firm stand on a number of issues that have riled the relationship between Washington and Beijing has created an impression that South Korea has been tilting towards China and away from its long-time ally, the United States.

In the campaign, YSY had strongly criticised the Moon government for creating a master-servant relationship between the two Koreas by doggedly pursuing the dialogue with North Korea as an end in itself rather than as a process for negotiations towards denuclearisation.

YSY said in an interview to the Washington Post on April 14 that South Korea must step up its foreign policy commensurate with its economic and cultural status and become a stronger ally of the United States. Yoon aspires to make South Korea a critical player in addressing global challenges  including supply chain management, climate change and vaccine production. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Yoon would find a ready partner to work together in pursuing their shared objectives.

On the four-nation Quad (comprising the US, India, Japan and Australia), the President elect has said that before deciding on seeking to join the Quad, South Korea will support and cooperate with its working groups in tackling global issues such as vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies to create a synergy with the Quad countries.

Mr Yoon called North Korea as South Koreas main enemy, a stance different from that of outgoing President Moon Jae-in, but said that he would continue a two-track response to pursue dialogue and offer humanitarian aid.

Importantly, Mr Yoon has said that poor Seoul-Tokyo relations have backfired on South Korean companies and have hampered Seouls ability to coordinate with Tokyo and Washington. He said South Korea should work to rebuild confidence by having frequent conversations with Japanese officials. He asserted that during his presidency South Korea-Japan relations will go well.

This would be a course which friendly democracies like the United States and India would encourage. In the shifting strategic balance of the Indo-Pacific, it is of vital importance that all democracies work together and harmonise their policies to ensure peace and stability in the region. Any progress towards normalisation of sentiments between South Korea and Japan would positively influence the strategic balance in Northeast Asia.

In parallel, North Korea has been signalling its own frustration over the impasse regarding easing of the crippling sanctions faced by it. In April, Chairman Kim Jong-un vowed to speed up the further development of its nuclear arsenal at the fastest possible pace and threatened to use them against its enemies. On May 4, North Korea launched a ballistic missile towards the East Sea. This was North Koreas 14th missile firing this year, just six days before the new conservative President takes over in Seoul. Subsequently on May 5, a North Korean propaganda website described the incoming South Korean President as pro-United States and confrontational.

After being elected, US President Joe Biden was the first foreign leader that YSY called. Subsequently, YSY also spoke to Prime Ministers Fumio Kishida of Japan, Boris Johnson of Britain, Scott Morrison of Australia and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 17. Chinas Xi Jinping sent a letter of congratulations on March 11 and the two spoke on the phone on March 25.

On March 10 itself, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his warm congratulations to YSY, adding that he looked forward to working with him to further expand and strengthen the India-ROK Special Strategic Partnership. On May 6, Indias ambassador in Seoul, Sripriya Ranganathan, called on Mr Yoon when YSY affirmed that India-ROK ties would be scaled up significantly by his administration.

New Delhis ties with Seoul have gradually flowered after the advent of democracy in South Korea in the 1990s. There is a strong sense of goodwill and friendship towards each other among the leadership as well as people in the two countries. There is strong bipartisan political commitment in both countries to deepen the strategic partnership and scale up trade and investment relationship.

South Koreas Presidents, of both the liberal and conservative persuasion, have invested in promoting friendly ties with India. In India too, the Strategic Partnership established by the UPA government in 2010 has been strengthened as the Special Strategic Partnership by the NDA government.

However, till now, the strategic partnership has been mainly based on economic cooperation as the outgoing South Korean President was wary of rubbing China the wrong way. The incoming Yoon administration may make a more objective and realistic assessment of China as a disruptive and expansionist nation responsible for upsetting the peace of the entire Indo-Pacific region.
Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin (1st L) gives an interview at the site of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022. Laying wreaths at memorial plaques here dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, representatives of Serbia and China on Saturday commemorated the Chinese martyrs and condemned NATO's "barbaric act."(Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

BELGRADE, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Laying wreaths at memorial plaques here dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, representatives of Serbia and China on Saturday commemorated the Chinese martyrs and condemned NATO's "barbaric act."

Among the officials present at the commemoration were Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin, Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, and Tian Yishu, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Serbia.

"Chinese citizens that laid their lives here, didn't even need to be here, but they chose to do so, in order to share the most difficult and saddest moments with us," Vulin said.

"Serbia will never stop asking for responsibility for crimes conducted by NATO during their aggression," Vulin said. "Those (Western powers) which now ask from us to align with their policies should remember their statements from 1999."

He noted that Serbia and China "have a friendship made of steel, forged in the most difficult of times."

Tian said that "China-Serbia friendship of steel is now playing a vital role in the peace and economic recovery of this region."

"We wish to continue comprehensive cooperation with all peace-loving countries, both in fields of economic cooperation and security," he said.

Svetozar Parezanin, a retired colonel of the Serbian Army who came here with a local citizen association, held a banner with photographs of the three killed journalists -- Shao Yunhuan of Xinhua News Agency, and Xu Xinghu and his wife Zhu Ying of the Guangming Daily newspaper.

"We remember that day very well, and we will never forget it. We come here every year to show our feeling of respect towards brotherly Chinese people," Parezanin said.
By Uditha Jayasinghe

COLOMBO (Reuters) -The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is considering granting $100 million in emergency support to Sri Lanka, the country's finance ministry said on Sunday.

Sri Lanka has requested foreign-exchange liquidity support for state banks from the lender, it said in a statement.

Hit hard by the pandemic, rising oil prices and populist tax cuts by the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the South Asian island's economy is in crisis, with usable foreign reserves down to $50 million, Finance Minister Ali Sabry said last week.

Shortages of imported food, fuel and medicines have brought thousands onto the streets in over a month of mostly peaceful protests. Rajapaksa declared a second state emergency in five weeks on Friday.

The multilateral AIIB, founded in 2014 to promote infrastructure investing throughout Asia, draws most of its funding from China.

China is Sri Lanka's largest bilateral lender, with an outstanding balance of $6.5 billion mostly lent over the past decade for large infrastructure projects, including highways, a port, an airport and a coal power plant.

Beijing has extended Sri Lanka a $1.3 billion syndicated loan and a $1.5 billion yuan-denominated swap to boost its reserves. The two countries are in talks for a $1.5 billion credit line and a fresh syndicated loan of up to $1 billion.

Colombo said this month that talks had started on refinancing Chinese debt after Sri Lanka suspended some of external debt repayments in April.

(Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; Writing by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and William Mallard)
I am seeing signs of a possible Google search ranking update that kicked off late Friday, May 6th and has really spiked this morning - May 8th - also Mother's Day in many regions. There is both a lot of chatter in the SEO forums and many of the tools are showing volatility in the Google search results rankings.

I do try not to post on the weekend but this morning the signals I track around these updates really spiked - so I figured I'd do a special weekend and Mother's Day story about this update.

The last update we reported on also went unconfirmed, the May 1st update. Things calmed down a bit since May 1st but again, the Google search results started to spike a couple of days ago.

SEO Chatter

Here is some of the chatter from SEOs about this possible Google update from both WebmasterWorld and some comments here.

Things simply do not "feel" right this month however my "feelings" do not agree with my traffic: 1-5 May 115.3% 6 May so far 50.7% with 12 hours remaining of my Googleday Noticeably my traffic this month is well ahead from India and down from the USA. I always get quantity traffic from India since we're a 50-year-old Anglo-Indian company plus India is one of the top 3 global sources for my widgets.

Same here. Yesterday normal, today 58% down so far.

My USA traffic also way down today... down 45% at 11:30am. Check your stats for previous Fridays. I am seeing this huge drop in USA traffic every single Friday like clockwork. Meanwhile plenty of Peru, Nigeria, India, Bangladesh, Iran, etc...

Another big drop at around ~1 AM GMT, all my sites affected, not just the usual suspect (the much tormented senior site).

Interestingly, I previously reported a whole bunch of traffic in the early hours of the morning, which was unexpected. Since then, I've had no traffic - none at all, which is even more surprising since the majority of the UK is now up and awake.

I'm experiencing a lot of the same, particularly very unnatural traffic patterns. Through the week, where I would expect to get consistent visitors, there's been hours and hours of nothingness. Today - a Sunday - I've had loads of traffic in the early hours. What's that all about?! No conversions on the back of it though. Now, on some days, up to 40% of my traffic comes from other search engines.

So that is some of the chatter from over the weekend from within the SEO community.

Google Tracking Tools

The Google search tracking have also started to notice big changes in the Google search results. Here are screenshots from the tools as of this morning.

Semrush:

RankRanger:

Advanced Web Rankings:

Cognitive SEO:

Accuranker:

SERPmetrics:

Advanced Web Rankings:

Mozcast

So there does seem to be some sort of Google update going on this Mother's Day weekend. Have you noticed any changes yourself?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Update: A lot of chatter on this continues into Monday - more in the forums and a lot on Twitter and the comments below.

Glenn also shared these charts:
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Dozens of Bay Area residents gathered at San Franciscos Embarcadero Plaza on Saturday to defend abortion rights, the latest in a series of protests around the region and country following a leaked draft decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 law that legalized abortion nationwide.

The roughly hourlong event, organized by the Socialist Alternative, drew a smaller crowd than those that marched the streets Tuesday, immediately following news of the leaked draft. Many attendees came on Saturday to show support for the cause because they werent able to attend rallies earlier in the week, or demonstrated on Tuesday and wanted to show their continued support.

I looked up any protest I could find this weekend. This is really important to defend, said Gloria Doudoukjian of Livermore, who held a sign reading, No uterus, no opinion.

Abortion is a human right. Health care is a human right, said Doudoukjian, 18, who attended the gathering with her friend Nic Stromme, 19.

You cant ban abortion, you can only ban safe abortion, Stromme said.

The leaked draft opinion was posted by Politico on Monday, and immediately kicked off demonstrations around the globe decrying the decision. Written by Justice Samuel Alito, the draft  which is subject to change  suggests the majority of justices agreed to strike down the 1973 law that legalized abortion, as well as a subsequent 1992 decision that affirmed that right.

If the opinion is released in its current form and gets the support of a majority of the courts justices, it would mean the end to federally sanctioned abortion rights and leave states to establish their own laws. Many Democratic-run states, including California, have vowed to preserve legal access to abortion.

Many reproductive rights experts say that if Roe is overturned, it would lead to an influx of women crossing state borders to access abortion  potentially overtaxing health care providers that perform the procedure. And many women dont have the resources to travel to seek care, making the decision disproportionately harmful to lower income women who could be forced to bear children against their will or seek dangerous, illegal abortions.

The crowd at the Embarcadero clapped as organizers and attendees spoke in defense of keeping abortion safe and legal. Many carried handmade signs reading, Abortion is health care and Reproductive rights are human rights.

The only way we can fight to defend this right is by showing up and making our voices heard, said Victoria Gaston, an organizer with Socialist Alternative who helped put together Saturdays gathering. The meeting today is focused on tactics on how to build the movement. Protests are a great start but we need a strategy to put up the fight.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

She said her group is talking to students at San Francisco State University to stage a potential walkout on campus on Friday, and plans to participate in Planned Parenthoods nationwide day of action on May 14.

Sarah Morgan of Oakland, who attended Saturdays gathering after also protesting Tuesday, said she plans to keep showing up to future protests to make her voice heard.

Until recently, abortion rights was something I took for granted, a sense of freedom and relief knowing its an option, said Morgan, 35. (The Supreme Courts pending decision) made me really infuriated, and the best way to show up was physically.

Catherine Ho (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
1 What percentage of Californians support Roe v. Wade, according to a survey?

A: 77%

B: 65%

C: 53%

2 If Roe v. Wade falls, how many from out-of-state may seek abortions in California?

A: Up to 450,000

B: Up to 800,000

C: Up to 1.4 million

3 What renewable energy milestone did California hit?

A: Renewables briefly met nearly 100% of demand

B: Installed 1 billion solar panels

C: Wind power generation surpassed solar

4 How many units of affordable housing were completed in S.F. in 2021?

A: 756

B: 1,250

C: 1,495

5 The late-Kathy Boudin was a professor at:

A: UC Berkeley

B: Harvard

C: Columbia

6 The percentage of metro San Jose homes sold in 2020 for $1 million or more was:

A: 47%

B: 61%

C: 82%

7 Where are the nations only two supervised drug use sites?

A: Los Angeles

More Information Answers: 1-A, 2-C, 3-A, 4-C, 5-C, 6-B, 7-B, 8-C, 9-B, 10-A See More Collapse

B: New York

C: Seattle

8 How many giant Sequoia seedlings is a reforestation project planning to plant?

A: 2,000

B: 20,000

C: 200,000

9 How much did Californias population decline in 2021?

A: 215,235

B: 117,552

C: 87,021

10 The late Jack Cakebread was a pioneer in:

A: Wine

B: Silicon chips

C: Baking

 Harry Mok; hmok@sfchronicle.com
San Francisco Mayor London Breed hasnt taken a public position on the recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin. But, politically, shed better hope Boudin survives it.

For her sake.

If Breed has to pick Boudins successor, then she will own the crime issue in San Francisco until she faces voters next year. Thats not a re-election position she wants to be in given how people feel about crime  even if statistics compiled by The Chronicle show many crimes returning to pre-pandemic levels.

It certainly moves the issue closer to her, said longtime California Democratic strategist Garry South. Nobody can lay Boudin on her. But if you handpick somebody, then that gum is on your shoe.

That is because voters traditionally hold mayors accountable for crime and how the economy is doing, said Jason McDaniel, a professor of political science at San Francisco State University who closely watches local politics.

So if voters kick Boudin out of office a year before his term ends, voters will be looking to the mayor and looking at the (crime) situation, and that will be part of their calculation they make as to whether to support the mayor for re-election.

It will be a perfectly valid part of the campaign, McDaniel said. It will be her responsibility to take on that issue, and it will be her responsibility to show improvement and responsiveness.

By the time Breed comes before voters next year, she will have broadened her imprint on the citys politics. She will have appointed City Attorney David Chiu and will soon be choosing a replacement on the Board of Supervisors for now-Assembly Member Matt Haney.

Breed is already in a similar situation when it comes to education, another issue voters hold mayors responsible for, McDaniel said  even though the mayor has no direct control over San Franciscos public schools.

Thats because she recently appointed three people to replace the school board members voters tossed out of office in February in San Franciscos first nationally watched recall of the year. Now, along with school board President Jenny Lam, her former education adviser, Breed can potentially count four allies on the seven-member board.

Breed wasnt shy about publicly supporting the school board recall. Two months before election day, she said she was backing the the parents call for change.

When she announced her three appointees to the board last month, Breed said she agonized about the decision. This is probably the hardest decision Ive had to make as mayor, she said, because its about the future of our children.

After she announced her picks, political consultant David Ho, who previously worked for a pro-Breed independent expenditure group said, Voters will hold her accountable for the success and failure of the school board results.

Wait until Breed has to pick a new district attorney.

Because while schools are a top concern for parents, crime  along with housing and homelessness  is whats angering San Franciscans. Soon, the mayor could own all of them. Thats a heavy load of longtime, intractable problems to shoulder going into a re-election campaign.

A March survey by the Bay Area Council found that 65% of Bay Area residents were afraid to visit a downtown in the region because of fears about crime. That is not good news for the mayor of the regions most prominent downtown.

That same poll found that in 2019, 2% of respondents said crime was their top concern. Now 15% said it is their top worry, trailing only homelessness (24%) and housing (21%).

Boudin has largely been the mayors political human shield on crime, absorbing most of the criticism from voters. The result: 74% of the respondents disapproved of him and 78% gave Boudin a negative job performance rating, according to a March survey of 800 likely voters by EMC Research, which was commissioned by the pro-recall campaign.

Breed has done little to hide her disdain for Boudin. While she may be publicly neutral on the recall, when asked in February whether she had faith in what the district attorney was doing, Breed replied: I am not necessarily on the same page with a number of things that hes doing.

The concerns about crime have affected Breed, too. Her approval rating is now hovering around 50%, according to those familiar with internal polls. Her approval rating was in positive territory after she won acclaim for keeping the citys COVID infection rate low and vaccination rate high during the darkest days of the pandemic.

But now concerns about crime have supplanted those about the pandemic. According to the Bay Area Council survey, only 2% of the region lists COVID as their top issue.

Boudin is unbowed about the recall. He proudly points to how every San Francisco elected official who has taken a position on the recall is opposing it, along with the Sierra Club, the ACLU and top labor organizations.

For Breed, its smart politics to stay mum. She sees polls showing that upward of 60% of voters want to boot Boudin. Theres no need for her to pile on and perhaps trigger blowback from pro-Boudin progressives whose support she will need for her re-election campaign.

My goal is to work with the district attorney, she told my colleague Mallory Moench recently, the kind of measured, gritted teeth response you give while trying to remember that if you dont have anything nice to say about somebody, say little.

Breed hasnt spent time focused on who shed pick to replace Boudin. She is concentrating on the issues that voters care most about  like housing and homelessness. But if Boudin is recalled, she will be on the clock.

Then she will own another issue that is fraying San Franciscos international reputation, and there will be no other elected leader around to cushion the impact.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
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LONDON (AP)  Ncuti Gatwa will take the mantle from Jodie Whittaker on Doctor Who, the BBC announced Sunday, ending speculation over the iconic Time Lord's next regeneration.

"Sometimes talent walks through the door and its so bright and bold and brilliant, I just stand back in awe and thank my lucky stars," returning showrunner Russell T Davies said in the broadcaster's release. Ncuti dazzled us, seized hold of the Doctor and owned those TARDIS keys in seconds.

Gatwa, whose first name is pronounced 'SHOO-tee, currently stars in Netflixs high school comedy-drama Sex Education as the effervescent Eric Effiong, who is openly gay but from a highly religious family.

The Rwanda-born, Scotland-raised Gatwa, 29, will be the first Black actor to helm the quintessential British sci-fi show, but he wont be the first Black Doctor  Jo Martin has played Fugitive Doctor in several episodes.

Whittaker became the 13th Doctor  and the first woman to play the central galaxy-hopping, extraterrestrial Time Lord who regenerates into new bodies  in 2017, when she took over from Peter Capaldi. Her last episode of Doctor Who is expected to air later this year.

The original run of Doctor Who spanned 1963 to 1989. Since the show was revived in 2005, the Doctor has been played by Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith, in addition to Capaldi and Whittaker. Other stars, like Karen Gillan and Billie Piper, have made their names on the show as the Doctor's companion.

This role and show means so much to so many around the world, including myself, and each one of my incredibly talented predecessors has handled that unique responsibility and privilege with the utmost care. I will endeavor my utmost to do the same, the release quoted Gatwa  who described his emotions as a mix of deeply honored, beyond excited and of course a little bit scared  as saying.

In addition to seeing the start of Gatwa's tenure, next year also marks Davies' return to Doctor Who after more than a decade's absence.

Russell T Davies is almost as iconic as the Doctor himself and being able to work with him is a dream come true, Gatwa said.

The writer and producer ran the reboot until 2009, and has worked on shows like A Very English Scandal and It's A Sin in the interim. He promises a spectacular 2023.

Unlike the Doctor, I may only have one heart but I am giving it all to this show," Gatwa added.
When Raquel Goldman thinks back to her childhood, the memories of long road trips to Mexico City are the ones that bring a smile to her face. Once the car was crammed with suitcases and the kids were settled, Goldmans family escaped the sweltering Miami heat to spend the next three months with their relatives south of the border.

Goldman didnt mind the 2,000-mile journey because she knew it wouldnt be long before shed have a bowl of her grandmothers signature dish, mole de olla  a traditional beef and vegetable soup made with a bold, chile-based broth.

That was one of my favorite things to eat, Goldman said. She would make that with ... big chunks of veggies ... like chayote, potatoes, corn and carrots. I liked picking out the little corn on the cob from the soup and eating that piece. It's a very beautiful [dish] actually.

Charles Russo/SFGATE

Whether her grandmother, Lilia Lopez Palomino, was making savory mole de olla or vessels of fluffy rice, Palomino always cooked meals in bulk for her grandchildren or neighbors who often stopped by for a bite to eat after Sunday service. Goldman frequently observed her grandmother with awe as she breezed throughout the kitchen without missing a beat. The loss of Palominos husband early on shaped her into a strong, independent woman, and while stoic by nature, Goldman said she knew the way her grandmother expressed her love was through the decadent meals she made daily.

Goldman, who is now the baker-owner of San Francisco's Norte 54, looks back on those early childhood memories and credits her grandmother as the inspiration behind her modern Mexican pastry business, which she lovingly named after the Mexico City street where Palomino lived.

When I was trying to think about names for like the bakery, I was thinking about my nicknames or things like that, but nothing was really hitting, Goldman said. Then all of a sudden, I just had an aha moment. I was like, Norte 54 makes the most sense because it was my home away from home.

Though not a baker herself, Palomino often made arroz con leche and jams, among other treats. She became a pivotal force to Goldman, instilling a strong work ethic.

Charles Russo/SFGATE

So when Goldman decided to become a professional baker in 2018, she enrolled in the San Francisco Cooking School, where she took a rigorous nine-month baking program.

During freestyle baking sessions at school, she often found herself longing to highlight classic Mexican desserts. Less than a year later, Goldman graduated in March 2019 and promptly landed a position at Nopa as an assistant baker, where she said she was able to bake conchas, the iconic shell-shaped Mexican pastry, on a large scale during a community lunch hosted by the San Francisco restaurant. When her boss tried the flaky pastry with its sugar-coated shell, he praised her work, giving Goldman the final push she needed to continue developing her craft.

When Goldman was laid off from Nopa in March 2020 during the early part of the pandemic, she decided to focus her efforts on contemporary Mexican pastries full time. In the months that followed, she researched hundreds of pan dulce varieties and toyed around with each recipe. By the fall of that same year, Norte 54 had officially launched.

I was learning about all the different varieties of pan dulce, and I feel like I'll never know them all, Goldman recalled. I wanted to bring [the pastries] up to a quality I felt they could really shine on their own and not be the versions of what I remember as a child.

Charles Russo/SFGATE

For the past two years, Goldmans set up shop at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, Mission Community Market and a takeout window at Nopalitos 18th Street outpost, where her growing clientele take their pick of the elaborate sweets she makes. (Pastel, the online business that delivers Bay Area goods, also offers Norte 54 pan dulce on its site).

Norte 54s selection of pastries has included traditional bunuelos, churro doughnuts dusted with cinnamon sugar, and her showstopper dessert called el poli cake, which is a spin on a classic Mexican snack.

They're essentially my version of Gansitos, Goldman said. [Its] a vanilla cake with strawberry jam, marshmallow fluff, and they're coated in chocolate. Just before the poli cakes are sent off, Goldman sprinkles the tops with fleur de sel flakes.

Palomino, unfortunately, never had the chance to witness Goldmans business as she passed away nearly five years ago. Still, her enduring memory remains the backbone for Norte 54.

I think its this instinct to make [food] that I witnessed growing up, Goldman said. My grandma cared for people that way. Norte 54 is a connection with people, and I learned that from her. Baking and being part of the community, for me, brings it full circle.
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OBERAMMERGAU, Germany (AP)  Almost 400 years ago, the Catholic residents of a small Bavarian village vowed to perform a play of the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ every 10 years, if only God would spare them any further losses from the plague known as the Black Death.

Legend has it that ever since 1634, when the villagers of Oberammergau first performed their passion play, no more residents died of that pestilence or any other plagues  until 2020, when the world was hit by a new plague, the coronavirus pandemic. Oberammergau, like so many places worldwide, suffered some COVID-19 deaths, though residents who confirmed that were unsure how many.

Another consequence: The villagers could not fulfill their vow to stage the play after a 10-year interval. It was set to open in the spring of 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic.

Now, after a two-year delay, the famous Oberammergau Passion Play is finally opening on May 14  the 42nd staging since its long-ago debut. Almost half of the villages residents  more than 1,800 people, including 400 children  will participate in the play about the last five days before Christ's crucifixion.

It's a production modernized to fit the times, stripped of antisemitic allusions and featuring a diverse cast that include refugee children and non-Christian actors.

The play will be one of the first major cultural events in Germany since the outbreak of the pandemic, with almost half a million visitors expected from Germany and all over the world, notably from the United States.

Just a few weeks ago, many could not believe that the Passion Play would premiere, said director Christian Stueckl, who was born in Oberammergau and has been in charge of the play for more than 30 years.

We dont know what COVID-19 will do, if there will be another wave," he said. "But we have an endless desire to bring our passion play back to the stage and we are highly motivated.

All the actors tested themselves for the virus before every rehearsal and will continue to do so for all 103 performances which run through Oct. 2, Stueckl said. They have all been letting their hair grow  and the men letting beards grow  for over a year, as tradition dictates.

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine still underway, themes such as war, hunger, persecution and displacement play prominent roles in this years production  showing the timelessness of human suffering from 2,000 years ago and from today.

The play  which for hundreds of years reflected a conservative, Catholic outlook  has received a careful makeover to become reflective of Germanys more diverse society. It includes a leading Muslim actor for the first time and has been purged of the many notorious antisemitic plot lines which drew widespread criticism.

The history of the Oberammergau Passion Play as being one which manifests these antisemitic tropes  Jews as villainous, Jews as deceptive, Jews as bloodthirsty, Jews as manipulative, Jews as Christ killers  was always part of the story, Rabbi Noam Marans told The Associated Press in a recent interview in Oberammergau.

Marans, the director for interreligious and intergroup relations for the American Jewish Committee in New York, has been advising Stueckl together with a team of Christian and Jewish American experts for several years on how to rid the play of antisemitic content.

Its been a success story. The play no longer depicts the Jews as Christ's killers, and shows clearly that Jesus was a Jew himself. It places the story of Jesus last days in historical context, with all its intra-Jewish tensions and the Jews oppression by the Romans.

The male performers wear yarmulkes, making them clearly recognizable as Jews. Of course, there are many Christian elements as well, such as the famous choir and orchestra whose musical compositions go back to the early 19th century.

The mix of Christian and Jewish influences on the current performance is vividly illustrated during the depiction of the Last Supper, when a huge Menorah is lit on the table and the disciples of Jesus recite both Hebrew prayers and the Christian Lords Prayer.

Let there be no doubt: in Oberammergau, in the play, antisemitism has no place, and it has no place in the lives of the performers either, Stueckl said.

Along with tackling the plays antisemitism, Stueckl made it a more inclusive performance overall.

Until the 1990s, when Stueckl took over as director, performers had to belong to one of the two major German churches, Roman Catholic or Lutheran. These days, people who have left the church, atheists, Muslims, and members of any other religious affiliation are welcome to participate as long as they are residents of Oberammergau.

Judas is played by Muslim actor Cengiz Gorur. The deputy director, Abdullah Karaca, is the son of Turkish immigrants. And several children of refugees from Africa and elsewhere, who only recently arrived in Oberammergau after fleeing their home countries, were invited to perform.

When it comes to women, theres still some work to be done. Stueckl called the play very male-dominated  all leading roles are male, with the exception only of Jesus mother, Mary, and Mary Magdalene.

Asked whether he could imagine a future performance in which women played leading male roles, Stueckl shook his head.

I dont think I will live to see Jesus being played by a woman  or Mary by a man, he said. Then he paused for a moment, smiled, and added: Even though the world would not come to an end because of that.

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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.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  Anyone anticipating a return to normalcy in the Kentucky Derby got a dose of crazy on Saturday when an 80-1 shot came charging up the rail to win at Churchill Downs.

As favorite Epicenter and Zandon engaged in a duel at the front, Rich Strike stole the show with the second-biggest upset in the Derbys 148-year history.

The chestnut colt beat 4-1 favorite Epicenter by three-quarters of a length. Zandon finished another three-quarters of a length back in third.

I about fell down in the paddock when he hit the wire, winning trainer Eric Reed said. I about passed out.

Rich Strike paid $163.60. Only Donerail in 1913 had a higher payout of $184.90.

What a crazy Derby, said trainer Kenny McPeek, whose horses finished eighth and ninth.

Rich Strike wasnt even in the Derby until Friday when Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas scratched Ethereal Road, making room for the chestnut colt that had just one previous win in his career.

We found out about 30 seconds before the deadline on Friday, owner Rick Dawson said. It put us in the race and really we always felt if we just got in weve got a shot.

Rich Strike ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:02.61. After taking a bite out of his much costlier competition, he playfully chomped on the pony guiding him to the winners circle.

I cant believe it after Epicenters effort, said losing trainer Steve Asmussen, who fell to 0 for 24 in the Derby. I got beat by the horse that just got in.

Jockey Sonny Leon and Rich Strike had just two horses beat in the early going. Leon eventually guided his mount between horses and to the inside rail. Rich Strike made a deft move around Messier in the stretch and went right back to the rail intent on picking off Epicenter and Zandon.

When I was in the last 70 yards, I said, I think I got this race, Leon said.

Both Leon, who is from Venezuela, and Reed were in their first Derby. Reed endured a tragedy five years ago when he lost nearly two dozen horses in a barn fire at his training center in Lexington.

He briefly considered the fire might be a signal for him to leave the sport.

People I hadnt seen, people I havent talked to in years, my best friends were there in the morning to pick me up, Reed recalled. It let me know theres so much good out there, and then I just decided I wasnt going to let it take me out.

Leon regularly rides on some of the countrys smallest circuits, where the horse flesh is inexpensive and the purse money modest. But he matched wits with such veteran riders as Joel Rosario, aboard Epicenter, and John Velazquez, aboard Messier.

Leons rail ride was reminiscent of jockey Calvin Borels stealth move aboard Mine That Bird in 2009. Mine That Bird sprang what was then the Derbys third-biggest upset, paying $103.20 to win.

Reed had no argument with the bettors ignoring his colt, whose victory surely inspired little guys everywhere.

Small trainer, small rider, small stable, he should have been 80-1, Reed said. And so anybody thats in this business, lightening can strike.

Rich Strike was purchased by Dawson, who races as RED TR-Racing LLC, for $30,000 last fall when the colt was entered in a low-level claiming race by his former owner.

Calumet Farm head Brad Kelley might be ruing that decision now. Calumet Farm has won a record eight Kentucky Derbies but none since 1968, when Forward Pass was placed first via disqualification.

Rich Strike earned $1.86 million for his first stakes victory. The colt lost to Zandon in his most recent start last month and was beat by Epicenter in the John Battaglia Memorial in March.

Simplification finished fourth and Mo Donegal was fifth.

Churchill Downs returned to full capacity, including former President Donald Trump, on the first Saturday in May for the first time in three years.

But the final result was the more upheaval for Americas greatest horse race.

In 2019, winner Maximum Security was disqualified for interference after 22 minutes and runner-up Country House wore the garland of red roses.

In 2020, an eerie silence enveloped the track when no fans were allowed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the race was pushed to September.

Last years winner, Medina Spirit, was disqualified after nine months, having failed a post-race drug test that led to six-time Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert being banned from Churchill Downs for two years. The 2021 Derby was back to its usual spot on the calendar with attendance limited to about 52,000.

The bourbon was flowing again Saturday, cigar smoke curled in the air on a cloudy and unusually cool day, and fans strutted in their huge hats, floral-print dresses and seersucker suits.

Then came Rich Strike thundering along the rail and all heck broke loose.

A few days ago, Reed sent Dawson a photo of the colt sprawled in his straw-covered stall with his handlers laying on him, all of them napping. Reed typed, I think our horse is cool and ready to run.

Dawson responded, If we can wake him up.

Did they ever.

I feel like the luckiest man alive, Dawson said, grinning.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Rich Strike had just one, not two, previous wins.

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Crews have worked through a second night searching for victims of a hotel explosion that killed at least 27 people in Cuba's capital and left more than a dozen missing amid the rubble.

The Hotel Saratoga, a luxury 96-room residence in Old Havana, was finishing renovations when an apparent gas leak produced a massive explosion on Friday.

The Saratoga's facade was sheared off, burying workers inside and apparently passers-by outside under concrete and twisted metal.

The explosion came in the late morning when the streets and plaza in front of the stately hotel would have been full of pedestrians.

On Saturday evening, Dr Julio Guerra Izquierdo, chief of hospital services at the Ministry of Health, raised the death toll to 27 with 81 people injured.

The dead included four children and a pregnant woman.

Spain's President Pedro Sanchez said via Twitter that a Spanish tourist was among the dead and another Spaniard was seriously injured.

Some 37 people remained hospitalised, according to the Health Ministry.

Earlier on Saturday afternoon, a representative of Grupo de Turismo Gaviota, which owns the hotel, said 13 of its workers remained missing.

Governor Reinaldo Garcia Zapata said on Saturday evening 19 families had reported loved ones missing and rescue efforts would continue.

At least one survivor was found early on Saturday in the shattered ruins.

Authorities said the cause of the explosion was still under investigation, but it was believed to have been caused by a gas leak.

A large crane hoisted a charred gas tanker out of the rubble on Saturday.

The explosion is another blow to the country's crucial tourism industry.

Crews busily worked to clean up the surrounding streets and by late on Saturday, substantial pedestrian traffic had resumed.

Some nearby buildings were also heavily damaged by the explosion that blew out windows and rattled walls.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic kept tourists away from Cuba, the country was struggling with tightened sanctions imposed by former US president Donald Trump and kept in place by the Biden administration.

Tourism had started to revive somewhat early this year, but the war in Ukraine deflated a boom of Russian visitors, who accounted for almost a third of those arriving in Cuba last year.
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Americas faithful are bracing  some with cautionary joy and others with looming dread  for the Supreme Court to potentially overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and end the nationwide right to legal abortion.

A reversal of the 49-year-old ruling has never felt more possible since a draft opinion suggesting justices may do so was leaked this week. While religious believers at the heart of the decades-old fight over abortion are shocked at the breach of high court protocol, they are still as deeply divided and their beliefs on the contentious issue as entrenched as ever.

National polls show that most Americans support abortion access. A Public Religion Research Institute survey from March found that a majority of religious groups believe it should be legal in most cases  with the exception of white evangelical Protestants, 69% of whom said the procedure should be outlawed in most or all cases.

In conservative Christian corners, the draft opinion has sparked hope. Faith groups that have historically taken a strong anti-abortion stance, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have urged followers to pray for Roe's reversal.

The Rev. Manuel Rodriguez, pastor of the 17,000-strong Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic church in New York City's Queens borough, said his mostly Latino congregation is heartened by the prospect of Roe's demise at a time when courts in some Latin American countries such as Colombia and Argentina have moved to legalize abortion.

You dont fix a crime committing another crime, Rodriguez said.

Bishop Garland R. Hunt Sr., senior pastor of The Fathers House, a nondenominational, predominantly African American church in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, agreed.

This is the result of ongoing, necessary prayer since 1973, Hunt said. As a Christian, I believe that God is the one that gives life  not politicians or justices. I certainly want to see more babies protected in the womb.

No faith is monolithic on the abortion issue. Yet many followers of faiths that dont prohibit abortion are aghast that a view held by a minority of Americans could supersede their individual rights and religious beliefs.

In Judaism, for example, many authorities say abortion is permitted or even required in cases where the woman's life is in danger.

This ruling would be outlawing abortion in cases when our religion would permit us," said Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, scholar in residence at the National Council of Jewish Women, and it is basing its concepts of when life begins on someone elses philosophy or theology.

In Islam, similarly, there is room for all aspects of reproductive choice from family planning to abortion, said Nadiah Mohajir, co-founder of Heart Women and Girls, a Chicago nonprofit that works with Muslim communities on reproductive rights and other gender issues.

One particular political agenda is infringing on my right and my religious and personal freedom, she said.

According to new data released Wednesday by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 56% of U.S. Muslims say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, a figure that's about on par with the beliefs of U.S. Catholics.

Donna Nicolino, a student at Fire Lotus Temple, a Zen Buddhist center in Brooklyn, said her faith calls on followers to show compassion to others. Restricting or banning abortion fails to consider why women have abortions and would hurt the poor and marginalized the most, she said.

If we truly value life as a culture, Nicolino said, we would take steps like guaranteeing maternal health care, health care for children, decent housing for pregnant women.

Sikhism prohibits sex-selective killings  female infanticide  but is more nuanced when it comes to abortion and favors compassion and personal choice, said Harinder Singh, senior fellow of research and policy at Sikhri, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that creates educational resources about the faith.

A 2019 survey he co-led with research associate Jasleen Kaur found that 65% of Sikhs said abortion should be up to the woman instead of the government or faith leaders, while 77% said Sikh institutions should support those who are considering abortions.

The surveyed Sikh community is very clear that no religious or political authority should be deciding this issue, Singh said.

Compassion is a virtue emphasized as well by some Christian leaders who are calling on their ardently anti-abortion colleagues to lower the temperature as they speak out on the issue.

The Rev. Kirk Winslow, pastor of Canvas Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California, said he views abortion through a human and spiritual lens instead of as a political issue. Communities should turn to solutions such as counseling centers, parenting courses, health care and education, he said, instead of getting drawn into a culture war.

He has counseled women struggling with whether to have an abortion, and stresses the importance of empathy.

Amidst the pain, fear and confusion of an unexpected pregnancy, no one has ever said, Im excited to get an abortion, Winslow said. And there are times when getting an abortion may be the best chance we have to bring Gods peace to the situation. And I know many would disagree with that position. I would only respond that most havent been in my office for these very real and very difficult conversations.

Likewise, Caitlyn Stenerson, an Evangelical Covenant Church pastor and campus minister in Minnesota's Twin Cities area, called on faith leaders to tread carefully, bearing in mind that women in their pews may have had abortions for a variety of reasons and may be grieving and wrestling with trauma.

As a pastor my job isnt to heap more shame on people but to bring them to Jesus, Stenerson said. We are called to speak truth, but with love.

Ahead of a final court ruling expected to be handed down this summer, faith leaders on both sides are preparing for the possibility of abortion becoming illegal in many states.

The Rev. Sarah Halverson-Cano, senior pastor of Irvine United Congregational Church in Irvine, California, said her congregation is considering providing sanctuary and other support to women who may travel to the state to end their pregnancies. On Tuesday, the day after the draft opinion leaked, she led congregants and community members in a rally for abortion rights in nearby Santa Ana.

Our faith calls us to be responsive to those in need, Halverson-Cano said. Its time to stand with women and families and look into how to respond to this horrible injustice.

Niklas Koehler, president of the Students for Life group at Franciscan University of Steubenville, a private Catholic college in eastern Ohio, said he and others regularly attend a special Mass on Saturday with prayers for an end to abortion. They then travel across the state line to nearby Pittsburgh to hold a prayer vigil and distribute leaflets outside an abortion clinic.

Actions like that will continue to be necessary even if the draft opinion becomes the law of the land, Koehler said, because abortion will likely remain legal in states such as Pennsylvania.

We will still be going to pray outside the clinic, he said.

___

Bharath reported from Los Angeles and Henao from New York. Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell'Orto in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Peter Smith in Pittsburgh contributed.

___

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.
SELMA, Ala. (AP)  An Alabama judge has refused to dismiss an indictment against a New Orleans tattoo artist accused in a bizarre theft in which a chair-shaped Confederate monument was taken from a cemetery and held for ransom.

Dallas County Circuit Judge Collins Pettaway Jr. refused to dismiss charges of theft and receiving stolen property against Jason Warnick, 33, in a brief decision released Thursday.

The judge rejected defense claims that there were problems with the indictment charging Warnick in the disappearance last year of a chair-shaped monument to Confederate President Jefferson Davis from 200-year-old Live Oak Cemetery in Selma. Warnick also claimed there wasn't enough evidence to arrest him, but the judge refused to dismiss the charge.

Warnick was set to go on trial on Monday, but Pettaway delayed the case and scheduled a hearing for June 16.

Placed at the cemetery in 1893 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the chair vanished from its base last year in Selma, which was a Confederate arsenal during the Civil War and also is widely known as the site of voting rights demonstrations by Black activists in the 1960s.

An email claiming to be from a group called White Lies Matter claimed responsibility and said the chair would be returned only if the United Daughters of the Confederacy agreed to display a banner at its Virginia headquarters bearing a quote from a Black Liberation Army activist. The email also included images of a fake chair with a hole cut in the seat like a toilet and a man dressed in Confederate garb.

Authorities who arrested Warnick said the real chair was spotted at his tattoo parlor in New Orleans, where he was charged with receiving stolen property before the case was dismissed.

Warnick is innocent and had never been to Selma before he went to the city to surrender on the theft charge, the defense argues.

The chair, which the United Daughters of the Confederacy valued at $500,000, was returned to the cemetery and glued to its base.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  It's now a crime in Alabama to administer or prescribe gender-affirming puberty blockers and hormones to transgender people under age 19, as a new law took effect Sunday without intervention from the courts.

Alabama is the first state to enact such a ban on these treatments for transgender youth. A similar measure in Arkansas to halt the treatments was blocked by a federal judge before it took effect. A federal judge has not yet ruled on a preliminary injunction request to block Alabama from enforcing the law while a court challenge goes forward.
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MARSHALL, Texas (AP)  Students graduating from a historically Black college in East Texas were told at their commencement ceremony that an anonymous donor had paid their balances, officials said.

Wiley College said in a news release that over 100 students were gathered for graduation Saturday when the school's president made the announcement.
OPELIKA, Ala. (AP)  Thanks to Auburn art students, Opelikas Museum of East Alabama now bears a second mural recognizing the regions rich agricultural history and contributions.

A class of 13 students and three hired artists painted the mural as part of a semester-long project under the direction of Wendy DesChene, an Auburn University art professor. The class began the mural in January and recently completed the artwork.

Elements of the mural include Booker T. Whatley and George Washington Carver, agriculture professors at the Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University. Whatley was known for developing techniques like drip irrigation, while Carver became internationally recognized for his promotion of peanut butter.

Thats why theres peanuts (in the mural), DesChene said with a laugh. Everythings up there for a reason, except for maybe the cow  and the chicken; they kind of represent all cute farm animals.

She described the artwork as the largest outdoor mural shes ever worked on, with the class piecing it together like a puzzle after painting it in sections on 16 different panels of a material DesChene called mural cloth.

Sometimes the panel was here and then the panel that would go right beside it would be in another room, DesChene said. Wed use things like Instagram layout to try and make sure they all lined up.

Myra Stephenson, a 2021 Auburn University art graduate with a concentration in painting, was among the contributing artists who worked with the class.

Its been really fun working with other people and seeing them grow as artists, Stephenson said. A lot of these people have never even painted before  so seeing them paint for the first time and being able to make things with their hands is fun to watch.

She said her favorite elements of the mural are a dress she painted on one side of the canvas as well as a peacock outline in a vintage peafowl advertisement.

Its fun to think that something youve touched or worked on is going to be there for who knows how long and how many people are going to see it, Stephenson said.

Auburns Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities led funding for the artistic effort, budgeting the project at a total $20,000 for the 35-foot long, 14-foot tall mural on the condition it would be completed in one semester.

Our center has been honored to support this project with Professor DesChene and her students, said Mark Wilson, director of the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center. For them to be able to pull this off especially within a semester is pretty noteworthy, I think.

Glenn Buxton, director and curator of the Museum of East Alabama, said the mural was a long time coming. Originally, the art was to occupy the wall on Avenue A, painted by an Auburn art class led by visiting New York artist Esteban del Valle.

They had come in and did the finishing of the wall, put the grid up, already had the paints here and had their power lifts up there to do the painting, Buxton said. And when they got ready to start, COVID hit and the university shut everything down.

The museum since had artist Chris Johnson Columbus, Georgia, paint a mural on the wall paying tribute to other local historical figures and industry, which he completed in March on the other side of the museum. But, the opportunity reappeared in fall 2021 for Auburn students to contribute when Buxton was informed the university still had the money to finance a mural for the museum. In turn, he informed the university that a small pavilion had been constructed for Old Nancy, a 1904 Case steam traction engine the museum received as a donation recently.

I said itd be ideal to make that into an agricultural exhibit and it would be nice to have a mural on that wall, Buxton said. Wendy came with her class, and I took them through the museum and told them things I envisioned (being in the mural), but it was up to them to design how it looked.

DesChene said the final design was meant to pair with the colors of Old Nancy, which arrived not long after the class began painting.

Our color scheme is based on making Old Nancy look the best it can, so theres a lot of black, theres accents of red and theres green, DesChene said. Old Nancy was used as a generator for a sawmill for a long time  and of course, lumber is also very important to this area as well. So everything in the mural has some kind of connection to (East Alabama).

The mural may have been a vehicle for students to improve their painting abilities with public art, but those involved in the project say its aim was also about forging interaction between Auburn students and their community.

We always want to have as many projects (as possible) where students and community members can benefit from each other, Wilson said. Theres no better way to do that than to give students a real-world opportunity to make sure that they get their own vision for what public art and community art can be.

Stephenson said the project was a great way for her and current students to donate to the museum while learning about history in the process.

Its fun to think that something youve touched or worked on is going to be there for who knows how long and (who) knows how many people are going to see it, she said. It was really cool to see it all together because you really dont think about how agricultural everything is while youre here because Auburns (become) so business-like with apartments.

The City of Opelika is set to commemorate the mural in a ceremony on May 12 at the Museum of East Alabama, with the public invited to attend and enjoy free food and beverages. The ceremony will also recognize Johnsons mural on the Avenue A side of the museum.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australias prime minister on Sunday refused to say how his government might respond if China attempted to establish a military base less than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) off the Australian coast on the Solomon Islands.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that a Chinese naval base on the impoverished South Pacific island nation would be a red line for both Australia and the United States. His language was reminiscent to President Barack Obamas declaration in 2012 that the use of chemical weapons by Syrian forces would be crossing a red line requiring American military intervention.

Morrison was questioned by a journalist during an election campaign debate about a recent security pact between China and the Solomon Islands.

Asked what he meant by red line, he replied: It means that was something that Australia believes would be completely against our national interest.

We also believe it will be against the Solomon Islands national interest and we share that view in a similar language with the United States, Morrison added.

Morrison declined to say whether Australia would attempt to blockade any attempt to build a Chinese base. I think it would be very unwise for any government to speculate around these issues, he said.

What is necessary in international environments such as this is to be very clear about what the various partners positions are. That is United States position and certainly our position and I believe it is a broader position of the Pacific islanders family as well, he said.

The United States has said it would take unspecified action against the Solomons should the agreement with China pose a threat to U.S. or allied interests.

The Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told Parliament last week that opponents of the security pact had threatened his country with invasion.

On the threat of invasion, Morrison said last week, none of thats true.

Sogavare has maintained that there would be no Chinese base in his country and China has denied seeking a military foothold in the islands.

A draft of the pact, which was leaked online, said Chinese warships could stop in the Solomon Islands for logistical replenishment and China could send police and armed forces there to assist in maintaining social order. The Solomon Islands and China have not released the final version of the agreement.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese, who will become prime minister if his center-left Labor Party defeats the ruling conservative coalition in May 21 elections, accused Morrison of a massive foreign policy failure in allowing the China-Solomons deal to be sealed.

Albanese has promised closer engagement between Australia and its South Pacific island neighbors if Labor wins.

Australia has a bilateral security pact with the Solomon Islands and had sent a peacekeeping force to the capital, Honiara, in November after civil unrest.
MOBILE, Ala. (AP)  Five people were rescued from a disabled sailboat in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

News outlets report that the 36-foot sailboat put out a distress call Friday afternoon because of a broken mast. The vessel was located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Mobile. No one was injured. The sailboat was towed to shore over the weekend.
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SURFSIDE BEACH, S.C. (AP)  When Gerry Thompson recently purchased his new home in Surfside Beach, he was missing a critical piece of information.

The home had been built on a cemetery where enslaved people from a nearby plantation and their descendants had been buried.

Im kind of gobsmacked that this was part of that cemetery, he said. I feel bad about it. I wish there had never been houses built on here, personally.

The cemetery that Thompsons and his neighbors homes sit on top of was part of the former Ark Plantation, a nearly 3,200 acre slave plantation where owner John Tillman grew indigo  a purplish-blue colored plant used to make dyes  that he shipped to Europe.

Several dozen enslaved Africans  63 as of an 1860 survey  worked and lived on the Ark Plantation and historians believe scores of people could be buried in the cemetery. Official death records exist for around 60 people.

Now, Surfside Beach is honoring that part of the towns history.

On May 3, town officials, local historians and members of the Surfside Beach Historical Society unveiled a series of historical markers and informational plaques detailing the lands history.

This is something weve been working on for a long time and its a good feeling to see that its here and its presented in such a way that its going to be remembered, said Cad Holmes, an Horry County resident who works as an amateur historian. Holmes is also a newly-elected member of the historical society.

Its our legacy, Holmes added. History is something that shouldnt be swept under the rug.

BURIALS AT THE ARK CEMETERY

Enslaved people working and living at the Ark Plantation, for generations, were buried near the plantation house. Its not known how many people are buried there, but Holmes said hes found death certificates for more than 60 people. Forty-nine of those people are named on a plaque at the site, including Sabe Rutledge, who Holmes is descended from.

Rutledge lived at least part of his early life on the plantation, Holmes said.

Holmes explained that identifying the people buried was difficult because few of the graves were marked, and death certificates he was able to find only date back to the mid-1800s.

Holmes, on one of the historical markers, described Rutledges funeral in 1952, in which family members followed a mule driven wagon carrying Rutledges casket. Holmes attended the funeral as a child.

(Rutledges) desire to be buried there was also prompted by earlier generations local Gullah belief, If you were buried by water flowing into the ocean your soul could find its way back to Africa, the marker reads. We still remember the crying and the singing of the people.

The historical markers note that traditions of the Gullah Geechee people, who were formerly enslaved along the coasts of the Carolinas and Georgia, would have people buried with personal belongings and marked graves with broken glass or other light-reflecting materials.

The traditions, Holmes explained, called for buried people to face East and be near water so that their souls could return to Africa.

Some of the burials, according to Joyce Suliman, are as shallow as 12 inches. Suliman helped coordinate the historical markers and herself owns a home that was built on top of the cemetery.

The cemetery was used for burials up through the 1950s and was very active, she said. After discovering that her home was built atop the cemetery, Suliman said she worked with Horry County officials to run a ground-penetrating radar over her backyard and other areas to locate the burials.

Its not clear when the homes were originally built on the cemetery as Horry County land records for the area only date back to the late 1980s.

Robert Blomquist, a spokesperson for Surfside Beach, said the town couldnt immediately comment on when the homes were first built, and couldnt comment on why they were built on the site.

The Town cannot speak to the decisions of the past, we can only look to the future, Blomquist said. Were proud and thankful for all the Surfside Beach Historical Society has done to identify areas of historical significance in our Town.

Suliman said that as she advocated for Surfside Beach to officially recognize the cemetery she butted heads with locals and builders.

I think this is truly what the general public needed to see because we had a lot of conflict with people believing this was a burial ground, she said. In fact, if looks could kill, I would have been dead ten times over.

Suliman said her next goal is for Surfside Beach to dedicate the two historical sites as a park so that the historical society can apply for grants and build a gazebo.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE ARK PLANTATION?

Sitting behind a large sand dune meant to protect it from storms, the Ark Plantation house was a large wooden building erected sometime before the mid-1700s.

After Elisha Tillman died in 1824, his son, John Tillman, took over the plantation and ran it until his death in 1865.

The plantation originally grew indigo which Holmes said was often shipped to Europe for use in clothes and uniforms.

After emancipation, Holmes said, freed slaves made their way to the Freewoods, Burgess and Holmestown Road area of Horry County. Some of the former slaves traveled up the Waccamaw River to Darlington, Holmes said, and some returned to Horry County after the Civil War ended.

Those formerly enslaved people, Holmes said, set about making the water-logged land they managed to purchase into farmable land. For generations, Holmes said, Black families farmed in the Burgess area, acquiring more land as they could. That legacy today is carried on by a handful of Black farmers who still grow crops on inherited and acquired land in the area.

Holmes ancestors worked and lived on the Ark Plantation, including Rutledge, who he referred to as an uncle.

Rutledge and his father, Holmes said, worked as overseers on the plantation. He said he suspects that Tillman may have been Rutledges father, though he doesnt have concrete proof.

After emancipation, Holmes said Black people werent welcome in the Surfside Beach area. He recalled that Black residents could only fish in the area after dark.

The only time we could come down here was to fish, we couldnt go on the beach, he said.

The Ark Plantation house was later used as an inn for travelers.

Suliman said the markers were necessary to inform residents of the history of their town. She wishes she could have intervened sooner.

It was a shame we could not preserve it, she said.

For residents like Thompson, the history is sobering.

Im a Christian, I pray they Rest In Peace and have peace because I think thats terrible, he said. Its terrible to put houses over graves.
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VIENNA (AP)  Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union bloc scored a clear victory Sunday in northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, according to election-night projections.

Sunday's election for the state legislature was seen as a test for Chancellor Olaf Scholzs Social Democrat-led coalition government amid its handling of the war in Ukraine. The vote gave the CDU, the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel  which is in opposition to Scholz's government at the national level  a strong victory after a string of electoral losses.

Projections from ARD and ZDF television based on exit polls and early counting of votes put Sunday's support for the CDU at around 43%, well ahead of the other parties. Scholz's center-left Social Democrats appeared to drop to third place behind the Greens, with projections showing them winning around 16% compared with 17% to 18% for the Greens.

Compared with five years ago, the CDU and the Greens on Sunday made significant gains while the Social Democrats sustained heavy losses.

Based on the projections Sunday, incumbent governor Daniel Gunther, whose CDU has led Schleswig-Holstein since 2017, governing in a coalition with the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, is on course to secure another term. Germanys northernmost state is home to approximately 2.9 million people.

In addition, projections showed the populist far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) winning only 4.6% to 4.7% of the vote, which would put them short of the 5% threshold needed to win seats in the state legislature. If that holds, it would be the first time that the AfD has fallen out of one of Germany's 16 state legislatures since its founding in 2013.

The state election came after a turbulent few months for Scholz, who took office in December at the head of a three-party coalition government with the Greens and the Free Democrats. In recent weeks, Scholz has faced criticism for his approach to the war in Ukraine.

Germany broke with tradition after Russias invasion to supply arms to Ukraine but has been criticized by Kyiv for perceived hesitancy and slowness in providing material.

The vote Sunday was a bright spot for the CDU, which last fall was relegated to the opposition on the national level for the first time in 16 years. It was the second of three state elections within two months that will set the political tone in Germany for the year.

In March, Scholzs Social Democrats secured a major victory in the small western state of Saarland, which the CDU had led since 1999. The most important state vote comes on May 15 in Germanys most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.

This is really an enormous vote of confidence, Gunther said Sunday at the CDU's election night event. I cant even remember the last time we got a result like this.

Social Democrats leader Saskia Esken acknowledged the result was worse than expected but said she has higher hopes for the election in North Rhine-Westphalia.

I have to say very clearly that we didn't expect this election result, she told the broadcaster ZDF.
Mother's Day is today, a day to celebrate mothers and their importance to families, and this months Book Report has a book that perfectly personifies that theme.

New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani has written her 20th book, The Good Left Undone, an epic multigenerational family story that spans both time and place.

Matelda Cabrelli Roffo is the stylish 81-year-old matriarch of the Cabrelli family. Her family has been cutting and designing jewelry for generations in Viareggio, Italy, and her grandfather created many religious items for the Vatican.

Matelda has earned the reputation of being brusque, not afraid to share her opinion with anyone. She still attends Mass daily, and she reflected on past hurts done to her and took stock of those she had perpetrated on others, examining her conscience as the nuns taught her.

When Matelda was young, she chased time to get what she wanted. Now she chased time to hold on to it. As Matelda reflects on her life, she realizes that a family is only as strong as its stories and she wants to share her mothers stories with her great-granddaughter, Anina.

Domenica Cabrelli grew up in Viareggio, and her best friend was Silvio, raised by single mother and ignored by a father who refused to acknowledge him. Silvio was the frequent target of attacks from boys in the town, both physical and emotional. But Domenica was always by his side until the day Silvio leaves Viareggio behind.

Medicine fascinated Domenica and she became a nurse, working with the village doctor. She was an extremely competent and compassionate nurse, but she soon ran afoul of the parish priest and was sent away to France to work in a hospital run by nuns.

While in Marseille, World War II loomed on Frances doorstep and Domenica met a handsome Scottish sea captain, John McVicars. John and Domenica began spending time together and they soon fell in love, but war intervened and they were separated.

As the Nazis invaded France, Domenica was sent by the nuns to Scotland for her own safety. There she found many of her own countrymen who had settled in Scotland. When Mussolini aligned Italy with the Nazi government in WWII, Italians were feared to be spies, and they were rounded up, arrested, and moved to compounds, and some were going to be put on boats to Canada to stay for the duration of the war.

Many people (Trigiani included) did not know about Italians living in Great Britain being rounded up during WWII, and this section of the book has some powerful scenes. Italian men (including Don Fracassi, a local priest in Manchester) packed a few clothes, bread and cheese, and calmly accompanied the police sent to take them away.

The men share food and drink with each other, and Don Fracassi set up an altar with his altar cloth, chalice, paten and pyx and said Mass for his fellow countrymen. Don Fracassi does his best to comfort the men as they await their fate.

As someone who grew up around priests and nuns, I appreciated Trigianis characterizations of nuns and priests in The Good Left Undone. The nuns who taught Domenica and ran the hospitals where she worked were kind to her, exhibited strength, and cared for their patients. It was nuns in Scotland who took in Domenica when she needed it most.

When Mateldas great-granddaughter Anina began to question whether she should marry her fiance, she and her fiance visited the local priest for guidance. He listened carefully to the concerns of both of them and gave them sound advice- Forgive. Forget. Repeat.

Matelda relates her story of living in a convent in Scotland with her mother until she was 5 years old, and their return to Viareggio to Domenicas family. We learn what happened to Domenica and Matelda, and how Silvio returns to Domenicas life.

As always, Trigianis book is a treat for all the senses. Close you eyes and you can see the beautifully crafted jewelry "glistening like ribbon candy. You can hear the snapping of the tents in the wind at Carnevale, smell the apple strudel baking, and taste the cherry cake.

The Good Left Undone has so many layers to it, youll find yourself reflecting on your familys stories. Its Adriana Trigianis best novel yet, exquisitely written, one that is perfect for book clubs with so much to discuss. I give it my highest recommendation.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Diane La Rue is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and blogs about books at http://bookchickdi.blogspot.com. You can follow her on Twitter @bookchickdi, and she can be emailed at laruediane2000@yahoo.com.

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TOLEDO, Ohio (AP)  A 14-year-old girl was killed when police say another teen opened fire into a crowd of people on an Ohio street corner.

Police responded to reports of the shooting in North Toledo shortly before 8:30 p.m. Friday and found 14-year-old Zhonasia Ticey wounded. She was rushed to Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center where she later died.
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In the course of a single year, University of Maine climate scientist Jacquelyn Gill lost both her mother and her stepfather. She struggled with infertility, then during research in the Arctic, she developed embolisms in both lungs, was transferred to an intensive care unit in Siberia and nearly died. She was airlifted back home and later had a hysterectomy. Then the pandemic hit.

Her trials and her perseverance, she said, seemed to make her a magnet for emails and direct messages on Twitter asking me how to be hopeful, asking me, like, what keeps me going?

Gill said she has accepted the idea that she is everybodys climate midwife and coaches them to hope through action.

Hope and optimism often blossom in the experts toiling in the gloomy fields of global warming,COVID-19 and Alzheimers disease.

How climate scientists like Gill or emergency room doctors during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic cope with their depressing day-to-day work, yet remain hopeful, can offer help to ordinary people dealing with a world going off the rails, psychologists said.

I think its because they see a way out. They see that things can be done, said Pennsylvania State University psychology professor Janet Swim. Hope is seeing a pathway, even though the pathway seems far, far away.

United Nations Environment Programme Director Inger Andersen said she simply cannot do her job without being an optimist.

I do not wish to sound naive in choosing to be the realistic optimist, but the alternative to being the realistic optimist is either to hold ones ears and wait for doomsday or to party while the orchestra of the Titanic plays, Andersen said. I do not subscribe to either.

Dr. Kristina Goff works in the intensive care unit at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and said at times she felt overwhelmed during the pandemic. She keeps a file folder at home of little notes that say hey you made a difference.

I think half of the battle in my job is learning to take what could be a very overwhelming anxiety and turn it into productivity and resilience, Goff said. You just have to focus on these little areas where you can make a difference.

Alzheimers disease may be one of the bleakest diagnoses a physician can convey, one where the future can appear hopeless. Yet Dr. Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimers research center and a man colleagues describe as optimistic and passionate, doesnt see it that way.

I dont think its depressing. I dont think its gloomy. Its difficult. Its challenging, Petersen said. But were so much better off today than five years ago, 10 years ago.

The coping technique these scientists have in common is doing something to help. The word they often use is agency. It's especially true for climate researchers  tarred as doomsayers by political types who reject the science.

Gill, who describes herself as a lifelong cheerleader, has also battled with depression. She said what's key in fighting eco-anxiety is that regular depression and regular anxiety tools work just as well. And so thats why I tell people: Be a doer. Get other there. Dont just doomscroll. There are entry level ways that anyone, literally anyone, can help out. And the more we do that, Oh, it actually works, it turns out.

Its not just about individual actions, like giving up air travel, or becoming a vegetarian, its about working together with other people in a common effort, Gill said. Individual action is helpful on climate change, but is not enough, she said. To bend the curve of rising temperatures and the buildup of heat-trapping gases, steady collective action, such as the youth climate activism movement and voting, gives true agency.

"I think maybe thats helped stave off some of this hopelessness," she said. "I go to a scientific meeting and I look around at the thousands of scientists that are working on this. And Im like Yeah, were doing this.

Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini said that, at 35, he figures it's his relative youth that gives him hope.

When I think about would could be, I gain a sense of optimism and create an attitude that this is something I can do something about, Gensini said.

The U.N.s Andersen is a veteran of decades of work on ecological issues and thinks this experience has made her optimistic.

I have seen shifts on other critical environmental issues such as banning of toxic material, better air quality standards, the repair of the ozone hole, the phase-out of leaded petrol and much more, Andersen said. I know that hard work, underpinned by science, underpinned by strong policy and yes, underpinned by multilateral and activist action, can lead to change.

Deke Arndt, chief of climate science and services at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations National Center for Environmental Information, said what buoys him with an overwhelming optimism is his personal faith, and remembering all the people who have helped his family over the generations  through the Dust Bowl for his grandparents and through infertility and then neonatal issues for his son.

Weve experienced the miracle of hands-on care from fellow human beings, Arndt said. You kind of spend the rest of your life trying to repay."

Where people are suffering not through their own purchase, that makes me want to recommit as a scientist and a Catholic, Arndt said. Weve got to do as much as we can.

Whats more, Gill and several others said, the science tells them that it is not game over for Earth.

The work that I do inherently lends me a sense of agency, Gill said. As a paleo-ecologist (who studies the past) and climatologist, I have a better sense of Earths resilience than a lot of people do.

It helps that she studies plants and deals with changes on a glacial timescale. She pointed to Georgia Tech climate scientist Kim Cobb, who spent much of her career diving and studying the same coral reef in the Pacific, only to return in 2016 and find it dead: God, I cannot imagine what a gut punch.

Cobb laughed heartily when she heard how Gill described the life of a reef scientist.

From 1997 to 2016, Cobb dived at one of the tiny islands of Kiritimati in the Pacific, monitoring the effects of climate change and El Nino on a delicate coral reef there. Super hot water killed it in 2016, with only faint signs of life clinging on.

That fall, Cobb made one last trip. It was during the elections. A big Hillary Clinton fan, Cobb was wearing a Madame President shirt when she heard the news that Donald Trump was elected. She said fell into a pit of despair that lasted maybe a couple months.

"And then on New Years Eve, I decided that I probably had enough and I know my husband had enough, my kids had had enough. So people needed their mother and their wife back," Cobb said. "I decided to grope for another path out there."

"I am not able to wallow for so long before I start asking myself some questions like, Look you know how you can put your position to work? How can you put your resources to work?'" Cobb said.

She and her family cut their personal carbon emissions 80%. She doesnt fly on planes anymore. She went vegan, composts, installed solar panels. She works on larger climate action instead of her more focused previous research. And she bikes everywhere, which she said is like mental health therapy.

She tells people when they are anxious about climate change, theres not going to be a win, a shining moment where we can declare success, but its never going to be too late to act. Its never going to be too late to fix this.

NOAA's Arndt said the climate of the 20th century he grew up with is gone forever. He grieves the loss of that, but also finds mourning whats gone weirdly liberating.

With climate change we have to kind of hold hope and grief at the same time, like theyre kind of twins that were cradling, Maines Gill said. We have to both understand and witness what has happened and what weve lost. And then fiercely commit to protecting what remains. And I dont think you can do that from a place of hopelessness.

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Follow APs climate coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate

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Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
GRUNDY CENTER, Iowa (AP)  About 8 miles west of here is a white Quonset hut that hums with the sound of industrial fans.

Unlike other rural outbuildings equipped with fans, this one doesnt house hogs. Its stacked with computers that spend all day and night working complex mathematical problems that create bitcoin, the most well-known cryptocurrency.

I knew there was a place out there, said Jill Krausman, owner of the Landmark Bistro in Grundy Center, who doesnt know much about the site other than if an employee stops in for lunch. I dont have enough knowledge about it. It hasnt affected me.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that this nondescript facility is one of the first  if not the first  large-scale cryptocurrency mining site in Iowa. But the company wants to expand with five more locations in Eastern Iowa, capitalizing on wide-open spaces, low property taxes and cheap electricity.

Cheap electricity is especially important because crypto mining uses a lot of juice. The Grundy County site uses more electricity than all the residential customers in Grundy Center, population 2,800, combined.

The industrys massive energy use at a time when the world is trying to curb climate change should be a red flag to Iowa utilities and residents, said Kerri Johannsen, Energy Program director for the Iowa Environmental Council.

There is a larger fundamental question about why we need to use energy in the first place to create cryptocurrency, she said.

Bitcoin was created in the late 2000s, after the Great Recession, as a way for people to send money directly to each other without a bank or third party. Other cryptocurrencies, such as ethereum and litecoin, have followed.

Bitcoin transactions are verified and monitored by independent computers running a secure algorithm to solve blocks of numbers that represent groupings of transactions. These computers, or miners, race to solve each block with the payout being the next block of bitcoins, which is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Grundy County site is too small to solve blocks on its own, so miners there work as part of a mining pool that pays out a daily rate based on the amount of work, or hashing the computers do, explained J.P. Baric, founder and chief executive officer of the MiningStore, which owns the site.

Bitcoin is important to me because its a monetary system that cant be influenced by the government and it cant be changed, he said.

Baric, 24, dropped out of North Carolina State in 2017 to move to Texas  first Houston, then Austin, which he calls a crypto mining heaven. With his parents and grandparents, Baric invested $1 million to start the MiningStore, which owns and operates the Grundy County site as its flagship facility.

Right now, each of the sites 1,900 computers mines $17 per day, but that amount fluctuates with the value of bitcoin. Its been as high as $35 a day. But at current rates, the site makes about $32,000 a day. The power bill is over $5,000 a day, Baric said.

Baric found the Iowa site through a Colorado economic development group that identifies areas with low energy costs.

It doesnt surprise me they set up shop in Grundy County because they have really low- cost energy there, said Jim Martin-Schramm, a Luther College emeritus professor who focuses on energy and climate policy.

At 4.05 cents per kilowatt-hour, the Grundy County REC has some of the cheapest industrial electricity in the state, according to filings with the Iowa Utilities Board. The MiningStore bought one acre of land in 2019 right next to an electrical substation.

Magnus Anderson, the MiningStores Grundy County site manager, explains how electricity moves through a 1,500-kilowatt transformer underground directly to the site. The companys contract with the REC says six months of the year the MiningStore will agree to temporarily power down when there is peak electrical usage, such as on hot summer days.

Its a load vessel for the grid, he said of the mining site. We use it (electricity) until everybody else needs it.

The site uses 6 megawatts of power during operation, which is 24/7 unless part of the system is undergoing repairs.

To put this in perspective, Luther College, with 1,800 students, in Decorah, uses about 2 megawatts during most of the year, rising to 2.8 megawatts in the summer, Martin-Schramm said.

An average Iowa home uses about 11,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, Johannsen said. The MiningStore uses about 54 million kilowatt-hours a year, or the equivalent of 4,900 houses.

All of Grundy County in the census has 5,146 households, she said. Were talking about 95 percent of the households in Grundy County.

So where does the power come from?

Grundy County REC is one of nine rural electric cooperatives and one municipal cooperative that own Corn Belt Power Cooperative, based in Humboldt and serving 41 northern Iowa counties. Corn Belt owns the nine substations within Grundy County REC, including the one that powers the MiningStore.

Corn Belts power mix in 2019 was about 50 percent coal, 18 percent purchased power, 15 percent renewables and smaller shares of natural gas, hydro and nuclear, according to the coops website.

A half-dozen wind turbines are visible from the MiningStore site, but those turbines are owned by MidAmerican Energy and do not power the crypto mining facility, said the RECs General Manager Mike Curtis.

The cooperatives electricity sales to large commercial and industrial customers more than doubled from 16.5 million kilowatt-hours in 2018 to 36.9 million kilowatt-hours in 2020, which Curtis said is largely due to the MiningStore.

For bitcoin to become a viable worldwide currency, some environmental groups say it must slash its energy use.

A group called Change the Code Not the Climate says changing the proof of work required to validate transactions to a proof of stake  meaning miners pledge coins to verify transactions  would cut energy use by 99 percent, according to a March article in the Guardian.

Energy use isnt the only challenge.

Since cryptocurrencies are too volatile to be used as an actual currency, people treat it as a sort of investment scheme, wrote Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder and CEO of Vivaldi Technologies, in a Jan. 13 blog post.

The problem is that to extract actual money from the system you have to find someone willing to buy the tokens you are holding. And this is only likely to happen as long as they believe they will be able to sell them on to someone wholl pay even more for them. And so on, and so on.

The same day The Gazette toured the Grundy County mining site, Baric showed it off to Josh Terry, an Austin-based YouTuber whose channel, JoshTerryPlays, explores cryptocurrency, game theory and other related topics, and has more than 5,000 subscribers.

Terry used social media to recruit 1,000 people to invest $100 to become part of a mining team within the company, Baric said.

Bitcoin mining operations that want to grow need to keep adding investors because the computers cost thousands of dollars, Baric said. But its not like a pyramid scheme that new investors are needed to make previous investors whole.

People buy the bitcoins because they believe more people are going to believe bitcoin has value, Baric said. Thats why people put money into it.

Baric and his investors would like to open five more bitcoin mining sites in Eastern Iowa: Another in Grundy County, one in Black Hawk County and three in Tama County.

The Grundy County Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended the Board of Supervisors deny the request to change zoning from agricultural to commercial to allow for the center there. There will be a public hearing May 9 at 9 a.m. at the Grundy County Courthouse in Grundy Center.

With any sort of expansion like this, theres going to be concerns you take into account, like environmental concern or concerns for land, said Supervisor Lucas Halverson. Were interested to see what the public has to say. Wed love to hear from Mr. Baric ourselves. We havent been approached directly by anybody by this company. Wed love to learn the positives and negatives.

Baric said he plans to be at the hearing.

The MiningStore pays property taxes, employs nine people full time and hires electricians to help at the site, Baric said. Company leaders also are looking to do more community outreach, such as leading school tours and speaking about bitcoin.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority does not offer incentives to cryptocurrency mining sites that want to open in Iowa. Nor does the agency track them, spokeswoman Kanan Kappelman said.

That should change, said Johannsen, of the Iowa Environmental Council.

If theres a planned expansion, it would be something for the state to get a handle on from the perspective of what we can expect in terms of (energy) load growth, she said. Its not that the organization is anti-crypto or we have a particular reason to be. But if were going to use our energy resources most efficiently, is this really the most efficient use of energy resources?
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP)  A man has been sentenced to 45 to 100 years in the shooting deaths of two people last year during a custody exchange in the parking lot of a Walmart store in eastern Pennsylvania.

Edward Joel Rosario-Jimenez, 24, was sentenced after pleading guilty Thursday to third-degree murder in the February 2021 deaths of 22-year-old Jonathan Martinez and 20-year-old Nicolette Law in Whitehall Township.

Officials said Martinez, the childs father, had arrived with his 3-year-old child and Law, his new girlfriend. Rosario-Jimenez drove a Toyota SUV to the store with the childs mother and two other people. An argument began and the defendant shot Law and then Jimenez before fleeing, prosecutors said.

Law was pronounced dead that night and Martinez died just over a week later. Rosario-Jimenez was arrested a few days later and the handgun was found hidden in a snowbank. LehighValleyLive reports that video evidence showed that it was 45 seconds from the time Rosario-Jimenez arrived to when he shot the two victims.

In exchange for the plea, Lehigh County prosecutors dropped plans to seek the death penalty in the case. Assistant District Attorney Steven Luksa called the sentence tantamount to a life term, but Laws mother said she had wanted to see a life sentence for the man who killed her youngest child.

Judge Robert Steinberg told the defendant that he belonged in the darkest place the state correctional institution can put you," saying he had shown no remorse. He said it was a sad commentary on society that the killings occurred during a custody exchange.

All their dreams and aspirations ended with your shooting of them, the judge said of the victims.
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SPRING, Texas (AP)  A 51-year-old Texas woman has been arrested on a murder charge after telling authorities that she shot her husband after he told her he was in love with another woman, a sheriff's office said.

When deputies arrived Saturday morning at the home in Spring, just north of Houston, a man was inside with multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Harris County sheriff's office.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP)  For the past 17 years, Tolerance Week has engaged area eighth-grade students with the horrors of the Holocaust.

By this fall, students and their families may be able to learn about the Holocaust throughout the year, and in a more interactive way.

In October of last year, Tolerance Week organizers, in partnership with the Sioux City Railroad Museum, purchased a replica railroad boxcar, similar to the ones used to transport victims of the Holocaust during World War II.

It will be part of a continuous exhibit entitled Holocaust Rails: Desperate Passage, according to Tolerance Week board member Kelli Erickson.

The railcar was moved into its bay earlier this week, Erickson said last week at the museum, 3400 Sioux River Road. When work is completed this fall, the railcar will vibrate electronically, giving visitors a sense of what prisoners felt in transport.

The exhibit will be coming during what Tolerance Week board member Lou Ann Lindblade described as a transitional time for the organization.

The Holocaust is part of the curriculum for many Siouxland middle schools and weve been able to provide an entire week on activities every spring, she told the Sioux City Journal.

That included special guests and film presentations at the Orpheum Theatre, 528 Pierce St.

Concerns over COVID-19 forced organizers to cancel the event in 2020. Events were held virtually last year.

Lindblade said this years activities were originally slated to go on as planned from May 2 - 6.

Unfortunately, German-born author and Terezin Concentration Camp survivor Inge Auerbacher, who was slated to speak, canceled her engagement due to persistent back and leg pain.

Inge made a trip back to Germany earlier this year, Lindblade said. It was her first major trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trip aggravated Inges back and leg pain. So, she decided not to travel at this time.

Instead, Sioux Citys Tolerance Week events will be kept to a minimum this year.

Eighth grade students from Sioux City Community Schools, Siouxland Christian School, Hinton Middle School, Sgt. Bluff-Luton Middle School, St. Augustine, Holy Cross and Vermillion (S.D.) Middle School planned to travel to the Orpheum to view Nickys Family, a 2011 documentary detailing Nicholas Winton, who helped to organize the rescue of 669 children just before the outbreak of World War II.

In addition, an invitation-only banquet for entrants of the Tolerance Week essay contest and the Ella Holtzen Memorial Art Contest (named after the 2016 art contest winner who died in 2020 car accident) will be held.

The theme for the essay and art contests is, how we can live a more tolerant life, improving our part of the world, according to a Tolerance Week social media post.

There wont be any other events this year, Lindblade said, and none will be open to the general public.

However, the opening of the Holocaust Rails exhibit at the Sioux City Railroad Museum, later in 2022, will completely change the course of Tolerance Week.

Were looking forward to field trips, not just from Siouxland schools, Erickson explained. Were hoping that schools from as far away as Sioux Falls and Omaha will see the exhibit.

Since the exhibit is open year-round, families will also be able to learn about the Holocaust.

Tolerance Week shouldnt be limited to one week out of the year, Erickson said. Instead, we can remember the Holocaust throughout the years.
LOUISVILLE -- The stuff of irrational daydreams and sugarplum fairies and future books and future movies and deathless wonder happened Saturday evening at the 148th Kentucky Derby, when a colossal stretch duel yielded suddenly and shockingly to an alternative reality.

There, as favorites Epicenter and Zandon battled one another in their own storybook in the fumes of the stretch, an interloper appeared along the rail. Rich Strike, who did not even get into the Kentucky Derby until Friday morning, who had not won anything since a $30,000 maiden claiming race last September and who went off at 80-1, materialized and capitalized on the others' dogged wane.

Then the you've-got-to-kidding Rich Strike won the Derby in 2:02.61 by three-quarters of a length over Louisiana Derby winner Epicenter, with Blue Grass Stakes winner Zandon third. He paid a gigantic $163.60 to win. He became the second-most far-fetched champion in a race run since 1875, behind only Donerail in 1913. And he loosed all manner of quotations that tilted toward a merry absurdity.

Here spoke the owner, the oil-and-gas Oklahoman Richard Dawson: "What planet is this?"

Here spoke the trainer, the longtime Kentuckian plugger Eric Reed, training since 1983: "I saw him at the head of the stretch when he cut in and then I passed out. I don't remember what happened after that."

The owner: "As far as my career in horse racing, I think it just started. (Pause.) I don't think we've had a horse win an allowance race."

The trainer: "I never dreamed I would be here. I never thought I would have a Derby horse. I never go to yearling sales and try to buy a Derby horse."

The owner: "I didn't get into this to win the Kentucky Derby -- although I'm not giving the trophy back."

The trainer: "A lot of people don't know who I am, but I was that far from beating (the great) Zenyatta in 2010." His bio lists that as one of his highlights, even as it's technically not a win. He has won more than 1,400 races out there in the little-noticed frontier.

Wait, here's the jockey: "A lot of people came up to me, 'Hey, you are nervous?' 'I'm not nervous. I'm excited. . . . Nobody knows my horse." He's Sonny Leon. He's one of those figures in horse racing who excels day upon day without anyone knowing. That can happen when one rides expertly at the Hollywood Casino Mahoning Valley Race Course in Youngstown, Ohio.

Come Friday morning, they didn't even know they'd be in the race. Their horse stood 21st in the Derby points required to gain entry. They needed one scratch. At 8:45 a.m., Reed fielded a call informing him no scratch had come. "The [Derby] security guard," Reed said, "was told to leave the barn."

Reed felt bad but felt worse for his team. He went to inform them they would aim for the Grade 3 Peter Pan at Belmont Park and, if that worked out, they'd show 'em their supposedly improving horse weeks later in the Belmont Stakes.

About 10 minutes later, a little piece of Derby history involved a "pony girl, Fifi." That's how Reed described the yeoman worker who phoned him to say that, indeed, trainer D. Wayne Lukas and owners had decided to scratch Ethereal Road, right around the 9 a.m. deadline. The next call came from Barbara Borden, the chief steward. Would Reed like to enter Race 12 on Saturday?

"I couldn't even breathe to answer to say yes."

This band of Derby first-timers felt elation just to participate, and they went in against Epicenter, Zandon, Florida Derby winner White Abarrio (who would wind up 16th), Wood winner Mo Donegal (fifth), Arkansas Derby winner Cyberknife (18th) and Santa Anita Derby winner Taiba (12th), plus Tiz the Bomb (ninth) and Tawny Port (seventh), both of whom had beaten Rich Strike in his most recent race, the Jeff Ruby Steaks (named for a popular restaurateur) at Turfway Park near Cincinnati.

That claiming race Rich Strike had won in September also had happened at Churchill Downs, and had come by 17 lengths, but since then he had lost by 33 lengths to Epicenter in Louisiana and three times at Turfway, finishing a middling third, fourth and third.

"This is a game," Reed said, "where this horse should have been 80-1 on paper, but we've been around him every day. Small trainer, small rider, small stable. You know, he should have been 80-1. But I've been around a long time."

He had won his first stakes with Native Drummer in the Forego Stakes at Latonia, Ky. He had seen as his best win the Lexus Run Raven Stakes at Keeneland in 2009 with Quick Chick. He and his wife Tammy had endured horror in 2016, when they came home to a barn fire that killed 23 of their horses.

Now he was in a Derby with an owner who has never owned more than six horses and a jockey who had never run a stakes race. "I didn't think I would win necessarily," Reed said, "but I knew if he got in they would know who he was before it was over."

Now his horse got going with the big beasts from the outside post on a fast track beneath the day-long clouds, and his canny jockey saved ground by going to the rail. Now Rich Strike sat in 18th through a blistering opening half-mile (45.2 seconds) set by the UAE-based Summer Is Tomorrow and the Japanese Crown Pride, and then Leon patiently waited for some traffic to clear, reached third by the top of the stretch, and: "He answered so quick. I said, 'Hey, I've got horse. I've got some horse to make something.'"

So then they came upon a duel, and now a horse claimed for $30,000 last summer at Ellis Park in western Kentucky was turning up just behind the big-time duelers. He ran that rail just like the impossible Mine That Bird in 2009, if a bit later, and soon the final furlong would come, and an unknown winner would set 150,000 abuzz even more than usual.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  During his election campaign, South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol had tough words for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying he would teach his rival some manners and sternly deal with his provocative missile tests with a strengthened alliance with the United States.

But as he takes office Tuesday for a single five-year term, the conservative Yoon must now confront an increasingly belligerent Kim, who openly threatens to use atomic bombs and is reportedly preparing for his first nuclear test explosion since 2017, part of an effort to build warheads that specifically target South Korea.

North Korea has a history of trying to rattle new governments in Seoul and Washington to gain leverage in future negotiations. But if Kim orders a nuclear test, Yoon would be left with very limited options to deal with Kim at the start of his presidency.

There's skepticism among experts over whether Yoon, despite his rhetoric, can accomplish something meaningfully different from outgoing President Moon Jae-in while North Korea continues to reject talks and focuses instead on expanding its nuclear and missile programs despite limited resources and economic difficulties.

North Korea has the initiative. Regardless of whether conservatives or liberals are in power in South Korea, North Korea is pressing ahead with (missile tests) under its own weapons development timetable before it tries to tip the balance later, said Park Won Gon, a professor at Seouls Ewha Womans University. North Korea will now continue its provocations, but there are no ways to stop it.

Moon championed engaging North Korea and once shuttled between Pyongyang and Washington to arrange the now-stalled nuclear diplomacy. Even after North Korea urged Moon not to meddle in its dealings with Washington and insulted him, Moon still worked to improve relations and shied away from hitting back at the North.

Yoon has described Moons appeasement policy as subservient and accused him of undermining South Koreas seven-decade military alliance with the United States. To neutralize North Koreas nuclear threats, Yoon said he would seek a stronger U.S. security commitment and enhance South Koreas own missile strike capabilities, though he remains open to dialogue with the North.

During a rally before the March 9 election, as he slammed Moon for failing to strongly criticize Kims repeated missile tests, Yoon said that if elected, I would teach (Kim) some manners and make him come to his senses completely.

Yoon has faced criticism that some of his policies are unrealistic and largely rehash past policies that failed to persuade North Korea to denuclearize.

For example, Yoon said he would push for economic cooperation projects linked to progress in denuclearization steps by the North. Two past South Korean conservative presidents offered similar proposals from 2008 to 2017, but North Korea rejected the overtures.

Yoon said he would seek to establish a trilateral dialogue channel among Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington, but experts see little chance North Korea, which destroyed an unoccupied South Korean-built liaison office on its territory in 2020, will accept that idea now.

The U.S.-South Korea alliance could flourish, but North Koreas nuclear weapons and missile program will further advance and that could elevate tensions on the Korean Peninsula to maximum levels. Its hard to expect any meaningful progress in inter-Korean relations, said Yang Moo Jin, a professor at Seouls University of North Korean Studies.

Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea, said a policy of linking incentives to denuclearization has reached its limits and will eventually never appeal to North Korea because Pyongyang is highly unlikely to abandon a nuclear program that has reached such strength.

During his confirmation hearing last Monday, Yoons nominee for foreign minister, Park Jin, told lawmakers that North Korea appears to have no intentions of denuclearizing voluntarily." He said the best option to stop North Korean provocation would be using a combination of pressure and dialogue to convince Pyongyang to opt for a path toward denuclearization.

After test-launching a dozen missiles potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, South Korea or Japan this year, Kim recently said his nuclear weapons wont be confined to their primary mission of deterring war if his countrys interests are threatened. Park, the professor, called Kims comments dangerous because they suggest North Korea could use its nukes even in an accidental border clash or if it misjudges Seouls military moves.

Recent satellite photos show North Korea is restoring a previously closed nuclear testing facility in possible preparation for its seventh atomic explosion. Experts say that test is related to North Koreas push to manufacture warheads small enough to be mounted on tactical short-range missiles targeting South Korea, citing some of the Norths recent tests of such weapons. Nam said a nuclear test would make it extremely difficult for the Yoon government to try to resume talks with North Korea.

Kim seems to be trying to use his weapon tests to force the West to accept his country as a nuclear power so he can try to negotiate sanctions relief and security concessions from a position of strength. Experts say Kim is able to push forward his weapons programs because the U.N. Security Council cannot impose new sanctions while its veto-wielding members are divided. The U.S. is involved in confrontations with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and with China over their strategic rivalry.

Yoons possible overdependence on the U.S. alliance may cause Seoul to further lose voice in international efforts to defuse the North Korean nuclear issue while giving Pyongyang less reason to engage in serious talks with Seoul, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam Universitys Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. He said Seoul would need to create wiggle room for nuclear diplomacy and lure Pyongyang to talks with a flexible carrots-and-sticks approach.

How to boost the South Korea-U.S. alliance to better deal with North Korean nuclear advancement will likely top the agenda when Yoon meets President Joe Biden in Seoul on May 21.

Yoon has promised to seek a tougher U.S. extended deterrence, a reference to Washingtons ability to use military and nuclear forces to deter attacks on its allies. But some experts question whether such a security commitment can effectively protect South Korea from aggression from North Korea because the decision to use U.S. nuclear weapons lies with the U.S. president.

Historically, its true the extended deterrence has never been enforced. In some sense, its like a gentlemens agreement, Park, the professor, said. Even if we succeed in institutionalizing that to the maximum level, that still doesnt guarantee an automatic U.S. involvement in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula.
May is National Military Appreciation month. Armed Forces Day is the third Saturday in May, which this year is May 21, and honors all people currently serving our nation. The creation of this day was announced by President Harry S. Truman and his secretary of defense, Louis Johnson on Aug. 31, 1949. It replaced Army, Navy and Air Force Day. The first Armed Forces Day was May 20, 1950, and President John F. Kennedy made it official in 1962. On May 17, 2017, President Donald Trump addressed this special day and its nearly 70 years of existence.

In 1775, the Continental Congress established the Continental Army, Continental Navy, and Continental Marines, which were all led and commanded by General George Washington. Washington and Dwight Eisenhower were the only five-star generals who became presidents. Theodore Roosevelt was the only president who received the Medal of Honor. Thirty U.S. Presidents served in the Army.

The Friday before Memorial Day is National Poppy Day. This year it is Friday, May 27. Please support the American Legion and its activities by donating what you can to the lady with the poppy bucket, an auxiliary member of the legion. In 1915, the poem In Flanders Fields was published. It was written by Canadian Col. John McCrae in World War I. The poem tells about poppies blooming on the battlefield turned burial grounds in France. The American Legion asked Congress to designate the Friday before Memorial Day as National Poppy Day in 2017, and the name National Poppy Day was successfully trademarked for the American Legion Auxiliary members to use publicly in 2018.

May is also Military Caregiver Month. Support the military caregivers who you know  give them much needed respite, go on a grocery run, drive their veteran to medical appointments, or meal prep, bring over a meal, etc. These are just a few ways you can support military caregivers.

On Monday, May 30, we will gather at 9:15 a.m. in the Victory Union Cemetery, Old State Road, Victory, to commemorate Memorial Day and pay our respects to the fallen, those who gave all and never made it out of the uniform. The special ceremony is open to the public. We remember those who gave their lives fighting for a better tomorrow that they would never see. The picture shows the Cato LaBuff-Cole American Legion Post 911 and Sons of the Legion who visit and hold wreath ceremonies in many cemeteries in northern Cayuga County starting at 6 a.m. on Memorial Day. We thank them for their service to our country and their faithful service to the fallen and to all veterans.

Yes, its a wonderful time to get together with family and friends and have a cookout, picnic, vacation, or see a military display, air show or parade. This year, when your kids are looking forward to a day off from school, you might remind them why we have Memorial Day and the sacrifice involved in protecting our country with dignity and honor. This sacrifice allows us to feel good about being an American every day.

Beverly Coleman Sayles is the Victory town historian and a New York state registered historian, and can be reached at (315) 730-3183 or beverlycs65@gmail.com.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  South Carolina will close state offices on Tuesday to mark Confederate Memorial Day.

The observation of the holiday is every year on May 10. South Carolina is among a handful of states in the South with such an official holiday. State offices in Alabama and Mississippi closed down for their Confederate Memorial Days late last month.

South Carolina chose May 10 because it is the day when Confederate Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson died in 1863 after he was wounded by his own troops and the day Union soldiers captured fleeing Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Georgia in 1865.

A bill that would allow state employees to take the Juneteenth holiday or any other day instead of Confederate Memorial Day unanimously passed the South Carolina Senate in March but is stuck in a House committee and will likely die when the session ends Thursday.

The bill began as a proposal to add the Juneteenth celebration on June 19 as a new state holiday. But instead of adding a 14th holiday, the bill would create a holiday that state employees could take any time they want.

It wasnt immediately clear from the language of the bill whether state officers would have remained closed on Confederate Memorial Day like they do currently or of they could end up closed on Juneteenth.

The General Assembly will meet as normal on Tuesday.
BEIRUT (AP)  Umm Khaled hardly leaves the tent where she lives in northwest Syria, and she says she doesnt pay attention to the news. But she knows one reason why it is getting harder and harder to feed herself and her children: Ukraine.

Prices have been going up, and this has been happening to us since the war in Ukraine started, said the 40-year-old, who has lived in a tent camp for displaced people in the last rebel-held enclave in Syria for the past six years since fleeing a government offensive.

Food prices around the world were already rising, but the war in Ukraine has accelerated the increase since Russias invasion began on Feb. 24. The impact is worsening the already dangerous situation of millions of Syrians driven from their homes by their countrys now 11-year-old civil war.

The rebel enclave in Syrias northwest province of Idlib is packed with some 4 million people, most of whom fled there from elsewhere in the country. Most rely on international aid to survive, for everything from food and shelter to medical care and education.

Because of rising prices, some aid agencies are scaling back their food assistance. The biggest provider, the U.N. World Food Program, began this week to cut the size of the monthly rations it gives to 1.35 million people in the territory.

The Ukraine crisis has also created a whole new group of refugees. European nations and the U.S. have rushed to help more than 5.5 million Ukrainians who have fled to neighboring countries, as well as more than 7 million displaced within Ukraines borders.

Aid agencies are hoping to draw some of the worlds attention back to Syria in a two-day donor conference for humanitarian aid to Syrians that begins Monday in Brussels, hosted by the U.N. and the European Union. The funding also goes toward aid to the 5.7 million Syrian refugees living in neighboring countries, particularly Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

Last year, the EU, the United States and other nations pledged $6.4 billion to help Syrians and neighboring countries hosting refugees. But that fell well short of the $10 billion that the U.N. had sought  and the impact was felt on the ground. In Idlib, 10 of its 50 medical centers lost funding in 2022, forcing them to dramatically cut back services, Amnesty International said in a report released Thursday.

Across Syria, people have been forced to eat less, the Norwegian Refugee Council said. The group surveyed several hundred families around the country and found 87% were skipping meals to meet other living costs.

While the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine continues to demand world attention, donors and governments meeting in Brussels must not forget about their commitment to Syria, NRCs Mideast Regional Director Carsten Hansen said in a report Thursday.

The U.N.s childrens agency UNICEF said more than 6.5 million children in Syria are in need of assistance calling it the highest recorded since the conflict began. It said that since 2011, over 13,000 children have been confirmed killed or injured.

Meanwhile, UNICEF said funding for humanitarian operations in Syria is dwindling fast, saying it has received less than half of its funding requirements for this year. We urgently need nearly $20 million for the cross-border operations in Syria, the agency said in a statement.

Umm Khaled is among those who rely on food aid. With her aid rations reduced, she has gone deeper in debt to feed her family.

Her husband and eldest son were killed in a Syrian government airstrike in their home city of Aleppo in 2016. Soon after, she escaped with her three surviving children to the rebel enclave in Idlib province. Ever since, they have lived in a tent camp with other displaced people on the outskirts of the town of Atmeh near the Turkish border.

Her family lives on two meals a day -- a small breakfast and a main meal late in the afternoon that serves as lunch and dinner. Her only income is from picking olives for a few weeks a year, making 20 Turkish liras ($1.35) a day.

We used to get enough rice, bulgur, lentils and others. Now they keep reducing them, she said by telephone from the camp. She spoke on condition her full name is not made public, fearing repercussions. She lives with her two daughters, ages six and 16, and 12-year-old son, who suffered head and arm injuries in the strike that killed his brother and father.

The price of essential food items in northwest Syria has already increased by between 22% and 67% since the start of the Ukraine conflict, according to the aid group Mercy Corps. There have also been shortages in sunflower oil, sugar and flour.

Mercy Corps provides cash assistance to displaced Syrians to buy food and other needs and it says it has no plans to reduce the amount.

Even before the war in Ukraine, bread was already becoming increasingly unaffordable, said Mercy Corps Syria Country Director, Kieren Barnes. The vast majority of wheat brought into northwest Syria is of Ukrainian origin, and the territory doesnt produce enough wheat for its own needs.

The world is witnessing a year of catastrophic hunger with a huge gap between the resources and the needs of the millions of people around the world, said WFP spokeswoman Abeer Etefa.

In many of its operations around the world, WFP is reducing the size of the rations it provides, she said. Starting this month in northwest Syria, the provisions will go down to 1,177 calories a day, from 1,340. The food basket will continue to provide a mix of commodities, including wheat flour, rice, chickpeas, lentils, bulgur wheat, sugar and oil.

Rising prices have increased the cost of WFPs food assistance by 51% since 2019 and that cost will likely go even higher as the impact of the Ukraine crisis is felt, Etefa said.

Earlier in the year, before the Ukraine conflict began, a 29% jump in costs prompted the Czech aid agency People in Need to switch from providing food packages to giving food vouchers. The vouchers, worth $60, buy less food than the group's target level, but it had to take the step to maximize its coverage of food assistance to the most vulnerable, a spokesperson told The Associated Press.

As the world turns to other conflicts, Syria is on the verge of becoming yet another forgotten crisis, Assistant U.N. Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya warned in late April.

In northwest Syria, a staggering 4.1 million people need humanitarian aid, Msuya said  not just food, but also medicines, blankets, school supplies and shelter. She said almost a million people in the territory, mainly women and children, live in tents, half of which are beyond their normal lifespan.

Many fear that the situation could only get worse in July, because Russia may force international aid for the northwest to be delivered through parts of Syria under the control of its ally, President Bashar Assad.

Currently, aid enters the Idlib enclave directly from Turkey via a single border crossing, Bab al-Hawa. The U.N. mandate allowing deliveries through Bab al-Hawa ends on July 9, and Russia has hinted it will veto a Security Council resolution renewing the mandate.

A Russian veto would effectively hand Assad control over the flow of aid to the opposition enclave and the U.S. and EU had warned earlier they will stop funding in that case.

The result will be a severe humanitarian crisis, likely triggering a new flood of Syrian migrants into Turkey and Europe, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs warned in a report.

Umm Khaled said she has no choice but to endure her deteriorating living conditions.

They keep reducing our food basket, she said. May God protect us if they cut it completely.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Three Iowa teenagers were shot and injured after some uninvited guests showed up to an after-prom party.

Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said about 200 people were at the party before the shooting was reported around 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
BALTIMORE (AP)  We know only a little about James Hemings, the French-trained chef who died in Baltimore in 1801. We know that, like his more famous sister, Sally, spent the majority of his life enslaved by Thomas Jefferson. We know he was working at a restaurant downtown the last year he was alive.

And we know that just before he died, he refused a job at the White House.

Historians find a few mentions of Hemings within the vast personal archive of the third U.S. president.

The chef is a really fascinating figure, said Lauren F. Klein, an associate professor at Emory University. These glimpses of his life make what we dont know about him all the more compelling.

Born into slavery, Hemings and his family held higher positions than other enslaved workers at Monticello. He also was Jeffersons brother-in-law, having the same father as Jeffersons wife, Martha. Many enslavers raped women that they considered their property, a pattern that Jefferson, too, would follow.

In 1784, Hemings traveled with Jefferson to France. At the future presidents urging, he studied the art of cookery for three years with the finest chefs in the home of haute cuisine.

The experience of living in France must have been eye-opening for Hemings, Klein said. Slavery had been abolished in France earlier; Hemings was paid a salary, money he spent on French lessons.

Returning to the United States as the French Revolution started, Hemings introduced cooks at Monticello and beyond to what he had learned in France. Klein said he was almost certainly the unacknowledged figure behind the meal served in the 1790 Dinner Table Bargain, an event made famous in the musical Hamilton.

A 1793 document shows that Jefferson promised Hemings his freedom on the condition that he train his replacement in the kitchen. Hemings needs to essentially trade his culinary knowledge for his human liberty, Klein said.

Hemings became free in 1796, according to a deed of manumission signed by Jefferson. Before leaving Monticello, he wrote down a painstaking inventory of kitchen utensils at the plantations kitchen, including copper baking tools from France.

Hemings influence was felt for generations after he left Monticello, said Klein, pointing out that his recipe for a dessert called snow eggs, or Oeufs a la neige in French, is found in Jeffersons granddaughters family cookbook. The recipe is signed James, a cook at Monticello.

Klein called that evidence that his legacy was large in this family. (Jeffersons) grandchildren were still talking about his food.

In a 1797 letter, Jefferson wrote that hed seen James in Philadelphia: He tells me his next trip will be to Spain. I am afraid his journeys will end in the moon.

Its not clear why Hemings chose Baltimore or exactly when he moved here. But the city and surrounding state were home to one of the largest free Black populations in the U.S. Additionally, the city was relatively close to Monticello, where much of Hemings family remained and where he returned to work as a paid servant on occasion.

By 1801, Jefferson wanted to hire Hemings again, this time to work at the White House. For a foodie president who considered cuisine to be a key tool of diplomacy, the role of White House chef would have been a particularly crucial position.

Jefferson wrote to William Evans, a Baltimore innkeeper. Evans, who owned the citys Indian Queen Hotel at Hanover and Baltimore streets, knew everyone, Klein said. His inn was near another hotel, the Columbian, where Hemings worked at the time.

Hemings responded through Evans that he couldnt get away from his current job in Baltimore. Evans added that he had approached Hemings a second time. This time, Evans wrote, the answer he returned me, was, that he would not go untill (sic) you should write to himself.

Theres a couple of different interpretations to this response, Klein said. One, she said, is as a power play.

As a free man ... (Hemings) wanted the respect of direct communication from the president-elect, she said. He knew exactly what he deserved. Now that he was no longer dependent on Jefferson, he wasnt afraid to demand it.

Jefferson didnt bother to write Hemings directly, a fact that Klein thinks reflects his own blind spots about slavery. He cant possibly understand that, for James, proximity to the president did not matter if he was free, she said.

Later that year, Jefferson wrote Evans again. He had heard an awful rumor  Klein said likely through enslaved plantation staff  that Hemings had died. Was it true?

Evans responded that it was. Hemings died by suicide, and was reported to have been drinking heavily around the time of his death.

Jefferson wrote to his son-in-law of the tragical end of James Hemings. Hemings was just 36.

Inside her Station North studio, Baltimore artist SHAN Wallace imagines different endings for James Hemings.

In a series of collages made for the Baltimore Museum of Art, Wallace depicts the chef in modern-day dress, sipping a soda at a carryout that he runs as two women chat nearby. Around his neck is a gold chain, a reward for a life of hard work.

In another artwork, Wallace imagines Hemings is an unseen cook inside a church, preparing a repast.

I dont want his life to end in Baltimore, Wallace said.

Within the series, she said, he has a lot more agency and community amongst people in Baltimore.

Wallace isnt the only artist to find inspiration in Hemings life. In New York City, a new installation at the Museum of Food and Drink honors the culinary contributions of African Americans, including Hemings, who, according to its website, introduced the U.S. to copper cookware, the stew stove, and dishes such as European-style macaroni and cheese and French fries.

Jessica B. Harris wrote about Hemings in her book, High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America, recently adapted into a Netflix series.

Decades later, following the end of the Civil War, another member of the Hemings family would move to Baltimore. His name was Fountain Hughes. According to a death notice in The Afro, Hughes died in Baltimore in 1957 at the remarkable age of 109.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP)  Gov. Phil Scott has vetoed a bill that would have created a clean heat standard for Vermont to help the state reduce emissions from heating buildings to meet the state's climate change commitments.

Scott said in his veto message on Friday that the legislation does not include details on the costs and impacts, which he said he has repeatedly asked the Legislature to include.

I understand the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which is why I proposed a $216 million dollar climate package and why my administration has engaged in this policy conversation since January," he said in a statement.

What the Legislature has passed is a bill that includes some policy, with absolutely no details on costs and impacts, and a lot of authority and policy making delegated to the Public Utility Commission (PUC), an unelected board, he added.

Heating buildings makes up about 35% of Vermonts greenhouse gas emissions and is the state's second largest source of emissions, after transportation, Vermont Public Radio reported.

The bill called on the Public Utilities Commission to create regulations to reduce fossil fuel use in buildings and develop a clean heat credit program, in which businesses that import such fuels for heat would have to buy or create clean heat credits based on how much their products emit, VPR reported.

They could create credits by helping people reduce emissions in their homes and businesses, such as through weatherization, installing cold climate heat pumps or switching to high efficiency wood heat.

Legislative leaders said they are disappointed because they believe the bill met the governor's requirements. They are considering whether they want to try to override the veto.

Johanna Miller, a member of the state Climate Council who is also the energy and climate program director for the Vermont Natural Resources Council, said it's critical that the state move forward with a clean heat standard.

The veto of the clean heat standard throws into question the states ability to deliver on our statutorily required and now legal obligation to reduce pollution across the board in the state of Vermont," Miller said.
LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP)  When Bedford County resident Neil Ellis, 38, was driving home after an out-of-state job, he was not expecting to assist a Bedford County Sheriffs deputy in apprehending a suspect.

It was early in the afternoon on an early spring day this year when Ellis saw several stopped vehicles, including an unmarked police car, ahead of him on Moneta Road.

As he slowed down to try and find out what was happening, Ellis said, he saw a fight ensuing: flailing arms and a deputy getting hit by someone he was apparently trying to arrest.

Ellis reacted on impulse. He pulled over, got out of his vehicle, and approached the scene as the suspect fled and the deputy pursued.

It was kind of automatic. It was, Im not going to sit here and watch this happen, Ellis said.

When he was already in the middle of following the deputy and suspect, Ellis said, he realized the officer might not realize he was attempting to help and worried for a minute that his actions might be mistaken for a threat.

I didnt want to get too close and scare him. Hes pursuing the bad guy, and Im pursuing him. The guy took off toward the right, and thats when I yelled to (Sergeant Keith) Peterson that he had backup, Ellis said.

A few other civilians became part of a small group who helped the sergeant by the end of the foot pursuit. Ellis estimated the chase lasted for about half a mile.

It was fairly cold, and running that far reminded me I need to run more often, probably. By the time we caught him, I was glad he didnt run any further, because I was tired of running, Ellis said, laughing.

He was particularly unprepared for the sudden burst of activity, having been in his vehicle for hours that day coming home from Tennessee.

I wasnt quite ready for that, but I did what I had to do, he said.

Ellis grabbed one of the suspects arms, and the deputy grabbed the other. Together, they were able to detain and cuff the suspect, who, according to Ellis, kept trying to resist arrest.

Together, the deputy and civilian backup were able to handle the situation while they awaited more backup from the Bedford County Sheriffs Office, who, according to Ellis, were unable to reach the scene more quickly.

Perhaps part of Elliss reaction came from the fact that his brother is a police officer, he said.

Most of all, he said, he thinks he made the choice simply because he recognized he needed to help good win in the situation.

As the saying goes, the only thing that it takes for evil to win is for good people to do nothing. There were plenty of people sitting in their cars and pulling out their phones to videotape the altercation for whatever social media platforms they wanted to post it to. But I wasnt going to sit idly by and let evil win, he said.

Although he didnt do it for recognition, Ellis said it felt good to be honored by the Bedford County Sheriffs Office. On April 1, Ellis was presented with an Outstanding Citizenship certificate during a pinning ceremony at the sheriffs office.

For that brief time, I got to experience what a lot of our officers experience on a daily basis: that you are willing to risk your well-being to help somebody that you didnt know. That doesnt make me an outstanding citizen, because the police do that daily, Ellis said.

Ellis said he hopes his actions can be a positive example to his four children and inspire others not to be inactive when faced with a situation in which they could be a force for good.

Peterson, who has worked for the Bedford County Sheriffs Office for two years, said the incident began when he responded to a call about a vehicle wreck. Since he was nearby, not far outside the Town of Bedford on Moneta Road, he responded to the call that came across his radio.

Shortly before the call, Peterson said he had seen a man walking down the road. Thats not an unusual sight, so he thought nothing of it  until he heard the man identified as the one whose vehicle was involved in the reported wreck. Nobody else was involved in the crash, Peterson said. The car ran off the road and damaged a guard rail, but that seemed to be the extent of the incident.

Peterson pulled over and approached the man walking down the road, wanting to talk with him. But the man kept trying to walk past, Peterson said, so he held out his arm in an attempt to stop him and continue trying to speak with him. Then, Peterson said, the man assaulted him.

We began to scuffle, and he started throwing punches. We started fighting in the middle of Moneta Road. He tried to grab my leg, tried to push me onto the ground, punched me in the side of the head, Peterson said.

After an initial struggle, the subject stopped and continued up the road before looking over his shoulder and breaking into a run, refusing to comply with Petersons commands, Peterson said.

As he pursued the subject, knowing officers with the Virginia State Police were on the way and having radioed in that he had been assaulted by the subject, Peterson said he heard someone shout that he had backup.

I knew I had assistance at that point in time, Peterson said. I was focused on him (the subject) exclusively.

He initially assumed his backup was an officer from some other agency in his jurisdiction, as area agencies often cross paths.

Only when the pursuit was ended and the subject successfully detained did Peterson realize it was civilians providing his backup. Ellis, along with a couple other individuals, assisted him in detaining the man, who Peterson said resides in the southern area of Bedford County.

I realized none of them were police officers. They were all citizens, Peterson said. Pretty much right then, my fellow officers arrived.

The subject was eventually charged by state police with traffic-related offenses pertaining to the vehicle crash, and charged with obstruction and felony assault on law enforcement by the Bedford County Sheriffs Office, Peterson said.

The community support is so important, in all aspects of our profession, Peterson said. Knowing that people in the community support what we do, support us as law enforcement officers to the point where they could potentially put themselves in harms way to keep us safe, I mean, thats huge.

Bedford County Sheriff Mike Miller said he was grateful to see citizens stepping up to help a local law enforcement officer.

We always know that our citizens have our back, Miller said.
RANSON, W.Va. (AP)  Ranson Mayor Duke Pierson stressed the importance that the future of Ranson Elementary remain true to the lessons and traits passed on to students throughout its history, keeping its roots close to the heart as the school moves to its new location along Route 115.

Move forward with what Ranson stands for: integrity, pride, leadership, all the things have been embedded in the students of Ranson Elementary the last several decades, he said, leading into a joke that drew a laugh from the crowd.

Im one of those people, and it was only a few years ago. I can assure you, I stood by and talked to one of my teachers when I got here, and I named every one of the teachers I had nearly 60 years ago, Pierson said. To be able to do that means something to me and means something to all the elementary students that go through Ranson Elementary School.

Piersons speech came as one of several during a groundbreaking event the morning of May 3 at the future home of Ranson Elementary School, an event that connects the past to the future, Pierson speaking of the past and current students bouncing with excitement of the new building.

West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch asked the handful of students on hand what the best part of a new school is, with one eagerly yelling, Everything! As the crowd smiled and laughed, Burch noted that the movement of both Ranson and Shepherdstown Elementary School, which also had its groundbreaking, was a symbol of the strength of Jefferson County.

Thats a great big span of many, many years and many teachers who have come and gone in that building, with a wonderful leader, my predecessor in Mrs. Debra Corbett, and myself, Ranson Principal Lance Astorino said. Its wonderful to see the impact that it had before and the continuation of that same type of environment.

The school also serves as a symbol of what the students of Ranson believe in and the community of Ranson believes in, as stakeholders of all types played a part in the design of the school. However, it was the youngest stakeholders who warmed the heart of principal architect Randy Jones with ZMM.

As architects, we are inspired by a lot of things; were inspired by nature, inspired by cities. For me personally, what inspires me is working with children. Thats why I became a school designer, he said. (Working with the students) was the most fun Ive had in a long time. The imagination and creativity from these kids was truly inspirational, and their teachers that came with them were there to let them just dream. Thats what we do: we dream and try to look at things we can put into this school that would truly inspire them to make them the best students they could be.

The design you see here is truly inspired by the students. We were watching Facebook posts and different comments about the design for the school. There was a comment that, Gee, Ranson doesnt really fit into the historical nature of Jefferson County Schools. My comment to that is the design is inspired by the kids. The children saw the arch of the rockets and knew thats what they wanted to see in their school. The Ranson Rockets is represented very well and is represented on the outside of the building.

Board President Kathy Skinner thanked all who participated in the process thus far, taking a moment to reflect on the weight of the groundbreaking and the importance of what the land will someday hold.

The building is very exciting, but all a building is is walls and roof, Skinner said. A school is a place for children to get educated. A home is where children thrive and flourish. Mr. Astorino, please make this a home for our Ranson children and help them thrive and flourish in the beautiful new facility theyre going to be getting.

Striving to be that comforting and inspiring environment, Astorino paused as he considered the emotions tied to the those few shovels full of dirt.

Being the newer principal here at Ranson, its definitely emotional, he said. Its great to see this finally come and be a thing now. It truly is an inspiration of our students. I charged our staff and our students, especially the students, into creating a place that is fit for them, a place that they want, they feel they can love and cherish and flourish. Its so important to put our kids first; if we dont put our students first, then its very difficult to have any room for growth.

With the parent center, mental health area and additional STEM lab for other schools to use, Ranson will be a thriving center for the community and great partner school, always staying true to that Rocket mentality even outside of city limits.

We will still always be part of that Ranson community, Astorino said.
Although it's early spring, a winter weather advisory is being issued by the National Weather Service for the Sierra Nevada for two major highways to Lake Tahoe.

The advisory will be in effect from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday for Donner Pass on Interstate Highway 80 in Nevada County and on Echo Summit on State Highway 50 in El Dorado County.

A late season winter storm will likely bring hazardous travel conditions Sunday afternoon and evening, according to the National Weather Service, which is advising motorists to be prepared for slick and snow-covered roads, reduced visibility at times, travel delays and chain controls.

Concord police officers are at Sunvalley Mall late Saturday evening investigating a shooting in a parking lot there.

A police spokesperson said no one was injured, but investigators have located shell casings in the mall parking lot along Contra Costa Boulevard, near BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse.

The shooting occurred after 10 p.m.

There are no further details at this time, including no information about a suspect or suspects.

A baby fox was rescued Saturday after it was discovered trapped in a hole at a construction site in San Francisco near Oracle Park.

A San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson said firefighters and staff from San Francisco Animal Control and Care responded at about 1:30 p.m. to the Mission Rock construction site on the report of the infant fox stuck in a hole in a steel pipe.

Firefighters from the fire department's Truck 4 unit used power saws and cooling water under the supervision of the animal control personnel to rescue the baby fox and free it from where it became trapped.

The fire department spokesperson said the baby fox, presently in the care of animal control staff, will be okay.

There was a drop in the number of people who successfully passed California's state bar examination in February as compared with last year.

A spokesperson for the State Bar of California announced Friday that 1,056 people passed the 2022 California General Bar Exam, or 33.9 percent of applicants. That is a drop of nearly 8.9 percent from 2021's pass rate of 37.2 percent, but higher than the February 2020 pass rate of 26.8 percent.

February's examination was the first in-person exam since February 2020.

The national average score on the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) dropped to 132.6 -- the lowest all-time score -- matching the low reached on the 2020 February exam.

Attendance at California's February 2022 General Bar Exam was slightly higher (3,113) than during the remotely administered February 2021 exam (3,098) but still low compared to past years, when 4,000 to 5,000 typically took the exam.

A 42-year-old man was arrested early Saturday morning in San Mateo County for stealing a vehicle and being in possession of burglary tools commonly used to break into vehicles.

A San Mateo County Sheriff's Department spokesperson said sheriff's deputies were alerted just before 1:30 a.m. by their automated license plate reader system of the presence of a vehicle recently stolen. Deputies searched for the vehicle and it was located at the intersection of Holly Street and Industrial Road in San Carlos.

The vehicle was occupied by the suspect, and he was immediately detained without incident. It was determined that the vehicle was still outstanding and the suspect, Mark Anthony Castro, was arrested.

The construction on two of Santa Rosa's last remaining park projects damaged by the devastating Tubbs Fire in the fall of 2017 is about to begin.

Part of the city's Six Fire Damaged Parks Recovery Project, construction will begin on the parks this month and the associated Fire Damaged Roadway Landscaping Project will begin next month, according to a city spokesperson.

The parks recovery process encompasses the restoration of six Santa Rosa parks and open space parcels in the Fountaingrove neighborhood and removing fire-damaged roadway landscaping and replacing the irrigation system damaged in the Fountaingrove and Coffey Park burn scar areas, remnants of the wildfire that ravaged this section of the Bay Area's fifth-largest city.

May is National Bicycle Safety Month and the police department in Fremont -- a city that prides itself on becoming more bike-friendly through safety programs and restructuring major thoroughfares and intersections with enhanced bike lanes and intersection "bulb-out" curbing to emphasize that -- is offering tips to motorists and bicyclists on how to share the road and be on the look out for one another.

The Fremont Police Department is conducting traffic safety operations throughout the month of May to focus on the most dangerous driver behaviors, such as speeding, making illegal turns, failure to yield to cyclists or pedestrians and stop sign/red light running.

The National Weather Service forecast for Sunday for the San Francisco Bay Area calls for a chance of rain around parts of the Bay Area until noon, then partly sunny skies the rest of the day. A 30 percent chance of rain is expected. Highs today will be in the upper 50s to upper 60s. Overnight lows Sunday morning will range from the upper 40s to the mid 50s.

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.
WFO LAS VEGAS Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, May 8, 2022

_____

DUST STORM WARNING

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED

Dust Storm Warning

National Weather Service Las Vegas NV

245 PM PDT Sun May 8 2022

The National Weather Service in Las Vegas has issued a

* Dust Storm Warning for...

West central San Bernardino County in southern California...

* Until 445 PM PDT.

* At 242 PM PDT, a dust channel was near Daggett impacting

Interstate 15 and Interstate 40, moving east at 45 mph. The dust

channel is causing multiple traffic accidents along Interstate 15

east of Barstow, CA.

HAZARD...Less than a quarter mile visibility with damaging wind in

excess of 60 mph.

SOURCE...Law enforcement.

IMPACT...Dangerous life-threatening travel.

*

This includes the following highways...

Interstate 15 in California between mile markers 81 and 124.

Interstate 40 in California between mile markers 1 and 51.

Locations impacted include...

Barstow, Daggett, Afton Canyon Campground, Newberry Springs, Ludlow,

Hwy 247 Between Lucerne Valley And Barstow, Nebo Center and Lenwood.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Dust storms lead to dangerous driving conditions with visibility

reduced to near zero. If driving, avoid dust storms if possible. If

caught in one, pull off the road, turn off your lights and keep your

foot off the brake.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
Mobile mental health crisis resources that help law enforcement and provide a direct line to assistance for community members are set to expand in Cayuga County.

The Cayuga County Legislature last month authorized a resolution allowing federal funds to be used for additional mobile mental health crisis services. The county will contribute $80,000 toward start-up costs for a day time mobile crisis team, while the city of Auburn will also be allocating $80,000 for the team's start-up cost. This team will be made up of staff from the Cayuga County Mental Health Center.

Both the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office and the Auburn Police Department had have access to a mobile crisis team through Liberty Resources Mobile Crisis Team, based in Syracuse, who assist with mental health situations from 5 p.m. to midnight.

Cayuga County is slated to pay its $80,000 through federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. The Legislature passed the resolution unanimously on April 24.

In an interview with The Citizen Wednesday, Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck said that due to this expansion, employees with the mental health center will be able to go to mental health calls from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m, and the Liberty Resources team will still be available in the evening until midnight. He added that the sheriff's office will work with the county government to try to potentially get mobile crisis team members out from after midnight to 8 a.m., as there currently isn't funding available for that.

Schenck said he is glad Cayuga County and Auburn elected officials "understood the need" for this kind of team during the day. Officers often respond to incidents that turn out to be mental health situations rather than crime scenes.

"I'm very encouraged by the fact that we're going to have this additional resource and that they saw the urgency and the need to do this," he said. "It will allow us to have a mental health response to a mental health incident instead of a law enforcement response (for a situation) that really warrants specialized training and credentials to address a mental health crisis."

An additional aspect of this expansion is that these crisis teams are going to be available to the public, so "the public will be able to call a phone number and potentially have a mobile crisis response without having to have a law enforcement response, if that's appropriate," Schenck said. These services also span to those in crisis who are dealing with addiction.

The county Legislature's resolution also said the mental health center will designate two jobs to assist the day time team. One of those positions will be a staff social worker "to begin the operations of the day time mobile crisis team," the resolution continued, adding that the county director of community services "is authorized to fill the current staff social worker position." The center will also create an additional support position in the near future, the resolution said.

Lauren Walsh, the county's director of community services, which includes overseeing mental health and addiction services, told The Citizen that the mental health center is still developing a resolution to send to the Legislature on the approval of the additional support role. She said she is not yet sure when the day team will start going out to scenes, due to the center still needing to hire for those positions. The center is also talking to staff members about potentially being a part of the new team.

"We're still in the process of developing this program, all the details of this program, because it's new for us," Walsh said. "During this hiring process, we hope to have all those things ironed out so that when people are hired we can train them and then we can start this program as soon as we possibly can."

Walsh said there is plan for how this day team would operate.

"They work as a team, so they would be responding to crisis calls, as well as calls from law enforcement and it can be schools, it can be any other agencies in the county who have an individual in crisis or in distress. They would contact the mental health center, and then they would be evaluating those calls and would be going out mobile as a team, meeting people where they're at," she said. "If law enforcement goes on a call and they feel like it's a mental health call and they could use talking to mobile crisis, or a therapist, then the team will mobilize to where (the person having the crisis) is located."

Team members would then be assessing the situation, completing assessments with the individual in question, safety planning with them and making referrals for resources, among other duties, Walsh continued.

Having previously been a mobile crisis therapist with Liberty Resources, Walsh said she is excited to get started.

"I've seen how well it works, how you can see people right in the moment and then you can see them also get connected to services and then continue services," she said. "These might be people that wouldn't have normally got connected to a counselor or to other services. So it's really neat how you're meeting them in the community and able to make those referrals and make that connection happen and that linkage to support. It's really cool to see and I think this program could have a lot of benefit to this county during those day time hours, expanding people's access to it."

During an Auburn City Council meeting on April 21, City Manager Jeff Dygert said he and other city staff members met with Cayuga County representatives earlier that week to discuss allocating ARPA funds from both entities and "projects of potential mutual benefit," primarily focusing on the crisis intervention team.

Auburn Police Chief James Slayton said various scenarios officers deal with, including welfare check calls, overdose and suicide attempt calls "all could fit in that realm where we could use a mental health provider on that scene, rather than the police." There were 1,514 calls of that nature in 2020, he said, 1,681 in 2021 and 470 calls as of that date for 2022. The Liberty Resources team responded to 52 calls with APD in 2020, with 66 calls in 2021 and 11 through April 21 in 2022.

"When mobile crisis comes to those calls, once we deem the scene safe and they feel comfortable, they take it from there, our officers are relieved and goes on additional calls," Slayton said. "What happens now is two officers have to go up to the hospital and oftentimes we're there for hours waiting for the patient to be seen. Mobile crisis, what they do is take that over and Cayuga County Mental Health would do that during the day time hours for us."

Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau.

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WFO SAN DIEGO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, May 8, 2022

_____

DUST STORM WARNING

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED

Dust Storm Warning

National Weather Service San Diego CA

409 PM PDT Sun May 8 2022

The National Weather Service in San Diego has issued a

* Dust Storm Warning for...

Riverside County in southern California...

* Until 600 PM PDT.

* At 405 PM PDT, blowing sand was severely impacting visibility on

Interstate 10 between North Palm Springs and Thousand Palms. Other

roadways between these areas will be impacted.

HAZARD...Less than a quarter mile visibility with strong wind in

excess of 50 mph.

SOURCE...CalTrans.

IMPACT...Dangerous life-threatening travel.

Locations impacted include...

Northeastern Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Desert Hot

Springs, Rancho Mirage, North Palm Springs, Whitewater, Sky Valley

and Thousand Palms.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Dust storms lead to dangerous driving conditions with visibility

reduced to near zero. If driving, avoid dust storms if possible. If

caught in one, pull off the road, turn off your lights and keep your

foot off the brake.

Motorists should not drive into a dust storm. PULL ASIDE STAY ALIVE!

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO MIDLAND/ODESSA Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Sunday, May 8, 2022

_____

RED FLAG WARNING

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX

155 PM CDT Sun May 8 2022

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT /8 PM MDT/

TODAY FOR RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF 7% OR LESS, 20 FT WINDS OF 20 MPH

OR MORE, AND HIGH TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER FOR SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO

AND MOST OF WEST TEXAS...

...RED FLAG WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM CDT /9 AM MDT/ TO 9

PM CDT /8 PM MDT/ MONDAY FOR RELATIVE HUMIDITY LESS THAN 10%, 20

FT WINDS OF 20 MPH OR MORE, AND HIGH TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER FOR

SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND MOST OF WEST TEXAS...

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT /8 PM MDT/

TODAY FOR RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF 7% OR LESS, 20 FT WINDS OF 20 MPH

OR MORE, AND HIGH TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER FOR SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO

AND MOST OF WEST TEXAS...

...RED FLAG WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM CDT /9 AM MDT/ TO 9

PM CDT /8 PM MDT/ MONDAY FOR RELATIVE HUMIDITY LESS THAN 10%, 20

FT WINDS OF 20 MPH OR MORE, AND HIGH TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER FOR

SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND MOST OF WEST TEXAS...

* AFFECTED AREA...Gaines, Dawson, Borden, Scurry, Andrews,

Martin, Howard, Mitchell, Loving, Winkler, Ector, Midland,

Glasscock, Ward, Crane, Pecos, Sacramento Foothills and

Guadalupe Mountains, Chaves Plains, Eddy Plains, Lea,

Guadalupe Mountains Above 7000 Feet, Guadalupe and Delaware

Mountains, Van Horn and Highway 54 Corridor, Eastern Culberson

County, Reeves County Plains, Marfa Plateau, Davis Mountains

and Davis Mountains Foothills.

* TIMING...For the first warning, until 9 PM CDT /8 PM MDT/ today.

For the second warning, from 10 AM CDT /9 AM MDT/ to 9 PM CDT

/8 PM MDT/ Monday.

* WINDS...Southwest 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph with

higher gusts in the mountains.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 2 percent.

* RFTI...6 to 9 or extreme.

* IMPACTS...Avoid the use of open flames or any activities that

may generate sparks. Accidental ignitions will have the

potential to grow into dangerous wind-driven wildfires.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions

are either occurring now or will shortly. A combination of strong

winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures will increase

potential for fire growth.

* AFFECTED AREA...Chinati Mountains and Central Brewster County.

* TIMING...Until 9 PM CDT today.

* WINDS...Southwest 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 4 percent.

* RFTI...4 or near critical.

* AFFECTED AREA...Upton and Reagan.

* TIMING...From 10 AM CDT /9 AM MDT/ to 9 PM CDT /8 PM MDT/

Monday.

* WINDS...Southwest 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 5 percent.

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM TO 8 PM CDT MONDAY...

* WHAT...Temperatures around 95 in the Chisos Mountains, up to 105

for central Brewster and Terrell counties, and up to 112 along

the Rio Grande.

* WHERE...Terrell, Central Brewster and Lower Brewster Counties,

and Chisos Basin.

* WHEN...For the first Heat Advisory, until 8 PM CDT this

evening. For the second Heat Advisory, from 1 PM to 8 PM CDT

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur. The

elderly, very young, sick and persons with heart conditions are

most at risk in extreme heat.

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out

of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young

children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles

under any circumstances.

Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When

possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or

evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat

stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when

possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational

Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent

rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone

overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.

Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.

* WHAT...Temperatures up to 106.

* WHERE...Borden, Scurry, Mitchell and Howard Counties.

* WHEN...Until 8 PM CDT this evening.

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur.

The elderly, very young, sick and persons with heart conditions

are most at risk in extreme heat.

...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/

MONDAY...

* WHAT...Southwest winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts up to 65 mph.

Winds will diminish somewhat overnight before increasing again

Monday morning.

* WHERE...Guadalupe and Delaware Mountains.

* WHEN...Until 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ Monday.

* IMPACTS...High winds could make driving difficult for motorists

driving high profile vehicles such as campers, vans, and

tractor trailers. Severe turbulence near the mountains will be

hazardous for low flying light aircraft.

People should avoid being outside in forested areas and around

trees and branches. If possible, remain in the lower levels of

your home during the windstorm, and avoid windows. Use caution if

you must drive.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
At the online conference (Photo: SGGP)

On May 8, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front held the twelfth online conference to give opinions on the draft report summarizing the opinions and recommendations of voters and the people to send to the third session of the fifteenth National Assembly.

According to the draft report summarizing opinions and recommendations of voters and residents in the third session of the fifteenth National Assembly, voters and people expressed their trust in the determination of the Party and State, especially General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong for the Party building and rectification, the fight against corruption and negativity non-stop with no restricted areas and exceptions in fighting corruption.

Voters and people advocated the policy of establishing a Steering Committee for Anti-corruption in provinces. The Party and the State will continue to drastically direct the inspection, investigation, prosecution, and public trial of major corruption cases, and strictly handle wrongdoing leaders in departments and agencies including senior officials.

For instance, the case of raising the price of a Covid-19 test kit at Viet A Technology Company, the case of taking bribes at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the case of manipulating the stock market at FLC Group, and unusual land auction and fraudulent bond issuance by Tan Hoang Minh Group...

At the same time, the Party and the State should consider the issuance of discipline on many high-ranking officials, both incumbent and retired.

In addition to the achievements, voters and people expressed their worries about five issues comprising difficulties and challenges caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, slow progress in allocating and disbursing public investment capital and support packages for socio-economic recovery and development, substandard living conditions of residents in remote and isolated areas, contribution of civil servants and officials to violations.

Additionally, voters are disgruntled and strongly condemn the violations of the law in the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic, especially in the procurement of equipment and consumables, covered by officials and party members.

Therefore, voters expected authorities to continue to expand the investigation, clarify and strictly handle the individuals and organizations that commit wrongdoing, avoid the crime; publicity and transparency of investigation and trial results for people's supervision.

Plus, the progress of implementing national key programs is still slow. Many existing potential risks are seen in the operations of the stock market, bond issuance, and real estate market. Moreover, several projects that have been assigned have not been implemented or have been delayed for many years, resulting in a waste of land resources.

Moreover, voters said that they are worried about a part of workers withdrawing one-time social insurance due to immediate difficulties.

Finally, voters voiced their concern over the fact that history becomes an elective subject in high schools, which may cause unpredictable consequences. They said some countries with similar cultures to Vietnam such as China, Japan, and Korea have made history a compulsory subject in the general education curriculum.

On the basis of synthesizing opinions and recommendations of voters and people nationwide, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front proposed to the Party and State to pay attention to five contents including adequate investment in the health system, especially in grassroots health and preventive medicine and soon amend socialization mechanisms and policies in the health sector, the implementation of the three national key programs because these programs mainly affect rural areas.

Last but not least, the Ministry of Education and Training was proposed to have a comprehensive evaluation of the history subject in high schools.

By Phan Thao  Translated by Anh Quan
Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes will step up a campaign this week to block the planned break-up of power giant AGL, convening meetings with key investors to underline significant risks he claims will destroy shareholder value.

AGL, the nations largest power and gas supplier, on Friday released a scheme booklet outlining details of the boards controversial plan to divide its retail and carbon-heavy power stations into two separate businesses ahead of a shareholder vote on June 15.

The boards plan was supported by an independent expert report, which concluded it was in shareholders best interests.

Mike Cannon-Brookes has become AGLs largest shareholder in a bid to block the proposed demerger of the 180-year-old energy giant. Credit:Wolter Peeters, Bloomberg

Cannon-Brookes private investment company Grok Ventures, which spent the weekend assessing the documents, said the booklet did nothing to change our view that the demerger promotes a terrible outcome for shareholders, communities and the climate.
The sticker on the side of former Golden Girl Lisa Currys huge storage container says it all: S----y Magazines.

In it are countless copies of magazines in which Curry is plastered all over covers. For such apparently despised items, those s----y magazines are in incredibly good condition in the opening scene of last weeks moving Australian Story feature on Curry, during which she talks about the highs and lows of her much-documented life.

Lisa Curry appeared on Australian Story last week. Credit:

She refers to one cover, before tossing it on an ever-growing pile: Why I left Grant ... as if you people would know ... you just make it up as usual.

Interestingly, her ex-husband, Iron Man legend Grant Kenny, did not make an appearance on the episode, and it is unclear why given he did not return calls about it last week. Friends say he has no desire to delve into personal issues for public consumption and left the world of celebrity long ago.
Gang-gang cockatoos were added to Australias endangered species list this year. Credit:Jayden Gunn This clarion call is not only coming from scientists. In 2018, a Senate inquiry into the extinction of Australian animals found native fauna was declining and there was a need for an independent regulator. Last year the federal auditor-general found the Environment Department, which has had a 40 per cent cut to its budget since 2013, was not achieving desired outcomes in the monitoring and reporting of endangered species. Last year, a landmark review of Australias environment laws by former competition watchdog Professor Graeme Samuel found urgent reforms were needed to prevent further extinctions, including appointing an independent environment commissioner. Legally enforceable national environmental standards were the centrepiece of the recommendations. To shy away from the fundamental reforms recommended by this review is to accept the continued decline of our iconic places and the extinction of our most threatened plants, animals and ecosystems, Samuel wrote. University of Melbourne ecologist Professor Brendan Wintle gives the Morrison government a zero out of 10 for its limited response to the Samuel review. The review had strong support  all the key stakeholders were at the table and there was about 85 per cent in agreement in the ways the reforms should take place. But the government just failed to deliver, which is really disappointing, he says.

Australias environmental protection is chronically underfunded. In 2019, research from Wintle and his colleagues found Australia spent about $122 million a year on endangered wildlife, about 10 per cent of what was being spent in the United States, and about 15 per cent of what was needed to prevent extinctions and recover threatened species. Wintle estimates the cost of rescuing Australias listed threatened species would be about $1.7 billion a year (by way of comparison, Australians spend about $12 billion a year on pet care). Just two days of Coalition election promises (estimated at $833 million a day) would fund recovery for Australias entire threatened species list for a year. In the lead-up to the election, environmentalists have repeatedly called on Environment Minister Sussan Ley to release the State of the Environment report  a five-yearly scorecard on the state of Australias natural world  saying voters have a right to know more about the scale of the damage. But nothing was made public before the government caretaker period began. Photographer Scott Portelli won the declining species category of the Australian Geographic Nature Photography of the Year exhibition in 2021 for this photograph of a grey nurse shark. Credit:

People love nature There is ample evidence people care about Australias unique plants and animals. Recent polling from the Australian Conservation Foundation on the electorates commitment to nature found 95 per cent of those surveyed agreed it was important to protect nature for future generations, 90 per cent agreed it was critical to the Australian economy and 80 per cent said they cared about the extinction of plants and animals. And its not as if ending extinctions or wildlife revival is an impossible dream. Research from the Invasive Species Council and other conservation groups shows there are good news stories: in the 2000s the deaths of thousands of albatrosses were avoided when the government recognised the danger of long-line fishing and worked with the fishing industry to improve practices. By 2018, Australia had completed 243 successful eliminations of feral species such as black rats, cats and foxes on islands.

Wintle believes the Coalition government has been hamstrung because of the Nationals interest in making sure farmers retain control over land management, including native vegetation clearing, though he notes many farmers are doing great environmental recovery work. The enmeshed relationship between the union movement and the forestry industry has also limited Labor when it comes to acting on biodiversity issues, particularly logging, Wintle says. The first party that liberates itself from the ideological associations of biodiversity conservation will come up with policies that will transform the way we do it. The rare hoary sunray. Credit:Debbie Reynolds Whats on offer

Labor has not released an overarching environmental policy. Terri Butler, the shadow minister for the environment and water since 2019, said the timing of its launch was a matter for Labor leader Anthony Albanese. The party has already pledged $80 million for projects linked to the Great Barrier Reef and $200 million for urban rivers and catchments, and has said it would double the number of Indigenous rangers and Indigenous Protected Areas. One of the first actions of a Labor-led government would be to provide a full response to the Samuel review, Butler says. It would also release the State of the Environment report. She describes the environment protection and biodiversity conservation reviews recommendation for an independent environmental commissioner as close to her heart. We have a real problem in this country with the lack of compliance in environment law, she says A spokesperson for Environment Minister Ley says the Coalition government has committed an additional $6 billion in environmental spending since 2019, including $53 million for koala recovery. It would continue to tackle feral pests and weeds, and partner with local communities for practical, on-the-ground action. A further Coalition government would also reform national environment laws to protect the environment and provide greater certainty, spending $52 million on a national rollout of digital environment assessments with states and territories to cut green tape, the spokesperson said.

The Greens have a comprehensive policy that includes a goal of zero extinction by 2030 and investment in mass greening and restoration programs. A corroboree frog. Credit:Taronga Zoo Natural cost The business sector has realised there is a cost to ignoring the biodiversity crisis, says University of NSW researcher Megan Evans. Just as climate change is now understood as a risk, there is growing awareness biodiversity loss will also affect the bottom line. These losses could include physical risks (for example, natural disasters exacerbated by loss of coastal protection from nature), reputational or legal risks, the risks of ecosystem collapse (through the loss of pollinators, for example), or diseases that affect global supply chains and availability of materials.

Weve had increasing threats to biodiversity over the last decade and reduced funding, says Evans. A bit of revegetation isnt going to change that  its like sprinkling glitter on a big pile of poo. Conservation measures can work: the population of the endangered Lord Howe Island woodhen has more than doubled to about 565 since a rodent control program was implemented on the island in 2019. What to do? The solutions to Australias biodiversity crisis already exist and will also benefit the nations human inhabitants, says Deakin Universitys Professor Euan Ritchie. The next government must strengthen and enforce environmental policy and laws, look to First Peoples leadership and their longstanding cultural practices and increase environmental investment, Ritchie says. A strong economy and happy, healthy people are fundamentally dependent on the environment, he says: Taking care of the environment and investing in it are a public good.
Rev. Louis Vasile has seen a lot over the past 50 years of his priesthood. Ordained in 1972, Vasile spent the last 17 years serving the Cathol
The Philippines is poised to elect a former dictators son as its new leader in Mondays presidential election. Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr, the son of the late Ferdinand Marcos, is the clear favourite, with polls giving him more than a 30-point lead over his closest rival. On the campaign trail, he has praised the genius of his father, who, during his rule from 1965 to 1986, declared martial law, killed thousands of people, and stole billions of dollars from the public purse  as captured, most infamously, by the 3000 pairs of shoes collected by his wife, Imelda Marcos.

Ferdinand BongBong Marcos Jr, the overwhelming favourite to be elected as president on Monday. Credit:Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg

Surely the election of a figure with such clear ties to a past dictatorship must go down in the annals of democratic history as a uniquely freakish result. In fact, this is par for the course in new democracies.

Beginning in the mid-1970s, authoritarian regimes around the world began to fall in rapid succession in what became known as the third wave of democratisation. From Southern and Eastern Europe, to Latin America, to parts of Africa and Asia, countries threw off the shackles of dictatorship in favour of a brave new era of democracy. The Philippines played a starring role in this wave through its famed People Power Revolution, a mass campaign of civil disobedience that brought the Marcos dictatorship to its knees.

The end of authoritarianism, however, did not always mean the disappearance of former authoritarians. In many countries, the ruling parties of the old regime remained major players in the new. In data that I collected for my book Life after Dictatorship: Authoritarian Successor Parties Worldwide, I found that such parties were one of the most common features of the global democratic landscape.
The installation of hundreds of new bus-stop shelters, bins and other street furniture in central Sydney is running up to eight months late, leaving commuters frustrated at the delayed rollout.

Under the original plans, the project to erect 340 new bus shelters, 20 public toilets, and hundreds of bins, benches and seats within the City of Sydneys 26-square-kilometre area was supposed to be completed by January this year.

The council said it now expects the majority of the street furniture such as bins, benches and kiosks to be installed by September. The new public toilets are scheduled to be finished by November, subject to development approvals.

Darlinghurst resident Jane Devine is frustrated at the slow installation of new bus shelters. Credit:Oscar Colman

It is blaming the delays on the unprecedented wet weather and ongoing challenges caused by the pandemic, including the Omicron outbreak.
The fire that tore through the abandoned Balmain Leagues Club site on Saturday afternoon is being treated as suspicious after police reported two teenage boys were seen running from the area shortly after the incident.

Emergency services were called to Rozelle after reports of the fire at Victoria Road near Darling Street about 4.30pm on Saturday, finding the disused building engulfed in smoke and flames.

Wreckage of Balmain Leagues Club after the fire on Saturday. Credit:Edwina Pickles

Fire and Rescue NSW confirmed on Sunday morning that the fire was being treated as suspicious and police confirmed that after investigators returned to the scene on Sunday.

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne described the fire in a tweet as large and dangerous and on Sunday tweeted that it was no surprise.
Responses to my last column showed there are plenty of other parents who like me can afford private schooling for their children, but have other uses in mind for that money.

We want a free public education, but we want it to be a good one, and previously published league tables suggest there are only a handful of reliably academically outstanding public schools in Western Australia.

The first non-selective public schools to make the top 50 list were Willetton and Rossmoyne senior highs (11 and 12, median ATARs roughly 89 each) and Shenton College and Applecross SHS (23 and 24, roughly 87 each). Credit:Composite image

Ive now done some research, and I think Ive worked it out. If us middle-class parents werent afraid of disadvantaging our naturally advantaged children by sending them to public school and just sent them there, they would still be able to achieve high ATARs.

Moreover, the median ATARs of those schools would then rise and the gap would shrink.
Concerns of a dirty tricks campaign targeting teal independents has prompted the Australian Electoral Commission to bring in its electoral integrity assurance taskforce as pre-polling opens on Monday.

It is investigating reports of widespread defacing of corflutes and other signage last week that falsely linked candidates to other parties.

In almost all cases, the signs of key independent candidates had stickers attached to them saying they were running for the Greens.

A number of independent candidates corflutes were targeted with stickers claiming they were running for the Greens. Credit:AEC

The taskforces intervention comes after two separate Australian Federal Police investigations into Coalition candidates suspected of providing false information to the AEC about where they lived.
There were many big moments in the debate between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor leader Anthony Albanese on Sunday night, but one key point highlighted the strategies likely to shape the final two weeks of the election campaign.

The pair were given the chance to ask each other questions at the halfway mark and their decisions revealed each ones assessment of the other mans weakness.

Behind the scenes, both Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor leader Anthony Albanese left the studio looking comfortable with how they had done. Credit:James Brickwood

For Morrison, the key question to his opponent was about tax. He wanted to remind voters about the policies Labor took to the 2019 election, such as the changes to negative gearing and franking credits. The implication was that victory for the Coalition could depend on fighting the last campaign all over again.

For Albanese, the big question to the prime minister was about the workplace. Should anyone be paid less than the minimum wage? Morrison defended the use of contractors and gig economy workers, but his answer came down to two words: It depends.
Heres the absurd position Facebook is in.

It either had so little regard for Australias parliament that it did not properly prepare for being forced to pay for news here, meaning that when a bill was on the cusp of becoming law it blundered so badly attempting to block news sites that weather and suicide prevention pages were taken down too.

Or it in fact was well-prepared but had so little regard for Australia that it thought it would be a good idea to block news pages with such a broad brush that it would inevitably also hit weather and suicide prevention services in an attempt to strong-arm the government into backing down.

Facebook has said it used a broad approach to taking down news content to comply with a vaguely worded law and insisted non-news pages were removed inadvertently. Credit:AP

Whistleblowers said last week it was the latter; Facebook insists, more or less, that it was the former.
Nairobi: Desperate Zimbabweans are boiling used nappies to get high in a new drug craze as the country struggles to recover from its latest economic crisis.

They scrape [the nappies clean] and then boil them [with a small amount of water] and a thickish white stuff emerges, and this is then put into the bottom of jars and sold, one user said in the Epworth suburb, a squalid settlement on the outskirts of the capital Harare.

A man takes cough medicine, used as a drug, in Harare, where drug abuse brought on by the economic crisis is rampant. Credit:AP

Drug users said that the sodium polyacrylate  the absorbent part of a nappy  got them high enough to carry on with their grim daily lives.

Mirriam, a 23-year-old single mother, said that she took the nappy mixture to give her the courage to do sex work.
Kabul: Afghanistans Taliban rulers have ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public  a sharp, hard-line pivot that confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and was bound to further complicate Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international community.

The decree says that women should leave the home only when necessary, and that male relatives would face punishment  starting with a summons and escalating up to court hearings and jail time  for womens dress code violations.

Afghan women walk through the old market as a Taliban fighter stands guard, in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit:AP

It was the latest in a series of repressive edicts issued by the Taliban leadership, not all of which have been implemented. Last month for example the Taliban forbade women to travel alone, but after a day of opposition, that has since been silently ignored.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said it was deeply concerned with what appeared to be a formal directive that would be implemented and enforced, adding that it would seek clarifications from the Taliban about the decision.
Brazilian miner Vale SA said on Friday it has signed a long-term deal with Tesla Inc to supply the U.S.-based electric vehicle maker with nickel from its Canadian operations. Vale did not provide financial details on the deal and did not say how long it will last.

The Brazilian miner said in a securities filing that the agreement involves supplying Tesla with low-carbon Class 1 nickel and is in line with its strategy of increasing its exposure to the electric vehicle industry.

Vale said it aims for between 30% and 40% of its Class 1 nickel sales to go to the fast-growing sector, without detailing how much it would represent in terms of volume.

According to the company's first quarter performance report, Vale sold a total of 20,000 tonnes of Upper Class 1 nickel in the period, of which 1,300 tonnes were to the electric vehicle industry.

(Also read | Tesla may get into mining lithium, says CEO Elon Musk)

Canada's Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey said on Twitter the deal would include nickel produced by Vale at its Long Harbour plant, which is located in the province.

"Congratulations to Vale on signing this significant deal with Tesla to supply the nickel the company needs to make batteries for electric vehicles," Furey said. "Nickel from right here in Newfoundland and Labrador. Our province is certainly rich in resources the world needs today."

(Also read | Tesla can benefit by manufacturing electric vehicles in India: Nitin Gadkari)

According to Vale, nickel rounds produced at its Long Harbour facility have a carbon footprint of 4.4 tonnes of CO2 equivalent for each ton of nickel, which it had previously claimed to be about one-third the Nickel Institute average for Class 1 nickel. Vale said on its website that such a carbon footprint makes it a "supplier-of-choice for the electric vehicle industry".

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is the Star Trek weve been waiting for since 1969. Right from the first glimpse of that original communicator and the credit music that is totally evocative of the original and Anson Mounts (Captain Pike) voice over, I was in. None of this is to disparage the other iterations of the franchise, but I grew up with the original, so the nostalgia card played well with me.

The first episode Strange New Worlds was directed by Akiva Goldsman with a teleplay by Akiva Goldsman based on a story by Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet. Goldsman is co-showrunner with Henry Alonso Myers who is the co-writer of the second episode. Goldsmans ties to the franchise are deep, spanning, and

The episode does an excellent job of reminding us where we last left Pike  when hed been shown his own future on Discovery. A future that Original Series fans are completely familiar with. We learn later in the episode that Pike also knows when his death will come  in ten years. So, I guess we know how many seasons to expect? But fans of OS also know that Pikes death isnt quite what he thinks either. I really liked how they wove the threads of canon together here.

The sets did a nice job of being enough of an echo of the original series without seeming cheap or corny. Pikes quarters, for instance, are a lot nicer than Kirks ever were! Its really fun to see what a more modern transporter looks like  even though its clearly a lot less sophisticated than what were used to.

Even more so than many series, STSNW has a lot of characters to introduce in a short span of time  after all, we had to get Pike back on the ship, back to loving his job, and save a planet and his Number One in the episode too. Like all good Star Trek series, the heart of the show is the characters  and here again we have a terrific blend of old and new. Am I the only one absolutely loving how very female the bridge is??? Communication officer is CADET Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding)  complete with her classic ear piece! Joining Dr MBenga (Babs Olusanmokun) is sick bay is Christine Chapel (Jess Bush)! Already love these younger versions of the characters we came to know and love.

We didnt get to see much of Lt Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia), but her exasperation at things going awry when she had the bridge bodes well. Also looking forward to seeing more of Lt Jenna Mitchell (Rong Fu) on the bridge and Chief Kyle (Andre Dae Kim) on the transporter. While we didnt see much of Number One Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), we did get to know her on Discovery.





On the mission to rescue Una, Pike has to take a new number one: Laan Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong). She doesnt seem to be a terrific fit, but finds her footing as the episode unfolds. I loved that her backstory involved the Gorn  another nice easter egg to a classic episode of the Original Series.

Anson Mount delivers a strong performance, moving Pike from introspection and almost despair brought on by the knowledge of his own mortality to acceptance and embracing the future he does have. Hes the Captain we need. I loved that hes watching the classic science fiction movie as the episode opens. Its a wonderful shout out to the debt the show owes to its many antecedents. Pike is hiding out on his ranch, not even sure if hes going back to the Enterprise, when Admiral April (Adrian Holmes) shows up and presses him immediately back into service to find out what happened to Una. Pike is helped along in coming to terms with his fate by faithful Spock (Ethan Peck). Now please, somebody calm down Mounts hair just a bit

The episode picks up Spocks story ad TPring (Gia Sandhu) proposes to him. Hilariously, they are interrupted in consummating their marriage by a call from Pike. I have to say that I miss Pecks beard  not because I found it attractive, but because it hid a lot of his face. It felt too much like he had a half smile on his face for the first couple of scenes. Sandhu also didnt really sell the non-emotional facial expression weve come to expect of a Vulcan either. Perhaps we can excuse these very un-vulcan scenes because they were in the throes of the mating ritual?

As for the storyline, its also classic Trek. Two civilizations on the brink of destroying their world  as an indirect result ofsaving the universe. We dont get a lot of backstory on the two sides, but then we dont really need it. Pike is Klaatu from showing them what happened to Earth during WWIII  and did everyone catch a glimpse of the January 6 riots and the veiled remark to the United States? Their current path will lead them to self-destruction OR they can join the Federation The best of Trek grounds us in our own reality. Considering that this was written and shot before the war in the Ukraine started, its clear the writers room is also following in the best of traditions.

Overall, I give this first episode an A+. Mount as Pike is a cross between Kirk, Picard, and Archer for me  my favorite Captains. The rest of the crew is intriguing, and theyve already done a great job with the legacies of Uhura and Chapel. Theyve situated the show betweenand the Original Series and established the Prime Directive. Im hoping that we wont spend a lot more time on Pike seeing horrific visions of himself, and well just get on with exploring those strange new worlds  one of which really is our own. What did you think of the first episode? Im really curious to know what your favorite Trek series are and how youd compare this to them so far! Please let me know in the comments below!




Madrid, 8 May 2022 (SPS) -The Polisario Front demands that Spains Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez "rectify" his position on Western Sahara as his recent volte-face on the Sahrawi issue is against international legality.



Speaking Saturday at the 26th Conference "Peace and Freedom for the Sahrawi People", held in the Parliament of La Rioja (Spain), the Polisario Front Representative in Madrid, Abdullah Arabi, demanded that Pedro Sanchez "rectify" his position on Western Sahara, criticizing the fact that "the Spanish government stands with an occupying force Morocco that distances itself from the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and removes itself from the UN process to seek a solution under international law.



"This volte-face by the Spanish government has been rejected by almost all local and regional authorities because it breaks a consensus that existed in Spain regarding the Sahrawi cause and violates international legality", in addition to being "a unilateral decision not approved by the Parliament.



He called the new position of the Spanish government a "radical shift" and invited the Spanish regional assemblies to "reaffirm their commitment to the Sahrawi people.



The Sahrawi diplomat also recalled that the Sahrawi people "have been fighting for their independence for 46 years and the decision of the Spanish government does not change the political and legal status of the issue of Western Sahara.



062/SPS/APS
Connecticut has many thousands of doses of free COVID antivirals available. But few patients are being prescribed the drugs.

Approved earlier this year under an emergency-use authorization, Pfizers Paxlovid and molnupiravir, developed by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck, are the first outpatient therapeutics available to fight COVID, according to state Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani.

So far, all the treatments that we've had, and that have evolved over the last two years have been things that you need to be in the hospital to receive, she said. This is the first advance that we have, that is an oral medication, that people can go to a pharmacy and can pick it up.

The medications, Juthani said, represent a shift in how the state is fighting the pandemic. While prevention remains critical, Juthani said its also important to keep hospitalizations down.

The real impact is, how is it going to influence our health care delivery and our health care systems, she said. The endpoint of that is how many people are in the hospital.

When they were first approved, the antivirals were difficult to obtain. More recently, federal officials have set up so-called test-to-treat sites where a patient can get tested for COVID and, if positive, be prescribed a therapeutic at the same location.

As of last week, federal authorities have sent 12,700 doses of Paxlovid and 20,612 doses of molnupiravir to Connecticut health care providers, including hospitals, pharmacies and urgent care centers. Paid for by the federal government, the drugs are free of charge to patients.

The problem is, few people are taking them. Doctors are hesitant to prescribe them, and patients, hearing about side effects, are reluctant to take them.

Both drugs are more effective if theyre administered early in the course of the illness. Molnupiravir, Juthani said, has no interactions with other drugs, but is less effective. Paxlovid is more effective, but has a significant number of interactions with other drugs.

This has made doctors, especially those in urgent care settings, reluctant to prescribe them.

The drugs are life-savers, according to Dr. Julian Nieves III, a practicing physician and assistant professor at the University of Connecticuts School of Medicine.

It could be a life-saving therapy, especially with high-risk individuals, he said, though he understands the reluctance. Things are happening so fast that it does take a little bit of time for physicians and the public to become comfortable with any new therapeutic regimen.

Sheltons Robert Wood, for example, began experiencing cold symptoms on Good Friday. A home test was positive and his doctors office was closed, so he decided to get an antiviral at a local walk-in clinic.

The walk-in did a PCR test that was positive, Wood said. The clinician said that she could not prescribe an antiviral, and if my symptoms worsened, I should go to a hospital ER. I did have symptoms and am 76 years old. The clinician handed me a sheet about the antiviral to educate me should I go to the ER.

Wood said he felt like the visit to the walk-in was a wasted trip.

One doctors perspective

John Iannarone used to be in private practice, but hes semi-retired now, working part-time at an urgent care center.

When it comes to COVID antivirals like Pfizers Paxlovid, the Monroe resident said hes cautious to prescribe them.

Hesitant isnt the word. Just very cautious, he said. I think a lot of physicians are cautious, especially folks in the urgent-care setting.

The issue, he said, is drug interactions. The antivirals tend to negatively interact with many drugs  50 percent of commonly prescribed medications, by one estimation.

Doctors in walk-in clinics dont have previous relationships with their patients, and those in the throes of a COVID infection might not remember all of their prescribed medications.

The interaction issue is the big deal, he said. The interaction list is immense.

Another concern is side effects. While the vast majority of people tolerate the antivirals pretty well, there are a few who experience nausea and diarrhea.

Iannarone said hes heard of a few patients who, because of the vomiting and the diarrhea, had to end up in the hospital for IV fluids because of the medicine.

A doctor cant really anticipate which patient will experience significant side effects. Some just experience a bit of dry mouth.

If you dont really know the patient, you certainly dont want the treatment to be worse than the disease, Iannarone said.

All this hit home when his 95-year-old mother, Eleanore Iannarone, began to experience COVID symptoms.

She had mild symptoms throughout, is feeling well now, just a little tired, he said.

Shes fully vaccinated and double-boosted, but her doctor son wanted to be safe, so after a positive home test, the Iannarones went to an urgent care.

In the end, the elder Iannarone did not take the antivirals.

She is on medications, which would have interacted with Paxlovid, and of course, there was concern for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea side effects, John Iannarone said. My mom received IV monoclonal antibodies in the St. Vincents ED.

How Paxlovid works

Xiaobo Zhong, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at UConns School of Pharmacy, and three of his doctoral students  Roxanna Monshi, Julia Migliorati and Jing Jin  explained that Paxlovid is actually a combination of two things.

Paxlovid has two components, Jin said. One is ritonavir and another one is nirmatrelvir.

Nirmatrelvir is what actually fights the coronavirus. Ritonavir allows the body to better process the drug. The goal is for nirmatrelvir to reach the lung cells, where it fights viral replication.

But your liver gets in the way, metabolizing the nirmatrelvir and flushing it out of the system. Thats where the ritonavir comes in. That drug is designed to inhibit the metabolism of the liver so the nirmatrelvir can get into the lung cell to help prevent the virus infection, Jin said.

But ritonavir affects an enzyme in the liver that many other drugs rely on, meaning, basically people have a reduced capability to metabolize a lot of other drugs that commonly people use, Zhong said.

If, for example, you are on a medication to keep your blood sugar down, the ritonavir can make it less effective.

Or, the opposite might happen. Some drugs can decrease the efficacy of Paxlovids antiviral activity by decreasing its blood serum concentrations, Monshi said.

A doctor might suggest that you stop taking a drug during the five days while on Paxlovid. But Zhong said some drugs you cannot stop. Some drugs, when you immediately stop, then they cause withdrawal syndrome, and they will make people also feel very sick.

Migliorati advised that patients not only talk to their doctors, but speak with their pharmacists.

There's healthy levels of skepticism. With many Americans on many different types of drugs, it can make prescribing very complex and it can most likely require a specialist in many cases, she said. So I understand that hesitancy.

Sick, then sick again

Kate Gianelli, of Trumbull, got COVID, was prescribed Paxlovid, felt better and then started getting sick again.

After feeling slightly better each day, I was exhausted all day Friday and just chalked it up to getting back into the groove, but took an antigen test Friday night, she said. I was shocked when my COVID line appeared before the solution had even reached the control line.

Juthani said patients in Gianellis case represent a small subset of people whose symptoms go away. When they stop the medication, the symptoms come back.

That reaction  getting a COVID relapse after the five-day antiviral course  was seen in the clinical trials, but wasn't initially published.

Juthani said its one reason patients are reluctant to take the drug.

There's some people I've heard say, Well, if that's gonna happen, why bother taking it anyway?

Gianelli, though, said she is glad for the prescription, even though her symptoms returned.

Im still turning tests positive immediately and have resumed isolation, she said. Its super frustrating, but Im still glad I took Paxlovid.

The value of education

Not all of the antivirals are being left on shelves.

We're seeing that 55 percent of allocated Paxlovid to hospitals is getting used, Juthani said.

The difference is comfort level. The drugs used in Paxlovid have been known to HIV specialists for decades, and Juthani said it will take time for the rest of the medical establishment to get comfortable.

Some of it is people getting comfort and being like, OK, I can prescribe this. They get comfort with knowing how to do it, she said.

The stories of side effects may be overstated. Zhong said the drug is well tolerated, and Juthani argued its hard to know whats caused by the drug and whats caused by the virus.

It's a balance, right? Because people are throwing up from COVID. That happens from COVID, she said. We don't know that it's the medication that's doing that, but people associate it that way. But we don't know that for sure, is that just the natural history of what was going to happen to you anyway?

Thats why, Juthani said, its important for the state to educate doctors and patients about the risks and the benefits of COVID therapeutics. In the end, she said, its a question of risk versus reward.

I don't think people should prescribe things that they don't feel comfort prescribing, because their license is on the line, their name is on the line, and they should be entitled to say, I'm not going to prescribe that because I don't feel comfortable doing that, Juthani said. Now, what I would argue in this situation is, you can get comfort, you can get educated. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to educate people. We're trying to show them it's not as scary.
Toyota group firms, including Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) are working on a plan to invest about 4,800 crore in Karnataka for local production of powertrain parts and other components of electric vehicles. While TKM and Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts (TKAP) will invest 4,100 crore, Toyota Industries Engine India will pitch in with another 700 crore.

Both TKM and TKAP have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Karnataka government in this regard. The announcement coincides with automaker's 25 years of presence in India.

(Also read | Toyota restarts vehicle production at China's Changchun factory)

The MoU was exchanged between Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and TKM in presence of minister of large and medium industries Murugesh R Nirani and senior government officials. "Toyota Group and TIEI together would be making an investment of around 4,800 crore. We are doing this in the spirit of 'go green, go local' and our aim is to contribute to our country's mission of faster reduction of carbon emissions and make in India," TKM executive vice president Vikram Gulati told PTI.

To produce the components, the automaker plans to utilise its existing facilities in the state. "We would be aiming at both domestic and global markets. We are moving towards a completely new area of technology which is electrified powertrain parts," Gulati said. The timeline for the starting of the production is not yet finalized but the company is looking at near-term.

Besides boosting local manufacturing, the development will also increase employment opportunities and local community development. "We are looking at around 3,500 new jobs. Of course, as the supply chain system builds, we expect much more to come in later," Gulati added.

The Toyota group companies have already invested 11,812 crore in the country and employ more than 8,000 people at present.

(with inputs from PTI)

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As many as 330 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the last 24 hours in Romania, up 260 from the previous day, with more than 11,400 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Sunday.

Of the new cases, 31 were in re-infected patients, who tested positive more than 90 days after the first time they recovered from the disease.

Most of the newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Romania since the previous reporting were recorded in Bucharest City - 106, and in the county of Galati - 25.

As of Sunday, 2,899,178 cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Romania.

- Hospitalisations -

As many as 974 people with COVID-19, up 22 from the previous reporting, including 58 children, are hospitalised in Romania at specialist care facilities.

Out of the total number of hospitalised patients, 167 patients, down two, including one child, are in intensive care.

Of the 167 patients admitted to ICU, 153 are unvaccinated against COVID-19.

- Deaths -

According to the ministry, another two Romanians infected with SARS-CoV-2 , one man and one woman, are reported dead in the last 24 hours.

One of the death was recorded in the 60-69 age group, and the other in the over 80 years. Both patients had comorbidities.

Of the two deceased patients, one was unvaccinated and the other was vaccinated. The vaccinated patient who died was between 60 and 69 years old.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 65,562 people diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection have died in Romania.
LONDON (AP)  Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys surrender in 1945.

Cutting out Russian oil supplies will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement.

We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies, they added.

Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.

We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community, they said.

U.S. President Joe Bidens call with the G7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.

The U.S. also announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. They include cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian, and piling additional restrictions on Russias industrial sector, including cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

The White House announced the new sanctions ahead of the May 9 Victory Day, when Russia traditionally celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with huge military parades.

Putin is expected to talk about what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine and address troops on Red Square on Monday.

The U.S. and European allies were seeking to offer counter-messaging that Putin is further isolating Russia from the rest of the world and doing enormous harm to the Russian economy.

The new round of U.S. sanctions will hit three of Russias most popular television stations in Russia  Channel One Russia, Russia-1, and NTV  that the U.S. has said have been at the forefront of spreading misinformation about Russias prosecution of the invasion.

The Biden administration said the new sanctions prohibiting U.S. accounting and consulting firms from doing business in Russia will help thwart Russian companies and elites from getting help to obscure their wealth and evade an avalanche of sanctions that have already been enacted.

The U.S. also said it imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials and issued a new visa restriction policy that applies to Russian military officials and authorities.

The U.S. sanctioned 27 executives from Gazprombank, a bank that facilitates sales by Russias Gazprom, one of the largest natural gas exporters in the world, with Europe. The sanctions are the first time that the U.S. has hit the bank that plays a critical role Russias considerable gas exports, but the move stops well short of the full blocking sanctions that the U.S. has hit other big Russian banks.

Ahead of the call, U.K. officials said Britain will provide an extra 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support to Ukraine to help the nation defend itself against Russian forces.

The funding, which comes from British government reserves, includes 300 million pounds of military kit promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this week, such as radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment and night vision devices.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Ukraine Sunday, touring the northern town of Irpin, which had been heavily damaged by Russias attempt to take the capital of Kyiv at the start of the war. The mayor on Sunday posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeau's office later said the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

Jill Biden also made an unannounced visit on Sunday, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting in western Ukraine with first lady Olena Zelenska. Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old war with Russia.

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a televised address that Sunday was a May 8th like no other.

He said Germany has worked hard to own up to its actions during World War II, reconciling with both Russia and Ukraine and committing itself to the concept of never again. But Russias barbaric invasion of Ukraine in February has brought war back to Europe, Scholz said, a prospect that once seemed unthinkable.

Freedom and security will prevail -- just as freedom and security triumphed over lack of freedom, violence and dictatorship 77 years ago," Scholz said in his address.

German Bundestag President Barbel Bas, the second highest-ranking German official after the president, met Sunday with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and attended a memorial event honoring the anniversary of the end of World War II.

We really appreciate that on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation itself, and in what for us is such a trying time of war, the President of the German Bundestag Barbel Bas came to support Ukraine, said a post published Sunday on Zelenskyys Telegram channel.

Madhani reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Emily Schultheis in Berlin contributed to this report.

Follow all AP stories on the war in Ukraine 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.
Vice President Kamala Harris urged graduates of Tennessee State University on Saturday to apply their leadership skills to help tackle the multitude of challenges posed by an unsettled world.

In her undergraduate commencement speech at the historically Black university in Nashville, Harris said the Class of 2022 stands on the brink of a new frontier, pointing to the prospects of more breakthroughs in technology and medical research.

But with war raging in Ukraine, the risks from climate change and basic freedoms under threat in the United States, graduates are stepping off into an uncertain future, she said.

The vice president also stressed her connection to the Tennessee State graduates as a fellow graduate of another historically Black university. She recalled seeing Howard University, her alma mater, the first time she flew on the vice presidential helicopter. While reminiscing about her time as a student, she said it reinforced the realization that I could be anything, do anything, even if it had never been done before  like you.

Harris  the first female U.S. vice president, and the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent in the role  received a rousing welcome from the commencement crowd.

While the graduates are entering a world "full of possibility, the vice president also pointed to a series of challenges threatening fundamental principles across the globe and in the United States.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine threatens international rules and norms," Harris said. In the U.S., she pointed to the need to protect voting rights and women's rights.

You graduate into an unsettled world both abroad and here at home," Harris said. In the United States, we are once again forced to defend fundamental principles that we hoped were long settled, she said. "Principles like the freedom to vote, the rights of women to make decisions about their own bodies. Even what constitutes the truth, especially in an era when anyone can post anything online and claim it is a fact.

Harris pointed to roiling issues like climate change that have accelerated and other problems that have long persisted -- disparities in wealth, access to health care and in the criminal justice system.

And graduates, I look at this unsettled world and yes, I then see the challenges," she said. "But Im here to tell you, I also see the opportunities. The opportunities for your leadership.

In stressing their potential, she told the graduates that they survived a global pandemic and have the advantage of growing up in the digital age.

There is no limit to your capacity for greatness and there is no obstacle you cannot overcome," she said. "And there is no barrier you cannot break.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
NEW YORK (AP)  One of the more striking pieces of journalism from the Ukraine war featured intercepted radio transmissions from Russian soldiers indicating an invasion in disarray, their conversations even interrupted by a hacker literally whistling Dixie.

It was the work of an investigations unit at The New York Times that specializes in open-source reporting, using publicly available material like satellite images, mobile phone or security camera recordings, geolocation and other internet tools to tell stories.

The field is in its infancy but rapidly catching on. The Washington Post announced last month it was adding six people to its video forensics team, doubling its size. The University of California at Berkeley last fall became the first college to offer an investigative reporting class that focuses specifically on these techniques.

Two video reports from open-source teams  The Times' Day of Rage reconstruction of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the Post's look at how a 2020 racial protest in Washington's Lafayette Square was cleared out  won duPont-Columbia awards for excellence in digital and broadcast journalism.

The Ukraine radio transmissions, where soldiers complained about a lack of supplies and faulty equipment, were verified and brought to life with video and eyewitness reports from the town where they were operating.

At one point, what appears to be a Ukrainian interloper breaks in.

Go home, he advised in Russian. It's better to be a deserter than fertilizer.

The Times' visual investigations unit, founded in 2017 and now numbering 17 staff members, is absolutely one of the most exciting areas of growth that we have, said Joe Kahn, incoming executive editor.

The work is meticulous. Day of Rage is composed mostly of video shot by protesters themselves, in the heady days before they realized posting them online could get them into trouble, along with material from law enforcement and journalists. It outlines specifically how the attack began, who the ringleaders were and how people were killed.

Video sleuthing also contradicted an initial Pentagon story about an American drone strike that killed civilians in Afghanistan last year. Looking to us for protection, they instead became some of the last victims in America's longest war, the report said.

There's just this overwhelming amount of evidence out there on the open web that if you know how to turn over the rocks and uncover that information, you can connect the dots between all these factoids to arrive at the indisputable truth around an event, said Malachy Browne, senior story producer on the Times' team.

Day of Rage has been viewed nearly 7.3 million times on YouTube. A Post probe into the deaths at a 2021 Travis Scott concert in Houston has been seen more than 2 million times, and its story on George Floyd's last moments logged nearly 6.5 million views.

The Post team is an outgrowth of efforts begun in 2019 to verify the authenticity of potentially newsworthy video. There are many ways to smoke out fakes, including examining shadows to determine if the apparent time of day in the video corresponds to when the activity supposedly captured actually took place.

The Post has seen the kind of impact that this kind of storytelling can have, said Nadine Ajaka, leader of its visual forensics team. It's another tool in our reporting mechanisms. It's really nice because it's transparent. It allows readers to understand what we know and what we don't know, by plainly showing it.

Still new, the open-source storytelling isn't bound by rules that govern story length or form. A video can last a few minutes or, in the case of Day of Rage, 40 minutes. Work can stand alone or be embedded in text stories. They can be investigations or experiences; The Times used security and cellphone video, along with interviews, to tell the story of one Ukraine apartment house as Russians invaded.

Leaders in the field cite the work of the website Storyful, which calls itself a social media intelligence agency, and Bellingcat as pioneers. Bellingcat, an investigative news website, and its leader, Eliot Higgins, are best known for covering the Syrian civil war and investigating alleged Russian involvement in shooting down a Malaysian Airlines flight over Ukraine in 2014.

The Arab Spring in the early 2010s was another key moment. Many of the protests were coordinated in a digital space and journalists who could navigate this had access to a world of information, said Alexa Koenig, executive director of the Human Rights Center at the University of California at Berkeley's law school.

The commercial availability of satellite images was a landmark, too. The Times used satellite images to quickly disprove Russian claims that atrocities committed in Ukraine had been staged.

Other technology, including artificial intelligence, is helping journalists who seek information about how something happened when they couldn't be on the scene. The Times, in 2018, worked with a London company to artificially reconstruct a building in Syria that helped contradict official denials about the use of chemical weapons.

Similarly, The Associated Press constructed a 3D model of a theater in Mariupol bombed by the Russians and, combining it with video and interviews with survivors, produced an investigative report that concluded more people died there than was previously believed.

AP has also worked with Koenig's team on an investigation into terror tactics by Myanmar's military rulership, and used modeling for an examination on the toll of war in a neighborhood in Gaza. It is collaborating with PBS' Frontline to gather evidence of war crimes in Ukraine and is further looking to expand its digital efforts. Experts cite BBC's Africa Eye as another notable effort in the field.

As efforts expand, Koenig said journalists need to make sure their stories drive the tools that are used, instead of the other way around. She hears regularly now from news organizations looking to build their own investigate units and need her advice  or students. Berkeley grad Haley Willis is on the team at The Times.

It feels, Koenig said, like a major shift has happened in the past year.

Browne said the goal of his unit's reporting is to create stories with impact that touch upon broader truths. A probe about a Palestinian medic shot by an Israeli soldier on the Gaza strip was as much about the conflict in general than her death, for example.

We have similar mandates, the Post's Ajaka said, which is to help make sense of some of the most urgent news of the day.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
ST. LOUIS  In 1899, a few powerful men consolidated the city's streetcar lines. They made the workdays longer, fired union organizers and threatened wage cuts. They made a public feint of settling with the union, then reneged.

Employees of St. Louis Transit Co., controlling all but a few routes, voted at 2 a.m. May 8, 1900, to strike. The bosses vowed to operate the cars. Strikers and sympathizers quickly gathered along the routes leading downtown.

At 15th Street and Washington Avenue, women from the Garment Workers Union stood across the tracks. A large crowd at Sixth and Locust streets pelted streetcars with rocks and cut overhead power lines. When a police sergeant arrested one rock thrower, his friends tossed the sergeant into a mud puddle. All over town, motormen and passengers abandoned streetcars with shattered windows.

At 10:30 a.m., on Washington at 13th Street, a besieged motorman fired a pistol, wounding a teenage bystander. The boy survived and the motorman was arrested.

But the next day, Spanish-American War veteran Frank Liebrecht, 21, was shot to death during a demonstration along the Hodiamont line at Taylor Avenue. A transit employee fired the shot, but Police Chief John Campbell blamed Liebrecht for being there.

The strike blew open class resentments simmering since the brief general strike of 1877. Many blue-collar workers wore buttons saying, "I will walk until the streetcar companies settle." At the Merchants' Exchange, businessmen grumbled about sore feet. When the smaller St. Louis & Suburban line settled, everyone flocked to its cars.

St. Louis city Sheriff John Pohlman created an armed posse of more than 2,000 volunteers from the professional and upper classes. Posse members armed with shotguns rode St. Louis Transit cars and harassed the horse-drawn buses operated by strikers. Many restaurants refused to serve strikebreakers.

More than 8,000 members of 28 unions joined 3,300 strikers in parade on a rainy May 19, but Edwards Whitaker, St. Louis Transit president, refused to meet with the Railway Employees Union.

On June 10, a column of strikers was marching past posse headquarters at 510 Washington when someone threw something at a streetcar. A posse member dropped his pistol, which discharged. The posse fired a volley into the parade, killing A.E. Burkhardt, Edward Thomas and George Ryne, and wounding 14 others. Posse leaders insisted that strikers had fired first, but no one in the posse was wounded.

Reform-minded lawyer Joseph W. Folk, a future governor, brokered a deal in July, but Whitaker didn't honor it. The strike disintegrated in September, with a toll of 14 killed. It would take 18 years and another strike for streetcar workers to win union recognition.

Read more stories from Tim O'Neil's Look Back series.
The Volkswagen Group has announced that demand for its electric vehicles has grown significantly. The Volkswagen Group includes Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, SEAT, Lamborghini, Bentley and more. Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess, in a Financial Times report, said battery electric vehicles are sold out for this year in Europe and the United States adding that orders of about 3,00,000 are already in backlog in Western Europe.

Volkswagen said this high demand for electric vehicles means that new orders placed now will be delivered in 2023. In a report by InsideEVs, the Volkswagen chief said demand for its electric vehicles in China is also growing. Diess said, We have very high order books and order intake on electric vehicles." With an increasing demand for EVs, Volkswagen is also considering developing an electric pickup truck that will compete with the Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck as well as Chevrolet EV. Volkswagen Group of America CEO Scott Keogh had stated an electric pickup truck is a segment that Volkswagen is actively looking at.y

(Also read | Volkswagen, Microsoft join hands to introduce augmented reality HoloLens in cars)

With an aim to challenge popular EV maker Tesla, Volkswagen is aiming to begin its Trinity EV plant. The German auto major will build an electric vehicle manufacturing facility worth an investment of $2.2 billion. This EV facility is scheduled to start production by 2026. This project by Volkswagen is crucial in the automaker's electrification strategy as the brand aims to produce multiple electric cars across different body styles.

(Also read | Volkswagen boosts e-car investment plan in Spain to 10 billion euros )

Volkswagen has been ramping its game with the introduction of new EVs. In March, it brought the electric version of its popular microbes called Volkswagen ID.Buzz. The latter is expected to hit the production line soon as the company aims to launch it in the European markets by the end of this year and in the US in 2024.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin marked his countrys biggest patriotic holiday without a major new battlefield success in Ukraine, and the Kremlin made little to no progress as the war ground through its 11th week on multiple fronts. While Western analysts in recent weeks had widely expected Putin to use the holiday to trumpet some kind of victory in Ukraine or perhaps announce a mass mobilization, he did neither. Instead, he sought to justify the war as a necessary response to what he falsely portrayed as a hostile Ukraine. On the battlefield, intense fighting raged in the east, the vital Black Sea port of Odesa in the south came under bombardment again, and Russian forces sought to finish off the Ukrainian defenders making their last stand at a steel plant in Mariupol.
UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations chief says he is appalled at the reported attack on a school in the Ukrainian town of Bilohorivka, where many people were apparently seeking shelter from fighting.

A U.N. spokesman said Sunday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be spared under international law.

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric says: This war must end, and peace must be established in line with the Charter of the United Nations and international law. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners in Ukraine will continue supporting those whose lives have been shattered by war.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Dozens of Ukrainians feared dead after Russian strike on school

 Patriotism, unease mix in Russia ahead of big Victory Day celebrations

 G-7 leaders call Ukraine's president, vow to ban or cut back on Russian oil imports

 Jill Biden makes surprise Mother's Day visit to Ukraine, meets first lady there

 Ukrainian volunteers work to craft body armor, camouflage nets for soldiers

Follow all AP stories on Russias war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  More than 170 people have been evacuated from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after weeks of shelling and fighting as Russia attempts to take over the port city.

Thats according to a Sunday statement by Osnat Lubrani, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine.

The evacuees have been taken to Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeastern Ukraine. Lubrani says more than 600 people have now been evacuated from the Mariupol area.

The most recent evacuation was the latest effort to rescue people from tunnels beneath the Azovstal steel mine, where Ukrainian fighters are trying to hold off Russian attackers.

The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been coordinating the evacuations.

KYIV, Ukraine  U2 frontman Bono performed in a Kyiv subway station that serves as a bomb shelter on Sunday, showing his support for Ukrainians trying to fend off the Russian invasion.

The Irish singer has tweeted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited us to perform in Kyiv as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and so thats what weve come to do.

Bono, alongside guitarist the Edge, sang the Ben E. King song Stand By Me in the Khreschatyk metro station. He was joined by another singer in Ukrainian military fatigues.

He also visited Bucha, a town outside Kyiv where hundreds of bodies were found after Russian troops withdrew last month. The town is considered a possible war crimes site.

KYIV, Ukraine  Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys surrender in 1945.

Cutting out Russian oil supplies will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement.

We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies, they added.

Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.

We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community, they said.

U.S. President Joe Bidens call with the G-7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.

ROME  Italian Premier Mario Draghi told fellow G-7 leaders during a meeting via video call that a sixth package of sanctions must go forward against Russia.

His office shared details of the call in a Sunday evening statement. Draghis office says he told other world leaders at the same time, we must make every effort to help reach as soon as possible a cease-fire and to give new thrust to peace negotiations.

He also pressed for continued commitment by the G-7 grouping to help poor countries at risk of a food crisis. Exports of grain from Ukraine and Russia cover much of the needs of other nations, especially in Africa. The war is threatening Ukraines grain production, and the fighting in and around Black Sea ports makes food shipments impossible.

The premiers office says the G-7 leaders reiterated their committment to diversify energy sources to reduce dependent on Russian supplies. Italy, heavily dependent on Russian natural gas when the war began, has since secured several agreements for alternative gas supplies from other countries. But Hungarys objections last week to proposed sanctions on Russian oil have complicated European Union efforts.

WASHINGTON  The United States has announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

The penalties include cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian and more restrictions on Russias industrial sector. Those additional restrictions included cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

The U.S. also says the Group of Seven leading industrialized powers have committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil. The U.S. announced its own ban on Russian oil and energy products in March but the U.S. had few Russian energy imports compared to Europe.

The new round of sanctions will hit three of Russias most popular television stations  Channel One Russia, Russia-1 and NTV -- which the U.S. says have been forefront of spreading misinformation about Russia invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. says it has imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials and issued a new visa restriction policy that applies to Russian military officials and authorities suspected of human rights abuses or corruption.

The U.S. also sanctioned 27 executives from Gazprombank, a bank that facilitates sales by Russias energy giant Gazprom.

KYIV, Ukraine  The Ukrainian army said Sunday that Moscow was focusing its main efforts that day on destroying airfield infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine, in order to prevent Ukrainian air forces from operating effectively.

At least five explosions were heard in the key Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa on Sunday, according to reports in local news media. Odesa, Ukraines third-largest city and a cultural center of deep significance to both Ukrainians and Russians, has so far been largely spared in the ten-week-old war.

Multiple photos and videos appeared to show trails and clouds of smoke in the sky above the city. Local media also reported that at least one missile had been shot down. As of Sunday afternoon, there have been no reports of casualties, although one newspaper claimed that civilian infrastructure had been damaged.

According to a Facebook post Sunday on the profile of Ukraines General Chiefs of Staff, Russia also ramped up operational and tactical aviation activity in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.

The Kharkiv regional administration says three people were killed in shelling of the town of Bogodukhiv, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

IRPIN, Ukraine  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made a surprise visit to Ukraine amid Russias war on the country.

Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne and Irpin Mayor Olexander Markushyn announced Trudeaus visit to Irpin, which had been damaged by Russias attempt to take Kyiv at the start of the war. Markushyn posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeau is the latest Western leader to come to Ukraine to offer their support to the country. Later in the day he raised his countrys flag at Canadian Embassy in Kyiv.

His office later confirmed the visit, saying in a statement the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraine and Canada will return to work on expanding the Free Trade Area Agreement between them, with a view to finalize it within weeks, the Ukrainian economy ministry announced Sunday following an online meeting between top trade officials.

The meeting between Ukraines first deputy minister for the economy, Yulia Sviridenko, and Canadas international trade minister, Mary Ng, coincided with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to Kyiv on Sunday afternoon.

Ukraine's Economy Ministry said Sviridenko expressed hope for Canadas support in overcoming the food crisis sparked by the blocking of Ukrainian seaports. Sviridenko also said that the abolition of Canadian duties on Ukrainian goods  a step previously taken by the E.U. and the U.K.  would be an important move towards boosting the Ukrainian economy.

This will help exporters increase the volume of produce leaving the country, and thereby strengthen the Ukrainian economy and the defense of our state, the ministry statement quoted her as saying.

UZHHOROD, Ukraine  U.S. first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting with the nations first lady, Olena Zelenska, as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.

Her visit follows recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, as well as a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

The first lady traveled by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod from a Slovakian village that borders Ukraine.

WASHINGTON  A U.S. official says the top American diplomat in Ukraine has temporarily returned to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the capital  an announcement tied to V-E Day.

The official says the return of the acting ambassador, Kristina Kvien, fulfills a pledge that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made to Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during the Americans recent visit to Kyiv with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The official says the return of select U.S. diplomats to the embassy is a testament to Ukraines success, Moscows failure, and our effective and enduring partnership with the government and people of a sovereign, democratic, and free Ukraine.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the developments before an official announcement.

Its not clear when the U.S. embassy will fully reopen. Video showed a convoy of American vehicles drive into the embassy on Sunday afternoon.

 AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington.

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school sheltering about 90 people in its basement, while Ukrainian troops refused to surrender at a besieged steel plant that Moscows invading forces sped to seize before Russias Victory Day holiday.

The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturdays bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said.

Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

KYIV, Ukraine  The Norwegian parliament speaker joined the slew of top Western officials meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and other leaders in Kyiv on Sunday.

According to a statement by the Ukrainian presidential press service, Zelenskyy thanked Masud Gharakhani, president of the Norwegian Storting, for Norways transfers of defensive weapons to Ukraine, as well as its financial support and humanitarian aid.

Speaking in Kyiv on VE Day, Gharakhani said:

Today, my country celebrates the day when we managed to regain our democracy and independence after the Second World War. Unfortunately, your country is again facing aggression and violence.

Gharakhani also joined his Ukrainian counterpart, Ruslan Stefanchuk, in laying flowers at the Kyiv memorials to those who died in World War II and the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war.

In addition, he met with Ukraines premier Denys Shmygal, who later said on Twitter that the two had discussed defense, energy support to Ukraine and that the Norwegian proposed the joint creation of rehabilitation centers for veterans in Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraines foreign minister says he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Dmytro Kuleba made the comment Sunday on Twitter.

He added: New stiff U.S. sanctions on Russia are coming. Discussed ways to unblock Ukraines food exports and ensure global food security.

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the German parliament speaker during her visit to Kyiv on Sunday, discussing further defense assistance as well as sanctions against Russia, Zelenskyys press office said in a statement Sunday afternoon.

According to the statement, Zelenskyy told Barbel Bas, the President of the Bundestag, that Ukraine expects strong and confident leadership from Germany when it comes to helping Kyiv beat Russian aggression.

He noted the recent adoption by the Bundestag of a resolution calling on the German government to expand and accelerate the provision of heavy weapons to Ukraine. He also expressed confidence in Berlins official support for granting Ukraine E.U. candidate status.

We really appreciate that on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation itself, and in what for us is such a trying time of war, the President of the German Bundestag Barbel Bas came to support Ukraine, said a post published Sunday afternoon on Zelenskyys Telegram channel.

The Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for those who died in World War II, marked on May 8 and 9, is an annual international day of remembrance designated by a 2004 U.N. resolution.

In an interview with the German newspaper Rheinische Post, Bas called her meeting with Zelenskyy very good and friendly, adding that she had come to Ukraine because she felt it was important to me to personally express Germanys solidarity with Ukraine to him.

She added that Germany will do everything in its power to support Ukraine, including backing its efforts to join the European Union and providing aid to help with rebuilding.

MARIUPOL, Ukraine  To demonstrate success in time for Russia's key Victory Day holiday on Monday, the Russian military worked Sunday to complete its takeover of the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which has been under relentless assault since the start of the war.

The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making a last stand is the only part of the city not under Russian control.

All the remaining women, children and older civilians who were sheltering with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. The Ukrainian troops rejected deadlines given by the Russians who said the defenders could leave with their lives if they laid down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, a Ukrainian National Guard battalion holding the steel mill, told an online news conference Sunday that the site was targeted overnight by three fighter jet sorties, artillery and tanks.

We are under constant shelling, he said, adding that Russian infantry tried to storm the plant -- a claim Russian officials denied in recent days - and to lay landmines. Palamar said there was a multitude of casualties at the plant.

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant.

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  Sparks fly as a circular saw slices into metal, while welders nearby work feverishly to the sound of blaring heavy metal. Upstairs, sewing machines clatter as women mark patterns on cloth being shaped into bulletproof vests.

An old industrial complex in the southeastern Ukrainian riverside city of Zaporizhzhia has become a hive of activity for volunteers producing everything from body armor and anti-tank obstacles to camouflage nets, portable heating stoves and rifle slings for Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russias invasion. One section specializes in vehicles, armor-plating some, converting others into ambulances. Another organizes food and medical deliveries.

With front lines all across Ukraine, some sections of the operation, such as the stitching of bulletproof vests, are working around the clock in shifts to meet demand. Crowdfunding has brought in enough money to buy steel from Sweden, Finland and Belgium, which is lighter than local steel, organizers say, a crucial quality for body armor.

KYIV, Ukraine  After rescuers evacuated the last civilians from the besieged steel mill in Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that work would continue Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the fighters remaining in the plants underground tunnels and bunkers.

The Ukrainian leader was expected to hold online talks Sunday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from other Group of Seven countries. The meeting is partly meant to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys 1945 surrender.

KYIV, Ukraine  Explosions echoed again Sunday across the major Black Sea port of Odesa, which Russia struck with six cruise missiles on Saturday, while rocket fire damaged some 250 apartments, according to the city council.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, the May 9 holiday when Russia celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a video address Sunday marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russias invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism.

The black-and-white video, published on social media, showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, one of the Kyiv suburbs pummeled before Russian troops withdrew from the capital region weeks ago.

Every year, on May 8, along with the whole civilized world, we pay our respects to everyone who defended the planet against Nazism during World War II, Zelenskyy said, adding that prior generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow to never allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blender Bites Ltd. (the Company, Blender Bites or Blender), (CSE: BITE, FWB: JL40, WKN: A3DWAM), an award-winning Canadian company involved in the development and marketing of a line of premium, organic and plant-based pre-portioned frozen functional foods, is pleased to provide a summary of some of the Companys exceptional achievements since going public in September 2021. Recent achievements include recording breaking sales revenues, significantly increased purchase order numbers, the bolstering of its extremely experienced and female-led management team, and its recognition among Canadian consumers as the most innovative and applauded product for 2022 in the frozen functional foods space.

HIGHLIGHTS

Record Sales Revenue Since listing publicly in September 2021, Blender Bites sales have soared, achieving record revenues. The Companys exponential increase in revenues is a result of a myriad of variables, most notable being managements implementation and execution of an aggressive marketing program designed to increase brand recognition and capture prominent representation in North Americas rapidly growing functional beverage market.

The Company is confident that there is great potential for continued upward trends in sales revenues, as roll out of its aggressive marketing and sales strategy, which is still in its infancy, continues to progress (see Extensive Expansion and Entrance in New Markets highlights below).

Upward Trend in Consumer Demand Over the seven month period since listing publicly, the Company has also witnessed a significant increase in consumer demand for its innovative smoothie pucks, with purchase orders coming in from an ever increasing number of leading distributors and major retailers. From September 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022, the Company has fulfilled purchase orders (orders) totaling 398,700 units (1 unit = 1 bag of 6 pucks, or 2,392,200 puck) of its smoothie pucks, whereas the full twelve (12) month period leading up to the Companys go public date only saw orders of 68,480 units (or 410,880 pucks). The Company anticipates that the current uptake in sales that is being witnessed will continue on an upward trend as consumer demand continues to grow. With recent production optimizations, the Company is well prepared to capitalize on the opportunity.

Extensive Canadian Expansion and Entrance into US New MarketThe Companys expansion strategy has also been very successful, with representation in many of Canadas largest and most recognized grocery retail stores significantly increasing. Taking the Company from a private entity to a publicly traded entity in September 2021, distribution channels have increased from 700 grocery retail outlets, to well over 900 including Sobeys, Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore, Safeway, Zehrs, Thrifty Foods, Save on Foods, Whole Foods Market, Buy-Low/Nesters, and IGA. Distribution has also been significantly augmented since establishing a presence in the worlds largest club store chain outlets in Eastern Canada. The vast increase in the breadth of its network of sales points across Canada has attributed greatly to the Companys robust revenue growth.

On February 1, 2022, the Company announced the introduction of Blender Bites products into the US retail market, with first orders fulfilled to supply the US Southwest Division (the Division) club stores of the worlds largest club store chain. This milestone marked the first time the Blender Bites brand hit shelves in the US, with Power Berry smoothie pucks available in 41 warehouses across the Division including outlets in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The Company looks to build upon this success through the establishment of relationships with additional grocery retail and club stores, many of which currently are in the works with sales pending.

Strong Female-led Management TeamThe Companys impressive growth lend credit to Blenders female-led management team comprised of highly proficient consumer packaged goods (CPGs) industry professionals. Blender has recently appointed Ms. Arinn Ryan as the Director of Marketing, hailing from over a decade of experience at a global marketing agency and most recently a US based frozen, plant-based CPG company, Alpha Foods. As the Director of Quality Assurance & Food Safety, Carol Yung Munro is in charge of developing and ensuring policies, strategies and testing methodologies that ensure Blenders operations and products meet regulatory compliance and standards. Leading this remarkable team is Chelsie Hodge, the Companys founder and CEO. Chelsie brings a unique skill set to the table with over a decade of experience in the high-growth plant-based CPG sector, paired with over fifteen years in capital markets. Chelsie has a wealth of knowledge in product development and manufacturing, to sales and business development; making her a strong leader to take Blender Bites into international markets.

Award Winning ProductOne of the Companys recent prized possession is the 2022 Product of The Year (POY) Canada Award. The Product of the Year Canada Award is the largest consumer-voted award for product innovation bestowed upon Canadian consumer product companies. A survey by Kantar required 4,000 Canadian consumers to vote on their innovative product of choice in a specific category based on seven (7) key performance indicators, inclusive of appeal, satisfaction, advocacy, purchase interest, uniqueness, relevance and excitement. Blender Bites products emerged as the winner in the Frozen Food/Healthy Beverage category. Included along with the nomination process, Blender Bites had the opportunity to participate in a sample program, allowing consumers to test and provide honest feedback on the innovation. Blender Bites was highly received as 91% of respondents gave 5 or 4 stars with a 96% recommendation rate. Product of The Year Award is currently operating in over 40 countries with the same objective.

Blender Bites has had its most transformative year to date, and we are incredibly proud of the strong production targets we are consistently achieving. I am very confident that with our recent additions of large volume retailer partners, newly appointed executive team, exciting innovation and secondary distribution channels; the company will continue to see exponential growth of its purchase orders, stated Chelsie Hodge, the Companys CEO and Founder.

ABOUT BLENDER BITESBlender Bites is an award-winning Canadian company involved in the development and marketing of a line of premium frozen food products with a focus on functionality. Blender Bites was founded in 2016 and was first to market in Western Canada with a pre-portioned easy smoothie product that is free of any unnecessary inner plastic packaging. Blender Bites products are certified organic, vegan, non-GMO, gluten free, dairy free and soy free. They contain no added sugars and are made in Canada. Blender Bites products are distributed internationally across Canada and the US, and are currently sold in over 900 stores, including Sobeys, Loblaws, Safeway, Save on Foods, Real Canadian Superstore, Whole Foods Market and Thrifty Foods.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,Blender Bites Limited

Chelsie Hodge, Chief Executive Officer

For further information, contact Blender IR Team at:

Email  [email protected]Telephone  1-888-997-2055

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENTThis news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon several estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to general business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties, and uncertain capital markets. Readers are cautioned that actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/71fab83c-f5ec-4814-8142-f44774cde81d

Blender Bites Marks Milestone Achievements While Transitioning to Major Production Stage Total Purchase Orders

Source: Blender Bites Limited
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - May 7, 2022) - The HotMoon team is pleased to announce the recent listing on major exchanges. It is a 100% community-based meme project with lots of features. To make adoption of HotMoon simpler, the team at HotMoon has listed the token on Pancakeswap, Xt.com, Cointiger, Binance, Coinbase, and Azbit. Meanwhile, it is also listed on CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, and Crypto.com.

Hotmoon

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8717/123145_d8823e6bd4c588d7_001full.jpg

The HotMoon Token



The HotMoon token is a community-driven token that aims to drive the meme token space. The token has different use cases, including the payment of goods, services and it also serves as a governance token. HotMoon doesn't have any transaction fee, in order to simplify things for the users and community members.



HotMoon Vision



The team is making efforts to drive adoption of HotMoon. They plan to participate in the metaverse and gaming space to create a play to earn game and to follow up with the NFT marketplace, where users can buy, sell, and trade different digital collectibles to generate revenue. The team also set sights on creating a decentralized exchange for meme coins, for the users smoothly easily purchase their meme tokens of interest.



Security Audit Passed



HotMoon has been duly audited and certified by Solidity Finance, a leading audit firm in the crypto industry.



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Users can buy HotMoon on different exchanges, including CoinTiger, XT.COM, and PancakeSwap (V2). Here's a step-by-step guide on how to buy HotMoon on PancakeSwap:

Visit the official PancakeSwap website.

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Buy BNB from any decentralized exchange like Binance or Coinbase.

Connect your wallet (for example, MetaMask) to PancakeSwap.

Set your slippage

Enter the amount of HotMoon you wish to purchase in exchange with your BNB

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About HotMoon

HotMoon's goal is to support the community members to take advantage of the crypto industry and also give back to the society. The project's goal is also to participate in the world of Metaverse and launch an exciting NFT game.

CoinMarketCap: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/hotmoon-token/

CoinGecko: https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/hotmoon

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hotmoontoken

Telegram: https://t.me/hotmoontoken

Instagram: https://instagram.com/hotmoontoken

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCK5fhDVx6N1O21KSCWulXxg

Media Details

Company Name: HotMoon

Contact Name: William Adamiyan

Location: US/NY

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://hotmoontoken.com/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/123145
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica  Rodrigo Chaves began a four-year term as Costa Rica's president on Sunday, taking office with a lengthy list of reproaches for his predecessor and the country's political class while promising great change.

Shortly after being given the ceremonial presidential sash by outgoing President Carlos Alvarado Quesada, Chaves lashed out at the state of the nation he has been left to lead, complaining of the high cost of living, crime, drug trafficking and long lines at social security offices.

"Not only are we going to put the house in order, we are going to rebuild it!" he vowed. "This is the sign of our times. It is the urgency for change that cannot be delayed, the cry of a democracy that we will not let disappear!"

He warned that "if the political class fails one more time, the country could fall apart."

He dismissed the idea he said was held by many that the Central American nation is "ungovernable."

"Look at me as I am, a humble instrument to comply with the mandate of the people, a people who united can achieve the urgent change that history imposes on us," he said in his inaugural address at the national legislature.

The conservative economist, who was briefly finance minister under Alvarado, had cast himself as the outsider in the race, noting that his Social Democratic Progress Party had never won at any level before this year.

The World Bank veteran is hardly a newcomer to the establishment, but in the April 3 election he defeated a man who was almost a symbol of it: Jose Maria Figueres, a former president and son of a three-time president.

Chaves may find governing difficult, however: His party has only 10 of 57 seats in the legislature.

During his campaign he called for lowering the cost of living and after winning, he promised  without giving details  to start with the costs of gasoline, rice and electricity.

Chaves won despite being dogged by a scandal that drove him out of the World Bank, where he was accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, was eventually demoted and then resigned. He has denied the accusations.

Costa Rica has enjoyed relative democratic stability compared with other countries in the region, but the public has grown frustrated with public corruption scandals and high unemployment.

Alvarado's party was almost obliterated during elections in February, receiving no seats in the new congress.
CANBERRA, Australia  Australia's prime minister on Sunday refused to say how his government might respond if China attempted to establish a military base less than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) off the Australian coast on the Solomon Islands.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that a Chinese naval base on the impoverished South Pacific island nation would be a "red line" for both Australia and the United States. His language was reminiscent of President Barack Obama's declaration in 2012 that the use of chemical weapons by Syrian forces would be crossing a "red line" requiring American military intervention.

Morrison was questioned by a journalist during an election campaign debate about a recent security pact between China and the Solomon Islands.

Asked what he meant by "red line," he replied: "It means that was something that Australia believes would be completely against our national interest."

"We also believe it will be against the Solomon Islands' national interest and we share that view in a similar language with the United States," Morrison added.

Morrison declined to say whether Australia would attempt to blockade any attempt to build a Chinese base. "I think it would be very unwise for any government to speculate around these issues," he said.

"What is necessary in international environments such as this is to be very clear about what the various partners' positions are. That is United States' position and certainly our position and I believe it is a broader position of the Pacific islanders family as well," he said.

The United States has said it would take unspecified action against the Solomons should the agreement with China pose a threat to U.S. or allied interests.

The Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told Parliament last week that opponents of the security pact had threatened his country "with invasion."

On the threat of invasion, Morrison said last week, "none of that's true."

Sogavare has maintained that there would be no Chinese base in his country and China has denied seeking a military foothold in the islands.

A draft of the pact, which was leaked online, said Chinese warships could stop in the Solomon Islands for logistical replenishment and China could send police and armed forces there "to assist in maintaining social order." The Solomon Islands and China have not released the final version of the agreement.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese, who will become prime minister if his center-left Labor Party defeats the ruling conservative coalition in May 21 elections, accused Morrison of a "massive foreign policy failure" in allowing the China-Solomons deal to be sealed.

Albanese has promised closer engagement between Australia and its South Pacific island neighbors if Labor wins.

Australia has a bilateral security pact with the Solomon Islands and had sent a peacekeeping force to the capital, Honiara, in November after civil unrest.
SEOUL, South Korea  During his election campaign, South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol had tough words for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying he would teach his rival some manners and sternly deal with his provocative missile tests with a strengthened alliance with the United States.

But as he takes office Tuesday for a single five-year term, the conservative Yoon must now confront an increasingly belligerent Kim, who openly threatens to use atomic bombs and is reportedly preparing for his first nuclear test explosion since 2017, part of an effort to build warheads that specifically target South Korea.

North Korea has a history of trying to rattle new governments in Seoul and Washington to gain leverage in future negotiations. But if Kim orders a nuclear test, Yoon would be left with very limited options to deal with Kim at the start of his presidency.

There's skepticism among experts over whether Yoon, despite his rhetoric, can accomplish something meaningfully different from outgoing President Moon Jae-in while North Korea continues to reject talks and focuses instead on expanding its nuclear and missile programs despite limited resources and economic difficulties.

"North Korea has the initiative. Regardless of whether conservatives or liberals are in power in South Korea, North Korea is pressing ahead with (missile tests) under its own weapons development timetable before it tries to tip the balance later," said Park Won Gon, a professor at Seoul's Ewha Womans University. "North Korea will now continue its provocations, but there are no ways to stop it."

Moon championed engaging North Korea and once shuttled between Pyongyang and Washington to arrange the now-stalled nuclear diplomacy. Even after North Korea urged Moon not to meddle in its dealings with Washington and insulted him, Moon still worked to improve relations and shied away from hitting back at the North.

Yoon has described Moon's appeasement policy as "subservient" and accused him of undermining South Korea's seven-decade military alliance with the United States. To neutralize North Korea's nuclear threats, Yoon said he would seek a stronger U.S. security commitment and enhance South Korea's own missile strike capabilities, though he remains open to dialogue with the North.

During a rally before the March 9 election, as he slammed Moon for failing to strongly criticize Kim's repeated missile tests, Yoon said that if elected, "I would teach (Kim) some manners and make him come to his senses completely."

Yoon has faced criticism that some of his policies are unrealistic and largely rehash past policies that failed to persuade North Korea to denuclearize.

For example, Yoon said he would push for economic cooperation projects linked to progress in denuclearization steps by the North. Two past South Korean conservative presidents offered similar proposals from 2008 to 2017, but North Korea rejected the overtures.

Yoon said he would seek to establish a trilateral dialogue channel among Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington, but experts see little chance North Korea, which destroyed an unoccupied South Korean-built liaison office on its territory in 2020, will accept that idea now.

"The U.S.-South Korea alliance could flourish, but North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile program will further advance and that could elevate tensions on the Korean Peninsula to maximum levels. It's hard to expect any meaningful progress in inter-Korean relations," said Yang Moo Jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies.

Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea, said a policy of linking incentives to denuclearization "has reached its limits and will eventually never appeal to North Korea" because Pyongyang is highly unlikely to abandon a nuclear program that has reached such strength.

During his confirmation hearing last Monday, Yoon's nominee for foreign minister, Park Jin, told lawmakers that North Korea "appears to have no intentions of denuclearizing voluntarily." He said the best option to stop North Korean provocation would be using a combination of pressure and dialogue to convince Pyongyang to opt for a path toward denuclearization.

After test-launching a dozen missiles potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, South Korea or Japan this year, Kim recently said his nuclear weapons won't be confined to their primary mission of deterring war if his country's interests are threatened. Park, the professor, called Kim's comments "dangerous" because they suggest North Korea could use its nukes even in an accidental border clash or if it misjudges Seoul's military moves.

Recent satellite photos show North Korea is restoring a previously closed nuclear testing facility in possible preparation for its seventh atomic explosion. Experts say that test is related to North Korea's push to manufacture warheads small enough to be mounted on tactical short-range missiles targeting South Korea, citing some of the North's recent tests of such weapons. Nam said a nuclear test would make it extremely difficult for the Yoon government to try to resume talks with North Korea.

Kim seems to be trying to use his weapon tests to force the West to accept his country as a nuclear power so he can try to negotiate sanctions relief and security concessions from a position of strength. Experts say Kim is able to push forward his weapons programs because the U.N. Security Council cannot impose new sanctions while its veto-wielding members are divided. The U.S. is involved in confrontations with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and with China over their strategic rivalry.

Yoon's possible overdependence on the U.S. alliance may cause Seoul to further lose voice in international efforts to defuse the North Korean nuclear issue while giving Pyongyang less reason to engage in serious talks with Seoul, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. He said Seoul would need to create wiggle room for nuclear diplomacy and lure Pyongyang to talks with a flexible carrots-and-sticks approach.

How to boost the South Korea-U.S. alliance to better deal with North Korean nuclear advancement will likely top the agenda when Yoon meets President Joe Biden in Seoul on May 21.

Yoon has promised to seek a tougher U.S. extended deterrence, a reference to Washington's ability to use military and nuclear forces to deter attacks on its allies. But some experts question whether such a security commitment can effectively protect South Korea from aggression from North Korea because the decision to use U.S. nuclear weapons lies with the U.S. president.

"Historically, it's true the extended deterrence has never been enforced. In some sense, it's like a gentlemen's agreement," Park, the professor, said. "Even if we succeed in institutionalizing that to the maximum level, that still doesn't guarantee an automatic U.S. involvement" in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula.
Tonight, we celebrate a years worth of creative expression, discovery and collaboration, moments of joy as well as pain and healing, Creative Flagstaff Executive Director Jonathan Stone said in introducing the 14th Annual Viola Awards on April 30.

And healing was a recurring theme in many of the speeches given throughout the evening by community stakeholders and Viola Award winners.

Dorothy Denetsosie-Gishe, Navajo of the Rock Gap Clan, born for the Towering House Clan and speaking as Interim CEO of Native Americans for Community Action, Inc., opened the ceremony with acknowledgment of the Indigenous land currently occupied by Flagstaff along with a declaration that stewards of the land act as instruments of healing.

Healing was also seen in real-time as nominees were cheered loudly by their friends and supporters, and hugs were exchanged in the drink line at the Orpheum Theater, the Violas newest venue. The more casual setting allowed for the community to celebrate each others accomplishments while keeping ticket prices lower than in the past when it was held at the High Country Conference Center.

Planning for this years Viola Awards began in October with a public meeting to discuss categories and criteria for selection while considering how the event can best serve Flagstaff as it continues to evolve. Along with returning favorites, two new categories were introduced in response to the struggles and innovation seen in the art and science sectors throughout the two-plus-year pandemicExcellence in Collaboration and a Philanthropy Award.

The awards themselves were different this year, too. Rather than commissioning one artist to create the one-of-a-kind awards winners have previously received, more traditional statuettes were given in addition to gifts from local artists Bryan David Griffith, Colin Kubarych, Carol Rackley, Lindsey DeStefano and Frederica Hall.

The first winner of the evening to be announced was Tyrrell Tapaha for Emerging Artist. Tapaha and his family raise Navajo-Churro sheep on the Navajo Nation and he works as a sheepherder during the summer, which is where his artistic process begins. He then harvests, washes, spins and dyes the wool before weaving colorful tapestries by hand on a Dine upright loom.

Im really appreciative that we have spaces like this, spaces to speak, spaces for individuals to hear themselves, he said. Its nice that Ive been able to build a place for myself to grow and to develop and exist as myself.

Many of the acceptance speeches expressed awe at the fact that they were chosen out of the other strong nominees in their categories. Ash Davidson, who won Excellence in Storytelling for her debut novel Damnation Spring, joked that she would have worn different shoes if she had expected to come up to the stage. She also thanked the Flagstaff Public Library, Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy and the Northern Arizona Book Festival for the roles each played in her education and growth within the writing community.

Excellence in Music was awarded to iiwaa in recognition of their debut EP Dysphoria. The recording artist, performer and poet is an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community, and also left their mark on projects by fellow Viola finalists Kyle and Gretta Miller of Towrs (winners for Excellence in Collaboration for Serenade, a compilation album dedicated to LGBTQIA2S youth) and producer Tsoh Tso (nominated with Tre Orona for Oronas debut EP Dead Rennaissance).

I just want to address all of the artists and those who make art happen in this community, iiwaa said. I am so grateful for your craft and your dedication. In times that are dark and unprecedented, such as these, it really is the charge of the artist to be a light, to bring good into the world.

Dark Sky Aerial also recognized the importance of creativity as the members gathered on stage to accept their award for Excellence in Performing Arts for their dance film OMEN.

For all of the other creatives in this space, know that no matter how you tell your art, it is important, Abby Chan, one of the founders and creative directors, said. Whether its through words or music or movement, it all matters.

Visual Arts winner Rebekah Nordstrom was overwhelmed with emotion while accepting her award for One Hundred: The (un)Essential Series, an installation of 100 paintings completed over as many days to honor items that no longer served her.

Vice Mayor Becky Daggett presented the Legacy Award to the late Jim Babbitt for his lifetime of contributions to the arts and sciences in Flagstaff and for helping to make the Violas possible through the founding of a $20,000 endowment in 2008. His granddaughter Stella Babbitt accepted the award on his behalf.

If you wish to honor my grandfather, keep making art, keep supporting the arts, she said. On behalf of my family the Babbitts, on behalf of Viola, on behalf of Jim, thank you so much.

Excellence in Education winner Dr. Louise Scott, Emerita Professor of Violin and Pedagogy in the School of Music at Northern Arizona University, began a Suzuki teacher training program during her time at NAU and kept her acceptance short and sweet as she noted the importance of giving her students the tools to successfully teach their own students.

What can be more important than educating the children of the world? she said.

The Flinn Foundation became the first winner of the new Philanthropy Award while Tynkertopia was recognized for its Community Impact as an organization and Carrie Dallas, Program Manager of the LIFE Program at NACA, accepted the award for Community Impact (Individual).

To see my vision come true has only happened because of all these folks here, said Dr. Alice Christie, founder and executive director of Tynkertopia as she stood on stage with staff, volunteers and students. Thank you to Creative Flagstaff for making this possible, a Viola Award is just something very special. Im so glad to be a part of this community.

MacKenzie Chase is a former editor of the Arizona Daily Suns niche department and served on the selection panel for this years Excellence in Storytelling category.

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UZHHOROD, Ukraine  Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

She became the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during the war, while Zalenska's public appearance was her first since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24

"I wanted to come on Mother's Day," the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. "I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine."

Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility.

Zelenska thanked Biden for her "courageous act" and said, "We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day  even today."

The first ladies met at a school being used to temporarily house Ukrainian migrants. Zalenska arrived first and waited in her black SUV until Biden arrived in similar fashion. The women stepped out of their vehicles and embraced, with Biden  who wore a wrist corsage for Mother's Day  handing over a bouquet of flowers before they entered the school.

The women came together in a small classroom, sitting on either side of a wooden table and greeting each other in front of reporters before they met in private. Zelenska and her two children have been staying at an undisclosed location for their safety.

The visit allowed Biden to conduct the kind of personal diplomacy that her husband would like to do himself.

President Joe Biden said when he visited Poland in March that he was disappointed he could not cross the border and go into Ukraine to see conditions "firsthand" but that he was not allowed, likely due to security reasons. The White House said as recently as last week that the president "would love to visit" but there were no plans for him to do so at this time.

The meeting came about after Jill Biden expressed interest in visiting the region, including the school where she and Zalenska met, and settled on the idea of spending Mother's Day with Ukrainian moms, said Michael LaRosa, the first lady's spokesperson.

He said the Ukrainian government informed the United States that Zalenska would like to meet, if possible, and that a meeting was finalized in recent days. The first ladies also had recently exchanged correspondence, according to U.S. officials who declined to provide further details because they were not authorized to discuss those private communications.

After meeting privately for about a half hour, the first ladies joined a group of children who live at the school in making tissue-paper bears to give as Mother's Day gifts.

LaRosa described their conversation as "more of a personal mother-to-mother exchange" and said Biden was interested in how Zalenska was coping "through that lens."

He said Zalenska told Biden that she was able to hold her children's hands every night even though she could not be with her husband.

The Bidens spoke by telephone afterward, he said.

Biden's visit followed recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, and a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Her visit was to western Ukraine; Russia is concentrating its military power in eastern Ukraine, and she was not in harm's way. On the same day as Biden's visit, a Russian bomb flattened a school in eastern Ukraine that had been sheltering about 90 people in its basement, with dozens feared dead. Also Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine to meet with the president and "reaffirm Canada's unwavering support for the Ukrainian people," according to his office.

Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, Biden toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel, where a priest intoned, "We pray for the people of Ukraine."

And before that, at a school in Kosice, Biden offered support to Ukrainian mothers in Slovakia. She assured them that the "hearts of the American people" are behind them.

At a bus station in the city that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center, Biden found herself in an extended conversation with a Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children because she cannot understand it herself.

"I cannot explain because I don't know myself and I'm a teacher," Victorie Kutocha, who had her arms around her 7-year-old daughter, Yulie, told Biden.

At one point, Kutocha asked, "Why?" seeming to seek an explanation for Russia's decision to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.

'It's so hard to understand," the first lady replied.

Biden also dropped in at a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students. Slovakian and Ukrainian moms were brought together at the school for a Mother's Day event while their children made crafts to give them as gifts.

She went from table to table meeting the mothers and kids, telling some of the women that she wanted to come and "say the hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine."

"I just wanted to come and show you our support," she said before departing for Vysne Nemecke.

Biden is on a four-day visit to Eastern Europe to highlight U.S. support for Ukrainian refugees and for allied countries such as Romania and Slovakia that are providing a safe haven for them.

She spent Friday and Saturday in Romania, visiting with U.S. troops and meeting with Ukrainian refugee mothers and children.

With her trip, the American first lady followed the path of prior sitting first ladies who also traveled to war or conflict zones.

Eleanor Roosevelt visited servicemen abroad during World War II to help boost troop morale. Pat Nixon joined President Richard Nixon on his 1969 trip to South Vietnam, becoming the first first lady to visit a combat zone, according to the National First Ladies' Library. She flew 18 miles from Saigon in an open helicopter, accompanied by U.S. Secret Service agents.

Hillary Clinton visited a combat zone, stopping in Bosnia in 1996. Laura Bush visited Afghanistan twice, in 2005 and 2008, during the U.S.-led war there. Melania Trump accompanied President Donald Trump to Iraq in December 2018.
As the last civilians were evacuated from Mariupols embattled steel plant, leaders of the remaining Ukrainian fighters holing up there took to Zoom to issue a defiant message: That they will fight until the very end.

We will always fight, as long as we are alive, for justice, Azov Deputy Commander Cap. Sviatoslav Kalina Palamar said in an unusual news conference from within the Azovstal steel plant.

Russian forces continued to storm the steel plant on Sunday, the fighters said. We dont have much time, we are under constant shelling, so we need to begin, Palamar warned at the start of the video conference.

Kyivs defense of Mariupol appeared to be nearing an end this weekend as more than 300 civilian women, children and elderly were evacuated from Azovstal steel plant - the last holdout for the citys resistance - though the two fighters said they could not confirm that every single civilian had been evacuated from the plant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a day earlier said diplomatic efforts were underway to try to free the fighters, medics and the wounded - though he acknowledged that this would be extremely difficult.

We need to ensure that they can leave [Azovstal] ... in dignity, Palamar said.

Palamar and Azov Lt. Illia Samoilenko are members of the Azov Regiment, a nationalist group that is part of Ukraines National Guard and has been defending the steel plant for weeks, mostly in its dark and dingy subterranean levels.

Samoilenko said the Ukrainian troops still have water, weapons and munitions, have no choice but to fight to the end.

He said fighters were wary of reports of Russias mistreatment of prisoners of war and feared they would be killed after surrender. With Russian forces attacking the plant, there was little hope of escape to Ukrainian-held territory, he said.

Surrender for us is unacceptable, Samoilenko said. Being captured means being dead.

Ukrainian intelligence officials have said that Russia is planning to hold a parade in Mariupol on Monday to celebrate its gains in the war against Ukraine - on the occasion of Victory Day, the commemoration of the Soviet Unions victory over Nazi Germany during World War II - and has enlisted residents to clear debris, bodies and munitions from the streets in exchange for food ahead of the celebrations.

In his nightly address on Saturday, Zelensky said Ukraine is working on a plan to evacuate the troops and secure humanitarian corridors for the residents of Mariupol and surrounding settlements.

We are now preparing the second stage of the evacuation mission, the wounded and medics. ... We are also working to evacuate our military. All heroes who defend Mariupol, he said.

Russia is still aiming to capture the plant, which would give Moscow full control over Mariupol, allowing it to establish a land bridge with annexed Crimea.

Samoilenko hailed the heroes fighting alongside him to defend Mariupol, and said a lot of people gave up their lives for this city, for the country, for the people of Ukraine.

He said members of his regiment could have left when Russian forces began to encircle the city, but they chose to stay. We did not have an order to take the full command of the defense of Mariupol, but this decision was made because nobody could do this, he said.

The Washington Posts Rachel Pannett, Bryan Pietsch and Meryl Kornfield contributed to this report.
LONDON  Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germany's surrender in 1945.

Cutting out Russian oil supplies "will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putin's economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war," the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement.

"We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies," they added.

Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.

"We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community," they said.

U.S. President Joe Biden's call with the G7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.

The U.S. also announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. They include cutting off Western advertising from Russia's three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian, and piling additional restrictions on Russia's industrial sector, including cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

The White House announced the new sanctions ahead of the May 9 Victory Day, when Russia traditionally celebrates Nazi Germany's defeat in 1945 with huge military parades.

Putin is expected to talk about what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine and address troops on Red Square on Monday.

The U.S. and European allies were seeking to offer counter-messaging that Putin is further isolating Russia from the rest of the world and doing enormous harm to the Russian economy.

The new round of U.S. sanctions will hit three of Russia's most popular television stations in Russia  Channel One Russia, Russia-1, and NTV  that the U.S. has said have been at the forefront of spreading misinformation about Russia's prosecution of the invasion.

The Biden administration said the new sanctions prohibiting U.S. accounting and consulting firms from doing business in Russia will help thwart Russian companies and elites from getting help to obscure their wealth and evade an avalanche of sanctions that have already been enacted.

The U.S. also said it imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials and issued a new visa restriction policy that applies to Russian military officials and authorities.

The U.S. sanctioned 27 executives from Gazprombank, a bank that facilitates sales by Russia's Gazprom, one of the largest natural gas exporters in the world, with Europe. The sanctions are the first time that the U.S. has hit the bank that plays a critical role Russia's considerable gas exports, but the move stops well short of the full blocking sanctions that the U.S. has hit other big Russian banks.

Ahead of the call, U.K. officials said Britain will provide an extra 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support to Ukraine to help the nation defend itself against Russian forces.

The funding, which comes from British government reserves, includes 300 million pounds of military kit promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this week, such as radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment and night vision devices.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Ukraine Sunday, touring the northern town of Irpin, which had been heavily damaged by Russia's attempt to take the capital of Kyiv at the start of the war. The mayor on Sunday posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeau's office later said "the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canada's unwavering support for the Ukrainian people."

Jill Biden also made an unannounced visit on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting in western Ukraine with first lady Olena Zelenska. Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old war with Russia.

"I wanted to come on Mother's Day," the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. "I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine."

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a televised address that Sunday was "a May 8th like no other."

He said Germany has worked hard to own up to its actions during World War II, reconciling with both Russia and Ukraine and committing itself to the concept of "never again." But Russia's "barbaric" invasion of Ukraine in February has brought war back to Europe, Scholz said, a prospect that once seemed unthinkable.

"Freedom and security will prevail  just as freedom and security triumphed over lack of freedom, violence and dictatorship 77 years ago," Scholz said in his address.

German Bundestag President Barbel Bas, the second highest-ranking German official after the president, met Sunday with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and attended a memorial event honoring the anniversary of the end of World War II.

"We really appreciate that on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation itself, and in what for us is such a trying time of war, the President of the German Bundestag Barbel Bas came to support Ukraine," said a post published Sunday on Zelenskyy's Telegram channel.

Madhani reported from Wilmington, Del. Emily Schultheis in Berlin contributed to this report.
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  More than 60 people were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school being used as a shelter, Ukrainian officials said, while Moscow's forces pressed their attack on defenders inside Mariupol's steel plant in an apparent race to capture the city ahead of Russia's Victory Day holiday.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "appalled" by the reported school bombing Saturday in the eastern village of Bilohorivka and called it another reminder that "it is civilians that pay the highest price" in war.

Authorities said about 90 people were sheltering in the basement. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, but "most likely all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead," Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk province, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said. Luhansk is part of the Donbas, the industrial heartland in the east that Russia's forces are working to capture.

As Moscow prepared to celebrate the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany with a Victory Day military parade on Monday, a lineup of Western leaders and celebrities made surprise visits to Ukraine in a show of support.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden met with her Ukrainian counterpart. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised his country's flag at its embassy in Kyiv. And U2's Bono, alongside bandmate The Edge, performed in a Kyiv subway station that had been used as a bomb shelter, singing the 1960s song "Stand by Me."

The newly appointed acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Kristina Kvien, posted a picture of herself at the American Embassy, and described plans for the eventual U.S. return to the Ukrainian capital after Moscow's forces abandoned their effort to storm Kyiv weeks ago and began focusing on the capture of the Donbas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others warned in recent days that Russian attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, and some cities declared curfews or cautioned people against gathering in public. Russian President Vladimir Putin may want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square.

"They have nothing to celebrate tomorrow," Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN. "They have not succeeded in defeating the Ukrainians. They have not succeeded in dividing the world or dividing NATO. And they have only succeeded in isolating themselves internationally and becoming a pariah state around the globe."

Russian forces struggled to complete their takeover of Mariupol, which has been largely reduced to rubble. The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making what appeared to be their last stand was the only part of the city not under Russian control.

The last of the women, children and older civilians who were taking shelter with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. Buses carrying over 170 evacuees from the steelworks and other parts of Mariupol arrived in the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, U.N. officials said.

The Ukrainian defenders in the steel mill have rejected deadlines set by the Russians for laying down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment, a unit holding the steel mill, said the site was targeted overnight by warplanes, artillery and tanks.

"We are under constant shelling," he said online, adding that Russian ground troops tried to storm the plant  a claim Russian officials denied in recent days  and lay mines. Palamar reported a "multitude of casualties."

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant but declined to reveal how many able-bodied fighters remained. He said fighters didn't have lifesaving equipment and had to dig by hand to free people from bunkers that had collapsed under the shelling.

"Surrender for us is unacceptable because we cannot grant such a gift to the enemy," Samoilenko said.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the defenders.

On the economic front, leaders from the Group of Seven industrial democracies pledged to ban or phase out imports of Russian oil. The G-7 consists of the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.

The U.S. also announced new sanctions against Russia, cutting off Western advertising from Russia's three biggest TV stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services, and cutting off Russia's industrial sector from wood products, industrial engines, boilers and bulldozers.

Trudeau met with Zelenskyy and made a surprise visit to Irpin, which was damaged in Russia's attempt to take Kyiv. The Ukrainian president also met with the German parliament speaker, Barbel Bas, in Kyiv to discuss further defense assistance.

Jill Biden visited western Ukraine for a surprise Mother's Day meeting with Zelenskyy's wife, Olena Zelenska.

Zelenskyy released a video address marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism. The black-and-white footage showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, a Kyiv suburb.

Zelenskyy said that generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of the words "Never again," a phrase often used as a vow not to allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Elsewhere, on Ukraine's coast, explosions echoed again across the major Black Sea port of Odesa. At least five blasts were heard, according to local media.

The Ukrainian military said Moscow was focusing its main efforts on destroying airfield infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine.

In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraine's military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the war's first days. A satellite image by Planet Labs showed smoke rising from two sites on the island.

But Moscow's forces showed no sign of backing down in the south. Satellite photos show Russia has put armored vehicles and missile systems at a small base in the Crimean Peninsula.

The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeast near Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, is making "significant progress," according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank.

However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from the embattled eastern city of Popasna, regional authorities said.

Rodion Miroshnik, a representative of the pro-Kremlin, separatist Luhansk People's Republic, said its forces and Russian troops had captured most of Popasna after two months of fierce fighting.

The Kharkiv regional administration said three people were killed in shelling of the town of Bogodukhiv, about 30 miles from Kharkiv city.

South of Kharkiv, in Dnipropetrovsk province, the governor said a 12-year-old boy was killed by a cluster munition that he found after a Russian attack. An international treaty bans the use of such explosives, but neither Russia nor Ukraine has signed the agreement.

"This war is treacherous," the governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, wrote on social media. "It is near, even when it is invisible."

Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.
KABUL, Afghanistan  Arooza was furious and afraid, keeping her eyes open for Taliban on patrol as she and a friend shopped Sunday in Kabul's Macroyan neighborhood.

The math teacher was fearful her large shawl, wrapped tight around her head, and sweeping pale brown coat would not satisfy the latest decree by the country's religiously driven Taliban government. After all, more than just her eyes were showing. Her face was visible.

Arooza, who asked to be identified by just one name to avoid attracting attention, wasn't wearing the all-encompassing burqa preferred by the Taliban, who on Saturday issued a new dress code for women appearing in public. The edict said only a woman's eyes should be visible.

The decree by the Taliban's hardline leader Hibaitullah Akhunzada even suggested women shouldn't leave their homes unless necessary and outlines a series of punishments for male relatives of women violating the code.

It was a major blow to the rights of women in Afghanistan, who for two decades had been living with relative freedom before the Taliban takeover last August  when U.S. and other foreign forces withdrew in the chaotic end to a 20-year war.

A reclusive leader, Akhunzada rarely travels outside southern Kandahar, the traditional Taliban heartland. He favors the harsh elements of the group's previous time in power, in the 1990s, when girls and women were largely barred from school, work and public life.

Like Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, Akhunzada imposes a strict brand of Islam that marries religion with ancient tribal traditions, often blurring the two.

Akhunzada has taken tribal village traditions where girls often marry at puberty, and rarely leave their homes, and called it a religious demand, analysts say.

The Taliban have been divided between pragmatists and hardliners, as they struggle to transition from an insurgency to a governing body. Meanwhile, their government has been dealing with a worsening economic crisis. And Taliban efforts to win recognition and aid from Western nations have floundered, largely because they have not formed a more representative government, and restricted the rights of girls and women.

Until now, hardliners and pragmatists in the movement have avoided open confrontation.

Yet divisions were deepened in March, on the eve of the new school year, when Akhunzada issued a last-minute decision that girls should not be allowed to go to school after completing the sixth grade. In the weeks ahead of the start of the school year, senior Taliban officials had told journalists all girls would be allowed back in school. Akhunzada asserted that allowing the older girls back to school violated Islamic principles.

A prominent Afghan who meets the leadership and is familiar with their internal squabbles said that a senior Cabinet minister expressed his outrage over Akhunzada's views at a recent leadership meeting. He spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

Torek Farhadi, a former government adviser, said he believes Taliban leaders have opted not to spar in public because they fear any perception of divisions could undermine their rule.

"The leadership does not see eye to eye on a number of matters but they all know that if they don't keep it together, everything might fall apart," Farhadi said. "In that case, they might start clashes with each other."

"For that reason, the elders have decided to put up with each other, including when it comes to non-agreeable decisions, which are costing them a lot of uproar inside Afghanistan and internationally," Farhadi added.

Some of the more pragmatic leaders appear to be looking for quiet workarounds that will soften the hard-line decrees. Since March, there has been a growing chorus, even among the most powerful Taliban leaders, to return older girls to school while quietly ignoring other repressive edicts.

Earlier this month, Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of Sirajuddin, who heads the powerful Haqqani network, told a conference in the eastern city of Khost that girls are entitled to education and that they would soon return to school  though he didn't say when. He also said that women had a role in building the nation.

"You will receive very good news that will make everyone very happy  this problem will be resolved in the following days," Haqqani said at the time.

In the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday, women wore the customary conservative Muslim dress. Most wore a traditional hijab, consisting of a headscarf and long robe or coat, but few covered their faces, as directed by the Taliban leader a day earlier. Those wearing a burqa, a head-to-toe garment that covers the face and hides the eyes behind netting were in the minority.

"Women in Afghanistan wear the hijab, and many wear the burqa, but this isn't about hijab, this is about the Taliban wanting to make all women disappear," said Shabana, who wore bright gold bangles beneath her flowing black coat, her hair hidden behind a black head scarf with sequins. "This is about the Taliban wanting to make us invisible."

Arooza said the Taliban rulers are driving Afghans to leave their country. "Why should I stay here if they don't want to give us our human rights? We are human," she said.

Several women stopped to talk. They all challenged the latest edict.

"We don't want to live in a prison," said Parveen, who like the other women wanted only to give one name.

"These edicts attempt to erase a whole gender and generation of Afghans who grew up dreaming of a better world," said Obaidullah Baheer, a visiting scholar at New York's New School and former lecturer at the American University in Afghanistan.

"It pushes families to leave the country by any means necessary. It also fuels grievances that would eventually spill over into large-scale mobilization against the Taliban," he said.

After decades of war, Baheer said it wouldn't have taken much on the Taliban's part to make Afghans content with their rule "an opportunity that the Taliban are wasting fast."
JERUSALEM  Two Palestinians, one a teenager, were killed in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, hours after police apprehended two Palestinian men suspected of killing three Israelis last week.

It was the latest episode of violence during weeks of Palestinian attacks in Israel, and Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank that have left at least 18 Israelis and more than 30 Palestinians dead.

The Palestinian man died after he was shot by Israeli troops trying to cross Israel's separation barrier near a military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said soldiers spotted a suspect" attempting to sneak across the barrier near the West Bank city of Tulkarem and fired at him. It said the man was evacuated to receive medical treatment, but declined commenting on the mans condition. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed his death.

The Israeli military also said an Israeli civilian shot a Palestinian armed with a knife who entered a West Bank settlement south of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 17-year-old Mutassim Atallah was killed in the Tekoa settlement. Searches were under way for a second Palestinian, the army said.

In a separate incident, police said a Palestinian stabbed and wounded a police officer outside Jerusalem's Old City, and that officers shot the assailant. Paramedics said the officer was hospitalized in moderate condition. The attackers condition was not immediately clear.

Sunday's incidents were the latest in string of violent episodes in recent weeks, including deadly attacks inside Israel, an Israeli military crackdown in the West Bank, and clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at a major holy site in Jerusalem sacred to Jews and Muslims.

The ongoing conflict plays out against the backdrop of Israels occupation, now in its 55th year, of the West Bank and other lands Palestinians seek for a state. Serious peace talks collapsed more than a decade ago, while Israels settlement expansion on occupied lands has continued unabated.

This week, Israel said it is set to advance plans for the construction of 4,000 settler homes in the West Bank. If approved, it would be the biggest advancement of settlement plans since the Biden administration took office.

Sunday began with Israeli police capturing two Palestinians who killed three people in a stabbing attack last week and fled the scene, sparking a massive manhunt and keeping the country on edge.

The two attackers went on a stabbing rampage in the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad on Thursday, Israel's independence day, killing three and wounding at least four others before bolting.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told his Cabinet on Sunday that forces captured terrorists awash with incitement who killed with axes and unimaginable cruelty.

He said Israel was entering a new stage in the war on terror," and said Israel was establishing a civilian national guard that would be deployed in emergency situations like the kinds of attacks the country has witnessed in recent weeks.

The Israeli governments main goal is to restore personal security to Israeli citizens, he said.

A joint statement by police, the military and the Shin Bet internal security agency said the men, identified as 19- and 20-year-old Palestinians, were caught near a quarry not far from Elad following a search that began Thursday by special forces and commando units using helicopters and other means.

Images in Israeli media showed masked security forces confronting the men, who appeared to be beneath a green shrub in a rugged patch of land.

As forces scoured the area looking for the men, police called on the public to avoid the area, and urged Israelis to report suspicious vehicles or people to them.

Police said the attackers were from near the city of Jenin in the West Bank. The city and an adjacent refugee camp have reemerged as a militant bastion in the latest wave of violence  the worst Israel has seen in years. Several of the attackers in the recent violence have come from Jenin.

The Israeli military said it began preparations to demolish the homes of the two suspects in the village of Rummanah. Israel says the policy of demolishing homes of Palestinians who kill Israelis serves to deter would-be attackers, while rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment.

At least 18 Israelis have been killed in five attacks since March, including another stabbing rampage in southern Israel, two shootings in the Tel Aviv area, and a shooting last weekend in a West Bank settlement.

Most of the Palestinians who have died in the violence had carried out attacks or were involved in confrontations with Israeli forces in the West Bank. But an unarmed woman and two apparent bystanders were also among those killed and rights groups say Israel often uses excessive force.

The violence has been fueled by tensions at a Jerusalem hilltop compound holy to both Muslims and Jews, where Palestinians have clashed recently with Israeli police.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is the third holiest site in Islam and is built on a hilltop that is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It lies at the emotional heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
TEHRAN, Iran  Syrian President Bashar Assad met with Iranian leaders in Tehran on Sunday, Iranian and Syrian media reported, marking his second trip to major wartime ally Iran since Syria's civil war erupted in 2011.

Nour News, a website close to Iran's Supreme National Security Council, reported that Assad met Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi. It said the leaders praised the strong ties between their nations and vowed to boost relations further. Assad was reported to have left Tehran for Damascus later on Sunday.

"Everybody now looks at Syria as a power," Khamenei told Assad in the meeting, according to Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to the country's powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. "The respect and credibility of Syria is now much more than before."

Assad, for his part, said that strong relations between Iran and Syria served as a bulwark against American and Israeli influence in the Middle East.

"America today is weaker than ever," Syrian state news agency, SANA, quoted Assad as saying. "We should continue this track," he added, praising Iran's help in Syria's "fight against terrorism."

In an apparent reference to a recent string of deadly attacks in Israel by Palestinian assailants, Assad also said that the Palestinian cause has again captured the world's attention "because of the sacrifices of the Palestinian resistance."

Iranian media published photos of Assad shaking hands warmly with Khamenei and grinning beside Raisi.

Assad has rarely travelled abroad since his government's crackdown on Syria's civil unrest in 2011 led to a devastating civil war and made him a global pariah.

He has visited key patrons Russia and Iran, and made his first trip to the United Arab Emirates since the conflict earlier this year  the clearest signal yet that the Arab world is willing to re-engage with the once widely shunned president as Arab states seek to blunt the expanding influence of their Shiite foe in Syria.

Tehran has given the Syrian government billions of dollars in aid and sent Iran-backed fighters to battle alongside his forces  assistance that, along with Russian air power, has helped turn the tide in Assad's favor.

The Tehran visit marked Assad's first trip to the Iranian capital in over two years. The visit was not announced beforehand.

Police were out in force at major thoroughfares and intersections in Tehran on Sunday.
BEIRUT  Umm Khaled hardly leaves the tent where she lives in northwest Syria, and she says she doesn't pay attention to the news. But she knows one reason why it is getting harder and harder to feed herself and her children: Ukraine.

"Prices have been going up, and this has been happening to us since the war in Ukraine started," said the 40-year-old, who has lived in a tent camp for displaced people in the last rebel-held enclave in Syria for the past six years since fleeing a government offensive.

Food prices around the world were already rising, but the war in Ukraine has accelerated the increase since Russia's invasion began on Feb. 24. The impact is worsening the already dangerous situation of millions of Syrians driven from their homes by their country's now 11-year-old civil war.

The rebel enclave in Syria's northwest province of Idlib is packed with some 4 million people, most of whom fled there from elsewhere in the country. Most rely on international aid to survive, for everything from food and shelter to medical care and education.

Because of rising prices, some aid agencies are scaling back their food assistance. The biggest provider, the U.N. World Food Program, began this week to cut the size of the monthly rations it gives to 1.35 million people in the territory.

The Ukraine crisis has also created a whole new group of refugees. European nations and the U.S. have rushed to help more than 5.5 million Ukrainians who have fled to neighboring countries, as well as more than 7 million displaced within Ukraine's borders.

Aid agencies are hoping to draw some of the world's attention back to Syria in a two-day donor conference for humanitarian aid to Syrians that begins Monday in Brussels, hosted by the U.N. and the European Union. The funding also goes toward aid to the 5.7 million Syrian refugees living in neighboring countries, particularly Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

Last year, the EU, the United States and other nations pledged $6.4 billion to help Syrians and neighboring countries hosting refugees. But that fell well short of the $10 billion that the U.N. had sought  and the impact was felt on the ground. In Idlib, 10 of its 50 medical centers lost funding in 2022, forcing them to dramatically cut back services, Amnesty International said in a report released Thursday.

Across Syria, people have been forced to eat less, the Norwegian Refugee Council said. The group surveyed several hundred families around the country and found 87% were skipping meals to meet other living costs.

"While the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine continues to demand world attention, donors and governments meeting in Brussels must not forget about their commitment to Syria," NRC's Mideast Regional Director Carsten Hansen said in a report Thursday.

The U.N.'s children's agency UNICEF said more than 6.5 million children in Syria are in need of assistance calling it the highest recorded since the conflict began. It said that since 2011, over 13,000 children have been confirmed killed or injured.

Meanwhile, UNICEF said funding for humanitarian operations in Syria is dwindling fast, saying it has received less than half of its funding requirements for this year. "We urgently need nearly $20 million for the cross-border operations" in Syria, the agency said in a statement.

Umm Khaled is among those who rely on food aid. With her aid rations reduced, she has gone deeper in debt to feed her family.

Her husband and eldest son were killed in a Syrian government airstrike in their home city of Aleppo in 2016. Soon after, she escaped with her three surviving children to the rebel enclave in Idlib province. Ever since, they have lived in a tent camp with other displaced people on the outskirts of the town of Atmeh near the Turkish border.

Her family lives on two meals a day -- a small breakfast and a main meal late in the afternoon that serves as lunch and dinner. Her only income is from picking olives for a few weeks a year, making 20 Turkish liras ($1.35) a day.

"We used to get enough rice, bulgur, lentils and others. Now they keep reducing them," she said by telephone from the camp. She spoke on condition her full name is not made public, fearing repercussions. She lives with her two daughters, ages six and 16, and 12-year-old son, who suffered head and arm injuries in the strike that killed his brother and father.

The price of essential food items in northwest Syria has already increased by between 22% and 67% since the start of the Ukraine conflict, according to the aid group Mercy Corps. There have also been shortages in sunflower oil, sugar and flour.

Mercy Corps provides cash assistance to displaced Syrians to buy food and other needs and it says it has no plans to reduce the amount.

"Even before the war in Ukraine, bread was already becoming increasingly unaffordable," said Mercy Corps Syria Country Director, Kieren Barnes. The vast majority of wheat brought into northwest Syria is of Ukrainian origin, and the territory doesn't produce enough wheat for its own needs.

"The world is witnessing a year of catastrophic hunger with a huge gap between the resources and the needs of the millions of people around the world," said WFP spokeswoman Abeer Etefa.

In many of its operations around the world, WFP is reducing the size of the rations it provides, she said. Starting this month in northwest Syria, the provisions will go down to 1,177 calories a day, from 1,340. The food basket will continue to provide a mix of commodities, including wheat flour, rice, chickpeas, lentils, bulgur wheat, sugar and oil.

Rising prices have increased the cost of WFP's food assistance by 51% since 2019 and that cost will likely go even higher as the impact of the Ukraine crisis is felt, Etefa said.

Earlier in the year, before the Ukraine conflict began, a 29% jump in costs prompted the Czech aid agency People in Need to switch from providing food packages to giving food vouchers. The vouchers, worth $60, buy less food than the group's target level, but it had to take the step to "maximize its coverage of food assistance to the most vulnerable," a spokesperson told The Associated Press.

As the world turns to other conflicts, "Syria is on the verge of becoming yet another forgotten crisis," Assistant U.N. Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya warned in late April.

In northwest Syria, "a staggering 4.1 million people" need humanitarian aid, Msuya said  not just food, but also medicines, blankets, school supplies and shelter. She said almost a million people in the territory, mainly women and children, live in tents, "half of which are beyond their normal lifespan."

Many fear that the situation could only get worse in July, because Russia may force international aid for the northwest to be delivered through parts of Syria under the control of its ally, President Bashar Assad.

Currently, aid enters the Idlib enclave directly from Turkey via a single border crossing, Bab al-Hawa. The U.N. mandate allowing deliveries through Bab al-Hawa ends on July 9, and Russia has hinted it will veto a Security Council resolution renewing the mandate.

A Russian veto would effectively hand Assad control over the flow of aid to the opposition enclave and the U.S. and EU had warned earlier they will stop funding in that case.

The result will be a severe humanitarian crisis, likely triggering a new flood of Syrian migrants into Turkey and Europe, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs warned in a report.

Umm Khaled said she has no choice but to endure her deteriorating living conditions.

"They keep reducing our food basket," she said. "May God protect us if they cut it completely."
WASHINGTON  As the war in Ukraine grinds through its third month, the Biden administration has tried to maintain a set of public objectives that adapt to changes on the battlefield and stress NATO unity, while making it clear that Russia will lose, even as Ukraine decides what constitutes winning.

But the contours of a Russian loss remain as murky as a Ukrainian victory. And as the conflict heads into what is likely to be a protracted fight, the need to manage allied cooperation unity and public opinion here and abroad - balancing the probable with the possible  has become as much a priority as what is happening on the battlefield.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said late last month that Ukraine can win the war against Russia, and the Biden administration would do everything we can to support that goal, sounded less bullish in congressional testimony this week.

We hope that, at the end of this, that Ukraine will be a ... sovereign state with a functioning government that can protect its territory, Austin told the Senate Appropriations Committee. Austin and other senior officials, however, have declined to specify their idea of what that government will look like, and what territory it will include.

Whatever outcome it would eventually like to see, the administration has quickly walked back statements that went beyond the bounds of an end to the war with a sovereign Ukraine still in existence. When President Joe Biden said in late March that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power, he and the White House rushed to explain it as a presidential expression of moral outrage rather than a policy of regime change in Moscow.

When Austin drew attention last month by saying the United States sought a weakened Russia, administration officials quickly added that the goal was specific to military conflict, and was to ensure Putin would think twice about invading another country.

Ukrainians themselves have been clear about their definition of winning. Their goal, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said repeatedly, is restoration of full territorial integrity, pushing the Russians back from recently claimed territory in the south and east, as well as ultimately from Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, and parts of the eastern Donbas region that was grabbed by Russia-backed Ukrainian separatists at the same time.

I was elected as president of Ukraine. Not as president of mini-Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in remarks to the Chatham House think tank in London on Friday, What matters is Ukraines victory, he said, and by Ukraines victory I mean something that belongs to us.

Serious negotiations with Russia would only begin when Moscow pulls its troops back, or they are pushed from territory occupied since the invasion began Feb. 24. He also listed the return of refugees, Ukraines admission to the European Union, and the prosecution of Russian military leaders for war crimes as elements of any postwar landscape.

I think we shouldnt underestimate the view of the Ukrainian people, which is never to accept anything a European diplomat said. Even if direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations, now in abeyance, resume, there is no way politically Zelenskyy can settle with the Russians unless it includes the broad elements the Ukrainian president has articulated. The diplomat was one of several U.S. and foreign officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal calculations.

Within NATO, some have outlined more definitive goals than others. In a rousing video speech on Tuesday to the Ukrainian parliament, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson moved beyond Austins possibility of victory, assuring that Ukraine will win.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has been even more specific. Britain was doubling down on its aid to Ukraine, she said last week at the Mansion House, an annual London venue for delivery of a major foreign policy address. Calling Russian forces a cancerous growth, she said we will keep going further and faster to push Russia out of the whole of Ukraine, including Crimea and Donbas.

Ukraines combat success so far has surprised and heartened the administration. Before the war began, the administration released an unprecedented amount of classified information indicating that amassed Russian forces would invade. But it did not reveal the expectation of the U.S. intelligence community that Ukraine would fall in short order  with Kyiv succumbing within three to four days  according to a person familiar with the matter.

NATO unity and a rapid response, with U.S. and allies rushing troops to NATOs eastern border and weapons to Ukraine, were gratifying, even more so when Ukrainian forces not only held Kyiv but drove the Russians out of the north.

The current phase of the fight is likely to be much harder and more protracted. Russia, in apparent retreat from its initial objective of taking most, if not all, of Ukrainian territory, has massed its forces in the eastern part of the country along a line parallel to its own border. There, its existing control of significant territory will likely temper the logistical problems it suffered around Kyiv. In the southeast, Russian forces are crushing remaining opposition along swaths of the Black Sea coast.

Miles to the west of the Russian lines, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops  up to half of its 126,000 prewar army  face them. The U.S. military assesses that Russias tactical objective is to send more of its own forces in behind the Ukrainians from the south and from the northeast border area and encircle them. Across the flat, farming territory, a massive ground battle of attrition is expected to ensue, fought with long-range artillery and airstrikes, and armored vehicles.

In response, the United States and its allies are rushing heavy artillery, air defense and surveillance equipment, armed drones, and armored vehicles to the Ukrainians. Biden has asked Congress for an emergency $33 billion in weaponry and other support, in addition to the massive amounts already sent.

Russias changing objectives would certainly indicate that all this effort is having a strong effect, a senior administration official said. But as we have laid out many times, this conflict will likely be long and hard, and the next few months are critical, so Congress needs to move quickly.

U.S. and allied staying power will be crucial. One of the sustaining challenges, beyond the focus on the now of what Ukraine needs, is maintaining public unity and support among and inside the countries backing Ukraine, another U.S. official said.

Public support is a key variable in the outcome on the battlefield and we have to continue to make a compelling case, this official said. Failure or stalemate equal discouragement, while success on the ground equals unity.

As the war continues, especially if it drags into next winter, some European governments may face shortages of heating fuel in addition to gas and consumer goods. For Biden, facing his own economic difficulties, the perception of Russia as having lost, or at least losing, could make a difference during midterm elections in November  as could the perception that his administration lost Ukraine.

Some are more optimistic about Ukraines chances for continued, or even early, progress in the current phase of the war. Retired Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, a former supreme allied commander of NATO, said it is too early to celebrate, but there are good signs that the Russians may not be able to accomplish everything they want in the east. Some very smart people, he said, believe that Russia will culminate its next operation within two to four weeks, effectively running out of military capability to press on.

That would open the door to a larger Ukrainian offensive to take back land that Russia has seized.

Then we have the confirmation about what winning looks like, Breedlove said. Other people in the world are starting to set expectations that maybe winning is actually retaking all of Donbas and eventually expelling Russia from Crimea, he said. I dont know if thats realistic right now or not, but its certainly out there.

The Pentagon is reluctant to publicly rate Ukraines chances of regaining all of its territory.

We are careful in the way we talk about progress in the war, especially when it comes to Ukrainian capabilities and efforts, a senior U.S. defense official said. We have an obligation to speak to what we are providing them, but we never want to provide so much information that we violate their operational security or make it harder for them to conduct their operations. Its a balance we strive to maintain every day.

As to the administrations definition of winning, I think the ambiguity is not accidental, the European diplomat said. Sometimes if youre very specific about your aims, it makes it easier to stop those aims. ... I always find myself wanting to defend the Americans on this, because if I were the Americans, Id be more careful, too, because theyre the superpower, theyre the ones the Russians care most about.

When asked Wednesday about whether the United States would be satisfied if Ukraine agreed to Russia remaining in Crimea and parts of the east, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki repeated what has become an administration mantra: The Ukrainians are going to define what a successful outcome looks like for them.

Besides, Psaki said, Russia has already lost by not having achieved its initial goals of taking over much, if not all, of Ukraine or dividing NATO.

Another U.S. official put it a different way. A lot of people have read too much into Austins comments this official said, noting that the United States has from the start sought a strategic defeat for Russia  meaning that Russia wouldnt be able to project power like this again ... to threaten Ukraine or other neighbors again.

At the end of the day, this official said, accountability can come in many forms. Its up to Ukraine to decide the contours of any peace agreement, but we also have tools that we put in place in terms of sanctions, export controls that can be removed or not, depending on how things look at the end of this.

The Washington Posts Olivier Knox and Cleve R. Wootson Jr. contributed to this report.
LAS VEGAS, N.M.  After a few days of calm that allowed some families who had fled wildfires raging in northeast New Mexico to return to their homes, dangerous winds picked up again Sunday, threatening to spread spot fires and complicate work for firefighters.

More than 1,500 firefighters were on the fire lines at the biggest blaze east and northeast of Santa Fe, which grew another 8 square miles overnight to an area more than twice as large as the city of Philadelphia.

A red-flag warning was in effect Sunday, kicking off what fire officials predicted would be another "historic, multi-day wind event that could result in extreme fire behavior."

A few helicopters were able to gather new information from the air on the spread of the flames early Sunday "but they won't be up there very long because of the winds out there," fire spokesman Tom Abel said.

"The wind is incredible. It is precedent setting, the amount of wind we are going to have and the duration we are going to have it," he said at a morning briefing.

"They are predicting the wind to blow all day today, through the night, all day tomorrow so that is a long time for our fire," he said.

Thousands of residents have evacuated due to flames that have charred large swaths of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northeastern New Mexico  a total of 275 square miles.

The good news, Abel said, is additional fire crews continue to arrive from around the West.

For many California firefighters backing up local units, the winds in New Mexico are puzzling. Unlike the sustained Santa Ana winds in southern California, the air around the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fires in New Mexico have swirled around and been redirected in complex and changing interactions with the mountains.

"We'll see what happens," said fire battalion chief Ryan Lewis, of Ontario, Calif., on a rare break with his firefighters at a local hotel that's serving hot meals to fire workers and evacuees.

The worst of the thick wildfire smoke had blown out of some areas on Saturday, allowing residents of rural Las Vegas, N.M., to recapture a sense of normalcy Saturday as their rural neighbors hunkered down amid predictions of extreme fire conditions.

Shops and restaurants reopened, the historic center was no longer just populated by firefighters, but there was a widely felt sense of anxiety, loss, and wariness of what lay ahead.

"It's literally like living under a dark cloud," said Liz Birmingham, whose daughter had persistent headaches from the smoke. "It's unnerving."

Nationwide, close to 2,000 square miles have burned so far this year, with 2018 being the last time this much fire had been reported at this point, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. And predictions for the rest of the spring do not bode well for the West, where long-term drought and warmer temperatures brought on by climate change have combined to worsen the threat of wildfire.

The New Mexico fire's main threat was now to the north, where flames burning vegetation clogging the forest floor threatened several small rural communities, fire spokesman Ryan Berlin said.

The threat to Las Vegas, a city of 13,000, was reduced after vegetation was cleared to create containment lines. Local officials on Saturday allowed residents of several areas on the city's northwestern outskirts to return to their homes, Berlin said.

The city looked like a ghost town earlier in the week, with businesses shuttered, schools closed and the tourist district empty but for resting firefighters. By Saturday, it was in a partial state of recovery.

National Guard troops carried cases of water, people lined up to sign up for relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state's Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich met with local officials and toured the shelter housing some of the displaced.

"We don't know if our houses are getting burned, or if it's gonna stop," said Domingo Martinez, an evacuee from rural Manuelitas northwest of Las Vegas. "I hope it dies down so we can go home."

Martinez, who is staying with his son on the east side of town, visited an old friend and neighbor who had been living in the middle school shelter for 15 days.

Outside the school, Martinez got a free haircut from Jessica Aragon, a local hairdresser who volunteered her time.

"I love that everyone is coming together," Aragon said. "I think a smile is worth a thousand words."

Melley reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan, Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Ariz., and Paul Davenport and Michelle A. Monroe in Phoenix contributed to this report.
BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The accusations on China of taking responsibilities for the Ukraine crisis is absurd, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said Friday.

Le made the remarks when delivering a speech at an online dialogue of global think tanks of 20 countries. He said on the Ukraine crisis, some people made groundless allegations, distorted China's position and tried to make China take the blame for their own actions.

He said some people have twisted the words of the recent China-Russia joint statement and misinterpreted "friendship has no limits and cooperation has no forbidden areas" to mean that China had "prior knowledge" of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and even "endorsed" it. They have therefore concluded that China must be held accountable for the conflict.

"This is absurd," Le said, adding that China is not involved in the conflict, still less the one who created it. So how could China be responsible?

Le noted that the relationship between China and Russia is based on the principles of non-alliance, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties, and it is not subject to the influence of any third party. The description of "no limits" and "no forbidden areas" captures the current state and future prospects of China-Russia ties.

"The truth is, China desires friendly relations with all countries and we never set any limit on cooperation, nor do we see a need to do so," he said.

In response to the accusation that China stood on the wrong side of history for not joining the United States and other Western countries in condemning and sanctioning Russia, Le said since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, China has been committed to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the principle of indivisible security.

"We have stood for fairness and justice, and made active efforts to encourage peace talks and provide humanitarian aid. China has no axe to grind or any geopolitical agenda on this issue," he said.

Le said for quite some time, the United States has kept flexing its muscle on China's doorstep, creating exclusive groups against China and inflaming the Taiwan question to test China's red line.

"If this is not an Asia-Pacific version of NATO's eastward expansion, then what is? Such a strategy, if left unchecked, would bring horrible consequences and push the Asia-Pacific over the edge of an abyss," he said.

Le stressed that China is committed to peaceful development and seeks harmony, solidarity and cooperation in the region. China has never been a provocateur or troublemaker. It makes no sense to take aim at China. The attempt to "copy and paste" the Ukraine crisis in the Asia-Pacific is doomed to fail.
Sometime before 6 a.m. on May 9, 1922, 17-year-old Silas Van Zee awoke from sleep to start his day like any other. While the rest of his family slept on that early Tuesday morning, he started a fire in the kitchen stove, then scurried off with his friend Wilbur Frey to attend to his chores milking cows a few blocks away.

What happened next on that cold and snowy day is one of the saddest tragedies to happen in this community, and this week marks exactly 100 years since a tragic house fire took the lives of three members of a Flagstaff family.

As Silas and Wilbur were milking the cows, a defective flue in the kitchen stove is suspected of starting a house fire where the two boys lived (Wilbur was a boarder in the Van Zee home). Six members of Silass family remained asleep and were still in bed as the fire spread.

Silass father, the Rev. Conrad Van Zee, who had brought his family to Arizona in 1905 to serve as a missionary to the Navajo, was away in Moenave near Tuba City at the time of the fire. Inside the home were his wife, Hulda Van Zee, age 48, and the rest of her brood, sons Gilmour, 14; Allen, 12; Spurgeon, 10; and Roger, age 29 months, as well as daughter Vivian, 8. They lay in bed as flames from the defective flue spread to the upper floors of the two-story structure.

It is unknown who detected the fire first, but Hulda, described as frail and semi-invalid in a Coconino Sun article published three days later, was likely one of the first to awaken. Her awareness of the danger may have saved the lives of three of her children.

As the fire began to rage through the wooden house, sons Allen and Spurgeon saved themselves by jumping out of a second-story window. Daughter Vivian ran down the stairs to the front door but became trapped inside when it would not open. Thats when her brother Allen, who had jumped out of the upper-story window, saw his sisters dilemma and ran to get an axe to chop away at the door sash and glass, eventually pulling his badly burned sister out of the opening to safety. Vivian had burns to her head and had suffered from smoke inhalation.

Gilmour, who was the eldest of the children in the home, stayed inside in an attempt to save his mother and toddler brother. Hulda had come down the stairs only to realize in the confusion that her little boy had been left upstairs. She went back to retrieve him, but when she came down the stairs a second time, she lost her footing with her young son in her arms.

That is when Gilmour dragged them both to a back door hoping to escape with them. The door was found locked, however, with no key in it. He dragged them again to another door only to find the same  locked with no key. He was on his way to a third door when he, for need of saving his own life, had to abandon them as he stumbled outside, where he collapsed with numerous burn injuries.

Outside, the group of four children, two of whom were badly burned, were seen standing barefoot in the snow as it fell into the smoke-filled sky. The fire alarm was sounded and soon Flagstaffs new fire engine was on the scene. It was too late to save the house or its contents.

By the afternoon, as the fire crews began to assess the loss, they found Huldas remains with her little boy Roger wrapped in her arms beneath a chimney wall that had fallen on top of them. Gilmour, who had tried to save them both and was badly burned in the effort, was taken to Mercy Hospital, where he remained unconscious until his burn injuries took his life.

In all, three members of the Van Zee family died. Gilmour was declared a hero for attempting to save the lives of his mother and brother.

Stemming from a headstone

I belong to a mens group that met once a week in Citizens Cemetery for exercise and fresh air during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was on one of these visits when a member of our small group noticed a single headstone with three names on it and only a single date for each of the deceased. At first, I thought it might be a vehicle accident. As I became more curious and looked deeper into it, I found a detailed front-page article in the forerunner of this newspaper, the Coconino Sun, from May 12, 1922. That is where the material for this article originated.

While the article was quite detailed in explaining most aspects of the tragedy, I felt like something was missing -- it gave no indication for the location of the house that burned. I checked with the Flagstaff Fire Department, but they had no record of it. Then, with the help of Pam Packard at the Flagstaff Public Library and a little detective work, we both came up with a possible answer.

The 1922 article mentioned that the fire burned so hot that the house next door to the east was also partly burned. The story listed the owner of that home as A. F. Grimmell, a cashier at the First National Bank located on the corner of Aspen Avenue and San Francisco Street (where todays Pita Pit is located).

Pam then discovered a digitized copy on the Arizona State Library's website of a Flagstaff phone directory for the year 1929, only seven years after the fire. It listed A. F. Grimmell as living at 210 E. Dale Ave. Today the property located west of that address is 206 E. Dale Ave. and perhaps this is the address where the horrible loss of life occurred on May 9, 1922.

I have yet to determine what became of Conrad Van Zee. However, the 1929 Flagstaff phone directory included a listing for him and most of his surviving children living at 523 N. Leroux St. He and son Allen were listed as ranchers. Son Spurgeon and daughter Vivian were listed as students.

Silas had likely moved away by this time and was not mentioned.

However, further research on my part uncovered an obituary for Silas, the one who went to milk the cows on that fateful early morning. In the April 12, 1988, edition of the Record Searchlight in Redding, California, the obituary states that he worked as a building inspector in Humboldt County, California, for 25 years. It also mentions that he built the first sawmill in Weaverville, California.

Additional information in the obituary lists brother Allen (who saved his sister Vivian using the axe) living in Hermosa Beach, California, brother Spurgeon (who jumped out the window with his brother Allen) living in Medford, Oregon, and sister Vivian was still residing in Arizona.

I could not find any obituaries for the three of them, however. Silas Van Zee lived to the age of 83 and passed away on April 10, 1988, in Douglas City, California (located in Trinity County near Redding and Weaverville).

As we mark the 100-year anniversary of this tragedy this week, I thought it only right to remember the terrible loss and the pain it caused the Van Zee family and the sense of loss that our community experienced. In a way, Ive never forgotten the Van Zees since our mens group stumbled onto their gravesite nearly one year ago. I still stop by the gravesite occasionally and although I do not normally pray, I do remember and honor the memory Hulda, Gilmour and Roger Van Zee -- especially this week, 100 years ago.

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NEW YORK  One of the more striking pieces of journalism from the Ukraine war featured intercepted radio transmissions from Russian soldiers indicating an invasion in disarray, their conversations even interrupted by a hacker literally whistling "Dixie."

It was the work of an investigations unit at The New York Times that specializes in open-source reporting, using publicly available material like satellite images, mobile phone or security camera recordings, geolocation and other internet tools to tell stories.

The field is in its infancy but rapidly catching on. The Washington Post announced last month it was adding six people to its video forensics team, doubling its size. The University of California at Berkeley last fall became the first college to offer an investigative reporting class that focuses specifically on these techniques.

Two video reports from open-source teams  The Times' "Day of Rage" reconstruction of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the Post's look at how a 2020 racial protest in Washington's Lafayette Square was cleared out  won duPont-Columbia awards for excellence in digital and broadcast journalism.

The Ukraine radio transmissions, where soldiers complained about a lack of supplies and faulty equipment, were verified and brought to life with video and eyewitness reports from the town where they were operating.

At one point, what appears to be a Ukrainian interloper breaks in.

"Go home," he advised in Russian. "It's better to be a deserter than fertilizer."

The Times' visual investigations unit, founded in 2017 and now numbering 17 staff members, "is absolutely one of the most exciting areas of growth that we have," said Joe Kahn, incoming executive editor.

The work is meticulous. "Day of Rage" is composed mostly of video shot by protesters themselves, in the heady days before they realized posting them online could get them into trouble, along with material from law enforcement and journalists. It outlines specifically how the attack began, who the ringleaders were and how people were killed.

Video sleuthing also contradicted an initial Pentagon story about an American drone strike that killed civilians in Afghanistan last year. "Looking to us for protection, they instead became some of the last victims in America's longest war," the report said.

"There's just this overwhelming amount of evidence out there on the open web that if you know how to turn over the rocks and uncover that information, you can connect the dots between all these factoids to arrive at the indisputable truth around an event," said Malachy Browne, senior story producer on the Times' team.

"Day of Rage" has been viewed nearly 7.3 million times on YouTube. A Post probe into the deaths at a 2021 Travis Scott concert in Houston has been seen more than 2 million times, and its story on George Floyd's last moments logged nearly 6.5 million views.

The Post team is an outgrowth of efforts begun in 2019 to verify the authenticity of potentially newsworthy video. There are many ways to smoke out fakes, including examining shadows to determine if the apparent time of day in the video corresponds to when the activity supposedly captured actually took place.

"The Post has seen the kind of impact that this kind of storytelling can have," said Nadine Ajaka, leader of its visual forensics team. "It's another tool in our reporting mechanisms. It's really nice because it's transparent. It allows readers to understand what we know and what we don't know, by plainly showing it."

Still new, the open-source storytelling isn't bound by rules that govern story length or form. A video can last a few minutes or, in the case of "Day of Rage," 40 minutes. Work can stand alone or be embedded in text stories. They can be investigations or experiences; The Times used security and cellphone video, along with interviews, to tell the story of one Ukraine apartment house as Russians invaded.

Leaders in the field cite the work of the website Storyful, which calls itself a social media intelligence agency, and Bellingcat as pioneers. Bellingcat, an investigative news website, and its leader, Eliot Higgins, are best known for covering the Syrian civil war and investigating alleged Russian involvement in shooting down a Malaysian Airlines flight over Ukraine in 2014.

The Arab Spring in the early 2010s was another key moment. Many of the protests were coordinated in a digital space and journalists who could navigate this had access to a world of information, said Alexa Koenig, executive director of the Human Rights Center at the University of California at Berkeley's law school.

The commercial availability of satellite images was a landmark, too. The Times used satellite images to quickly disprove Russian claims that atrocities committed in Ukraine had been staged.

Other technology, including artificial intelligence, is helping journalists who seek information about how something happened when they couldn't be on the scene. The Times, in 2018, worked with a London company to artificially reconstruct a building in Syria that helped contradict official denials about the use of chemical weapons.

Similarly, The Associated Press constructed a 3D model of a theater in Mariupol bombed by the Russians and, combining it with video and interviews with survivors, produced an investigative report that concluded more people died there than was previously believed.

AP has also worked with Koenig's team on an investigation into terror tactics by Myanmar's military rulership, and used modeling for an examination on the toll of war in a neighborhood in Gaza. It is collaborating with PBS' Frontline to gather evidence of war crimes in Ukraine and is further looking to expand its digital efforts. Experts cite BBC's "Africa Eye" as another notable effort in the field.

As efforts expand, Koenig said journalists need to make sure their stories drive the tools that are used, instead of the other way around. She hears regularly now from news organizations looking to build their own investigate units and need her advice  or students. Berkeley grad Haley Willis is on the team at The Times.

It feels, Koenig said, like a major shift has happened in the past year.

Browne said the goal of his unit's reporting is to create stories with impact that touch upon broader truths. A probe about a Palestinian medic shot by an Israeli soldier on the Gaza strip was as much about the conflict in general than her death, for example.

"We have similar mandates," the Post's Ajaka said, "which is to help make sense of some of the most urgent news of the day."
(Tribune News Service)  Fifty-four years after finishing his tour of duty in Vietnam, Darrell Freeman still remembers the wisdom of a sergeant who warned him he should wear civilian clothing for his return to the United States.

There was that much animosity here, the 75-year-old Jamestown man recalls. People were sick and tired and fed up with the Vietnam War.

And they were more than willing to heap that animosity on American military personnel as they were returning home from Vietnam. Darrell Freeman never forgot that.

But 10 days ago, when Freeman and nearly 100 other U.S. veterans aboard the Triad Honor Flight returned to Piedmont Triad International Airport  after a day of touring the nations war memorials in Washington, D.C.  the welcome he received in the airport concourse moved him to tears.

It was a crowd of people like Ive never seen, he says. We didnt get our welcome back home in the 60s, but we certainly got a welcome back that night. It was unbelievable.

The boisterous crowd  men and women, children of all ages, families, even a couple of motorcycle groups  lined the concourse, cheering, applauding, waving American flags, holding up signs of welcome and gratitude. It was loud, it was patriotic, and it was glorious.

And for many of the veterans, it was redemptive.

As we were walking, I became very emotional, Freeman says. And I think that was particularly true for the Vietnam veterans  wed never really gotten that kind of welcome.

Ray Alcon, a Vietnam veteran from High Point, had the same reaction to the welcome at the airport.

They went overboard making us feel special, says Alcon, who served with the Army in Vietnam from April 1968 to January 1970. To me, that was probably the most emotional part of the whole trip. It made me feel appreciated, after the way we were treated coming back from Nam.

Freeman and Alcon couldnt help but contrast that April 27 welcome to the one veterans came home to after serving in Vietnam all those many years ago. The airport celebration, however, was merely the final leg of what had been a long, meaningful day for the veterans.

Nearly 60 Vietnam veterans flew on the Triad Honor Flight this time, along with nearly 25 Korean War veterans, close to a dozen Cold War veterans and even a 99-year-old World War II veteran. The goal for each of them was the same as its always been for the Triad Honor Flights  to celebrate Americas veterans by inviting them to share in a day of honor at our nations memorials.

At least a dozen of the veterans on the April 27 flight were from the greater High Point area, including Freeman, who says he had seen all of the war memorials except one  the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The Wall.

My wife (Deana) and I had gone to the memorials right before COVID hit, but we didnt go to the Vietnam Memorial, he says softly. I wasnt ready for that.

Freeman, an Army veteran, served in Vietnam from March 1967 to March 1968. As a member of the Military Police Corps, he served on the security detail at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, a pretty good gig compared to the soldiers out in the jungle.

All was well until January 1968, the beginning of the Tet Offensive, Freeman says. The embassy came under attack. I wasnt on duty at that time, but I wouldve been later. I lost two really good comrades that night.

Thats why Freeman didnt go to the Vietnam Memorial with his wife  it was too emotional for him. This time, though, accompanied by his daughter, Kim Freeman  who served as his guardian for the trip  he vowed to go to the memorial and pay respect to his fallen comrades. And while he was there, he painfully told his daughter the story of the two MPs killed at the embassy.

I had never heard that story, Kim says. He told me there and cried. Rarely ever have I seen my dad cry.

It was a moment neither of them will ever forget, made possible by the Triad Honor Flight.

There were other highlights, too. Freeman spoke about the significance of being with other veterans, such as the 90-year-old Korean War veteran who sat beside him on the plane, and the trips lone World War II veteran. Alcon reflected on seeing the Vietnam Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

It was a great experience, Alcon said. I would certainly recommend it to any veteran who gets a chance to go.

The next Triad Honor Flight will take place on Oct. 22. To apply for the flight, either as a veteran or a volunteer guardian, visit TriadHonorFlight.org .

(c)2022 The High Point Enterprise (High Point, N.C.)

Visit at www.hpenews.com
WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service)  An electronic health record system being piloted at Spokanes VA hospital and other sites in the Inland Northwest has been partly or completely unusable at least 50 times since its launch in 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed.

The computer system, which health care workers rely on to track patient information and coordinate care, saw a total of 42 unplanned degradations and eight unplanned outages between its launch in 2020 and April 20, 2022, VA spokesman Randal Noller said in an emailed response to questions from The Spokesman-Review. Two more outages occurred April 25 and 26, VA officials told a congressional panel at the time, for a total of 52 incidents.

The system, which launched at Spokanes Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in October 2020, is being developed under a $10 billion contract awarded to Cerner Corporation in 2018, without the competitive bidding process that applies to most federal contracts of that size. The VA Office of Inspector General has estimated the planned 10-year effort, which is behind schedule, will cost as much as $21 billion and another $2 billion for each additional year it takes to finish.

In the email, Noller emphasized that most of the incidents were not large-scale outages, such as one in early April that affected VA as well as the Department of Defense and the Coast Guard, which also use the Cerner system. Many of the degradations of service, he said, affected only some of the users at Mann-Grandstaff and its affiliated clinics in Spokane, Coeur dAlene, Sandpoint, Wenatchee and Libby, Montana.

After multiple delays prompted by problems in the Inland Northwest that threatened patient safety and left health care workers exhausted and demoralized, VA launched the Cerner system at facilities in Walla Walla on March 26 and in Columbus, Ohio, on April 30. The rest of the nations more than 1,200 VA facilities continue to use an older system, known as VistA, which remains popular among health care providers.

No matter the type or size of incident, VA and Cerner employ an extensive incident management protocol to ensure users can continue to provide quick, safe and effective care, Noller said in the email.

When the system goes down, the affected VA employees are forced to use downtime procedures, which involve recording all information with pen and paper and entering it into the system once it is restored.

The department had acknowledged several outages in recent months after they were reported by The Spokesman-Review and other news outlets, but had not previously revealed the total number of times the system has gone down. VA did not answer a question about the total amount of downtime that has occurred and did not immediately respond to follow-up questions.

In an exchange with Sen. Patty Murray, D- Wash., in a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said he was frustrated by the six outages that had occurred since March 3. But when Murray asked the VA chief to commit that the system would not be brought to any other sites in Washington until the problems are fixed, he committed only to make every decision based on the experience of the learning to date.

In a House VA Committee hearing April 28, McDonough told Rep. Matt Rosendale, R- Mont., he would not allow VA to continue rolling out the Cerner system if I ever have any reason to think that this is creating risk for our patients.

In the same exchange with Rosendale, McDonough said he had closely read an April 24 Spokesman-Review story about a veteran who was hospitalized with heart failure for five days in March after the Cerner system played a role in a vital medication being mistakenly stopped. A Spokesman-Review investigation in December found Mann-Grandstaff employees fear the system represents a danger to veterans.

In an April 26 hearing, Rep. Frank Mrvan of Indiana, the Democratic chair of the House subcommittee charged with oversight of the Cerner rollout, said the system should not be deployed at larger, more complex facilities like the VA medical centers in Seattle or Portland until problems are resolved. In the same hearing, Don Pirraglia  who until recently served as the top Veterans Health Administration official working on the Cerner rollout  said he had made that same recommendation, but McDonough has not announced any change to the deployment schedule.

The Cerner system is next set to launch in Roseburg and White City, Oregon, on June 11; Boise on June 25; Anchorage, Alaska, on July 16; Seattle and other Puget Sound facilities on Aug. 27; three sites in Michigan on Oct. 8; and Portland on Nov. 5.

Orion Donovan-Smiths reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspapers managing editor.

(c)2022 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)

Visit at www.spokesman.com
MELBOURNE, Fla.  Frederick Riefkohl was the first Puerto Rican to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy. A World War I hero who led a successful showdown with a German submarine. And a World War II ship commander who retired as a rear admiral  he even has his own Wikipedia page.

But Riefkohl did not receive the Medal of Honor, America's highest award for valor in combat, to commemorate his WWI gallantry.

Why? The former Merritt Island resident may have been unfairly discriminated against by military brass because of his island heritage, a team of Great War researchers says.

Riefkohl is one of 214 WWI minority veterans identified thus far by the Valor Medals Review Project, a Congress-authorized study spearheaded by Park University near Kansas City, Mo.

Park University officials say this is the first such systematic review of minority veterans of the Great War. Research will continue until 2025, when documentation supporting Medal of Honor nominations will be forwarded to the Department of Defense for possible action, including posthumous awards.

"Obviously, a huge example was Melvin Morris when he was awarded  what was it, 30 years later, 40 years later?  the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Vietnam," he said.

"All veterans  regardless of their race, color or creed  do service and sacrifice. And all need to be recognized  without reference to their race, color or creed  for that service and sacrifice," he said.

Melvin Morris waited for 44 years

Morris, a Black retired Army sergeant first class who lives in Port St. John, waited more than 44 years to receive his Medal of Honor.

Back in September 1969, Morris charged into machine-gun fire and destroyed four enemy bunkers with hand grenades while retrieving the body of a fallen team commander near Chi Lang. He was shot three times in the process, but he survived.

President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Morris during a March 2014 ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Morris had previously been bestowed the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army's second-highest commendation.

In 2015, a life-sized bronze statue of Morris was unveiled at Riverfront Park in Cocoa. The Civilian Military Community Foundation raised funds for the statue.

The Valor Medals Review Project is studying WWI African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Jewish American and Native American service members who may have been unfairly denied the Medal of Honor because of their racial or religious background.

To qualify for the review, WWI minority veterans must have received the Army's Distinguished Service Cross or Navy Cross, which rank one level below the Medal of Honor; the Croix de Guerre avec Palme, France's highest award for valor; or an archivally documented Medal of Honor recommendation.

"Minority veterans who exhibited the highest acts of valor during WWI deserve to be recognized with the Medal of Honor," Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, said in a 2019 news release announcing the review.

"We cannot erase the discrimination minority service members faced, but we can make sure their heroic deeds are acknowledged and honored," said Blunt, who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland.

Fond of adventure, weakness for jolly

Unlike most of the minority troops in the Valor Medals Review Project, Weber said Riefkohl is relatively famous.

Born in 1889 in Maunabo, Puerto Rico, Riefkohl became the first Puerto Rican to graduate from the Naval Academy in 1911.

"Fritz is from Puerto Rico and Boston, but his ideas and accomplishments are not confined even to these limits," said an entry in Lucky Bag, the Naval Academy yearbook.

"He has the Southerner's fighting blood, held in check by New England conservatism, the Westerner's fondness of adventure, and the American college man's weakness for all that's jolly," the entry said.

After WWI, he served aboard an array of ships and held a variety of posts. He was commanding the cruiser USS Vincennes when she was sunk by Japanese naval forces during the 1942 Battle of Savo Island in World War II.

Riefkohl retired from the Navy as a rear admiral, then moved to southern Merritt Island in 1947 with his wife, Louise, to spend their golden years.

The Cocoa Tribune reported that the couple purchased a grove of mango, avocado and citrus fruit trees, then built a beautiful estate there off South Tropical Trail. Their home was filled with furnishings gathered from around the globe during his Naval career. He also served as an officer with the Indian River Yacht Club.

Riefkohl died in September 1969 at age 80 at Patrick Air Force Base Hospital. He did not have any biological children, Weber said.

A breakdown of the 214 WWI troops qualified for review by the Valor Medals Review Project from the Army, Army Air Corps, Marine Corps, Navy and Navy Air Corps:

105 Jewish Americans

73 African Americans

23 Native Americans

12 Hispanic Americans

One Asian American

Medal nomination downgraded

George S. Robb, a 1912 Park University graduate and namesake of its WWI research center, was a white U.S. Army first lieutenant who led the 369th Infantry Regiment during the Great War. Nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters and the Harlem Rattlers, this Black regiment was comprised of New York Army National Guardsmen from Harlem.

Robb later received the Medal of Honor for leading his platoon while severely wounded. However, Westcott said Robb's nominating form in the National Archives also included a nomination for 369th Infantry Regiment Sgt. William Butler of White Plains, Maryland.

Butler rescued five captured American troops in August 1918 by counter-attacking a group of 25 Germans, killing four of them, near Maison-de-Champagne, France.

"Butler's (Medal of Honor) nomination was downgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross. George Robb is Caucasian. Mr. Butler is an African American," Westcott said.

New York University history professor Jeffrey Sammons discovered the Robb-Butler nominating form a few years ago while researching the Harlem Hellfighters, helping prompt the Valor Medals Review Project.

Butler is now one of the 214 WWI troops up for review.

"America has a sacred bond with those who swore to defend her, and there is no more powerful manifestation of that covenant than the Medal of Honor," the Valor Medals Review Project website says.

"The gravity of these awards means their rarity must be jealously safeguarded; they can never be allowed to be diluted in the name of making a political point," the website says.

"Every hero from the Great War whose deeds warrant the award receives it, regardless of the circumstances of their birth or the color of skin."
The Government has announced a major package of law and order measures that further increases Police numbers, addresses gang violence and extends successful rehabilitation programmes that is intended to break the cycle of offending and entering a life of crime.

The joined-up package has been announced by Justice Minister Kris Faafoi, Police Minister Poto Williams and Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis.

Our investment in law and order has made a difference. Since we took office, we have 1,411 more Police on the frontline - the highest number in our history, youth crime has decreased and there are 3,083 fewer people in our prisons. But there is more to do, says Justice Minister Kris Faafoi.

In recent years we have seen increases in gun crime, gang activity and even more recently some forms of youth offending that puts both our communities and our Police at risk and we must address that.

Our response needs to address the root causes of crime, especially when it relates to young people, provide more rehabilitation to reduce reoffending, and actively pursue and prosecute those who participate in illegal gang activity, says Faafoi.

This Budget builds on our investment in record Police numbers, tackling gun crime and violent offenders and reducing reoffending, all of which help to keep New Zealand communities safe, says Police Minister Poto Williams.

The Government is investing over $562 million over four years into Police so they continue to have the resources they need to keep our communities safe. This is in addition to our already-record investment in Police."

Williams says their first priority is increasing the number of Police on the frontline.

"When we took office, turning around declining Police numbers was our number one priority," says Williams. "Once we achieve our goal of an extra 1800 Police officer later this year we will ensure numbers dont fall away again by maintaining an ongoing ratio of one Police officer to every 480 New Zealanders.

Under National we saw Police numbers fall away as new officers werent hired when Police retired. And when we came into office that ratio was standing at one Police officer for every 548 Kiwis.

In this budget we are investing $94 million into tackling gangs and organised crime with strong enforcement being essential whilst at the same time working with communities to address the social factors that lead to people joining gangs in the first place," says Williams.

This will have a strong focus on enforcing the law while also preventing the harms caused by gangs and organised crime.

This approach is in addition to Operations Tauwhiro and Cobalt which work to break supply chains by seizing illicit assets and proceeds of crime and by disrupting firearms trafficking and violence."

Williams says they know Police are increasingly subject to gun violence.

"The package includes an extra $164.6 million operating and $20.7 million capital funding over four years to expand the highly successful Tactical Response Model which ensures Police are trained, equipped and supported to keep themselves and the communities they serve safer," says Williams.

This includes funding for dog units so they have an AOS trained officer with them and more training venues where Police will receive improved tactical response skills.

The Government is committed to tackling increasing gun violence. Key to that was banning semi-automatic weapons and passing legislation that ensures its a privilege not a right to own a gun and restrict access to those who use them safely.

Funding of $208 million over four years will establish a new Firearms Business Unit within Police. The Unit will have oversight of implementing the significant and ongoing Arms Act legislative changes which overseas examples tell us are central to reducing gun crime over time, says Williams.

Williams says they will be taking action to combat the recent rise in ram raids.

"Similar to the process that supported the installation of a thousand fog cannons in retail outlets, we will help high risk businesses protect themselves from ram raiders, says Williams.

The Budget takes another significant step forward in the Governments modern approach to rehabilitation as the best way to break cycles of violence and offending.

Larger prison populations are not a sign of success, they are a mark of failure. The majority of offenders have previously been in jail so if we want less crime, we must have less reoffending, says Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis.

The prison population has been safely reduced in the past five years through a rehabilitation approach and that will continue through funding in the Budget for an additional 518 FTE Corrections roles over the next four years.

We will deliver additional staff across the entire corrections network including the womens prisons where the resources would help reduce reoffending amongst wahine,' says Davis.

With gang numbers continuing to rise in prison, extra staffing would also help address the challenges this posed for prison staff while also providing improved access to rehabilitation programmes.

We are setting the foundation for change. It will take generations to break cycles of violence, but the evidence is the plan is working  we just need to keep going with what works,says Davis.

All New Zealanders have a right to a justice system that makes our communities safer, addresses the root causes of crime, empowers victims, reduces offending, and reduces the disproportionate impact of the system on Maori, says Faafoi.

We are continuing to fund the existing Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment (AODT) Courts in Auckland, Waitakere and the Waikato. AODT Courts aim to break the cycle of offending, providing an alternative to imprisonment for people whose offending is being driven by alcohol and/or drug abuse.

We are committed to doing things differently by ensuring those who commit serious and violent crime are held accountable, while also providing pathways out of crime for lower risk offenders, says Faafoi.
The Ministry of Health is reporting 5,647 new community cases of Coivd-19, 350 hospitalisations and three deaths. There are 17 people in ICU.

There are 143 new cases in Bay of Plenty and 77 new cases in the Lakes District Health Board region. Bay of Plenty DHB hospitals have 21 cases and there are three cases in Lakes DHB hospitals.

There were 73 people identified at the border.

Todays seven-day rolling average of community case numbers is 7,510  approximately the same as last Sunday's 7,414 reported cases.

As people return to work and other activities this week, its a timely reminder for people to continue to follow public health advice to stay at home and stay away from school or work if youre feeling unwell. Another way to protect you and your whanau is to get vaccinated if you havent already done so.

Vaccination remains our best defence against Covid-19 and getting boosted is an important way people can protect themselves, their whanau and their friends from the virus.

Please if you are due for a vaccination, whether it be a second shot or booster, make an appointment today or attend a walk-in clinic.

Border case with Omicron BA.5 variant

A person who has travelled from overseas to New Zealand has been confirmed as having the BA.5 variant of Omicron. This is the first known detection of the variant in New Zealand.

The person arrived in New Zealand from South Africa on April 26, returned a positive RAT from their day 5/6 test on May 1 and a positive PCR sample taken on May 2 and the result reported the following day. Whole genome sequencing was undertaken as part of ongoing border surveillance for emerging variants and subsequently confirmed the BA.5 variant.

The person followed all testing and reporting requirements, allowing this new sub-variant to be identified quickly, and has now completed their isolation at home.

This follows the detection of BA.4 on May 1 also in a person who had travelled from South Africa.

Both BA.4 and BA.5 have been reported in Southern Africa and Europe, and both variants have been detected in Australia. The arrival of the BA.5 sub-variant in New Zealand is not unexpected and underlines the importance of the rapid antigen testing of all arrivals at day 0/1 and day 5/6 followed by a PCR test of any arrivals who test positive which then allows whole genome sequencing to be done.

At this stage, the public health settings already in place to manage other Omicron variants are assessed to be appropriate for managing both BA.4 and BA.5 and no changes are required.

Both BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants are being monitored by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO says that vaccination remains effective against these new subvariants.

It can take weeks or months to assess the severity of each new variant or sub-variant, so the Ministry of Health will continue to monitor the emerging evidence closely.

Covid-19 deaths

Today we are sadly reporting the deaths of three people with Covid-19, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson. The deaths being reported today include people who have died over the past three days.

Delays to reporting can be associated with people dying with Covid-19, rather than from Covid-19, and Covid being discovered only after they have died.

These deaths take the total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 to 860 and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 16.

Of the people whose deaths we are reporting today; two people were from Canterbury and one from MidCentral.

Two people were in their 80s and one was aged over 90. Two were men and one was a woman.

This is a very sad time for whanau and friends and our thoughts and condolences are with them at this time. Out of respect, we will be making no further comment.

Vaccinations administered in New Zealand

Vaccines administered to date: 4,026,832 first doses; 3,978,399 second doses; 31,920 third primary doses; 2,637,878 booster doses: 261,929 paediatric first doses and 118,801 paediatric second doses

Vaccines administered yesterday: 27 first doses; 43 second doses; 6 third primary doses; 1,256 booster doses; 105 paediatric first doses and 686 paediatric second doses

People vaccinated

All Ethnicities (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 4,055,844 first dose (96.4%); 4,006,786 second dose (95.2%), 2,633,023 boosted (70.9% of those eligible)

Maori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 521,095 first dose (91.3%); 504,171 second dose (88.3%), 235,425 boosted (54.3% of those eligible)

Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 281,933 first dose (98.3%); 277,068 second dose (96.6%), 140,464 boosted (56.8% of those eligible)

5 to 11-year-olds all ethnicities: 259,063 first dose (54.4%); 115,971 second dose (24.3%)

5 to 11-year-olds - Maori: 40,853 first dose (35.4%); 13,273 second dose (11.5%)

5 to 11-year-olds - Pacific Peoples: 23,531 first dose (47.6%); 6,752 second dose (13.7%)

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 (88.1%); boosted (67.5%)

Auckland DHB: first dose (99.1%); second dose (98.2%); boosted (73%)

Counties Manukau DHB: first dose (96.2%); second dose (95%); boosted (65.9%)

Waitemata DHB: first dose (96.5%); second dose (95.6%); boosted (70.8%)

Waikato DHB: first dose (95.1%); second dose (93.6%); boosted (66.4%)

Bay of Plenty DHB: first dose (95.1%); second dose (93.4%); boosted (65.7%)

Lakes DHB: first dose (93.1%); second dose (91.3%); boosted (66%)

MidCentral DHB: first dose (96.4%); second dose (95.2%); boosted (71.9%)

Tairawhiti DHB: first dose (93.1%); second dose (90.9%); boosted (65.6%)

Whanganui DHB: first dose (91.9%); second dose (90.4%); boosted (71.2%)

Hawkes Bay DHB: first dose (97.3%); second dose (95.7%); boosted (69.5%)

Taranaki DHB: first dose (94.6%); second dose (93.3%); boosted (67.8%)

Wairarapa DHB: first dose (96.4%); second dose (95%); boosted (72.8%)

Capital & Coast DHB: first dose (98.4%); second dose (97.8%); boosted (79.3%)

Hutt Valley DHB: first dose (96.6%); second dose (95.6%); boosted (74.7%)

Nelson Marlborough DHB: first dose (96.4%); second dose (95.2%); boosted (73.2%)

West Coast DHB: first dose (92.7%); second dose (91.3%); boosted (71.3%)

Canterbury DHB: first dose (99.7%); second dose (98.9%); boosted (74.2%)

South Canterbury DHB: first dose (94.7%); second dose (93.7%); boosted (74.2%)

Southern DHB: first dose (98.5%); second dose (97.5%); boosted (73%)

*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 or 16 and 17 year olds who have become eligible 6 months after having their second dose.

Hospitalisations

Cases in hospital: total number 350: Northland: 10; Waitemata: 41; Counties Manukau: 33; Auckland: 73; Waikato: 30; Bay of Plenty: 21; Lakes: 3; Tairawhiti: 0; Hawkes Bay: 13; Taranaki: 6; Whanganui: 0; MidCentral: 16; Wairarapa: 2; Hutt Valley: 3; Capital and Coast: 14; Nelson Marlborough: 6; Canterbury: 59; South Canterbury: 2; West Coast: 1; Southern: 17

Average age of current hospitalisations*: 59

Cases in ICU or HDU: 17

Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (37 cases / 16%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (6 cases / 3%); double vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (70 cases / 31%); Received booster at least 7 days before being reported as a case (111 cases / 49%); unknown (4 cases / 2%)

* 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.

Cases

Seven day rolling average of community cases: 7,510

Seven day rolling average (as at same day last week): 7,414

Number of new community cases: 5,647

Number of new community cases (PCR): 210

Number of new community cases (RAT): 5,437

Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT): Northland (129), Auckland (1,895), Waikato (353), Bay of Plenty (143), Lakes (77), Hawkes Bay (176), MidCentral (184), Whanganui (69), Taranaki (131), Tairawhiti (30), Wairarapa (67), Capital and Coast (424), Hutt Valley (206), Nelson Marlborough (189), Canterbury (914), South Canterbury (83), Southern (523), West Coast (51), Unknown (3)

Number of new cases identified at the border: 73

Number of active community cases (total): 52,558 (cases identified in the past 7 days and not yet classified as recovered)

Confirmed cases (total): 986,261

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
The pre-Budget announcement made by the Government on Sunday that Police numbers will be increased has been met with scathing comments from both Nationals candidate for Tauranga Sam Uffindell and ACT party Police spokesperson Chris Baillie.

Sam Uffindell says that Labour is ignoring the true cause of what he says are the exploding gang numbers in the Bay of Plenty.

Todays pre-Budget announcement shows Labour is oblivious to its soft-on-crime approach being the true cause of exploding gang numbers, says Sam.

The Bay of Plenty has the highest number of gang members of any district in the country, more than Aucklands three police districts combined.

On Sunday morning, Justice Minister Kris Faafoi, Police Minister Poto Williams and Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis announced a joined-up package of law and order measures to further increase Police numbers, address gang violence and extend successful rehabilitation programmes that are intended to break the cycle of offending and entering a life of crime.

ACTs Police spokesperson Chris Baillie who is also a former police officer says that the Governments promise of more cops on the beat has been made to cover for the fact its failing to meet its last promise.

In 2017, Labour promised 1,800 new police officers. It still hasnt achieved that goal. With exploding crime, its scrambling to make new promises so people forget about the old ones, says Chris.

ACTs Police spokesperson Chris Baillie. Photo: Martin de Ruyter/Stuff.

The Government has announced it is investing over $562 million over four years into Police, $94 million into tackling gangs and organised crime, and an extra $164.6 million operating and $20.7 million capital funding over four years to expand the highly successful Tactical Response Model. It will also put funding into more Police dog units and an additional $208 million over four years to establish a new Firearms Business Unit within Police.

Instead of focusing on improving outcomes, Labours approach to an issue is to throw more money at it and hope for a different result, says Sam.

Sam, who spent time on Saturday morning talking with local residents at Mount Maunganui ahead of his campaign launch, has a background in fighting financial crime. He says thanks to Labours soft-on-crime approach, gang membership has shot up by almost 40 per cent in Bay of Plenty and gang members outnumber police almost two-to-one.

National would focus on getting results and cracking down on gang crime in our communities. We would strengthen Firearms Protection Orders to help Police take guns off the gangs and send a clear signal that we wont tolerate gangs peddling meth and misery in our communities.

Everyone in Tauranga can see how emboldened gangs have become in the past few years, with constant brazen displays on our streets and intimidation of people going about their day.

Im aspirational for Tauranga and want it to be the best place to live, work and raise a family. As your strong local voice, I will stand up to gangs, criminals and anti-social behaviour in our communities.

Chris says Government ministers cant even agree on how many new cops have been recruited.

The Police Minister says, we have put 1,400 extra cops on the beat. The Prime Minister declared 1,800 new police officers had been promised and delivered. That claim was subsequently shot down by Poto Williams. The Police Association says just 1,273 have been recruited, says Chris.

While Ministers squabble about the numbers, crime on our streets has exploded, and gangs are recruiting faster than Police.

There are reports of gang crime and shootings most days and people do not feel safe in our communities.

Act's Tauranga candidate Cameron Luxton says while he was out campaigning with party leader David Seymour in Pyes Pa on Saturday campaigning, he met residents who expressed their concerns about crime.

Were talking with people and hearing the issues that are affecting the people of Tauranga,' says Cameron.

There is the issue of crime, and how people are beginning to feel unsafe in their communities.

Act's Tauranga candidate Cameron Luxton with party leader David Seymour talking with residents on the corner of Annandale Drive and Fairfax Crescent in Pyes Pa on Saturday. Photo: Supplied.

The Government needs to sort out its priorities and start focusing on the safety of the public and police officers, says Chris.

As a former police officer, I look at the increasing dangers that Police are facing and worry for them. Gangs are recruiting much faster than the Police.

ACT would introduce Gang Control Orders to crack down on gang members. This would allow the Police to apply to the courts for an injunction against an individual on the National Gang List, which could be used to prohibit bad behaviours including being in a particular location or associating with particular people. It could also be used to require positive actions, like attending rehabilitation.

We would also implement a standard annual increase in the Police staffing budget in line with population growth. This would provide a steady increase in funding for police recruitment over time to meet population needs and ensure that Police numbers increase as they are needed, instead of leaving it to hollow political promises.

Police need to feel like the Government supports them. Right now, it doesnt.
Dairy owner wants teenagers who ram raid businesses to face tougher penalties.

It comes as the government signals support is on the way for shops that have been targeted.

Like many other shops in Sandringham, Kshitij Vatsa's dairy is boarded up.

A month ago a group of teenagers smashed their way into his store, stealing armfuls of cigarettes and leaving behind thousands of dollars worth of damage.

"It was devastating. I saw the store totally smashed and then again the whole counter was messy, the chocolates were on the floor."

He doubts the ram raids will stop unless further action is taken.

"They need to feel a bit scared that if they do it again, there will be some consequences. If there are no consequences, they will keep on doing it again."

The government has signalled help is coming for businesses like Vatsa's.

According to police, in the 12 months to October last year there were 283 ram raids around the country, more than five a week.

Eighty-eight per cent of those were by teenagers or even younger kids.

Police Minister Poto Williams says a group of ministers working on addressing youth crime is meeting today to decide what to do in response.

"We've got a little bit more work to do, particularly in consulting small businesses. Ram raids are a serious issue and we need to deal with that."

The commitment from Williams was made as part of a pre-Budget law and order package which sees more than $560 million invested into police over four years.

The funding will be spent on tackling gangs, gun crime, and organised crime, setting up a new unit to oversee the firearms register and other legislative changes and boosting tactical response training.

"A record investment in police goes to show we take this seriously. Our communities tell us what they need, they need us to deal with gun violence, they need us to deal with gangs. This is exactly what this package is going to deliver."

Fifty million will be used from next year to maintain the current level of police staffing as the population grows - one officer to every 408 New Zealanders.

Williams is confident the jobs would be filled.

"You just have to look at the lists of people wanting to come in to training to know that it's a very popular career."

Politicians have squabbled over the number of new police recruits since the previous coalition-government promised in 2017 to increase frontline officers by 1800 in three years.

ACT leader David Seymour says politics should be removed from policing.

"We need to focus more on the quality and equipping of police, rather than just raw numbers. We're really thrilled the government has taken on the same view as us on this."

Seymour is dubious about whether extra funding for police will help reduce crime.

National's Mark Mitchell doubts it will.

"The reality of it is, it doesn't mean there will be tougher consequences for offenders when you've got a government sending a message that they are soft on crime."

The government also unveiled more funding for Corrections, just over $198m for rehabilitation programmes and funding for 500 extra staff.

-RNZ/Katie Scotcher.
Ivermectin products imported into New Zealand by controversial Murupara GP Dr Bernard Conlon had several defects that would not normally be seen in medicines approved for distribution in New Zealand.

Thats according to the Medsafe analysis of the drugs, obtained by Stuff via an Official Information Act request.

Medsafe says the testing of the Ivermectin products, conducted by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), also found the results are indicative of a poorly controlled and unhygienic manufacturing process.

Conlon is battling with the medical watchdog to get the seized Ivermectin, acquired via an Indian website, back.

Ivermectin is not approved for use against Covid-19.

Medsafe  the countrys medicines safety regulator  says there is no clear evidence that it is effective to treat or prevent the virus, and it may instead cause serious harm.

However, at a hearing at the Tauranga District Court back in March, his lawyer, Outdoors & Freedom co-leader Sue Grey, told the court Conlon always intended to test the products himself before prescribing.

She said he always intended to have everything tested whether or not it was taken by Medsafe.

The seizure has meant it has been impossible for him to get any testing done.

The Medsafe analysis also found all products contained less of the active ingredient than declared on the labels and that the amount of active ingredient varied from tablet to tablet.

They also showed poor dissolution, which indicated that they may not be readily absorbed by the body, Medsafe says.

Although some of the products met USP standards [a standard for a known quantity of a drug substance or ingredient], they were very low in their acceptable range. It is possible they may become outside the acceptable range by or before their expiry date.

Conlon, a long-standing Murupara general practice doctor, is currently suspended from practice, and came to wider attention after the Medical Council launched an investigation into comments he made about Covid-19 vaccinations, and his refusal to get vaccinated himself.

The council began investigating Conlon after he made comments at a Maori health expo in August, where he questioned informed consent for children and pregnant women around the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine.

Conlon told Stuff he ordered a volume of Ivermectin in clear excess to the predicted need to allow for redundancy and that he planned to have the drugs tested at a verified independent Australian laboratory to ensure quality and safety standards were met ahead of distribution.

He also says he would have discarded without argument the contaminated products.

Medsafe expressed disdain that the other samples had closer to 90 per cent dosage levels, he says.

Considering I intended to provide this medication free to my patients, I am confident that my patients would recognise a 90 per cent dose for free as still being a good offer.

He says a New Zealand propriety Ivermectin would cost about $450 for an average adult course.

I had Covid-19 myself in March and felt 70 per cent better 12 hours after starting a course of Ivermectin that I had stockpiled for such an eventuality.

A guiding principle I used whilst I practised medicine for over 30 years was to offer my patients the treatments I would choose myself.

-Stuff/Benn Bathgate.
Oranga Tamariki will investigate its practices and potential failings of care in the months before the murder of five-year-old Malachi Subecz at the hands of his caregiver Micheala Barriball.

Malachis extended family, based in Wellington, told Stuff this week they had alerted the child protection agency to grave concerns for Malachi's safety twice in the months before his death.

This included providing them with photographs of bruises, they say.

In a statement, Oranga Tamariki Chief Executive Chappie Te Kani says an independent reviewer will work alongside Chief Social Worker Peter Whitcombe to investigate how Oranga Tamariki handled the case.

I am committed to understanding where we may have failed Malachi and his whanau and I am resolved to fixing any failures in our systems.

The Chief Social Workers investigation will look at what we knew, how we responded and whether the decisions made based on the information was appropriate. It will also consider whether our current assessment procedures and processes need to be modified.

Te Kani says he's in touch with chief executives in other ministries, including police and education, on the matter.

The Tauranga daycare where Malachi attended took photographs of bruises and other injuries caused by his abuse in late September, more than a month before his murder.

These were not made available to police, and Oranga Tamariki has declined to say whether it had them in its possession.

Five-year-old Malachi Subecz was killed by his Oranga Tamariki caregivers while his mother was in prison. Photo: Jericho Rock-Archer/Stuff .

Malachi was taken to hospital as result of blunt force trauma injuries inflicted by Barriball on November 1 and died in Starship Hospital on November 12, 2021. He had been living in a cabin at the back of a Te Puna property.

Barriball had been caring for Malachi since his mother had been imprisoned on June 22, at the wishes of her and his mother.

Family spokesperson Helen Menzies, who say the extended family were fighting for custody, also this week criticised police and Oranga Tamariki for their lack of involvement at the time Malachi's mother was sent to prison, with Malachi attending court that day.

They say he was allowed to walk from the room with his killer.

Barriball pleaded guilty to murder in Tauranga High Court on Wednesday, May 4, with her sister Sharron Barriball previously found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The summary of facts show how the last months of Malachis short life were characterised by horrific and sustained physical and psychological torture.

Speaking on Newshubs The Nation current affairs programme on Saturday, Minister for Children Kelvin Davis said the case was complicated, and involved more than one agency.

Minister for Children Kelvin Davis told the Nation the case was complicated but answers were needed. Photo: Robert Kitchin/ Stuff.

It is too soon for me to jump to conclusions but if the practice has not been good enough then I expect those agencies... and I dont care who they are, and Im sure that my ministerial colleagues will agree with me... that those agencies will be expected to change what theyve done.

Asked whether heads would roll, Davis says they have to wait for the chief social workers investigation to be completed.

The investigation will address whether agencies should have done more after Malachis whanau contacted Oranga Tamariki over concerns he was being abused in care, Davis says.

It is also needed to plug gaps in the system, such as who checks on the care of children when a parent is in prison, he said.

Malachi suffered daily assaults by Barriball, who was receiving a benefit to look after him, the court summary stated. The abuse included slapping him in the face, head and body, and pushing him into walls and onto the ground.

Malachi would tell Michaela Barriball he didnt want to live there, and began soiling himself. He was punished by being stripped to his underwear and locked outside.

He was found injured at the Te Puna property on November 1. He was treated in Tauranga Hospital and later airlifted to Starship Hospital in Auckland, where he died on November 12.

Barriball has been convicted on a charge of murder, and failing her legal duty to care for someone under the age of 18.

She's also been convicted for injuring with intent to injure and intentionally causing suffering, namely physical and verbal abuse, failing to provide medical assistance, and causing him to be malnourished.

Both Barriball sisters will be sentenced on June 30.

Te Kani says if Oranga Tamariki has failed Malachi, he will own it, and the agency will change.

I appreciate this will not fill the hole in the hearts of those that loved Malachi. I dont think anything I or Oranga Tamariki does will be able to do that.

But I do want to assure Malachis whanau that, regardless of the outcome of this or any other reviews or investigations, Malachi will be a constant reminder of why Oranga Tamariki needs to do better and the entire childrens system needs to be better.

-Stuff/ .
Theres no question that Justin Colorado killed his girlfriend outside a Flagstaff apartment complex in June 2020.

Instead, a Coconino County jury must decide whether his fatal shooting of 34-year-old Jessica Biakeddy was premeditated.

Opening arguments in Colorado's trial in Coconino County Superior Court began Friday, followed by the first batch of testimony accounts.

Prosecutors are urging jurors to convict the 31-year-old of premeditated first-degree murder, possession of a weapon by a prohibited person and drive-by shooting in connection with the death of Biakeddy.

Prosecutor Ammon Barker told the jury that Colorado made a conscious decision to fire at Biakeddy 10 times on the night of June 23, 2020. He told police he ultimately opted to shoot her the 10th and final time because he "didn't want her to suffer"  putting her down as one might do with an animal, Barker said.

The defense says the shooting wasn't premeditated, but a drunken split-second reaction.

Whether the shooting was premeditated could make a tremendous difference for Colorado. Either way, he's going to prison, but whether the jury finds him guilty of first-degree murder will determine if he will ever have a possibility of parole.

Both Barker and defense attorney Jennifer Stock noted the couple's relationship was fraught. His past relationship with the mother of Colorado's child was a tense issue for the couple and they repeatedly fought about the same topic before making up again as they spent the day of June 23 together. Colorado took the day off work to visit Slide Rock State Park with Biakeddy. Colorado drank heavily throughout the day, Stock said, drinking beer before later switching to hard alcohol as the day progressed.

They continued to argue as they traveled to Flagstaff to visit Biakeddy's sister. Biakeddy went inside to have dinner with her sister and her niece and nephew while Colorado stayed in the car. She left the apartment multiple times, spending a few minutes with Colorado outside in the parking lot over the course of the evening before coming back inside.

Colorado stayed outside in the car the entire time, Stock said. He was upset, brooding over his separated family and his fraught relationship with Biakeddy. He kept drinking.

"He's in a dark place at this point," Stock said. "He's dark, he's drunk and he's angry."

Biakeddy eventually broke up with him that night and he began throwing her stuff out of the car, according to Stock. At some point, he attempted to go in for a hug goodbye and Biakeddy told Colorado to stay away from her. That's when he pulled out the gun. Biakeddy warned him she was going to call the police.

"He wants to intimidate her," Stock recounted for the court. "She says, '(Expletive) do it,' and bang, bang, bang, he does."

"He reacts and that's what it was  his reaction," she continued.

At least one witness saw the shooting and told police Colorado shot Biakeddy in the back as she ran away. He then shot her in the face as she lay on the asphalt screaming. He recounted the shooting in a confession to police, an audio recording of which was played for the jury.

"I shot close just to make sure she wasn't going to suffer," Colorado could be heard saying in the recording.

Barker said that was the moment Colorado decided to kill her  the moment of reflection before you kill someone, he told the jury.

That moment, according to Barker, is what made the killing premeditated.

The Coconino County medical examiner determined Biakeddy had 23 separate gunshot wounds, Barker said. He graphically recounted how the bullets passed through her body multiple times.

When police arrived on scene, Biakeddy was unconscious but still breathing. She died later at the Flagstaff Medical Center. Colorado sat stone-faced in his suit as Barker recounted the incidents of that night, but Biakeddy's family was clearly wrecked with emotion, sobbing as Barker recounted the details of her violent death.

Colorado then fled the scene and drove two hours to Kaibeto where he picked up the mother of his child and his daughter, Barker said. They later switched to her car after Colorado crashed his own. He allegedly confessed to killing Biakeddy to her and attempted to discard the gun used in the shooting. The woman eventually drove to a gas station and waited for police to arrive once Colorado fell asleep. The gun was later recovered and was a match for the one used to shoot Biakeddy.

Colorado confessed to Flagstaff police. He was still drunk during his first interaction with police, Stock said, detailing his slurred words and references to evil and the devil. He was sober by his next conversation with police, and Stock said he wanted to confess.

"It's a relief to tell them what happened," Stock said. "It's the least he could do."

The trial is scheduled to last a month.

Reporter Bree Burkitt can be reached at 928-556-2250 or bburkitt@azdailysun.com.

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In his recent article in The Atlantic, Ed Yong posed a poignant question: What does society owe immunocompromised people?

During the massive surge in COVID cases in the fall and winter of 2020, I remember seeing commercial after commercial proclaiming that we were all in this together. Images of nurses and doctors with haggard faces and weeks old personal protection equipment flashed on screen. In November 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci, as part of the White House COVID task force, stated, We can mitigate this virus and stop this spread together.

Most people understood that protecting one another with layered protection strategies like masking and social distancing was essential to doing your part to help the broader community.

But much has changed in the last two years. The release of vaccines to combat COVID provided an extra layer of protection for most individuals. Mask mandates, or even mask recommendations, have been thrown out the window in many places, including on public and air transportation. Recent videos of airline passengers cheering and throwing away their masks were virally making their way across social media platforms after a federal judge in Florida struck down the Biden administrations airline mask mandate.

However, most highly trained, well-regarded public health policy analysts state that masking is still needed to help reduce surges and hospitalizations and protect the most vulnerable in our communities. Even Dr. Fauci stated in 2020, We should not say that vaccines are a substitution for public health measures; (theyre) a complement to public health measures.

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness spread through aerosol transmission. While it has affected everyone in the United States in some way, it has disproportionately harmed individuals who are immunocompromised, seniors, people with certain comorbidities, and Black or brown communities. Layered mitigation strategies, including wearing a mask, have shown to significantly decrease the risk of transmission. Even surgical masks and cloth masks can reduce transmission rates. Yet the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, called masks the scarlet letter of this pandemic.

The shift from community-based public health measures to individual-risk health evaluations has left those who have been most affected by the pandemic increasingly vulnerable. As certain public health experts, including the CDC, push personal risk assessment over holistic community public health policies, individuals at high risk for COVID complications are left to determine how to navigate the daily task of going to the grocery store and attending health appointments.

Also, the personal risk assessment doesnt take into account the disabling nature of COVID-19: According to the Government Accountability Office, 10% to 30% of COVID survivors experience symptoms for more than one month, and at least 10% have symptoms that have affected their ability to work. A new study also showed that of the 66,008 COVID survivors experienced, on average, brain damage comparable to 20 years of aging.

So, what do we owe those most at risk for COVID complications? What do we owe the nurses and doctors burnt out after multiple surges? The United States must make crystal clear the value of masks in protecting vulnerable people and communities to help reduce surges and protect the most at risk in our communities. Masks are not scarlet letters  they are one of the many tools at our disposal to reduce chances of death or disability from long COVID.

As Dr. Paul Farmer is often quoted, The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world. Its our moral and civic duty to serve and protect the most vulnerable in our communities. By doing this, we protect all in our communities.

Mia Ives-Rublee is director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.

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cule1899_bhp Newbie

Join Date: May 2021 Location: Vijayawada Posts: 17 Thanked: 38 Times

Re: The 5th-gen Honda City in India. EDIT: Review on page 62 Quote: manim Originally Posted by

I did a 600 kms drive this week. It was more than 95% on 4-lane highways (NH-38). The FE was 19.9 kmpl over 417 kms

I did a VJA-HYD round trip last week in my City MT. Was able to get 21km/l until I got stuck in traffic just 7kms from my destination which took nearly an hour to reach. It was down to 20.6km/l by that time. I started at 8 in the morning when the temperature was around 31 degrees and within a couple of hours it was around 40C. The ecopia tyres are noisy in hot conditions which gives me another reason to go easy on the throttle.



I started the return trip at around 5:20 PM. On this trip too I had that traffic for the same 7kms and even the traffic on the outer ring road was messy, cars driving slower on high speed lanes and poor lane discipline etc., But this time I wasn't driving so sedately as I did in the morning. The tyres stay silent in the evenings and at nights, music becomes crisper minus the noise. Traffic was frequent and had to stay behind chains at times, so there was a lot of braking and gear changes than in the morning drive. So not a very smooth drive.



Overall it returned 19.9km/l on a 608 kms round trip. AC is always on. It's not bad for a sedan of this size.







Quote: divirokr Originally Posted by

I am hopeful that after the first service things will only get better. Reading your post reassures me. I am hopeful that after the first service things will only get better. Reading your post reassures me.





Quote: Dieseltuned Originally Posted by

Model booked : Honda City ZX MT Petrol

Booking amount : 21000

Delivery : 1 month waiting







Quote: sprinter Originally Posted by

Meanwhile my Honda City had its first taste of agony in 6 months thanks to a flower pot somehow finding its way to enter my car all the way from the 6th floor.





Can you share a pic of your car showing the spoiler, I always wanted to install it but was really skeptical of how it would look after the fitting. I did a VJA-HYD round trip last week in my City MT. Was able to get 21km/l until I got stuck in traffic just 7kms from my destination which took nearly an hour to reach. It was down to 20.6km/l by that time. I started at 8 in the morning when the temperature was around 31 degrees and within a couple of hours it was around 40C. The ecopia tyres are noisy in hot conditions which gives me another reason to go easy on the throttle.I started the return trip at around 5:20 PM. On this trip too I had that traffic for the same 7kms and even the traffic on the outer ring road was messy, cars driving slower on high speed lanes and poor lane discipline etc., But this time I wasn't driving so sedately as I did in the morning. The tyres stay silent in the evenings and at nights, music becomes crisper minus the noise. Traffic was frequent and had to stay behind chains at times, so there was a lot of braking and gear changes than in the morning drive. So not a very smooth drive.Overall it returned 19.9km/l on a 608 kms round trip. AC is always on. It's not bad for a sedan of this size.You were able to get a very decent mileage considering your car is brand new. It keeps on improving with more miles you put on it, I can assure you from my experience. You'll notice that change in the city conditions very clearly.Congratuations on your booking. Hope you'll have a great buying and ownership experience.That's unfortunate, pains to see the car like that. Hope you've inspected it thoroughly, any shards remaining can be harmful.Can you share a pic of your car showing the spoiler, I always wanted to install it but was really skeptical of how it would look after the fitting.
ach1lles BHPian

Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Bombay Posts: 267 Thanked: 1,211 Times

Need to fly to Netherlands, but VFS appointment unavailable | Now what?

First, the appointments for Schengen Visa are just not available till the end of this month for most common states like Germany, France, Netherlands etc. Germany selection simply says that no slots are available, without an anticipatory date.

France has slots available in the last week of May. Netherlands has slots available only in July!

I even tried less frequented countries, like Finland and Estonia. Estonia has slots available on the 6th, 11th, 13th and so on, but that doesn't matter due to the second problem:



France has slots available in the last week of May. Netherlands has slots available only in July! I even tried less frequented countries, like Finland and Estonia. Estonia has slots available on the 6th, 11th, 13th and so on, but that doesn't matter due to the second problem: The appointments are just not going through. When you click on "pay now" after filling in the forms and selecting slots, the response is that your selected time slot is filled, and that another slot should be selected. This happens for any time slot, and any date, for any country. And for any time of day. I even tried at midnight.

Also, as annoying as this is, after telling you slots aren't available twice, the third time it'll just tell you that you've exceeded the number of attempts and for you to try "after two hours".



Also, as annoying as this is, after telling you slots aren't available twice, the third time it'll just tell you that you've exceeded the number of attempts and for you to try "after two hours". Third, even the travel agents have an exasperated response, and say that they can't find a way through. That this has been happening at VFS since a couple of months, that they are understaffed due to post-COVID, and none of the systems are working.

What can be done here? At this point I'm not sure if we get the appointment also that the visa will be processed properly and in time. But we'll worry about that later.



I have sent emails to the Netherlands consulate if they could assist in any way, and to VFS, and even to the conference organisers.



The reason for this post is also two-fold. One, if someone here can offer a way out, and two, as PSA. I had no idea the situation was such. The past several times I have travelled, the visa timeline has been 15 days, as advised by their website too. That is clearly not so anymore, at least for now.



Some screenshots:











Hi. The appointment reservation at VFS is not working. I need to attend a conference in Netherlands and (costly) tickets have already been purchased. Intended date of travel: May 30. Conference date: June 1-2. There are a few problems:What can be done here? At this point I'm not sure if we get the appointment also that the visa will be processed properly and in time. But we'll worry about that later.I have sent emails to the Netherlands consulate if they could assist in any way, and to VFS, and even to the conference organisers.The reason for this post is also two-fold. One, if someone here can offer a way out, and two, as PSA. I had no idea the situation was such. The past several times I have travelled, the visa timeline has been 15 days, as advised by their website too. That is clearly not so anymore, at least for now.Some screenshots:
ESA astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti, becomes the first space TikToker at the International Space Station. She decided to do this so that more people would learn more about the common things they do in the giant space laboratory.

(Photo : Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

European Space Agency Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti takes part in a preflight training session at the Gagarin Cosmonauts' Training Centre in Star City centre outside Moscow, on December 10, 2013.

"What questions do you have about life on the space station? Tell me in the comments. And remember: Follow me to boldly go where no TikToker has gone before," she said in one of her TikTok videos.

Cristoforetti already posted some content on her account. However, those are Earth-based videos. Now that she's in the International Space Station, he posted another video with her very first ISS content.

ESA Astronaut as First Space TikToker

According to Space.Com's latest report, Cristoforetti, one of the crewmembers of SpaceX's Crew-4 mission, arrived at the ISS on Apr. 27.

(Photo : Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

European Space Agency's Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti attends a sending-off ceremony in the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome on November 23, 2014. The international crew of US astronaut Terry Virts, Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and European Space Agency's Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

Also Read: Space Meat? ESA Supports Cultured Meat Studies to Ensure Food Supplies for Astronauts

On May 5, she decided to post a TikTok content showing the zero-gravity indicators at the International Space Station. Aside from this, she had a plush turtle, which she called Zippy.

The ESA astronaut also has a stuffed toy monkey named Etta. Her first ISS content lasts for only 88 seconds. However, it shows the things that happened before Samantha reached the orbiting space laboratory.

As of writing, her viral ISS video already has around 642,000 views. You can visit Samantha Cristoforetti's official Twitter account to see more of her fun space videos.

Who is Samantha Cristoforetti?

Samantha Cristoforetti is an Italian astronaut who works with the European Space Agency. She was born on April 26, 1997. Before she became an ESA astronaut, she first joined the Italian Air Force.

Samantha became an officer candidate for the Air Force Academy. She also served as a class leader for four years. After that, she was selected as one of the astronauts for ESA back in May 2009.

Aside from the recent SpaceX Crew-4 mission, Cristoforetti was also among the astronauts of Expedition 42 and Expedition 43 NASA missions.

She worked as a flight engineer during these space activities. You can visit ESA's official blog post to see more information about her.

Meanwhile, ESA's Gaia Observatory was able to capture NASA's James Webb Telescope.

On the other hand, NASA and ESA ISS cooperation with Russia was recently threatened by Roscosmos.

For more news updates about Samatha Cristoforetti and other ESA astronauts, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: ESA Introduces Technique That Lets Astronauts in Orbit Control Exploring Rovers

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Joe Biden proclaimed, Wearing masks is not a political statement, it is a scientific imperative. He was wrong. There is little evidence supporting generalized use of masks.

A pre-COVID systemic review of interventions to combat the spread of respiratory viral diseases by the highly regarded Cochrane Library found that medical/surgical mask wearing makes little or no difference to the outcome of influenza or influenza-like illnesses compared to not wearing a mask.

A recent review of the literature reported two randomized controlled clinical trials of the effectiveness of masking in COVID-19. One failed to demonstrate a statistically significant benefit. The second found small, marginally statistically significant reductions in viral transmission for surgical masks but not for cloth masks. Thirteen of 14 tests assessing mask wearing in non-COVID respiratory infections failed to find a statistically significant benefit for masks.

Randomized controlled clinical trials are the gold standard in medical research because randomization minimizes the effect of unmeasured confounding variables and researcher bias that can occur in observational studies.

Early in the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, British health authorities and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control all refrained from recommending widespread mask usage, often discouraging it. Dr. Anthony Fauci emailed in February 2020 that the typical mask is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through the material. In a March 8 interview on 60 Minutes he said that theres no reason to be walking around with a mask.

Nevertheless, the CDC in April 2020 began recommending mask wearing, including cloth masks. A CDC Science Brief relied on observational masking studies where the evidence suggested benefit, while highlighting the limitations rather than outcomes of studies that suggested the absence of benefit or even harm.

Endorsing cloth masks was disconcerting since an RCT of hospital workers showed far higher infection rates with cloth masks than medical masks.

The CDC repeatedly highlighted an observational study of two COVID-positive hair stylists in Missouri who were masked and provided services for several days after developing COVID symptoms to 139 customers, who were mostly masked. Sixty-seven customers who were tested were negative and none of the remaining 72 reported symptoms.

Yet, no one knows if any of the 72 untested, asymptomatic customers were actually infected. Half of COVID infected people are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. In addition, viral shedding and infectiousness is highest in the two to three days before symptom onset -- which is before these symptomatic hairdressers encountered the study customers. Finally, there was no control group to show how many customers would be infected by COVID-positive hairdressers who did not wear masks.

Similarly, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has repeatedly cited an observational Arizona study claiming that school districts without mask mandates were 3.5 times more likely to have COVID outbreaks than districts that required masks. The study is an outlier in the literature and, as David Zweig showed in The Atlantic, has multiple methodological problems rendering its conclusions worthless.

The CDCs about-face on masks for general use appeared to be a demonstration it is doing something. Following the recent court decision striking down the federal transportation mask mandate, the agency still insists masks are needed. But the CDCs failure to seek a stay pending appeal suggests the agency doesnt really believe masks are beneficial.

Generalized mask mandates had little benefit. A study of infection rates with mask mandates and rates of mask use in all 50 states during the first year of the pandemic concluded that mask mandates and use are not associated with slower state-level COVID-19 spread during COVID-19 growth surges. Ian Millers Unmasked: The Global Failure of COVID Mask Mandates shows that infection rates and deaths were no different in the 39 states that imposed mandates and the 11 states that did not. There was also little difference between countries that imposed mandates and those that did not.

While there is little evidence for generalized use, masks should be used in specific circumstances. People with an active infection should mask since the evidence for mask efficacy is strongest as a means of source control rather than as protection against infections.

People who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 such as the elderly, the immunocompromised and those with multiple medical problems should consider masking indoors since whatever small, uncertain benefit masking provides will be especially valuable for them. Medical personnel with access to high-quality, properly fitted masks should also mask when in patient contact.

Generalized mask mandates should not be imposed without evidence. And that, despite the presidents assurance, does not exist.

Joel M. Zinberg is a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and an associate clinical professor of surgery at the Icahn Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.

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The appropriate "open door" policy has encouraged many fields to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic, including the international cooperation of Hue University.

From mid-March 2022 to now, the environment has been vibrant again with projects or international delegations coming to Hue University to work. Especially, there are several new imprints.

The German room in Hue - a space to learn German from the achievements of international cooperation

More imprints and opportunities

In March 2022, the groundbreaking ceremony of the high-tech Obstetrics and Pediatrics Center building of the Hospital of Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy took place with the cheerfulness of many people.

With the ODA capital of the Italian Republic and the reciprocal capital of the Vietnamese side, this building has marked a milestone in the history of comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Italy, particularly, between the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University, and other Italian agencies universities, and NGOs.

Also, the reason for being joyful is because of the significant achievements in international cooperation after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the groundbreaking ceremony were attended by Mr. Antonio Alessandro - Ambassador of the Italian Republic to Vietnam, and Mr. Enrico Padula - Consul General of Italy in Ho Chi Minh City and many representatives from Italy.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Vu Quoc Huy, Rector of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University, said that the 7-storey building of the High-Tech Obstetrics and Pediatric Centers construction was commenced along with the procurement of medical equipment, operating room equipment, and anti-infection facilities from Italian ODA.

With a total project investment of nearly 172 billion VND, the project will make a practical contribution to improving the capacity of Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, a Grade I hospital; and, is a practice base for training human resources in the health sciences sector of the university, and at the same time improving the quality of health care, medical examination, and treatment for people in the province, the provinces in the Central - Central Highlands, and from Laos.

The groundbreaking ceremony of the high-tech Obstetrics and Pediatrics Center building is only one of a lot of good news. From mid-March 2022 up to now, many international cooperation projects and activities have been restarted by Hue University and its partners, bringing many positive signals.

Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Hoang Khanh Linh, Dean of the Faculty of International Affairs - Hue University shared that, recently, on the occasion of the visit and working session of the delegation of the Goethe-Institute and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Hue University and its partners inaugurated the German language and culture space in Hue, named German room in Hue. This place will create a German-speaking environment, thereby acting as a bridge for cultural exchange activities as well as the exchange of students and lecturers between universities in the Federal Republic of Germany and Hue University.

Mr. Wilfried Eckstein, Director of the Goethe-Institute, affirmed that the German language and culture space in Hue brings many values, especially this will be a place for language training and education for German language lovers.

Groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital

The appropriate "open door" policy has removed difficulties and barriers after a long period of many activities being interrupted.

Dr. Nguyen Xuan Huy, Deputy Head of the Department of Science, Technology and International Relations of Hue University, said that it has been a long time since the COVID-19 pandemic that the cooperation activities become vibrant again. Only in April 2022, Hue University and its institutions and units welcomed more than 10 international delegations to work, restart and implement projects, including many partner delegations from Portugal, France, Korea, and many European countries. International cooperation activities are robust again in the field of cooperation in implementing projects as well as cooperation in training.

Two years affected by the pandemic, many activities, especially students and lecturers exchanges, had to stop. At present, this activity has been strongly restarted, not only foreign lecturers and students come to Hue, but, in the opposite direction, there are many students, lecturers, and doctoral students going to study, do research, and work abroad as well, Dr. Huy informs.

Will "come back" strongly

It has been more than a month since the open-door policy was conducted to adapt to the pandemic situation, the mentioned achievements are enough to bring positive signals after two sad years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What is more optimistic is that the activities and projects that are restarted will "come back" strongly, making up for the intentions that have not been done in about two stressful years because of the pandemic.

According to leaders of Hue University, Hue University and other universities are developing a series of plans till the middle or even the end of 2022, which is continuously welcoming international delegations, and partners to work and teach at the university units of Hue University. And that "business" not only brings visible results but also enhances Hue University's reputation in the international arena.

In the projects of ERASMUS+, Hue University has participated as the lead and coordinator, especially the project "Development of the Master's Program in Climate Change and Law and Policy - CCP-Law". The program contents encountered difficulties to be conducted due to the pandemic will be deployed strongly in the near future.

Dr. Nguyen Xuan Huy informed that Hue University was managing and implementing 23 international cooperation projects within member units, under and directly under Hue University. Besides, Hue University is implementing activities within the framework of the VLIR-IUC program (reviewing and supporting procedures for 3 Ph.D. students to continue participating in the training program in Belgium) and continues to coordinate and implement activities within the framework of CDAE, CCP-Law, and SHARE projects, at the same time, continuing to complete the licensing documents for nine new projects.

Hue University also maintains and develops joint training programs with international partners; particularly, signing cooperation agreements with many from Ireland, Belarus, the United Kingdom, and many other international partners, promoting and creating many robust movements in projects, training activities, and scientific research.

Story and photos: Huu Phuc
The Botticelli Affair

Written by: Traci L. Slatton

Available In: eBook|Paperback

Author Website: http://www.tracilslatton.com/

Luscious art forger Laila Cambridge has a little vampire problem. Shes a high-spirited woman with a sordid past, trying to go straight. Enter gorgeous John Bolingbroke, a half-vampire with news of her missing father. From New York through Paris, Amsterdam, and Rome, while fleeing ruthless vampires, Laila searches desperately for her father and a lost painting that holds a coveted secret.
Four members of Billings Golden K Kiwanis club received recognition at the Montana District Mid-Winter Conference in Billings in late February.

Billings Golden K received the Distinguished Club Award recognizing the clubs support of children in the community. That award included distinguished president to Cynthia Jessee, distinguished secretary to Susan Keene and distinguished lieutenant Governor to Ellen Smith. The past president of the Golden K Kiwanis, John Koppelman, was designated 2022-2023 lieutenant governor for Division 4.

Kiwanis is an international service organization serving the children of the world. The conference was for the purpose of leadership training, inspiration and fellowship. A highlight was the section of the agenda recognizing clubs and individuals for outstanding service during the 2020-2021 year.

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The Mourning Woman

Written by: Steven M. Roth

Available In: eBook|Paperback

Author Website: http://www.StevenMRoth.com

Four years have passed since the events in MANDARIN YELLOW when Socrates Cheng's Chinese heritage pulled him into the mysteries of his oriental roots. Socrates now is a wiser and more cynical investigator.



In the time that has passed since MANDARIN YELLOW, Socrates' father has died and his mother has returned to her Greek origins, moving into a condominium populated by elderly Greek immigrants, including one woman who is reputed to be the direct descendant of the ancient Oracle at Delphi. And that is where Socrates' problems begin as Socrates, skeptical at first of the old woman's powers, soon learns the hard way that her dire prophecies sometimes have a disquieting and deadly way of coming true.
Fitness Confidential

Written by: Vinnie Tortorich with Dean Lorey

Available In: eBook|Paperback

Author Website: http://www.vinnietortorich.com/

For decades, Vinnie Tortorich has been Hollywoods go-to guy for celebrities and athletes looking to get fit fast. Now, in this hilarious, r-rated memoir, Hollywoods most outrageous personal trainer exposes the fitness world while getting you into shape. Whats the best piece of fitness equipment money can buy? Why are health clubs worse than used car lots? Vinnie tells all!
Swimming Monkeys: Revelation (Book 2 in the Swimming Monkeys Trilogy)

Written by: Steve Hadden

Available In: eBook|Paperback

Author Website: http://www.stevehadden.com/

A Shocking Revelation The Governments Worst NightmareAn Impossible Rescue

Ryan Webster, a champion swimmer turned fugitive, has kept the promise hed made to his dying grandfather and rescued a new species of monkey from their burned out home in the Amazon jungle. But the explosive secret they carry is about to be exposed. Its a secret that the President of the United States doesnt want revealed. Recruited by the government to confirm their worst fears, the countrys top geneticist is obsessed with securing his own immortality and will do anything to achieve that goal.

Trapped in the custody of a relentless FBI agent chosen to lead the governments cover-up, Ryan must find a way to rescue the monkeys hes promised to protect, before they suffer unthinkable torture in the name of mankind.

Swimming Monkeys: Revelation extrapolates the explosive potential within the human genome into a powerful and entertaining thriller about a young mans commitment and the thin line between right and wrong.
The next eye of the storm! The "big fish" of the Azov steel plant is about to come out of the water?
Chadron State College has announced that 346 students including Camden Osen of Billings met requirements for the Dean's List for the Fall 2021 semester by earning at least a 3.5 grade point average. To qualify, students must have completed at least 45 credit hours, be enrolled in 12 credit hours of coursework, be seeking their first bachelor's degree, and have no incomplete grades during the semester. Hometowns listed reflect the student's preferred home address.
When her property insurance company went insolvent in November, Rita Whittaker figured her path to recovery had reached a dead end.

The 74-year-old had fought for more than a year to get State National Fire Insurance Company to make good on her claims from hurricanes Laura and Delta.

But by the time the carrier went out of business, Whittaker had received only a fraction of what she needed to fix up her home.

She couldn't afford to purchase new insulation, to keep the cold air in  or out," so her daughter covered their walls and ceilings with contractor plastic and they used their kitchen oven to heat their home.

Fortunately, Louisiana has a safety net for policyholders, like Whittaker, whose insurers go under: the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association, or LIGA.

Created by the Legislature in 1970, the state-sponsored nonprofit promises to pay policyholders up to $500,000 for claims left unpaid by an insolvent property insurer, as well as $10,000 for unearned premiums.

After two years of costly, catastrophic storms, LIGA is facing its biggest test in decades.

Louisiana lawmakers advance bills to tackle adjuster swapping, insurer communication following storms Lawmakers took their first steps Wednesday toward reining in how property insurers do business in Louisiana, advancing out of committee a seri

In November, the Louisiana Department of Insurance took over two state-based property insurers  State National and Access Home Insurance Company  after they ran out of cash to pay out claims. Two months later, the state took over another carrier, Americas Insurance Company.

Together, the trio of carriers had around around 25,000 active claims when they went belly-up, requiring LIGA to swoop in and pick up where they left off.

Since then, LIGA has paid out roughly $169 million to policyholders orphaned by insolvent insurers and issued around 15,000 checks, officials say.

And LIGA's work is just getting started. In April, a fourth insurer, Lighthouse Property Insurance, went insolvent. It had around 16,000 active claims.

But so far, the safety net has been little help to Whittaker. Six months after State National went under, she hasnt received a dime from LIGA. Her home remains in shambles, down to its studs.

Its an all-too-familiar feeling for Whittaker and other policyholders, who say that LIGA has been slow in handling their claims. After waiting months for their insurers to respond, theyre now waiting on LIGA.

I love this house, Whittaker said. Im just hoping that before I die, I get to see it fixed, and that I get to live a normal life again  This is not normal.

John Wells, LIGAs executive director, says the nonprofit is moving as fast as possible to make policyholders whole, under extraordinary demand. LIGA has intervened in court proceedings earlier than required to get a head start on processing claims.

Its also bulked up its staff in recent months from around a dozen people to more than 500, mostly through contracts with independent adjusting firms. Wells said each policyholder has been assigned a dedicated adjuster to hold that persons hand through the process.

Officials with LIGA say policyholders frustrations are understandable. Many of them have already suffered multiple adjusters and are out of patience by the time it gets to our door," said Stephanie LaBorde, LIGAs general counsel.

Were the ones holding the hot potato when the buzzer goes off, she said.

That hammer is not available

But critics say LIGA doesnt have an incentive to move quickly. Unlike insurance companies, it isnt subject to bad faith penalties for delays.

The threat of having to pay attorneys fees and a penalty worth 50% of unpaid claims is usually what gets insurers to act, said Kirk Guidry, Sr., a Baton Rouge attorney who has several clients waiting on LIGA.

But that hammer is not available in these LIGA claims, Guidry said.

Last week, a pair of state lawmakers presented legislation that would make LIGA liable for penalties if it didnt pay a policyholder within 120 days of receiving satisfactory proof of loss.

The author of House Bill 881, state Rep. Ryan Bourriaque, a Republican whose district includes all of Cameron Parish, said some of his constituents had settled with their insurers before they went bankrupt, but now they cant get LIGA to pay those claims.

New Orleans Democratic Rep. Mandie Landry said her constituents have also complained of delays with LIGA. She said the penalties are needed as a low simmer to incentivize LIGA to move faster.

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The proposal failed to advance out of the House Committee on Insurance on Wednesday, in part, because penalties against LIGA would ultimately fall on Louisianas taxpayers.

Frustrated with insurers, Louisiana lawmakers consider new regulations following Hurricane Ida Usually, when state lawmakers gather in Baton Rouge to consider new regulations on insurers, they shy away from additional restrictions out of

Thats because LIGA supports itself through assessments on solvent insurers, who often recoup those dollars from the state, over the course of a decade, through tax credits. Insurers can also offset those payments through rate hikes on policyholders.

Under state law, LIGA can issue assessments  worth 1% of insurers net direct written premium  once a year.

For the first time since 2004, LIGA exercised that authority in December, collecting around $100 million from insurers. Another assessment of $100 million was sent out a few weeks ago.

Given the quantity of claims, LIGA will likely need to borrow money later this year, against future assessments, to continue making payments to policyholders, Wells said.

But just because LIGA doesn't have to pay penalties or attorney's fees doesn't mean it won't face lawsuits.

Galen Hair, an attorney with Hair Shunnarah Trial Attorneys, said adjusters hired by LIGA are "being a lot more adversarial" with policyholders currently than they were last year, when dealing with claims from the failed Florida-based carrier Gulfstream Property and Casualty Insurance Company.

Hair said suing LIGA is a "lose-lose scenario": policyholders have to pay for attorney's fees out of pocket, and taxpayers have to pay for LIGA's defense costs.

But, given the difficulties policyholders are facing, Hair said litigation is "exactly where this storm is headed."

Reasons for delays

Part of whats slowing LIGA down is that much of the failed carriers data is messy, often requiring staffers to spend time manually processing it to get it into a workable format, Wells said.

LIGA might have received satisfactory proof of loss from a policyholder, but if it doesn't have a copy of the policy, or information on past payments, it cant determine whether a claim is ready to be paid.

Its also not always clear, at least initially, which policyholders need assistance.

After making an initial payment, insurance companies will often mark a claim as resolved, even if supplemental payments may be needed. That can make it difficult for LIGA to know whether that policyholder needs additional attention.

Lanny Malcombe, a resident of Cut Off, received around $20,000 from State National before it went insolvent in November. That was nowhere close to the $114,000 an independent adjuster said was needed to repair his home.

When he learned that LIGA was taking over his claim, Malcombe breathed a sigh of relief: A lot of people told me the state was easier to work with than the insurer.

In December, Malcombe sent the independent estimate to State National. And in February, an adjuster hired by LIGA inspected his property.

Since then, hes received no communication from LIGA on his claim. In the meantime, Malcombe, 71, has spent $35,000 out of his savings to keep his repairs moving.

I thought the state would take care of us in a timely fashion, Malcombe said. Nobody has come back with us with an offer.

A spokesperson for LIGA said State National had marked Malcombes case as resolved, and as such it was not among the open/pending items when LIGA began helping policyholders.

Whittaker's home in Sulphur today looks much like it did when her insurer went under six months ago.

She needs around $200,000, according to a contractor's estimate, to fully fix up her home. Before going under, State National paid her $50,000, enough for a new roof, but not much else. Much of what's left over is on hold with her mortgage company.

"She's been waiting a very long time to get what she's owed," said Shelia Tolar, an attorney with Brasher Law Firm, which is representing Whittaker and around 20 other clients facing similar difficulties with LIGA.

Whittaker spent around a year renting an apartment in Beaumont, but moved back home in October, after exhausting her coverage for additional living expenses.

For now, she cant do much else but wait for LIGA.

Its like Im never going to see the light at the end of the tunnel, Whittaker said. Is it ever going to end? Am I ever going to have a house again?
Australian biotechs are high on optimism about the multi-billion dollar potential of psychedelic treatments for mental health, but regulators still have big question marks.

Back in January, the sector got a nod of approval from the federal government when health minister Greg Hunt announced $15 million in funding for clinical trials, including research into whether MDMA can help with post-traumatic stress and alcoholism.

Credit:Getty Images

In December, however, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) had taken a cautious approach when asked to reclassify MDMA and psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, so that it was easier for medical professionals to access the drugs for supervised use with their patients.

Companies developing psychedelic treatments backed the proposed change, which was put forward by lobby group Mind Medicine Australia.
Campaigns promoting Australia to the world normally run through a few regular tropes, but always include our unique wildlife. There is no question this nation is blessed with incredible flora and fauna. And yet, its almost as if such an abundance of natural wonders has made us complacent and, based on growing evidence, utterly negligent.

Among developed nations, Australia is towards the bottom when it comes to protecting its biodiversity. Since colonisation, 104 species have been officially acknowledged as being extinct and that number is sure to grow: more than 1900 animals, plants and ecological communities are now designated as at risk of extinction.

The koala is an endangered species in NSW, Queensland and the ACT. Credit:Wayne Tindall

What is particularly troubling is that the problem is accelerating. Since 1985, Australias population of threatened birds, mammals and plants has, on average, halved or worse. And its not just obscure species that are under threat. After being listed 10 years ago in NSW, the ACT and Queensland as vulnerable (facing a high risk of extinction in the medium term), the koala was elevated in February to an endangered species in those places. That means one of the nations most beloved animals is at high risk of becoming extinct there in the short term.

But the koala is hardly alone. This year, the gang-gang cockatoo was added to the nations endangered species list, which also includes the bogong moth, the Australian sea lion, the grey nurse shark and the Wollemi pine. And few would be unaware of the threat to the Great Barrier Reef, which is experiencing its sixth mass bleaching.
First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on May 10, 1972

Coping with the Australian male

From DON RISEBOROUGH IN NEW YORK

A Womens Liberation campaigner with male drinkers in the (men only) public bar at the Burwood Hotel on December 13, 1972. Credit:Grant Peterson

It is incomprehensible for these women who come from a country known for its matriarchal society, where everything goes for a woman as much as it does for a man (despite what you may otherwise have heard from Womens Lib.)

According to a story in the Los Angeles Times these transplanted Ameri-women can resignedly put up with the shocking quality of education in the public schools, the blandness of Australian life, the language barrier  it takes at least a year to understand Australian.
The daughter of one of the men killed in a Brunswick double stabbing has paid tribute to her father, saying he was a gentle soul, known for his bubbly personality and for putting others first.

Police are looking for the driver of a dark-coloured ute who allegedly picked up 44-year-old suspect Jasmine Everleigh. She was arrested on a tram early on Thursday morning and subsequently charged with two counts of murder.

Christine Abboud with her father, Sarkis Abboud, who died on the way to the hospital after being stabbed in Brunswick last week.

Emergency services discovered two men with fatal knife wounds at an apartment building on the corner of Breese and Hope streets on Thursday. A 59-year-old Brunswick man, Samir Esbeck, was found dead at the scene while 61-year-old Sarkis Abboud died on the way to hospital.

A woman was captured on CCTV footage, obtained by Nine, walking down nearby Sydney Road with blood on her feet. A 1.5-kilometre trail of blood could be seen through laneways and a childrens playground.
LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP)  Firefighters in New Mexico took advantage of diminished winds Thursday to build more fire lines and clear combustible brush near homes close to the fringes of the largest wildfire burning in the U.S. They did so ahead of what is expected to be several consecutive days of intense hot, dry and extremely windy weather that could fan the blaze.

Today, the conditions were kind of moderated, Dan Pearson, a fire behavior analyst, said during a largely hopeful evening update by the U.S. Forest Service and law enforcement officials. And tomorrow is going to be another good day."

But Pearson warned that starting Saturday, clear skies will bring more intense solar heat accompanied by 30 mph (48 kph) winds with days of high winds to follow.

The fire has marched across 258 square miles (669 square kilometers) of high alpine forest and grasslands at the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains, destroying dozens of homes and prompting evacuations for thousands of families, many of whom have called the Sangre de Cristo Mountains home since their Spanish ancestors first settled the region centuries ago.

President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration that brings new financial resources to the areas devastated by fire since early April. The aid includes grants for temporary housing and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other relief programs for people and businesses.

The start of the conflagration has been traced in part to a preventive fire initiated by the U.S. Forest Service to reduce flammable vegetation. The blaze escaped control, merging with another wildfire of unknown origin.

U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez on Thursday pressed a top Forest Service official to fully investigate the decision to start the controlled burn and disclose whether the agency considered the effects of climate change and a mega-drought afflicting western states.

What protocols or controls were in place to make sure a controlled burn does not get out of hand? Did the U.S. Forest Service follow these protocols," the congresswoman wrote to Forest Service Chief Randy Moore.

Evacuations that have now lasted weeks have taken a physical and emotional toll on residents. Classes were canceled at area schools for the week, some businesses in the small northeastern city of Las Vegas have closed due to staff shortages and some customers of the electric cooperative that serves surrounding areas have had no power for weeks.

San Miguel County Sheriff Chris Lopez said firetrucks, a fleet of aircraft and other equipment have been brought in to the area to corral the flames and we're ready for anything that does come.

But it's still too soon to let people return to outlying areas that burned earlier because there are pockets of unburned brush and trees that can serve as fuel for the blaze within the fire's perimeter.

We've come to this crossroads on a few different occasions, where we were feeling good about it and we come up to a wind event and it hasn't went as planned, Lopez said.

Relatively calm and cool weather in recent days has helped firefighters to keep the fire in check around its shifting fronts.

Bulldozers scraped more fire lines Thursday while crews conducted controlled burning to to clear vegetation and prevent it from igniting. Aircraft also dropped more fire retardant in preparation for the heavy winds predicted this weekend.

Gusts up to 45 mph (72 kph) are expected Saturday afternoon along with above-normal temperatures and abysmally low" humidity that make for extreme fire danger, said Todd Shoemake, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Albuquerque. Sunday and Monday are probably looking to be even worse.

Nearly 1,300 firefighters and other personnel were assigned to fight the fire, while about 2,000 wildland firefighters are battling other blazes elsewhere in New Mexico and around the U.S.

Officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory were warily tracking another wildfire that crept within about 5 miles (8 kilometers) of facilities at the U.S. nuclear research complex.

Wildfires have become a year-round threat in the drought-stricken West  moving faster and burning hotter than ever due to climate change, according to scientists and fire experts. Fire officials also point to overgrown areas where vegetation can worsen wildfire conditions.

Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Associated Press writers Anita Snow and Paul Davenport in Phoenix and Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

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 federal Coalition will sink more than $8 billion into a fleet of new helicopters, some with the capacity to target enemy submarines, as part of its plans to expand the scope of the nations defence forces.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will on Monday confirm the purchase of 29 Apache armed reconnaissance helicopters plus an additional 12 new Romeo maritime helicopters that will be based at HMAS Albatross in the key NSW marginal seat of Gilmore.

An MH60R Romeo Seahawk, on display at HMAS Albatross in Nowra in 2014. Credit:Royal Australian Navy

Defence has been a key feature of the campaign and the Coalition has made several substantial promises since the March 29 budget. It has committed almost $300 billion in extra spending on defence by the end of the decade.

On Monday, Morrison will pledge the additional 12 Romeo maritime helicopters at a cost of $2.5 billion. They will replace the Navys current Taipan helicopter fleet.
It was supposed to be a civilised election debate, but it ended up being a straight-up political brawl with no clear winner.

The two leaders repeatedly needled and jabbed at each other, talking over the top of their counterpart in a bid to unsettle them.

It was shouty. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The prime minister, in particular, went out of his way to drag his opponent down. The pair locked horns over the rising cost of living, energy policy and integrity in politics, but after more than an hour, neither man emerged victorious.

Voters will not have learned much about either sides major policies from this debate but they will know this: Scott Morrison will throw the kitchen sink at Anthony Albanese over the next two weeks, and he will not relinquish the prime ministership lightly.
Key moderate Liberal MPs have signalled they would again cross the floor to vote to abolish the right of faith schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended his plan to pursue a Religious Discrimination Act before legislating any student safeguards.

Liberal MPs Katie Allen, Bridget Archer, Trent Zimmerman and Dave Sharma doubled down on their position after Morrison said there was no evidence gay students were being expelled from faith schools because of their sexuality, and said a re-elected Coalition government would deal with the issues sequentially, prioritising the religious bill first.

Scott Morrison has promised faith groups he will pass a religious discrimination bill ahead of safeguards for LGBT students, but will have to contend again with opposition from his backbenchers. Credit:James Brickwood

Weve been having this conversation for about the last four years, and on each occasion it has been presented that apparently students are being expelled each and every day, each and every week, or each and every year, Mr Morrison said on Sunday. There is no evidence of that at all. There is none.

Allen said her position remained unchanged, adding I will always protect gay and trans students.
Loading Ocean Grove in particular, it used to be seasonal. Its basically a suburb of Geelong now, he said. Theres a lot of buyers prioritising lifestyle. The market will come off a little bit but it will probably stay pretty strong for the long term. He warned that first-home buyers sometimes have to lower their expectations when they realise how high prices are now, but said there are options under $1 million in Portarlington, St Leonards, Drysdale and Clifton Springs. Ocean Grove buyers looking for family homes could expect to pay $1 million to $1.5 million, while properties close to the beach in Barwon Heads and Point Lonsdale would be about $2 million.

Slightly further west, prices have also jumped on the Surf Coast. Torquays median house price now sits at $1.26 million, up 40.4 per cent in the past year. Torquay house prices have jumped, both by the water and in newer housing estates. Credit:Eddie Jim Jan Juc is higher at $1.37 million, a 13.3 per cent rise, while Anglesea added 40.9 per cent to a median $1.62 million. One Agency Surf Coast director Shaun OCallaghan recalled that in the middle of last year properties in newer estates in the north of Torquay had been selling for about $950,000, but within four weeks jumped to $1.2 million and stayed at that level, spurred by Melbournes lockdown escapees.

The share of out-of-area buyers on the Surf Coast has since decreased slightly, but they still make up about half of buyers, he said, and many are owner-occupiers making a permanent move. Jan Juc, it is very difficult to get a house under $1.2 million, he said. $1.5 million to $1.8 million will buy someone a really nice home, but the closer to the beach, the more expensive they get. Buyers who can work remotely flocked to beach towns such as Torquay. Credit:iStock For example, homes on The Esplanade in Torquay, opposite the water, sell for between $3 and $5 million, he said. Nearby Geelong has a handful of neighbourhoods closing in on the seven-figure mark, and one already there.

The median house price in Newtown in inner Geelong sits at $1.13 million after an 18.9 per cent rise over the past year. Geelong CBD is at $950,000 and East Geelong has a median of $927,500. Newtown in Geelong is sought after for its period-style homes. Credit:Gartland McGrath Geelong principal David Cortous said Newtowns appeal is based on its larger blocks, period homes, tree-lined streets, sought-after schools and local boutiques and cafes. A budget of $1 million there would buy a house that needed a full renovation, or a town house, he said.

Loading But he said million-dollar sales are now being struck across Geelong, including in Geelong West, South Geelong, Highton, Belmont and Herne Hill. He is still seeing about two in five buyers coming from out of area, and does not expect this demand to change. People used to move to Geelong out of affordability, he said. People are moving to Geelong now for lifestyle. It is a big change in the mentality of why people are moving here. On the other side of the bay, house prices on the Mornington Peninsula have rocketed since the pandemic hit.

Although technically part of Melbourne, city dwellers have been looking to spend more time on the peninsula by the beach, especially while working remotely. Sorrento and Portsea, playgrounds of the ultra-wealthy, have median house prices of $2.3 million and $3.78 million respectively, but mansions there can sell for as much as $30 million. Even their once-overlooked neighbours have taken off. Dromanas median house price is $1 million, up 23.5 per cent in 12 months, while Ryes sits at $1.2 million after spiking 37.9 per cent and Blairgowrie reached $1.67 million, up 23.7 per cent. Dont expect a bargain at the north end of the peninsula, as Mount Eliza and Mount Martha are each above $1.6 million and Mornington is north of $1.1 million now.

Loading I cant remember the last time I sold something in Blairgowrie for $1 million, Kay & Burton Portsea director Liz Jensen said. She recently sold a home in Rye under $1 million, but it was a simple fibro three-bedder with one bathroom. For a $1 million budget, she suggested looking at St Andrews Beach instead, while a renovator in Blairgowrie would cost in the low $1 millions, and in Sorrento and Portsea it would be rare that a house would sell under $2 million. Anything that cost $2 million in Portsea two years ago is now selling for $2.75 million, she added. And dont expect to scoop up a leftover beach house bargain in the winter, like so many hope for every year before realising if they want to purchase they need to accept the markets price.
The toddler of an Australian woman missing in Mexico has finally been returned to her family after she was found in a Cancun church barefoot and holding a torch while repeating the word Mummy.

Australian authorities are working with Mexican police to find 32-year-old Tahnee Shanks, originally from the Whitsundays, who was reported missing to Mackay police on Wednesday.

Leanne and Daniel Shanks with Adelynn in Mexico.

Shanks disappeared in the popular tourist city of Cancun and has not been heard from in days. Her former partner, Jorge Aguirre Estudillo, is also missing.

Overnight, Australian time, two-year-old Adelynn was returned to Shanks brother, Daniel, and mother Leanne in Mexico.


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This happened:

"Dilbert" creator Dilbert introduces first black character in 33-year run, introduced solely to hate trans people pic.twitter.com/sQpaLn1Cyc  Lena (@banalplay) May 2, 2022

To Adams' credit, the continuing storyline of Dave the Black Engineer does suggest that he might be fucking with the boss as a way of poking fun at elite white people who tokenize diversity to make themselves feel better  which is definitely well-deserving of ridicule. I'm not convinced that Adams knows how to make that cutting satire in any way that's meaningful. Case-in-point: the trans joke that kicks off the drama.

In response to criticism, Adams insisted that it's not "about trans" and that the backlash to him only having one Black character is exactly why he hasn't introduced a Black character before this. Somehow, it never occurred to him to just  have a Black character who works in the office with the other characters, without making his introduction and entire subsequent existence based around the token-ness of his race  which is, ironically, what Adams depicts the boss as doing to Dave the Engineer.

Also ironic is the fact that the joke of Dave's racial identity (because of course his Blackness is treating as nothing but a joke) is completely lost in newspapers that syndicate the comic strip in black and white:

Supposedly, some of these newspapers have caught the problem and started publishing older Dilbert strips to get around it. Of course Adams would have known this was going to happen to some degree  which makes the bad faith trolling of the whole idea even more petty and frustrating.
3 Suspects Arrested in Vista Bombings

VISTA, Calif.Three men were arrested on May 7 in connection with a string of explosions in Vista on May 4, authorities said.

Valentin Castaneda, 25, was taken into custody on suspicion of possessing a destructive device near a church and on public streets, possessing material with intent to make explosives, exploding a device with intent to terrify, felony evading, and child endangerment, said Lt. David Buether of the San Diego County Sheriffs Departments Bomb/Arson Unit.

Juan Jose Castaneda Santiago, 23, and Caleigh Tabler, 21, were arrested on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact and child endangerment.

Deputies responded to three locations in three hours on May 4 following reports of explosions at the following time and locations:

11:30 a.m. in the 900 block of East Vista Way

1:24 p.m. in the 100 block of East Drive

2:41 p.m. in the 400 block of East Drive

A citizen who shared surveillance video from a security camera with sheriffs detectives helped identify a black car seen in one of the locations of the blast, Buether said.

Sheriffs detectives spotted the car in the early hours on May 7 in the 1200 block of North Santa Fe Avenue. Deputies with the Vista Patrol Station tried to pull the car over, but the driver took off.

During the two-mile pursuit, passengers started throwing explosive devices out of the cars window, Buether said. Detectives with the Sheriffs Bomb/Arson Unit collected two explosive devices along the pursuit route and rendered them safe, he added.

The car stopped in the 1800 block of Queens Way in an unincorporated area of Vista. A search warrant was served for the car and at a house in the 1200 block of North Santa Fe Avenue.

Additional explosive devices, bomb-making materials, rifles, handguns, and ammunition were seized, authorities said.

Three children, a 14-year-old boy, a 7-year-old girl, and a baby were found unhurt in the house. San Diego County Child Protective Services was notified and relatives took custody of the children.

The investigation was continuing, but authorities said there appeared to be no specific target for the explosions

No one was hurt and no property was damaged in the incidents.

All three suspects will be booked at the Vista Detention Facility.
Young volunteers work at a nucleic acid testing site in Fengtai District of Beijing, capital of China, May 4, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

China's dynamic zero-COVID policy "is the best choice and the right decision for the country in order to prevent a huge amount of severe cases and deaths, which could severely threaten social and economic development as well as people's health and safety," Cambodian scholar Joseph Matthews said.

PHNOM PENH, May 7 (Xinhua) -- China's dynamic zero-COVID approach is crucial to protect people's lives and to minimize the pandemic's impact on socioeconomic development, a Cambodian scholar has said.

In an interview with Xinhua, Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, said that since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has always put the people and their lives first and worked hard to prevent both inbound cases and domestic resurgences.

China has been upholding a dynamic zero-COVID policy, the essence of which is early detection and quick response measures to stop the continuous spread of the virus in communities to protect people's health and lives to the greatest extent.

Matthews said through this approach and the constantly adjusted epidemic prevention and control measures in light of new developments, China has achieved major strategic progress against COVID-19.

"I think that as a populous country with a large number of senior citizens, unbalanced development between different regions, and insufficient medical resources, China will definitely see a wide range of infections if China eases up on epidemic prevention and control," Matthews said.

A patient (L, front) is transferred to the dialysis room from the emergency department of Beijing Chao-Yang Hosptial in Beijing, capital of China, May 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

China's dynamic zero-COVID policy "is the best choice and the right decision for the country in order to prevent a huge amount of severe cases and deaths, which could severely threaten social and economic development as well as people's health and safety," he said.

Meanwhile, the scholar also admired China for having helped countries around the world to fight COVID-19.

"China has played a leading role in helping countries across the world to fight COVID-19," he said. "Chinese vaccines have not only protected hundreds of millions of people around the world, but also helped countries revive their economies and reopen their borders with confidence."

Airport workers upload the package of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine onto a refrigeration vehicle at the Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 29, 2022. (Photo by Phearum/Xinhua)

"For Cambodia, Chinese vaccines have enabled the country to fully resume its socioeconomic activities and to reopen its borders to vaccinated travelers without quarantine since last November," he said.

With its full reopening, Cambodia's economy is forecast to grow by 5.3 percent in 2022 and up to 6.5 percent in 2023, he said, citing an Asian Development Bank's recent report. 
There are a lot of unorthodox weapons that are surprisingly effective. Take a piano wire, for example. The name alone elicits a peculiar effect on my brain because it can be benign or lethal, depending on the situation. Many of the weapons that injure governments can be equally as unorthodox. Hunger strikes are my favorite example of a bizarrely effective weapon that has the potential to cripple governments, and no one performed them better than Mahatma Gandhi.

On this day in 1933, Gandhi started his 11th hunger strike to oppose the caste system after being released from jail. The fast was Gandhi's third strike against the mistreatments of the Dalit's- the lowest rung of the caste system. Lasting 21 days, the strike ties with two of Gandhi's other fasts as the longest abstentions he observed. The other two strikes took place in 1924(spanning from September 18th- October 8th) and 1943(February 10th-March 3rd), focusing on Hindu-Muslim unity and a protest against his imprisonment by the British, respectively.
With the American Library Associations recent announcement of a Marxist as its next president, theres never been a better time to hunker down and educate your children on the evils of communism.

While theres a wealth of exceptional nonfiction works (meant for adults) taking communism to task, there remains much less out there for young readers. (Publishers, thats your cue!)

Fortunately, a small but extremely compelling body of childrens literature, aimed primarily at middle-grade readers, exists that can serve just this purpose. Most are titles youve probably never heard of; few make their way into curricula.

All have in common that they thrust you into the shoes of their narrators, andas the saying goeshave you walk a mile. A tough, even terrifying, mile. Each makes for a remarkably eye-opening experience.

(If your kid thinks an hour or two of weekend chores count as hardship, theyre in for a much-due reality check.)

These are memoirs as well as real-life, real-event-inspired stories that capture powerfully the pain, the betrayals, the turmoil, the violence, and the crushing oppression that accompany life under communist rule. Wherever it may be, whenever it may be.

Heres a careful selection of four books to get you started. Ive found these to be particularly compelling for my middle school readers (and many high schoolers, as welleven if not the intended audience). Together, they provide a sweeping and unforgettable picture of whats wrong with Marxism and its political offspring, communism. They amount to a far-reaching indictment, all told, as they span four different countries and roughly a century of history. Lots of fodder for discussion with your young readers here.

And if you happen to find any titles particularly meaningful to your family or child, dont forget to do your part and recommend them to your school board, teachers, library, or even bookstore.

Your voice counts!

Theres no reason not to expect curricular units, days of commemoration, and library displays on the legacy of communismjust as we do on the Holocaust. And given that its a doctrine still alive, and with startlingly wide appeal, we might even say its urgent.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

A moving and haunting tale of one Lithuanian familys ordeal under Soviet communism, this story sets itself apart with its beautiful prose, narrated from the point of view of its imagined 15-year-old female protagonist, who is an aspiring artist.

From the opening scene, we feel the pain and terror of separation that so many families went through at the hands of Stalins NKVD. They took me in my nightgown, the tale begins, eventually following the family all the way to Siberia, where they are subjected to the horrors of Stalins notorious gulag system.

Its a deeply emotional story, filled with love, separation, and longing, alongside inhuman cruelty, and an eye-opening experience that readers wont soon forget. The book has deservedly won several awards, has a superbly narrated audiobook edition, and was adapted in 2018 for the silver screen under the title of Ashes in the Snow.

Breaking Stalins Nose by Eugene Yelchin

Yelchins story also involves Soviet communism, but through a very differentand personallens. The events in this tale are based on the authors own experiences growing up behind the Iron Curtain. It captures well the euphoria of the day in which everyonefrom innocent children, like our young narrator, Sasha to adults, like his communist fatherwas so easily swept up.

Told in almost real-time, and spanning just two days events, Sashas long-awaited chance to join the Young Pioneers takes a calamitous twist when he accidentally damages a bust of Stalin (hence the title) and breaks a peers glasses with a snowball.

The book features graphite illustrations that help to convey the works mood, while making the tale accessible to even younger readers. It was honored with a Newbery Medal in 2012. To view a well-crafted book trailer from the publisher, click here.

A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Nielsenwho is better known for her blockbuster fantasy workshere brings her trademark pacing and plotting to Germany in the aftermath of World War II, where life under communism is anything but the rosy utopia Marx made it out to be.

Reading more like a thriller than historical fiction, Night tells the tale of a family dividedquite literallyby the Berlin Wall and the daring, heroic lengths that they will go to (tunneling, even!) in order to escape Soviet communism.

A very convincing depiction of communisms evils in a chapter of history often overlooked. Readers will learn in particular about how communism breeds suspicion, paranoia, and distrust through the likes of the Stasiwho force people to spy on their friends and neighbors, and commit acts as unspeakable as murder.

Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang

Finally re-issued with the attractive cover art it deserves, Jiangs memoir (this ones autobiographical) provides a heartbreaking look at the madness that was Maos Cultural Revolution (19661976) in China.

Red Scarf Girl dramatically portrays the constant terrors of arrest and imprisonment that an entire generation faced, as well as the heart-rending tests of loyalty to loved ones that many children were put through. Ultimately, a message of hope and courage is offeredeven as China continues to suffer under Maos legacy of tyranny.

Jiangs book has rightly been likened to The Diary of Anne Frank. Let us hope that it and its kin herein one day enjoy equally broad appeal.

Stay tuned for more recommendations along these lines, including picks for high school readers.
Diagnosed with autism at 3 years of age, this British artist found his voice through drawing. Today, he draws epic, near-accurate cityscapes from memory after just one viewing, and has received the award of an honorary MBE, becoming a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for his unique contribution to the art world.

Stephen Wiltshire, 47, was born and educated in London, England. Describing himself as an artistic savant, he didnt speak until the age of 5his first word was paperbut found his expression elsewhere.

I had no communication, and therefore learned to communicate by drawing, Stephen told The Epoch Times. I was three or four years old when I first put pencil to paper. I started with animals and lift shafts, then cars, and finally buildings, he recalled. I still continue to draw buildings, only now on a grander scale.

The famous London Panorama by Stephen, drawn from memory following a helicopter ride over the city. (Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

The famous landmark of Notre Dame drawn from memory. Stephen visited the place in 1988 as a part of his European tour. (Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

(Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

As Stephen grew up and absorbed his surroundings, so his passion for drawing high-rise buildings and cityscapes intensified. On school trips, he was introduced to Londons most iconic buildings, and drew his first city panorama, in Venice, in 1989.

He explained, My early drawings were quite developed as they had a two-dimensional effect. I cant describe how I do this, I just know how to do it; I practiced a lot, and sometimes would get frustrated when it didnt work the way I wanted.

Stephens coping mechanism was to study for hours, absorbed by the details of city architecture. To date, he has visited dozens of major international cities, including Tokyo, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Paris, Moscow, Dubai, Rome, Sydney, and New York, rendering their unique skylines and idiosyncratic features in amazing detail.

(Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

Drawing the New York panorama. (Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

An aerial view of London. (Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

The Taj Mahal, India. (Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

In 2014, Stephen presented a 13-by-3-foot rendering of Singapores skyline to the countrys then-President Tony Tan Keng Yam. In 2018, he took a walking tour and 40-minute helicopter ride over Mexico City, after which his 13-foot artistic rendering, from memory, was live-streamed to the world.

Admitting that unfamiliar cities pose the biggest challenge, Stephen claimed that taking photos and flying over the area helps him see things better. A large panorama drawn from memory can take him anything from four to eight days to render, while a letter-sized drawing may take a few hours.

Stephen said that if he is not confident, or not familiar with the area, or is short on time, he will map out a rough sketch before committing pen to canvas. His chosen tools are Staedtler pens with nibs ranging from 0.05mm to 0.7mm, plus charcoals and chalk pastels for adding color.

A Chicago street scene. (Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

Tower Bridge in the Rain: Stephens masterpiece of Londons iconic Tower Bridge. (Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

A typical day, Stephen said, involves rising for breakfast before heading to his West London studio to work on commissions. After lunch, he continues working on his art, and will take walks to generate inspiration on sunny days. He eats dinner at home and relaxes on evenings and weekends.

I draw every day; its impossible to put a number to how many I draw. Its a lot! he reflected.

This sketch is based on his recent trip to Los Angeles where he received the HollyRod Champion Award. (Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

Stephen has amassed several awards for his work. He was discovered by a literary agent as a boy and won a Child of Achievement Award in 1988. A local newspaper got involved, Stephen appeared on a childrens program talking about his work, and was later featured in a documentary alongside three other savants with phenomenal skills.

His first commission, at the age of 8, was from the British prime minister. He published his first book of drawings just five years later and has since published additional volumes with forewords from high-profile personalities hes met along the way.

He earned his MBE in a presentation by Englands Prince Charles in 2006. Today, Stephen has a permanent art gallery in Notting Hill, London, managed by his sister, Annette.

I am always very happy to show my artwork to people, especially when they buy it and display it on their walls, he told The Epoch Times. People are very nice to me, and when they see my work at the gallery I feel good inside.

I work very hard and I like what I do. Its all I know, apart from having an encyclopedic memory of American classic cars! he added; Stephen owns 70.

The talented artists motto is also his advice to others: Do the best you can, and never stop.

Check out more photos below:

Sketching the Istanbul skyline. (Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

(Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

Stephen working on the drawing of his hometown. (Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

New Yorks 5th Avenue street on a rainy day. (Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

(Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

(Courtesy of Annette Wiltshire)

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Biggest Spend Ever on Police in Australias Top End

Australias Northern Territory has dedicated unprecedented spending on regional and remote police officers in light of increasing unrest in the region.

The state government has added $10.1 million (US$7.1 million) to the $510 million already invested into police, fire, and emergency services this year. It is a $6.4 million increase from last years police budget.

This will see the number of police officers on the ground increase by 21 and Aboriginal liaison officers, selected for their community-building resources of knowledge and cultural understanding, by 30.

Minister for Police, Fire, and Emergency Services Nicole Manison says the police deserve the best resources and infrastructure possible to support them through the tough jobs they have.

We have backed them with the biggest police budget in Territory history, Manison said in a release. We know that maintaining local relationships and engagements is vital for our police and this investment is an important step in increasing safety out in our communities.

We will always back our police and the complex work that they do right across the territory, in some of the most remote regions in the country.

A man talks to a policeman outside a COVID-19 testing station at Marrara Sport Complex in Darwin, Australia, on June 30, 2021. (Helen Orr/Getty Images)

Since March, a violent feud between rival clans in Wadeye, one of the largest indigenous communities in the Territory, has seen the use of weapons, including crossbows, steel bars, and spears unleashed on the community of about 3,000.

The feud has displaced 500, and damaged or destroyed a quarter of all homes in the community situated 400 kilometres southwest of Darwin.

Manison said the government is starting to provide emergency supplies to those displaced by the violence.

We are working with those family groups about what is going to be the best option for them going forward, she said. Its going to be a difficult few months.

Wadeye is home to 22 clans and seven language groups. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, it is located in the second-most disadvantaged region in Australia.
Biden Says Kids Belong to Their Teachers

Commentary

Schools are becoming indoctrination factories, trying to turn children against their country and their own parents values. Its what the teachers unions intend.

Amazingly, thats just fine with President Joe Biden, who told a gathering of teachers and union bigwigs on April 27 that the kids are yours when theyre in the classroom. That wasnt just a Biden stumble. He repeated it for emphasis: They are all our children.  They are not somebody elses children.

Sorry, Joe. But parents have a right to know what their children are being taught, and to set limits. State legislators in at least 12 states have introduced bills requiring teachers to post teaching materials, including books and videos, on a website for parents to inspect before their kids see them.

Good teachers will have no problem with that. But ideologically driven teachers, as well as the unions, are fighting back. That includes Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers. As she launched Teacher Appreciation Weekand most teachers do deserve our appreciationWeingarten smeared classroom transparency requests as the work of political extremists.

Concerned parents are not political extremists, but Biden is joining the attack against transparency, parroting the unions. He and most Democrats in Congress are teachers union flunkies. Democrats delivered hundreds of billions in COVID relief to school districts, including $46 billion to teach critical race theory. By the way, that included $9 billion for CRT in New York schools.

Biden also kowtowed to the unions to prolong school closings and masking, and then allowed the unions to dictate what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would require to reopen schools.

As a candidate, Biden vowed to end federal support for charter schools, and his new regulations have that obvious intentanother obsequious gesture to the unions.

Weingarten and National Education Association President Rebecca Pringle probably have more power in the Biden administration than any senator or cabinet member. That would be fine if they were wielding their clout to ensure children acquire strong reading and math skills. But thats not their agenda.

The American Federation of Teachers website shows the union is more committed to political activism than reading and STEM instruction. The site urges visitors to take action on student debt, voting rights, and passing the Equality Act. But it never mentions that fewer than half of New York Citys third- to eighth-graders can read at grade level. Or that, overall, students in the U.S. rank behind many other countries in math. No call to action there.

The AFT website also declares that the U.S. is facing health, economic, and racial challenges all made worse because of Donald Trump. How can the 74 million people who voted for Trump in 2020 entrust their childrens education to an organization so politically biased?

Joining the unions to fight a parents right to know is none other than the Democratic Party. No surprise. The unions give 94 percent of their money to Democratic candidates and parties, according to data-tracking nonprofit Open Secrets.

Tit for tat. Democrats are demonizing Republicans who support curriculum transparency. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) calls them mean, hateful and spiteful. Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. says Republicans will be forced to own the meanness. Meanness for what? Keeping discussions of sex out of elementary school classrooms?

Murphy lamely predicts Republicans backing curriculum transparency will lose because its just not true that its popular to pick on gay kids. Thats a willful distortion.

Truth is, no one advocates bullying gay kids. All children deserve kindness. But that doesnt mean kindergarteners should be instructed in how boys can transition to become girls, or vice versa. Nearly half of teachers agree these issues dont belong in the classroom, according to an Education Week poll.

Biden often jokes that he sleeps with a teachers union memberthe same oneevery night: First Lady Jill Biden. Cute, but he shouldnt sell out to the rest. Parents care more than anyone else about their own children. They should decide what the schools teach, not the far-left ideologues running the teachers unions.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
CDC Investigating Highly Vaccinated Carnival Cruise Ship

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it is investigating a COVID-19 outbreak on a Carnival Cruise ship after the company reported cases on board in recent days.

A CDC-operated cruise line monitor dashboard says the Carnival Spirit meets the threshold for a CDC investigation based on the number of COVID-19 cases. The agency confirmed it has started an investigation, adding that the ship remains under observation.

The Carnival Spirit departed Miami on April 17 before arriving in Seattle last week, according to a statement from the cruise operator to The Epoch Times last week. The CDC currently labels the vessel, which reportedly can hold about 3,000 people, as highly vaccinated as well as orange, indicating that 0.3 percent of total passengers and crew have tested positive for the virus.

The CDC has not responded to a request for comment from The Epoch Times, but a spokesperson for the agency told CNN that the Carnival Spirit is one of 62 ships that were labeled as orange.

A spokesperson for Carnival also said that everyone on board the Spirit, including guests and crew members, is fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Carnivals website also stipulates that everyone who enters the ship has to be vaccinated.

Our health and safety protocols exceed CDC guidelines and were closely followed including vaccination requirements and pre-cruise testing of all guests. Our crew are also vaccinated and wear masks, Carnival said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

Our protocols are designed to flex up as needed and additional measures were implemented during the voyage, the spokesperson added. In addition, all guests who were scheduled to continue on with the ships next cruise to Alaska were tested and any guests and their traveling companions who tested positive were disembarked.

Two passengers on the Carnival Spirit told news outlets that they believe Carnival didnt handle the outbreak well.

I literally stayed in this room for six days, with no telephone service, they wouldnt answer the phone, Darren Siefertson, who was placed in quarantine after reportedly testing positive, told CBS News last week. This ship was so unprepared and so mismanaged that many of us suffered greatly, he added.

There were times we ordered our food at 1 p.m. and it didnt show up until 7 p.m., Walter Babij, another passenger, told CNN over the weekend, adding that he and his wife tested positive for COVID-19. There were also a few times we didnt get our complete orders. We would have to call several times to track down our food. We were completely dependent on them, Babij said.

Several weeks ago, authorities confirmed that a 100 percent vaccinated cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises suffered a virus outbreak before it docked in San Francisco, California.

The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, causes COVID-19
Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and other leaders applaud during the closing session of the rubber-stamp legislatures conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 11, 2022. (Leo Ramirez/AFP via Getty Images)

China Arrests Ma Mou Who Outlined an Interim Congress

Analysis

On May 3, Beijing revealed the investigation of a national security case involving a person with the surname Ma. The coverage immediately caused Alibabas stock to tumble more than 9 percent in a day, because people took it that the co-founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, had been arrested.

Chinese state outlet CCTV reported Ma Mou, who has the surname Ma, is a foreign hostile force engaging in establishing an interim congress with the intention to subvert state power.

The report stated that Ma Mous anti-communist organization, targeting the young and students, has a political agenda of inciting secession in the regime.

The Chinese stock market reacted to the report and Alibaba fell nearly 10 percent, until the regimes English outlet clarified that it had nothing to do with Jack Ma.

Is Ma Mou Supported by a Communist Party Member?

The CCTV report indicated that Ma Mou, a native of Zhejiang and born in 1985, is an R&D director of an IT company.

The report alleged that through an anonymous online group, Ma Mou has spread rumors since March, and issued a declaration of independence.

Ma outlined an anti-government propaganda program, an interim congress, and a legal system, with the aid of foreign forces, to ultimately subvert the communist regime, said the report.

The report also stated that the investigation was conducted to discover the detrimental effect of Mas activities on state power and social stability.

Through an online search, the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times found the three online platforms Ma Mou established on Telegram. One was to defend human rights by engaging in a propaganda war against the regime; the second was to organize a Chinese interim congress; and the third publicly denounced Chinese leader Xi Jinping while exposing the regimes crimes.

The interim congress posted a declaration of independence on April 22 through Twitter.

Activists including members of the local Hong Kong, Tibetan, and Uyghur communities hold up banners and placards in Melbourne, Australia, on June 23, 2021, calling on the Australian government to boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over Chinas human rights record. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)

The declaration listed some of the crimes the regime has committed since it took power, including its current lockdown policy which has resulted in many Chinese starving to death, and the disaster the Party brought to the world via its economic initiative One Belt, One Road.

Chinese human rights activist Li Hengqing expressed his views on the incident. He said, The sentiment of anti-communist is rising, even inside the Party. He anticipated similar incidents would only become more popular.

Democracy activist Wei Jingsheng said he suspects that there are insiders in the Party backing Ma Mous activities. He said, We know its a signal that theres some internal fight taking place within the Party.

The Landmark of an Interim Congress

Commentator Wang He believes that the incident has a major implication for the core of the Chinese regime, given Ma Mous IT skill level. He said that theres a large population of young IT professionals, occupying major online activities in the Chinese Internet. The recent large lay-offs in tech companies including Alibaba and Tencent have created unemployment and dissatisfaction in China.

He said: These youngsters have never experienced the brutal suppression of the political campaigns in the regime. Their lack of innate fear of the Party, along with their knowledge of the overseas free world through the Internet, are indeed real headaches for the regime, and this crackdown on Ma Mou served as a warning to these youngsters.

Wang believes the interim congress is significant in that it represents the political awakening of the younger generations, and their desire to change the regime and the political environment inside China.

He said: There is a large societal foundation, because its not just one Ma Mou. There is a cohort of the tech elite who could impose a great challenge to the Chinese Communist Party.

Wei Jingsheng emphasized that the zero-COVID policy has awakened many people and the demise of the Party is getting closer.

Li Hengqing also agreed that the regime is entering its final days, with many more rebellions to come inside China.

Haizhong Ning, Luo Ya, and Chang Chun contributed to this report.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A health worker takes a swab sample from a man to be tested for COVID-19 coronavirus at a makeshift testing site along a street in Beijing on May 7, 2022. (Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinas Zero-COVID Controls Prompt EU Firms to Consider Moving Investments Elsewhere

A top business group says that Chinas zero-COVID policy has made European companies weigh a shift of investments out of China.

The strict COVID-19 lockdown and supply chain disruptions have rattled business confidence, according to a survey by the European Chamber of Commerce in China published on May 5.

Our members are weathering the storm for now, but if the current situation continues, they will increasingly evaluate alternatives to China, said Jorg Wuttke, the chambers president. A more expensive, functioning market is better than one that is relatively cheaper, but paralyzed.

A total of 92 percent of the businesses that responded to the survey stated that they had been affected by recent port closures, a decline in road freight, and rising sea freight costs.

Nearly a quarter of the 372 respondents were considering moving current or planned investments out of China, more than double the number at the beginning of the year and marking the highest proportion in a decade.

About 60 percent of businesses have cut their business revenue projections this year, while nearly a third said they have reduced staffing levels.

Workers mark a perimeter around a neighborhood under a COVID-19 lockdown in the Jingan district in Shanghai on May 4, 2022. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

The survey, conducted in late April, is one of the few indicators of business sentiment over Beijings heavy-handed COVID-19 control measures.

The Chinese regimes determination to eliminate the virus through lockdowns and mandatory quarantines has brought major manufacturing and tech hubs to a halt. As of May 3, 43 cities are under full or partial lockdowns or have implemented district-based controls, which involve strict mobility restrictions for local residents, according to Nomura.

Theres no sign that the regime will change its course. The lockdown in the financial center of Shanghai has entered its second month. The city of Beijing is stepping up measures to curb COVID-19, with about 15 percent of subway stations closing on May 4.

Related Coverage Chinas Lockdowns of Tens of Millions Inflict More Pain on Global Supply Chains

In a recent interview with a Swiss media outlet, the top European business communitys president said the Chinese Communist Party leaders have become prisoners of their own narrative after declaring their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as being much better than the decadent West.

Domestically, many experts and economists have also expressed concerns about the expensive policy, to which the regime has often responded with censorship. The social media accounts of Hao Hong, a prominent market strategist, were blocked this month after he warned of the economic effects of the lockdown and the capital outflow from China.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives for a press conference with international media in an underground metro station in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 23, 2022. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese Regime Changes Tune on Ukraine War Under Pressure of Sanctions: Experts

While the United States and the European Union continue to increase sanctions on Russia, the Chinese communist regimes state media has recently changed its tone on the RussianUkrainian war, and is starting to report positively on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Beijing is worried that if its sanctioned for supporting Russia, the Chinese economy may collapse, so minor adjustments have been made in the regimes position, given Chinas gloomy economic forecast as the ruling Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) 20th National Congress is approaching, analysts say.

The CCPs official mouthpiece, Xinhua News Agency, for the first time directly quoted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba saying the Russian invasion of Ukraine three times in an exclusive written interview with him on April 30.

Previously, the Chinese regime had refused to use the term invasion. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine, the CCP has supported Russia and has been in tune with Moscow in its war propaganda.

Then, on May 5, many CCP state-run media, including CCTV, Global Network, and China Business News, reported positively on a speech by Zelenskyy. This was again markedly different from their previous portrayal of Zelenskyy as a clown and a comedian.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the nation via his smartphone in the center of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 26, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

That followed the European Commission proposing a sixth round of sanctions against Russia, including its phasing out Russian oil imports within six months and removing Russias largest bank Sberbank from the SWIFT system on May 4. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden also indicated that hes open to additional sanctions against Russia.

Discussions within the CCP have been quite intense recently around its 20th National Congress, especially given the deterioration of Chinas economic situation, Feng Chongyi, an associate professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, told The Epoch Times.

If Beijing continues to support Russia in this situation, Feng said, the CCP will be subject to the same level of sanctions as Russia, and Chinas economy will collapse, which would be unfavorable for Xi Jinpings reelection to the 20th National Congress. So Xi must make some adjustments and take emergency measures, such as making concessions as demanded by Europe and the United States to declare Russian action against Ukraine as an invasion.

But at the same time, the regime will not give up on Russia.

It may make some minor changes in its position, but not substantive changes, Feng said. It is just playing both sides, secretly supporting Russia and not daring to side with it in public.

Another political commentator who follows U.S.China affairs, Chen Pokong, said on his YouTube channel on May 3 that Chinese official medias recent change in tone shows that Xis pro-Russian policy has suffered a major setback within the CCP, and that the regime is facing a choice between Russia and Ukraine.

On one hand, the CCP already knew that Russias war on Ukraine is not going as planned, he said. On the other hand, Chinese state-owned enterprises and Chinese banks dont support Russia because they dont want to be sanctioned as well, so the regimes pro-Russian policy could not be implemented.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pose during their meeting in Beijing on Feb. 4, 2022. (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Sun Guo-Xiang, an associate professor at the Department of International Affairs and Business at Nanhua University in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times that the CCP wont give up its support of Russia, especially amid an intensified U.S.China strategic competition.

However, Russia has recently begun to question whether the CCP can really provide the assistance it needs, and has even expressed dissatisfaction.

Recently, Boris Titov, an economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in an exclusive interview with Sputnik that economic cooperation between China and Russia hasnt been as good as expected.

Under the current circumstances, Russia shouldnt rely solely on China for import substitution options, he warned.

Lin Cenxin, Luo Ya, and Xu Yiyang contributed to the report.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies remotely during a House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust on Capitol Hill, Washington, on July 29, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)

Conservatives Should Use Power in Fighting Woke Companies and Big Tech Censorship: Legal Expert

In the case of big tech, the time for outmoded libertarian bromides on government non-intervention has passed, says the legal expert

American conservatives should use institutional authority to punish companies, including Big Tech corporations, that go too woke and control every major cultural institution in America, said a legal expert during a panel discussion on Thursday.

There is literally one institution, broadly speaking, that liberal progressives do not monolithically, unilaterally control. It is the government, said Josh Hammer, Newsweeks opinion editor and counsel for the Internet Accountability Project, during a panel discussion held by the Heritage Foundation on May 5.

In countering Big Techs expansive control, conservatives should use power against woke companies, similar to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiss moves over Disney, Hammer said in response to a question about whether state action reining in Big Tech should be concerning to conservatives and libertarians alike.

The broader semantic point at the level of political principle here is one of sovereignty, Hammer said during the discussion. Are we going to write the rules for our own town square, our own public square, to control our own destiny? Or are we going to outsource these decisions to these politically monolithic leftist hacks out in Silicon Valley?

Constitutional Violations

During the panel discussion, which was titled Big Tech Censorship: How Does the First Amendment Apply to the Internet?, Hammer elaborated on how Big Tech companies currently enjoy immunity from liability for censoring constitutionally-protected speech based on Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act.

Hammer referred to Norwood v. Harrison (1970), a legal case about racial discrimination, in which the Supreme Court held that the government may not induce, encourage, or promote private persons to accomplish what it is constitutionally forbidden to accomplish.

Yet Congress has provided extralegal immunity for Big Tech companies by enacting Section 230, permitting them to censor constitutionally-protected speech, he said.

When Congress goes and provides this extralegal immunity, [the Big Tech companies] cannot censor speech that would otherwise be First Amendment-protected if it were espoused from a sidewalk. But thats exactly what they have done, Hammer said, adding that courts interpreted the so-called good Samaritan provision in subsection C of Section 230 to give large swaths of discretion to the Big Tech elites, to the oligarchs, that that has created a constitutional problem under the very wording of Norwood versus Harrison.

Compounding this public-private relationship are the implicit threats from the public figures from the leftsuch as White House press secretary Jen Psakis comments last year on working with Mark Zuckerberg to tamp down COVID misinformationwhich decisively blurred the line between public and private actors, Hammer added.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai testifies during a remote video hearing held by subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on Social Medias Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation in Washington on March 25, 2021. (U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee/Handout via Reuters)

Big Techs Influence on Elections

According to Hammer, this carrot-and-stick approach from the left has allowed Big Tech companies to garner a significant amount of control of what people see, even in something as foundational to a functioning democracy as elections.

Such was the case when Twitter censored the New York Posts Hunter Biden laptop story, a move that Hammer says may have swayed the votes of a consequential number of people.

I know that paper extremely wellthey were locked out of their own Twitter feed. You couldnt even direct-message the link. You literally cannot privately share the link to this bombshell story that upwards of 20 percent of people said would literally change their vote, he said.

Another exemplary case demonstrating Big Techs influence in elections, Hammer said, was Googles algorithmic manipulation in the 2016 election, as testified by Harvard Universitys Robert Epstein in a congressional hearing in 2019.

He testified that according to his own researchand he personally voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, if I recallbut he testified that Google single-handedly was able to manipulate upwards of 3 million votes in Hillary Clintons favor in the 2016 elections simply due to algorithmic manipulation, Hammer noted.

In the congressional hearing Hammer referred to, Epstein, a research psychologist for nearly 40 years, testified that Google presents a serious threat to democracy and human autonomy.

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter Inc., testifies at a hearing to examine foreign influence operations use of social media platforms before the Intelligence Committee at the Capitol in Washington on Sept. 5, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Libertarian Absolutism Died

As a result of Big Techs influence, the principles of libertarian absolutism would not be conducive as a remedy to restore free speech, according to Hammer.

The day that Apple, Google, and Amazon, through their app stores and Amazon Web Services respectively, decided to nakedly and openly collude to nuke Parler was the day that the build-your-own-Google talking point died, he said. The libertarian absolutism argument literally died in January 2021.

Hammer said that, contrary to outmoded doctrinaire libertarian bromides about eliminating regulation while in power, conservatives in control should use their power to counter the lefts influence.

An example of this countermeasure, Hammer noted, is to tie Section 230 extralegal immunity to a First Amendment standard by statutorily codifying that in lieu of the good Samaritan provision of subsection C of the statute, which would effectively stop Big Tech companies from banning people for constitutionally-protected speech.

Hammer suggested that another way to counter Big Techs monopolistic behavior is to apply common-carrier standards to platforms such as Google and Facebook.

This approach parallels the 21st Century FREE Speech Act Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) proposed last year, which would instate narrower liability protection in place of Section 230, update common-carrier laws to include Big Tech companies, require big companies to disclose content moderation policies, and prohibit political censorship on these platforms.

Currently, parallel measures such as the coordinated censorship of Parler do not constitute a per se antitrust violation under the Sherman Act of 1890, Hammer said. Therefore, to address collusive conduct of a similar nature, he recommended that Congress amends the antitrust doctrines to treat behavior that is so clearly and obviously collusive as monopolistic behavior.

If we are going to conserve what is this American republic  what is kind of the true, the good, and beautiful, the order, and the liberty the Constitution properly enshrines for generations upon generation, its time to actually use power to punish the companies that go too woke, Hammer said.
Elon Musk arrives at the In America: An Anthology of Fashion themed Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York, on May 2, 2022. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Elon Musk Puts Twitter Employees on Alert

More than a week after it was announced Elon Musk would purchase Twitter, the worlds richest person issued a notice to Twitter employees about what they can expect.

Among several other expectations, Musk said that he values a positive work ethic. He was responding to his previous Twitter post about the direction he wants to see Twitter take after he assumes ownership of it.

Work ethic expectations would be extreme, but much less than I demand of myself, Musk said on Twitter over the weekend.

On April 25, the Tesla CEO and Twitter announced that the firm accepted Musks $44 billion offer. Meanwhile, it was reported that Musk would serve as the firms temporary CEO once the deal is completed, although Musk hasnt issued a public comment on that claim.

A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 5 signaled Musk raised $7.14 billion toward funding the purchase of Twitter.

In his previous post, the multi-billionaire touted Twitter under his leadership would be super focused on hardcore software engineering, design, infosec [and] server hardware.

I strongly believe that all managers in a technical area must be technically excellent, Musk also wrote. Managers in software must write great software or its like being a cavalry captain who cant ride a horse!

When the deal was announced, Musk suggested that he would place an emphasis on free speech after the takeover, which could take weeks or months to complete. Previously, Musk has criticized Twitters content moderation policies.

Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated, Musk said in a statement. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potentialI look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.

On May 6, Twitter and Musk were sued by a Florida pension fund seeking to prevent Musk from quickly carrying out the takeover of the company. In a complaint filed in Delaware, the Orlando Police Pension Fund wrote that Musk cant complete the takeover until at least 2025 unless two-thirds of shares that are not owned by him are approved.

The lawsuit said Musk became an interested stockholder after taking a more than 9 percent Twitter stake, requiring the delay. Twitter and its board, including Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, are also defendants.

Reuters contributed to this report.
The phone lines, as of late, have been busy at primary care offices across Western New York, with calls from patients testing positive for Covid-19 coming in at an increasing clip as they work through stockpiles of at-home test kits.

Cases and hospitalizations are up, a mini-surge following school breaks, Easter gatherings and a less-than-cooperative Mother Nature this spring that has us all indoors for long stretches of time while extremely contagious Omicron subvariants circulate.

But there's something much different than the prior surges  and it may even provide hope for the future.

"In general, the severity of illness does seem to be considerably less than past waves," said Dr. Robert Zielinski, associate medical director of Buffalo Medical Group.

Experts see a few reasons why we're now seeing fewer cases that end up in the ICU. Aside from better treatments two years into the pandemic, it also boils down to a population with higher-than-ever immunity, either from vaccinations or prior infections, meeting a variant that is super transmissible but appears to be causing less severe infections  exactly the way a virus wants to operate.

"When the host dies, whatever virus is active in the host dies with them," said Dr. Sam Cloud, an associate medical director at Erie County Medical Center and an attending physician in the emergency department. "The competitive advantage for the virus is to not kill its host. It'd rather have the host out there at Wegmans."

Proof in numbers

The day after Easter, the five-county Western New York region had 89 Covid-positive patients hospitalized, including 10 in the intensive care unit. This past Thursday, hospitalizations reached 200  but that included just 6, or 3%, in the ICU.

That's a big change from previous surges.

During this winter's Omicron surge, the region's peak day for hospitalizations arrived Jan. 18, when 701 Covid patients were hospitalized, including 101, or about 14.4%, in intensive care.

Incidental cases rising

With many people not realizing they have Covid  a theme and major challenge throughout the pandemic  hospitals have recently seen a high percentage of incidental cases.

Of the 200 hospitalized Thursday, 104, or 52%, were admitted due to Covid or complications of Covid, state data show. The remainder  96 patients, or 48% of the total  were admitted to the hospital for another reason and happened to test positive for Covid while there.

On Thursday morning, ECMC had 37 Covid-positive patients in its hospital, a figure that has steadily risen since bottoming out at just four patients on March 29.

Of those patients, however, only eight have what Cloud called "active Covid," and there were no Covid patients in the ICU. Cloud said ECMC typically only admits Covid patients if they either require oxygen or are weakened because of chronic conditions that don't allow them to go home safely.

"We are rarely admitting people purely for Covid," he said.

Compare that to the first wave. On April 9, 2020, for instance, ECMC also had 37 Covid patients, 21 of whom were in the ICU.

More than two years in, we're in a different place. Here's why.

Vaccination and prior infection

One of the major reasons we're seeing fewer severe cases during this wave: The virus is encountering a population that has more immunity than ever before.

A key driver of that is more people today are fully vaccinated, including booster shots.

"Our vaccines are not perfect, but they've done a really good job," said Dr. Thomas Russo, professor and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. "But the key is to have at least that one booster and if you get that second booster if youre eligible, it really has done a great job in keeping people out of the hospital."

About 63% of Erie County residents eligible for the initial booster have gotten it, outpacing the 55.5% statewide rate, according to state data.

More people also got immunity through infection from the fast-spreading Omicron over the winter, though that won't necessarily prevent them from getting reinfected, Russo noted.

"But it's almost certainly going to give a significant degree of protection from you landing in the hospital and developing severe disease," he added.

The virus itself

Take a look around. Maybe you're at a grocery store, your work or an airport. How many masks do you see?

Probably not many. Russo described it as everyone being in "post-pandemic mode." Pair no restrictions with indoor activities and an extraordinarily infectious variant, and you're bound to get cases.

"This virus is infectious as stink," Russo said. "I mean it's really starting to approach measles, which is one of our most infectious viruses."

But while Omicron is more contagious, it also seems less virulent than the earlier variants, meaning it's less likely to cause severe disease.

'Concerned but not troubled': Upstate New York is now a Covid-19 hot spot Officials said they're not terribly worried about the recent rise in Covid-19 cases here and across the state because it hasn't been accompanied by a corresponding rise in hospitalizations  yet.

That's given hope to local hospitals, which were overwhelmed during prior waves.

Western New York has about 20% of its hospital and ICU beds available, percentages that were in the single digits toward the end of the Delta wave in early December. There are still challenges, however, with ECMC, for one, noting delays in discharges for Covid-positive patients who need to be sent to nursing homes, group homes or rehab facilities.

Dr. Rajinder Bajwa, chief of infectious disease at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, said the hospital has seen 15 new Covid patients since April 1, including three who had to be treated in the ICU. Compare that with 60 patients over the course of December, followed up by 90 the very next month.

Lately, Bajwa has seen patients with milder symptoms, which has kept the situation well under control compared with prior surges.

"This virus since the beginning, every time we predict something, it gives us something new," he noted. "This time, I'm cautiously optimistic."

Treatments

There's also been advances in treatments to keep patients out of the hospital and, if they do land in the hospital, medications to minimize the likelihood that they need intensive care.

Paxlovid, an oral antiviral treatment from Pfizer, has proven effective at reducing hospitalization. Pfizer's data shows Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization or death for high-risk patients by 89% if given within three days of a Covid infection.

High-risk patients, such as the elderly and the immunocompromised, who test positive for Covid should call their primary care doctor to get a Paxlovid prescription.

If a Covid patient does become hospitalized, Russo mentioned the antiviral Remdesivir can be used in combination with steroids depending on the person's sickness. If a patient is sicker, there are also some other anti-inflammatory medications, with Russo mentioning tocilizumab as one of the key ones to try to prevent people from ending up in intensive care.

Some perspective

While there are fewer instances of severe illness from Covid, experts say certain groups, especially those who aren't fully vaccinated or those in high-risk categories, should take precautions.

Several Western New York counties, including Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming, are considered to have a high Covid community level under CDC parameters. At that level of spread, the CDC recommends wearing a mask in indoor public spaces and on public transportation.

Erie County remains in 'high' Covid level, significant rise in hospitalizations has not followed Despite the surge of cases from variants of the Omicron strain, county hospitalizations remain low. The Health Department said, as of Thursday, county hospitals had 86 Covid-19 patients, 34 of which were admitted due to the virus.

And despite the low ICU numbers, people are still dying from the virus: There have been 33 Covid deaths in Western New York hospitals from April 1 through Thursday, state data show.

While it's clear there's a lot of Covid cases out there right now  exact numbers are difficult to compile because many positive home test results are not reported to health officials  experts are optimistic things will improve moving forward and Covid-19 will become a seasonal virus.

"What most of us are hopeful of is that we're going to get into a phase, perhaps starting this coming fall and winter, where this becomes another one of our seasonal viruses like influenza," said Dr. John Sellick, an infectious disease expert at Kaleida Health. "A lot of the viruses that pass around in the winter are much milder, but influenza, there's a lot of death and destruction every year, and I think we'll continue to see some death and destruction with Covid. But hopefully it gets more into that seasonal kind of mode."

As for this most recent wave?

"Hopefully if we do get a little bit better weather, we'll see this flatten out more and then start heading down," he said. "That's what we're all hopeful for. And again, we're obviously thrilled that the ICUs are not overwhelmed."

Jon Harris can be reached at 716-849-3482 or jharris@buffnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByJonHarris.

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Dinesh D'Souza attends the Washington premiere of his film, "Death of a Nation," at E Street Cinema on Aug. 1, 2018. (Shannon Finney/Getty Images)

Enough Fraudulent Votes Identified to Change 2020 Election Outcome: Dinesh DSouza

'I'm putting this information out because I want the American people to be the jury'

An analysis of cellphone records performed by an election intelligence group shows that thousands of fraudulent ballots were deposited in mail-in drop boxes during the 2020 election, an amount sufficient to change the outcome of the election, according to Dinesh DSouza, director and writer of the documentary 2000 Mules.

Many people, including DSouza, were baffled by numerous anomalies occurring in the 2020 election, especially by the sudden stopping of the vote count on the election night followed by a remarkable turnaround the next morning, the filmmaker said.

However, he was reluctant to accept any supposition of fraud, thinking that an anomaly is an unlikely event. He considered that Trump could have won the bellwether counties and somehow still lost the election. He could have gained with working-class voters and Hispanics, but maybe he lost more suburban voters.

There are scenarios in which I could see that its possible that Trump lost. It wasnt obvious to me that Trump won, DSouza said on EpochTVs Crossroads.

Related Coverage Dinesh DSouza: Enough Fraud Was Committed to Steal 2020 Election

When DSouza, a filmmaker, author, and daily podcaster, came across the information collected by an election intelligence organization called True the Vote, it piqued his interest. The group came up with a completely ingenious and novel way to look for fraud and to document it, he said.

True the Vote has the largest store of election data in the world, he said, noting that the organization purchased 10 trillion pings of cellphone data in five swing states occurring during the crucial days leading up to the election, from October 1, 2020, through Election Day.

[The pings] were concentrated in only five areas, the greater Atlanta area of Georgia, the area of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Detroit, Milwaukee, and the greater Philadelphia area, DSouza said. These are the five areas where the election was decided.

True the Vote then used a kind of search algorithm to mine the data looking for mules, according to the filmmaker. The FBI and CIA use geo-tracking in the same way in their investigations, he said.

The term mule is now commonly used in drug trafficking and sex trafficking. The mule is the middleman, the guy who makes the transport, DSouza wrote for The Epoch Times.

True the Vote borrowed this term to apply it to the paid professional operatives who engaged in dropping off illegal votes and who went to 10 or more mail-in drop boxes, he said.

The reason why mules went to at least 10 drop boxes was to ease the suspicion of election workers who open drop boxes every day and document the number of ballots deposited, the filmmaker said. If they found that one dropbox contained many more votes than the average number of votes dropped there or dropped in other boxes in the area, it would raise suspicions, he noted.

Therefore the mules are instructed to  spread [the votes] around, DSouza said.

A rule of tracking only those who visited at least 10 drop boxes was adopted in order to eliminate mistakes, he said.

Its possible someone went to one dropbox and they sort of had to stop and tie their shoelace at the next dropbox.

The researchers set the bar pretty high, according to DSouza.

Where Illegal Ballots Come From

To find out where the mules got the votes from, the researchers investigated the connection between left-wing activist organizations deeply embedded in these urban areas where the mules operated, DSouza said.

The purchased geo-tracking records showed that mules first stopped by at the left-wing organizations, collected a batch or a satchel of votes, and like a mailman, went on a route to drop off the votes, he said. The deliveries often occurred in the middle of the night, between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.

To verify their findings, True The Vote obtained official surveillance videos from the states themselves, DSouza said.

He noted that the mules seen on the videos were typically shrouded in hoodies, looked around to make sure they werent being observed, and then ran up to the dropboxes. Some of them wore gloves to avoid leaving their fingerprints.

Mules often take photos of their hands putting the ballot into the dropbox, according to DSouza.

They have to show proof that they were there and that they delivered the fraudulent votes, he said. Thats how they get paid, apparently. So all of this is on [surveillance ] video.

DSouza hopes showing these dealings in a movie makes some demands on law enforcement because theyre the ones who have to act next.

The documentary presents very rigorous math to assess the impact of the mules activity on the 2020 election. But even rough calculation based on the assumption that 2,000 mules stopped at an average of 40 or so drop boxes, dropping in an average of five ballots per drop shows that a minimum of 400,000 illegal votes have been added, according to DSouza. In Pennsylvania, an estimated 1,100 mules dropped ballots at nearly 50 drop boxes apiece, he said.

In all five swing states analyzed by True The Vote, Joe Bidens winning margin varied from a narrow margin in Georgia (about 12,000 votes), Arizona (about 11,000 votes), and Wisconsin (about 21,000 votes) to a big margin in Pennsylvania (about 82,000 votes) and Michigan (about 155,000 votes), according to Reuters. If fraudulent votes dropped by mules were subtracted from the Bidens column in these states, Donald Trump would have won them, DSouza said.

However, the ballots dropped by mules cant easily be associated with voter names because theres no name on the ballot, and the envelope with the name and address of the voter is detached from the ballot during the counting process, he said. These two pieces can never be reunited, so theres no way to identify fraudulent ballots.

Therefore, the researchers tried to identify the connection between mules and left-wing organizations, the filmmaker said. One finding was that a number of the mules were Antifa or BLM supporters.

To determine the mules affiliation with Antifa or BLM, the researchers analyzed geo-tracking data related to violent riots in Atlanta that coincidently occurred within the same timeframe and tried to match the cellphones of mules with the cellphones of riot participants, according to DSouza.

He also noted that although election fraud dates back to the 19th century, the new election rules imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic created favorable conditions for fraud.

Ballot Harvesting Versus Ballot Trafficking

Theres a difference between ballot harvesting, which can be permissible in some states to various extents, and ballot trafficking, which is permitted in no state, the filmmaker said.

In the swing states analyzed by True the Vote, the laws for ballot harvesting are more restrictive.

In Georgia, for example, you can only give your ballot to a family member, or if youre in a confined facility to your caregiver, DSouza said. In no state, is it legal to pay anyone, let alone a mule, to deliver a vote  because when money comes into the process, youve contaminated the process; youve introduced the issue of bribery.

If mules are paid to deliver ballots, those votes become fraudulent and illegal, and they cant be counted, he said.

The involvement of money in mules activity has been confirmed by whistleblowers and has been revealed by a mule interviewed in the documentary, the filmmaker said.

Mules often took photos of their hands dropping a ballot into the box, which can be considered proof of completing their jobs for which they get paid, he noted, but it isnt a selfie that says I voted.

The organizations hiring mules are often non-governmental organizations with nonprofit status, DSouza said.

[Nonprofits] are prohibited by law from engaging in overt election activity, he said.

Although those organizations arent named in the movie, the filmmakers have said that theyll cooperate with any investigation by law enforcement.

Without free and fair elections, were not a democracy, were basically a criminal cartel masquerading as a democracy, DSouza said.

He hopes that his documentary will encourage viewers to think about the evidence that it presents.

This is not a movie in which youre going to hear any shouting or insistences, DSouza said. Theres a range of people expressing a range of views, but it allows you to see for yourself and think for yourself.

Im putting this information out because I want the American people to be the jury.

Ella Kietlinska Reporter Follow Ella Kietlinska is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on U.S. and world politics.
In interviews with The Defender, pilots injured by COVID-19 vaccines said despite a culture of fear and intimidation they are compelled to speak out against vaccine mandates that rob pilots of their careers  and in some cases their lives.

As a commercial pilot, Bob Snow had long looked forward to seeing his daughter follow in his footsteps by helping her learn to fly an airplane.

However, having received the COVID-19 vaccine under duress, this dream is no longer a possibility for Snow.

I will probably never fly again, Snow said in a video he made about his story. I was hoping to teach my daughter to fly. She wants to be a pilot. That will probably never happen, all courtesy of the vaccine.

Snow is one of a growing number of pilots coming forward to share stories of injuries they experienced after getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

Some of these accounts are hair-raising and deeply disturbing, according to Maureen Steele, a paralegal and head of media relations for the John Pierce Law Firm.

The firm represents U.S. Freedom Flyers (USFF), an organization opposing vaccine and mask mandates for pilots and airline staff, in a series of legal actions against the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and several airlines.

Josh Yoder, a pilot with a major commercial airline, Army combat veteran and former flight medic, is a co-founder of USFF.

In a recent interview with The Defender, Yoder said the FAA has been aware of cases of pilots suffering vaccine injuries since at least December 2021, when the California-based Advocates for Citizens Rights hand-delivered an open letter to the FAA, major airlines and their insurers.

Yoder said USFF has received hundreds of phone calls from airline employees who are experiencing adverse reactions post COVID-19 vaccination, describing the stories as heartbreaking.

According to Yoder, the warnings contained in the letter, including testimony by world-renowned experts, were completely ignored, adding that we are now beginning to see the consequences.

This is leading an increasing number of pilots to come forward to expose the truth regarding these toxic injections, Yoder said.

The Defender recently reported on a series of reports that have been submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, involving pilots who sustained severe injuries and side effects following the COVID-19 vaccine.

Congressional testimony from Cody Flint, an agricultural pilot who has logged more than 10,000 flight hours, was included in this letter.

The FAA has created a powder keg and lit the fuse, Flint said in an interview with The Defender.

We are now seeing pilots experiencing blood clots, myocarditis, pericarditis, dizziness and confusion at rates never seen before. Pilots are losing their careers and having to call in sick or go on medical leave from medical issues developing almost immediately after vaccination.

Vaccine-Injured Pilots Share Stories With the Defender

Several pilots, including Bob Snow, shared their stories with The Defender in a recent series of interviews.

Snow, a captain with a major U.S. airline, told The Defender he received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Nov. 4, 2021, as a result of an unambivalent company mandate to receive the vaccine or be terminated.

According to Snow, he began experiencing issues a little over two months after receiving the vaccine. Due to a history of gastroenteritis, he underwent an endoscopy and an abdominal CT scan.

The results of the endoscopy were normal and Snow was awaiting the results of the CT scan when he suffered cardiac arrest on April 9, immediately after landing at Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport.

As Snow described it:

I was very lucky to have collapsed when and where I did, as the aircraft was shut down at the gate post-flight and care was immediately provided.

There was absolutely no warning preceding my collapse in the cockpit. It was literally as if someone pulled the plug.

After receiving CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator) shocks to be revived, Snow spent almost a week in the hospital, where he was diagnosed with having sustained sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

Medical studies indicate survival rates for out-of-hospital SCA cases are estimated at 10.8% to 11.4%.

Snow said:

Needless to say, thats not an encouraging number and I feel very, very lucky to have survived.

Had this happened in a hotel, in flight, at home or almost anywhere else, I do not believe I would be here right now.

Snow said prior to this incident, he had no history of prior significant cardiac issues, based on two EKGs (electrocardiograms) per year for each of the previous 10 years  none of which, according to Snow, provided any indication of incipient issues that might lead to cardiac arrest.

I have no known family history to indicate a predisposition to developing significant cardiac issues at this point in my life, Snow added.

Snow has been recuperating at home since April 15, while awaiting more tests that will provide a prognosis for his long-term survival.

However, it is likely that he will never fly again in any capacity.

Snow said, [f]or now, it appears my flying career  indeed, likely all flying as a pilot  has come to a rapid and unexpected conclusion as SCA is a red flag to FAA medical certification.

This, according to Snow, has resulted in a significant loss of income and lifestyle, adding that he has a college student and high school student at home and a non-working spouse who relied on his livelihood.

Last Thing I Remember Is . . . Praying I Would Make It

Like Snow, Cody Flint had no prior medical history to indicate he was at risk.

I have been extremely healthy my whole life with no underlying conditions, said Flint, adding:

As a pilot that held a second-class medical [certification], I was required to get a yearly FAA flight physical to show I was healthy enough to safely operate an airplane.

I have renewed my medical every year since I was 17. The last FAA medical I received was on January 19, 2021. The medical showed I was perfectly healthy just 10 days before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

Flint got his first (and only) dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Feb. 1, 2021. He told The Defender:

Within 30 minutes, I developed a severe burning headache at the base of my skull and blurred vision. After a few hours, the pain was constant, but didnt seem to be getting worse. I thought the pain would go away, eventually. It did not.

Two days later began his seasonal job as an agricultural pilot, which typically runs from February to October of each year, Flint said.

He said:

Approximately one hour into my flight, I felt my condition starting to rapidly decline and I was developing severe tunnel vision. I pulled my airplane up to turn around to head home and immediately felt an extreme burst of pressure in my skull and ears.

Flint initially considered landing on a nearby highway, unsure hed make it back to the airstrip, but chose not to so as not to put the public in danger.

Instead, according to Flint:

The last thing I remember is seeing our airstrip from a few miles out and praying I would make it.

Later, my coworkers told me I landed and immediately stopped my plane. They described me as being unresponsive, shaking and slumped over in my seat  I do not remember landing or being pulled from the plane.

Flint said various doctors, including his longtime hometown doctor, refused to consider that his recent COVID-19 vaccination caused his symptoms. Instead, he was prescribed Meclizine for vertigo and Xanax for panic attacks.

According to Flint, doctors told him he would be completely better within two days. But two days later, Flint could barely walk without falling over.

Seeking a second opinion, Flint visited the Ear & Balance Institute in Louisiana, where he was diagnosed with left and right perilymphatic fistulas (a lesion in the inner ear), and highly elevated intracranial pressure due to swelling in his brainstem.

As Flint described it, [m]y intracranial pressure had risen so high that it caused both of my inner ears to blow out. Doctors told him this is usually caused by major head trauma.

Obviously, I did not have head trauma, said Flint. What I did have, though, was an unapproved and experimental vaccine just two days prior to suffering this bodily damage.

My doctors [at the Ear & Balance Institute] clearly stated my health issues were a direct result of a severe adverse reaction to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, he added.

Flint says he now cannot receive renewed medical certification from the FAA due to the injuries he sustained, the physical condition he is currently in and the fact that I will be on the FAA-unapproved medicine Diamox for the foreseeable future.

Like Snow, Flint believes it is  highly unlikely that Ill ever be able to fly again, adding, On most days, I am too dizzy to even safely drive a vehicle.

Greg Pierson, like Snow and Flint, shared a similar story. A commercial pilot with a major U.S. airline that is also a federal contractor, he was mandated to get vaccinated.

Pierson told The Defender:

I felt extremely pressured to consider getting vaccinated, even though I am adamant against any mandates that violate personal freedom choices.

I did research and consulted several medical professionals regarding the associated risks.

I have never had a flu shot in my lifetime, so this was not something I wanted to do. I reluctantly received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on August 26, 2021.

For Pierson, the onset of symptoms was almost immediate, beginning approximately 14 hours after receiving the vaccine, when he experienced an extremely erratic and highly elevated heart rate.

Pierson visited a local emergency room, where he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. His condition was stabilized and he was soon discharged, though he remained on medication to help his heart return to a normal rhythm.

While Pierson says he has not experienced any further episodes, he nevertheless still has not been cleared to return to the cockpit.

I successfully passed all the required protocols to re-obtain my certification that will allow me to return to work, he said, adding the FAA has had his records and test results since Feb. 16, but he still hasnt received a determination.

I have been on disability since this occurrence, and combined with the leave, the personal and financial impacts have been significant, Pierson said.

Pierson also described a similar experience to that of Flint, regarding the attitudes of some medical professionals regarding the possibility that his condition was brought on by the COVID-19 vaccine.

When I brought the subject up to the ER cardiologist, that it was obvious what triggered my onset, she simply stated s*it happens, Pierson said.

Widow Describes Husbands Last Days

Snow, Flint and Pierson are fortunate in that they have managed to survive, even if their flying careers are in jeopardy.

But other pilots have not been so lucky.

American Airlines pilot Wilburn Wolfe suffered a major seizure following his COVID-19 vaccination, which cost him his life. Fortunately, Wolfe was not on duty when his seizure hit.

Claudia Wolfe, his widow, shared her late husbands story with The Defender.

Wolfe, a former Marine just a few years from retirement, was definitely against getting this vaccine but was put in the position to take it or lose his job as a captain, Claudia Wolfe said.

He received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Nov. 9, 2021.

Claudia Wolfe told The Defender:

[The] first 10 days were without any event  [on] day 11, it started with a migraine-like headache which got better that afternoon after taking a couple of aspirin.

Unfortunately, the migraine came back and he was hoping that its nothing else but a migraine.

On November 22, 13 days after the COVID vaccine, he had a seizure. When paramedics arrived and my husband came out of the seizure, he was paralyzed on his right side, arm and leg, and was taken to the emergency room.

At the emergency room, a CT scan showed he was experiencing brain bleeding, and he was admitted into intensive care. There, according to Claudia Wolfe, he continued to have convulsions on his right hand  shortly after he was admitted, he had another seizure and doctors decided to sedate him and put him on a ventilator.

That was the last time I talked to my husband, before the seizure in the ICU, Claudia Wolfe said.

Wolfe never regained consciousness and died on Nov. 26, 2021  only 17 days after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Even if he had survived, he likely would not have been able to work as a pilot again.

As Claudia Wolfe explained:

Doctors told me that he couldnt work as a pilot anymore because he would have to be on seizure medication.

But as the bleeding continued to spread I was told that he probably would not recognize me or his family and he probably would need a 24-hour facility to help him.

This man was so strong and never needed a doctor, he was never sick enough to need one, and [he] just had a physical a couple months prior for his job as a pilot.

Pilots Describe Culture of Fear and Reluctance to Come Forward

Pilots who spoke to The Defender described a culture of intimidation that has led to many of their colleagues fearing professional or personal consequences if they speak publicly about injuries following COVID-19 vaccination.

According to Yoder, Many pilots and other airline employees capitulated to the tactics of threats, harassment and intimidation perpetrated by the very companies they serve.

Yoder described airlines, as well as aviation industry unions, as state actors illegally working in lockstep with the U.S. government to enforce unconstitutional mandates via a culture of fear.

Snow told The Defender several of his colleagues shared stories of vaccine injuries with him:

Since my SCA I have heard from several other airline personnel regarding potential vaccine injuries up to and including cardiac issues (chest pain and myocarditis).

Many crewmembers are very reluctant to divulge potential significant health issues for fear of losing their FAA medical certification and, potentially, their careers.

According to Snow, such fear exists due to both concern for ones career and also the fear of being portrayed as a vaccine skeptic.

There seems to be genuine reluctance on the part of corporations, businesses, government and the medical community in general to acknowledge the potential for COVID vaccine injury, Snow said.

Claudia Wolfe also shared her experience, stating that following her husbands death, she learned of others that died after the COVID vaccine, adding that not many talk about it or believe this vaccine can harm or kill you.

Pierson also expressed concerns, telling The Defender, Some things I have stated publicly could have consequences in this regard.

This culture of intimidation appears to extend beyond just accusations of being a vaccine skeptic.

Steele described incidents of airline employees non-work and online activities seemingly being monitored by their employers, who are then using this as a justification to question or harass those employees.

I believe the airlines have people on staff that must be trolling the social media of employees and when they find a conservative, or someone they believe to be, they attack, Steele said.

Steele said female employees appear to be particular targets of the airlines, as they appear to be isolated and intimidated for hours on end.

Flint connected incidents such as those described above to political interests, telling The Defender the FAA approved COVID-19 vaccines for pilots just two days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its first Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for such vaccines, on Dec. 10, 2020.

I thought to myself, how could the FAA analyze the data and determine it was safe for pilots in just two days, when it took the FDA months to go over the trial data? Flint said.

Flint said that was an especially jarring development, in light of the increased risk that pilots and cabin crew face:

I was also extremely curious to know how the FAA is so certain that this vaccine will be safe for pilots when its obvious that Pfizer did not do a trial solely on pilots to find out if it would cause some of the serious health problems that immediately started to show up once the mass vaccination campaign [began].

In the process, Flint stated, the FAA violated its own regulations.

Under the Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners: Pharmaceuticals (Therapeutic Medications) Do Not Issue  Do Not Fly, the FAA has a long-standing rule that states:

FAA requires at least one year of post-marketing experience with a new drug before consideration for aeromedical certification purposes. This observation allows time for uncommon, but aeromedically significant, adverse reactions to manifest themselves.

Flint said it became painfully obvious the FAA issued this guidance based not on science or safety, but political reasons.

Why did the FAA abandon its own rules by encouraging pilots to take a brand-new experimental drug? Flint asked. This action by the FAA was totally unprecedented and extremely dangerous.

Providing an example of such danger, Flint said, it is now widely reported that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines can cause blood clots, adding that several peer-reviewed studies going back more than a decade show pilots are approximately 60% more likely to experience blood clots due to the nature of the job.

Supporting this assertion, on May 5, the FDA announced that it would restrict who could receive doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, due to the risk of blood clots.

Pierson also believes politics are at play in the medical community, telling The Defender even his longtime doctor told the FAA, in paperwork aimed at restoring Piersons suspended medical certification, that it is impossible for the vaccine to have caused his condition, though he could not provide any explanation for an alternative hypothesis  a stance Pierson characterized as medical malpractice.

Such politics are also found in professional organizations within the aviation industry, according to Pierson, who described his experience with one such entity:

I approached the medical division of ALPA, the Air Line Pilots Association, to which I am a member, and presented them with data to substantiate my concerns.

It was initially seemingly a concerned, open dialogue, which quickly was dismissed at the highest levels.

Legal Actions to Follow Against the FAA, Federal Agencies, Airlines

The USFF, according to Yoder, is currently pursuing several legal actions related to the vaccine injuries that pilots and air staff are increasingly reporting.

He told The Defender:

The U.S. Freedom Flyers have always taken a strong stance against the threats of government and corporate totalitarianism.

We are filing massive, individual plaintiff lawsuits against the FAA, DOT [U.S. Department of Transportation] and commercial airlines to hold them accountable for the criminal and civil atrocities theyve committed against our members.

We will not rest until justice is served and constitutional American freedom is restored.

Steele added:

We are teeing up lawsuits for all the major airlines, with thousands of potential plaintiffs on our plaintiff lists.

We also are going to be holding the FAA and the [U.S. Department of Transportation] accountable for their part in this atrocity.

Steele said USFF will be seeking retribution and restitution for these crimes against humanity, mirroring remarks made by Pierson, who described the actions taken in the name of the pandemic as nothing short of the highest crimes against humanity ever.

According to Steele, unions are, in part, responsible for the injuries being sustained by pilots and other employees, as a result of their acceptance of vaccine mandates.

Unfortunately the unions  from all industries  have let their members down, Steele told The Defender. They simply are rolling over and are in bed with the state and the corporations.

Flint, in turn, assigned a significant amount of blame to the federal agencies:

The FAA has failed at its duties in the most spectacular fashion, causing pilots to lose their lives, livelihoods and careers.

The federal government, including the FAA, has not helped one single person injured by the COVID-19 vaccine.

They [the federal agencies] have not publicly acknowledged there is a problem. They havent even so much as adjusted their guidance to prevent this from happening in the future.

Are Passengers at Risk From Pilot Vaccine Mandates?

When Snow suffered cardiac arrest, it occurred only a few minutes after he had landed a commercial airliner, full of passengers, at one of the most heavily trafficked airports in the U.S.

This begs the question: Are passengers  and the public at large  at risk due to potential adverse effects that may impact vaccinated pilots during flight?

According to Pierson, there is indeed a risk of a catastrophic incident:

I became an outspoken critic of the vaccines after my injury, and due to becoming much more knowledgeable of all the potential health and safety risks from the vaccines.

It became very clear to me that the implications of having an immediate, severe adverse reaction could be catastrophic if actively piloting an aircraft.

Flint believes such a disaster may be an inevitability.

It is only a matter of time before a pilot has a medically significant event from an adverse reaction to this [COVID-19] vaccine and crashes an airliner, killing a few hundred American citizens in the process.

He added:

When will the FAA finally do the right thing by trying to adhere to its own mission statement, which is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world?

How many more pilots have to die or be severely injured before the FAA acknowledges the horrible and dangerous problem it has created?

In addition to the risk of a disaster involving casualties among passengers and the general public, the difficulties that pilots are experiencing as a result of vaccine-related adverse reactions are creating other disruptions for the airline industry and the flying public, such as flight cancellations and delays.

Yoder described this as a ripple effect:

Vaccine mandates are having a ripple effect in the aviation industry that will continue for years to come.

Pilot shortages were a concern pre-mandate, [and] have now been amplified due to early retirements and medical disqualification due to certain adverse vaccine reactions which prohibit pilots from maintaining medical certification.

Pilots, Advocates Describe Importance of Speaking Out

The pilots, legal professionals and advocates who spoke to The Defender all expressed their hope that by speaking out and sharing their stories and experiences, they will make a difference.

Snow said:

I hope to shine the spotlight on the potential for significant safety issues that exist within the airlines, commercial vehicles/transportation, and other safety-sensitive work that might be affected by [the] sudden onset of health issues that could be attributed to the COVID vaccines.

It is in our collective best interest that real research and data analysis be undertaken to address this potentially dangerous situation.

Why is there such a reluctance to investigate these EUA COVID vaccines which are still being aggressively marketed to, if not outright forced upon, the global public?

Snow went on to discuss the history of unsafe drugs and therapies that had initially received FDA approval and the importance of clinical and scientific studies to evaluate the possibility of injuries and deaths instead of parroting the marketing mantra safe and effective.

Flint described the FAAs handling of the issue as one of the most glaring instances of incompetence and corruption I have ever witnessed, adding that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has taken nearly everything from myself and my family  my health and my career have been taken from me.

He added that due to his inability to fly, he is facing mounting debt and unpaid taxes, with an income 20% of what it was before vaccination.

Steele, who also organized the Peoples Convoy, expressed her view that [t]he only way to push back on the government and corporate overstep is demanding accountability  to hold these policymakers unequivocally accountable.

She specifically referenced the importance of pursuing legal claims, telling The Defender:

The only way to ensure it never happens again is to hit them in the pocketbook  In doing so, the awarded damages will also assist the victims of these policies that have been so grievously harmed.

Yoder described the resistance he has observed to such private and government mandates, saying that Americans have rallied in defiance to the totalitarian dictators dubbed government, adding that American patriots will never succumb to totalitarianism.

Steele drew upon her experience with the Peoples Convoy to share her own observation of wide public opposition to such mandates, while expressing a message of hope:

My greatest takeaway and the most refreshing finding on the Convoy was that patriotism is alive and well in our great country.

The American people have had it with the nonsense with the overstepping, with the PC police, the degrading of morality in our country. They are simply over it and looking for actionable items that they can do.

They want to see accountability. They want to see our country restored  It is important for people to know they are absolutely not alone. In fact, we are the majority.

Originally published on Childrens Health Defense

 05/06/22 Childrens Health Defense, Inc. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of Childrens Health Defense, Inc. Want to learn more from Childrens Health Defense? Sign up for free news and updates from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Childrens Health Defense. Your donation will help to support us in our efforts.
First Lady Jill Biden (2L) and Ukraine President's wife Olena Zelenska (2R) visit a school in Uzhhorod on May 8, 2022, during an unannounced visit to Ukraine. (Susan Walsh/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

First Lady Jill Biden Makes Unannounced Visit to Ukraine

First Lady Jill Biden made an unannounced trip to Ukraine on May 8, and held a surprise meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart, Olena Zelenska.

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, Biden told Zelenska when she arrived, according to reports. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

President Joe Biden didnt travel with the first lady to the embattled country.

Jill Bidens office told The Associated Press that she arrived by vehicle in the western city of Uzhhorod, Ukraine, located near the Slovak border. She then returned to Slovakia after her trip to Ukraine, her office told Reuters.

Zelenska thanked Biden for her courageous act.

We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every dayeven today, she said, AP reported.

The first lady is the highest-profile American to visit Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia about two months ago. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in April, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) visited Kyiv about a week ago and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Joe Biden has been leading Western efforts to impose economic sanctions on Russia and pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict. The U.S. president hasnt been to Ukraine since the invasion began.

Earlier on May 8, the U.S. first lady visited a refugee center for Ukrainians in Kosice, a city located in eastern Slovakia. She also met with Ukrainian mothers who were residing there.

Jill Bidens visit wasnt announced ahead of time, and it wasnt featured on her public schedule.

During a Fox News interview on May 8, Zelenskyy said the United States is the primary accelerator of the sanction policies and I think they do more than any other country.

This is the way it should be because they are the most powerful country right now. I see the same support with respect to sanctions from the United Kingdom, he said, claiming that European Union countries dont have it with respect to certain sanctions.

The United States has imposed sanctions on major Russian banks, including Sberbank, the countrys largest lender, as well as top Russian government officials, including Putin.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivers a speech via video link to the opening ceremony of the Bo'ao Forum For Asia in southern China's Hainan Province on April 21, 2022. (Huang Jingwen/Xinhua via AP)

Getting Cut Off From Rest of World Is CCPs Greatest Fear: Analyst

The greatest fear for the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is getting the country cut off from the rest of the world. But this is occurring, according to Gordon Chang, author and a senior fellow of Gatestone Institute.

Speaking on a recent China Insider program on EpochTv , Chang noted global companies have started shifting their factories out of China, as they hope to build more resilient supply chains.

The world for economic reasonsnot political, not geopolitical, but for economic reasons is doing that, said Chang.

Companies are experiencing supply chain disruptions as the regimes zero-COVID approach brought Shanghai and other Chinese cities to a halt. Millions are confined in their homes as authorities imposed lockdown and mass testing in regions where infections were recorded. The heavy-handed approach dented factory production and delayed the transportation of goods.

Yet its not just the strict COVID control measures prompting companies to move productions out of China. Chang said the Chinese regimes ties with Russia also made current supply chains unreliable.

Its not going to be reliable because China is supporting Russias invasion of Ukraine that is accelerating a division of the international system.

China, whose ruling Communist Party declared a no limits partnership with Russia before the invasion, has attracted mounting criticism over its tacit support of Moscow throughout the crisis. The regime has so far declined to condemn Russias aggression, despite growing calls from the United States, European Union, and other countries.

While the regimes policies have contributed to the decoupling, this trend is not in Beijings interests, according to Chang.

This is not where China should want to be because China [is] the biggest beneficiary of the American-sponsored period of globalization and integration of China into the international system, he said.

Its being driven by a number of things. But Xi Jinping is very much the author of this de-globalization.

Chang said the Chinese leader warned the world not to cut the country off during a video speech to the annual Boao Asia Forum.

On April 21, Xi proposed what he called a new China-led global security initiative, which upholds principles including indivisibility of security, a key concept that Russia used to justify its assault on Ukraine. The Chinese leader said, countries around the world are like passengers aboard the same ship who share the same destiny  the thought of throwing anyone overboard is simply not acceptable.

When he [Xi Jinping] talked about indivisible security [it] actually betrayed his greatest fear, and that is the world decoupling from China, Chang said.

Really, what he was saying was that the world should not throw China overboard, he added.

Though fearful of getting cut off, the Chinese leader would double down on policies currently on foot, such as zero-COVID and Beijings partnership with Moscow, if he gets the unprecedented third term in office at an important party conclave this autumn, according to Chang.

I think that he will then double down on policies, which obviously are not good for the country, not good for the economy, and that means a bad end for China.

Most Dangerous Period

Chang suggested the world should decouple from the communist regime, though its difficult due to Chinas large economy.

I believe that the world needs to start protecting itself from Chinas maliciousness, which means cutting off ties, no trade, no investment, no technical cooperation, cutting back diplomatic relations, said Chang.

I know that sounds risky[but] the most dangerous and risky path is to continue with the policies that have landed us in this mess in the first place.

We could end up going from the best moment in history to the worst, but thats because weve had these misguided assessments of China, which have translated into policy, which has pushed China to become more belligerent and have weakened our own defenses, said Chang.

I cant think of a more dangerous situation than we are now short of actual war.
Girl, 11, Goes Missing in Long Beach, Possibly Headed to LAX

LONG BEACH, Calif.Police on May 7 circulated photos of an 11-year-old girl who went missing in Long Beach.

Natasha Marie Korinek was last seen leaving her home at 8 p.m. on May 6 and left a note saying she was headed to Los Angeles International Airport to fly to Utah, the Long Beach Police Department reported, adding that Korinek has no history of running away.

She does not have a cell phone but has a school-issued Google Chromebook that can only be used with Wi-Fi or a hot spot.

She was described as a 4-feet-9-inch tall white female weighing 95 pounds with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing a brown hoodie, a purple shirt with Lakewood Christian School on the front, beige pants, and white and black shoes.

Long Beach police urged anyone with information regarding Korineks whereabouts to call them at 562-435-6711 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
In this special episode, we sat down with Gregory Copley in Washington. Hes the president of the International Strategic Studies Association. Lets begin with whats happening in the Indo-Pacific region, why its important to America, and how it could all play out.

Copley said, The first thing the United States has got to do is recognize that the real strategic competition, which is going to determine the fortunes of the West in the future is largely occurring in the Indo-Pacific region, and not in the Euro-Atlantic sphere. And one of the things that the Peoples Republic of China has been keen to do is to distract the Biden administration so that it moves away from the Indo-Pacific focus and moves back to a Euro-Atlantic focus. So the Ukraine war really played into Beijings hands. They were able to see all attention from Washington being given to the Ukraine war and to the reconstruction of NATO, arguably an alliance which needed to rethink itself in 1990, 1991, at the end of the Cold War, but instead now thats become the major focus of attention. And, of course, the U.S. is funding this war in Ukraine, heavily, to the tunes of many tens of billions of dollars, not to mention the changing the attention.

He goes on to note that would give the PRC a great ability to project further southward and control strategic straits and waterways through the Southeast Asian waterways. And that, of course, is critical, because arguably the greatest volume of world maritime traffic  goes through these straits.

And in the second half, we sat down with John Oneill and Sarah Wynne, authors of The Dancer and the Devil, a deep dive into murders and biowars by Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping.

ONeill notes the role Marxism played in the need for poisons and biowar, saying, Marxism promises heaven, it promises that heaven on earth of equality where were all friends, perfect equitybut it delivers hell. Every place thats ever existed, it promises freedom and delivers slavery. Having delivered slavery, it cant survive debate.  Marxists can never survive a free debate, because you can look at what its done in Venezuela, in China, in Russia, any place that its been around. In Soviet Russia, it delivered the death of 20 million people. In China, under Mao, there were untold, maybe as many as 40 million dead. Today in China, you have a vast purge going on of the arts and other areas. So people were living in cultural terror and cultural  fear. So the way to solve that, according to Marxists, is to simply eliminate the debate by eliminating the debaters.

Wynne explains the reasons they wrote the book, saying in addition to making the news available for people to learn about. Stalin once said that the death of a million people is just a statistic, but the death of one person could be a tragedy. So were trying to highlight the deaths of these individuals who are amazing in and of themselves. Pavlova is one, Anna Pavlova. Serge Diaghilev, a producer, was another one out of Russia. Gorky, Maxim Gorky, a short story writer. Raoul Wallenberg was an ambassador. So these stories of hope in their lives.

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U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to employees at Lockheed Martin, a facility that manufactures weapon systems such as Javelin anti-tank missiles, in Troy, Alabama, on May 3, 2022. (Julie Bennett/Getty Images)

Hispanic Voters Are Losing Faith in the Democratic Party: Poll

The support of Hispanic voters at the midterms later this year could prove to be extremely instrumental in turning the tide of liberal policies of the current administration, a conservative Hispanic group says.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll published in April, only 26 percent of Hispanic survey participants approved of President Joe Bidens job performance. This marks the lowest approval rating of any demographic group.

The Epoch Times spoke to Santiago Avila, national vice chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA), who offered a number of reasons why support among Hispanic voters is plummeting.

While Hispanics have historically registered as Democrats, Avila said their values are generally conservative. [Many Hispanics] grow up being told that Republicans are for the rich and Democrats are for the poor. What they should understand, he said, is that Democrats are more liberal, and Republicans are more conservative.

Having spoken to many different left-leaning Hispanics, Avila said, they are really beginning to feel like the Democratic party has become too extreme to the point where its starting to scare some of them. Many are beginning to turn away from the Democratic party because theyre getting vibes of a communist Cuba and socialist Venezuela here in America. 

As a result, Avila said Hispanics are going to be extremely instrumental in the upcoming midterm elections. They are starting to come to the realization that their conservative values are in opposition to what the media has been trying to feed them in favor of Biden and the Democrats.

RNHAs National Chairman Ronnie Lucero agreed, pointing to the liberal policies of the current administration as a problem. More often than not, a lot of changes in policies are reflected against the values of the Hispanic community, he said.

Lucero said progressive leaders push for abortion and the abolishment of the Second Amendment, for example. The Hispanic community is very pro-life and does not want a power grab [that restricts the lawful possession of firearms], he said. These are issues Hispanics want to speak up, stand up, and be vocal about when it comes time to vote.

Legal, Not Illegal, Immigration

The topic of immigration is often a prevailing narrative when talking to Hispanics about the policies of any administration, Avila noted. As the son of two immigrants, he wants to see immigration but said it has to be accomplished by the rule of law.

Illegal immigration puts a burden on the country and both parties are to blame, Avila said, pointing out that Democrats play with emotions, sentiments, and pull at the heartstrings when speaking about the topic. And all the while, he said, too many conservatives are assuming theyre not going to get the Hispanic vote. Yet, he said, former President Donald Trump and his administration were very effective at reaching the Hispanic community.

Lucero agreed that illegal immigration is harmful to the country, adding that a country with open borders is not a country. Rule of law must be cherished and respected, he said. The people who take the wrong process and beat the system must be rejected.

But for those entering the country legally, Lucero suggested that lawful immigration should be a speedier process. Raising a personal example, he said it took his mother-in-law 15 years to become a U.S. citizen. The country does need some immigration reform, because access to citizenship should be easier for those coming to the United States to contribute to the countryand love the county, he said.

Values and the America Dream

While immigration is a hot topic, Avila said, its not the number one topic for the Hispanic community. He said Hispanics care more about their families and their independence. We didnt come into this country to live off of welfare; were running away from that.

Most Hispanics are chasing the American dream, according to Avila. Hispanics want the opportunities found in the United States and thats why many have immigrated to the country.

We come here, because when you become an American, you get endowed with inherent, unalienable rights that arent enjoyed in other countries, he said. We want to prosper and live out our values in this great country.

When it comes time to vote in the midterm election, one thing about the Hispanic voter is that we stick to our values, Avila said. We see ourselves as Americans and our voices will be heard at the voting booth later this year, he said.
The city of El Cajon, Calif., a community east of San Diego, is seen on Sept. 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Don Boomer)

Home Torched, Killing One, During Eviction Attempt in El Cajon

EL CAJON, Calif.An unidentified person died in an El Cajon house fire sparked on May 6 by someone who threw Molotov cocktail-type incendiary devices at deputies as they were trying to evict a resident.

The events that led to the deadly blaze began shortly before noon, when court services personnel with the San Diego County Sheriffs Department tried to serve an eviction notice on a man in his 60s who lived with his girlfriend in the house in the 1200 block of Redwood Avenue, according to the El Cajon Police Department (ECPD).

Getting no answer from anyone inside, the deputies tried to enter, finding the front door barricaded, ECPD Lt. Randy Soulard said.

At that time, several incendiary devices with what appeared to be a flammable liquid [in them] were thrown in the direction of the deputies, immediately engulfing the structure in flames, Soulard said. As the structure continued to burn, [a woman] believed to be the suspects girlfriend escaped the building through a window and was taken to safety.

The woman, who suffered moderate burns, confirmed [that the man] was still inside the residence.

The woman, also in her 60s, was hospitalized for treatment of non-life-threatening burn injuries.

After firefighters extinguished the blaze, police searched the gutted home and found a charred body in what had been a bathroom.

The identity of that person has not been determined at this time, pending a forensic examination, Soulard said. Other than the male [resident], no other persons were believed to [have been] inside the residence when it was burned.

Firefighting personnel deemed the home a complete loss, Soulard said.
Hundreds of Falun Gong adherents commemorated the 30th anniversary of the spreading of the practice in downtown Toronto on May 7, 2022. (Evan Ning/the Epoch Times)

Hundreds in Toronto Celebrate 30th Anniversary of Spread of Spiritual Practice Falun Gong

Hundreds of Falun Gong adherents commemorated the 30th anniversary of the spreading of the spiritual practice around the world with dance and music performances and a large parade through downtown Toronto on May 7.

Several prominent political and community leaders joined the celebration and voiced support for the practice, which includes meditative exercises and moral teachings based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. As called Falun Dafa, the practice was first introduced in mainland China in 1992, where it quickly gained widespread popularity due to its health benefits. By 1999, the practice has attracted 70 million to 100 million adherents in China, according to government estimates.

However, then-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin deemed the large number of adherents a potential threat to its totalitarian rule, and in July 1999, launched a brutal oppression campaign to eradicate Falun Gong. The persecution is ongoing and has been criticized by democracies around the world.

Falun Gong adherents commemorated the 30th anniversary of the spreading of the practice with dance and music performances at the Toronto City Hall on May 7, 2022. (Allen Zhou/The Epoch Times)

Falun Gong adherents commemorated the 30th anniversary of the spreading of the practice with dance and music performances at the Toronto City Hall on May 7, 2022. (Allen Zhou/The Epoch Times)

Falun Gong adherents commemorated the 30th anniversary of the spreading of the practice with dance and music performances at the Toronto City Hall on May 7, 2022. (Allen Zhou/The Epoch Times)

During the rally on May 7, Joel Etienne, a human rights lawyer, said he has a hopeful vision of Falun Gong being allowed to spread openly and freely in China again, adding that he has seen the great strength and resilience of its adherents in their fight against tyranny.

I dream of a day when mainland China, across the country and across the cities and across the land, Falun Dafa celebration day will be celebrated in peace and harmony and openness; where Falun Gong practitioners will have the ability to be who they are with no difficulty, with no concern, and peace of mind. I have this dream that this will happen very very soon, and we should all believe in that, Etienne said.

Human rights lawyer Joel Etienne speaks during a rally in downtown Toronto on May 7, 2022, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the spreading of Falun Gong. (Allen Zhou/The Epoch Times)

He also noted that Chinese Canadians who believe in democracy and human rights suffer greatly even when they are in Canada, as the CCPs long arm continues to target Falun Gong adherents living overseas and harass their families back in China.

As a human rights lawyer, I can bear witness to the plights, the suffering, and the struggle of the Falun Dafa community over these many decades, Etienne said. And I say that Falun Dafa practitioners and Chinese Canadians who believe in human rights and who believe in democracy, pay a much heavier price than any other Canadians. Why? Because, day-in-day-out, they have to worry about interference on Canadian soil, they have to worry about how their family members are affected and are prosecuted back home.

I feel the pain, I feel the sorrow. When I get the phone call at 2 oclock in the morning to tell me that a brother, a sister, a cousin, a best friend, has been arrested in China and has been made to disappear because of their beliefs, because of their truth clarification, he continued.

I thank you for the courage that you have being steadfast, keeping with your forbearance, and continuing to promote such important values of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, and having the courage to continuing to promote these important values of democracy [and] human rights.

Former Conservative MP Wladyslaw Lizon does victory sign as his speaks during a rally in downtown Toronto on May 7, 2022, where Falun Gong adherents celebrated the 30th anniversary of the spreading of the practice. (Allen Zhou/The Epoch Times)

Former Tory MP Wladyslaw Lizon, a Polish Canadian and longtime friend of Falun Gong adherents, called on the Canadian government and other democracies around the world to stand up to the oppression of tyrannical regimes.

Canada and other democratic countries in the world, we as citizens and our government have to stand up for the rights of those of oppressed in communist China and other places in the world, he said.

Former senator Consiglio Di Nino said he felt like he was sitting on an emotional roller coaster thinking about the many Falun Gong adherents in China who are still subjected to inhumane treatment, including torture, sexual abuse, and live organ harvesting.

Its truly unbelievable that after [23 years], the world is still allowing this to happen, and indeed is not standing up as strongly as they should be to say to China: stop this nonsense, stop being a subhuman group of people, embrace an organization that preaches the values, the fundamental values that we need most in the world, Di Nino.

My message to you today is: Were here because we feel your pain. Were here because we can help, and from my own personal standpoint, Ill continue to be here as long as you need me.

Former senator Consiglio Di Nino speaks during a rally in downtown Toronto on May 7, 2022, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the spreading of Falun Gong. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Gloria Fung, president of Canada-Hong Kong Link, speaks during a rally in downtown Toronto on May 7, 2022, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the spreading of Falun Gong. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Gloria Fung, democracy activist and president of Canada-Hong Kong Link, said Falun Gong adherents have defended the freedom of belief, which is the cornerstone of all freedoms that made all of us fully human.

But now, these commonly cherished values in Canada are also under attack from the Chinese Communist Party. Over the past decade, we have witnessed the Chinese Communist Partys increased intimidation of Canadian activists on Canadian soil, and also  cyber attacks and disinformation campaign to enhance the social polarization as well as to corrode our democracy here, Fung said.

Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Elizabeth Dowdeswell and Mayor of Toronto John Tory both sent congratulatory letters, which were read at the rally.

Jordan Schmidt, a German researcher who watched the performances, said he has been to China and the universal values of Falun Gong are very important for the people in China today.

Schmidts friend, who only wanted to be identified as Jason, said he saw many news reports of the communist regimes human rights violations, including the imprisonment of the Uyghur Muslims in northwest China.

They have camps where people are being locked up in prison because they have different beliefs and they are not conformed with the main Party and the main government. Taking this into consideration as well, I do believe that also other ethnicities, also other religious formations are being discriminated and put away in jail. And this is of course a very bad thing, Jason said.

The Chinese government is not very cooperative and they like to keep secrets to themselves. And also the press is not free in China. Thats obvious. Thats not good for the people living there and also not for the rest of the world.

Jordan Schmidt and his friend Jason watched a dance and music performances by adherents of Falun Gong who were celebrating the 30th anniversary of the spreading of the practice, in downtown Toronto on May 7, 2022. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Following the rally, Falun Gong adherents paraded through downtown Toronto, starting from the Nathan Phillips Square and down Queen St. West, turning on Spadina Ave., then to Dundas St. W, and back to Toronto City Hall.

The parade included band performances, traditional Chinese drum performances, and a display of Falun Gong exercises.

Falun Gong adherents commemorate the 30th anniversary of the practices introduction with a parade at Toronto City Hall https://t.co/EQbnDgaTcB  Andrew Chen (@AndrewChen55) May 7, 2022

Falun Gong adherents commemorate the 30th anniversary of the practices introduction with a parade through downtown Toronto on May 7, 2022. https://t.co/LHIDm5Gtyd  Andrew Chen (@AndrewChen55) May 7, 2022

Falun Gong adherents paraded through downtown Toronto on May 7, 2022, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the spreading of the practice around the world. (Evan Ning/The Epoch Times) Falun Gong adherents paraded through downtown Toronto on May 7, 2022, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the spreading of the practice around the world. (Evan Ning/The Epoch Times) Torontonians looked on as Falun Gong adherents paraded through the citys downtown area on May 7, 2022, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the spreading of the practice around the world. (Evan Ning/The Epoch Times)

A Torontonian, identified only as John, said he has seen the Falun Dafa parade many times in the city, and this time he followed the parade all the way to where it ended.

I have a lot of admiration for it because I know its a group thats persecuted, and yet theyre standing on two feet, and theyre lifting up their voice or lifting up their trumpets, and theyre standing up against the totalitarian regime. So I think its very powerful, he said.

Toronto resident John followed the Falun Gong parade across downtown to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the spreading of the practice, on May 7, 2022. (Xinxin Teng/The Epoch Times)
Signage is seen at the United States Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, on Aug. 29, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Illinois Professor Convicted of Failing to Report Chinese Bank Account

A federal jury on May 4 found an Illinois math professor guilty of failing to disclose a foreign bank account but dismissed grant fraud charges, the latest conviction stemming from a crackdown on Chinese influence in U.S. research launched by the Trump administration.

Xiao Mingqing, a Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale professor, was convicted on four counts of violating tax laws by failing to report to U.S. authorities a Chinese bank account created to support his research collaborations in China.

But he was cleared of lying to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and his university about ties to Shenzhen University and Chinese research funding agencies in connection with a 2019 NSF grant he received.

Prosecutors had alleged that Xiao defrauded the National Science Foundation (NSF) of $151,099 in grants by concealing aid that he was receiving from the Chinese regime, according to an April 2021 indictment filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

U.S. Judge Staci Yandle on May 2 deemed prosecutors evidence on the two related wire fraud charges, that would have subjected Xiao to a sentence of up to 20 years in prison each, insufficient.

Xiaos attorneys said they plan to appeal the verdict, which could bring him a maximum prison sentence of 5 years and a substantial fine.

His lawyers said in a statement, that the judges rejection of the grant fraud charges against Xiao showed a complete rebuke of the Department of Justices China Initiative.

The now-disbanded China Initiative was launched by the Trump administration in 2018 to combat the Chinese regimes state-sponsored espionage and theft of trade secrets. The program led to the prosecution of some two dozen U.S. academics, most of them of Chinese origin, who were alleged to have concealed funding ties with Chinese institutions and state-backed recruitment plans.

U.S. officials have warned that the Chinese regime uses recruitment programs, such as the thousand talents plan, to lure foreign academics to work in China, a process that facilitates the transfer of technology and know-how to the country.

But the China Initiatives targeting of ethnically Chinese professors drew the ire of many in the academic community, who alleged that the department was engaging in racial profiling and chilling scientific exchange between the United States and China.

In response to these criticisms, the Biden administration shut down the program in February. While an internal review did not find actual racial bias, the initiative was canceled due to prevent a harmful perception of bias, a Justice Department official said at the time.

The closure has drawn harsh rebuke from GOP lawmakers who say that the initiative is necessary to combat Beijings whole-of-society efforts to steal American technology to ultimately supplant the United States as sole superpower on the world stage.

Prior to Xiaos case, former chair of chemistry at Harvard University Charles Lieber was convicted of failing to disclose his research ties to China. Frank Tao, a former professor at the University of Kansas, was convicted on similar charges.

In January federal prosecutors dropped charges against Chen Gang, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor accused of concealing his ties to China when seeking federal grant money.

Xiao has worked at SIUs Carbondale campus since 2000, according to court documents. He submitted a grant application to the university in September 2018 without informing the school that he was receiving a grant from the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China, the indictment alleged.

The university put Xiao on paid administrative leave immediately after the April 2021 indictment and embarked on its own investigation.

Xiao is to remain under court supervision prior to his sentencing, which is scheduled for Aug. 11.
Even those who havent read James Joyce have heard of the famous Irish author.

His works include Ulysses, considered one of the greatest novels of the 20th century and among the most difficult to read.

And those who have studied his works are often surprised to learn that the worlds biggest collection of everything James Joyce isnt in Dublin  its in Buffalo.

The University at Buffalos Joyce collection has more than 10,000 pages of original manuscripts, notes and letters, personal belongings such as his canes and glasses, and even his library of first-edition books signed by the likes of Hemingway, T.S. Eliot and William Carlos Williams.

Now, Joyce fans and scholars must make an appointment to see these literary treasures in the Special Collections library on the fourth floor of Capen Hall on UBs North Campus. But UB is determined to create a museum to make the collection and the man accessible to visitors as a tourist destination.

That goal just got a boost from the National Endowment for the Humanities, which awarded UB a $100,000 challenge grant for the project. The grant requires UB to raise $300,000 for the design phase of the museum, which would occupy 4,500 square feet of historic Abbott Hall on UBs South Campus.

The total cost is estimated at $10 million and includes permanent exhibit space for rotating displays, an endowment fund to preserve and add to the collection, programming funds and a James Joyce curator position, said James Maynard, curator of UBs Poetry Collection.

Photos: UB gets grant for new space to house James Joyce collection The University at Buffalo is getting a $100,000 challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to design a new museum space to

This year, the 100th anniversary of Ulysses, is high time for sharing the collection and the capital campaign to give it the home it deserves, said Associate Curator Alison Fraser. She hosted three tours of items from the collection last week, and more are expected this summer.

As difficult as some find his prose, Joyce has a fanatical following like that of Tolkien, with Irish and literary institutions across the globe celebrating Bloomsday every June 16, the day the fictional Leopold Bloom spends traveling around 1904 Dublin in Ulysses.

Last Bloomsday, UB unveiled a 36-foot-tall mural of Joyce on the LoTempio Law Group building on Franklin Street as the first step toward making Buffalo an international destination for Joyce seekers.

We want to go from being able to pull out some of our collections greatest hits to offering exhibitions that really tell stories about who Joyce was and the people who helped him get published, Maynard said.

For the centennial, Fraser curated a UB exhibit on Sylvia Beach, the owner of a Paris book shop, Shakespeare & Co., who published Ulysses in 1922 because no established publisher would touch it uncensored. Beach saved correspondence, Joyces notes and other Ulysses items and chose UB to house them because of its Joyce collection.

Part of the collection not on public view includes objects that would interest almost anyone, Joyce fan or not. Among the greatest hits Maynard and Fraser pulled out for The Buffalo News:

 A 1929 first edition of Hemingways A Farewell to Arms, which was censored to replace vulgar words with dashes. Hemingway not only signed the book to Joyce, he went through it and penned in all the swear words.

 Order forms for Ulysses filled out by art collector Peggy Guggenheim and poets Yeats and William Carlos Williams.

 Original sketches by French painter Henri Matisse to illustrate a 1935 limited edition of Ulysses. Legend has it Matisse didnt want to read the whole book, but knew it was based on Homers Odyssey, so he created scenes like Blinding the Cyclops instead of Dublin landmarks.

 A bronze casting of Joyces death mask, the plaster cast of his face made after his death in 1941 to preserve his features for his wife, Nora.

Fraser recently packed up 32 rare items from the collection to be featured in the One Hundred Years of James Joyces Ulysses" exhibit at New York Citys Morgan Library and Museum from June 3 through Oct. 2.

Maynard said scholars of Joyce come to UB to study his original notes and manuscripts, which he highlighted with colored pencils as he revised his work.

For people who have spent their whole lives studying Joyce, when they see this, they are blown away, he said.

Other people say, Ive never read a word of Joyce and I probably never will, but Im Irish and this is an important part of my heritage, so I want to see and learn about it,  Fraser added.

When people hear of the collection, the first question they have is how did it get to Western New York, and then they want to know, Can I come see it?  Maynard said.

It got here thanks to Oscar Silverman, a UB English professor who was in Paris in 1949 and saw an exhibit put on by friends of Joyce to help his family earn postwar income, Maynard said. Learning the family would auction the exhibit contents when it closed, Silverman returned to Buffalo and worked with UB Libraries Director Charles Abbott on a plan to acquire it.

UBs winning bid of $10,000 purchased the entire collection, which it now considers priceless.

We really do not emphasize the financial value of this collection, Maynard said. For us, the value is in the use that people make of it.

Many more people will see it in a museum that puts it on the map, said Scott Hollander, UB associate librarian for administration and distinctive collections.

The joke with our undergrads is if you can figure out how to get to Special Collections, you can graduate now, Hollander said. Thats the problem were trying to solve.

The public can seek out UBs exhibit, That All Books Might Published Be: Sylvia Beachs Ulysses,  at UB Special Collections, 420 Capen Hall, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday through the end of the year. To arrange a tour of Joyce collection items, email lpo-poetry@buffalo.edu or call 716-645-2917 a few days in advance.

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John Durham (L) is sworn in as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven, Conn., on Feb. 22, 2018. (Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut)

Judge Spares Clinton Campaign in Ruling Against John Durhams Team

A federal judge has turned down a request from Special Counsel John Durham, essentially limiting evidence and testimony from the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee that prosecutors can use against former Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussmann.

The ruling means that documents and testimony in the case could potentially suggest that the Clinton campaign and Democrats coordinated to push since-discredited allegations that in 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump or his allies had a secret back channel between Trump Tower and a Russian bank. Democrats foisted that allegation, among others, in a bid to claim that Trump had ties with Russia, which became a narrative used by the mainstream media during much of his presidency.

Durham has accused Sussmann of lying to the FBI when he told the bureaus then-general counsel, James Baker, that he wasnt working on behalf of any client when he provided the TrumpRussian bank allegation to the agency. Last year, Sussmann pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial later this month.

But Durhams team alleges that Sussmann didnt provide that information to Baker in a mere good-faith attempt to raise awareness about Trump and Russia. Instead, they argue that he was really acting on behalf of the Clinton campaign and a technology executive.

Judge Christopher Cooper wrote (pdf) on May 7 that releasing more documents and providing testimony would be tantamount to conducting a time-consuming and largely unnecessary mini-trial to determine the existence and scope of an uncharged conspiracy to develop and disseminate the Alfa Bank data and that hes confident Durhams team can effectively pursue its case without the marginal information such an inquiry might yield about Mr. Sussmanns motives and client relationships.

Michael Sussman (C) arrives for a court hearing at a federal courthouse in Washington on April 27, 2022. (Oliver Trey/The Epoch Times)

Previously, Durham had argued that Sussmann, technology executive Rodney Joffe, and the Clinton campaign were acting in concert toward a common goal by concocting and disseminating the [Alfa Bank] allegations and other derogatory information about Trump to the media and the U.S. government and that opposition research company Fusion GPS was part of that effort.

Prosecutors asked to introduce emails during Sussmanns trial that would show that he, Joffe, and Clinton were part of that alleged scheme, including an email thats purported to say that Joffe remarked that he was offered a cybersecurity job in the White House if the Democrats won the election.

The Court will exercise its discretion not to engage in the kind of extensive evidentiary analysis that would be required to find that such a joint venture existed, and who may have joined it, Cooper, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, wrote in response. While the Special Counsel has proffered some evidence of a collective effort to disseminate the purported link between Trump and Alfa Bank to the press and others, the contours of this venture and its participants are not entirely obvious.

He also wrote that Joffe, who was hired by the Clinton campaign, will likely not have to testify or submit records showing that he allegedly accessed some of the data in breach of certain cybersecurity-related contracts he or his companies had with the U.S. government. Joffe, through a spokesman earlier this year, denied any allegations of wrongdoing.

Evidence of improper data collection by Mr. Joffe or others done without Mr. Sussmanns knowledge is, at best, only marginally probative of his supposed motive to lie to the FBI, Cooper wrote. Moreover, whether Mr. Joffe, who is not on trial, violated the terms of any of his contracts with the governmentlet alone committed a crimeis the type of collateral issue that risks confusing the jury and distracting from the pertinent issues in the case.

On May 4, the judge handed Durham a victory as he granted a motion allowing prosecutors to review documents from the campaign, Democrat-aligned law firm Perkins Coie, Joffe, and Fusion GPS.
Ukrainian troops patrol in the town of Novoluhanske, eastern Ukraine, on Feb. 19, 2022. (Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images)

RussiaUkraine War (May 8): Ukrainian Troops Retreat From Popasna, Luhansk Governor Confirms

The latest on the RussiaUkraine crisis, May 8. Click here for updates from May 7.

Ukrainian Troops Retreat From Popasna, Luhansk Governor Confirms

Ukrainian troops retreated from the eastern Ukrainian city of Popasna, the governor of Luhansk region said on Sunday, confirming previous reports that it had been taken.

The head of Russias republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, had said on Sunday his troops had taken control of most of Popasna.

Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai told Ukraine television that Ukrainian troops had retreated to take up more fortified positions, adding: Everything was destroyed there.

Russian forces launched a new offensive push in April along most of Ukraines eastern flank, with some of most intense attacks and shelling taking place recently around Popasna in the Luhansk region.

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G-7 Leaders Vow to Cut Russian Oil Imports

Leaders from the Group of Seven (G-7) developed democracies pledged Sunday to phase out or ban the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys surrender in 1945.

Cutting out Russian oil supplies will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the G-7 countriesthe United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Japansaid in a statement.

We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies, they added.

Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.

We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community, they said.

U.S. President Joe Bidens call with the G-7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.

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Evacuees From Azovstal Plant Arrive in Ukraines Zaporizhzhia

A convoy of buses carrying evacuees from southeastern Ukraine, including some 40 civilians who had been holed up in the Azovstal steel plant in besieged Mariupol, arrived on Sunday in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia, a U.N. official said.

Osnat Lubrani, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said eight buses had arrived in the city. About 40 of the 174 evacuees on board had been rescued from the steel plant.

Lubrani said in a statement that the evacuations brought the number of people evacuated from the area in the past 10 days to more than 600.

Our work, however, is not yet done, she said in the statement. The U.N. is aware that scores of people who wanted to join the evacuation convoys over the last days were unable to do so.

We will continue our engagement with both parties to the conflict to make sure that those who want to leave have the guarantees to do so safely and in the direction of their choice.

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Trudeau Announces New Weapons for Ukraine, Reopening of Canadian Embassy in Kyiv

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced new weapons and equipment for Ukraine on Sunday after an unannounced visit to the countrys capital of Kyiv.

Trudeau, addressing a news conference after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also said Canada was imposing new sanctions on Russian individuals and entities in connection with Moscows invasion of Ukraine.

Today, Im announcing more military assistance, drone cameras, satellite imagery, small arms, ammunition and other support, including funding for demining operations, Trudeau said.

And were bringing forward new sanctions on 40 Russian individuals and five entities, oligarchs and close associates of the regime in the defense sector, all of them complicit in Putins war, in a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trudeau visited the town of Irpin outside Kyiv, the focal point of fierce battles between Ukrainian and Russian troops before the Russians withdrew late in March.

He said Canada was reopening its embassy in the Ukrainian capital.

Canada was also providing $25 million to the U.N.s World Food Programme as part of efforts to uphold food security and would remove trade tariffs on all Ukrainian imports to Canada for next year.

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US, G-7 Partners Impose New Sanctions on Russia

The United States, the European Union, and Group of Seven (G-7) allies on Sunday agreed to impose fresh sanctions against Russia, including penalizing state-controlled media, barring Western management consulting services in Russia, and tightening export controls.

The sanctions came a day before Russias Victory Day, which celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II.

On Sunday morning, Biden participated in a virtual conference with G-7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the White House.

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the United States make up the G-7.

The leaders released a statement at the conclusion of their meeting pledging their support for Ukraine and imposing fresh sanctions on Russia.

The G7 and Ukraine stand united in this difficult time and in their quest to ensure Ukraines democratic, prosperous future. We remain united in our resolve that President Putin must not win his war against Ukraine, the statement read.

Read the full article here

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Dozens Feared Dead in Ukraine School Bombed by Russia, Governor Says

As many as 60 people were feared to have been killed in the Russian bombing of a village school in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, the regional governor said on Sunday.

Russian forces also continued shelling the Azovstal steelworks, the last holdout of Ukrainian resistance in the ruined southeastern port city of Mariupol, where soldiers from the Azov regiment vowed to keep on fighting.

Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said the school in Bilohorivka, where about 90 people were sheltering, was hit on Saturday by a Russian bomb that set the building ablaze for four hours.

Thirty people were evacuated from the rubble, seven of whom were injured. Sixty people were likely to have died, Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app, adding that two dead bodies had been found.

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians in the war, which Moscow denies.

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Jill Biden Makes Unannounced Visit to Ukraine

Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting with First Lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

Biden became the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility.

Zelenska thanked Biden for her courageous act and said, We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every dayeven today.

The two first ladies came together in a small classroom, sitting across a table from one another and greeting each other in front of reporters before they met in private. Zelenska and her children have been at an undisclosed location for their safety.

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Canadas Trudeau Visits Ukraine to Offer Support

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made a surprise visit to Ukraine amid Russias war on the country.

Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne and Irpin Mayor Olexander Markushyn announced Trudeaus visit to Irpin, which had been damaged by Russias attempt to take Kyiv at the start of the war. Markushyn posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeau is the latest Western leader to visit Ukraine to offer support to the country.

His office later confirmed the visit, saying in a statement that the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

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UK Pledges More Aid to Ukraine As Europe Marks VE Day

Britain will provide an extra 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support to Ukraine to help the country defend against Russian forces, officials said Sunday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden, and leaders from other Group of Seven countries are expected to hold online talks with Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later Sunday to discuss further support.

The meeting is partly meant to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys surrender in 1945.

The funding, which comes from British government reserves, includes 300 million pounds worth of military equipment promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this week, such as radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment, and night vision devices.

Britains government said it is the highest rate of UK military spending on a conflict since Iraq and Afghanistan.

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German Parliament President Meets Zelenskyy in Kyiv

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday thanked the German parliament, the Bundestag, for approving resolutions to support Ukraine, at a meeting with the bodys president, Barbel Bas, in Kyiv.

Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for the German legislatures backing in the priority areas such as defense procurement and EU accession.

Bas became the latest in a procession of foreign leaders to make the trip after Russian forces withdrew from encircling Kyiv.

Her meeting came shortly after Zelenskyy met with Croatias prime minister.

Bas belongs to the ruling Social Democratic Party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy met the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, currently head of the opposition party and political heir of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Emel Akan, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Frank James, the suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting walks outside a police precinct in New York City on April 13, 2022. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

New York Subway Shooting Suspect Indicted on Terrorism Charges

A federal grand jury has indicted the man accused of shooting up a New York City subway train last month, leaving 10 people wounded.

Frank James, 62, was indicted on May 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He faces charges of a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system, as well as one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

If convicted, both charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. The weapons count has a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence.

During the April 12 attack, James is accused of opening fire inside a subway car and setting off smoke bombs. While 10 people were wounded by gunfire, 13 others were injured in the panic-induced rush to get out of the smoke-filled train.

James was arrested about 30 hours after the attack. Police recovered the gun from the scene along with ammunition, fireworks, gasoline, a hatchet, and a torch.

According to Andy Ngo, editor-at-large at The Post Millennial, James has previously made comments against supporters of former President Donald Trump, characterizing them as racist.

If you say you like Trump because he speaks whats on his mind, the rest of us know thats code for I like [homey] because hes a  racist and so am I, James said in one of his 2015 social media posts.

James has criticized New York Mayor Eric Adams, accusing him of imitating white people. Hes also known to have made racist comments against various groups in the past while propagating black nationalist ideologies.

You got your Ph.D. career and nice shoes. You got an education but now youre just a carbon copy of the person who made you a slave.  Youre there to serve these, he said, according to the New York Post.

James has posted material linked to the Black Panthers, Black Lives Matter, the Black Liberation Army, and the Nation of Islam on his social media accounts. In one video, James criticizes newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson for marrying a white man, since hes an enemy.

You hear black people [inspired by Jackson] say my daughter  dreaming to be a part of something that does not want you [to] be a part of it.  Youre not white, youre not European.  You want to force yourself on these people and theyre going to kill you, he said, the New York Post reported.

James also has a history of posting pro-Fidel Castro and communist posts. In one video posted by Ngo on Twitter, James can be seen using obscene words against white people, slant-eyed people, and Spanish-speaking people.
The Ugly History of Vitamin D3 and Fauci's pro-Vaccine Bias

We had an inexpensive life-saving solution both before and during the pandemic

The inconvenient truth is that even at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a very simple, inexpensive and effective treatment was available that could have saved the majority of lives lost (1-3). All that the WHO and public health bureaucracy had to do was to recommend and support people taking sufficient Vitamin D3. This failure to act traces back to the unscientific bias and pro-vaccine obsession of Dr. Anthony Fauci. And once again the legacy media, while being paid by the US government and the pharmaceutical industry to promote vaccination, acted by censoring, defaming and suppressing the ability of physicians to inform people of scientific truth. The disease you suffered, the loss of life among your family and friends, could have been greatly reduced by simply getting enough Vitamin D3. This is another example of what happens when unelected bureaucrats are allowed to control free speech. Crimes against humanity.

The effectiveness of Vitamin D3 as an immune system-boosting prophylactic treatment for influenza and other respiratory RNA viruses was first discovered in 2006 (4, 5). Despite that fact that this treatment is amazingly effective for preventing death (by strengthening your immune system), it has never been investigated by the NIH, promoted by the CDC or by the US government for the treatment of influenza. One major issue has been that uncontrolled variables of dosing, timing of dosing and disease status have resulted in inconsistent clinical trial results (much as we have seen with the Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine COVID trials). However, when Vitamin D3 is given prophylactically at sufficient doses, there is clear and compelling evidence that Vitamin D blood levels of around 50 ng/ml will substantially reduce symptomatic infection, severe disease and mortality.

Longstanding worldwide public health policy is that Vitamin D should be taken at sufficient levels (typically supplemented in milk products) to prevent the bone disease called rickets. But this is just a minimal level to prevent a very obvious debilitating disease. The recommended Vitamin D levels in our milk are not sufficient for the more subtle immune system-boosting effects of this critical vitamin/hormone. Our bodies way of normally producing Vitamin D requires a lot of sunlight, but life in the modern world and northern latitudes make this difficult- particular in winter months, which is often when the respiratory viruses cause the most disease and death. In a sense, disease and death from Influenza and other respiratory RNA viruses are a lifestyle disease. Just the way things are. Largely avoidable unnecessary death.

As I write the above, I am reminded that I recently spoke with a scientist and physician who was on a team at the Department of Defense (DoD) in 2006 which had discovered a surprising finding while analyzing data from warfighters. He and his team had been looking for things that could help explain why some soldiers got bad disease from circulating influenza viruses, while others did not. I hear a lot of stories, but this one was a first for me.

In any given year, soldiers pretty much all get exposed to the same influenza virus variants, so why the differences in medical outcomes? Important to keep in mind that lots of data suggest that the 1918 Spanish Flu that swept the world at the close of WW I and caused so many deaths in relatively young people may well have come from young US midwestern recruits exposed to pig influenza viruses. This version of the 1918 influenza origin story goes along the lines that these young farmer recruits brought a human-adapted pig virus from US to the European battle theater, where it incubated in the infectious disease petri dish of the horrible conditions of trench warfare, and then was spread worldwide to civilians by returning soldiers. The Spanish Flu label which the US mainstream media of the time applied to the disease was yet another case of propaganda designed to deflect responsibility for a lethal infectious disease outbreak (from the US Government). In any case, you can understand why the DoD and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in particular has a long history of influenza virus research  starting long before the CDC, NIH or NIAID ever existed.

This DoD research scientist and his team had conducted a retrospective study which tied higher baseline vitamin D levels to lowered respiratory virus infection and disease (influenza), using a military database to correlate vitamin D levels to flu levels and death. The DoD believed that if he presented his research to Dr. Fauci, then Director of NIAID (National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), that the US government might change direction by investing in this line of research and developing corresponding treatment guidelines. The DoD saw the potential of reducing influenza disease and death with this safe prophylactic, and directed him to contact Dr. Fauci to discuss this finding.

This scientist told me that he scheduled the meeting as assigned, and presented his rock-solid data to Dr. Fauci. He was then informed by Dr. Fauci that US policy is to control influenza in the USA with vaccines, not therapeutics. End of story. No funding or support available for future work. Therefore, NIAID had no interest in pursuing Vitamin D3 as a prophylactic for respiratory diseases, such as influenza, and the DoD dropped the follow up. That means that over fifteen years ago, Dr. Fauci had already set the policies which informed the US governments present response to COVID. Because that policy extends well beyond flu, it is the response that the US Government falls back on for all infectious disease outbreaks, including those that emerge due to a pandemic or viral bio-threat. The official policy, set by Dr. Fauci, is that the US government wants vaccines for respiratory viruses above all else, and no other prophylactic solutions are to be promoted.

So, with that background, why would anyone expect anything else other than an exclusive USG obsession with a vaccine solution for an infectious respiratory disease such as COVID-19, even if there are excellent, cheap alternatives already available?

The data for the use of Vitamin D3 is extremely strong; there are now even randomized clinical trials supporting its use for the treatment of COVID (6), as well as many retrospective clinical trials showing its efficacy. The title of a major meta-analysis study published in October, 2021 is COVID-19 Mortality Risk Correlates Inversely with Vitamin D3 Status, and a Mortality Rate Close to Zero Could Theoretically Be Achieved at 50 ng/mL 25(OH)D3: Results of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, and that title pretty much says it all (7). Yet the NIH treatment guidelines found on their website in May 2022, state that:

Recommendation: There is insufficient evidence to recommend either for or against the use of Vitamin D for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19.

The CDCs website says nothing about the link between Vitamin D3 levels and decreased severe disease and death in respiratory virus diseases, including COVID. The NIH guidelines cite a single study in which Vitamin D was given to COVID patients in the intensive care unit (late stage COVID) in Brazil as the sole criteria for their evaluation of Vitamin D. They even mention that this paper is flawed, writing that:

It should be noted that this study had a small sample size and enrolled participants with a variety of comorbidities and concomitant medications. The time between symptom onset and randomization was relatively long. 

Yet this admittedly flawed work is the cited study from which the NIH determined that there is no link between Vitamin D levels and reduced incidence and disease due to SARS-CoV-2, while ignoring all other data including superior studies. Clear documentation of the scientific bias which has resulted in so many poor public health management decisions throughout the current outbreak.

There is nothing in the CDC guidelines about the meta-analysis studies, retrospective studies and even randomized clinical trials concerning preventative use of Vitamin D3just an oblique reference to clinicaltrials.gov if one wanted more information. This is shocking. Can this be explained by anything other than regulatory capture by the US government institutes within the department of Health and Human Services, including CDC, NIH, and FDA?

With an emerging infectious disease, drugs and therapeutics are often the first line of defense. Physicians use deductive reasoning when confronted with a new infectious disease or even any unknown disease. This is how they are taught to respond to a newly identified disease of any kind, because it is a very effective way to treat when faced with an unknown or even unclear diagnosis when there is no proven treatment plan (8). Begin by treating the symptoms until you can figure out the underlying pathophysiology.

With COVID, it became clear early on that the front-line physicians were able to develop effective therapies using this strategy. There were many drugs and many treatments (including prophylactic Vitamin D3) that worked. These physicians made deductions and treated the symptoms. The numbers of lives saved using this method are astounding, but the government literally said that physicians should not use these treatments. Instead, the government instructed that patients were to go home and wait until their oxygen levels were so low that their lips were turning blue. That was criminal on the part of the HHS and US government. Truly a crime against humanity.

There are doctors who ignored these guidelines and behaved like doctors should act- when they are committed to the Hippocratic oath. They saved lives. They formed quiet communities with other doctors to find viable treatments. Dr. George Fareed and Dr. Brian Tyson are two such doctors that have saved thousands and thousands of lives, as documented in their book titled: Overcoming the COVID-19 Darkness: How Two Doctors Successfully Treated 7000 Patients (9). Compare the case studies and protocols in this book and the many complementary case histories of physicians working on the front lines (for example in the USA Drs. Peter McCullough, Pierre Kory, Paul Marik, Vladimir (Zev) Zelenko, and Richard Urso, and Didier Raoult and his colleagues in France as just a few examples) to what happened when the US government became involved in dictating medical treatments for COVID.

Unfortunately, the US government did not support any of this frontline physician work, and in fact worked hard to undermine early multi-drug treatment using licensed drugs. Precisely as Dr. Fauci did 15 years ago when his learned of the role of vitamin D3 for the reduction of disease and death in respiratory diseases.

To further illustrate the enormous tragedy of this historic bias, just think of all the elderly who could have had a few more good years, whose grandchildren could have benefited from their wisdom, but instead died of the flu just because no one ever told them to keep their Vitamin D3 levels up. Because Dr. Fauci believes that vaccines should always be the first line of defense.

This also relates back to the faulty logic of vaccine-induced herd immunity. A logical fallacy that through the use of vaccines we could control influenza to a significant extent in the U.S. population. This is flawed because 1) influenza is constantly mutating to escape existing vaccines, 2) there is a large seasonal unvaccinated world population, and travelers are constantly bringing new strains to the USA, 3) the vaccines are at best 40% (and often much less) effective at preventing influenza disease (sound familiar?), and 4) there are enormous animal reservoirs which harbor and constantly develop new influenza virus strains. But due to the worlds success in eradicating smallpox, official public health (and Mr. Bill Gates) can not seem to understand that not all viruses are a DNA virus (like smallpox) that mutates extremely slowly and is only found in humans. Comparing smallpox to a rapidly mutating respiratory virus with a large animal reservoir is both illogical and naive.

But lets take a step back in time, a decade back. Lets imagine that Dr. Fauci had authorized the DoD or some other research entity to do a well-designed randomized clinical trial concerning the benefits of adequate D3 levels in preventing respiratory virus disease. If such a trial had been funded, results would have shown that higher vitamin D3 supplementation to achieve blood levels greater than 50 ng/ml helped prevent disease and death caused by influenza virus. Lets imagine that five years later (at the latest), a CDC guideline for D3 levels was put in place (particularly for the elderly). For sake of discussion, lets even throw out a number. A conservative number, based on what we know now. That 50% of the people who have died from influenza could have been saved if they had sufficiently high vitamin D3 blood levels. Per a CDC website, on average 35.7 thousand people die per year of influenza. In other words, about 357,000 people have died of influenza over the last decade. Which means if 50% were saved by providing Vitamin D3 supplements, then 161,000 people could have been saved over the last decade in the USA by simply having the CDC advocate nationally for prophylactic administration of Vitamin D3. Think about that. A simple, pennies per day treatment that never happened. Why? Because Dr. Fauci believes that the USA uses vaccines to treat flu, and that vaccine-induced herd immunity is key  a fallacy that he has never revisited in his own mind.

Now lets fast forward to COVID-19. How many people could have been saved from just having their levels of vitamin D3 brought up to 50 ng/ml (or higher!)? We knew about vitamin D3. It really didnt take a randomized clinical trial to understand the link between D3 and RNA respiratory virus morbidity and mortality. The U.S.A alone could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Let alone all of the possible lives that could have been saved in the rest of the world. That these lives were unnecessarily lost is not acceptable in any way, shape or form. A crime against humanity.

Many people (and physicians) rely on the CDC and NIH to guide them in healthcare and wellness decisions. It is way past time that these organizations step up to the plate and do their job, and stop relying on the unscientific biases of highly influential bureaucrats. That job being to protect the health of the public. Not advancing the interests of the pharmaceutical industry and its shareholders.

1. Brenner H, Holleczek B, Schottker B. Vitamin D Insufficiency and Deficiency and Mortality from Respiratory Diseases in a Cohort of Older Adults: Potential for Limiting the Death Toll during and beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic? Nutrients. 2020;12(8).

2. Ilie PC, Stefanescu S, Smith L. The role of vitamin D in the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 infection and mortality. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2020;32(7):1195-8.

3. Maruotti A, Belloc F, Nicita A. Comments on: The role of vitamin D in the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 infection and mortality. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2020;32(8):1621-3.

4. Cannell JJ, Vieth R, Umhau JC, Holick MF, Grant WB, Madronich S, et al. Epidemic influenza and vitamin D. Epidemiol Infect. 2006;134(6):1129-40.

5. Grant WB, Garland CF. The role of vitamin D3 in preventing infections. Age Ageing. 2008;37(1):121-2.

6. Villasis-Keever MA, Lopez-Alarcon MG, Miranda-Novales G, Zurita-Cruz JN, Barrada-Vazquez AS, Gonzalez-Ibarra J, et al. Efficacy and Safety of Vitamin D Supplementation to Prevent COVID-19 in Frontline Healthcare Workers. A Randomized Clinical Trial. Arch Med Res. 2022.

7. Borsche L, Glauner B, von Mendel J. COVID-19 Mortality Risk Correlates Inversely with Vitamin D3 Status, and a Mortality Rate Close to Zero Could Theoretically Be Achieved at 50 ng/mL 25(OH)D3: Results of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2021;13(10).

8. Shin HS. Reasoning processes in clinical reasoning: from the perspective of cognitive psychology. Korean J Med Educ. 2019;31(4):299-308.

9. Tyson B, Fareed, G.Crawford, M. Overcoming the COVID-19 Darkness: How Two Doctors Successfully Treated 7000 Patients. Amazon 2022 Jan 7, 2022.

This story was originally published on the Who is Robert Malone Substack.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Pro-abortion protester Joseph Price screams at pro-life protestor Joe Green outside the Supreme Court on May 5, 2022. (Jackson Elliott/The Epoch Times)

Religious Freedom Advocates Threaten to Sue Anti-Catholic Activist Group

A national public interest law firm that focuses on religious liberty is threatening to sue protesters who harass religious worshipers and those who hold demonstrations on the steps of the nations churches in the wake of a leaked draft majority opinion by the Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade.

The Thomas More Society made its intentions known in a May 6 letter (pdf) directed to a shadowy group calling itself Ruth Sent Us, which has been targeting churches and Supreme Court justices homes.

Although the letter doesnt accuse Ruth Sent Us of specific crimes, it notes that since the police brutality protests of mid-2020, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has identified 129 incidents of vandalism, arson, and other hate crimes directed at Catholics.

Ruth Sent Us claims to be inspired by the late liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18, 2020, and was succeeded on the court by conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Ginsburg spent her entire life moving the needle toward justice for all, the group says on its website.

Our 6-3 extremist Supreme Court routinely issues rulings that hurt women, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights. We must rise up to force accountability using a diversity of tactics, the website continues.

Ruth Sent Us is also offering money for sympathetic artwork.

Are you a muralist or chalk artist? Are you a graphic designer who would like to contribute remotely? Large-scale art will be included in the protests against the Supreme Court. Stipends available, the site states.

The draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization would uphold Mississippis Gestational Age Act, which allows abortions after 15 weeks gestation only for medical emergencies or severe fetal abnormality. The document has been welcomed by conservatives and constitutionalists but has become a lightning rod for the left. Well-funded abortion lobbies have mobilized protesters around the Supreme Court building, which increased its security to deal with potential threats. There have been protests nationwide, including at houses of worship on Mothers Day and at the homes of Supreme Court justices.

The White House has refused to condemn both the unprecedented leak of the high courts work product and the targeting by demonstrators of justices at their homes.

The letter from Thomas More Society President Thomas Brejcha, and two of its special counsels, Charles LiMandri and Paul Jonna, states that on Feb. 28, Ruth Sent Us chose to trespass at and disrupt a Catholic Mass being held in the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco, and recorded the abusive event and then promoted it on various social media platforms.

Then, on May 3, you re-posted a portion of the same video, and explained, Whether youre a Catholic for Choice, ex-Catholic, of other or no faith, recognize that six extremist Catholics set out to overturn Roe. Stand at or in a local Catholic Church Sun May 8. In a separate tweet on the same day, you wrote, Were calling for interrupting mass or picketing churches nationwide on Mothers Day.

Finally, on May 4, you again tweeted the video and explained, We protest at churches, to make sure people understand why Roe is fallingextremist Christians plotted it, and all extremist church-goers are complicit.

The Thomas More Society warned Ruth Sent Us that even if your planned protests do not rise to the level of a hate crime, they could still subject you to significant legal liability under both California and federal law.

Please be advised that for the past 25 years, we have defended the pro-life cause and represented churches and people of faith across our nation, successfully vindicating the legal rights of pro-life and religious individuals at all court levels, the letter states.

We will gladly represent any church or person of faith who seeks legal recourse against you or your protestors for your unlawful disruption of any religious worship services.

Over the weekend, chanting demonstrators protested outside the homes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, The Epoch Times reported.

The left-wing group ShutDownDC plans a protest outside of opinion author Justice Samuel Alitos home on the evening of May 9. The groups website described the event as a vigil for all these rights that Alito is threatening to take away.

The Ruth Sent Us website invites people to a walk-by protest on May 11 at the homes of the six extremist justices, three in Virginia and three in Maryland. If youd like to join or lead a peaceful protest, let us know.

Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly told the media the protests wont matter because the Supreme Court cannot be bullied.

Representatives of Ruth Sent Us didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) speaks with reporters as he departs from a caucus meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 20, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Rep. Troy Nehls: Lifting Title 42 Will Lead to Skyrocketing Illegal Border Crossings

Since the Biden administration took office. the southern border has reported a record number of illegal border crossings, which will only skyrocket with the termination of the Remain in Mexico policy, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) told NTDs Capitol Report on May 6.

Weve had millions of people come through our southern border since [President Joe] Biden has been in office, Nehls stated. Now with ending Title 42, youre going to have millions more, hundreds of thousands of more every month, and its got to stop.

He added that illegal border crossings are criminal in nature by opening doors to human trafficking and drugs.

The amount of drugs that are coming through and the human trafficking, the suffering that is taking place with these people coming to our southern border, it must stop.

President of the National Border Patrol Council Brandon Judd stated in February that with Mexican cartels controlling the border, Border Patrol would be lucky to seize even 5 percent of whats coming across the border, referring to fentanyl pills.

During the first three months of fiscal year 2022, agents have seized 316 pounds of fentanyl coming across the border between ports of entrymore than triple that of the same period in fiscal year 2021. The number of Americans who have died from drug overdoses between April 2020 and April 2021 also hit a record high of 100,000, with reports of fentanyl involvement reported in almost two-thirds of those deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nehls stated that the Biden administration should have kept the Remain in Mexico policy as well as continued to build the wall to make America a much safer place today.

The Biden administration announced that Title 42 would end on May 23. However, a federal judge is preparing to block the move. Title 42 was never designed to be central border security or immigration policy, but as the Biden administration removed other border security measures, it became more significant.

On May 5, top Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official Blas Nunez-Neto denied that the termination of Title 42 will allow those entering the country unlawfully to enter and stay.

The acting assistant secretary of the DHS reported that Title 42 led to extraordinarily high recidivism rates meaning that individuals expelled to Mexico attempt to reenter shortly after their expulsions.

Ending Title 42 will allow the DHS to impose meaningful immigration consequences on individuals who violate our immigration laws, Nunez-Neto said at a hearing about the southwest border.

Over time, once we start reimposing significant immigration consequences on people at the border through our use of expedited removal, particularly for single adults and particularly for migrants from Mexico, you are going to see a decrease, Nunez-Neto said told the hearing.

Last month, 21 Republican states filed lawsuits to block the halt of Title 42.

Joe Bidens reckless decision to rescind Title 42 would have flooded our already stressed southern border with illegal immigrants, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican and one of the plaintiffs, told The Epoch Times in a statement.

Since January, Border Patrol has apprehended more than 728,000 illegal aliens along the southern border. The number has been on an upward trajectory since last year, with Border Patrol reporting nearly 212,000 apprehensions in April 2022 compared to just 11,000 in 2017 and 99,273 in 2019. Just three months after the Biden administration has taken office in 2021, Border Patrol recorded 173,701 apprehensions in April 2021.

Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report.
Sinn Fein party Northern Leader Michelle O'Neill speaks after the count at the Magherafelt Meadowbank sports center in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, UK, on May 7, 2022. (Paul Faith /AFP via Getty Images)

Sinn Fein Becomes Biggest Party in Northern Ireland Assembly

Sinn Fein, an Irish nationalist political party that has links to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), has won a historic victory by becoming the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time.

In last weeks UK local elections, Sinn Fein won 27 of the 90 seats in the Stormont assembly, beating the loyalist Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) by two seats. The remaining seats went to smaller partiesthe Alliance Party got 17, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) got nine, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party got eight, with four others elected.

Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle ONeill, who served as deputy first minister of Northern Ireland until the DUP collapsed the power-sharing executive in February, said her partys victory represents a very significant moment of change and ushers in a new era.

Irrespective of religious, political, or social backgrounds, my commitment is to make politics work, she said on May 7.

The British-run region remains deeply divided along sectarian lines, with Catholic nationalists aspiring toward unification with Ireland, while Protestant unionists seek to retain the status quo.

Calls for Irish unity have increased since the 2016 Brexit referendum, when Northern Ireland voted 56 percent to 44 percent to remain in the EU.

Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the UK government can call a border poll if it appears likely that a majority of those voting would seek to form part of a united Ireland.

If and when the executive is reestablished, Sinn Fein will be able to nominate a first minister who will be the first from the nationalist community, boosting nationalist hopes of a united Ireland.

But Brandon Lewis, the UK governments secretary for Northern Ireland who has the power to call a border poll, suggested that the time isnt yet right for such a poll to take place.

Questioned on BBC Northern Irelands Sunday Politics programme on the criteria for him calling a border poll, he said the nationalist vote hasnt gone up and that the unionist vote remains higher.

Sinn Fein havent gained seats; we havent seen a growth in the nationalist vote and indeed the unionist vote is still larger and the number of seats held by unionist parties is still larger, Lewis said.

The DUP withdrew from the power-sharing executive as part of its protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol of the UKEU agreement on post-Brexit trade, because it created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Lewis urged DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to nominate a deputy first minister to allow the resumption of a fully functioning government in the region.

He told the BBC that its for the UK government to do the negotiations with the EU on post-Brexit border issues and that the DUP and other parties should reestablish the executive to deliver on the domestic issues for Northern Ireland.

PA Media and Reuters contributed to this report.
Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee speaks as he is released on parole from Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, South Korea on Aug. 13, 2021. (Yonhap via Reuters)

South Korean Lobby Groups Call for Presidential Pardon of Samsung Chief Before Bidens Visit

U.S. President Joe Biden will visit South Korea and Japan from May 20 to May 24, which will be his first trip to Asia as president.

When the visit was still in the planning stage, five South Korean lobby groups called for a presidential pardon to be issued to Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

They believe that South Korea is in a difficult economic situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with U.S.China tensions and the RussiaUkraine conflict. South Korea now needs capable entrepreneurs to help overcome the countrys economic crisis and ensure the countrys future competitiveness, so it is necessary to grant an amnesty to those influential entrepreneurs who are currently in jail, the groups said.

Lee is the de facto leader of Samsung. The lobbies argue that despite Lees parole last year, Lees absence is a major reason behind Samsungs slow moves in large-scale investments as well as mergers and acquisitions.

The five business groupsthe Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korea International Trade Association, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises, the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF), and the Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea, submitted a petition to Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Justice calling for Lees amnesty on April 25.

Lee was released on parole in August 2021. While he will complete his sentence soon in July 2022, he will still be subject to a five-year employment restriction.

In addition to Lee, these lobby groups have also called for the pardon of Shin Dong-bin, the chairman of South Koreas Lotte Group, who was sentenced to probation for allegedly offering 7 billion won ($5.52 million) in bribes to Park Geun-hye.

Affected by South Korean law, the normal business activities of both Lee and Shin are restricted.

Biden to Visit South Korea in May

It is reported that Bidens Asia trip will include meeting with Japanese leaders on May 24 for the U.S.IndiaAustraliaJapan quartet talks (QUAD), after visiting South Korea for a summit with the newly elected President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Analysts believe that during Bidens three-day visit to South Korea, in addition to the South Korea-U.S. summit meeting, he will go to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border between South Korea and North Korea, and the Humphreys base of the U.S. military stationed in South Korea in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do.

A source told the Korea Times recently that he believed the U.S. visit to South Korea was aimed at re-strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

A person related to the Foreign Affairs and Security Branch of the South Korean Presidential Transfer Committee also told the Chosun Ilbo that the U.S. government has recently been paying close attention to the strengthened alliance between North Korea, China, and Russia. In response, the United States is working to solidify cooperation with its allies in the Indo-Pacific.

The Chosun Ilbo reported that some analysts believe that Bidens visit to South Korea is also to strengthen economic security cooperation and restore the U.S.South KoreaJapan tripartite cooperation that was severely damaged during the five years of the Moon Jae-in administration. Therefore, in addition to the demilitarized zone on the border between the two Koreas and the U.S. military base in South Korea, Bidens visit will also include Samsung semiconductor production bases.

Lees Pardon Could boost South Korea-US Economic Cooperation

In an interview with The Epoch Times on April 27, Lu Tianming, a current affairs observer living in the United States, said that the South Korean lobby groups chose to submit their petition to pardon Lee Jae-yong and others before Bidens visit because Lee has close ties with the United States, and can play a great role in promoting relations between South Korea and the United States.

Lu said that the previous South Korean government was trying to please both China and the United States, but President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol had a clear pro-American stance, and anti-communist sentiment among South Koreans was also strong. South Korea, especially the South Korean economic circle, hoped to establish more cooperation with the United States in the post-pandemic industrial chain restructuring.

However, the current status of Lee Jae-yong and other entrepreneurs who have been released from prison on parole has many legal restrictions on the positions and roles they can play. Therefore, the South Korean economic circle certainly hope that these people can be pardoned so that they can play a greater role in advancing South Korea-U.S. economic cooperation.

Lee Promoted Samsungs U.S. Factory

On Nov. 23, 2021, Samsung Electronics announced that it has selected Tyler, Texas, as a new semiconductor wafer foundry production base, about one week after Lees special business trip to North America.

That was Lees first trip abroad since his parole in August. It is also his first visit to the United States in more than five years.

In May 2021, when Moon Jae-in and Biden held a summit meeting, Samsung had said that it would build a second foundry production line in the United States, but the details and project schedule were shelved.

Liao Shiming, a Hong Kong finance and economics columnist, told The Epoch Times on Nov. 16, 2021, that Lees U.S. trip was obviously to implement his original intentions.

Liao believes that the United States wants to decouple from China in numerous high-tech areas, including information technology, biotechnology, new material technology, space, biochemistry, and other fields. In doing so, the United States plans to restructure its supply chainsits global supply chains will be divided into two subgroups, high-tech products and ordinary products.

At the beginning of 2021, when the United States rolled out its new policies regarding the supply chains, South Korea noticed with shock that it was excluded from all U.S. high-tech supply chains. This means if the United States has developed any state-of-the-art technology, South Korea will be restricted from getting the technology transfer or the equipment output, Liao said.

This makes South Korea very nervous. Then why did the United States exclude South Korea from its high-tech supply chain? Of course it is because South Korea is too close to China, Liao explained.

When Lee was released from prison and went to the United States for his high-profile business trip, Liao believes that it is an indication the Korean government wishes to restore their relationship with the United States, because the very person in the Korean industry who has the best relationship with the Americans is Lee Jae-yong.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (C) walks with Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn (R) in Irpin, Ukraine, on May 8, 2022. (Irpin Mayor's Office via AP)

Trudeau Makes Surprise Visit to Ukraine

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Sunday, where he reopened the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv.

Trudeau is also scheduled to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in person for the first time since Russia began its invasion.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly joined Trudeau on the trip.

The prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people, Cameron Ahmad, a spokesman for Trudeau, said in a written statement Sunday.

Canada began scaling down its diplomatic presence in Ukraine in late January as intelligence warned of an impending Russian invasion.

Representatives from most western countries fled Ukraine as the war erupted, but more than two dozen have already gone back, even as the conflict drags on.

Several of Canadas G7 allies have already returned to Kyiv  France and Italy the third week of April, and the United Kingdom as of last week.

On Sunday, Trudeau, Freeland and Joly arrived at the embassy in Kyiv with a heavily armed security detail.

Larisa Galadza, who is Canadas ambassador to Ukraine, joined them in a flag-raising ceremony. They ended up raising the flag at the side of the building after the first flagpole chosen turned out to be broken.

The Canadian Press was made aware of Trudeaus trip on the condition it not be reported until it was made public, for security reasons.

The Associated Press reported that Jill Biden made a surprise visit to the western part of Ukraine today to meet Olena Zelenska, the first lady, for Mothers Day.

Other world leaders have travelled to Kyiv in recent weeks to show solidarity with Ukraine, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also went to Kyiv last week.

The public itinerary for Trudeau posted Saturday suggested he would be in the National Capital Region Sunday and taking part in a meeting of G7 leaders on the situation in Ukraine.

The visit is taking place as dozens of Ukrainians are feared dead after a Russian bomb destroyed a school sheltering about 90 people in eastern Ukraine.

The governor of Luhansk province said Sunday that 30 people were rescued from the rubble of the school in the village of Bilohorivka but the rest probably didnt survive.

Elsewhere, more explosions rocked the Black Sea port of Odesa.

Ukrainian soldiers making a last stand at a steel mill in the besieged city of Mariupol said they wouldnt surrender following the evacuation of civilians from the sprawling site.
The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on April 13, 2018. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

Two People Charged in Death of Six-Year-Old Boy in Port Alberni, BC, in 2018: RCMP

Police say two people are charged with first-degree murder in the death of a six-year-old boy in Port Alberni, B.C., in 2018.

RCMP say they arrested 28-year-old Rykel Frank and 29-year-old Mitchell Frank on Friday.

Police say six-year-old Dontay Lucas was found dead on March 13, 2018.

Insp. Eric Rochette says in a news release Saturday that such investigations are difficult for everyone involved, and he understands that the time taken to get to this point in the case has been challenging for the community.

The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council identified Rykel Frank as Dontays mother and Mitchell Frank as his stepfather, and thanked the RCMP for their work, saying it is a huge relief that charges were laid.

Judith Sayers, president of the council, however called out the justice system saying it has to do better and the family has a long wait ahead for the trial to begin.

The death of any person is very sad, but it is even sadder when it is a young child with their whole life ahead of them, she says in a statement.

Police gave no other details, but say the investigation continues and a news conference will be held Monday.
HAVANA (AP)  The death toll of a powerful explosion at a luxury hotel in Cuba's capital increased to 31 Sunday evening as search crews with dogs hunted through the rubble of the iconic, 19th century building looking for people still missing.

The Hotel Saratoga, a five-star 96-room hotel in Old Havana, was preparing to reopen after being closed for two years when an apparent gas leak ignited, blowing the outer walls into the busy, midmorning streets just a block from the countrys Capitol building on Friday.

Several nearby structures also were damaged, including the historic Marti Theater and the Calvary Baptist Church, headquarters for the denomination in western Cuba. The church said on its Facebook page that the building suffered significant structural damage, with several collapsed or cracked walls and columns (and) the ceiling partially collapsed, though no church workers were hurt.

In releasing the names of those who were killed, the Health Ministry said the dead included four minors, a pregnant woman and a Spanish tourist, whose companion was seriously injured.

The ministry also said 54 people were injured, with 24 hospitalized. It previously reported 85 injured, but that tally turned out to include those killed by the explosion.

Nineteen families had reported people missing as of Saturday evening, but authorities did not say Sunday whether the number had changed.

Authorities said the cause of the explosion at the hotel owned by Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA was still under investigation, but believed it to have been caused by a gas leak. A large crane hoisted a charred gas tanker out of the rubble Saturday.

Burials for victims had begun, municipal authorities said, while some people still waited for news of missing friends and relatives.

We are hoping that something will be known about my cousins mother, Angela Acosta told The Associated Press near the site of the explosion. Her relative, Maria de la Concepcion Alard, lived in an apartment adjacent to the hotel with a black Labrador, which was rescued along with another dog Sunday.

Crews have worked to clean up streets around the hotel and by late Saturday, substantial pedestrian traffic had resumed.

There are mothers who are without their children today, Matha Verde, a manicurist who was walking near the Saratoga, said Sunday, when Mothers Day was celebrated in Cuba. She said she tells women who lost their sons or daughters in the explosion that they have to keep going.

The explosion added to the woes of a crucial tourism industry that had been stifled by the coronavirus pandemic as well as tightened sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump and kept in place the Biden administration. Those limited visits by U.S. tourists to the islands and restricted remittances from Cubans in the U.S. to their families in Cuba.

Tourism had started to revive somewhat early this year, but the war in Ukraine deflated a boom of Russian visitors, who accounted for almost a third of the tourists arriving in Cuba last year.

The Saratoga, which had been closed through the pandemic, was one of the elite lodgings in Havana, often hosting visiting VIPs and celebrities. Its owner is one of the Cuban military's businesses.

Some attention in Cuba began to shift to an official visit by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who arrived Saturday night at the end of a five-country tour that began in Central America.

Lopez Obrador met Sunday with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who awarded him the Order of Jose Marti for his great achievements for humanity. It is the most important award the country gives to a foreigner.

Diaz-Canel's office stated in a tweet that Lopez Obrador said he would insist to U.S. President Joe Biden that Cuba not be excluded from the Summit of the Americas it will host in Los Angeles in June.

Lopez Obrador said the objectives of the trip included signing agreements on trade, health, education and cooperation with the island, while he ratified his foreign policy stance.

We are not in favor of hegemonies, he said. Let no one exclude anyone because we are independent countries, we are sovereign countries, and no one can place themselves above the rights of peoples and nations.

Diaz-Canel visited Mexico during its independence day celebrations last year. Lopez Obrador has recently spoken out against the apparent U.S. government intention of to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the upcoming summit.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson (L) meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 9, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via PA Media)

UK to Provide Ukraine With $1.3 Billion Pounds in Further Military Support

The UK government has pledged 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) worth of further military support to Ukraine to sustain the countrys continuing resistance to the Russian invasion.

The newly announced package includes 300 million pounds ($370 million) of military equipment promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on May 3, such as anti-battery radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment, and night vision devices.

In a statement, Johnson said the brutal attack launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24 is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine, but also threatening peace and security across Europe.

He noted that the UK was the first country to recognise the scale of the threat and send arms to help the Ukrainians defend themselves.

We will stand by that endeavour, working with our allies to ensure Ukraine can continue to push back the Russian invasion, and survive as a free and democratic country, he said.

In the process, we are bolstering our own security and economy, turbocharging the development and production of cutting-edge defence equipment here in the UK, he added.

Johnson will host a meeting of arms companies later this month to discuss increasing production in response to the extra demand for weapons caused by the conflict in Ukraine.

The funding comes on top of earlier commitments worth about 1.5 billion pounds ($1.8 billion), which included some 400 million pounds ($494 million) in humanitarian aid and loan guarantees for 700 million pounds ($864 million) in additional World Bank lending.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the exchequer, said: We are unwavering in our support for the people of Ukraine and this extra 1.3 billion pounds will ensure we continue to provide the necessary military and operational support they need to defend themselves against Putin.

The UK is at the forefront providing economic, humanitarian, and defensive support to Ukraine and we are working tirelessly to bring an end to this conflict.

Meanwhile, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that Russias ability to fight with modern equipment was being damaged by losses in Ukraine and the impact of sanctions.

In its intelligence update on May 7, the MoD said: The conflict in Ukraine is taking a heavy toll on some of Russias most capable units and most advanced capabilities. It will take considerable time and expense for Russia to reconstitute its armed forces following this conflict.

It will be particularly challenging to replace modernised and advanced equipment due to sanctions restricting Russias access to critical microelectronic components.

PA Media contributed to this report.
US Breaks Silence After Americans Mysteriously Found Dead at Bahamas Resort

The U.S. State Department said it is closely monitoring an incident in which three American citizens were found dead at a resort in the Bahamas over the weekend.

Bahamas Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper announced that two men and one woman were discovered dead at Sandals Emerald Bay resort on May 6. Another woman was hospitalized, he said.

Late on Saturday, a spokesperson for the State Department told several news outlets that the agency can confirm the deaths of three U.S. citizens in the country.

We can confirm the death of three U.S. citizens in the Bahamas. We are closely monitoring local authorities investigation into the cause of death. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Out of respect for the privacy of the families, we have nothing further to add at this time, the spokesperson said.

One of the three Americans was identified by a family member as Vincent Chiarella of Birmingham, Alabama.

Austin Chiarella told WVTM-13 that his parents, Vincent and Donnis Chiarella, were guests at the Sandals Emerald Bay resort on Great Exuma when his father was found dead. His mother was injured, he said, adding that his family is trying to find more information about the incident.

The couple was celebrating their wedding anniversary at the resort, he told ABC News separately. His mother, he said, had woken up to discover that she couldnt move and that her husband was laying on the floor.

Her legs and arms [were] swollen and she couldnt move and she screamed to get someone to come in the door, Austin said.

But Donnis Chiarella said she had fallen sick on Thursday but thought she was alright after the woman was released from a clinic, he told ABC.

The other victims have not yet been identified.

Bahamian Health Minister Dr. Michael Darville told local media that hotel guests sought treatment for nausea and vomiting a day before the three people were found dead.

We feel that what we are seeing is an isolated case associated in a particular area, he claimed.

Cooper, the acting prime minister, said that an investigation is underway and said their causes of death are not known. Foul play is being ruled out, he added.

The Sandals Resort said in a statement Saturday that a health emergency was initially reported, triggering a response from police and emergency medical services officials.

We are actively working to support both the investigation as well as the guests families in every way possible during this difficult time. Out of respect for the privacy of our guests, we cannot disclose further information at this time, the statement said.
President Joe Biden speaks about security and the conlict in Ukraine during a visit to the Lockheed Martins Pike County Operations facility in Troy, Ala., on May 3, 2022. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

US, G-7 Partners Impose New Sanctions on Moscow Ahead of Russias Victory Day

The United States, the European Union, and Group of Seven (G-7) allies on May 8 agreed to impose fresh sanctions against Russia, including penalizing state-controlled media, barring Western management consulting services in Russia, and tightening export controls.

The sanctions came a day before Russias Victory Day, which celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II.

On May 8, U.S. President Joe Biden participated in a virtual conference with G-7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to the White House. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the United States make up the G-7.

The leaders released a statement at the conclusion of their meeting pledging their support for Ukraine and imposing fresh sanctions on Russia.

The G-7 and Ukraine stand united in this difficult time and in their quest to ensure Ukraines democratic, prosperous future. We remain united in our resolve that President Putin must not win his war against Ukraine, the statement reads.

The following is a list of sanctions on Russia announced at the meeting:

Sanctions on Russian TV Stations

According to the White House, the United States and its allies will sanction three of Russias most popular state-controlled television channels: Channel One Russia, Russia-1, and NTV.

The reality is Western companies were among the top advertisers on these stations last year, a senior administration official told reporters during a call on May 8. These stations received more than $300 million worth of advertising money in 2021, the official said.

While most companies have cut their business activities in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, the official noted, the U.S. government wants to ensure that U.S. media advertisers dont fund Russian propaganda.

Banning Consulting and Audit Services

The United States will make it illegal for Americans to provide accounting, trust, and corporate formation, and management consulting services in Russia. These services are essential for Russian firms and elites to generate wealth and escape sanctions while also funding Putins war machine, according to the White House.

The ban also applies to the Big Four global accounting firmsDeloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

These audit firms employ more than 10,000 people in Russia, the senior administration official said.

Theyve been asked, we think, by Russian companies to help them figure out how to reformulate their business strategies in the wake of sanctions, in some cases, how to get around these sanctions, or in the case of accountants, how to hide some of their wealth, the official said. Were shutting that down.

Western legal services in Russia arent included on the ban list.

Sanctions on Russian Oil

All G-7 countries announced on May 8 that they would either phase out or ban the import of Russian oil.

This will hit hard at the main artery of Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the White House stated in a fact sheet.

However, there are no sanctions against Gazprombank, which is Russias primary means of selling gas to Europe.

Weve been cautious about shutting down its operations while Europe is still importing gas from Russia, the senior official said.

Additional Export Controls

The United States will impose export controls on a wide range of products including wood products, industrial engines, boilers, motors, fans, and ventilation equipment, bulldozers, and many other items with industrial and commercial applications.

These sanctions are expected to limit Russias access to products and revenue that bolster its military capabilities, according to the White House.

We picked goods, we picked services, we picked technologies that we and the Europeans and the G-7 and our partners in Asia were the dominant suppliers of. And we dont think Russia has many options other than to try to produce these goods or services domestically, the official said.

Sanctions on Elites

The United States imposed about 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials. In addition, it issued a new visa restriction on Russian military officials. The sanctions also include executives of Sberbank, Gazprombank, and Moscow Industrial Bank.

Putins war is expected to wipe out Russias economic gains over the past 15 years, the White House fact sheet states.

Moscow is having trouble replacing its military weaponry and equipment as a result of export controls imposed by Western countries. Due to a shortage of foreign components, according to the fact sheet, Russias two largest tank producers, Uralvagonzavod Corp. and Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, have ceased production. So far, 1,000 private sector companies have left Russia. And over 200,000 Russians, including highly skilled workers, have fled the country, the White House said.
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP)  Ami Sana hangs a tattered tarp for a bit of shade where she can rest on a break from pounding stones under the scorching sun.

The work is hard. It makes my body weak, but what else can I do? she asked.

The mother of six is one of 2 million people displaced by Burkina Faso's rapidly rising Islamic extremist violence, according to the U.N.

Amid the clamor of clanging pickaxes and falling rocks, Sana has found work in the Pissy granite mine on the outskirts of Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou.

Lifting heavy rocks and hammering them into gravel to sell to construction companies is tough work that doesn't earn her enough to adequately feed or educate her children, Sana said. But it's the best work that she could find.

The rush of civilians from rural villages plagued by extremist violence has put pressure on Burkina Faso's cities.

Some of the host cities have doubled or tripled in size in the past three years, and their infrastructures are often stretched to a breaking point, said Hassane Hamadou, country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Schools cant absorb all the new children, water points cant provide enough for all. Hundreds of thousands are left without access to an education, clean water or healthcare as a result, he said.

The influx of displaced people is causing competition among the approximately 3,000 people working at the granite mine. At least 500 displaced people started working at the mine last year making it harder for the original miners to earn a living, said Abiba Tiemtore, head of the site.

With more people, its hard to collect as many rocks and its impacting our daily income, she said. Miners who used to make approximately $1 a day say they are now lucky if they make 80 cents.

When it seized power in January, Burkina Fasos ruling junta vowed to stamp out extremist violence but it has done little about the swelling numbers of displaced.

The government has a responsibility to provide the swelling numbers of displaced with those social services, said Alexandra Lamarche, senior advocate for West and Central Africa for Refugees International.

The minister of humanitarian affairs did not respond to a request for comment on the situation.

So far the junta has not succeeded in stemming the extremist violence. In January, 160,000 people were newly displaced, the second-largest monthly increase in three years, according to a report by international aid groups. Hard-hit areas like the Center North region, which hosts Burkina Fasos largest displaced population, are buckling under the pressure.

The impact of people moving from their farms into big cities is disorientation (and) the increase of poverty (and) fear, said Abdoulaye Pafadnam, former mayor of Barsalogho, one of the main towns in the Center North region.

The violence is cutting off access for aid groups to reach people in need. Roads that were safe to travel six months ago are lined with explosives and the United Nations had only one helicopter until recently to transport people and aid across the country.

The pressure on cities has also started creating rifts between some host and displaced communities. In the northern town of Ouahigouya, people sheltering in a crowded displacement camp said locals chase them from the forest if they try to chop wood for cooking, accusing them of trying to destroy it.

With no end to the jihadi violence in sight, the numbers of Burkina Faso's displaced are expected to continue flooding urban centers where they'll be hunting for jobs.

I worry that I have no means to take care of my children, said Fati Ouedraogo, a displaced mother of 10 in Ouahigouya. When the children are crying I dont know what to do.
Illinois Boys State

American Legion Post 199 is accepting applications from boys interested in attending the 85th Annual Session of the American Legion Illinois Premier Boys State at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, from June 11 to 17.

The program is designed for boys of outstanding qualifications in character and leadership to attend one of the most respected and selective educational programs of government instruction ever designed for high school students. To be eligible for the program, boys must have completed their junior year of high school and have at least one semester of high school remaining. Since there was no session in 2021 due to COVID-19, boys who would have been eligible for the 2021 session are offered the opportunity to attend the 2022 session.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville held commencement exercises in the Vadalabene Centers First Community Arena on Friday and Saturday with ceremonies honoring thousands of eligible graduates.

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Denise Cobb, PhD, conferred degrees on graduates from the Graduate School, as well as the Schools of Business; Nursing; and Education, Health and Human Behavior on Friday. She also led the conferral of degrees Saturday for the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and the School of Engineering (SOE) on Saturday.

At the 9 a.m. ceremony Saturday, CAS student speaker Josie Pauley, who earned a bachelors in applied communication studies, encouraged graduates to live in the now and make the most of every moment.

Live in your own present, she said. Once we master the process of living in the present and focusing on ourselves, the possibilities that surround us are truly endless.

Having crossed the commencement stage 50 or more years ago, Class of 2022 Golden Graduates were honored. Cobb referenced the speech given by U.S. Senator Charles H. Percy at the Golden Graduates commencement ceremony in June 1972.

I would like to read you a few excerpts from his speech, which still hold true today, Cobb said. Remember that the most precious gift you have is the right to be a free citizen in a free society. Use that freedom to participate, to shape, to influence and to count to the fullest. Much of my faith in the future of our country stems from my belief that you will maintain your commitment to participate and to encourage others to participate.

Elizabeth Semande served as the student speaker during the noon CAS ceremony. Semande received a bachelors in geography and anthropology. Following graduation, she will serve as a geospatial analytical intern with Maxar Technologies.

In the past four years I can definitely say that my life has changed, she said. All of ours have. The world changed before we were ready for it. We had to persevere and adapt more times than we can count. Weve proven that we can persevere through trying times and continue pushing toward our goals. I am confident we will succeed and create a positive future for ourselves and others as we become engaged citizens of the world through our hard work, kindness, creativity, innovation, inclusion and a love for learning.

During the 4 p.m. SOE ceremony, Dean Cem Karacal, PhD, recognized the schools dual diploma programs with Istanbul Technical University and Changshu Institute of Technology, which offer students from Turkey and South Korea a chance to study for two years in the United States.

Madison House earned a bachelors in electrical and computer engineering and represented SOE graduates as the student speaker.

This class can achieve anything we put our minds to, and we can use our creative and innovative ideas, technological skill sets, and strategic management abilities to build a better future, House said. Fellow graduates, never stop putting one foot in front of the other, because your story is not over yet. This is just the beginning of an incredible road ahead.

House has secured a position as an associate electrical engineer at the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant with Ameren Missouri. She will be pursuing a masters in electrical and computer engineering at SIUE.

At 9 a.m. Friday, Colin Boysen served as the student speaker during the School of Business ceremony. Boysen was an active member of multiple student organizations, taking on leadership roles and recruiting new members. When the pandemic hit, Boysen led the development of the Cougar Connectors peer mentoring program to support first-year students. Next, he will pursue law school at the Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Your degree represents your grit and determination to succeed in spite of a pandemic, Boysen said. Ahead of you lies an uncertain world. What does it mean to graduate with a business degree in 2022? It means you have proven that you can adapt and overcome. You are prepared for changes and will succeed in the business world despite any obstacles ahead. The future awaits. Congratulations!

During the School of Nursings noon ceremony, awards were presented to Demarco Brownlee and Kaylie Rhoades for their student leadership. Tami Tutor was recognized for her outstanding contributions to community service.

Student speaker James Clancy received a doctor of nursing practice in the Nurse Anesthesia program. Clancy earned a bachelors in nursing from SIUE in 2015, and worked as a registered nurse in both a cardiothoracic intensive care unit and a childrens emergency department before returning to pursue his doctoral degree. He will begin his career as a nurse anesthetist with South County Anesthesia Associates at Mercy Hospital South in St. Louis.

We have all engaged in countless hours of studying, completed many exams, and provided high quality care to patients during clinical rotations, Clancy said. You completed all of this to establish yourselves among the most trusted professionals in the world.

The University honored Distinguished Service Award recipient Shirley Portwood, PhD, during its 4 p.m. ceremony for all Graduate School graduates. Portwood is a professor emerita of history at SIUE, longtime educator and a former SIU Board of Trustees member.

I am honored to receive this Distinguished Service Award, Portwood said. I thank those who mentored and supported me over the years, including my family and my parents, who insisted that all of their children go to college and become professionals.

Much of my service has been inspired by the examples that I saw growing up in various communities, she continued. At an early age, we learned the importance of community. Everyone helped everyone else without expecting reciprocity. We didnt know the term pay it forward at that time, but thats what we did. Experiences at SIUE reinforced that pay it forward ideology. Faculty encouraged me to soar higher than I had originally aimed. My service has been defined by those who have surrounded, nurtured and inspired me.

Now a three-time alumna of SIUE, student speaker Charity Eugea earned a doctorate in educational leadership. Eugea is an administrator for the Sparta Community Unit School District.

Perspective is a powerful tool, she said. It can be the lens through which we view the glass as half empty or half full, the sky as partly cloudy or partly sunny, or as a chance to fail or succeed. As graduate students weve learned how to challenge our thinking, go beyond our understanding of the facts, and truly understand the power of perspective.

Fridays series of ceremonies concluded with a celebration of School of Education, Health and Human Behavior graduates.

During the ceremony, Cobb conferred a doctor of humane letters on Henry L. Roediger III, PhD, an honor bestowed upon individuals who have made a profound impact on SIUE. He serves as the James S. McDonnell Distinguished Professor of psychology at Washington University. Roediger, a world-renowned cognitive scientist, has studied human learning and memory for the past 50 years.

Carmen Cornejo, who is earning a bachelors in elementary education, served as the student speaker. Now, Cornejo will begin teaching fifth grade at Maplewood Richmond Heights Elementary in St. Louis while pursuing a masters in education at SIUE.

All ceremonies were streamed live on siue.edu/tv.
Janet MacGregor Plarr was elected five times to the Frontier School Board. During all those campaigns, she remembers only one where she spent more than $500.

I bought signs once, the former board president said. I would clean them off and bundle them and put them in the top of my garage for the next election.

That was in the days when school board races had trouble attracting much in the way of voters, candidates and attention. But it appears those days are gone, at least in some districts.

Instead of debating over budgets or being asked whether they side with teachers or taxpayers, candidates are being asked to weigh in on critical race theory, pandemic-related mask mandates and curriculum issues. They are seeking endorsements of people and groups that have appeared more interested in national politics than local issues. In some cases they are outspoken about their views, but in others they are making it difficult for voters to know where they stand and who they stand with.

Energized by mask mandates and quarantines, groups coordinate to take School Board seats Energized by the fights against face masks and other pandemic mandates, candidates in a number of local districts are running with the help of groups who have platforms such as parent partnered curriculum and medical freedom.

Jonathan Rich said increased interest in board elections and issues is a good thing.

School board elections are usually about either taxes are too high, or the outcomes are too low, said Rich of Western New York Students First. Part of what were doing is making people see that theres value outside of those two.

When Ryan Anderson asked a former board member about running for school board, he was told dont spend much money on it and dont put a ton of effort into it.

That is not the environment this year, said Anderson, who is running for a spot on the Orchard Park School Board.

Different stakes

Western New York Students First was formed during the pandemic when parents were rallying for full-time in-school learning. The group now is a designated nonprofit organization that provides support and training  but no money  to candidates.

Some critics have questioned the groups motives and maintain that its Facebook page is full of bias and hate-filled comments.

Rich feels not removing comments shows the group does not have a hidden agenda.

More candidates running for school boards this year in Western New York Increased attention and interest in school boards is a pattern seen across the country, where school board meetings have become a place for skirmishes in the culture wars.

The people who let everybody say everything they want (in Facebook comments) are not the people who are going to want to censor books, Rich said.

He said board transparency and accountability are two of the major issues he sees. Since not many people vote in school board elections, he hopes that with a higher voter turnout board members will have a level of accountability they havent felt in the past.

Most people couldnt tell you who is on their school board. The hope is we kind of start to change that, Rich said. Our long term goal is to restore trust in our public education system.

Politicized races

School board candidates in Western New York usually spend less than $500, and if theyre in a hot race, they may hit up a few relatives and friends if they need money to buy lawn signs or palm cards.

This year, candidates in some races have held meet-and-greet fundraisers at $20 per person. Some are asking for donations on a crowdsourcing website or through Venmo.

In Hamburg, some candidates signs have been stolen  just like candidates for a town board.

In another move reminiscent of a political campaign, Western New York Students First had the Republican candidate for governor, Rep. Lee Zeldin, attend its get-out-the-vote event earlier this month.

He spoke on education, Rich said. It's tough because as a nonpartisan nonprofit, we have to make sure we present a balanced view of how things are going forward.

He said the group also is in contact with local Democrats.

Rich said Western New York Students First is helping about 35 candidates in districts in Erie and Niagara counties with training and advice. It plans to endorse about 25, but most have not yet been announced, he said. Rich said its been time consuming for the all-volunteer organization to vet candidates. He said one candidate who was running on a platform of cutting taxes sought the groups endorsement. He did not get it.

There are offshoot Students First groups in Clarence, East Aurora, Orchard Park, West Seneca and Williamsville that are aligned with the Western New York group and that have made endorsements.

Other groups, like East Aurora Guardians and Fight For Your Family Initiative, are concentrating on single districts.

How to choose

Figuring out where candidates stand takes careful reading of websites and Facebook pages. Some websites are more specific than others. One candidate had a Facebook page closed to the public; others say they will answer questions in a direct message and not on the public section.

But there are opportunities to see prospective board members in person. Some candidates are going door to door and have held meet-and-greet events. There are candidate forums in many districts, and some districts post candidate biographies online and in newsletters.

The Guardians said on its website members came together after an August 2021 School Board meeting "when we witnessed disarray." It is supporting three candidates endorsed by East Aurora Students First: Dawn Vona, Teresa Reile and Dawn Raczka, who are running against Maria Improta and incumbents Terri Ohweiler and Paul Blowers.

Candidates endorsed by the parent groups have similar platforms, such as parent input in curriculum, board transparency and medical freedom, particularly regarding masks and vaccines. But even some with similar goals dont always agree.

Robby Dinero, who started Fight For Your Family initiative, raised more than $10,000 for candidates on GiveSendGo, which calls itself the No. 1 free Christian crowdfunding site. The goal was to get freedom loving folks elected to local school boards, according to Fight For Your Family, and Dinero said he was supporting candidates in Hamburg and Orchard Park candidates Steve Barlette and Kati Ibarra.

Dinero said he still supports Barlette and Ibarra, but he is not contributing money to their campaigns.

Barlette said when Dinero made statements at board meetings he agreed with, such as getting rid of the mask mandate, he stood in support of the statement. But he doesnt agree with everything.

I disagreed with the shutting down of meetings. I was willing to wear a mask at school board meetings, Barlette said. Though I agree on mask choice with Robby Dinero, I disagree on tactics.

Anderson, who is running with Tom Provost in Orchard Park, said he is running because he saw candidates pushing a divisive political campaign and he wants to protect students' education from division, disruption and political agendas.

The things they are running on are very political in nature, Anderson said.

Barlette said he doesn't think he is divisive, and the issues are being brought up around the country.

Its frustrating that national politics come in here, but theyre here, Bartlette said.

Also seeking one of two seats in Orchard Park is Donald P. Roof.

Spending more

Before they filed petitions to run for school board, four of the five candidates in Orchard Park had raised over $1,000, including two who raised more than $2,500.

Districts oversee their own elections, which also includes voting on the proposed budget and propositions May 17.

Candidates raising and spending more than $500 must file three financial disclosure forms with their school district clerk: one when they file their petitions, one on Thursday and the third June 6. If they spend less than $500, they must file a form stating that.

Not every campaign is spending a lot of money this year. There are elections in 11 districts in Erie and Niagara counties where candidates are running unopposed. And in North Collins no candidates submitted petitions for the two open board seats. They will be filled by write-in candidates.

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School systems in Illinois are reviewing the practice of having police ticket students for infractions.

The action comes on the heels of a ProPublica/Chicago Tribune investigation into Illinois schools issuing tickets as punishment.

Within hours of the report being released late last week, the state's top education official called on school districts to stop working with police to ticket students for misbehaving. 

"If your district/schools are engaging in this practice, I implore you to immediately stop and consider both the cost and the consequences of these fines, State Superintendent of Education Carmen Ayala said in a message to principals and superintendents.

Thousands of Illinois students each year are receiving tickets at school for conduct that violates local laws, according to an investigation by the Tribune and ProPublica. The tickets often involve behavior as minor as littering, vaping, using offensive words or gestures, or getting into a hallway scuffle.

Reporters found more than 11,800 tickets were issued to students during the last three school years, even though the COVID-19 pandemic kept children out of school for much of that period.

Ticketing students violates the intent of an Illinois law that prohibits schools from fining students as a form of discipline. Instead of issuing fines directly, school officials refer students to police, who write the tickets.

A database of school districts and police departments ticketing students between 2019 and 2021 accompanied the article. During that time there were 148 tickets written to students in Highland, 77 in Edwardsville, 70 in Granite City, 43 in Bethalto, 42 in Collinsville, 34 in Roxana and 15 in Jerseyville. Totals were not listed for other area school districts.

The investigation also identified a pattern of racial disparities in ticketing. In the schools and districts where racial data was available, an analysis found that Black students were twice as likely to be ticketed than white students.

Reporters documented ticketing in 141 high school districts and large K-12 districts. For some districts and schools, they also were able to analyze how many tickets went to different racial and ethnic groups.

Neither the state nor the federal government tracks how often police give tickets to students in public schools for violations of municipal ordinances. To understand how frequently and for what reasons police cited students, reporters from the Tribune and ProPublica filed more than 500 requests for public records with schools and law enforcement agencies under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
The 7th Annual Greek Jewish Festival returns to 280 Broome St., between Allen and Eldridge Streets, this Sunday, May 15, 2022, from 12pm  6pm. They have a fun lineup of live performances, lots of dancing, kids activities, craft vendors and tasty treats (kosher Greek foods and pastries), all celebrating the unique Romaniote and Sephardic heritage of the Kehila Kedosha Janina synagogue and museum. Its a nice opportunity to take a tour of the historic building, as well.

Kehila Kedosha Janina (the Holy Community of Janina) is the only Romaniote synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. Romaniote Jews are a unique community of Greek-speaking Jews whose history in Greece dates back over 2,300 years to the time of Alexander the Great. Learn more here.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has fileda lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari, asking the court to declareillegal, and incompatible with the oath of office, and public interest therecent pardon granted to former governors of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye,and Taraba State, Rev Jolly Nyame who are serving jail terms for corruption.

Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame were recently pardoned alongside 157 others convicted for various offences. The two men were investigated, prosecuted and convicted for stealing N1.16 billion and N1.6 billion respectively from their state treasuries, while they were in office between 1999 and 2007.

In the suit number FHC/L/CS/825/2022 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Lagos, SERAP is asking the court to determine whether the exercise of the power of prerogative of mercy to grant pardon to Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame is compatible with the public interest, the oath of office, and constitutional duty to combat corruption.

SERAP is asking the court for a declaration that the exercise of the power of prerogative of mercy to grant pardon to Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame is compatible with the public interest, the oath of office, and constitutional duty to combat corruption.

SERAP is also asking the court for an order setting aside the pardon granted to Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame in the public interest, and for the sake of the integrity, well-being and prosperity of Nigeria, and the countrys international obligations.

In the suit, SERAP is arguing that: If the presidential pardon is not set aside, impunity for corruption will increase, and many influential politicians will continue to escape justice for their alleged crimes.

SERAP is also arguing that, It is in the interest of justice to set aside the pardon for Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame. Presidential pardon for grand corruption cases is incompatible with the rule of law, as it undermines equality before the law.

According to SERAP, the pardon power ought not to be exercised to shield influential politicians and politically exposed persons from justice and accountability.

SERAP is also asking the court for an order directing and mandating President Buhari and future presidents to consider the public interest, the requirements of oath of office, and constitutional duty to combat corruption in any future exercise of the pardon power.

SERAP is further arguing that, the presidential pardon power must be exercised in good faith, and in line with the provisions of Chapter 4 of the Nigerian Constitution on fundamental rights.

Joined in the suit as Defendant is Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi, read in part: The pardon power, if properly exercised, can help to protect citizens against possible miscarriage of justice.

Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) provides that The State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.

Article 26 of the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party requires the government to ensure effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions including criminal and non-criminal sanctions, in cases of grand corruption.

Article 26 complements the more general requirement of article 30, paragraph 1, that sanctions must take into account the gravity of the corruption offences.

The pardon for Mr Dariye and Mr Nyame is antithetical to the public interest, the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution, and the countrys international obligations including under the UN Convention against Corruption.

The pardon also constitutes an interference in the exercise of judicial power. Because the pardon appears to be arbitrary, it undermines the authority and independence of the judiciary, and access to justice for victims of corruption.

While there is no doubt that Section 175 of the Constitution vests wide discretionary power in the Nigerian president to grant pardon, it does not stipulate the conditions under which such power should be exercised.

However, when section 15(5) of the Constitution is read together with the oath, it would seem to impose some ethical conditions on the Nigerian president to ensure that the exercise of the discretionary power of prerogative of mercy is not such that it will encourage corruption or impunity of perpetrators.

The latest Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index shows that Nigeria scored 24 out of 100 points, ranking 154 out of 180 countries surveyed, and falling back five places from the rank of 149 in 2020. This places Nigeria as the second most corrupt country in West Africa.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

Kolawole Oluwadare

SERAP Deputy Director

8/5/2022

Lagos, Nigeria

Emails: [email protected] ; [email protected]

Twitter: @SERAPNigeria

Website: www.serap-nigeria.org

For more information or to request an interview, please contact us on: +2348160537202
First lot of local COVID vaccine produced

BANGKOK: The first batch of ChulaCov19, the first messenger-RNA vaccine developed in Thailand, has been produced and is awaiting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the first two phases of human trials, a government spokesperson said yesterday (May 7).

CoronavirusCOVID-19healthVaccine

By Bangkok Post

Sunday 8 May 2022, 10:04AM

Photo: Chula Vaccine Research Center Facebook

The first lot of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chulalongkorn University researchers was produced by Thailand-based BioNet-Asia Co Ltd, reports the Bangkok Post. If all trial results meet the requirements, the vaccine is expected to be registered for use by the end of this year, deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said.

According to the Chula Vaccine Research Center, ChulaCov19 is safe and has a higher efficacy than the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus. The Pfizer vaccine has an efficacy of 95% against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Production of the vaccine was supported by B2.31 billion in funding approved by the cabinet in November last year.

The government wants Thailand to be a country capable of creating, conducting research and development and producing its own vaccine, which is in accordance with its 10-year strategic plan to become a medical hub (by 2026), Ms Rachada said.

The goal was set before the COVID-19 pandemic began, and by becoming a vaccine production centre, more Thai people will have access to the vaccine.

Ms Rachada said ChulaCov19 had passed two preliminary stages of trials on volunteers, with lab results showing safe, effective responses to the virus. The antibodies generated by ChulaCov19 were higher than from Pfizer vaccines used in Thailand, she said, quoting the Chula Vaccine Research Centre.

Thailand will pursue domestic production of the vaccine in the next phase of the project, she added.
Laos to drop COVID entry curbs for vaccinated arrivals

LAOS: Laos will drop COVID-19 entry restrictions for fully vaccinated tourists from Monday (May 9) after the country reported falling coronavirus cases and deaths, senior officials said. It was also said that pubs and karaoke bars could reopen in the country.

COVID-19Coronavirustransporttourism

By Bangkok Post

Sunday 8 May 2022, 05:20PM

Visitors take photos at the Patuxai (Victory Gate) in Vientiane in 2019 before Laos closed the border due to the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Dusida Worrachaddejchai / Bangkok Post

The neighbouring country saw an 80% downturn in international traveller numbers in 2020  4.7 million foreign tourists visited the previous year, reports Bangkok Post.

From January travellers had been required to complete seven days of quarantine, present a negative COVID-19 test, and were limited to travelling within certain areas with officially sanctioned tour groups.

Deputy Minister and Deputy Head of the Prime Ministers Office Thipphakone Chanthavongsa said on Saturday (May 7) that a task forces recommendations that "measures for entering Laos PDR and relaxation for locals" had been approved.

"The Government sees it is time to develop the economy," she said.

The relaxed measures will see international checkpoints re-opened for Laotian citizens and foreigners, provided they are fully vaccinated.

Unvaccinated visitors must produce a Rapid Antigen Test (ATK) issued within 48 hours of leaving their origin country. Tourists will also have to pay for their own medical treatment should they become COVID-19 positive.

BORDER CHECKPOINTS GETTING READY

Thai authorities are now preparing for border reopening with Laos. Nong Khai governor Monsit Paisalthanawat on Sunday (May 8) signed an order to allow all vehicles to enter from Laos at the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge and Tha Sadej pier by the Mekong River in Muang district, starting on the date of publication of the order which is one day before Laos reopening.

Nong Khai sealed the frontier with the neighbouring country in March 2020 at the height of the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand. The province has allowed people and only lorries loaded with goods to cross the border since May 1, when the Thai government eased most entry restrictions on visitors.

The first friendship bridge in Nong Khai is the main gateway linking the two countries. Boats at Tha Sadej pier shuttle only Thais and Lao nationals.

Nakhon Phanom will open only the third friendship bridge and a ferry pier, both linking Muang district in the province with Khammouane province in Laos. Other temporary crossings in Muang, Tha Uthen and That Phanom districts remain shut until authorities of the two countries agree to open the gates.

Nakhon Phanom immigration chief Pol Col Somkiat Somjai said the province had prepared for the reopening since May 1 and was waiting only for the Lao decision to lift travel restrictions.

In Chiang Khong district of Chiang Rai, district chief Wiroon Sitthiwong said talks with Lao authorities in Huayxay province were needed to confirm the reopening of the border at the international bridge, according to Thairath Online.

The fourth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in Chiang Khong connects to a road from northern Laos to southern China.

Other key Thai border outlets to Laos are in Mukdahan and Ubon Ratchathani provinces.

All entrants from Laos though land border checkpoints need to follow the new Thai entry measures.
Phuket Opinion: Phuket sharks are just not into us

PHUKET: Following events this past week islanders might have to finally concede the term Phuket luck. Just as a major barrier to tourism was lifted last Sunday, allowing tourists to come without being tested for COVID-19 before departure or after landing on the island, a young boy suffered serious bites from a big fish at a popular tourist beach.

opiniontourismSafetymarineanimalsenvironment

By The Phuket News

Sunday 8 May 2022, 10:00AM

Blacktip reef sharks have been heralded as a sign of eco-recovery at world famous Maya Bay, but no one batted an eyelid about sharks at the reefs in the bay during the heady days of overtourism. Photo: Maya Bay Research and Recovering team under DNP & Kasetsart University

The boy, 8-year-old local resident, Naphat Chaiyarak Khrystenko, needed some 33 stitches to close his wounds. We wish young Naphat a speedy recovery, but the poor boy was just unlucky. People swimming at Phuket beaches being bitten by any animal is, in the truest sense of the word, rare.

You have to go back five years for the last report of anyone bitten at a Phuket beach. That incident, just as with the bites young Naphat suffered, was hotly debated whether the culprit was a shark or barracuda.

Before that you have to go back to 2015 when an Australian tourist was bitten at Karon Beach. In that incident the bite clearly was not a shark. Local experts didnt know what it was, perhaps a pufferfish or trigger fish. But to quell fears officials launched a large-scale search anyway, that found nothing.

Both of those incidents occurred when millions of tourists were visiting Phuket each year.

As with the few past incidents, this week it was the word shark that was spreading fear, as if people had no idea there were sharks in the waters around Phuket. There are, there always has been, theyre just not the types of sharks that make headlines elsewhere in the world.

As one Phuket News reader pointed out, sharks only thrive when the fish they feed on are thriving and thats a good sign  as pointed out in the return of blacktip reef sharks to Maya Bay. Everyone heralded the return of the sharks to Maya Bay after it had been closed for two years, showing clearly that the bays marine ecosystem was on its way to recovery from the stupendous overtourism allowed to take place there.

Yet no-one batted an eyelid at the fact that blacktip reef sharks inhabited the bay until the huge number of tourists visiting there started destroying the marine environment. Yes, the sharks were there while tourists were playing in the water while everyone was promoting how beautiful the bay is and that people should visit it. And yet there was not one report of any tourist being bitten. The sharks we have around here are just not into us.

Kamala OrBorTor Chief Jutha Dumluck was right, Phuket should take this opportunity to highlight how much Phukets marine environment has recovered over the past few years without heavy tourism  and take the opportunity to quell fears over the word shark. Reasonable, rational fear is needed for self-preservation; unfounded fear based on sensational movies and hype only leads to unnecessary anxiety and suffering.

People should be educated of the reality that sharks do swim in the sea and that most sharks simply are not interested in people. The chance of a beachgoer in Phuket being bitten by anything while in the water is minuscule compared with the risk of physical harm taken by an inexperienced rider renting a motorbike while on holiday in Phuket.
Phuket to celebrate National Tree Day with tree planting

PHUKET: Phuket provincial authorities have invited people to take part in reforestation activities on Toh Sae Hill (Monkey Hill) to honor the National Tree Day next Friday (May 13).

charityenvironment

By The Phuket News

Sunday 8 May 2022, 12:00PM

Reforestation activity will be held on Toh Sae Hill next Friday (May 13). Image: PR Phuket

Reforestation activity will be held on Toh Sae Hill next Friday (May 13). Image: PR Phuket

Reforestation activity will be held on Toh Sae Hill next Friday (May 13). Image: PR Phuket

Reforestation activity will be held on Toh Sae Hill next Friday (May 13). Image: PR Phuket

The event was publicly announced by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket) on May 6.

Phuket Province invites people to join the project of reforestation to increase green areas in Phuket on the occasion of the National Tree Day 2022 which is to be celebrated next Friday, May 13, PR Phuket said in a Facebook post.

As explained in the announcement, the tree planting activity will be held at Wat Kosit Viharn Temple off Thepkrasattri Rd in Rassada as well as in the Toh Sae National Forest reserve behind Wat Kosit Viharn and behind Wat Charoen Samanakit (Wat Lang San) off Damrong Rd.

The day will start at 8am with religious ceremonies at Wat Kosit Viharn and Wat Charoen Samanakit. Registration will begin at 8.30am and will be followed by an address of Phuket Governor Narong Wonciew Wat Kosit Viharn at 9am (at Wat Charoen Samanakit the ceremony will be chaired by a top official from the Court of Justice). Actual tree planting is to commence at 10am.

Participants are asked to dress in yellow. Meeting point for general public is set at Channel Seven facilities on Toh Sae Hill.

In order to comply with COVID-19 prevention measures, participating people should wear masks throughout the activity, pass a body temperature check at registration and clean hands with alcohol dress.
Southern Pines, NC (28387)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 58F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 58F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Sunny along with a few clouds. Near record high temperatures. High 31C. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low near 16C. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
At about 1:27 a.m., state police responded to reports of a vehicle traveling the wrong way on the I-90 in Hamburg, with troopers spotting the vehicle heading westbound in the eastbound lane. Troopers first tried to stop the vehicle with emergency lights activated while traveling behind the vehicle in the eastbound lane, but the driver failed to comply, according to a State Police release. Troopers entered a U-turn and crossed over to the westbound lanes and continued to follow the vehicle in an attempt to get the driver to stop for several miles until it crashed head-on with the tractor-trailer in Evans.
ALTON  An East St. Louis killer of two Alton teens will get a third crack Wednesday at a sentence that will satisfy the Fifth District Appellate Court.

Terril Williams, 41, was convictged in 1997 for fatally shooting two men in Alton's Belle Manor apartment complex. But the district court has remanded the case back to Madison County for a third sentencing hearing because Williams was 15 at the time of murders.

Williams and several other associates traveled to Alton after a heated argument over the phone. His uncle, Byron Williams, then 35, allegedly gave his nephew a gun and told him to take care of business.

Court documents state that, upon reaching Belle Manor, Terril Williams shot James Patterson, 17, of Alton, while Pattersons hands were in the air, and Darryl Womack, 15, in the back of the head as Womack was running away.

Byron Williams, the uncle, was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Terril Williams was initially sentenced to mandatory life because he had killed two people.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court modified the mandatory life statute, finding that the courts must acknowledge the differences between juveniles and adults.

In its most recent ruling, the Fifth District justices stated that the trial court failed to consider that Terril Williams, as a juvenile, had a different makeup than an adult would have, according to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

That decision ruled that a juvenile had traits, like failure to appreciate risks and consequences and possible a poor background and family situation. However, the high court also ruled that a life sentence was allowable if the defendant was found to be irreparable corrupt.

The case was remanded to the trial court in Madison County, where the judge heard about the defendants background.

According to a pre-sentencing report, the defendant was primarily raised by his maternal grandmother. His father lived in another state and had not been involved in his life for several years prior to his arrest, and his mother had an issue with alcohol use over the years, according to a court document filed in the case.

The defendant testified he had a learning disability and had been in special education classes since second grade. He was in tenth grade when he was arrested in February 1996. Two of his brothers had died, one about a month before the murders in Belle Manor.

While in custody Terril Williams was disciplined 14 times between 2000 and 2012. During the second sentencing hearing, he continued to maintain his innocence.

Prosecutor argued that shooting someone who had his hands in the air and another man who was running away amounted to irreparable corruption.

He killed two unarmed, defenseless children and threatened two others," then Assistant States Attorney Jennifer Mudge argued in the second sentencing hearing in 2018. "If that isnt irreparable corruption, I dont know what is."

However, in its most recent ruling, the justices ruled than the trial court failed to take into account the entirety of the rule defining irreparably corrupt. The trial judge failed to take into consideration all of the factors that would apply under the Miller v. Alabama ruling applied to Terril Williams, specifically immaturity, impetuosity or susceptibility to familial and peer pressure, according to the justices.

The Fifth District justices also stated the appellate court considers the crimes were senseless, and the appellate court does not intend for the sentence to be light.
Scranton, PA (18503)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 81F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph..

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Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 60F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
NANCY INTHASIT, Stonington, Girls Track, Senior; Inthasit finished first in the 100 (12.54) and the 200 (27.08) at the Marty Roberts Invitational. Her time in the 100 was a meet record. She was named the top female sprinter at the meet. Inthasit is unbeaten in the 100 this season.

JACK TENUTA, Westerly, Baseball, Sophomore; Tenuta pitched a one-hit shutout in the Bulldogs win over Wheeler School/Rocky Hill. He struck out 10 and walked just three batters. He also hit two home runs and drove in three runs in a victory against West Warwick. Tenuta is 5-0 with an 0.57 ERA and is hitting .349.

KATELYN MELINOSKY, Wheeler, Girls Lacrosse, Senior; Melinosky scored six goals in the Lions 10-5 victory over New London. Wheeler is 3-4 on the season.

MATTHEW TIERNAN, Chariho, Boys Volleyball, Junior; Tiernan had 42 digs in the Chargers win against Cranston East and 44 assists in a loss to league-leading La Salle Academy. Chariho is 8-3 this season.

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Ten days ago, I did something I had been expecting to do for a while. I activated my mother's power of attorney giving me and my brother authority to look after her finances.

Not an easy process by any stretch of the imagination, but one negotiated by hundreds of families every week as parents become too frail to look after their own personal finance affairs.

And in my case, one made more difficult by a bank whose branch staff pushed me from pillar to post as I searched for someone who could help.

Helping hand: Jeff Prestridge with his mother, who until recently had proudly looked after her own finances

The need to trigger the lasting power of attorney for property and financial affairs was prompted by Mum's admission into hospital with excruciating back pain that had left her virtually immobile.

Although my younger sister Joy and brother Dave had stepped magnificently into the breach to help Mum at home, it was obvious that something was seriously amiss.

The home she took great pride in was not looking as pristine as normal, the fridge was awash with rotting food  and a pile of clothes waited to be washed.

Mum, in her 80s, is a private person who is fiercely independent (apologies if you're reading this, Mum). Her business is for her eyes only and her home is her castle. God help anyone who tries to help her or ask how her finances are.

Not until a few days ago had I ever seen a statement confirming how much she has tucked away in a savings account.

'None of your business,' she would say if I asked for details of her savings. Getting her to allow me to examine her bank statements was a minor miracle.

Sorting out her finances in recent weeks had become a nightmare. Until recently, prudence ruled. As regular as clockwork, Mum transferred 150 a month from her NatWest current account into her savings account  it was all part of a strategy to be financially independent.

'I want enough tucked away so I can go on a cruise with you and Joy,' she would say  the last one was cancelled when Mum had to undergo major surgery.

But rising energy bills had put her finances out of kilter. When her energy supplier wanted to increase her direct debit by some ludicrous amount, I told her the only way forward was to reverse the transfer  and start putting money (250 a month) into her current account so as to stop it going overdrawn.

She understood, I thought. But because of Mum's mobility issues and the fact that she has only ever banked by going into town and visiting her local (and friendly) NatWest branch, she said she would write to the bank (she's never used the internet). I'm not sure she did.

A couple of weeks ago, Mum's back pain, which had been building for weeks despite a cocktail of drugs prescribed by a local GP, became unbearable.

I wrote to her GP in despair urging him to visit Mum  the relationship between our family and the GP (and before him his father) goes back more than 50 years. I gave him my personal details.

All Mum got back was an appointment for a pain clinician to ring her on May 24. Outrageous. Pain needs to be tackled immediately, not in a month's time  and should be assessed by someone in person.

Nightmare: When Jeff Prestridge visited a NatWest branch to sort out access to his mother's accounts, he was pushed from pillar to post

Eleven days ago, she could take no more. Dave took her to the accident and emergency department at a hospital near Birmingham. It has been brilliant, conducting X-rays and scans in an attempt to get to the bottom of the problem.

Mum remains there (with my elder sister Pauline holding the fort back at Mum's home), in a ward that can be best described as entertaining. The woman opposite talks to herself day and night  and nothing seems to stop her.

A lady from another ward wanted to make a dash home in the middle of the night to celebrate the birthday of her granddaughter. Mum and her neighbour Beryl managed to persuade her it wouldn't be a good idea.

'You're very good at getting people to do what you ask them,' said Beryl. 'Well, I have brought four children into this world,' Mum responded proudly.

An elderly gentleman has also latched on to Mum, waiting for her while she goes to the toilet (very disconcerting). He's also gone on to Mum's ward and sat uninvited on someone's bed. Mum and Beryl have attempted to keep him out by wedging the door shut.

With Mum in hospital, confused and struggling over her finances, the time to trigger the power of attorney was right. Mum needed someone to start making financial decisions on her behalf.

The journey had not been without trauma. The initial application to set one up last year was rejected because I had failed to return a blank page  it was deemed incomplete.

Activating it online via the Office of the Public Guardian was easy with a code and reference number supplied at the time the application was approved.

But the problems began when I asked to have access to my mother's bank and savings accounts with NatWest. I was given a code which I was then meant to present to the bank.

Fruitless: Attempts to use NatWest's virtual assistant, 'Cora,' did not go to plan

I thought I would give NatWest's digital assistant 'Cora' (available 24/7) a go via my computer. I wish I hadn't bothered because Cora didn't recognise the initials LPA or the words 'lasting', 'power' and 'attorney'.

Whichever way I phrased my query, Cora didn't understand. Useless  and I told it so. Strangely, when I went back to use it late last week, it was more responsive.

Anyway, I thought I would try my luck in the NatWest branch close to work. After all, it had helped sort out Mum and Dad's joint account when Stan The Man died in 2017.

But it was a nightmare. I went into the branch at 12:35pm and stood around at one of two unmanned helpdesks waiting for help.

I saw that someone was in the back office and that, in all likelihood, they would emerge at some stage. They did. But I was told that my request would have to be dealt with at the counter. 'I'll be back, for sure,' I said. I wasn't wrong.

I joined the queue, a rather jolly one as it turned out, with someone proclaiming to the person next to them that 'she loved him' (they'd just met). A screen to my left, promoting the bank's digital services, informed me that 'tomorrow begins today'. 'It will be tomorrow before I get served,' I thought.

As the clock struck one o'clock, I arrived at the head of the queue.

After a brief interlude, while the woman with lots of love to offer was encouraged to leave the branch, I explained that I wanted NatWest to add a lasting power of attorney to Mum's accounts so that I could start to manage her money.

Bank branches have become mere promotional tools for online and digital services, rather than purveyors of advice and help when it is most needed

'You need to go to the front desk,' I was told. To say I wasn't impressed is an understatement. A staff member poured oil on the flames by saying she was sorry for my bereavement.

'No, my mother hasn't died, I just want to be able to access my mother's bank account,' I barked.

I told the staff member who had directed me to the counter queue what I thought of him  'unimpressed'. I was told to come back at 2.30pm.

Thankfully, when I returned, staff member Levenia knew her power of attorney onions. After providing proof of who I was, I filled in an application form to add a power of attorney to Mum's bank account.

It took about 20 minutes as she checked the 14 pages of the registered lasting power of attorney to ensure they were properly stamped by the Office of the Public Guardian.

I now have to wait ten days before I get a debit card that will give me access to Mum's accounts. I've already deposited 750 of my own money to ensure her current account doesn't stray into overdraft.

Sorting out complicated issues such as lasting powers of attorney is better done face-to-face than online. It's when a bank branch should justify its existence. But it seems that NatWest thinks otherwise.

Its branches have become mere promotional tools for its online and digital services rather than purveyors of advice and help when it is most needed. In my eyes, it's not good enough. NatWest (see below) begs to differ.
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Saturday and bombarded a steel mill in Mariupol housing Ukrainian civilians and fighters, hoping to complete their conquest of the port city in time for Victory Day celebrations. Ukraine announced that all women, children and elderly had been evacuated from the steel plant, a key Russian war objective that has long been under siege.

In a sign of the unexpectedly effective defense that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraine's military flattened Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the war's first days and has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

Western military analysts said a Ukrainian counteroffensive also was advancing around the nation's second-largest city, Kharkiv, even as it remained a key target of Russian shelling. The Ukrainian army said it retook control of five villages and part of a sixth near hotly contested Kharkiv.

As Russia's Monday holiday commemorating Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II approached, cities across Ukraine prepared for an expected increase in Russian attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged residents numbed by more than 10 weeks of war to heed air raid warnings.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Zelenskyy and his people "embody the spirit of those who prevailed during the Second World War." He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying "to twist history to attempt to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine."

"As war again rages in Europe, we must increase our resolve to resist those who now seek to manipulate historical memory in order to advance their own ambitions," Blinken said in a statement issued as the United States and United Kingdom marked the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago.

The most intense battles in recent days have befallen eastern Ukraine, where the two sides are entrenched in a fierce race to capture or reclaim territory. Moscow's offensive in eastern Ukraine has focused on claiming the industrial Donbas region, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014 and occupy some areas.

Moscow's also has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine to both cut off the country from the sea and to connect its territory to the breakaway Transnistria region of Moldova, long home to Russian troops. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.

On Saturday, six Russian cruise missiles fired from aircraft hit the region of Odesa, where authorities have a curfew in place until Tuesday morning. Videos posted on social media showed thick black smoke rising over Odesa with sirens wailing in the background.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Ukraine targeting Russian-held Snake Island in a bid to impede Russia's efforts to control the Black Sea. A satellite image taken early Saturday by Planet Labs PBC showed what appeared to be a Serna-class landing craft against the island's northern beach.

The image corresponds with a Ukrainian military video showing a drone striking the Russian vessel, engulfing it in flames. Snake Island, located some 35 kilometers (20 miles) off the coast, figured in a memorable incident early in the war when Ukrainian border guards stationed there defied Russian orders to surrender, purportedly using colorful language.

Against that backdrop, Ukrainian fighters made a final stand to prevent a complete takeover of Mariupol. Securing the strategically important Sea of Azov port would give Moscow a land bridge to the Crimea Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine during a 2014 invasion.

New satellite photos analyzed by the AP showed vast devastation at a sprawling seaside steel mill that is the last corner of Ukrainian resistance in the city. Buildings at the Azovstal plant, including one under which hundreds of fighters and civilians are likely hiding, had large, gaping holes in the roof, according to the images shot Friday by Planet Labs PBC.

"The president's order has been carried out: All women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal (steelworks)," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday, without elaborating. "This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed."

Read the full story and more updates from Ukraine:

Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Yesica Fisch in Zaporizhzhia, Inna Varenytsia and David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.
Suits you: Hundreds of thousands of new platform customers are investing for the first time and need help starting out

DIY investors looking for a helping hand with their portfolios face a confusing maelstrom of ready-made options, which risk leaving them hundreds of pounds out of pocket if they choose incorrectly.

For years, investment platforms operated as simple fund supermarkets, presenting investors with an array of thousands of funds and stocks from which to construct a portfolio.

But as the popularity of DIY investing has ballooned, platforms are falling over themselves to offer solutions to make investing easier.

The amount of money invested in the stock market via investment platforms has leapt by 20 per cent and then 12.5 per cent over the past two years alone.

Hundreds of thousands of new platform customers are investing for the first time and need help starting out.

Solutions range from ready-made funds where you buy a single all-in-one fund to model portfolios where you are recommended a number of funds to buy and manage yourself.

The offerings vary wildly. Some platforms offer ethical options, others ideas for investing for children. Some make recommendations based on their own in-house funds, while others pick the best from the whole market.

Used wisely, these tools can make investing simple, affordable and potentially lucrative. But navigating through the growing range of options can be bewildering and lead to expensive mistakes.

Do-it-all fund with a wide asset range...

Some investors have neither the time nor inclination to construct and manage a portfolio.

For these people, investment platforms have been developing ranges of ready-made funds that require no maintenance  they are rebalanced and reshaped periodically on your behalf.

Ready-made fund ranges are offered by providers including AJ Bell, Aviva, Barclays Smart Investor, Charles Stanley Direct, Chelsea Financial Services, Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor. You can hold them in an Individual Savings Account or general investing account.

Unfortunately, they go by different names on the websites of each investment platform. So you will need to tread carefully and inquire with your platform provider if you cannot find them.

For example Hargreaves calls them Portfolio +, Interactive Investor labels them Quick Start while Tilney Bestinvest has an Expert and Smart Range. Ready-made fund ranges appear deceptively similar.

Helping hand: Ready-made funds can make things easier for investors who don't have the time or inclination to construct and manage a portfolio

Each platform offers between five and nine different funds to choose between, all with a low, medium and high-risk option. But don't assume they are the same.

For example, some platforms, such as Barclays Smart Investor, do not have options designed for investors seeking an income from their investments, while others do.

If income is important to you  as it is for many people in retirement especially  you may want to pick a range with an income option.

Some platforms offer ready-made funds selected from the whole of the market, while others choose to promote their own in-house funds. Hargreaves' Portfolio +, for example, is made up entirely of Hargreaves Lansdown Multi-Manager funds.

Flows of money into these funds rose from 20.39million to 197million last year.

You will need to decide whether you are happy with your platform's assessment that its own funds are best  or if you would prefer to have access to the full market.

Some platforms offer cheap, no-frills funds made up solely of equities and bonds  the core components of an investment portfolio.

For example, Interactive Investor's Quick Start funds are built around the Vanguard Life-Strategy range, with varying proportions of equities and bonds depending on your appetite for risk.

Other platforms offer readymade funds diversified across a wider range of assets. This method can prove valuable at a time of market turbulence when alternative assets offer a ballast against equities and bonds.

For example, Tilney Bestinvest's Smart range of five ready made funds all contain a six per cent holding of gold and 1.5 per cent of cash.

...or a portfolio based on appetite for risk

Some investors are happy to take on a bit more work themselves, but need direction. For these people, investment platforms offer model portfolios, which are funds designed to work in tandem to meet your investment goals.

However, once again you will need to tread carefully as they all have different names and are easily confused with the platform's ready-made fund ranges.

At AJ Bell, they are called 'readymade portfolios', on Interactive Investor 'model portfolios' and at Hargreaves Lansdown 'master portfolios'.

Platforms tend to offer between five and ten of these portfolios. To pick the right one, you will be asked questions about your appetite for risk and whether you are looking to grow your wealth or use it to produce an income.

According to your answers, you are presented with a model portfolio  a list of recommended funds and how much you should put in each according to how much you have to invest.

Some  such as AJ Bell  allow you to buy all of the funds in a model portfolio with a click of a button while others, such as Interactive Investor, require you to buy each separately.

All is well and good when you buy a model portfolio, but the problems come down the track. If the US stock market soars and the UK flops, then everything gets out of kilter Holly McKay, BoringMoney

Model portfolios are as easy to buy as a ready-made fund. The potential troubles come later on. When you buy a model portfolio, it should be optimally balanced and diversified. But before long, the composition of your portfolio will start to skew as some funds perform well and others poorly.

It is up to you to rebalance regularly to make sure that your portfolio still meets your attitude to risk and reward. That means selling some holdings and buying others, or tilting what you buy in future towards areas that have become under-represented.

Wealth platforms regularly update their model portfolios by removing funds they no longer rate and using new ones they are more optimistic about. You will need to keep an eye on these changes and decide whether you too wish to switch.

Holly Mackay, of investment website BoringMoney, says: 'All is well and good when you buy a model portfolio, but the problems come down the track.

'If the US stock market soars and the UK flops, as has broadly been the case in the last three years, then everything gets out of kilter.

'And so you end up with a disproportionately high allocation to US shares and a lower one to British shares. You can rebalance everything, but it's a bit fiddly to do.'
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

L.T. writes: I visited Mevagissey in Cornwall and parked in the Sunny Corner Car Park. I went to pay at one of the two machines, but the one with a keypad for registration numbers was not working and its display was blank no matter which buttons I pushed.

The other machine had no such keypad and I inserted the correct money for my stay, received a ticket which I placed in the windscreen, and then went off to enjoy my visit.

Two weeks later, I received a demand for a 60 penalty charge. By then I had thrown away the ticket, and the car park company has rejected my appeal.

Charming: But many complained about parking set-up in Mevagissey

Tony Hetherington replies: The car park is run by Premier Parking Solutions Limited, which photographs every car that enters and leaves the site, and then compares the registration numbers with the records of those who paid or failed to pay.

The gap in the system  as you found  is that one of the payment machines does not record registration numbers but simply takes cash and issues a timed ticket.

When you contacted me, you had already decided to pay the 60 penalty because delaying payment would have increased the charge to 100.

But I asked the company's boss Richard Cox what you should have done when you found that one machine was not working.

He denied that the machine was faulty. He told me: 'The car park that day was used by dozens of motorists who had no issue with entering their vehicle registration number correctly into the pay and display machine or via the pay-by-phone system.'

In short, if there was a problem, you could have phoned the company. Phones are only manned during office hours, Cox explained, but at other times including weekends, calls are logged and checked later before penalty notices are issued.

But why would you have phoned, when the other machine was working perfectly, took your money, and gave you a ticket?

This places on you the responsibility for proving your innocence later, rather than on the car park operator being responsible for proving that you failed to pay.

I put this to Richard Cox and he replied that you should have kept the ticket for at least a fortnight as evidence in your favour.

He justified the penalty, telling me that his company had to spend time dealing with appeals as well as enquiries like mine, 'as a result of the motorist failing to comply with our terms and conditions'. You were seeking preferential treatment over other motorists, he insisted.

But Cox offered no comment when I asked about the crop of very similar complaints I found online. One says: 'Even if you pay and display, they will still send a penalty ticket two weeks later do not park here.'

Another says: 'Been going there for years with no issues. Not been for two years. Parked up and paid with coins in the machine. Displayed ticket as usual. Two weeks later, a fine through the door, just like loads of people. Will now avoid completely.'

And a third complaint is from a driver who writes: 'The machine is set not to accept registration details, but send you a parking charge for no registered payment.'

Premier Parking Solutions, which is based in Newton Abbot, is a big business. Its 2021 accounts show profits of 974,000.

Filings also show the company received over 253,000 from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the Government paid interest of 4,858 on a Covid loan the company took out.

The local council dished out a further 20,000 to the business, which leaves me wondering how it reacts to this from a driver who used the car park not long ago: 'It has ruined my memories of our holiday, I will not return to Mevagissey because of this cowboy firm.'

Three premium bond wins... but no cash

Ms K.F. writes: I have received three separate emails from National Savings & Investments, notifying me that I had won premium bond prizes.

I have not received the prizes, and when I rang NS&I, it said it was because someone else has the same email address as me.

Missing: Ms K.F. has received three separate emails from National Savings & Investments, notifying her of premium bond wins, but has not received any prizes

Tony Hetherington replies: You sent me a copy of the congratulatory email you received three times from NS&I, telling you that you had won a prize and that you should check the premium bonds website to find out how much you would be getting. When you logged on to the website, it simply said that you had won nothing.

I asked staff at NS&I headquarters to explain, and they have told me that a mistake was made in the account of another bondholder, whose email address is one character away from yours.

That one crucial character was missed off, so when the other bondholder won a prize, the email was sent to you by mistake.

NS&I has apologised and issued you with a goodwill payment of 25, the basic prize if one of your bonds really had won.

New VAT system has left me in limbo with the taxman

Ms S.R. writes: I tried to do my VAT Return online in January, but a message appeared saying that returns had to be made digitally unless a business's turnover is below 85,000.

My turnover is well below that, so I opted out and a message appeared to say that I would hear back within two days.

I am still waiting, and meanwhile Revenue & Customs owes me two VAT repayments.

Waiting: HM Revenue & Customs owes Ms S.R. two VAT repayments

Tony Hetherington replies: Looking at the sequence of events, I think you will find that you have been caught in confusion around the launch of a Revenue project called 'Making Tax Digital'.

It is complicated, but almost all VAT-registered businesses are now expected to keep all their records electronically and submit their tax calculations online every three months.

Something appears to have gone wrong with your registration, but I have contacted the taxman and you are now back on the system.

If you need help, let me know and I can get one of the Revenue team to talk you through what needs doing.

Making Tax Digital makes things simpler for the taxman but more complex for anyone without an accountant.

Anyone breathing a sigh of relief because this only effects VAT should think again.

The same system is scheduled to hit the self-employed with income over 10,000 from 2024, and small companies will follow after that.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
The leafy village of Milton in Oxfordshire is an unlikely crucible for a green energy revolution that could power Britain's homes for generations into the future.

A commuter hideaway, down the road from Raymond Blanc's double Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, it is better known for its pretty period houses that could double as the set for a Miss Marple mystery.

Yet it is here, in a nondescript business park, that British start-up Tokamak Energy is racing to win a global battle against US billionaires to crack a scientific conundrum.

Collision: Lord Wolfson, right, is taking on Jeff Bezos in the fusion race

The puzzle is harnessing nuclear fusion  the energy that powers the sun and stars, and the opposite of the fission reactions found in conventional nuclear reactors.

The team that first produces fusion energy for powering our businesses and heating our homes will create lasting energy security as the West weans itself off Russian gas.

It will also create a new, green form of energy that  unlike wind and solar  does not fluctuate according to how much the sun shines or the wind blows.

The prize for investors is huge too. With profits expected to soar into billions of pounds from the 2030s, some of the biggest names on the British high street and a gaggle of billionaires across the Atlantic are pouring money into nuclear fusion firms.

In the British corner is retail giant Lord Wolfson, chief executive of high street chain Next, who The Mail on Sunday can reveal is the biggest individual shareholder in Tokamak Energy.

He is joined by hedge fund titan Sir David Harding; Swiss-German industrialist Hans-Peter Wild; chocolate brand heir Joel Cadbury; and cross-bench peers including former Tory chairman Lord Feldman and Baroness Mendelsohn, a powerful executive at Facebook owner Meta.

Unlikely setting: Tokamak Energy's reactor is near the village of Milton

Chris Kelsall, the chief executive of Tokamak Energy, is evangelical in his belief that his firm will be the first to produce commercial fusion energy from the start of the next decade.

In March, Tokamak Energy's prototype ST40 reactor achieved a major breakthrough when temperatures inside the chamber hit over 100million degrees Celsius for the first time  about seven times hotter than the centre of the sun.

But no material can contain the plasma where the fusion reaction takes place at this temperature. So the Tokamak reactor is encased by powerful electromagnets, which keep the plasma away from the edge of the chamber so it swirls around in a doughnut shape. Until now, this has taken more energy than it produces.

Kelsall says: 'Britain led the Industrial Revolution with the invention of the steam engine about 300 years ago.

We are now on the cusp of a second industrial revolution in energy, which will be achieved when we pass over the threshold of fusion Tokamak Energy chief executive, Chris Kelsall

'We are now on the cusp of a second industrial revolution in energy, which will be achieved when we pass over the threshold of fusion. We want Britain to be the world leader in commercial fusion technology and provide energy security for generations.'

But the world's second richest man, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has other ideas. He has invested a slice of his $150billion (120billion) wealth into a Canadian firm building a demonstration fusion plant down the road from Tokamak at Culham, also in Oxfordshire.

General Fusion says its test plant will show net electricity generation fusion is possible by 2027.

It aims to launch commercial fusion by the end of the decade, before rolling out plants across the world in the early 2030s, providing energy at a comparable price to fossil fuels.

Chief executive Chris Mowry says: 'The easy parts of the solution to climate change, like wind energy, are in place. Now comes the hard part  powering the developing world and the future of cities. Only fusion can do that.'

Meanwhile, Microsoft founder Bill Gates  now a crusader for tackling climate change  is backing a fusion firm based in Massachusetts, called Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

Cutting-edge: A 3D illustration of a fusion reactor, the equipment used to create fusion power

Gates has backed the company through his Breakthrough Energy fund, whose investors also include Caribbean-based UK billionaire Sir Richard Branson; secretive Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who is the founder of Asian e-commerce giant Alibaba; and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the Saudi Arabian investor who once bought Donald Trump's yacht.

In total, there are about 30 companies globally using varying techniques for nuclear fusion  the process by which two hydrogen atoms slam into one another and fuse into one heavier atom, generating energy.

The tipping point will come when the reactors generate more energy than they use.

Until then, there will be no shortage of investment opportunities. To help it get there by the early 2030s, Tokamak Energy plans to raise hundreds of millions of pounds from sovereign wealth funds and City investment firms later this year, adding to the 100million of private capital it has raised to date.

The money will be used to develop the super-strong magnets needed to contain the fusion reactions inside the tokamak chamber, and to build bigger reactors that can produce more energy.

Once a commercial pilot plant is up and running, the energy will be converted to electricity and connected to the national grid.

It could also be used to power heavy industry, such as manufacturing or steel plants, or create hydrogen through industrial-scale electrolysis  the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Fusion produces no carbon dioxide emissions and can be powered by water and lithium  both globally abundant natural resources.

And, assuaging safety fears associated with conventional nuclear plants, Kelsall says the radioactive footprint of its current reactor is comparable to that of a dentist's X-ray.

The involvement of Bezos and Branson, both last seen battling Tesla founder Elon Musk to launch the first commercial space flight, means fusion may be dubbed the next billionaire space race.

Now investors are on red alert to the climate crisis, Kelsall calls fusion the 'final frontier'.

'This is a critical mission for humanity,' he says. 'This is for our children and all future generations.'
British Airways boss Sean Doyle has fired a broadside at Heathrow Airport bosses as airlines battle to get families flying again.

Doyle appeared to criticise Heathrow's decision to keep Terminal 4 closed until June, particularly during the recent Easter break when the airline giant was forced to cancel more than 1,500 flights.

The flag carrier's owner International Airlines Group (IAG) on Friday posted a loss of 625million. BA's slew of flight cancellations was partly caused by staff shortages.

Signal for staff: Heathrow Airport aims to recruit 15,000 new workers

But Doyle also laid blame on Heathrow and questioned whether the airport was fully prepared for a sudden increase in travellers, citing 'airport capacity constraints' as another key challenge in the first quarter.

After he was asked on a call with City analysts if BA could receive compensation from Heathrow due to recent travel disruption, Doyle said it was 'unfortunate' Heathrow's terminal capacity 'isn't ready'.

He said BA has been faced with a 25 per cent drop in check-in desks at the UK's biggest airport at a time when passenger demand has come roaring back.

'Heathrow is the only airport in Europe that hasn't opened up all its terminals by the start of the summer season,' Doyle said on the call.

'One of the variables driving the intervention we have made has been the fact that Heathrow only has three terminals open rather than four.'

Heathrow is the only airport in Europe that hasn't opened up all its terminals by the start of the summer season BA boss Sean Doyle, speaking on a call with City analysts

His sentiments follow barbed comments by Virgin Atlantic boss Shai Weiss last month that Heathrow made 'cynical forecasts' to secure 'unjustified increases' in airport charges.

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye rejected the criticism when asked by The Mail on Sunday.

'Many airlines have an equity story to tell and a share price to think about. We are trying to be realistic about what could happen,' he said.

'What we've found over the last two years is that there have been lots of forecasts for passenger numbers and we have always been seen as the most pessimistic.

'But even we have been over-optimistic. Our worst case scenario has always happened. You can't just have a single plan that assumes everything will go back to normal,' Holland-Kaye said.

Shuttered: Heathrow's Terminal 4 will remain closed until June, resulting in cancelled flights

Passenger demand returned months quicker than expected, he added, 'because the Government went so quickly from having the toughest travel rules in Europe to having no rules  that means we will need even more people than we'd been planning.'

However, IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said on Friday that Heathrow's 'unrealistically low passenger volume forecasts' contributed to longer queues.

He added: 'This is despite BA publicly stating it has been aiming for a 90 per cent operation this summer since early November last year.'

Doyle added: 'If you look at Heathrow's latest update, they are saying 52million passengers for the year.'

This clashes, he said, with other forecasts of more than 70million. British Airways has gone to great lengths of late to rebuild its workforce after slashing 10,000 jobs during the pandemic.

Last month, it began offering 1,000 bonuses to new cabin crew and baggage handlers. The MoS can reveal BA is also offering to pay hotel and travel expenses for temporary workers.

At Heathrow, Holland-Kaye said the airport is looking to hire up to 15,000 new workers to combat staff shortages this summer.

He also downplayed concerns about travelling from the airport, with T4 set to reopen in June.

Holland-Kaye said: 'Over Easter, on our busiest days, we had 80 per cent of our usual demand, but only 65 per cent of our people. And we still got people through security within five minutes or less.

'Even when we don't have enough people, we can manage things tightly enough that we can still give a good service.

'People shouldn't be worried about whether they can catch their flight at Heathrow this summer.'
Morrisons has reportedly beaten Asda-owner EG Group in the race to buy collapsed convenience store chain McColl's.

The supermarket giant has fended off competition from the petrol station operator with an offer that is expected to see McColl's stores and workforce preserved in their entirety, according to a report by Sky News.

It comes as the two suitors lodged last-minute bids last night to take control of the collapsed corner shop chain.

Uncertain future: McColl's, which has 16,000 staff and more than 1,100 shops, went into administration after it was unable to repay debts of nearly 100m

Morrisons and Asda-owner EG Group, run by the billionaire Issa brothers, have been battling for the firm in a takeover tussle that could send shockwaves through the sector.

McColl's lenders had rejected an offer from Morrisons on Friday that would have seen it take on the firm's debts and repay them over time.

The bid from Morrisons  the sole supplier to McColl's  would have protected the 'vast majority' of staff and stores as well as its 141million pension plan.

But Morrisons returned yesterday with an improved deal that would see the lenders repaid in full immediately, satisfying one of their key demands, Sky News reported, although the details are unclear.

Now Morrisons seems to have won the race, with the deal set to be structured as a pre-pack administration, meaning Morrisons will buy McColl's immediately after it enters insolvency proceedings overseen by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), according to the report.

Morrisons has been contacted for comment.

Petrol station giant EG Group is thought to have followed that up with its own last-ditch bid  including a commitment to honour McColl's pensions, according to sources. EG Group also declined to comment.

It is thought that PwC, which is advising McColl's lenders, is preparing to set up a showdown between the rival bidders in which they will present their best offers for the group.

McColl's, which has 16,000 staff and more than 1,100 shops, went into administration last week after it was unable to repay debts of nearly 100million.

It sounded the alarm in November over shortages of key products, lorry drivers and distribution centre workers.

The firm also issued a series of profit warnings and it emerged in February that it was on the brink of collapse. The decision to place the group into administration, a key condition of the offer from EG Group, was condemned by Morrisons as 'disappointing, damaging and unnecessary'.

Trustees of the company's pension scheme wrote to the Issa brothers demanding EG Group support its pension commitments, telling them: 'Any company looking to acquire McColl's must do the decent thing and ensure that promises made to staff about their pensions are honoured.'

The trustees also wrote to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng urging him to intervene to ensure the scheme's 2,200 members are protected.

Labour work and pensions spokesman Jonathan Ashworth urged ministers not to 'stand by and do nothing', but to protect the pensions.
Fake reviews on websites are to be banned under new laws announced this week.

The Government is to make it a crime for companies to write a fake review for any product or service  with online shops, hotels and restaurants hit with fines if caught taking part in this fraud.

The tough new regulations will also demand that websites which allow other sellers to post reviews  such as Amazon, Tripadvisor and Trustpilot  take 'reasonable steps' to crack down on rogue traders.

Crackdown: The Government is to make it a crime for companies to write a fake review for any product or service

It will be policed by the Competition and Markets Authority.

The Mail on Sunday has long called for such fraudsters to be outlawed  after we uncovered evidence in June 2020 indicating that as many as half of all five-star online reviews are phoney.

For companies, good reviews are like gold dust as nine out of ten shoppers admit to being influenced by positive reviews.

Not everyone believes the rules go far enough. Tony Wheble, chief executive of reviews platform Feefo, says: 'People spend 900 a year based on reviews and should be able to trust that everything published comes from someone genuine who experienced that product or service. Issuing fines after the event is not enough.'

The ban will be announced on Tuesday as part of a Consumer and Competition Bill. The changes are set to become law in the autumn.
A few things to know about politics around here:

 Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker visited Canisius College Tuesday to kick off its new series of conservative lectures sponsored by Trustee Jerry Canada and the student chapter of Young Americans for Freedom. His talk was titled Our Rights Come from God, Not the Government.

Canisius has long attracted top political figures to its campus, including former presidents. This one featured a one-time presidential candidate who is now visiting colleges, and maybe even laying the groundwork for another White House bid in some future post-Donald Trump era (whenever that may be).

The former governor made the most of his time in Buffalo, lunching at Chefs Restaurant with about 40 elected officials, town chairmen and GOP candidates assembled by state Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy.

Langworthy, you may recall, at one time enthusiastically backed Walkers presidential bid. That was before he became a major Trump supporter, eventually hand-picked by the president to lead New York Republicans. Langworthy and Walker are young guys looking to the future, and its obvious the chairman still admires Walker (but shhh  dont anybody tell Trump).

 A former governor found his way to Buffalo last week, but it seems difficult for aspiring governors. On the Democratic side, Gov. Kathy Hochul is a regular, but  well  she lives here.

Challenger Tom Suozzi has been around, while another Dem opponent  Jumaane Williams  has logged so many visits he could practically apply for residency.

Western New York, for the most part, remains unexplored territory for Republican gubernatorial aspirants, with Lee Zeldin proving the exception. He worked the Hamburg Gun Show last weekend before meeting with West Seneca Repubs. Its been a while for Rob Astorino, and Andrew Giuliani operates under the radar.

Harry Wilson, meanwhile, hits Buffalo only via the airwaves. It seems a long way from the days when candidates shook hands and kissed babies.

 Rep. Antonio Delgado appears to have survived and prospered as Hochul introduced him as her choice for lieutenant governor during a Capitol news conference last week. The bet here is the Hochul team super-vetted the Hudson Valley congressman after the arrest, indictment and resignation of her last appointee  Brian Benjamin.

Delgados move to Albany remains a concern to state Democrats worried that a new reapportionment plan will stem the congressional gains they envisioned under the proposal now stamped gerrymandered by the Court of Appeals.

The congressman was facing a tough challenge from Marc Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive and 2018 Republican candidate for governor. Now Democratic concerns are heightened in the district, even as some think Delgado eyes higher statewide office in the future.

 Hochul, as we noted, lives in Buffalo; Delgado in the Dutchess County Village of Rhinebeck and grew up in Schenectady. When was the last time two upstaters headed a Democratic ticket?

 State Sen. Ed Rath last week personified the consequences of the recent court decision nixing the Democratic reapportionment plan. It looked like Raths short Albany career was over when Dems pitted him against incumbent Tim Kennedy, a 3 to 1 Dem advantage, and Kennedys campaign treasury of at least $1.5 million.

But Rath lives to fight another day after realizing the plan will change. He could still face a tough assignment in increasingly Democratic Amherst, but he nevertheless breathes easier this week.

 Quote of the Week comes from the eulogy delivered at St. Thomas Aquinas Church last week by South Councilmember Chris Scanlon for his dad, John Scanoots Scanlon, the behind-the-scenes power broker for the late Mayor Jim Griffin who died April 28: He helped as many as he could, and never asked for anything in return for himself. He would simply tell people to work hard and they now have to help Jimmy Griffin.

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Kingsport, TN (37660)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. High 84F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 57F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
Kingsport, TN (37660)

Today

Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 84F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 57F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
Kingsport, TN (37660)

Today

Sunshine and some clouds. High 84F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies with a few passing clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 58F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
As many as 60 people were feared to have been killed in the Russian bombing of a village school in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, the regional governor said on Sunday.

Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces dropped a bomb on Saturday afternoon on the school in Bilohorivka where about 90 people were sheltering, causing a fire that engulfed the building.

The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the rubble was cleared, and, unfortunately, the bodies of two people were found, Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Thirty people were evacuated from the rubble, seven of whom were injured. Sixty people were likely to have died under the rubble of buildings.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians in the war, which Moscow denies.

In the ruined southeastern port city of Mariupol, scores of civilians have been evacuated from a sprawling steel plant in a week-long operation brokered by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an address late on Saturday that more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the Azovstal steelworks and authorities would now focus on trying to evacuate the wounded and medics. Other Ukrainian sources have cited different figures.

Russian-backed separatists on Saturday reported a total of 176 civilians evacuated from the plant.

The Azovstal plant is a last hold-out for Ukrainian forces in the city now largely controlled by Russia, and many civilians had also taken refuges in its underground shelters. It has become a symbol of resistance to the Russian effort to capture swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the invasion he launched on Feb. 24 a special military operation to disarm Ukraine and rid it of anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West. Ukraine and its allies say Russia launched an unprovoked war.

Mariupol is key to blocking Ukrainian exports and linking the Crimean Peninsula, seized by Russia in 2014, and parts of the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk that have been controlled by Russia-backed separatists since that same year.

In an emotional address on Sunday for Victory Day, when Europe commemorates the formal surrender of Germany to the Allies in World War Two, Zelenskiy said that evil had returned to Ukraine with the Russian invasion, but his country would prevail.

U.S. President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders were to hold a video call with Zelenskiy on Sunday in a show of unity ahead of Victory Day celebrations on Monday in Russia.

Underlining Western support for Ukraine, Britain pledged to provide a further 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support and aid, double its previous spending commitments.

Victory Day is a major event in Russia and Putin will preside on Monday over a parade in Moscows Red Square of troops, tanks, rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles, showing military might even as his forces fight on in Ukraine.

His speech could offer clues on the future of the war. Russias efforts have been stymied by logistical and equipment problems and high casualties in the face of fierce resistance.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said on Saturday that Putin was convinced doubling down on the conflict would improve the outcome for Russia.

Hes in a frame of mind in which he doesnt believe he can afford to lose, Burns told a Financial Times event in Washington on Saturday.

SOURCE: REUTERS
Continued Attacks on CAO Impact the Whole WNY Community

After The Buffalo News editorial reporting of the Community Action Organization on May 3, I must, as someone who has worked with the CAO as a communications consultant, ask: When will this organization get a reprieve from The Buffalo News? These repeated narratives tell a story of a failed and corrupt organization with incompetent leadership. And unfortunately, this story is told over and over again by the newspaper.

The Buffalo News strongly influences peoples attitudes and our shared knowledge. The bulk of the stories published by the paper not only fuels the stigma against an urban-centered organization, it also impacts the communities they serve in negatively.

Thomas Kim, the new CEO, is of South Korean descent. He is portrayed in the editorial as a former youth pastor and social worker. In reality, Kim is an experienced C-level executive and honored Iraq War Veteran. Recent stories about CAO refer to activities dated years back. Since then, Kim and a newly appointed and respected board of directors have been hard at work, creating change for those they serve.

Sabina Ramsey

Snyder
ALBANY  Fifteen people were displaced by a fire early Sunday that consumed parts of two homes on Hudson Avenue.

Albany Fire Department received a call at 7:37 a.m. Sunday morning. Firefighters arrived to find heavy fire conditions in 487 and 489 Hudson Ave. The homes are between between Quail and Ontario streets.
A man driving the wrong way on the state Thruway near Buffalo died early Saturday morning in a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer, State Police said.

Benjamin S. Wence, 44, of Buffalo died after his car traveled several miles on the highway before colliding with the oncoming truck in Evans, a town to the southwest of Buffalo. Wence's vehicle traveled several miles on the highway before the impact.
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UZHHOROD, Ukraine (AP)  Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

She became the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during the war, while Zelenskas public appearance was her first since since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility.

Zelenska thanked Biden for her courageous act and said, We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day -- even today.

The first ladies met at a school being used to temporarily house Ukrainian migrants. Zelenska arrived first and waited in her black SUV until Biden arrived in similar fashion. The women stepped out of their vehicles and embraced, with Biden  who wore a wrist corsage for Mother's Day  handing over a bouquet of flowers before they entered the school.

The women came together in a small classroom, sitting on either side of a wooden table and greeting each other in front of reporters before they met in private. Zelenska and her two children have been staying at an undisclosed location for their safety.

The visit allowed Biden to conduct the kind of personal diplomacy that her husband would like to do himself.

President Joe Biden said when he visited Poland in March that he was disappointed he could not cross the border and go into Ukraine to see conditions firsthand but that he was not allowed, likely due to security reasons. The White House said as recently as last week that the president would love to visit but there were no plans for him to do so at this time.

The meeting came about after Jill Biden expressed interest in visiting the region, including the school where she and Zelenska met, and settled on the idea of spending Mother's Day with Ukrainian moms, said Michael LaRosa, the first lady's spokesperson.

He said the Ukrainian government informed the United States that Zelenska would like to meet, if possible, and that a meeting was finalized in recent days. The first ladies also had recently exchanged correspondence, according to U.S. officials who declined to provide further details because they were not authorized to discuss those private communications.

After meeting privately for about a half hour, the first ladies joined a group of children who live at the school in making tissue-paper bears to give as Mother's Day gifts.

LaRosa described their conversation as more of a personal mother-to-mother exchange and said Biden was interested in how Zelenska was coping through that lens.

He said Zelenska told Biden that she was able to hold her children's hands every night even though she could not be with her husband.

The Bidens spoke by telephone afterward, he said.

Bidens visit followed recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, and a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Her visit was to western Ukraine; Russia is concentrating its military power in eastern Ukraine, and she was not in harms way. On the same day as Biden's visit, a Russian bomb flattened a school in eastern Ukraine that had been sheltering about 90 people in its basement, with dozens feared dead. Also Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine to meet with the president and "reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people, according to his office.

Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, Biden toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel, where a priest intoned, We pray for the people of Ukraine.

And before that, at a school in Kosice, Biden offered support to Ukrainian mothers in Slovakia. She assured them that the hearts of the American people are behind them.

At a bus station in the city that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center, Biden found herself in an extended conversation with a Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children because she cannot understand it herself.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

I cannot explain because I dont know myself and Im a teacher, Victorie Kutocha, who had her arms around her 7-year-old daughter, Yulie, told Biden.

At one point, Kutocha asked, Why? seeming to seek an explanation for Russias decision to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Its so hard to understand, the first lady replied.

Biden also dropped in at a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students. Slovakian and Ukrainian moms were brought together at the school for a Mothers Day event while their children made crafts to give them as gifts.

She went from table to table meeting the mothers and kids, telling some of the women that she wanted to come and say the hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine.

I just wanted to come and show you our support, she said before departing for Vysne Nemecke.

Biden is on a four-day visit to Eastern Europe to highlight U.S. support for Ukrainian refugees and for allied countries such as Romania and Slovakia that are providing a safe haven for them.

She spent Friday and Saturday in Romania, visiting with U.S. troops and meeting with Ukrainian refugee mothers and children.

With her trip, the American first lady followed the path of prior sitting first ladies who also traveled to war or conflict zones.

Eleanor Roosevelt visited servicemen abroad during World War II to help boost troop morale. Pat Nixon joined President Richard Nixon on his 1969 trip to South Vietnam, becoming the first first lady to visit a combat zone, according to the National First Ladies Library. She flew 18 miles from Saigon in an open helicopter, accompanied by U.S. Secret Service agents.

Hillary Clinton visited a combat zone, stopping in Bosnia in 1996. Laura Bush visited Afghanistan twice, in 2005 and 2008, during the U.S.-led war there. Melania Trump accompanied President Donald Trump to Iraq in December 2018.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that the name of Ukraine's first lady is Olena Zelenska, not Zalenska.
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NEW YORK  The attorney for Keith Raniere wants a new judge to consider the NXIVM leader's latest bid for a retrial, saying the judge who presided over Raniere's trial lacked "judicial temperament" and showed a "personal distaste" for the former Halfmoon-based guru.

In a motion filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, Raniere attorney Joseph Tully called for another judge besides Senior U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis, noting the trial judge threatened to have one of Raniere's former attorneys arrested last summer during a heated courtroom exchange.

The California-based Tully wants a new judge to rule on evidence he submitted earlier this week: the defense's claim that federal agents planted evidence to frame Raniere of possessing child pornography in its raid on a townhouse on Hale Drive in Halfmoon on March 27, 2018.

"In this case, disqualification and reassignment are the only way to preserve Mr. Ranieres rights, the rule of law, and justice  let alone the appearance of justice," Tully stated. "The courts history of biased comments and rulings, in this case, establishes that Judge Garaufis cannot engage neutrally and impartially moving forward. Only a new judge can fairly adjudicate any further issues in this case without these pre-existing biases and prejudices."

Tully said Garaufis "displayed, to an ordinary observer, a lack of judicial temperament and expressed its personal distaste for Mr. Raniere and his counsel such that the courts conduct neither satisfies justice nor any appearance of justice."

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have previously called the allegations of tampering frivolous. The former 15-year-old victim whose images appeared in the child pornography spoke at Raniere's sentencing in October 2020. The woman, now in her 30s, said Raniere began grooming her at age 13, started a sexual relationship with her at 15 and filmed the child pornographic images of her. She told Garaufis that Raniere "used my innocence to do whatever he wanted with me  not just sexually but also psychologically. He manipulated me into what he wanted, for his own reasons and for his own pleasure."

Raniere, 61, known in NXIVM as "Vanguard," who led NXIVM and its Executive Success Programs (ESP) in Colonie for 20 years, is serving a 120-year sentence in federal prison in Arizona for sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy and racketeering charged that included underlying acts of extortion, identity theft and possession of child pornography.

Tully contends Garaufis, a judge since August 2000, showed bias against Raniere in several ways, including his reference to star prosecution witness, former NXIVM official Lauren Salzman, as a "broken" person, and in telling Raniere co-defendant Clare Bronfman, serving nearly seven years in prison for conspiring to conceal and harbor illegal immigrants for financial gain, and identification fraud, that she refused to "renounce" Raniere.

Tully's motion included excerpts from a July 21, 2021 hearing when he and then-Raniere's attorney, Marc Fernich, exchanged heated words after Fernich asked for an adjournment to attend the funeral of a fellow attorney, Joel Winograd. The judge allowed Fernich to attend the service but brusquely told Fernich he could have been in court earlier.

"Give him this to go cry on. Hes not a member of your family, sir," the judge told Fernich, adding he had "an obligation to this court."

"And Im here," Fernich responded.

"Be seated or Ill have you arrested," Garaufis told Fernich.

"You have me arrested?" Fernich asked.

"Be seated," the judge told Fernich.

"This demeans you more than me," Fernich responded.

"Be seated," Garaufis told Fernich a second time.

"Its a disgrace. Its a disgrace. Its a lack of human decency," Fernich 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.

On Tuesday, the same day Tully argued Raniere's appeal before a federal court tribunal in Manhattan, Tully filed a motion highlighting alleged wrongdoing by the FBI. It included statements from retired 20-year FBI agent, J. Richard Kiper, who contends a key federal witness misled the jury in a "miscarriage of justice" about the reliability of data to prove the creation of digital photographs.

"If the government could blatantly mislead a jury about something so easy to disprove, it leaves me to ponder: What else were they lying about?" Kiper stated in Tully's motion.

At trial, metadata on photos showed to jurors showed the images of the 15-year-old girl were taken in November 2005, when the girl was 15 and Raniere was 45. In addition, text messages exchanged between Raniere and the woman showed Raniere told her September 2014 that he was "proud to have been your husband for 8.75 years" which dated to when she was 15.

At trial, just before prosecutors rested their case, they played a video in which Raniere told supporters that some young children are "perfectly happy" having sex with adults and that it was "society" that considers it abuse. And Raniere told supporters the age of consent in some parts of the world was 12.

"What's abuse in one area is not abuse in another. And what is it really?" Raniere asked on the video. "Is the person a child or is the person adult-like? Does the person have a certain type of cognition, morality to make such a choice?"

Martin Feely, spokesman for the FBI, declined comment.
SCHENECTADY  A leading civil rights group is calling on the City Council to spike its pending vote on expanding the presence of police in city schools.

The New York Civil Liberties Union has called Mondays vote to formally approve the expansion ill-advised and hasty and is asking lawmakers to table the decision until the plan can be further researched.

We do not believe that police are a necessary part of a healthy and safe school environment and there are many excellent schools and districts throughout the country that prove this every day, wrote Melanie Trimble, regional director for the NYCLU Capital Region, in a letter sent to City Council President Marion Porterfield. Where school districts decide that police are needed in schools, it is absolutely incumbent upon educators to protect kids from unnecessary and harmful contact with the criminal legal system.

The plan to assign more police officers to city schools has been contentious in both the school district and city government.

The civil rights group cited two glaring areas that it contends require further consideration. The Memorandum of Understanding between the school district and the police is faulty," contends the organization, because it gives disciplinary authority to the police. NYCLU also flagged racial disparities in arrests by the department as problematic.

Police Chief Eric Clifford declined comment.

City police have had a contentious relationship with the civil rights group since 2019, when the organization issued a scathing report knocking city police for racial disparities in marijuana arrests. Yet the NYCLU later partially retracted its findings, citing errors when crunching data.

Porterfield and Carl Williams, the chairman of the council's public safety committee, both said they will formulate formal responses that will be issued on Monday.

But the number of mental health professionals  including social workers and counselors  at the district already significantly exceeds the number of police officers, Porterfield said, and there will be training to ensure the school resource officers are a good fit for the position.

Under the plan approved by both the city School Board and City Councils Public Safety Committee, city police will boost the numbers of school resource officers from two to six.

The $600,000 cost will be split between the school district and police department over the next three academic years.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on the measure on Monday.

The proposal, first floated by city school district Superintendent Anibal Soler Jr. earlier this winter, has been divisive and has focused on whether armed police bolster school safety or cause more trauma to Black and brown students who already fear them. Students staged a walkout against the plan earlier this spring.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

Dozens have also spoken out at forums, with advocates and police contending an expanded law enforcement presence will provide role models and better student protection.

Clifford has said the program will give officers the ability to better build relationships with students and is not designed to police their behavior.

Trimble cycled through numerous concerns over the program and contends disciplinary authority belongs with school officials  not with police.

Additionally, nationwide data gathered by the American Civil Liberties Union shows that increased policing often "criminalizes" acts that formerly would have been viewed simply as poor adolescent behavior, Trimble said.

When it comes to a racial breakdown of arrests made by Schenectady police, the most recent figures reveal white people, who represent nearly 57 percent of the citys population, account for 26 percent of all arrests.

Yet Black people, who constitute 19 percent of the citys population, account for 33 percent of arrests, reported the NYCLU, citing data contained within the citys state-mandated plan to reform police operations to be more responsive to the public.

The NYCLU said mental health professionals  including counselors, nurses, social workers and school psychologists  are better able to reduce disruptive behavior.
Authorities have released the identity of a man killed in a Friday afternoon motorcycle accident near Collinsville.

According to Illinois State Police, at about 4:20 p.m. Friday Dwayne T. Wendell, 73, of Marshfield, Wisconsin, was operating a 2017 Harley Davidson motorcycle on the Interstate 55 northbound exit ramp to Interstate 255 southbound near Collinsville.

Police said that for unknown reasons Wendell left the roadway and overturned his bike in the median. He was ejected and fatally injured. The Madison County Coroners office pronounced him deceased at the scene.

State police said the investigation into the incident continues.
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Stephanie Ley looked like she had just heard a sour note.

The 32-year-old watched one hiker after another weave through the trees at the base of Gorham Mountain in Maines Acadia National Park, bypassing the rocky trailhead. They were following a path called a social trail, an unauthorized offshoot eroded by foot traffic. Ley, summit steward coordinator for Friends of Acadia, said it probably started as someones quick bathroom detour.

Its just really astounding to me that this has cropped up, Ley said. Its so obvious and so bad, and through this lovely mossy area, and its only taken a few weeks!

She approached a couple emerging from the social trail and asked them to stick to the rocky areas to protect the moss.

We were just following the well-worn trail, they said.

The interaction was one of many Ley had with hikers as she climbed less than a mile to the top of Gorham on a sunny September day. Though she is technically a summit steward, Ley and her colleagues also enjoin people to use the paths before they get that chance to walk off trail on the mountaintops, where there are actually rare and fragile plants.

Like stewards in the Adirondacks and other parks across the country, Ley is at the front line of managing more people and their impacts on the environment. Whether at trailheads or on summits, stewards are helping popular outdoor destinations handle the visitor influx by providing hiker education, safety tips, trail maintenance and research. Many preach an outdoor code of ethics created by the organization Leave No Trace. It's meant to protect the environment and keep hikers safe.

Kayla White, stewardship manager for the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), said stewards are instrumental in changing how people act outdoors. Theyre a solution to crowd management, helping bring back alpine vegetation to once-trampled summits, she said. They are also reducing the number of hiker rescues, said McCrea Burnham, the state Department of Environmental Conservations Catskill Park coordinator.

The makings of a steward

Before there were stewards, New York had fire wardens. Created in 1885, the positions were under a precursor agency to the DEC called the Forest Commission. It wasnt until 1912 that the title forest ranger appeared. Rangers are responsible for public safety and state land protection through expertise in wildland search, rescue, fire, law enforcement and incident management, according to the states website.

In the 1970s, New York created an assistant forest ranger program so that part-time seasonal rangers interacted with the public in the backcountry. Last summer, the DEC hired 23 assistant forest rangers. Eleven covered the departments Region 5, which includes most of the Adirondack Park. Four were assigned to the Catskills.

One of the oldest stewardship programs in the Northeast is within the Blue Line, the Adirondack High Peaks Summit Steward Program. It was developed in 1989 with ADK, the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy and the DEC. ADK trains stewards for other groups including those stationed at Adirondack fire towers and in the Catskills.

Today, the program involves nearly three weeks of training. Summit stewards learn the rules and regulations governing the High Peaks, and about botany and how to interact with the public. They also receive wilderness first aid training through Wilderness Medical Associates.

In 2021, the ADK had six paid summit stewards and 29 volunteers during the hiking season. Stewards rotate five days a week on Wright, Cascade and sometimes Colden.

A summit steward is based every summer day on Mount Marcy, the states highest peak at over 5,000 feet in elevation, and on Algonquin, the second highest. White said both High Peaks account for about 50 percent of the states alpine zone and thus need protection.

The Alpine Zone

The zone starts above the tree line. Thats where the late Edwin Ketchledge noticed in the 1960s and 1970s that the High Peaks summits were going baldtoo bald. The professor emeritus at the State University of New Yorks College of Environmental Science and Forestry was alarmed at how quickly the alpine plants were disappearing.

The fragile life zone on these mountaintops is but two feet thick, the distance between the impenetrable bedrock and the killing winds tearing over the ground above, he wrote in a foreword for ADKs Adirondack Alpine Summits: An Ecological Field Guide. This is no place for unknowing visitors to lower the survival odds by trampling rare plants and delicate habitat.

White said Ketchledge realized the need for education.

Unlike trailhead stewards, summit stewards have more time to engage with people, White said. Summit stewards will generally wait for a hiker to catch their breath, find a good spot to sit and get some food and water before approaching. Then, theyll start up a conversation about the alpine ecosystem.

ADK summit stewards have also photographed their outdoor office over the years, and those photos document a return of the plants. Since the summit stewardship program started, plant growth has turned around incredibly, ADK Executive Director Michael Barrett said in 2021.

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 summit stewardship program is also part of a research project under SUNY ESF Professor Jill Weiss. Weiss has studied alpine stewardship since 2010.

Above the 4,000-foot mark we have this whole other network in the sky telling people not to walk on plants, Weiss said. How did that happen? I found that fascinating.

Shes currently working on a three-year project, sponsored by the Waterman Fund, studying the trends and characteristics of Northeast hikers including recreational goals, outdoor experience level and demographics. She hopes the data collected at alpine stewardship locations will help lawmakers make decisions based on evidence rather than anecdote.

On crowding, for example, Weiss said there are just as many people who say they are happy and excited about their hiking experience as those annoyed because there were too many people in their way.

People are hiking for lots of different reasons, Weiss added. Its not just us, them, classic, new, loud, quiet. Its like, heres 30 new reasons that people go hiking, and we only comprehend 12 of them.  All we know is that something is changing and we need to figure out whats causing that change so the education and management efforts match the people and their intent and interests.

Safety

In June at the Falling Waters trailhead to the Franconia Ridge Loop in New Hampshire, Stanley Bujalski set up an information canopy. He hung up his favorite homemade sign, a plastic pink flip flop with a circle and line through it.

Flip flops are not shoes, the sign read.

Bujalski is a volunteer with the White Mountain National Forests Forest Service. The 70-year-old retired civil engineer started volunteering as a kind of trailhead steward in 2018. Volunteers set up shop at trailheads around 8 a.m., but Bujalski generally tries to get to the Falling Waters trailhead much earlier. The parking lot tends to fill up around 6:30 a.m., he said.

In Acadia National Park, Ley demonstrated one of the jobs of stewards.

On a September day looking out over the Atlantic Ocean, Ley spotted a stack of rocks on the ridge. It wasnt a cairn, rocks intentionally piled to guide hikers along the trail. Ley often finds people adding to the cairns she and her colleagues have built, mistaking trail markers for works of art.

They think its something they can add to or create on their own, she said. Its not that theyre trying to be malicious; its just that theyve never been in this kind of climate before, and its all new to them.

She sighed and walked to the rock pile, avoiding the summit grasses and flowers. She dismantled the stack.

The complete version of this story first appeared on adirondackexplorer.org, a nonprofit news organization covering news and policy inside the Blue Line.
April 30 has some significance for some veterans. The fall of Saigon, Vietnam, occurred on April 30, 1975. More than 58,000 American military members were killed and tens of thousands were wounded in that war. More than 2,000 remain missing and unaccounted for. America cannot be the armed forces for all the world. We need our leaders to, please, keep our troops out of Ukraine.

Charles Pagels
Russia and China are sworn ideological enemies of the free world. Russia is overt; China is subtle. Both want world dominance. Both are communistic. Both readily crush anything that looks like democracy.

Russia does not want NATO at its borders. Yet, if they defeat Ukraine, NATO will be at their borders. Russia, not NATO, has always been the aggressor. It attacked Afghanistan in 1979, Georgia in 2008, Croatia in 2014, deployed troops in Syria in 2015, and attacked Ukraine in 2022. Since its creation in 1949, no NATO nation has attacked Russia.
A commemoration was held on Saturday in Belgrade to remember three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999.

Representatives of Serbia and China commemorated the Chinese martyrs and condemned NATO's "barbaric act."

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
(Bloomberg) -- Facing a crackdown from regulators in Washington, the crypto industry is turning to New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for help.

Most Read from Bloomberg

At first blush, the Democratic lawmaker known on Wall Street for efforts to thwart insider trading in the stock market, isnt an obvious choice to play cryptos savior on Capitol Hill. But since she announced in March that she was working on legislation to overhaul rules for the market, her star has risen.

Industry executives sought to woo Gillibrand during a recent trip to San Francisco as she shuttled between a meeting with them at the St. Regis Hotel and breakfast with venture capitalists. Closer to home, a digital-asset lobbyist is planning a Manhattan fundraiser later this month for her re-election.

The fixation on Gillibrand offers a glimpse into how the fast-growing sector is preparing to throw its weight -- and money -- around American politics. It also shows how lawmakers, including those who arent known for being staunchly pro-crypto, are poised to benefit from the industrys largesse.

Gillibrand is crafting the bill with Cynthia Lummis -- a Wyoming Republican who personally invests in Bitcoin. The duos legislation is seen as having a better chance of becoming law than many other crypto bills that have been introduced.

Yet despite the involvement of the pro-crypto Lummis, the effort is making some coin enthusiasts nervous.

Many worry that the legislation may be so broad itll cause unanticipated problems for firms down the road, according to people familiar with the matter. Others thought early drafts of the bill would give too much power to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, who says many digital assets are securities and subject to his agencys tough investor protection standards.

Story continues

The whole episode is emblematic of cryptos growing pains in Washington where theres no shortage of ideas for regulation. Progressive Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren are keen to crack down. The Senate Banking Committees top Republican Pat Toomey wants to rein in stablecoins.

Lobbyists are waging a fierce campaign to make sure that small word choices by Lummis or Gillibrand dont negatively impact the industry -- even unintentionally.

Gillibrands spokesman Evan Lukaske said that the New York senator has been holding meetings with crypto firms, regulators and consumer advocates as she works on the legislation. Senator Gillibrand is interested in hearing from key stakeholders in order to best develop a framework that promotes innovation, he said in a statement.

A recent version of the legislation reviewed by Bloomberg News would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission a bigger role in overseeing the asset class. Still, its unclear if the plan will assuage crypto die-hards, who want the CFTC to have more power than the SEC because they believe the derivatives regulator will take a lighter touch.

If the industry doesnt already realize it, it will come to understand that in legislation you dont always get what you want, said Ian Katz, a managing director at Capital Alpha Partners. You have to be willing to compromise and sometimes that means accepting aspects of a bill you might not like.

The measure would leave the SEC with some jurisdiction, said Abegail Cave, a spokeswoman for Lummis. It is highly unlikely that a digital asset bill will pass Congress without the SEC having a role, she added in a statement. It is a broad bill because there are critical areas in many parts of the law that need to be addressed.

Lummis and Gillibrand also arent the only two senators being courted. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, joined Gillibrand at one of the events last month in San Francisco, people familiar with the matter said. Meanwhile, Coinbase Global Inc., the U.S.s biggest exchange, held a fundraiser for Chuck Schumer earlier this year. Representatives for Booker and Schumer didnt respond to requests for comment.

The uptick in events is a sign that lawmakers are poised to receive a windfall in donations from the crypto industry as their prep for re-election bids accelerates in the coming months and years. However, federal election filings are yet to paint a clear picture of their haul, in part because theres a lag in reporting.

Lummis is next up for re-election in 2026 and Gillibrand in 2024.

The Manhattan fundraiser being planned for Gillibrand is a May 31 cocktail party organized by Kristin Smith, executive director of the Blockchain Association. Guests will be notified of the location after they R.S.V.P., according to an invitation seen by Bloomberg.

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Federal investigators confirmed that the buildup of ice on the wings and other parts of the plane was a key factor in a 2019 crash that killed nine of 12 members of an Idaho family on board an overloaded small plane
The death toll of a powerful explosion at a luxury hotel in Cubas capital has increased to 31 as search crews with dogs hunt through the rubble of the iconic, 19th century building looking for people still missing
To swab or not to swab: Heres how three COVID experts use rapid tests in the Omicron era

The pandemic has added layers of uncertainty to what were once easy decisions. Experts say rapid tests remain a key tool that can help bring clarity to common COVID questions.
Ukrainian forces destroyed 80 occupiers and ten units of Russian military equipment in southern Ukraine on May 7.

That's according to the Opertiaonal Command South, Ukrinform reports.

"Our defense forces hit more than 120 hostile targets. The total losses of the occupiers in the past day are 80 Russian invaders and 10 units of equipment: a boat warehouse, a Tor anti-aircraft missile system, a Forpost reconnaissance drone shot down in the morning over the Odesa region, a combat a landing vehicle and three howitzers. Outside Stanislav, in the Kherson region, the enemy was also deprived of an ammunition depot," the report said.

Over the past 24 hours, the enemy has not been active on the line of contact in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, but artillery and mortar shelling and missile attacks have not stopped.

In the past day, four cruise missiles were fired at the Mykolaiv region, and the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs came under Tornado MLRS fire three times.

"By shelling the infrastructure, the enemy is destroying residential buildings, small businesses, cultural heritage, and most importantly - human lives. Unfortunately, there are casualties," the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

On May 7, Russian invaders attacked the Odesa region with ten cruise missiles.

An extended curfew has been imposed in Odesa and the Odesa region from May 8 to 10.
The United Kingdom will provide a further 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support and aid to Ukraine.

That's according to a statement by the UK government, Ukrinform reports, citing Reuters.

Britain said the extra spending on Ukraine will come from a reserve used by the government for emergencies.

The government also said Prime Minister Boris Johnson will host a meeting of leading defense companies later this month to discuss increasing production in response to increased demand created by the war in Ukraine.

The new pledge almost doubles Britain's previous spending commitments on Ukraine and the government said this is the highest rate of spending on a conflict since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Russian Federation fanatically imitates the Nazi regime with a maniacal detailed reproduction.

A fanatical repetition of this regime. Its ideas, actions, words and symbols. Maniacal detailed reproduction of its atrocities and alibi, which allegedly give an evil sacred purpose. Repetition of its crimes and even attempts to surpass the teacher and move him from the pedestal of the greatest evil in human history. Set a new world record for xenophobia, hatred, racism and the number of victims they can cause, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in his video address on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation, Ukrinform reports.

According to him, the Russians have neglected the phrase "Never again". Ukrainian cities which survived such a heinous occupation during World War II that 80 years are not enough to forget about it, saw the occupier again and got the second date of occupation in their history. And some cities, such as Mariupol, got the third.

During the two years of occupation, the Nazis killed 10,000 civilians there. In two months of occupation, Russia killed 20,000. Decades after World War II, darkness returned to Ukraine. And it became black and white again. Again! Evil has returned. Again! In a different uniform, under different slogans, but for the same purpose. A bloody reconstruction of Nazism was organized in Ukraine, Zelensky said.

The President mentioned the town of Borodianka, Kyiv region, as one of the many victims of this crime. He wondered if civilian houses in the town could pose a threat to Russia.

It can. 250kg high explosive bombs, with which the superpower shelled this small town. And it went numb. It cannot say today: Never again! It cannot say anything today. But here everything is clear without words, Zelensky added.

On May 8, Ukraine marks the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation to commemorate the victims of World War II.

On February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops shell and destroy infrastructure, massively fire on residential areas of Ukrainian cities, towns, and villages using artillery, MLRS, and ballistic missiles.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says it is impossible to unblock the city of Mariupol through military means at the moment, and Russia returns Ukrainian servicemen only if they were taken prisoner and released via prisoner swap.

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

It is impossible to unblock the city of Mariupol through military means. It is impossible today, Zelensky said.

In his words, at the moment Ukraine does not have such heavy weapons that would allow them to unblock Mariupol through military means.

These are not thoughts. These are the conclusions made by the leadership of the Ukrainian Army, Zelensky stressed.

Meanwhile, all civilians have been evacuated from the Mariupol-based Azovstal plant. According to the President of Ukraine, the Russian military, leadership of the Russian Army and the political leadership of the aggressor state do not want to release Ukrainian servicemen.

Russia swaps servicemen only if they are prisoners  for prisoners. This is the answer we have received from the Russian Federation. There are no other answers, Zelensky explained.

At the same time, Zelensky promised that Ukraine would bring all its territories back as soon as possible.

A reminder that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is paying a visit to Kyiv on May 8, 2022. Before a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trudeau visited Irpin, Kyiv Region.

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Canada will continue to provide Ukraine with all kinds of humanitarian and financial assistance.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, this was discussed during a phone call between First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyridenko and Minister of International Trade of Canada Mary Ng.

"Minister Ng strongly condemned the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine and Russia's attacks on innocent civilians. She reaffirmed Canada's commitment to strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities and economy, as well as its solidarity with the people through further humanitarian and financial assistance," the Canadian Ministry of Commerce said in a press release.

Read also: Canada aims to reopen embassy in Ukraine

This year's state budget of Canada provides $1 billion for a loan to Ukraine through the IMF mechanism.

"Minister Ng described how Canada continues to work with the international community to implement a number of economic measures aimed at prosecuting Putin and his henchmen and isolating Russia and Belarus from the global economy," the ministry said.

In addition, the conversation focused on "the impact of the Russian invasion on global food security and prices."
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and her counterparts from France, Germany, Italy and Britain met in Paris to discuss further steps to impose additional sanctions on Russia and continue to support Ukraine.

The U.S. Department of State said this in a statement following Sherman's meeting with French MFA Secretary General Francois Delattre, German MFA State Secretary Andreas Michaelis, Italian MFA Secretary General Ettore Sequi, and UK Minister of State for Europe and North America James Cleverly, Ukrinform reports.

"The participants coordinated on plans for additional sanctions and other measures to hold the Russian Federation accountable," the statement said.

In addition, the parties had "a wide-ranging discussion on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the importance of continuing to provide military assistance to Ukraine to defend itself, as well as humanitarian aid to the millions who have been forced to flee their homes."

The parties also discussed the threat to global food security caused by Russia's invasion.

The G7 leaders are planning to hold a virtual meeting on Sunday, May 8, to discuss new sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Mineral Area College (MAC) is inviting the community to attend an open house from 4-6 p.m. May 19 at the William Dickerson Welding Technology Center.

The brand new building is located at 3520 College Rd. on the south side of campus, accessing College Road just south of the MAC main entrance.

The 4,800 square-foot building will house welding classes starting in June. It was partially funded through a Workforce Training Initiative which combines a Community Block Development Grant (CDBG) and Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) tax credits from the state of Missouri.

The building was named in memory of long-time Lee Mechanical Inc. employee Bill Dickerson. Ernie and Brenda Gibson, owners of Lee Mechanical Inc., purchased the NAP Tax Credits which provided funding to complete the building. They chose to name the building in honor of the late Dickerson to recognize his key role in Lee Mechanicals growth and success. A dedication ceremony will be held during the open house.

MAC President Dr. Joe Gilgour said the college is committed to responding to the needs of students and local industry and access to career and technical programs for adult learners is a priority.

Were excited to see how our community and local industry benefits from quality welding education in our region, he said. This building could not have been built without the Gibsons generosity, the willingness of St. Francois County to apply for the CDBG on our behalf, and the state of Missouri for the grant opportunity. Were thankful to all of them for helping us bring this to our area.

During the open house, the community will get to see the facility and learn more about welding training at MAC.

The first 20-week course, Principles and Applications of Welding Technology, starts June 6. It is a 504-hour comprehensive program that will train students to weld to nationally-recognized American Welding Society (AWS) standards in the four common processes: Gas Metal Arc Welding, Flux-Cored Arc Welding, Shielded Metal Arc Welding, and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding. The course will also cover foundational welding knowledge and cutting and fabrication.

In addition to the full course, MAC will offer four-week modules in individual welding processes for students interested in developing a specific skill. Both the full course and four-week modules are offered as short-term, non-credit classes.

Financial assistance may be available for those who qualify. For those unable to attend the open house, more information can be found at MineralArea.edu/Welding or by calling 573-518-2280.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic have discussed the strengthening of sanctions pressure on Russia and the strategy for the restoration of the deoccupied territories of Ukraine.

The head of state reported this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.

"Ukraine speaks the same language with Croatia - the language of values and struggle for freedom. We discussed with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic the strengthening of sanctions pressure on Russia and cooperation to restore normal life in the deoccupied areas of our country," Zelensky said.

He added that the issues of Ukraine's integration into the EU and protection of Europe's energy freedom were also discussed.

"Thank you for the meaningful talks," Zelensky added.
Sanction pressure on Russia must be stepped up until it ends the war and starts respecting freedom in Europe.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this at a joint briefing with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic in Kyiv on Sunday, May 8, according to Ukrinform.

"It is necessary to strengthen sanctions pressure on Russia until Russia stops this war against our state, against our people, until it liberates our land and until it begins to respect freedom in Europe. It is necessary to raise the price of this aggression. We are grateful for Croatia's readiness to support the EU's sixth sanctions package," Zelensky said.

He also discussed with Plenkovic cooperation in restoring normal life in the deoccupied areas of Ukraine.

"In retreating, the Russian military left [] thousands of mines and booby traps. They did everything possible to do as much damage as possible to make people suffer even after deoccupation. I believe that this is not just a challenge to our people, this is a challenge to everyone in Europe who respects and values simple priorities, who just appreciates life. Therefore, it will be right to react to all this together," Zelensky said.

Zelensky added that the issues of Ukraine's integration into the EU and protection of Europe's energy freedom were also discussed.

"I am grateful to Croatia and personally to Prime Minister Plenkovic for his strong support on [Ukraine's] road to the European Union," he added.

Photo: President's Office
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky discussed strengthening security support for Ukraine with President of Norwegian Storting Masud Gharahkhani who paid a visit to Ukraine.

"I am glad to meet you. I am grateful for the support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for the opportunity to speak in your parliament," Zelensky noted, the press service of the Head of State informs.

He also thanked Norwegian society for supporting the people of Ukraine.

For his part, Gharahkhani noted that it is an honor for him to visit Ukraine. He stressed that Volodymyr Zelensky's speech at the Storting was historic.

"Today, my country is celebrating the day when we managed to regain our democracy and independence after World War II. Unfortunately, today your country is once again going through aggression and violence," said the President of the Norwegian Storting.

Gharahkhani said he was deeply shocked by the consequences of the Russian occupation in Irpin and Bucha in Kyiv region.

"I want to confirm to you that Norway always stands by Ukraine," he said.

The parties discussed the issue of increasing Norway's security support for Ukraine. The President thanked Norway for the decision to provide defensive weapons to Ukraine and its practical implementation.

During the meeting, Zelensky and Gharahkhani discussed approaches to further strengthening sanctions on Russia. The parties also touched upon the possibility of cooperation in the field of energy security.

The President praised the financial support for Ukraine and humanitarian aid from Norway and invited to join the reconstruction of the country.

Earlier, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk and President of Norways Storting Masud Gharahkhani in Kyiv commemorated the fallen Ukrainian defenders.

Photo credit: Presidents Office

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Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has announced that new stiff sanctions on the Russian Federation will be imposed soon.

On the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation, Victory in Europe Day, Secretary Blinken and I coordinated steps to bring the day of Ukraines victory closer. New stiff U.S. sanctions on Russia are coming, Kuleba posted on Twitter.

The diplomats also discussed ways to unblock Ukraines food exports and ensure global food security.

As reported, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and her colleagues from France, Germany, Italy, and Britain discussed in Paris further steps to impose additional sanctions on Russia and continue to support Ukraine.

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U.S. First Lady Jill Biden has said that her visit to Ukraine and meeting with Ukrainian mothers was a powerful signal of support and international unity with Ukraine, where many families were forced to leave behind their loved ones, fleeing their homes.

She wrote this on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

"This Mothers Day, I wanted to be with Ukrainian mothers and their children. Over the last few months, far too many Ukrainians have had to flee their homes  forcing them to leave behind their loved ones," she said.

Jill Biden stressed that as a mother, she "can only imagine the grief and anxiety" the Ukrainians must feel every day from Russia's unprovoked attack.

"Ive seen firsthand how the people of Slovakia and Romania have opened their homes, their schools, their hospitals, and their hearts," the first lady said.

She stressed that the whole civilized world supports Ukrainians in their struggle.

"Together, we are united for Ukraine. I hope by being here I can convey how much their strength and resilience inspires the world, and remind them that they are not alone," Jill Biden said.

The U.S. First Lady visited Uzhgorod on May 8, Mother's Day. She met with Ukraine's First Lady, Olena Zelenska, as well as families who were forced to leave their homes due to the war.

Photo: Twitter account of Jill Biden
A man faces felony charges in St. Francois County after an alleged vehicle pursuit last month began on Highway K outside Bonne Terre and reportedly ended on foot with a police dog off of Old Bonne Terre Road.

Jayson L. Hambrick, 41, of Bonne Terre, was charged with resisting arrest/detention/stop by fleeing - creating a substantial risk of serious injury/death to any person, unlawful possession of a firearm, assault on a police animal, operating a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner, and driving while revoked/suspended.

A probable cause statement from the St. Francois County Sheriff's Department states that on April 17, a deputy was patrolling eastbound Highway K, west of David Road, when he saw a westbound black and red Ford Ranger crossing the center line and almost hitting the deputy's patrol vehicle.

The report states the deputy activated emergency lights and siren, trying to stop the truck, but the driver accelerated, reaching speeds of more than 90 mph. The deputy reported the driver, later identified as Hambrick, ran a red light and was seen swerving erratically as he fled the stop.

The fleeing man reportedly drove through the gate of Missouri Lime Rock Quarry and, in an apparent attempt to evade spike strips set up near Big River bridge, went down an embankment, where the truck was disabled.

The report states Hambrick attempted to flee from the vehicle on foot. Ultimately, the police K-9 partner Kai was used to apprehend the man, a short struggle reportedly ensued, and he tried to strike the dog.

Police searched Hambrick and allegedly found a small bag of a rock crystal substance. The report states the substance would be sent to the lab for further testing. Deputies searched the truck and reportedly recovered a Lorcin .380 pistol between the console and passenger seat.

The report notes Hambrick is a convicted felon and not allowed to possess firearms.

Hambrick was booked at the St. Francois County jail, and a $20,000 cash or surety bond was set in the case. If released on bail, the man must comply with GPS and pre-trial monitoring.

A search of Hambrick's criminal history showed multiple convictions in St. Francois and Iron counties. Court records indicate he has been convicted of at least 24 offenses, including three counts of DWI and six counts of driving while revoked/suspended. Hambrick also has past convictions of third-degree assault, forgery, failing to pay child support, passing a bad check, and miscellaneous traffic violations.

An initial appearance in Hambrick's newly-filed case was held, where he waived formal arraignment. The man was due in court again for a confined docket hearing.

Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com

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Donna Evans has faced many challenges throughout her 21-year teaching career, the most difficult of which was the number of classes and students she had to teach.

She has had a lot. Last fall, Evans had 254 students across her 12 art classes at Jack Jouett Middle School. Thats far in excess of the state code that changed in 2018 to limit middle school teachers to no more than 150 students or 25 class periods per week, except for music and physical education teachers who can have up to 200 students.

Any teacher whose workload exceeds those limits must have an appropriate contractual arrangement and compensation, the law states.

Evans had the classes and the students but no such arrangement with Albemarle County Public Schools. Neither did more than 70 other teachers in the district.

In fact, county school officials were unaware of the four-year-old change in state law until last fall.

I shrugged it off because I thought [the county] had planned my schedule in order to save money, Evans told school board members last month. I felt I did not have any control over the scheduling and was never asked if I agreed to more students. Now I feel taken advantage of and truly not valued.

The county is now paying more than $500,000 in back pay and additional compensation to 73 teachers who were in the same boat as Evans, division spokesman Phil Giaramita said.

The average payment per teacher is expected to be slightly more than $8,000, with some receiving nearly $52,000 before taxes.

When Evans found out about the state code, she teamed up with two other teachers and the Albemarle Education Association to file a grievance with the school system in September. They sought the additional compensation plus back pay and a permanent change in how classes are structured.

The grievance was settled last month.

Teachers involved had between 187 and 297 students at the start of this school year and said being overloaded was overwhelming and that they felt like they were being set up to fail.

Mary McIntyre, a Jouett teacher and AEA vice president who worked on the grievance, said the association asked around to other teachers in order to determine the scale of the problem.

We kept hearing about it more and more, she said. We heard from people who quit because it.

From their conversations, middle school teachers who taught elective courses such as art or career and technical education were most affected.

Being overloaded hurts children, McIntyre said. I didnt realize it was on us to read the law and count our students.

Settlement TermsAs part of the settlement, the division agreed to a five-tiered formula to pay teachers who have more than 150 students. The division will implement a new middle school schedule next and review state standards with school principals as part of the annual staffing process, according to a copy provided to The Daily Progress.

Teachers who have 215 to 230 students  the agreements highest tier  for both semesters would receive an additional 17% of their salary and $7,000 for the year.

We wanted a cap, McIntyre said. The school division didnt agree to a cap but said it wont happen again.

McIntyre and the other teachers said one of their goals in the grievance process was to make sure the payments made sense mathematically depending on the numbers of students taught.

The other thing was that we wanted to make sure this didnt happen again. We wanted to make sure the schedule was changed, said Sara Goldsmith, a Spanish teacher at Jouett who was part of the grievance.

The additional money also would be reported to the Virginia Retirement System, according to the settlement. That important provision means that Evans will receive thousands more annually once she retires.

McIntyre said she wanted someone in the division to acknowledge that the overages shouldnt have happened.

Nothing about the process was equitable for teachers, McIntyre said. If the AEA had not been involved, it wouldve ended with the initial offer and not counted toward retirement.

Giaramita said the money for the additional compensation is coming out of the divisions fund balance, which is expected to total $11.6 million by the end of the current fiscal year.

Teachers involved also said the school system hired additional staff during the school year to reduce their workloads.

Another teacher was hired and my numbers of students and classes went down but only because I and two other teachers insisted, Evans said at the meeting.

Albemarle County is not the only school system with overloaded teachers. Last year, teachers in Southampton County sued their school system over the issue. Evette Wilson, a Virginia Education Association director who works with Southamptom teachers, said the judge sided with the school division but that the association is working to refile.

The division has started to address the issue, she said.

Everybody is now aware that they should get paid, she said.

Making this right

Sara Goldsmith started the school year as Jouetts only Spanish teacher with 187 students on her roster  about half of whom were taking the course for high school credit.

I have to teach these kids and help them earn their high school credit, but then also teach another 100 students, Goldsmith said.

Over a two-day cycle at Jouett, students have eight blocks of classes, and elective blocks are cut in half. That means an elective teacher could have six different classes in a day whereas a math teacher would only have three.

Core classes such as math and English are held every day for 80 minutes, where a student would spend every other day in a 40-minute Spanish class.

After changes made this school year, Goldsmiths workload dropped to 168 students, including her homeroom class.

Goldsmith, who is in her third year at Jouett, said because of her student counts, shes adjusted what she grades and the high numbers make it difficult to meet the countys expectations.

Were expected to have a relationship with every family, she said. Thats what the county would like to see, that were having these relationships and communication with every family and that were giving meaningful feedback to every student. The administrative part of my job is a whole persons job.

She said she has about 42 minutes of protected planning time during the school day.

Under the schedule changes for next year, Goldsmith said the electives will be full block courses, meaning that shell see the same group of students every day for a quarter.

Im still going to have the same number of students in a given year, but not at any given moment, she said.

The core classes such as math, English and science, will meet every other day for the entire year.

That will increase the number of students they teach, but itll be more fair, she said.

Before filing the grievance, Goldsmith said she was worried about speaking up. Now she feels more empowered to do so. She hopes the settlement will lead to positive change.

Hopefully, this will last, she said.

Evans said having six art classes a day was an enormous task.

For six classes a day, I had to provide all the consumables involved in teaching art, which includes paint, brushes, clay, paper, pencil, scissors and any other materials related to a project, she said.

Evans said she regrets that her working conditions have been so difficult.

Those years cannot be given back to me and the students I taught, she said. I would have preferred not to have gone through the stress of this grievance. I am grateful after a very demoralizing and long year, back and forth with [human resources], Albemarle County is now working on making this right.

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(@FahadShabbir)

Kyiv, Ukraine, May 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th May, 2022 ) :With supplies running low, amputations conducted in a ramshackle clinic, and corpses piling up, the fighters trapped at the besieged steel plant in Ukraine's Mariupol are battling to hold on as Russian forces tighten their grip on the city's last redoubt.

A smattering of Ukrainian units making their last stand are sheltering in the labyrinth of Soviet-era bunkers and tunnels snaking beneath the sprawling steelworks along with an untold number of wounded and dead combatants.

Details about the chaotic final defence and desperate efforts to tend to the wounded have been painstakingly pieced together by military medic Yevgenia Tytarenko, whose husband and colleagues remain trapped inside the factory.

"Lots of soldiers are in serious condition in the hospital. They are injured with no medicine. food and water are running out," said Tytarenko, who remains in regular contact with people inside the Azovstal plant.

"I'll be standing until the end," Tytarenko's husband and medic Mykhailo texted to her on Friday, in a message shared with AFP.

For weeks, Russian forces have pounded the steelworks by land, air, and sea -- while attempting to breach its defenses that have led to fierce firefights at the facility.

Commanders have issued their final goodbyes to loved ones as supplies dwindle and the Russians close in, while the possibility of extracting the fighters looks increasingly unlikely, said Tytarenko.

"Commanders have already said their farewells to their wives. One of them messaged his wife: 'Don't cry. We'll be back home in any case -- alive or dead'," said Tytarenko.

Tytarenko described a chaotic and complex operation inside Azovstal with fighters battling the Russians while also shepherding civilians along with the bodies of those killed to different parts of the plant.

Without refrigeration, the bodies of the dead have been packed in plastic bags and are rotting, but the fighters remain committed to preventing them from falling into the hands of the Russian forces.

"Almost everywhere, they are carrying corpses with them," said Tytarenko. "They deserve to be evacuated -- those who are alive, injured, and dead."On Saturday, Ukrainian authorities said that the remaining women, children and elderly civilians had been evacuated from Azovstal, sparking fresh questions about what the future would hold for the fighters there.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested on Friday that "diplomatic options" were being mulled to rescue the Ukrainian soldiers, but offered few details.
Belfast, May 8 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th May, 2022 ) :Sinn Fein leader Michelle O'Neill on Saturday acclaimed a "new era" for Northern Ireland as her Irish nationalist party handed a historic election defeat to pro-UK unionists who had monopolised power for decades.

Once the political wing of the paramilitary IRA, Sinn Fein won enough seats in the devolved legislature to nominate O'Neill as first minister -- a century after Northern Ireland was carved out as a Protestant fiefdom under British rule.

O'Neill appealed for a "healthy debate" about reunifying Ireland, but the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) stood by its refusal to form a new power-sharing government, opening up the prospect of months-long political limbo.

"Today ushers in a new era," said O'Neill, who at 45 came of political age after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement ended three decades of bloodshed in Northern Ireland.

"It's a defining moment for our politics and our people," she added.

"I will provide leadership which is inclusive, which celebrates diversity, which guarantees rights and equality for those who have been excluded, discriminated against or ignored in the past." With 88 of 90 seats filled from Thursday's proportional voting, Sinn Fein was assured of 27 seats in the Stormont assembly, ahead of the DUP on a maximum of 25, and the cross-community Alliance party on 17.

"The people have spoken, and our job is now to turn up. I expect others to turn up also," O'Neill told reporters, stressing the new government must tackle foremost a cost-of-living crisis in the UK, ahead of the debate about Irish unity.

The DUP occupied the role of first minister in the outgoing assembly, before it collapsed the executive in protest at post-Brexit trading rules between the UK and EU.

- 'Long shadow' - DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson demanded that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson "deliver on his word to honour the commitments he has given and to take the action that is necessary" on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

He urged "decisive action by the government to remove the Irish Sea border, because we don't believe it is acceptable or necessary to have checks on goods moving within the United Kingdom".

While Sinn Fein will get to nominate a first minister, Northern Ireland's government can only form under the 1998 deal if the DUP agrees to take part and serve in the role of deputy first minister.

"I want a government in Northern Ireland, but it has to be one based on stable foundations," Donaldson said.

"And the long shadow of the Northern Ireland Protocol is harming our economy, it's harming political stability." Johnson's Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis was expected to meet the party leaders in Belfast on Monday. The parties will have 24 weeks to resolve their differences or face a new election.

In a statement, Lewis urged all the parties to form a new executive "as soon as possible".

The voters had a number of messages, he said. "They were clear that they want a fully functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland, they want the issues around the protocol addressed, and that they want politics to work better." Irish premier Micheal Martin said it was "now incumbent on all political parties and elected representatives to deliver on their mandate" to form an administration and "serve the interests of all of the people of Northern Ireland".

England, Wales and Scotland also voted in local and regional elections on Thursday, punishing embattled Johnson's scandal-mired Conservatives but without a landslide for the main opposition Labour party.

The Scottish National Party strengthened its hold, and the result in Northern Ireland played into its own argument for separation from the UK.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon congratulated Sinn Fein's leadership "on a truly historic result".

Johnson is expected to lay out his post-election plans in the Queen's Speech in parliament on Tuesday, which will have to take into account the forming a government in Northern Ireland, long riven by sectarian unrest.

The other big winner in Northern Ireland was Alliance, which said its strong showing in third place underlined the need for Northern Ireland to move past old divisions.

"I think given all the challenges that we face, if we squander this opportunity people will not forgive us, so we need to get in there," Alliance leader Naomi Long said.
(@FahadShabbir)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th May, 2022) Nationalist Sinn Fein has won the most seats in the Northern Ireland legislature for the first time in history, UK media reported on Saturday.

According to Sky news, Sinn Fein has won 27 seats in the 90-seat assembly, pushing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) with 24 seats into the second place and becoming the first nationalist party to take control of Northern Ireland's legislature.

The broadcaster noted that the DUP had lost ground among unionists due to its reaction to Brexit and North Ireland trading arrangements. This split the vote between three unionist parties.

Ireland was separated into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the parliament in 1921. In 1922, Southern Ireland became the Irish Free State, which in turn became the independent Republic of Ireland in 1948. Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.
At the Regina Coeli, Pope Francis offered his prayers for victims of an explosion that took place at a hotel in Havana, Cuba. He also gave his customary greetings to the various groups present for the Sunday prayer.

By Thaddeus Jones

After leading the recitation of the Regina Coeli , Pope Francis asked for prayers for the victims of an explosion that took place in Havana, Cuba, saying "may the Risen Christ guide them to the house of the Father and give comfort to their families."

The Blessed Aguchita

He also paid tribute to a new Blessed from San Ramon, Peru, Maria Agostina Rivas Lopez of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, killed in hatred of the faith in 1990. The newly beatified was known as a heroic missionary, giving her life in her service to the poor, especially indigenous and farm women. The Pope prayed that her example might awaken in everyone "the desire to serve Christ with fidelity and courage."



World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Today also marks the World Day of Prayer for Vocations with the theme "Called to Build the Human Family" , the Pope recalled, saying on this day we all, as baptized, feel called to follow Jesus, to say our "yes" to him, to follow his example and discover the joy of giving our lives with joy and enthusiasm in service of the Gospel The Pope also congratulated the new priests of the Diocese of Rome, ordained this morning in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran.

Read also 05/05/2022 Pope Francis: Vocation is about making Gods dream come true Pope Francis releases a message for the 59th World Day of Prayer for Vocations on the theme Called to Build the Human Family, and encourages every person in the Church to give ...

Mothers' Day

Finally, the Pope added that today is Mother's Day, and we remember with affection our mothers, also those who are no longer with us, but live in our hearts. May we all offer moms around the world our prayer, affection, and best wishes, said the Pope.



Greetings the groups from around the world, the Pope also offered special thoughts to those suffering from fibromyalgia with hopes they may receive the necessary care.


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.
Food prices around the world have soared to record levels this year as the Russia-Ukraine war slashes key exports of wheat and fertilizer from those countries, at the same time as droughts, floods and heat fueled by climate change claim more harvests.



Wheat prices hit a 14-year peak in March, and maize prices reached the highest ever recorded, the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES) said in a report released on Friday.



That has made basic staples more expensive - or harder to find - for families in many countries, especially the poorest.



Climate change, widespread poverty and conflicts are now combining to create "endemic and widespread" risks to global food security - which means higher food prices may be the new normal, unless action is taken to curb the threats, IPES noted.



It suggests not only cutting emissions swiftly to limit climate change but also tackling commodity speculation, giving debt relief, cutting reliance on chemical fertilizers, reshaping trade and shoring up national grain reserves.



If these things are neglected, the world will find itself "sleepwalking into the catastrophic and systematic food crises of the future", the IPES experts noted.



Why are food prices so high right now?



Russia and Ukraine supply about 30% of global wheat exports, but those have fallen as a result of the conflict.



National stocks of wheat - mostly eaten in the countries where it is grown - remain relatively high, said Brigitte Hugh of the U.S. Center for Climate and Security.



But the drop in exports from Russia and Ukraine has driven up competition for the remaining wheat on the global market, leading to higher costs that are particularly painful for poorer, debt-ridden countries that rely heavily on imports.



Almost 40% of Africa's wheat imports come from Ukraine and Russia, while rising global wheat prices have sent bread prices in Lebanon 70% higher, IPES said.

But the disruption to wheat exports from Russia and Ukraine is not the whole reason for the price hikes, which have spilled over into maize, rice and soy markets as buyers seek alternative grains.



Spurred by the conflict, financial speculators have leapt into trading in grain futures, for instance, "artificially" inflating prices as they seek to profit from market uncertainty, G7 agriculture ministers have complained.



Since the last food price crises of 2007-2008 and 2011-2012, "governments have failed to curb excessive speculation and ensure transparency of food stocks and commodity markets," said Jennifer Clapp, a professor specialized in food security at Canada's University of Waterloo.



The problem "must be urgently addressed" if the world wants to ensure more stable food prices in coming years as climate change, conflict and other threats drive up risks, she added.



Can't more food be grown to boost global supplies?



Some wheat-growing countries are already planting more, and India has said it will boost exports of wheat to meet demand, although its current heatwave could dent yields, the London-based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit warned.



But efforts to boost production globally have been hampered by shortages of chemical fertilizer. Russia and Belarus produced 40% of international potash exports last year and that trade has also been hit by the war.



Climate change impacts - from droughts and heatwaves to flooding and new pests - also are making it harder for farmers in many parts of the world to get a reliable crop, a problem set to worsen as planet-heating emissions continue to rise.



As well, the land available to plant more wheat, maize and rice is limited, with expansion of farmland - particularly in countries such as Brazil - often coming at the expense of forests that are key to keeping the climate stable.



With a limited supply of land under increasing pressure from those trying to grow food, protect nature, install renewable energy and store carbon, land may become the strategic global asset of this century, said Tim Benton, research director of the environment and society program at think-tank Chatham House.



A desire to control more Ukrainian farmland - and more of the future global food market - could even be one of the drivers of Russia's invasion, he noted.



What could help keep food affordable?



Because a large share of the world's grain goes to feeding livestock, persuading people to eat less meat and dairy could boost grain supplies dramatically, said Pierre-Marie Aubert, an agriculture expert at France's Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations.



The global shortage of cereals on export markets this year is expected to be 20-25 million tonnes - but if Europeans alone cut their consumption of animal products by 10%, they could reduce demand by 18-19 million tonnes, he noted.



Improving grain storage, particularly in countries highly reliant on imports, and helping those countries grow more staple food at home - not the cash crops for export that have often replaced staples - could also help, food experts said.



And globally, planting a wider variety of crops in order to reduce dependence on just a few grains, with markets dominated by a small number of exporters, could boost food security.



Policy shifts - like Africa's new continental free trade area - could eventually allow some poorer nations to reduce their dependence on distant producers and fragile supply chains, said Sithembile Mwamakamba of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN).



In addition, investing in climate-smart farming, to protect harvests as the planet warms, would help shore up global food supplies, while providing debt relief could give the poorest countries more fiscal space to manage food price fluctuations.



What happens if food prices continue to rise?



As food prices soar on world markets, humanitarian agencies are struggling to buy grain for hungry people in conflict-hit places like Afghanistan, Yemen, South Sudan and Syria.



The international aid system was already "overwhelmed" by rising need and inadequate funding before the Russia-Ukraine war, and now high prices mean less grain can be bought, said Gernot Laganda, the climate and disaster risk reduction chief at the U.N. World Food Program.



"It has never been this bad," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. He fears that, as climate change adds to existing food security threats, price hikes are "a runaway train you can't stop".



Worse, as costly food threatens to stoke political unrest and eat up government funds, it could derail efforts to curb climate change and build resilience to its impacts, driving a vicious cycle of ever more poverty, unrest and hunger, he warned.



Benton of Chatham House said the Russia-Ukraine war may trigger a landmark shift in food prices.



"The end of cheap and highly available food, for some people, is going to be very much the reality," he noted.
World Red Cross Day, May 8, has been observed in Cameroon with hundreds of Red Cross workers in towns and villages across the central African state asking for greater recognition and protection by their communities. The humanitarian workers say although they have not reported deaths, Red Cross workers are often victims of battery, Boko Haram terrorism, and separatist violence.

Hundreds of people, including beneficiaries of Red Cross services, humanitarian workers and government officials, assembled at the Yaounde-headquartered Cameroon Red Cross Society to celebrate the 2022 World Red Cross Day.

Among them was Aliou Alim, a Red Cross volunteer who has worked in the northern town of Banyo, on Cameroon's border with Nigeria.

Alim said in March he and seven colleagues were taken captive by people they were encouraging to take COVID-19 vaccines in Banyo. He said they were freed after local government officials explained to their captors that Red Cross workers are out to save lives.

Alim said every Cameroonian should be informed that the Red Cross serves humanity. He says besides protecting Red Cross workers, protagonists in conflict zones and civilians should respect and protect the Red Cross emblem, bearing in mind that humanitarian workers are there to rescue people in need and save lives.

Alim said many people along Cameroon's border with Nigeria do not know the importance of Red Cross workers and very often refuse to collaborate with them. He said there is a misconception that the Red Cross emblem signifies adherence to a Western occult group trying to recruit Cameroonian followers.

The Red Cross says such allegations are unfounded and spread by people who are ignorant of Red Cross activities.

The government says Red Cross workers have been of great help saving lives in the central African states trouble spots. The government says the Red Cross has provided humanitarian assistance to several thousand of the 750,000 people fleeing the separatist crisis in the country's English-speaking western regions.

Red Cross workers have also assisted about a third of the close to 3 million people displaced by Boko Haram terrorism in Cameroon and its northern neighbors, Chad and Nigeria, the government says.

Cecile Akame Mfoumou, the president of the Cameroon Red Cross Society, said close to 70,000 people volunteer or work as staff for the organization.

She said Cameroon needs more humanitarian workers to help people suffering as a result of conflicts generated by environmental challenges and climate change, Boko Haram terrorism on Cameroons northern border with Nigeria, the spillover of the crisis in the neighboring Central African Republic, and the separatist crisis in Cameroons western regions that have claimed close to 3,300 lives. She said she is encouraging Red Cross workers to be determined in their efforts to save lives, despite the challenges they face.

Cameroon says it will protect all humanitarian workers and asks communities to understand that the workers are there to help people in need.

Mfoumou said scores of Red Cross workers have complained of battery and restrictions in carrying out humanitarian activities in Cameroonian trouble zones. The Red Cross says many of its workers were chased by separatists from the English-speaking regions, but it does not report cases of killings.

World Red Cross Day is an annual celebration when people pay tribute to the organization for its contribution to helping those in need. The day also marks the birthday of Henry Dunant, who founded the International Committee of the Red Cross and received the first Nobel Peace Prize.
Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb leveled a school sheltering about 90 people in eastern Ukraine.

The governor of the disputed Luhansk province where intense fighting has raged for weeks between Russian and Ukrainian forces said 30 people were rescued at the site in Bilohorivka but that the others in the school probably did not survive.

"Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead," Governor Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He said Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia.

The latest shelling in the Donbas region came as Russia relentlessly pushed to show some battleground success in eastern Ukraine ahead of its Victory Day holiday on Monday commemorating its defeat of Nazi Germany in the European theater of World War II.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told CNNs State of the Union show that Russia has nothing to celebrate with its invasion of Ukraine and has only succeeded in isolating itself in the world community.

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then reopened the Canadian embassy in the embattled capital.

Top U.S. diplomats, including acting Ambassador Kristina Kvien, also returned to Kyiv as the United States prepares to soon reopen its embassy there.

While still launching missile attacks throughout Ukraine, Moscow has in recent weeks concentrated its offensive in the Donbas after failing to topple the Ukrainian government and capture Kyiv. Russian forces control much of the eastern port city of Mariupol, except for a sprawling steel mill where as many as 2,000 Ukrainian fighters are still believed to be holding out and refusing to surrender.

All the remaining women, children and older civilians who had been sheltering with Ukrainian fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday.

The Ukrainian government is trying to enlist international relief organizations to extricate wounded fighters and medics from the steel plant, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged the difficulty during his nightly address on Saturday.

"We are not losing hope; we are not stopping, he said. Every day we are looking for some diplomatic option that might work."

G-7 pledges

Zelenskyy on Sunday met virtually with U.S. President Joe Biden and other Group of Seven leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and Germany, who together head some of the worlds largest economies. The grouping has pledged billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine.

Later, the White House said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed in his initial military objective to dominate Ukraine  but he has succeeded in making Russia a global pariah.

Today, the United States, the European Union and G7 committed to ratchet up these costs by imposing further sanctions targeting Russian state-controlled media, cutting off Russian oil exports to Europe and further curbing Russian trade to other countries.

In a Saturday address, Zelenskyy decried Russias bombing of a museum in the Kharkiv region dedicated to 18th century philosopher and poet Hryhorii Skovoroda.

Zelenskyy said Skovoroda was a man who taught people what a true Christian attitude to life is and how a person can get to know himself.

Zelenskyy said, "Well, it seems that this is a terrible danger for modern Russia  museums, the Christian attitude to life and people's self-knowledge.

He said Russia has destroyed nearly 200 Ukrainian cultural sites.

Today, the invaders launched a missile strike at Odesa. At a city where almost every street has something memorable, something historical, Zelenskyy said.

Russias invasion of Ukraine should remind every state and every nation that it is impossible to defeat evil once and for all, Zelenskyy said.

The United Nations, which is leading the civilian rescue effort at the Mariupol steel plant, along with the International Red Cross, is not confirming that the operation has ended.

While under heavy bombardment at the steel plant, fighters and civilians have been trapped for weeks in deep bunkers and tunnels that crisscross the site, with little food, water or medicine.

Russian forces backed by tanks and artillery tried again Saturday to storm Azovstal, Ukraine's military command said, part of an assault to dislodge the last Ukrainian defenders in the strategic port city on the north coast of the Sea of Azov.

Mariupol has been left in ruins by weeks of Russian bombardment, and the steel mill has been largely destroyed.

Evidence of possible war crimes

The World Health Organization is gathering evidence for a possible war crimes investigation. The agency said Saturday it has documented Russian attacks on health care facilities in Ukraine.

The Reuters news agency reported that WHO Emergencies Director Mike Ryan, on an unannounced visit to Ukraine with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told reporters of the explicit responsibility of warring parties to avoid attacking health facilities, yet the WHO had documented 200 attacks on hospitals and clinics.

"Intentional attacks on health care facilities are a breach of international humanitarian law and as such  based on investigation and attribution of the attack  represent war crimes in any situation," Ryan said.

"We continue to document and bear witness to these attacks ... and we trust that the U.N. system and the International Criminal Court and others will take the necessary investigations in order to assess the criminal intent behind these attacks, Ryan said.

Russia has denied previous accusations by Ukraine and Western nations of possible war crimes and of targeting civilians in the war.

Russia's most senior lawmaker Saturday accused Washington of coordinating military operations in Ukraine, which he said amounted to direct U.S. involvement in military action against Russia.

"Washington is essentially coordinating and developing military operations, thereby directly participating in military actions against our country," Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel.

Reuters reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin will send a doomsday message to the West on the Monday holiday, but a Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman said Friday that Russia has no intention of deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Ukraine.

Russia firmly abides by the principle that there can be no victors in a nuclear war, and it must not be unleashed, Alexei Zaitsev said.

Bidens surprise visit to Ukraine

U.S. first lady Jill Biden was in Slovakia Sunday and later made a surprise trip into Ukraine, where she met with Ukrainian first lady OIena Zelenska and visited with schoolchildren.

In Slovakia, Biden visited a refugee center for Ukrainians housed in a bus station. The first lady had a long conversation with Vikto Kutocha and her 7-year-old daughter, Yulie. Vikto Kutocha talked about leaving Ukraine, and how cruel the Russian attacks were.

Later, at a school, Biden met with mothers and their children in a Mothers Day activity.

Biden traveled to eastern Europe to show support for U.S. troops and Ukraine.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
On Monday the Philippines will elect a new president. On top of all the campaigning, voters have faced a barrage of disinformation, particularly on social media.

Thirty-five-year-old Mary Grace Glorioso is watching Facebook and YouTube to get news about the Philippines presidential race. She has narrowed her choice to two candidates. One is Leni Robredo, the current vice president, but Glorioso is leaning toward the heavy frontrunner, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., because of what she hears about him on social media.

The Philippines will prosper if he wins and bring back the golden days, Glorioso said.

The Golden Days is a common theme on social media, referring to the period from the mid-1960s to the mid-80s, when Marcos father, the late dictator was president. But the phrase whitewashes history. The reality is thousands of people, including political opponents and activists, were tortured, killed or disappeared. The Marcos family is accused of stealing $5 billion to $10 billion when Marcos Sr. was in power. Observers say revisionist history is part of a trend on social media to accompany positive posts about Marcos Jr. and negative ones for Robredo.

Che de los Reyes leads the fact check team at ABS-CBN News, one of dozens of media outlets, universities and civil society groups that are combating disinformation. De los Reyes acknowledges that fact checkers face an uphill battle.

Its so easy to manufacture a false claim, right? You dont need to do anything much," she said. "You can just keep on churning and churning falsehoods, false claims, but fact checking takes a lot of time.underlined changes OK?"

Marcos Jr. has told local media his campaign is not behind any disinformation but Cleve Arguelles, a political science lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila, has noticed some trends.

You can really see the intimate connection between the official campaign and what trolls for example, what troll accounts for example would try to popularize and would try to trend on social media, he said.

The question remains whether voters will base their decisions on information or disinformation.
It has been more than a year since Myanmars military seized power in a putsch that sent thousands fleeing the country. Among them were scores of media professionals who took up refuge here in Thailand.

Some have since moved on or resettled elsewhere, but others stayed in Thailand, living in fear of police roundup or deportation back to Myanmar.

Their long-term residential status is the biggest challenge of being exiled, regardless of wherever they are, longtime Myanmar journalist Aung Naing Soe, now living in Thailand, said in an interview.

Several initiatives have been launched by media organizations in Thailand for the journalists from Myanmar, providing them with financial and legal assistance so they can continue to run their news operations here, or at least avoid run-ins with authorities.

Aung Naing Soe, however, who is familiar with the reporters in exile, said more could be done.

It will be helpful if there are any organizations helping them to get legal immigration status by helping them to resettle in a third country then help them to get back to Thai-Myanmar border legally, he said. Many undocumented exiled Myanmar journalists need a break and they also need mental health assistance."

Not knowing whos next

Thailand has been a major destination and transit point for those fleeing unrest in Myanmar for decades. Last years coup brought a new wave of refugees, including journalists, though observers say it is difficult to say how many are still in Thailand.

Some left earlier on, say March 2021, Johanna Son, who runs Reporting ASEAN, a website that monitors civil rights developments in Myanmar and the region, said. Others tried to make it work, some found that it was not possible or wise to stay on and take their chances."

Chavarong Limpattamapanee, president of the National Press Council of Thailand, estimated that at least 180 media professionals who fled the 2021 coup are in Thailand, most of them in the north, in border locations such as Mae Sot.

And nearly all of them are very, very scared of being found or arrested, he said.

Thailand is not a signatory to the U.N. Refugee Convention, which bars governments from sending refugees to their home countries if they face threats to their life.

Those who entered Thailand legally and want to stay face significant challenges in maintaining legal status, Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watchs Asia Division, said. While others who simply crossed the border face the threat of arrest for illegal entry, and possible deportation, at any time.

In May of last year, five Myanmar journalists working for the Democratic Voice of Burma an independent news organization in Chiang Mai, in the northern part of the country, were arrested. Although they were later allowed to resettle elsewhere, the incident spread fear among exiles.

In April, five Vietnamese asylum seekers were arrested in Bangkok, despite holding U.N. refugee status.

The threat of harassment and detention by Thai police is always present, especially in towns  where the journalists have concentrated, Robertson said.

Allies in the media

Against this backdrop of uncertainty, some organizations are helping Myanmar journalists with financial and equipment aid, helping them navigate Thai visas, as well as helping them depart to third countries, Robertson said.

One group is the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, which collected money and equipment for Myanmar journalists, some of whom had to abandon nearly everything when they fled Myanmar.

A little equipment and some funds go a long way for journalists that were forced to vacate their newsrooms in cities and towns but still wanted to continue reporting from wherever they are, club president Panu Wongcha-um said.

The club also held exhibitions of the work of freelance Myanmar journalists, with proceeds going directly to them.

It is surprising how little some of these photographers get paid in light of the danger and the importance to what they are documenting, Panu said.

Chavarong, from the National Press Council, a network of Thai media agencies, said his group held discussions with the local authorities to convince them not to arrest or deport the journalists in hiding.

We ask them not to be overzealous, Chavarong said. We explain to them that journalists from Myanmar do not pose any threat to Thailand, that they are here to seek refuge for their own safety.

Looking ahead

There have been cases of Myanmar media professionals successfully resettling in other countries. The exact number is kept under wraps by both the governments involved and the U.N. Refugee Agency, due to the Thai sensitivities about the junta knowing just how many refugees have gotten out to safety through Thailand, Robertson said.

Those who have gone overseas have either done so because they were sent by their network, like Democratic Voice of Burma, he said, or because they believe they can still work as journalists reporting on Myanmar from there.

What is certain, though, is that many media professionals have stayed behind to report on Myanmar from Thailand for various reasons.

While people continue to find ways to leave  not just journalists  many dont necessarily find the idea of moving to, say, the West, an appealing idea, Reporting ASEANs Son, said. Some are OK with it, but far from everyone is. Many also are hoping things will change so they can go back. Many who stay, stay because they have family, sick relatives."

Clearly, the time for exiled media is back, after just a decade, she said, referring to Myanmars previous period of junta rule.

Aung Naing Soe said many Myanmar journalists applied for resettlement in other countries as they have no other option left for their safe and long-term legal residential status. But still, many others decided to remain along the border or in Thailand.

No one wants to flee Myanmar, and even [if] we had to flee, we still want to remain close to our home, he said.
Germany's conservative CDU won an election in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein on Sunday, a boost to the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, which was ousted from the national government in federal elections last year.

An exit poll by the political research group, Infratest dimap, put the Christian Democrats (CDU) at 43.5% of votes, up 11.5% from when Schleswig-Holstein last held a state election in 2017.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left Social Democrats, the main party in Germany's "traffic light" coalition with the environmentalist Greens and liberal Free Democrats (FDP), meanwhile slumped to 15.9%, as it had presented a largely unknown candidate.

The exit poll put the Greens and FDP, which in Schleswig-Holstein have been in coalition with the CDU since 2017, at 18.1% and 6.4% respectively, meaning the conservatives may be able to form a government there with only one of the two parties.

CDU Secretary-General, Mario Czaja, said the party will not make a recommendation from Berlin about which way State Premier Daniel Guenther should proceed in deciding on a partner.

The CDU's stronger standing in the state than at the national level - where it is polling at 26% following its worst ever federal election result in September - is partly down to the popularity of Guenther, analysts say.

Another term for 48-year-old Guenther, who polls show is the most popular state premier in Germany, could strengthen the role of moderates within the CDU, in a counterpoint to their more right-wing leader Friedrich Merz, CDU sources told Reuters.

The South Schleswig Party (SSW), which represents the ethnic Danish minority in the state, won 5.8% of the votes while both the far-right AfD and far-left Linke parties did not reach the 5% of votes necessary to secure seats in the state's parliament.

More significant will be elections next week in Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), where the SPD and CDU are running neck and neck.

A loss by the conservatives in NRW, after losing in March in the tiny western state of Saarland, would be a significant blow to the party.

It would also make it easier for Scholz's SPD-Greens-FDP coalition to pass laws in the upper house of the national parliament, where regional elections help to determine the distribution of votes.

Energy transition

Regional issues such as the cost of child care or property purchase taxes typically dominate such state elections.

But national issues are also in particular focus this year given the tectonic shift in German foreign, energy and security policy since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

For one, Germany aims to accelerate the expansion of renewable energy to reduce its dependence on Russia as a supplier of oil and gas.

Located between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, Schleswig-Holstein is one of Germany's leading states in wind power generation, with over 3,000 onshore and offshore wind turbines.

The Greens aim to increase the number of turbines and cut the minimum distance required between wind farms and residential buildings, while the CDU wants to raise the production capacity of existing wind farms without further increasing their number.

Schleswig-Holstein is also set to become home to one of Germany's two planned liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals, whose construction has been brought forward due to the Ukraine war. The Greens and the SSW  had previously opposed the project.

But they are not expected to strongly object anymore if they become part of the government given concerns over energy supply, according to Christian Meyer-Heidemann, the state's Commissioner of Civic Education, a non-partisan office.

Battery maker Northvolt plans to open a third battery cell giga factory in the town of Heide in 2025, citing the state's high green power share.
Search crews with dogs on Sunday hunted through the ruins of a luxury hotel in Cuba's capital for survivors of a devastating explosion while officials raised the number of known dead to 30.

The Hotel Saratoga, a five-star 96-room hotel in Old Havana, was preparing to reopen after being closed for two years when an apparent gas leak ignited, blowing the outer walls into the busy, midmorning streets just a block from the country's Capitol building on Friday.

Cuban officials on Sunday raised the known death toll to 30 from 27 even as crews continued to search for victims buried beneath piles of shattered concrete. Several nearby structures also were damaged, including the historic Marti Theater and the Calvary Baptist Church, headquarters for the denomination in western Cuba.

The church said on its Facebook page that the building suffered "significant structural damage, with several collapsed or cracked walls and columns (and) the ceiling partially collapsed," though no church workers were hurt.

The Health Ministry said 84 people had been injured in Friday's explosion. The dead included four minors, a pregnant woman and a Spanish tourist, whose companion was seriously injured.

The ministry on Sunday also released the names of those who died. Some 24 people remained hospitalized.

On Saturday, a representative of Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA, which owns the hotel, said 13 of its workers remained missing. Governor Reinaldo Garcia Zapata said Saturday evening that 19 families had reported loved ones missing and that rescue efforts would continue.

Authorities said the cause of the explosion was still under investigation but believed it to have been caused by a gas leak. A large crane hoisted a charred gas tanker out of the rubble Saturday.

Burials for victims have begun, according to municipal authorities. But some were still waiting for news of missing friends and relatives.

"We are hoping that something will be known about my cousin's mother," Angela Acosta told The Associated Press near the site of the explosion. Her relative, Maria de la Concepcion Alard, lived in an apartment adjacent to the hotel with a black Labrador, which was rescued along with another dog on Sunday.

Crews have worked to clean up streets around the hotel and by late Saturday, substantial pedestrian traffic had resumed.

"There are mothers who are without their children today," Matha Verde, a manicurist who was walking near the Saratoga, said Sunday, when Mother's Day was celebrated in Cuba. She said she tells women who lost their sons or daughters in the explosion that they "have to keep going."

The explosion added to the woes of a crucial tourism industry that had been stifled by the coronavirus pandemic as well as tightened sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump and kept in place the Biden administration. Those limited visits by U.S. tourists to the islands and restricted remittances from Cubans in the U.S. to their families in Cuba.

Tourism had started to revive somewhat early this year, but the war in Ukraine deflated a boom of Russian visitors, who accounted for almost a third of the tourists arriving in Cuba last year.

The Saratoga, which had been closed through the pandemic, was one of the elite lodgings in Havana, often hosting visiting VIPs and celebrities.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited his closest regional ally Iran on Sunday for talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during which both leaders called for stronger ties between Tehran and Damascus, Iranian state media reported.

Assad, who was making his second trip to Tehran since the start of Syrias war in 2011, also met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during his trip, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.

"Today's Syria is not what it was before the war, although there were no destructions then, but the respect and prestige of Syria is greater than before, and everyone sees this country as a power," Khamenei told Assad, according to Iran's state TV.

Assad was able to turn the tide of Syria's civil war, which erupted from pro-democracy protests in 2011, with crucial help from Iran's proxy militias and Russia's major military intervention in 2015.

Iranian State TV quoted Assad as saying that "the strategic ties between Iran and Syria has prevented the Zionist regime's [Israel] dominance in the region." Iran's Nournews said Assad had left Tehran for Syria.

Israel, Which the Islamic Republic refuses to recognize, has mounted frequent attacks against what it has described as Iranian targets in Syria, where Tehran-backed forces including Lebanon's Hezbollah have deployed over the last decade to support Assad in Syria's war.

Iran's President Raisi said in meeting with Assad that his government's priority was to strengthen strategic ties with Syria, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Iran's economic influence in Syria has grown in recent years, supplying Assad's government with credit lines and winning lucrative business contracts.
A deadly fire at an aerospace research institute in Tver, northwest of Moscow. Another blaze at a munitions factory in Perm, more than 1,100 kilometers to the east. And fires in two separate oil depots in Bryansk, near Belarus.

Coincidences, or a sign that Ukrainians or their supporters are mounting a campaign of sabotage inside Russia to punish Moscow for invading their country?

Since the blaze at the Central Research Institute of the Aerospace Defense Forces in Tver on April 21, which killed at least 17 people, social media has leapt on every report of a fire somewhere in Russia -- especially at a sensitive location -- as a sign that the country is under covert attack.

No one is claiming responsibility, but analysts say at least some of the incidents, particularly those in Bryansk, point to a possible effort by Kyiv to bring the war to their invaders.

In a post on Telegram, Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called the fires "divine intervention."

"Large fuel depots periodically burn ... for different reasons," he wrote. "Karma is a cruel thing."

'We don't deny'

In a massive country such as Russia, a fire at a remote factory or building would normally not be particularly eyebrow-raising.

But since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, more than a dozen blazes noted by people who document the war have drawn huge attention on social media, amid fears there is a concerted campaign of arsonous terror by the Ukrainians.

Even fires late last month in Russia's far east -- at an airbase north of Vladivostok and at a coal plant on Sakhalin -- raised suspicions.

And on Wednesday, a massive conflagration struck a chemicals plant in Dzerzhinsk, east of Moscow.

"Russian saboteurs against Putin continue their heroic work," said Igor Sushko, a Ukrainian racecar driver who regularly posts photos and videos on Twitter of alleged acts of sabotage inside Russia -- but offers no proof they were deliberate.

Another Zelenskyy adviser, Oleksei Arestovych, was equally opaque to The New York Times, noting that Israel never admits its covert attacks and assassinations.

"We don't confirm, and we don't deny," he said.

Part of the strategy?

War analysts believe the infernos in Bryansk, which hit facilities sending oil to Europe, were deliberate and tied to the war.

The anonymous analysts behind "Ukraine Weapons Tracker," a Twitter account that posts detailed accounts with supporting videos of attacks by both sides, said they received "reliable" information that the Bryansk fires were the result of attacks by Ukrainian Bayraktar drones.

"If accurate, then this story again shows the ability of Ukrainian forces to conduct strikes in Russian territory using long-range assets," they wrote.

"I think it was probably a Ukrainian attack, but we cannot be certain," Rob Lee, another war analyst, told The Guardian.

Added to that have been a number of apparent shellings by helicopters and drones and evident acts of sabotage against infrastructure in Kursk and Belgorod oblast on the Ukrainian border, close to the fighting.

The governors of Belgorod and Kursk have both blamed the fires and destruction of infrastructure such as railway bridges on saboteurs and attackers from Ukraine.

An April 1 attack on a Belgorod fuel depot, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram channel, was the result of "an air strike from two helicopters of the armed forces of Ukraine, which entered the territory of Russia at a low altitude."

"Nothing that would confirm Ukrainian sabotage, except for the fact that many of the fires seemed to hit strategic/military targets," said Phillips O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

Such attacks "certainly seem to be a part of their strategy," he said.

Pentagon officials have said that Russian forces inside Ukraine are hobbled by weak supply chains, and attacks on their infrastructure would further affect their war effort.

But U.S. officials would not comment on whether, deeper inside Russia, there is an active campaign of sabotage hitting targets not-so-directly related to the invasion.
Keith Scribner of Corvallis will review Homeland Elegies: A Novel by Ayad Akhtar at noon Wednesday, May 11, as part of the Friends of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Librarys Random Review series.

The program will take place via GoToWebinar. It is free, but registration at is required at https://bit.ly/3FmNRhX.

Homeland Elegies is a postmodern novel about an American son and his immigrant father. It both draws on and has been favorably compared to classics such as the works of Tolstoy and Salman Rushdie, Alan Ginsbergs Howl and F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby.

The book by Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright, author and actor Akhtar has been described as a hybrid of novel and memoir. Its narrator shares the authors name and much of his biography. The narrators Pakistani father once was the personal physician to businessman Donald Trump and remains enamored of Trump even after the then-President issued his infamous Muslim travel ban. The novel also extensively deals with the narrators experiences of discrimination following Sept. 11, 2001.

Scribner is a novelist and nonfiction writer, and a Corvallis resident since 2000. His novel The Good Life was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Daily Beast, TriQuarterly, American Short Fiction, Quarterly West, The North Atlantic Review, the San Jose Mercury News, the Baltimore Sun and various anthologies.

Scribner is married to poet Jennifer Richter, and teaches in Oregon State Universitys Master of Fine Arts program and the new Bachelor of Arts in creative writing program. He enjoys riding his mountain bike, and he plans to bicycle from Oregon to Patagonia during a sabbatical next year, writing a book about the trip and making travel videos along the way.

He hopes to be able to travel to Ukraine in spring 2023, when he is scheduled to be a guest at Odessa National University.

The June 8 Random Review will feature Michael Nelson, professor of environmental ethics and philosophy in the OSU College of Forestry, reviewing Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

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For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT:

11:21 p.m.: The Sakhalin 1 oil and Sakhalin 2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Russia are extremely important for Japans stable energy supply, Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary said Monday, Reuters reported. Japan does not intend to abandon its stake in the project Hirokazu Matsuno added. The remark comes after Japan decided to phase out Russian oil imports after agreeing on a ban with other Group of Seven nations (G7) to counter Moscows invasion of Ukraine, according to Reuters.

9:37 p.m.: After almost three months, U.S. diplomats are back in the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.

"Just arrived in Kyiv! Delighted to be back on Victory in Europe Day. Slava Ukraini! We #standwithUkraine," Kristina Kvien, the U.S. charge d'affaires, wrote on the embassy's Twitter account.

Their return on Sunday was meant to underscore Russian President Vladimir Putin's failure to capture the Ukrainian capital. CBS News quoted sources in the State Department as saying the embassy hopes to fully resume operations at the embassy in Kyiv and raise the American flag there in the coming weeks.

9:18 p.m.: The United Nations chief says he is appalled at the reported attack on a school in the Ukrainian town of Bilohorivka, where many people were apparently seeking shelter from fighting.

A U.N. spokesman said Sunday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be spared under international law.

This war must end," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, "and peace must be established in line with the Charter of the United Nations and international law. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners in Ukraine will continue supporting those whose lives have been shattered by war.

8:44 p.m.: In addition to more military aid to Ukraine, Canada also announced more sanctions.

7:50 p.m.: Europe lights up with the colors of Ukraine.

7:29 p.m.: Bulgaria will not support the European Union's new set of sanctions against Russia unless it gets an exemption from the proposed ban on buying Russian oil, Deputy Prime Minister Assen Vassilev said late Sunday.

Landlocked Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which all depend heavily on Russian crude delivered via Soviet-era pipelines face a challenge to secure alternative sources and have also asked for a derogation from the ban.

6:58 p.m.: Eight buses carrying 174 Mariupol civilians, including 40 evacuated from the Black Sea port's besieged Azovstal steelworks, arrived in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, witnessed by an Agence France-Presse reporter.

"I'm relieved to confirm that we managed to bring 174 more people to safety from the hell of Mariupol today," Osnat Lubrani, the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, tweeted.

"Our work is not yet done. I don't forget those who've been left behind," she added.

5:39 p.m.: Weapons maker Lockheed Martin Corp plans to nearly double production of Javelin missiles, the antitank weapon that has helped Ukraine fight Russia's invasion, Chief Executive Officer James Taiclet said in an interview on Sunday with CBS News.

Taiclet said the goal is 4,000 per year up from the current 2,100 per year. The increase will take as long as a couple of years, he said.

"We can start turning up the heat now and ramping up production immediately," Taiclet said, noting the firm is anticipating increased demand for "superior systems in large enough numbers."

5:10 p.m.: Among the raft of visa bans and a new policy of visa restrictions that the U.S. State Department announced on Sunday are eight Russian maritime-related companies and 69 vessels added to a U.S. Treasury Department sanctions list.

4:33 p.m.: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that new U.S. visa bans on more than 2,600 Russian and Belarusian military officials included troops believed to have operated in Bucha, where Russian forces are accused of executing residents.

The State Department said it imposed bans Sunday on 2,596 members of the Russian military and 13 Belarusian military officials. The visa bans apply to the officials and their immediate family members.

"Included among this group are personnel who reportedly took part in Russian military activities in Bucha, the horrors of which have shocked the world," Blinken said in a statement.

4:01 p.m.: In an address to the nation, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that "Putin will not win this war. Ukraine will persevere," Reuters reported.

Sunday marked the anniversary of the end of World War II.

The date takes on special meaning this year as two countries that were once victims of Nazi Germany - Ukraine and Russia - are now at war because Russia unleashed it, he said.

3:21 p.m.: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced new weapons and equipment for Ukraine after talks with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Reuters reported. Trudeau also said Canada was imposing new sanctions on Russian individuals and entities in connection with Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Canada was second only to the United States in sending aid to Ukraine.

2:52 p.m.: U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the Kremlin has "nothing to celebrate" on May 9, Russian Victory Day, which marks the Soviet Union's 1945 victory over Nazi Germany. Speaking on CNNs "State of the Union program, Thomas-Greenfield also said reports of the Russian bombing of a Ukrainian school can be added to the "long list" of war crimes being attributed to Moscow. They have not succeeded in defeating the Ukrainians they've not succeeded in dividing the world or dividing NATO, she added.

2:05 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met virtually with the Group of Seven leaders from the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and Germany. Afterward, the White House said the European Union and G-7 are committed to imposing further sanctions targeting Russian state-controlled media, cutting off Russian oil exports to Europe and further curbing Russian trade with other countries.

1:16 p.m.: Ukrainian troops have refused to surrender at a besieged steel plant in the port of Mariupol as they face a final showdown with Russian forces, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. "We will continue to fight as long as we are alive to repel the Russian occupiers," a military commander told an online news conference. An estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters made a last stand at the steel mill, the only part of the city not under Russian control.

11:46 a.m.: Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau made an unannounced visit to Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Trudeau reopened the Canadian Embassy and welcomed the ambassador back to the embattled capital. Trudeau also stopped by Kiev suburb of Irpin, devastated by Russia at the start of the war.

10:10 a.m.: U.S. first lady Jill Biden made a surprise secret visit to Ukraine, where she met with Ukraines first lady, Olena Zelenska, at a school that has been converted into a shelter for internally displaced Ukrainians. This was the first time since the war began that Zelenska had emerged in public. Biden said she thought "it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine. Zelenska thanked Biden for her courageous act.

9:48 a.m.: Irish rock star Bono praised Ukraine's fight for freedom during a performance in a metro station in Kyiv. He belted out classics from the U2 rock band like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "With or without you."

"The people in Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you are fighting for all of us who love freedom," he said.

9 a.m.: In Mariupol's besieged steel plant, the last Ukrainian defenders faced a bloody final showdown with Russian invaders. The fighters are expected to hold a rare online news conference, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

8:30 a.m.: Ukrainian officials said as many as 60 people may have been killed in a Russian air strike on a school in Luhansk. "The chances of people still being alive are small considering it was an aircraft bomb when the explosion happened, said the governor of the region, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

8:10 a.m.: During a meeting in Slovakia with Ukrainian mothers who have been displaced by Russias war, first lady Jill Biden assured them that the hearts of the American people are behind them, according to the Associated Press. Biden visited a bus station that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center. There, she spoke with an emotional Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her children because she cannot even explain it to herself. Biden told the woman the war is hard to understand.

5:47 a.m.: First lady Jill Biden is in Slovakia, where she met with Ukrainian refugees, The New York Times reports.

5:13 a.m.: The United Kingdom will provide $1.6 billion in military support and aid to Ukraine, Al Jazeera reports. That's almost double what the U.K. had previously pledged.

4:06 a.m.: Ukraine says Russian forces bombed a school in Luhansk where some 90 people were hiding, CNN reports. A local official said 30 people were rescued, two bodies were found and it is "likely that all of the 60 people left under the buildings wreckage were killed."

3:02 a.m.: Al Jazeera reports that Germany plans a $66 million aid package to help restore the water supply and restore houses in Ukraine.

2:09 a.m.: The latest intelligence update from the U.K.'s defense ministry says "faltering Russian performance on the front line" has led to senior commanders heading to the battlefield. The update notes that "it is not clear that the presence of these commanders on the battlefield has led to a refined or altered operational concept. Flawed planning assumptions and failures in sustainment continue to undermine Russian progress."

1:05 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says nearly 200 cultural heritage sites already had been destroyed or damaged since the Russian invasion began, The New York Times reports.

12:02 a.m.: Kyiv's mayor says it'll probably be safer for residents to return to the city after Monday, which is Russia's Victory Day, The Washington Post reports.

Victory Day marks the Soviet Union's 1945 victory over Nazi Germany, and there are fears that Russia may use the holiday as a reason to ramp up attacks on Ukraine.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says about 2.2 million of the city's normal 3.5 million residents remain.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Malaysia is calling on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to open informal channels with the shadow government of fellow member state Myanmar in a move quickly condemned by the military regime that seized control of the countrys government last year.

Frustrated by the juntas failure to follow through on a five-point consensus peace plan for Myanmar that all 10 ASEAN members agreed to at an emergency meeting in April 2021, Malaysia had been hinting for months about reaching out to the countrys so-called National Unity Government.

Led from hiding and exile by members of the elected government the military toppled, the NUG claims to represent the true voice of Myanmars people, and declared war on the junta in September. The United Nations says the junta has killed hundreds of civilians since the coup and displaced hundreds of thousands in fighting with a nationwide armed resistance.

ASEAN countries have thus far engaged openly with the junta only.

In a Twitter message late last month, however, Malaysias Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah revealed that he had had a virtual meeting with his NUG counterpart in February, the first time an ASEAN member had admitted to a contact with the shadow government. He went further at an April 30 press conference, announcing that Malaysia would propose to ASEAN that it engage with the NUG as a bloc.

We are not proposing for ASEAN to recognize other governments, but such informal engagement may be conceivable, especially on how humanitarian aid to the people of Myanmar who are still in their country can be delivered, Saifuddin said.

The junta, which has designated the NUG a terrorist group, responded on May 3, calling Malaysias proposal irresponsible and reckless in a statement published by the state-run news outlet The Global New Light of Myanmar.

Such remarks could abet terrorism and violence in the country, hampering the Myanmar governments anti-terrorism efforts and infringe international agreements related to combatting terrorism, it said.

At the table

The peace plan the bloc agreed to last year called for an immediate end to the violence, dialogue among all parties concerned, and a special ASEAN envoy to help mediate that dialogue and meet with all parties. It also called for ASEAN to arrange humanitarian aid for Myanmar through the blocs own disaster response arm.

But with the junta still trying to crush the armed resistance by force, refusing to speak with the NUG and denying ASEANs envoys a meeting with the detained leader of the toppled government, Aung San Suu Kyi, the plan has totally stalled, said Herve Lemahieu, research director at Australias Lowy Institute, a think tank.

He said Malaysias proposal to have ASEAN engage with the NUG as a bloc was its bid at breathing new life into the plan and forcing the junta to choose a negotiating partner.

Theres the junta, and whos on the opposite side of the table? And if its not Aung San Suu Kyi  and it doesnt appear as if the juntas willing to concede on that point; no ones been able to meet her  then it has to be the NUG. So, I think its sort of trying to force a choice out of the military ... and to reinject some momentum into what is an otherwise totally stalled five-point consensus, he said.

For that to work, though, he said Malaysia will need to win buy-in from all members of a bloc still split over Myanmar between members critical of the junta and others, like Cambodia and Thailand, that seem to tacitly accept its control of the country. Even then, the bloc would need to sway a junta that has to date proven immune to international pressure, Lemahieu added.

Short of that, he said, just to establish regular, open contact with ASEAN would be a big win for the NUG, which is struggling to show control on the ground and has started to fade from the international spotlight.

Seeing as the entire international community  and thats everyone from the West to China  has given ASEAN the lead here in terms of how to move forward in this crisis, if ASEAN were to recognize the NUG as a party at the table, at the negotiating table, that would probably be the single biggest coup for the NUG that its had since its formation, said Lemahieu.

Blocs within blocs

Bridget Welsh, a research associate at the University of Nottinghams Asia Research Institute-Malaysia, said the junta has been gradually gaining tacit recognition as Myanmars new government from not only some ASEAN members but bigger powers such as China and India.

Malaysias push to have ASEAN engage with the NUG is kind of a step in the other direction, she said.

It makes it more difficult for the military to gain support in the international community when countries in Southeast Asia itself are more resistant to that, she added. Its one thing for the West to be taking positions. ... Its very different for ASEAN to be saying, hey, you know, the military is not the only party in town.

Welsh, though, believes ASEANs peace plan is effectively dead and that the bloc, which takes a position only when all 10 members agree, will never come together on how to deal with the unfolding crisis in Myanmar.

She said member states more sympathetic to Myanmars opposition  mainly Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore  were likely to forge their own path.

Its time to embrace difference as opposed to consensus, she said. And I think this is what the Malaysians are recognizing, is that they see the need to move away from the trend towards supporting and legitimizing the military because they know that this is something theyre not comfortable with and they also think its not productive and constructive for Myanmar longer-term.

Besides piling political pressure on the junta, Welsh added, engaging with the NUG would also give countries and aid agencies an alternative to the military for delivering desperately needed assistance to displaced families and besieged communities. Rights groups and charities say the military is blocking deliveries to many areas.

Along with engaging with the NUG, Saifuddin has proposed doubling aid to Myanmar and hinted at working around the military to deliver it.

Lemahieu and Welsh said Malaysias proposal was likely to come up at a special summit ASEAN is set to hold with the United States on May 12 and 13, but would compete with the blocs other troubles and concerns and with Washingtons efforts to rally international support behind Ukraine in its war with Russia.
The U.K., U.S. and Irish governments have urged rival parties in Northern Ireland to come together to resurrect its power-sharing government after Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein scored a historic victory to become the biggest party in Northern Ireland's Assembly.

Sinn Fein, which seeks union with Ireland, won 27 seats in the 90-seat legislature, beating the Democratic Unionist Party, which secured 25 seats. It's the first time in Northern Ireland's history that an Irish nationalist party has topped the voting.

But it's not clear whether Sinn Fein will lead a new government because of Northern Ireland's delicate power-sharing politics and ongoing tussles over the legacy of Britain's exit from the European Union.

While Sinn Fein's vice president, Michelle O'Neill, now has the right to the post of first minister, a functioning Northern Ireland Executive  or devolved government  cannot be formed unless the largest unionist party agrees to join in the role of deputy first minister.

In February the DUP's Paul Givan quit as first minister in protest against post-Brexit border arrangements, collapsing the Executive. His party has said it will not return to government unless their demands over the customs arrangements are met.

Leaders in London and Dublin said all parties must now re-establish Northern Ireland's government as soon as possible.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin late Saturday said, "It is now incumbent on all political parties and elected representatives to deliver on their mandate."

"Power-sharing and principles of partnership, equality and mutual respect are at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement, through which peace has been secured and progress achieved for almost 25 years," he added. "A new power-sharing Executive is vital for progress and prosperity for all in Northern Ireland."

In London, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he will meet with party leaders Monday to discuss how to re-establish a functioning government.

Lewis reiterated his position that the U.K. government would like to reach an agreement with the EU to resolve disputes over post-Brexit rules known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The DUP is strongly opposed to the rules, which have imposed customs and border checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. Unionists say the new checks have created a barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. that undermines their British identity.

Britain's Conservative government is trying to get the EU to agree to major changes, but negotiations have reached an impasse.

"The U.K. government's position is we want to secure a deal with the EU. We're very clear about that," Lewis told the BBC Sunday. "We have worked very hard on that for over a year now across a series of conversations. We made proposals. The EU hasn't shown any flexibility."

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said post-Brexit problems are an "obstacle to stability" in Northern Ireland, and that the government in London will take "whatever measures are necessary" to try to resolve it.

"It's clear from the dynamic that we now see that we won't get to that position of stability unless and until it is fixed," Raab said.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price also urged Northern Ireland's political leaders to take the necessary steps to re-establish a functioning government.

Brexit's legacy adds an extra challenge to Northern Ireland's politics, which operates under a delicate system splitting power between the largest British unionist party and largest Irish nationalist party. The system was created by the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement that ended decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict.

If no power-sharing Executive can be formed within six months, a new election may be triggered.
More than 10 U.N. agencies are working on a master plan to rebuild the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which has been pummeled by invading Russian forces for more than two months, assuming Russia is defeated.

The U.N. task force, which is coordinated by the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe, would oversee reconstruction efforts. No one is under any illusion about the difficulties the work would involve, least of all Ihor Terekhov, the Mayor of Kharkiv.

Speaking from Kharkiv, he said work on the master plan is being done under continued Russian shelling. He said it would be necessary to start implementing the reconstruction plan immediately after a Ukrainian victory. He spoke through an interpreter.

After the hostilities, I believe that we will be able to recover the city within a period of two to three years so that the city of Kharkiv becomes even better than it used to be. We will start to rebuild and recover the city as an ideal city of the future, said Terekhov.

Kharkiv is the second-largest city in Ukraine and the capital of eastern Ukraine, the epicenter of fighting. Terekhov said 25% of the citys housing has been destroyed. He said Russia has bombed administrative buildings, schools, hospitals, and kindergartens, turning the citys infrastructure into rubble.

English architect Lord Norman Foster is leading the development of the master plan. He calls this an opportunity to combine the revered heritage of the past with the new technologies needed to create a city of the future.

This is an opportunity to make the city in the future even greater than it was in the past.  It is an opportunity to make it even more vibrant and more pioneering in terms of its trends, its technology, its industryall the things that make a city great, said Lord Foster.

It is not possible to determine how long it would take to rebuild Kharkiv or what it would cost while the war rages. However, the task force sees development of the plan as an act of confidence in the viability of the city and in its future.
The incoming president, who will take office on May 10, will meet Biden on May 21. Yoon, the leader of the worlds 10th-largest economy, expects the Seoul summit will be a pivotal moment toward putting the allies on more equal footing.
Irish rock group U2's frontman Bono and his bandmate The Edge performed a 40-minute concert in a metro station in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Sunday and praised Ukrainians fighting for their freedom from Russia.

"Your president leads the world in the cause of freedom right now ... The people of Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you're fighting for all of us who love freedom," Bono told a crowd of up to 100 gathered inside the Khreshchatyk metro station. He was referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Russia, which calls its action in Ukraine a "special military operation," continues to carry out missile strikes across Ukraine. However, some life has returned to Kyiv even though air raid sirens sound regularly.

Bono rallied the crowd between songs during his performance.

"This evening, 8th of May, shots will ring out in the Ukraine sky, but you'll be free at last. They can take your lives, but they can never take your pride," he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is meeting virtually Sunday with the Group of 7 leaders, who head the worlds largest economies.

The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and the United States are meeting with the Ukrainian leader to show their support for Ukraine as it fights off a Russian invasion that began in February. The G-7 has pledged billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine.

Sundays meeting is a day ahead of Russias annual Victory Day celebration, commemorating the 77th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. The holiday is celebrated across Russia with military parades.

Ukrainian officials had warned its citizens to expect increased shelling in the lead-up to Mondays celebrations in Russia.

In his daily address Saturday, Zelenskyy decried Russias bombing of a museum in the Kharkiv region dedicated to 18th century philosopher and poet Hryhorii Skovoroda.

Zelenskyy said Skovoroda was a man who taught people what a true Christian attitude to life is and how a person can get to know himself.

Zelenskyy said, "Well, it seems that this is a terrible danger for modern Russia -- museums, the Christian attitude to life and people's self-knowledge.

He said Russia has destroyed nearly 200 Ukrainian cultural sites.

Today, the invaders launched a missile strike at Odesa. At a city where almost every street has something memorable, something historical, Zelenskyy said.

Russias invasion of Ukraine should remind every state and every nation that it is impossible to defeat evil once and for all, Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainian officials said Sunday up to 60 people are presumed dead after Russia bombed a school in the eastern Ukrainian village of Bilohorivka. Thirty people were rescued, and two bodies were recovered from the site that was being used as a bomb shelter.

All women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the Mariupol steel works plant besieged by Russian forces, according to Anna Chernikova, a VOA reporter in Kyiv.

The Soviet-era steel mill of Azovstal, the last holdout in Mariupol for Ukrainian forces, has emerged as a symbol of resistance to the wider Russian effort to capture swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine in the 10-week-old war.

The United Nations, which is leading the rescue effort, along with the International Red Cross, is not confirming that the operation has ended.

While under heavy bombardment at the steel plant, fighters and civilians have been trapped for weeks in deep bunkers and tunnels that crisscross the site, with little food, water or medicine.

Russian forces backed by tanks and artillery tried again Saturday to storm Azovstal, Ukraine's military command said, part of a ferocious assault to dislodge the last Ukrainian defenders in the strategic port city on the Sea of Azov.

Mariupol has been left in ruins by weeks of Russian bombardment, and the steel mill has been largely destroyed.

The World Health Organization is gathering evidence for a possible war crimes investigation. The agency said Saturday it has documented Russian attacks on health care facilities in Ukraine.

Reuters reports that WHO Emergencies Director Mike Ryan, on an unannounced visit in Ukraine with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a news conference it was the explicit responsibility of warring parties to avoid attacking health facilities, yet the WHO had documented 200 attacks on hospitals and clinics in the country.

"Intentional attacks on health care facilities are a breach of international humanitarian law and as such  based on investigation and attribution of the attack  represent war crimes in any situation," Ryan said.

"We continue to document and bear witness to these attacks ... and we trust that the U.N. system and the International Criminal Court and others will take the necessary investigations in order to assess the criminal intent behind these attacks."

Russia has denied previous accusations by Ukraine and Western nations of possible war crimes and has also denied targeting civilians in the war.

Ryan said the 200 cases did not represent the totality of attacks on Ukrainian medical facilities, only those the WHO had verified. Kyiv has said there have been around 400 such attacks since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's armed forces Saturday released footage said to show a Russian landing ship being destroyed near Snake Island.

Satellite images taken early Saturday by Planet Labs PBC showed what appeared to be a Serna-class landing ship near Snake Island's northern beach.

That corresponds with the video released by the Ukrainian military said to show a Bayraktar TB2 drone striking it, engulfing the vessel in flames.

Striking Snake Island would impede Russia's efforts to control the Black Sea.

Russia's most senior lawmaker Saturday accused Washington of coordinating military operations in Ukraine which he said amounted to direct U.S. involvement in military action against Russia.

"Washington is essentially coordinating and developing military operations, thereby directly participating in military actions against our country," Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel.

Reuters reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin will send a doomsday message to the West on May 9.

A Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said Friday that Russia has no intention of deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Ukraine.

Russia firmly abides by the principle that there can be no victors in a nuclear war, and it must not be unleashed, Alexei Zaitsev said.

Elsewhere in Eastern Europe. U.S. first lady Jill Biden is in Slovakia on Sunday where she visited a refugee center for Ukrainians housed in a bus station. She had a long conversation with Vikto Kutocha and her 7-year-old daughter, Yulie. Viktoue Kutocha talked about leaving Ukraine, and how cruel the Russian attacks are.

Later, at a school, the first lady interacted with mothers and their children in a Mothers Day activity.

Biden is in Eastern Europe to show support for U.S. troops and Ukraine.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Press and Reuters.
The United States and other leading economies in the Group of Seven nations Sunday agreed to ban or phase out the purchase of Russian oil, directly targeting a major source of income for Moscow to pay for its 10-week invasion of Ukraine.

This will hit hard at the main artery of (Russian President Vladimir) Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the G-7 leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S. said after a virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The U.S. has already ended its purchase of Russian oil, while the 27-nation European Union, which gets about a quarter of its crude oil imports from Russia, has also announced plans to do likewise. It is still in talks on exactly how to end its reliance on Moscows oil.

Putin has failed in his initial military objective to dominate Ukraine  but he has

succeeded in making Russia a global pariah, the White House said in a statement.

Today, the United States, the European Union and G7 committed to ratchet up these costs with further sanctions targeting financial elites in Russia who support Putin, as well as their family members.

The call with Zelenskyy took place on the day the G-7 leaders commemorated the end of World War II in the European theater and as Russia prepared for Mondays annual celebration of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, which it calls Victory Day.

We remain united in our resolve that President Putin must not win his war against Ukraine, the G-7 statement said. We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War.

The G-7 said Putins invasion of Ukraine brings shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people.

As part of Sundays talks, Washington announced new sanctions against three highly watched Russian state television outlets, saying they have been among the largest recipients of foreign revenue, which feeds back to the Russian states revenue.

The U.S. also said it would ban Americans from providing financial services to Russian companies to keep elites from building wealth, thereby generating revenue for Putins war machine, and to trying to hide that wealth and evade sanctions.

The White House statement said the U.S. would also impose further export controls on a wide range of industrial products, to further limit Russias access to items and revenue that could support its military capabilities.

The U.S. said it has already imposed about 2,600 visa restrictions on Russians and Belarusians in response to what it said was their ongoing efforts to undermine Ukraine. Belarus is one of Russias closest allies.

The U.S. government has also sanctioned eight executives at Sberbank, the largest financial institution in Russia; 27 executives from Gazprombank, which handles business by Russias Gazprom, one of the largest natural gas exporters in the world; and Moscow Industrial Bank and its 10 subsidiaries.
U.S. first lady Jill Biden made a surprise visit Sunday to Ukraine, where she met with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska at a school that has been converted into a shelter for people fleeing violence and Russian bombing elsewhere in the country.

Biden crossed the Slovakia-Ukraine border into the city of Uzhhorod in the southwestern corner of the country after visiting with Ukrainian refugees who fled their homeland to Slovakia.

Zelenska, the 44-year-old wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has been in hiding, along with their two children, since the beginning of Russias invasion of Ukraine 10 weeks ago.

Zelenska stepped out of a black SUV that was guarded by a Ukrainian soldier. Biden handed her flowers on Mothers Day and the two hugged before meeting in a small side room at the shelter.

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, Biden said. We thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop, and this war has been brutal. And the people of the U.S. stand with the people of Ukraine.

We feel it, Zelenska responded.

First of all, I would like to thank you for a very courageous act, Zelenska said. Because we understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when the military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day, even today.

We all feel your support and we all feel the leadership of the U.S. president, but we would like to note that the Mothers Day is a very symbolic day for us because we also feel your love and support during such an important day.

U.S. officials said Biden had previously communicated with Zelenska, exchanging correspondence in the last few weeks.

For security reasons, the first ladys visit to Ukraine was not announced ahead of time or on her public schedule. Bidens motorcade was pared down for the drive into Ukraine, and several staffers stayed behind in Slovakia.

Biden and Zelenska talked behind closed doors for more than an hour and then joined children at the center who were doing arts and crafts, making bears out of tissue paper and cardboard.

The visit by a U.S. first lady to a war zone was unusual but not unprecedented.

Laura Bush traveled to Afghanistan in 2005 and 2008.

IN 2015, Michelle Obama visited Qatars al-Udeid Airbase, which was designated a combat zone. Al-Udeid has been used for U.S. military operations in the Middle East.

Some material in this report came from the Associated Press.
Samples extracted from three American tourists who died at a resort in the Bahamas under mysterious circumstances have been sent to a lab in the United States to expedite results and help authorities understand what happened, officials said Monday.

The police commissioner of the Bahamas, Paul Rolle, said officials also collected samples from the rooms where the tourists were staying and the surrounding property to determine whether any contaminants were present.

"We really want to know what caused this," he said.

He identified the victims as Michael Phillips, 68, and wife Robbie Phillips, 65, of Tennessee, and Vincent Paul Chiarella, 64, of Florida. Rolle declined to provide their hometowns.

Chiarella's wife, Donnis, was airlifted to a hospital in Florida and remains in serious condition, Rolle said.

Their bodies were found Friday morning at the Sandals Emerald Bay resort in Exuma, where the couples had been staying in two separate villas.

The samples were sent to a lab in Philadelphia, with results of the toxicology study expected in about a week, Rolle said. He noted that the Bahamas' Department of Environmental Health and police officers are still at the resort.

When asked what he thinks might have caused the tourists' deaths, Rolle said: "I'm not going to speculate."

He noted that all four tourists went to a doctor the night before their bodies were discovered and they had complained of feeling ill. He said they went at different times and had eaten different things.

Meanwhile, Sandals Resorts said it would not comment further beyond its original statement, which noted that it is supporting the investigation and the families of those affected.

"Out of respect for the privacy of our guests, we cannot disclose further information at this time," the company said.

The deaths come seven years after a Delaware family became seriously ill at a resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. authorities determined that methyl bromide, a highly toxic pesticide banned for indoor residential use in 1984, was to blame and had been used at that resort several times.
Rome wild boar red zone to contain swine fever.

Health authorities in the Lazio region around Rome on Saturday moved to contain the potential spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) among the city's wild boar population.

The containment measures concern a large 'red zone' area of the capital in an attempt to stem the highly contagious viral disease which is fatal to pigs and wild hogs but not transmitted to humans.

The ordinance, which comes after a case of swine fever was detected in a dead wild boar in the city's northern Insugherata nature reserve, includes a ban on picnics and the fencing off of bins in the affected area which comprises districts in north and north-west Rome, reaching almost to Vatican City.

It is also forbidden to feed, approach or disturb wild boar in the red zone, while shoes must be disinfected when leaving farmland or nature reserves in the area.

The presence of wild boar carcasses or wild boars that are dying can be reported to the 24-hour toll free number - 803555 - as regional authorities undertake a "census" of all pigs kept on farms in the area, as well as those kept as pets.

The city is obliged to ensure that bins - a regular source of food for the urbanised wild boars - are sealed off or positioned in a way as to impede access for the animals which are called cinghiali in Italian.

Piazza Verbano, in Romes Trieste area, was closed off for 20 minutes today after the arrival of a wild boar. #cinghialipic.twitter.com/UTAGuNe9rP  Wanted in Rome (@wantedinrome) May 6, 2022

Veterinary authorities have increased the surveillance of wild boar, including the testing of dead or dying animals, in the red zone which is surrounded by a larger 'zona di attenzione' north and west of Rome.

Italy's health minister Roberto Speranza said that the situation would receive "maximum attention" from the government, reports Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, amid growing calls for the wild boar population to be culled.

"I respect the sensitivities of animal rights activists and environmentalists, but we are facing an emergency and it must be addressed with emergency measures", said health undersecretary Andrea Costa who told state broadcaster RAI that "a slaughtering plan" was being discussed to "reduce wild boar numbers".

The news comes days after a woman in a north Rome neighbourhood was attacked by wild boar whose increasingly brazen presence on the city's streets makes headlines regularly.

Italian farming organisation Coldiretti estimates that Italy has 2.3 million wild boar, around 20,000 of which are living in the province of Rome.

Details of the swine fever containment measures and a map of the red zone are published on the Regione Lazio website. Photo ANSA.
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The European Union is working toward a ban on imports of oil from Russia, as well as targeting the countrys wider trade through sanctions on shipping insurance. But it needs to realize that reducing Russias oil exports to zero is neither achievable nor desirable. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia are already threatening the blocs unity over a proposal to phase out imports of Russian crude over the next six months and purchases of refined products by the end of the year. They need to be taken seriously, even if their arguments arent accepted in full.

All three countries sit astride the southern leg of the Druzhba pipeline system  more than 3,000 miles of pipes that carry Siberian crude deep into Europe. Their refineries were built specifically to process the particular blend of crude pumped from Russia. And they will all struggle if they are forced to find alternatives by the fall.

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Its true that alternatives are available. The characteristics of the Russian Export Blend Crude Oil, more commonly referred to as Urals crude, can be matched by blending crudes from other places  but it will be more costly. So its not that the refineries in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia wont be able to operate; rather, they wont be able to operate as efficiently or as profitably.

Granting them delays wont derail sanctions, but it will give them a huge financial boost as they continue processing cheap Russian crude, while their competitors are forced to find costlier substitutes.

Of course, thats no reason to abandon the aim of ending Europes purchases of Russian crude. While the bloc should extend the deadline for those countries, it should also require a sequential reduction in the volumes of Russian oil they process over that period  just like the Obama-era sanctions on Iranian crude did for selected Asian customers.

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While the volumes involved arent insignificant, theyre not huge. Data from Russias oil-pipeline monopoly, Transneft PJSC, show combined deliveries of crude to the three countries of about 240,000 barrels a day in 2021. Thats about 10% of the total exports of Russian crude Transneft handled going west last year and less than 7% of total shipments to far abroad  countries beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union.

Its better for the EU to accept the gradual reduction in those volumes than to risk the entire sanctions package.

Imposing sanctions on Russias refined products exports, however, raises a different set of challenges.

Special pleading should hold less sway. Every European country is going to face the issue of securing alternative supplies. Because refined products are made to meet the regulatory standards of customers, there is much less chemical variation than there is among naturally occurring crude oils. Those standards vary in different parts of the world, but diesel fuel produced to meet EU specifications in a Middle Eastern refinery can substitute for a similar product from Russia.

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So, prices are going to go up, but they will go up for everyone. The real questions are: What do we actually mean by Russian refined products? And can we cope without them?

In terms of definition, Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden has now answered the question I posed last week: Is diesel thats produced in an Indian refinery that processes Russian crude considered to be Indian or Russian?

During the companys first-quarter results presentation last week, Beurden said, we do not have systems in the world to trace back whether that particular molecule originated from a geological formation in Russia. In defining what is sanctioned, he added, if a product is substantially treated, reformed, changed it actually loses its origin. In other words, diesel exported from an Indian refinery processing Russian crude should be considered Indian diesel.

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The alternative would be to impose sanctions on all the products from every refinery that processes Russian crude. In a global market where supply is already tight, particularly for diesel-type fuels, that would be economic suicide.

Russian oil will continue to find its way onto the market. But real costs will be inflicted on the countrys oil industry and government revenue. Sanctions on direct refined products exports will hit the refining sector in Russia, and that will reverberate along the oil supply chain to production operations in Siberia and elsewhere. Self-sanctions are already having that effect.

Shutting off the European market, which is Russias closest and most profitable, will force exports to be shipped longer distances. And then sanctions on shipping will add to the cost of delivery. A next step could be the sort of secondary sanctions imposed on Iranian and Venezuelan crude by the U.S., designed to squeeze Russias markets in Asia.

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Perhaps it wont come to that. After all, the purpose of the sanctions is not to inflict economic damage on Russia for its own sake  whatever the Kremlin may say to the contrary  but to persuade Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine. Im not convinced itll work, but thats no reason not to try.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Julian Lee is an oil strategist for Bloomberg First Word. Previously, he was a senior analyst at the Centre for Global Energy Studies.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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There are four major factors in beach erosion: waves, storm surge, real estate and politics. Waves and storm surge commandeer sand according to the bully-dictates of the sea, removing it from targeted locations and redepositing it wherever they fancy  sometimes on a neighboring beach, sometimes on a sandbar, occasionally off into a great beyond from which it will never be seen again.

The sea can move sand pebbles half a mile in a day. California loses more than 2 million cubic yards of sand annually when it is carried offshore and descends into submarine canyons that extend thousands of feet below sea level. The sand never finds its way back to the beach.

Real estate and politics work together to correct the seas failure to honor human imperatives. The sea is stubborn, however, and resisting it is costly. Along the Atlantic coast, the U.S. has spent more than $6 billion replenishing beaches whose sand has gone missing. Floridas Palm Beach County has had its beaches replenished more than 70 times. According to a database at Western Carolina University, taxpayers have spent more than $36 million (in 2018 dollars) for beach replenishment in the town of Palm Beach alone.

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Beach replenishment achieves variable results. Some beaches hold their sand for years. (Miami Beach is one success story.) Others lose it quickly. Just after the turn of this century, San Diego County piled 2.6 million cubic yards of sand from offshore on 12 different county beaches. The project cost $46 million.

A study of one public beach showed how brutally the sea responded. The beachs replenishment was completed near the end of April 2001. Seven months later, on Nov. 22, waves reaching heights of three meters or more pounded the shore for seven hours. By the next morning, the multimillion-dollar public investment had largely disappeared.

One marine scientist likens beach replenishment to sacrificial offerings to an insatiable sea. But governments make the sacrifice because alternatives  including beachless coasts  seem worse. A coastal specialist I spoke to at the Surfriders Foundation, an environmental group thats wary of human intervention in general and opposed to coastal barriers in particular, agreed. She called replenishment the best option among exclusively bad choices.

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Replenishment is not, however, a viable long-term response to a rising sea. A report by Climate Central explains: Warming shrinks glaciers and ice sheets, adding water to the ocean; and also heats up the ocean, expanding it. Over the past two decades, global sea level has risen roughly twice as fast as it did during the 20th century.

That pace is expected to continue to accelerate, and could far exceed most predictions if higher temperatures precipitate a catastrophic polar ice melt. (More than 200 feet of potential sea level rise is captured in the earths ice.) According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sea-level rise will create a profound shift in coastal flooding over the next 30 years by causing tide and storm surge heights to increase and reach further inland. A 2017 U.S. Geological Survey study predicts that two thirds of Southern Californias beaches will largely surrender to the sea by the year 2100.

On the East and Gulf coasts, many barrier islands, loaded with multimillion-dollar homes, sit just a few feet above current sea level, which is another way of saying they may well be a few inches beneath future sea level. Since 1979, sea level has risen twice as fast on the New Jersey coast as it has globally, in part due to subsidence of the land. Much of New Jerseys shore is vulnerable  especially the barrier islands to the south, which tend to be dangerously exposed on their bay sides. But beachfronts up and down the coast will also be targets of an expanding and aggressive sea. So will trillions of dollars in property.

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***

Some mansions in Deal, New Jersey, are sprawling Victorians with bulbous curves and lush lawns. Others are sleek and contemporary, with angular lines and glass walls designed to exploit the kind of ocean views that are exclusive to great wealth. But every mansion in Deal has something in common: Its value has recently been enhanced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps dredged 912,000 cubic yards of sand from the Sea Bright Borrow Area, a sand bank off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and pumped it to three nearby towns  Allenhurst, Loch Arbour and Deal. The dredge operated 24-7, only stopping for rough seas, refueling, maintenance and repairs, Corps spokesperson Nayelli Guerrero told me. It was a $26 million project, the final stage of which is now being completed.

The overwhelming share of the beachfill, 815,000 cubic yards, ended up in Deal. Stephen Carasia, Deals administrator, said the towns ultimate share of the cost might be in the area of $2 million, which is about three-fourths of the cost of a typical home in town. State and federal taxpayers will pick up the rest of the tab.

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Just north of Deal is Long Branch, a town of 30,000 with fewer mansions (typical home price $600,000) and more condominiums. At the end of April, I met there with Jon Miller, director of the coastal engineering research group at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken.

Long Branch was one of the first seaside resorts in the nation. President Ulysses S. Grant vacationed there. Winslow Homer painted its beach. President James Garfield died in Long Branch, where he had been taken in the hope that the sea air might somehow mitigate the effects of an assassins bullet.

Eventually, the town, located about 50 miles south of Manhattan, lost favor with the moneyed and fashionable set. It began to lose its beach as well. By the 1980s, Miller said, there was barely any beach left on this coastal strip of Monmouth County. Miller and I were standing on a boardwalk overlooking the beach on a windy April day. Long Branch had benefited from its own beach nourishment in 2020, and the stretch of sand before us was looking ample. The spring sea was unruly, though; it wasnt hard to imagine what it could accomplish with the aid of a noreaster bearing down, or a hurricane pulsing up the coast later in the year.

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The beach was punctuated by numerous groins, large rock formations perpendicular to the ocean, which beat upon the rocks. Monmouth County has 172 groins, almost as many as New Jerseys other five coastal counties combined. I asked Miller why the groins here were so close together. Groins were one of the first things that people built to try to stabilize the shoreline, and they didnt really care so much about their neighbors or the other towns, Miller said. A lot of these date back to the early 1900s.

A groin interrupts the natural, northward drift of the sand here, enabling a sizable beach to accumulate to its immediate south. Meanwhile, erosion advances on the groins north side, requiring additional efforts  construction of more groins, for example  to stem the sand loss there.

Coastal engineering didnt exist then, so they didnt really know what was going on, Miller said. If you were going to design them today, wed try to design them in a way in which we could control that flow of sand. The whole idea is to kind of slow that movement of sand to the north.

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The north, in the case of Long Branch, is Sandy Hook, a national recreation area separated from the mainland by the Shrewsbury River. Thats where some portion of the sand just deposited in Deal is almost certain to end up. Like a passive investor who never draws down her gains, Sandy Hook has been watching its portfolio grow for generations. According to authors Russell Roberts and Rich Youmans, the lighthouse at Sandy Hook stood 500 feet from the northern tip of the spit in 1764. Today, its well over a mile to the south. With help from the Army Corps of Engineers, and funding from U.S. taxpayers, that distance is sure to grow.

Padding national parkland is far preferable to watching sand be swept off the beach and down an underwater canyon. But its a result of the same quandary: There is only so much you can do to hold sand in place.

The Netherlands, where coastal management is a survival skill, deposits sand on sandbars, and lets the sea distribute it along the shore. But European experience is not always a reliable guide. On Sylt, a German barrier island in the North Sea, beaches along the 25-mile shore were replenished 18 times between 1972 and 2000. The total cost, about 115 billion euros, worked out to a little less than 3 million euros per meter.

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All that, of course, took place before the 21st century spike in sea rise. In the long run, sea level rise will probably make beach nourishment less and less cost-effective, said Miller. In the short term, in the here and now, I think its still beneficial.

Against the rising tide, the government will surely continue to pile sand, particularly on the East Coast, where the track record is less hapless than in California. In their 2014 book, The Last Beach, Orrin H. Pilkey and J. Andrew G. Cooper write:

We anticipate that beach replenishment will continue until the cost of holding a shoreline in place becomes prohibitive due to sea level rise, lack of suitable sand and lack of government funding because of changing priorities. As major cities become threatened by sea level rise, it is certain that protecting them will be a higher priority than preserving tourist beaches.

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Maybe so. Receding beaches and rising costs will likely force some kind of reckoning for the coastal U.S. The continued funneling of public dollars to the millionaires of Deal and Palm Beach hardly seems sustainable. Other wealthy beach dwellers have already paid a high price, watching their homes in North Carolina or California crash into the sea.

Yet given the allure of the beach, and Americas impressive capacity for denial, any reckoning, either with the sea or with the equity of public investment in exclusive beaches, could be decades away. From 2010 to 2017, Florida, New Jersey and North Carolina  three of the states most vulnerable to rising seas and super storms  allowed 9,000 homes to be built in flood zones.

The rationale is not hard to fathom: There is money to be made, and climate worry warts are seldom among those making it. A 1923 study by the New Jersey Board of Commerce & Navigation found the state had lost 2,496 acres of beachfront in the preceding century. Yet a century after that report, the Jersey Shore is alive and generating billions in tourism and ancillary economic activity. So how bad can it get?

Perhaps most important, beach property, on every coast, is concentrated among people with wealth and political power. Its true that rising seas, voracious currents and wave energy are relentless foes. They will chew away at the shore, and the cost of their appetite will continue to rise. In the contest of wills, the sea is destined to prevail.

In the meantime, however, real estate and politics will exercise their considerable power to direct public resources to their own ends. Politics aint beanbag, after all. It turns out real estate isnt either.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering U.S. politics and policy. Previously, he was an editor for the Week, a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.

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J.D. Vance, who just wrapped up the Republican nomination for this years U.S. Senate race in Ohio, once wrote an extended essay for the Atlantic comparing Donald Trump to heroin. Given that background, what makes Vances win so extraordinary is that he prevailed not despite the Trump Factor but specifically because of it. Vance transitioned to a pro-Trump posture years ago and throughout the race enjoyed the enthusiastic support of billionaire Peter Thiel. But what rocketed the Hillbilly Elegy author from third place to first in the polls was Trumps own endorsement.

This reflects a level of political maturity on Trumps part that surpasses his reputation  prioritizing movement-building and the construction of a new Thiel-aligned network over petty personal grievance.

It also reflects an underrated but widespread tendency in American politics: flip-flopping.

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In his book Party Position Change in American Politics, University of Maryland political scientist David Karol shows that, contrary to myth, realignments in the parties views do not require that old-timers be replaced by new cohorts of politicians. This does happen from time to time, as when institutionalist Bob Corker of Tennessee retired from his Senate seat to be replaced by MAGA-enthusiast Marsha Blackburn. But a much more common scenario is for politicians to simply change their minds.

Consider that when abortion first became a national political issue, Congress contained Catholic Democrats from the Northeast who followed their churchs opposition to legal abortion. As a young senator, Joe Biden voted in committee for a constitutional amendment that would allow states to opt out of Roe v Wade, consistent with his 1973 statement that the Supreme Court went too far with its ruling and a 1974 interview in which he said a woman should not have sole right to say what should happen to her body.

By 1982, however, Biden voted against the constitutional amendment he had backed in 1981. By the time of his 1988 presidential run, Democrats had clearly become a pro-choice party, and he had become a pro-choice candidate. This was around the same time that Al Gore discovered his pro-choice convictions, as well, also just in time for a presidential run.

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Trump moved in the opposite direction. In a Meet the Press interview in 1999, when he was flirting with a presidential run as a centrist independent, he described himself as very pro-choice. In the same interview, he also struck a strikingly left-wing (for that time) posture on LGBT issues, saying he favored allowing gay and lesbian soldiers to serve openly in the military and that, while he didnt think the country was ready for same-sex marriage, he personally sympathized with the cause.

Barack Obama, too, when he was a Chicago politician in the late 1990s, backed same-sex marriage equality  only to discover profound religious objections to the idea when he emerged as a national political star in the mid-aughts, and then to rediscover the wisdom of his original view in 2012, just when popular support for gay marriage rose above 50%.

Very often such moves work for the exact same reason that Vance was able to pull off his Trump pivot: Relevant groups agree to vouch for conversions of dubious sincerity.

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Abortion-rights groups strengthened their leverage inside the Democratic Party by taking yes for an answer from flip-floppers such as Biden, Gore and former congressional leaders Dick Gephardt and Harry Reid. If activists had insisted on trying to replace pro-life Democrats with true believers, they would have wasted a lot of time on intraparty fights and also would have discouraged conversions. By befriending anyone willing to vote their way without asking too many questions, they sped the partys change of position. And politicians who agreed to go along got the opportunity to continue their upward ascent and make progress on the issues that mattered most to them.

On the flip side, evangelical organizations willingness to work with the not-very-devout Trump struck a lot of people as shallow, opportunistic and unprincipled. But it got them the Supreme Court that they so desperately wanted.

One of Vances original criticisms of Trump was that he never offers details for how these plans will work, because he cant. Vance wrote that back in 2015 when the conventional wisdom was that Trump would lose, and Vance was trying to position himself as someone whod be able to pick up the pieces. As someone who could provide real answers and real solutions where Trump had only false euphoria that makes some feel better for a bit but cannot fix what ails that.

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Does he now think the former (and possibly future) president has become a detail-oriented wonk with well-crafted solutions for the problems of small-town America? Im not a mind-reader but that seems unlikely. The difference is that if youre a conservative who thinks the pre-Trump Republican Partys policy approach was to let its constituents down in some key ways, it now looks as if the best path forward is to embrace Trump and volunteer to be the person who tries to come up with some of those plans that he cant or wont describe in detail.

There is hypocrisy in this, just as there was hypocrisy in Trumps adopting socially conservative views once it became clear that the GOP was a better host for his long-held skepticism of trade and immigration. But intellectual rigor and consistency are luxuries not well-suited to practical politics. What ultimately matters for Trump or Biden or Vance or anyone else in the arena is whether they are able to accomplish their goals  not whether they adhered to a consistent line along the way.

More from Bloomberg Opinion:

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 Trump Nod Delivers for Ohio Republican: Jonathan Bernstein

 Big Business and Conservatives Face a Divorce: Adrian Wooldridge

 Extremist Ideas Are Not Necessarily Bad Ideas: Tyler Cowen

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Matthew Yglesias is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. A co-founder of and former columnist for Vox, he writes the Slow Boring blog and newsletter. He is author, most recently, of One Billion Americans.

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In 2016, Filipino voters picked a president who will be remembered for his crass pronouncements and a brutal war on drugs. On Monday, if polls are correct, they are poised to elect the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The return of the Marcos clan to the Malacanang Palace may appeal to Filipinos nostalgic for the era of one-family rule. But it doesnt bode well for the countrys future.

Before the pandemic, the Philippines was one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, managing to trend higher despite a narrow manufacturing base and messy politics, and to do so without treacherous borrowing. For all of President Rodrigo Dutertes bombast, his administration did push through some important reforms. These included reducing corporate taxes, introducing incentives for tech investments, and passing legislation allowing full foreign ownership of sectors such as telecoms and airlines.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., known as Bongbong, has said hell press on with Dutertes Build, Build, Build infrastructure campaign and support small businesses and agriculture. But compared with his main opponent, the front-runner has provided little in the way of policy detail, avoiding in-depth interviews or debates. Nor has he acknowledged or apologized for his fathers excesses. Even if voters overlook those shortcomings and elect Marcos, the challenges facing the country will require him to do more than merely operate on autopilot.

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While the economy has rebounded from the depths of the pandemic, the pace of growth is easing. Public debt stood at 61% of gross domestic product at the end of 2021  not yet ringing alarm bells, but hardly a comfortable starting point, not least because Marcos has shown little appetite for fiscal restraint.

The next president will need to pick a credible replacement for Benjamin Diokno, the outgoing governor of the central bank. The government also needs to do more to prepare Filipinos for economic and environmental change. Human capital has been battered by the pandemic and will require investment in remedial schooling and training. Learning poverty, or the share of 10-year-old children who cannot read and understand a simple story, was already close to 70% in 2019 and has likely risen during the pandemic, the World Bank says. Given the countrys vulnerability to natural disasters, the Philippines also should increase investments to help communities and industries build resilience against extreme weather. Unless the country takes action to mitigate the impact of climate change, it could see economic output reduced by as much as 6% annually by the end of the century.

So far, Marcos has given few indications of how he intends to address these challenges. His tenure in parliament has been undistinguished, focused mostly on tinkering with festivals, naming roads, and redrawing city or provincial lines. Dutertes daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, has campaigned with him and will likely be elected as vice president  a combination that promises to prolong the countrys dreary history of transactional, nepotistic politics. Meanwhile, Marcoss open admiration for his fathers kleptocratic regime is hardly reassuring investors hopeful for a return to government transparency and the rule of law.

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Its true that elections in the Philippines tend to focus on personalities, not details. That may well be enough to propel another Marcos to power. Whether it will propel the country to a more prosperous future is another question entirely.

More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:



The Challenge Ahead for the Next President of the Philippines: Daniel Moss



Why the Prospect of a Marcos Victory Isnt Just Politics as Usual: Clara Ferreira Marques

 The Philippines Is a Flashpoint in the New Cold War: Hal Brands

The Editors are members of the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board.

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One morning almost exactly 40 years ago, I was sitting in my rural English home, writing a book about the 1944 D-Day campaign in Normandy. I gazed out of the window, seeking to conjure up a vision of what it was like to be crouched in a bucketing landing craft heading for a hostile shore, amid the overhead crack-boom of a naval bombardment.

By an extraordinary chance of fate, seven weeks later I found myself crouched in a landing craft crammed with Royal Marines hastening toward a hostile shore, amid the concussions of a naval bombardment. How did that weird time-warp microcosm of D-Day come about?

On April 2, 1982, forces of the ruling Argentine military junta inflicted a stunning shock on the British government by invading and occupying the Falkland Islands colony, to which Buenos Aires had long laid claim.

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These pimples on the map of the South Atlantic, with a population of just 1,800, were a piddling hangover of empire 8,000 miles from Britain, and less than an hours flight time from Argentina. Most of us assumed that the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would thus swallow this humiliation; acquiesce in the Argentine aggression.

Not, however, the Iron Lady. Less than three years into her premiership, Thatchers grasp on power at home was precarious. Many people expected her to lose the next general election.

The Falklands were irrelevant to modern Britain. A decade earlier, a previous British government had ruthlessly evicted the indigenous population of the Indian Ocean island possession of Diego Garcia, to accommodate a U.S. air and naval base. My conviction is that the significant difference between the arbitrary treatment of the 924 Diego Garcians  now known as the Chagos Islanders  and the impassioned concern in London for the rights of the Falklanders is that the latter were white.

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Anyway, Thatcher proclaimed her absolute determination of recovering the Falklands by force; to display Britains commitment to undo the coup by the Argentine generals; to assert the right of the islanders to self-determination.

As an old cynic, I have always believed that her principal motive was a belief that if she tamely acquiesced in loss of the islands, her own premiership was probably doomed.

At first, I thought the dispatch of an amphibious task force absurd. It would have been much cheaper to give every islander $10 million to relocate. As a former long-time war correspondent, however, I decided that if there was to be a conflict in the South Atlantic, I wanted to witness it.

There was little competition among my distinguished media colleagues for a berth aboard the small fleet that sailed from Southampton, Portsmouth and Plymouth just after Easter, because few believed there would be a real shoot-out. It seemed ridiculous to suppose that two supposedly civilized nations would fall to killing each others soldiers for possession of this meaningless piece of real estate in the middle of nowhere.

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We knew, from the outset, that the U.S. administration of President Ronald Reagan was desperate to avert a war. The Buenos Aires dictatorship was favored in Washington as a bastion against Latin American communism. Secretary of State Alexander Haig shuttled to and fro between the rival capitals, struggling to find some diplomatic out that must involve a British climbdown. Thatcher, however, while anxious not to fall out with the U.S., remained determined to secure victory at almost any cost.

The skepticism of people who knew something of military affairs was rooted in our knowledge of how threadbare were Britains forces, how difficult it must be to fight in the storm-tossed Atlantic, especially since the scrapping of the Royal Navys last fleet carrier that transported aircraft capable of sustaining long-range radar surveillance. The chiefs of the army, especially, thought the venture recklessly perilous.

The head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Henry Leach, nonetheless told Thatcher he could sail a credible task force. This was not because this wooden-headed old seadog had thought much about the difficulties, but because he glimpsed a unique opportunity to showcase the continuing relevance of sea power in general, and of his own service in particular.

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What followed was one of the most extraordinary, anachronistic little warrior adventures of the 20th century. We sailed with two small carriers bearing a mere 20 Harrier jump-jet fighters, together with two very elderly assault ships that had been intercepted on their way to the scrapyard. These were defended by a scratch assembly of destroyers and frigates armed with missile systems never tested in action. Some 6,000 Royal Marines, airborne troops and support elements were carried aboard a requisitioned cruise liner and a North Sea ferry, along with assorted supply vessels.

We sailed South in an atmosphere of unreality, undiminished by air-raid drills and companies of super-fit young men running relentlessly around the decks in union flag shorts and hideous tattoos. Ashore, the frustrated Haig found his diplomacy getting nowhere. He repeatedly urged the Argentine generals that, if they did not back off, the British would fight. The junta, however, refused to believe him.

The Falklands War emphasized an important lesson of all international affairs: There is no one universal reality. Every nation has its own narrative, as we are witnessing yet again today, in the conduct toward Ukraine of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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In 1982, amid the surge of Argentine popular patriotism that followed the countrys liberation of Los Malvinas  as Latin Americans know the Falklands  a wild conviction grew that the faraway gringos could not undo a fait accompli. Much later, I interviewed Argentine prisoners who cried out: Why did you want to fight us? We never thought you were serious.

During the weeks that followed, as diplomacy waned and then exhausted itself, it became plain that war was coming. On April 25, a British naval squadron staged a dramatic little operation to recapture the Antarctic dependency of South Georgia from its 55- strong Argentine garrison.

A week later, Thatcher inflicted a stunning shock on the Argentine navy. Having proclaimed a total exclusion zone around the Falklands and demanded the invaders withdrawal from the islands, the prime minister authorized the submarine Conqueror to attack the heavy cruiser General Belgrano  formerly the USS Phoenix  which sank with the loss of 323 lives.

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The Argentine air force responded the next day by launching French-built Exocet missiles against the British destroyer Sheffield, killing 21 men. The warship foundered a few days later, under tow in heavy seas. Thereafter, the conflict steadily intensified, with almost daily clashes between Argentine aircraft and the Royal Navys planes and warships.

In the early hours of May 21, British marines and airborne units landed at San Carlos Bay to launch a three-week land campaign to reach the islands capital, Port Stanley. At sea, Argentine air attacks battered the British fleet, sinking a succession of frigates, destroyers and a big container transport ship  but at the cost of unsupportable losses to their own squadrons at the hands of Harrier fighters and sea-to-air missiles

I spent many days and nights ashore with British troops and special forces. The cold, intensified by a wind that seemed never to die, was relentless: We shivered through every darkness. After heavy helicopter losses both to enemy action and maintenance imperatives, men were obliged to march day after day across the sodden peat; to sleep on open, snow-dusted hills, often lacking sleeping bags.

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But beyond one bitter little battle to overrun the strongly-garrisoned Goose Green settlement and several skirmishes between patrols, until the last days there was amazingly little land fighting. It became increasingly apparent to us that the enemy, mostly unwilling conscripts, had little stomach for the struggle. Their pilots were terrific  both proficient and brave  but their bombs often failed to explode, and they were desperately short of missiles.

Argentine commanders, though leading forces that outnumbered the British and better supplied with heavy equipment, lacked spirit to interdict our advance, as any half-decent army would have done. There was a fierce round of June 11-12 fighting for possession of the mountains guarding the approach to Port Stanley, in which scores died. But then the opposition collapsed. On June 14, the Argentine military governor in the Falklands, General Mario Menendez, surrendered. His troops were disarmed and ignominiously shipped home. Britains governance of the Falklands colony was restored

Everybody with Thatchers task force recognized that we had been phenomenally fortunate. This little war, which cost less than a thousand lives on both sides, flattered our armed forces. The Argentines were not a serious foe. British troops were incomparably more skilled, especially in night fighting  almost all the significant land clashes took place in darkness. Argentine officers seemed extraordinarily detached from their men: They relinquished most of the discomforts and hazards of the campaign in favor of warmer billets in Port Stanley.

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Nonetheless, given the excellence of the Argentine air force, Thatcher took a huge gamble by dispatching her fleet. Very little would have needed to go wrong for the British, and right for the junta, for an aircraft carrier to be sunk by Exocets, almost certainly with catastrophic consequences for the whole naval operation.

The British government was at pains to confine its objectives to recapture of the Falklands  there were no special forces attacks on, for instance, Argentine air bases on the mainland. The Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, morally indistinguishable from its counterpart in Buenos Aires, provided critical assistance to the British cause, especially through radar reporting of takeoffs from Argentine air bases.

Meanwhile in Washington, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, almost the only member of the Reagan administration who wholeheartedly supported Thatchers cause, provided vital support. He first authorized access to the U.S. airbase on Ascension Island, then the provision of intelligence data, fuel and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles with which the Royal Navys Harriers were armed.

In the aftermath of the 1982 victory, Britains domestic morale soared, as did Thatchers prestige. Even the left-wing opposition leader Michael Foot felt obliged to say in the House of Commons following the Argentine surrender: I congratulate her.

The Falklands Islands were heavily fortified and garrisoned in the wake of the war. They have since remained a strategic embarrassment to the British defense budget  costing a cumulative $15 billion since hostilities ended  though they remain a national totem that cannot be negotiated away.

When in 1984 I suggested in print that a rational British government would open talks with Buenos Aires about some compromise settlement on Los Malvinas  perhaps a surrender of British sovereignty in exchange for a long-term leaseback  I earned a blistering personal rebuke from the prime minister herself: You of all people, Mr. Hastings, should understand why that is unthinkable.

When the Labour Party secured power in 1997 and I again made the arguments for a deal, Prime Minister Tony Blairs close associate Peter Mandelson leaned across a lunch table and demanded of me with shameless cynicism: Whats in it for us? The tabloid press would go crazy. The Falklands lobby in Parliament would crucify us. The only people who would be impressed are a few wet liberals like you.

People who remember that I witnessed the war still sometimes accost me and say hopefully: Were going to get oil from the Falklands, arent we? They are touchingly eager to hope that something of value will yet come from those islands, to compensate for the expenditure of so much blood and treasure. I respond that oil within those waters is unlikely to prove economically recoverable.

Their flickering candle flame of hope reminds me of the gunfighter in that fabulous movie The Magnificent Seven, who rides into the final shootout just in time to be mortally wounded. As he lies dying in the arms of Yul Brynner, he pleads to be told about the gold he is sure must be buried in the Mexican village: I dont want to die a sucker! Brynner, aka Chris, tells him soothingly there is indeed a great stack of gold. Nobody can honestly say that today about the Falklands.

Thus, those barren islands on the far side of the world continue to fly the Union Flag, and are likely to continue to do so long after I am dead and buried, mostly because the 1982 attempted seizure and its failure made a diplomatic compromise stubbornly unacceptable to British domestic opinion.

Argentina nonetheless became the biggest gainer from its own defeat, which precipitated the collapse of the hated military dictatorship and the revival of democracy.

The South Atlantic campaign was a small war, utterly insignificant by comparison with todays bloodbath in Ukraine. Its saving grace was that, because there were scarcely any civilians in the line of fire, pain and grief were almost exclusively borne by warriors, and not by hapless women and children. Britains armed forces, tiny as they were by American, Russian or Chinese standards, could take pride in what they achieved, offering a master class in professionalism, together with fortitude in the most hostile possible environment.

I still cherish innumerable vignettes of the campaign: of warships tossed on vast waves amid Atlantic storms; of brave men, battling against cold and wet, short rations and moments of terror, trudging doggedly across those barren wastes, bent beneath huge packs; of nights lit by flares, tracers, explosions as Royal Marine commandos and parachute battalions stormed Argentine positions in the usual organized chaos of battle.

Four decades on, I find myself bleakly reflecting that Britain was able to make the decision to fight for the Falklands, in part because Argentina possessed no nuclear weapons to deter us, such as the Kremlin threatens to unleash today. A Latin American military junta was the right-sized enemy for 1982 Britain.

We came home comfortably convinced that virtue had triumphed; that the good guys had won, and moreover achieved victory inside three months. Thus, the usual short attention span of a democracy was not tested to destruction.

Wars are seldom that obliging. Six years ago, I addressed 400 young U.S. Marine officers at Quantico, Virginia, about the Falklands campaign. If you are very fortunate in your long and distinguished service careers, I told them, you may get to fight an enemy as incompetent as the Argentines. More likely, however, you will have to meet enemies who know their business. Gosh, we were lucky.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:



When Generals Must Play Politics, Wars Get Lost: Max Hastings



As Putin Gets Desperate, U.S. Should Remember Pearl Harbor: Hal Brands



Japans Path to World War II Shows Risks of Trumps Huawei Ban: James Gibney

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Max Hastings is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former editor in chief of the Daily Telegraph and the London Evening Standard, he is author, most recently, of Operation Pedestal: The Fleet That Battled to Malta, 1942.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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BEIRUT  Thousands of Lebanese living in nearly 50 countries cast their early ballots Sunday in the countrys closely watched parliamentary elections, days after a similar vote was held in 10 predominantly Muslim nations. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine. ArrowRight About 195,000 Lebanese had registered to vote Sunday in 48 countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, European Union member states and several African nations.

The vote in Lebanon takes place May 15.

Among those voting Sunday are many Lebanese who fled the country over the past two years during a historic economic meltdown. The downturn has been blamed on decades of corruption and mismanagement by the political class that has been running the small nation since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

Parliamentary elections are held once every four years and the last vote in 2018 gave majority seats to the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its allies.

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The vote this year for the 128-member legislature is the first since the economic and financial crisis began in October 2019 leading to nationwide protests. It is also the first vote held since the massive Aug. 4, 2020 blast at Beiruts port that killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and caused widespread damage in the capital.

In the United Arab Emirates, dozens braved the Persian Gulf heat to wait in long lines at the Lebanese consulate in Dubai on Sunday.

Although many of the Lebanese had emigrated to the Arab financial hub to escape their countrys mounting crises, the atmosphere was joyous as voters snapped selfies showing off inky fingers and blasted patriotic pop music.

This is not change, said Kamal Shehadi, an executive driven to Dubai by Lebanons government corruption, voting on Sunday for environmentalist and private sector candidates. Its the march of a thousand steps, and this would be step four or five if were lucky to get a few of our people elected.

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In other countries, divisions between Lebanese surfaced.

In France, several voters almost came to blows when one shouted at two supporters of President Michel Aouns Free Patriotic Movement, which is politically allied with Hezbollah.

You have brought the country to collapse. You have no honor or national sentiments, the man screamed. The tense standoff mirrored divisions at home, where Lebanese are deeply fragmented along sectarian and ideological lines.

Little change was expected from the vote as mainstream political parties and politicians remained strong going into the vote while opposition figures are fractured. Western-backed mainstream parties are hoping to strip the parliamentary majority from Hezbollah, while many independents are hoping to break through traditional party lists and candidates.

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A registered 194,348 voters will cast their ballots at 192 polling stations around the world, many of them at Lebanese diplomatic missions.

During Fridays vote, 59.45% of the registered 30,929 voters cast their ballots, according to Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib.

Lebanons parliament is equally divided between Christians and Muslims. The new legislature will elect a new president after President Michel Aouns term ends in October.

After official results are out following next weeks vote in Lebanon, the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati will become a caretaker administration until the president calls for consultations with newly elected legislators to name a new prime minister.

More than 70% of the countrys 6 million inhabitants, including 1 million Syrian refugees, now live in poverty as a result of the economic crisis, which was described by the World Bank as one the worlds worst since the 1850s.

The crisis made tens of thousands lose their jobs while the Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value since the meltdown began.

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LONDON  Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys surrender in 1945.

Cutting out Russian oil supplies will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement.

We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies, they added.

Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.

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We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community, they said.

U.S. President Joe Bidens call with the G-7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.

Italy Prime Minister Mario Draghis office said in a statement that the G-7 leaders reiterated the commitment to diversify energy sources, reducing. dependence on Russian supplies. Italy, heavily dependent on Russian natural gas when the war began, has since secured several agreements for alternative gas supplies from other countries. Draghi is scheduled to meet with Biden in Washington on Tuesday.

The U.S. also announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. They include cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian, and piling additional restrictions on Russias industrial sector, including cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

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The White House announced the new sanctions ahead of the May 9 Victory Day, when Russia traditionally celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with huge military parades.

Putin is expected to talk about what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine and address troops on Red Square on Monday.

The U.S. and European allies were seeking to offer counter-messaging that Putin is further isolating Russia from the rest of the world and doing enormous harm to the Russian economy.

The new round of U.S. sanctions will hit three of Russias most popular television stations in Russia  Channel One Russia, Russia-1, and NTV  that the U.S. has said have been at the forefront of spreading misinformation about Russias prosecution of the invasion.

The Biden administration said the new sanctions prohibiting U.S. accounting and consulting firms from doing business in Russia will help thwart Russian companies and elites from getting help to obscure their wealth and evade an avalanche of sanctions that have already been enacted.

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The U.S. also said it imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials and issued a new visa restriction policy that applies to Russian military officials and authorities.

The U.S. sanctioned 27 executives from Gazprombank, a bank that facilitates sales by Russias Gazprom, one of the largest natural gas exporters in the world, with Europe. The sanctions are the first time that the U.S. has hit the bank that plays a critical role Russias considerable gas exports, but the move stops well short of the full blocking sanctions that the U.S. has hit other big Russian banks.

Ahead of the call, U.K. officials said Britain will provide an extra 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support to Ukraine to help the nation defend itself against Russian forces.

The funding, which comes from British government reserves, includes 300 million pounds of military kit promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this week, such as radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment and night vision devices.

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Ukraine Sunday, touring the northern town of Irpin, which had been heavily damaged by Russias attempt to take the capital of Kyiv at the start of the war. The mayor on Sunday posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeaus office later said the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

Jill Biden also made an unannounced visit on Sunday, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting in western Ukraine with first lady Olena Zelenska. Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old war with Russia.

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I wanted to come on Mothers Day, the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a televised address that Sunday was a May 8th like no other.

He said Germany has worked hard to own up to its actions during World War II, reconciling with both Russia and Ukraine and committing itself to the concept of never again. But Russias barbaric invasion of Ukraine in February has brought war back to Europe, Scholz said, a prospect that once seemed unthinkable.

Freedom and security will prevail -- just as freedom and security triumphed over lack of freedom, violence and dictatorship 77 years ago, Scholz said in his address.

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German Bundestag President Barbel Bas, the second highest-ranking German official after the president, met Sunday with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and attended a memorial event honoring the anniversary of the end of World War II.

We really appreciate that on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation itself, and in what for us is such a trying time of war, the President of the German Bundestag Barbel Bas came to support Ukraine, said a post published Sunday on Zelenskyys Telegram channel.

___

Madhani reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Emily Schultheis in Berlin contributed to this report.

___

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Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Book critics Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp cast their eyes over recent fiction and non-fiction releases. Here are their reviews. Fiction pick of the week Credit: The Colony

Audrey Magee, Faber, $29.99 Audrey Magees latest novel is set on a tiny island off Irelands west coast where the dwindling local population still speaks Irish as their first language. Two outsiders arrive one summer in 1979. Mr Lloyd is a London artist whose marriage and career are in a rut; he has rented a cottage to paint the rugged coastal landscape. Jean-Pierre Masson is a French linguist, a defender of endangered languages, who has devoted successive summers to recording spoken Irish there. James, one of the islands few teenagers, becomes a go-between when the two men take an instant dislike to one another, and as his artistic talent becomes clear, the terrorist violence of the Troubles rears its head. The Colony is a luminous neo-colonial parable, though its light is blanched and wan and draws bleak relief from the weight of Irish literary tradition.

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Credit: Careering

Daisy Buchanan, Sphere, $32.99 The double meaning in the title of Daisy Buchanans second book encapsulates it in a word. Careering is about spiralling out of control, but also partakes of the millennial trend for performative verbification: it covers careering in the same sense as adulting. Buchanan has written a sharp-eyed satire on toxic work culture in journalism and publishing. Two women, Harri and Imogen, are exploited by the industry they love. Harri has slaved away at Panache magazine, sacrificing her happiness in pursuit of ambition, only to be sidelined when the top editing job comes up. Sex blogger Imogen has always had to hustle to survive as a writer among the precariat, and when Harri offers her a secure gig, it seems like a lifeline. But dream jobs dont exist, and the novels savage, black comic critique of contemporary workplace culture would make anyone look twice at the anti-work movement. Credit: The Teeth of a Slow Machine

Andrew Roff, Wakefield, $29.95

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South Australian writer Andrew Roff debuts with a suite of speculative short stories that blends formal invention and dark humour, often using bizarre gambits to capture the absurdity and melancholy of the way we live now. Its a rangy collection featuring everything from capitalist satire to more intimate experimental stuff. Clandestine operatives of a KFC-like fast-food company plot vengeance on any who would dare steal the corporations secret recipe. An archaeologist paid by a mining company to work against Indigenous cultural interests is visited by a strange disorder that makes her faint and commit extraordinary acts of kindness. Other stories offer the keys to love through puzzle-like narrative structure or computer code. Roff writes with precision, and this volume possesses an imaginative scope that consistently defies category, upends expectation and rebels against any sort of formula or received idea for what Australian fiction should look like. Credit: Run and Hide

Pankaj Mishra, Hutchinson Heinemann, $32.99 Class tensions and the rising tide of illiberalism in contemporary India are laid bare in Pankaj Mishras Run and Hide. Translator Arun and his friends come from poor backgrounds  one is a Dalit, an untouchable, who becomes a Wall Street billionaire, another has reinvented himself as a novelist and pundit who speaks to the petit-bourgeois aspirations of Indias sizeable middle class. But Arun himself resists the pursuit of wealth and, while he proves a stark observer of the rise of nationalist sentiment that swept Modi into power, of the corruption and arrogance of Indias elites, his perspective can also be annoyingly schematic and lacking in nuance.

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Mishra imbues him with a single-minded social imagination, less apt for fiction than one capable of delving deeply into complexities of human experience, and the novel is hamstrung by it. Non-fiction pick of the week Credit: The Jane Austen Remedy

Ruth Wilson, Allen & Unwin, $32.99 While Ruth Wilson would never make such a claim for herself, she emerges from this discreet, wry memoir as quietly defiant as any heroine from the Jane Austen novels she so admires. A passionate reader who had absorbed Austens ideas about companionable partnerships, she was shocked to feel like a second-class citizen in the republic of marriage. She had expected to be the author of her own life, but it was the 1950s and her husband had the final word. In her seventies, she finally began to grapple with the malaise that had slowly overtaken her, retreating to a cottage in the country where she revisited Austens oeuvre. With her favourite author as her guide, she found a way to live on her own terms. All lovers of literature will relish Wilsons skilful study of how the books we love become woven into the fabric of our lives, evolving with us as we age and helping us to keep growing up.

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Credit: How to Lose Friends and Influence White People

Antoinette Lattouf, Vintage, $34.99 Youre not here to make friends, or keep the ones you have, a powerful male media figure told Antoinette Lattouf, journalist and outspoken co-founder of Media Diversity Australia. Were these words of encouragement, warning or both? Living with these mixed messages is part of life for Lattouf, who knows too well the consequences of speaking truth to power about racism. Giving an ironic twist to the self-help classic How to Win Friends and Influence People, she offers savvy and hard-earned advice on how all of us can play a part in challenging and dismantling the systems and assumptions scaffolding white privilege. Real change starts, she argues, with self-education, especially on the part of whites, and with the understanding that it wont always be easy or comfortable. A valuable roadmap for venturing beyond our comfort zones, as individuals and as a society. Credit: Rebel

Rahaf Mohammed, Macmillan, $34.99

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On December 1, 2003  the day before her reality show The Simple Life premiered on US television  Paris Hilton was taken aside by her mother, Kathy.

She said to me: Tomorrow, when this airs on television, your life is going to change forever, Hilton recalls. I want you to remember to remain the same down-to-earth person you are, never let this go to your head and never change.

And thats something I have held in my heart ever since. Ive seen a lot of people come and go, and I have seen a lot of people let it go to their head. I have never been one of those people, I have always remained the same person.

Paris Hilton spoke to the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Age from the set of a new ad campaign for Uber Eats.

The 41-year-old influencer, a great-granddaughter of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton, spoke to The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age on the set of a new ad campaign for Uber Eats which, like many brands, sees value in leveraging her audience: 18.7 million on Instagram, 16.9 million on Twitter and 6 million on TikTok.
TEHRAN, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran's foreign minister said on Friday the "wrong maximum pressure policy" of the United States is to blame for the status quo on the revival of a 2015 nuclear pact.

Making the remarks in a phone conversation with Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian slammed the approval of a recent non-binding motion in the U.S. Senate that seeks to bar the administration of President Joe Biden from possibly removing the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' terrorist designation, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry's website.

The Iranian top diplomat said Iran and the U.S. continue to exchange messages indirectly through the European Union over the revival of the nuclear deal.

Amir-Abdollahian stressed that the U.S. must make a "realistic" and "brave" decision to compensate for its "wrong" approach in the past to reach a lasting, strong and fair deal.

Describing Iran's initiatives in the Vienna talks as important, Guterres hoped the negotiations would continue until a "favorable" agreement was reached.

Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the U.S.-led sanctions. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA in retaliation.

Since April 2021, eight rounds of talks have been held in the Austrian capital of Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties, including China, Britain, France, Russia and Germany, to revive the pact. The U.S. has been indirectly involved in the negotiations as it has quit the deal.

Iran insists on obtaining guarantees that the succeeding U.S. administrations would not drop the deal again and calls for lifting the sanctions in a verifiable manner. 
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Unless youve been living in a parallel dimension, youve probably noticed the idea of the multiverse is so hot right now. The latest Doctor Strange movie is the most obvious example, with the concept getting an explicit shout-out in its title (Multiverse of Madness), but its become more and more common across the Marvel Cinematic Universe (including in the first Doctor Strange movie) in recent times. Last years Spider-Man: No Way Home deployed the multiverse concept as a way to unite three big-name actors who had played the character on the big screen, with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield teaming up with Tom Holland to save the world. Tom Holland and Benedict Cumberbatch in 2021s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which heavily featured the multiverse in its storyline. Credit:Matt Kennedy/Marvel But the Marvel machine doesnt have a monopoly on the idea that there are multiple universes in which other versions of ourselves might lead lives that are both similar to and distinct from our own. This years indie hit Everything Everywhere All At Once mines the concept for laughs, action and genuine philosophical probing. The French art-house film Petite Maman borrows from the concept without fanfare or explanation in a gentle story about two young girls who meet in a forest and discover they have an uncommon bond. The Apple TV+ crime thriller Shining Girls doesnt mention it once across its eight episodes, but the idea of a multiplicity of selves following different paths to different outcomes inhabits its every frame. Were certainly having a moment right now, says Tom Taylor, a Melbourne-based comic-book writer who has worked extensively for Marvel and DC, and whose animated series The Deep has just notched its fourth season on Netflix. People really respond because anything can happen, the storytelling has so many possibilities.

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In a typical Marvel movie, he says, you know the superhero will be OK in the end. But in a multiverse story you never know what to expect. The character trajectories are endless and unexpected. Were taken out of our comfort zone by a multiverse, and thats exciting for an audience and for a writer. At its most basic level, says Geraint Lewis, professor of astrophysics at the University of Sydney, the idea is simply that our universe is just one space in this larger space, which we call the multiverse. Michelle Yeoh stars as Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Credit:Roadshow In this simple model, the other universes operate exactly like ours: light travels at the same speed, gravity behaves the same way, atoms bond in the way they do in our universe. But there are also competing theories of the multiverse, including a belief that those other universes might be governed by laws of physics that are not the same as those that apply in ours. Lewis says that in one iteration of this theory there could be an infinite number of universes, most of them sterile places incapable of supporting life. We dont have any robust evidence of this, he adds, but it does serve a useful function in theoretical physics. It helps explain why our universe has the characteristics it does. Without it, were left with questions that have us scratching our head. In effect, the idea of a multiverse not governed by a uniform set of physical laws allows for a scientific solution to the biggest puzzle of all. If there is not a multiverse we are left with the question of why this universe was created with the laws of physics that allow for life to exist, Lewis says. The multiverse, in essence, presents as a scientific alternative to the God question. Tamara Davis, professor of astrophysics at the University of Queensland, says the idea that there is more than one universe is pretty widely accepted among scientists these days. The possibility that those universes may be governed by different laws to ours also inhabits a reasonably solid plane of belief, even though we dont know and cant prove if it does or does not exist.

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Where science and science-fiction (or speculative fiction) part ways, says Davis, is in the realm of parallel worlds, the idea that the same event, the same person, but with slight variations, can exist in different worlds. Elisabeth Moss as aspiring reporter Kirby Mazrachi in Shining Girls. Credit:Apple TV+ This is the stuff were seeing play out on our screens right now, and it owes much to what Davis calls one of the logical but wild extrapolations of quantum physics  that anything that could have happened has happened. The many-worlds theory says any time theres a 50-50 chance of anything and there is a bifurcation, both outcomes did occur, and you just found yourself on one of those paths, but an alternative you continued on the other path. Loading Everything Everywhere All At Once is a perfect example of this on screen, with its heroine Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) tapping into the many lives she has lived in other universes in order to overcome a force that threatens to destroy her own. But while its useful for storytelling, Davis says this conception of the multiverse is not especially popular among scientists. Its an extremely wasteful theory because every interaction an atom has with another atom creates an entirely different universe.

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Ultimately, what underpins the idea of the multiverse is mathematics as much as science. It depends, says Lewis, on a model that churns out infinite universes and somewhere the conditions for life eventually emerge. Its a game of chance  like the idea that lots of monkeys bashing away at keyboards will ultimately produce the works of Shakespeare. In theory it could, but it takes a lot of monkeys, and a lot of keyboards. But how are we supposed to get from one universe to another? Typically, the answer is a wormhole, portal, incursion, or some other mechanism that brings the ostensibly parallel existences into proximity. Is there any support for this notion in science? Well, yes and no. Loading Wormholes between universes are hypothetical structures, so they are a possibility, says Lewis. It is possible to devise mathematical models that support the notion that wormholes could exist within the general theory of relativity, but to make the models work we need exotic matter to curve and bend spacetime  and we simply dont know if we can find and engineer such exotic matter into the correct concentration and distribution to make a wormhole a theoretical reality. In other words, he concludes, they might exist in the mathematics, but not exist physically in the universe. So, how much of this fictional version of the multiverse is supported by the science?

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Jozef Szustka cites one overriding reason for becoming a supporter of Clive Palmers United Australia Party: Daniel Andrews.

The 72-year-old Polish migrant, who trained as an electrical engineer and is now retired, says that for most of his four decades in Australia, he cast informal ballots.

Jozef Szustka at a meet and greet with Craig Kelly and his United Australia Party representatives. Credit:Chris Hopkins

But over the past six months, he has started to support the UAP out of frustration at vaccine mandates, major parties that have no accountability and no connection, and cancel culture.

At the 2019 federal election, Clive Palmers United Australia Party received 3.6 per cent of the lower house vote in Victoria and 3.4 per cent in NSW. The most recent Resolve poll, conducted for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, put its Victorian vote at 7 per cent compared with 6 per cent in Queensland and 3 per cent in NSW.

The party is now targeting, with some success, more mainstream voters in Labors heartland regions of the north and west of Melbourne, where economic anxiety is a key issue.

Read the full story here.
For Anne Ryan, Mothers Day will be a nightmare just like every other day.

It has been three months since the ordinary Thursday afternoon when she found her 16-year-old daughter Brooke dead in her bedroom, lying face down and already stiff with a spray can of deodorant and a tea towel underneath her.

Anne Ryan lost her daughter Brooke, 16, in February and is speaking up to warn other parents about inhalant abuse. Credit:Andrew Gosling

The Broken Hill teenager, a talented athlete and bright student, had apparently been sniffing aerosols - also known as chroming, huffing, or inhalant abuse - a dangerous trend that public health experts warn is on the rise among young children and teenagers.

I wake up, I think of her, I go to sleep and think of her, and you wish, you wish [you could bring her back], but you just cant, Ryan said. Every day is a nightmare.
This statistic, known as excess mortality, is important as it tells us Australians are dying from the virus rather than from another cause while they are infected. While more than three-quarters of COVID-19 deaths in Australia have been people aged 70 and over, they include eight children aged under nine, five 10-to-19 year olds, and 30 people in their 20s. A lone passenger on a Melbourne tram. Credit:Jason South Epidemiologist Mike Toole, an associate of Melbournes Burnet Institute, said he was astonished that the increase in deaths wasnt being addressed during the federal election campaign. We were told earlier in the year dont look at the case numbers, look at hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths, Toole said. Ive been looking at them and theyre going up.

Toole estimated that the virus would be in the top five leading causes of death for 2022. He noted that there has been 272 COVID-19 deaths in the past week. I learned that a Boeing 737-800, which is the most common domestic plane used in Australia, carries 184 passengers and crew, he said. So, were reporting more than a 737 crashing every week. Victoria recorded 502 COVID-19 cases in hospital on Friday, the first time the number has exceeded 500 since February 11. The state, meanwhile, surpassed 3000 COVID deaths this week, almost half of which occurred this year.

It is still the state with the highest number of deaths, despite NSW recording the most so far in 2022. The reason Australia is recording so many deaths is not due to a high death rate, but instead increased transmission and cases. Since mid-April, we have been either first or second in the world for new COVID-19 cases per person, trading places back and forth with New Zealand. This doesnt include countries with fewer than 200,000 people and doesnt account for US under-reporting due to the country not mandating the reporting of positive rapid antigen tests.

Meanwhile, hospitalisations doubled across Australia between March 12 and April 24  mostly in NSW and Queensland  and have continued to rise. But while cases, and therefore deaths, are soaring, the fatality rate has been decreasing. In 2020, we had 900 deaths from 28,000 cases  one in every 31 cases  while in 2021 we had 1330 deaths from 360,000 cases, or one in 271. This year, weve had more than 5000 deaths, but weve had 5.4 million cases. Thats one in 1080 cases. The difference is that were now highly vaccinated and the Omicron variant is milder than its predecessor, Delta. Loading

Toole said he was troubled that we were heading into winter  when COVID rates could rise  with our heads in the sand. He said both political parties were avoiding the subject: Labor because it doesnt want people to think its planning more lockdowns and the Coalition because it wants us to focus on its earlier success in handling the pandemic. Professor Nancy Baxter, head of the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne, said both parties federally were running campaigns as if COVID-19 didnt exist. [Its the] the biggest medical emergency or challenge that weve ever faced, and continue to face, and yet you hear nothing, she said. Theres no actual meaningful discussion or debate around management of the pandemic. In Victoria, Baxter said Premier Daniel Andrews, who faces an election in November, also no longer wants to be attacked over strict restrictions in the state.

While COVID cases and deaths are surging, the fatality rate has been decreasing. Credit:Jason South She said low childhood vaccination and third-shot booster rates, along with the relaxation of mask and isolation restrictions while still in the peak of the Omicron wave, were leading to increased transmission. Its the [more than] 1000 people who have died in April who have lost out, she said. Theres more people sick, more people dying and more people with long COVID. Baxter worries that if cases increase again with a new variant, Australians wont be willing to wear masks or stay home again. Loading

Weve been told this is over, and its done, and we shouldnt have to worry about that any more, she said. Karen Dawson, who is recovering from a March mastectomy after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, said it was hard to watch people let their guard down while she and others with compromised health had to remain cautious. The more vulnerable people have been forgotten, she said. There [are] people you talk to who dont take it seriously, who say its just a cold. Its irresponsible. Although she finds peoples complacency frustrating, Dawson, who was hospitalised twice and lost 20 kilos during chemotherapy, said she preferred to focus on what she could do to stay safe. Her husband, Paul, suffers from a rare chronic illness. The couple, who live in Kilmore, north of Melbourne, dont see friends or family who have had COVID for a few weeks after their infections.
In an unusual display of unity before the Colorado Supreme Court, both the government and inmate Nathanael E. Owens agreed that he was entitled to have his parole eligibility date calculated in a way that would move his potential release date one year earlier.
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Mother's Voice

I, in the U.S., heard my mother's voice one minute after she passed away in China. In November 2012, about one month before my mother was gone, I received the book Heaven is for Real, a present from an American friend. I read it from cover to cover, and by the time I finished it, I found it convincing, so I sent an e-mail to thank the friend with Heaven is Real! as the subject. The next day, I received from my brother in China a message telling me our mother died in the hospital at 3:35 P.M. (U.S. Central Time) the previous day. When I went back to check the time that I sent the email to the friend, I was astonished to find it was 3:36 P.M., which was one minute after my mother died. Heaven is Real! must be her message to me from heaven. My mother was, I think, using numbers as her voice to let me know that it was she who was delivering the news to me. She once was a mathematics teacher in China. This time in her afterlife, her voice sounded like a digital voice. I recall her real voice in her life. Any news? A high and clear voice was at the other end of the phone line, full of excitement. It was my mother's voice I used to hear weekly when I called my parents in China for a routine hello on weekends from the U.S. Whenever my answer was No news, she never said something like, No news is good news. Instead, she liked to say, Then save your time and money. I'm busy with housework." Then she would hand the phone over to my father, as if she already got the whole picture of me just by hearing a few words. My father and I might go on for a long chat; a lower and unclear voice of my mother appeared in the background from time to time, and I felt she was still available if I needed her. This voice of my mother can no longer be heard. Since her death, however, her voice comes to me again and again from different moments of her life. Once, I had a high fever when I was a toddler. My father carried me in his arms and rushed to the hospital. My mother accompanied him in a panic with her scared and sobbing voice all the way to the hospital, Baby --, baby --, what's wrong? What's wrong? ... My fault! ... My fault! The fever was gone quickly in the hospital, and I played around like a normal kid right away. When we went home, I reported to my grandmother, Mommy cried, Mommy cried! Shame, shame! Everyone laughed, including my mother, but she laughed with tears. During my third-grade year, one day I refused to go to school because I thought my parents treated my brother better than me. I got very upset about the unfairness. To protest, I left home, wandering along the country road without a destination in my mind. My mother followed me, keeping a distance and calling my name repeatedly in a soft and comforting voice. After being followed for about an hour, I realized my thought about my parents' treatment was wrong. I was just too sensitive and they didn't mean to treat my brother and me differently at all. It was getting dark. I calmed down, ran back to my mother's chest, and said to her, Mom, I'm sorry for making you walk so long. Let's go home. She smiled with relief and said, That's all right, my silly girl. See, everyone is equal - YOU walk, I walk. We laughed and hugged. I returned to school the next day. Later I learned from my father that my mother quit her job as a middle school mathematics teacher a few months after I was born. She wanted to raise me - her first child - as a full-time mom. In fact, with the arrival of my brother, and my father's stroke in his sixties, my mother never returned to her work. She had been a full-time housewife, taking care of her children and her partially paralyzed husband, silently. My mother didn't want to read the memoir my father finished in 2006; it was dedicated to my mother, brother and me. The memoir is mainly about our family's painful experiences during the Cultural Revolution in China, and, because of political sensitivity, it cannot be published publicly in China. As a high school Chinese teacher, my father was wrongly labeled as a counter-revolutionary. He was sent to the countryside to work as a peasant for eight years to reform until the end of 1978 (The Cultural Revolution was officially over in 1976). Because of the persecution he suffered, my mother, during that dark time, endured much pain and humiliation. From the memoir, I learned that one night my mother was screaming, Help me! ... Someone help me! in a very painful voice, at our apartment, alone. She was going into labor with my brother, but my father had been taken away that day, being subjected to a struggle session, which was common during the Cultural Revolution (at such a struggle session, in front of hundreds or thousands of people, a victim was criticized and even physically abused until he or she confessed to imaginary crimes). Fortunately, a neighbor heard my mother's screaming and reported it to the organizer of the struggle session. My father was allowed to take a break to take my mother to the hospital. On the way, my mother's water broke. Shortly after they arrived at the hospital, my brother came out with sharp and nonstop crying; he must have been scared. Everyone who read my father's memoir couldn't put it down and was moved to tears. My mother, however, didn't read it. The reason was, I figured, revisiting the hardships she went through was too painful, but the best explanation perhaps can only be found in her own sad voice: I knew everything in the book. I would rather read my plants and flowers. My mother was talking about her hobby - growing her plants and flowers. She treated them like her babies, reading them and talking to them every day, her voice gentle and peaceful. One weekend in October 2011, I heard mother's severe and constant coughing over the phone. The coughing made it hard for her to speak; she managed to come out one word at a time to tell me not to worry about her. Ten months later, she became very ill. I videotaped my mother when I went back to China to see her in the hospital three months before she passed away. She was unaware of the severity of her illness and didn't realize we might not have a chance to see each other again. As a matter of fact, it turned out the day of being videotaped was one of her happiest days in my memory. She enjoyed being my movie star. Her big smile, tears of joy, straight talking, and humor were so delightful that I completely forgot she was a patient, a dying patient. She has become my favorite movie star - no makeup, no acting - just gray hair, pure eyes, warm face, and joyful voice. Thinking back on all these memories about my mother, I feel her voice is so vivid that she seems still alive to me. Although I can no longer hear my mother in real life, I look forward to continuing to hear her voice from heaven ...... (Originally written in January 2013, one month after my mother passed away in China)   Mother's Voice - CBA7 -  (wenxuecity.com)  Mother's Voice - CBA7 -  (wenxuecity.com)

CBA7  2022-05-10 19:17:34

 ''  : 



  2022-05-10 09:57:54

So touching! 

CBA7  2022-05-08 20:22:08

 ''  : The book is: Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo



Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, Paperback, October 31, 2010

by Todd Burpo



  2022-05-08 18:01:45

 'wonderingjew'  : +1



Heaven is Real!

CBA7  2022-05-08 06:27:36





wonderingjew  2022-05-08 06:11:13

C
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Airbus said Wednesday that its profit in the first three months of 2022 more than tripled to 1.22 billion euros ($1.28 billion), helped by an increase in aircraft deliveries as airlines recover from the worst of the pandemic.

Airbus said it plans to speed up production of its A320 family of planes that compete with Boeing 737s to 75 per month by 2025. To hit that rate, Toulouse, France-based Airbus will build a second final assembly line at its plant in Mobile, Alabama, CEO Guillaume Faury told reporters.

The ramp-up in A320 production builds on a current Airbus goal to build 65 A320s a month by the middle of 2023. The company hopes to take advantage of strong demand for short- and medium-range planes. Boeing is also trying to churn out more 737 Max jets but is producing only about 30 a month.

Richard Aboulafia, an analyst for the consultant AeroDynamic Advisory, said Airbus aggressive plans should worry the European companys rival, Chicago-based Boeing Co.

The market for single-aisle jets is extremely strong, and the A321neo is doing particularly well, Aboulafia said. He said Airbus objective is to gain 70% of that market, leaving only 30% for Boeing, and they just might get there.

While it is forging ahead with ambitious production plans, Airbus suffered a setback in building a new plane, the A321 XLR. Airbus now expects the plane to begin carrying passengers in early 2024, not late 2023. Airbus has encountered more difficulty than it anticipated in meeting certification requirements set by Europes aviation regulator.

The market for narrowbody planes like the A320 and 737 families is much stronger than demand for bigger, two-aisle widebody planes that are mostly for long-haul international flights  a segment of the travel market that has been slower to recover.

Some analysts question whether the supply chain is strong enough to let Airbus hit production targets. Airbus officials said on a call with analysts that suppliers have assured the company they can produce the necessary parts.

Airbus said, however, that Russias invasion of Ukraine and the resulting ban on Russian imports has increased the companys exposure to supply-chain disruptions. Before the sanctions, the company used titanium from Russia in aircraft parts.

In the first quarter, Airbus delivered 142 airline planes, up from 125 a year ago. Revenue rose 15% from a year earlier, to 12 billion euros ($12.645 billion).

The company stood by its targets of delivering 720 airliners this year and producing 5.5 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in adjusted profit before taxes, even with rising risks due to the complex geopolitical and economic environment, Faury said.
MONTREAL - As Quebecs contentious language law heads closer to adoption, the provinces business community is growing increasingly anxious about what it could mean for their bottom line, with some companies considering leaving entirely.

Coalition Avenir du Quebec leader Francois Legault, right, speaks to Chamber of Commerce President Michel Leblanc, in Montreal, Friday, Sept. 28, 2018. As Quebecs contentious language law wends toward likely adoption this spring, the provinces business community is growing increasingly anxious about the impact on operations, from the bottom line to daily communication -- or decamping entirely. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

MONTREAL - As Quebecs contentious language law heads closer to adoption, the provinces business community is growing increasingly anxious about what it could mean for their bottom line, with some companies considering leaving entirely.

Known as Bill 96, the legislation would impose tougher language requirements on small businesses and companies in federally regulated industries, such as banking and telecommunications, as well as governments and schools. The bill is expected to pass before the legislature breaks for the summer.

On top of strengthening 1977's Charter of the French Language  the province's signature language law usually known as Bill 101  the legislation would apply to tens of thousands of previously exempt businesses.

If it passed, companies with 25 employees or more would be subject to francization  government certification that use of French is generalized in the workplace  down from 50 currently. The bill also assigns new powers to the French-language watchdog and sets tighter language rules for professional orders.

The cost for a roughly 50-employee company would range between $9.5 million and $23.5 million, according to estimates from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Expenses range from fees for translation and legal services to administrative burdens, such as creating a workplace assessment to ensure French permeates all corners of the company.

An internal or public complaint could trigger an investigation from the provincial Office quebecois de la langue francaise. The watchdog can also demand on its own initiative that a business between 25 and 100 workers form a francization committee, another expense for smaller companies.

Other provisions beef up existing protections of the charter.

One clause bars employers from demanding proficiency in a language other than French unless they can show the job demands it and that all reasonable avenues were explored to steer clear of the requirement. Currently, requiring another language as condition of employment is allowed only if "the nature of the duties requires such knowledge," Bill 101 states.

The high thresholds risk driving head offices from Quebec and hampering the province's export economy, trade associations say.

Companies in Quebec have to be able to have bilingual employees and be able to service outside buyers in English, Michel Leblanc, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, said in a phone interview.

We want companies to be able to decide when they should hire bilingual people.

On top of strengthening the prominence of French on signs and posters, the legislation also requires businesses to draw up employment contracts and other documents in French.

That's not doable. We have companies in Quebec doing businesses with companies all over the world, Leblanc said, adding that French does need some special protections.

Amid a labour shortage in industries like fashion and food services, many stores increasingly look to students  including those from out of province or country  to staff counters and stock shelves, with the possibility that some will stay on and integrate post-graduation. Now that door will largely close, since many of those students do not speak fluent French, he said.

Outfits affected range from retail stores to small, international tech companies as well as big federal firms.

The language office estimates Quebec is home to about 20,000 businesses of between 25 and 49 workers.

Thousands more work for companies that fall under federal jurisdiction. Former Crown corporations such as Air Canada and Canadian National Railway Co. are already subject to the federal Official Languages Act, which requires them to provide services in English or French on request. But most federally regulated companies are not included in that 53-year-old legislation.

As of 2013, nearly 135,000 employees in Quebec worked at 1,760 federally regulated companies not subject to provincial or national language laws, according to a study by the federal Innovation, Science and Economic Development department. Now, all would be.

Even if those companies claim they are not beholden to the provincial legislation, a proposed federal law aims to ensure compliance.

Reintroduced in March after first being tabled last June, the Liberals' Bill 13 requires companies under federal jurisdiction that are not currently subject to the Charter of the French Language or the federal Official Languages Act to either submit to Quebecs rules on French in the workplace or to a parallel regime on track for passage in Ottawa.

Litigation is another potential drain on corporate time and accounts.

As it stands, incidents of non-compliance are worked out between the company and the watchdog, with negotiable compliance timelines. Bill 96 would change that process.

Now any Quebec resident who feels that in an interaction with a business their rights under the Charter of the French Language have not been satisfied  could make a claim for damages, said Alexandre Fallon, a partner at Osler law firm in Montreal.

Even if an agreement is reached with the regulator, private litigation could still ensue.

Customer service encounters, receipts, brochures, product packaging, menus and advertising could all form the basis for a case.

Businesses small and large are very worried, Fallon said.

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It upsets the environment of trust, added Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of the Quebec Community Groups Network.

Business groups ranging from the Quebec Retail Council to the Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters and the Council of Canadian Innovators are asking the government to soften its rules  particularly around francization  to offer supports to businesses that undergo it and to extend compliance deadlines.

But Giovanni Bisciglia, leader of the nascent Centrist Party of Quebec, which has applied to the province's chief electoral officer for authorization, questions whether Premier Francois Legault's government hears the concerns of anxious business owners.

The anglophones are accusing the francophones, the francophones are accusing the anglophones. They're making monsters of each other and both claiming they're victims of each other, he said.

No one is communicating.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2022.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an unannounced visit Sunday to Ukraine, where he reopened the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv and expressed unwavering support for the embattled country.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks in Ottawa, Monday, May 2, 2022. The Prime Minister's Office says Trudeau has made an unannounced visit to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an unannounced visit Sunday to Ukraine, where he reopened the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv and expressed unwavering support for the embattled country.

Trudeau met Volodymyr Zelenskyy in person for the first time since Russia began its invasion in late February, appearing with the Ukrainian president at a news conference.

He announced $50 million in fresh Canadian military support for Ukraine, including drone cameras, satellite imagery, small arms and ammunition, as well as funding for demining operations.

Canada is giving $25 million to the World Food Program for food security in Ukraine and will remove trade tariffs on all Ukrainian imports coming to Canada for the next year, Trudeau said.

In addition, Ottawa is levying sanctions on 40 more Russian individuals and entities  oligarchs and close associates of the regime and the defence sector, all complicit in Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine, he said.

Canada is also providing money to support and protect women's organizations, human rights defenders and civil society, Trudeau added.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly joined Trudeau on the trip.

They began the day in Irpin, a city badly damaged during Russia's attempt to take Kyiv early in the war.

Trudeau said he witnessed the resilience of Ukrainians as people rebuild their shattered world.

"It was a true inspiration to see people step up to defend their lives, defend their community, defend a bright future for themselves, for the families in the country they love," he said.

"It is clear that Vladimir Putin is responsible for heinous war crimes. There must be accountability. Canada will support Ukraine as you seek justice for your people who Russia is killing and brutalizing."

Canada began scaling down its diplomatic presence in Ukraine in late January as intelligence warned of an impending Russian invasion.

Representatives from most western countries fled Ukraine as the war erupted, but more than two dozen have already gone back, even as the conflict drags on.

Several of Canada's G7 allies have already returned to Kyiv  France and Italy the third week of April, and the United Kingdom as of last week.

On Sunday, Trudeau, Freeland and Joly arrived at the embassy in Kyiv with a heavily armed security detail.

Larisa Galadza, Canada's ambassador to Ukraine, joined them in a flag-raising ceremony. They ended up raising the flag at the side of the building after the first flagpole chosen turned out to be broken.

"I think its a testament to how the Ukrainian people have been so strong and resilient," Trudeau said.

"And having our Canadian flag fly over the streets of Kyiv once again is just another testament to the strength and solidarity of Canadians and Ukrainians, and how we continue to be with them.

The Canadian Press was made aware of Trudeau's trip on the condition it not be reported until it was made public, for security reasons.

The Associated Press reported that Jill Biden made a surprise visit to the western part of Ukraine today to meet Olena Zelenska, the first lady, for Mother's Day.

Other world leaders have travelled to Kyiv in recent weeks to show solidarity with Ukraine, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also went to Kyiv last week.

The public itinerary for Trudeau posted Saturday suggested he would be in the National Capital Region Sunday and taking part in a meeting of G7 leaders on the situation in Ukraine. However, the itinerary was updated Sunday to note Trudeau's presence in Kyiv.

G7 leaders collectively committed Sunday to phasing out dependency on Russian energy in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies, and to prohibit or otherwise prevent the provision of key services on which Moscow depends.

They also pledged to continue to take action against Russian banks connected to the global economy, to fight Russian propaganda and to elevate their campaign against financial elites and family members who support Putin.

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Trudeau's visit took place as dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead after a Russian bomb destroyed a school sheltering about 90 people in the eastern part of the country.

The governor of Luhansk province said Sunday that 30 people were rescued from the rubble of the school in the village of Bilohorivka but the rest probably didn't survive.

Elsewhere, more explosions rocked the Black Sea port of Odesa.

Ukrainian soldiers making a last stand at a steel mill in the besieged city of Mariupol said they wouldn't surrender following the evacuation of civilians from the sprawling site.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2022.

 With files from The Associated Press
KUUJJUAQ, Que. - The usual excitement over the end of the school year in Nunavik is reaching a new level, as hundreds of students get ready to present special projects to the country's first Indigenous Governor General.

Governor General Mary Simon, left, meets Quebec Premier Francois Legault Wednesday, May 4, 2022 in Quebec City. Simon's tour of the Nunavik region of northern Quebec this week marks the first time she's been on an official visit to the area where she grew up since she was appointed to the viceregal office in July 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

KUUJJUAQ, Que. - The usual excitement over the end of the school year in Nunavik is reaching a new level, as hundreds of students get ready to present special projects to the country's first Indigenous Governor General.

Mary Simon's tour of the Nunavik region of northern Quebec this week marks the first time she's been on an official visit to the area where she grew up since she was appointed to the viceregal office in July 2021.

The five-day trip is scheduled to include visits to four schools as well as youth groups, highlighting one of the priorities Simon has set while in office of promoting education and physical and mental health for youth.

Students and teachers have been preparing arts projects and anticipating the visit for more than a month.

"The fact that students will be able to interact with her in their own first language is something very special," said Jade Duchesneau Bernier, the communications coordinator for Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, the school board of Nunavik.

While Simon's inability to speak French has been controversial  sparking hundreds of complaints and an investigation by the official languages watchdog  her fluency in Inuktitut is an asset for this particular tour.

"It's very rare that we have government officials who know what the North is about, who the Inuit are, what their culture is, what their language is," Duchesneau Bernier said.

Simon's visit to the northernmost part of the province comes just days after she met with Quebec Premier Francois Legault, who told reporters she still has "more work to do" to improve her French language skills.

Simon has said she is committed to learning French on the job but was denied the chance to do so while attending a federal day school in her youth.

She was born near Kangiqsualujjuaq, an Inuit village in Nunavik, in 1947. Her mother Nany May, whose family surname was Angnatuk-Askew, was Inuk and her father, Bob Mardon May, had moved to the Arctic to work for the Hudson's Bay Co. and stayed.

She and her siblings went to federal day school in Kuujjuaq, then called Fort Chimo. She was home-schooled by her father after Grade 6.

Simon, 74, has been a leader in the North for the last four decades. She served as president of Makivik Corp., the Nunavik land-claim body, and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national Inuit organization.

She was Canadas first ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs and also served as the countrys ambassador to Denmark.

On her first day in Kuujjuaq, Simon is set to meet representatives from Makivik, Kativik Regional Government, Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services and the school board before sitting down with the mayor and council.

The itinerary also includes organizations that focus on holistic methods of treating trauma and addiction in a region that is grappling with the effects of colonialism, with high rates of alcohol abuse, suicide risk and social inequities.

The Isuarsivik Recovery Centre, for example, focuses on blending traditional Inuit values and modern practices. It offers six-week in-patient programs for groups of nine men or women, helping them heal from trauma and overcome addictions, at no cost.

Simon will visit a new centre, set to open next year, that will include an in-patient family program. That approach was recognized in March with an Arctic Inspiration Prize worth $1 million.

Simon plans to speak with Inuit leaders and local officials, meet with elders and take part in cultural celebrations throughout the week.

Her husband, author and journalist Whit Fraser, 79, is also part of the official trip in his role as the viceregal consort of Canada.

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Simon is well known for her role in negotiating and implementing the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement between the Cree and Inuit of northern Quebec, the provincial government and Hydro-Quebec in 1975.

Considered the first modern treaty in Canada, the deal affirmed Inuit and Cree hunting and trapping rights in the area and established $225 million in compensation over 20 years in exchange for construction of hydroelectric dams.

During her time as Circumpolar Affairs ambassador, she led negotiations to create what is now known as the eight-country Arctic Council. She also worked a producer and announcer for CBC North.

In 2016, she served as special adviser on the Arctic to Carolyn Bennett, who was then Indigenous and northern affairs minister, and proposed Indigenous-protected areas in the North.

Pita Aatami, president of Makivik Corp., said in a statement when Simon was named as Canada's next Governor General: "In Nunavik, we all know our new Governor General as Mary."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2022
Flood-hit communities in Manitoba are bracing for two Colorado lows to dump heavy rain this week, as the storms threaten to prolong the exhausting fight against high water levels.

Flood-hit communities in Manitoba are bracing for two Colorado lows to dump heavy rain this week, as the storms threaten to prolong the exhausting fight against high water levels.

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for much of southern Manitoba and some central areas.

The forecaster said widespread amounts of 20 to 30 mm are expected Monday, as the first low-pressure system moves in from the Dakotas.

The storm could bring 15 to 30 millimetres of rain to the Red River Valley and 10 to 25 mm to the Interlake, said Scott Kehler, president and chief scientist of Weatherlogics.

There is a chance of isolated higher amounts in thunderstorms.

"It certainly will worsen the flood scenario," Kehler said of the two low-pressure systems, after a series of Colorado lows dumped large amounts of snow and rain earlier this spring. "There are a lot of areas that dont need the rain."

The second storm is forecast to hit Thursday, although the exact track and rainfall amounts are still unclear.

Between 15 to 30 mm is possible in the Red River Valley and 25 mm or more in the Interlake and western Manitoba.

"It looks like a larger storm overall, but the impacts will be tricky to predict until we get closer," said Kehler.

He said the number of Colorado lows to hit Manitoba this spring is unusual.

"Im almost losing count at this point," he added. "With these strong Colorado lows, that kind of activity becomes a lot more common the further you get into summer, when theyre fuelled by warm and humid air."

Manitobas flood forecasters are expecting a total of 40 to 60 mm of rain this week, with higher amounts possible in some localized areas. The province said water level forecasts will be updated to determine the impacts on flood zones.

The predictions bring more gloom to residents of the Red River Valley and Interlake, whove been dealing with flooding for more than a week.

A flood in Peguis First Nation has forced about 1,600 residents to leave their homes and affected more than 700 residences.

An ice jam caused the Fisher River to inundate the community about 170 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, after an earlier prediction said the probability of a spring flood was low.

Last week, the province said the river was expected to recede within its banks on or around Monday.

South of Winnipeg, the Red was expected to crest in Emerson on Sunday, and elsewhere by the end of this week.

According to the pre-rainfall forecast, peak flows are expected to continue for five to seven days before water levels gradually recede.

Rural residents are using boats, including this one at the dike on the north side of Morris, to get to and from the town. RM of Morris Reeve Ralph Groening said about 70 people in the municipality have left their homes due to flooded roads. (CHRIS KITCHING / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES)

A peak similar to 2009 is expected in Emerson, while levels to the north are likely to be between the peaks of 2009 and 2011.

Flood expert Joe Doering, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Manitoba, expects this weeks rainfall to sustain the rivers peak.

"Its kind of dragging it on," he said.

He said its premature to predict the precise impact of back-to-back Colorado lows.

"We need to sit tight and see how much rain we get and the extent of the watershed it covers," said Doering. "Its going to push water levels in the valley, but there is still a modest amount of freeboard available for the elevation of community ring dikes."

Dave Carlson, reeve of the Municipality of Emerson-Franklin, is hoping water levels dont rise again.

"Well just have to monitor it and do the best we can," he said. "Hopefully, there wont be as much rain as theyre saying. It potentially could prolong the peak."

Carlson said he is concerned about strong winds in Mondays forecast, after powerful gusts on Saturday led to more erosion and pushed around debris in floodwaters.

Rural Municipality of Morris Reeve Ralph Groening said an extended peak will heap more work and pressure on flood-affected municipalities, and more stress on residents.

"Were watching, with some concern, the proposed weather system coming," he said. "Were close to the end, but the rain is an unwelcome addition to whats been a six-week flood fight. Our staff are weary, and the residents, as well."

Groening said about 70 people in the RM of Morris have left their homes due to flooded roads.

Evacuation notices have been given to at least 190 homes in the RM of Ritchot.

Communities and most individual properties in the Reds flood zone are protected by ring dikes or other upgrades made since the Flood of the Century in 1997.

Many gravel roads and some bridges are submerged, and farmers fields have been turned into lakes.

Once the water recedes, said Doering, rural municipalities will have to examine their infrastructure to determine how to lessen the impact of future floods.

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"Were clearly seeing that culverts are not large enough, and bridges and roads are not high enough," he said.

The RM of Morris is building a database of damaged roads that will undergo repairs in the weeks or months to come.

"An extended flood crest will certainly add to that," said Groening, noting the municipality is waiting for the province to announce a disaster financial assistance program.

At least 26 municipalities have declared local states of emergency. The total doesnt include First Nations, including Peguis, which have also declared emergencies.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  More than 60 people were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school being used as a shelter, Ukrainian officials said, while Moscow's forces pressed their attack on defenders inside Mariupol's steel plant in an apparent race to capture the city ahead of Russia's Victory Day holiday.

A territorial defence man poses for a photo next to cars destroyed during the Russian occupation in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on Saturday, May 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  More than 60 people were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school being used as a shelter, Ukrainian officials said, while Moscow's forces pressed their attack on defenders inside Mariupol's steel plant in an apparent race to capture the city ahead of Russia's Victory Day holiday.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was appalled by the reported school bombing Saturday in the eastern village of Bilohorivka and called it another reminder that it is civilians that pay the highest price in war.

Authorities said about 90 people were sheltering in the basement. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, but "most likely all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk province, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said. Luhansk is part of the Donbas, the industrial heartland in the east that Russia's forces are working to capture.

As Moscow prepared to celebrate the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany with a Victory Day military parade on Monday, a lineup of Western leaders and celebrities made surprise visits to Ukraine in a show of support.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden met with her Ukrainian counterpart. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised his countrys flag at its embassy in Kyiv. And U2's Bono, alongside bandmate The Edge, performed in a Kyiv subway station that had been used as a bomb shelter, singing the 1960s song Stand by Me.

Smoke rises from the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal in Mariupol during shelling, in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, May 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)

The acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Kristina Kvien, posted a picture of herself at the American Embassy, and described plans for the eventual U.S. return to the Ukrainian capital after Moscow's forces abandoned their effort to storm Kyiv weeks ago and began focusing on the capture of the Donbas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others warned in recent days that Russian attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, and some cities declared curfews or cautioned people against gathering in public. Russian President Vladimir Putin may want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square.

They have nothing to celebrate tomorrow, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN. They have not succeeded in defeating the Ukrainians. They have not succeeded in dividing the world or dividing NATO. And they have only succeeded in isolating themselves internationally and becoming a pariah state around the globe.

Russian forces struggled to complete their takeover of Mariupol, which has been largely reduced to rubble. The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making what appeared to be their last stand was the only part of the city not under Russian control.

The last of the women, children and older civilians who were taking shelter with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. Buses carrying over 170 evacuees from the steelworks and other parts of Mariupol arrived in the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, U.N. officials said.

The Ukrainian defenders in the steel mill have rejected deadlines set by the Russians for laying down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment, a unit holding the steel mill, said the site was targeted overnight by warplanes, artillery and tanks.

A family who fled from Myrne in a towed car work on repairing it upon their arrival to a reception center for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2022. Thousands of Ukrainian continue to leave Russian occupied areas. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

We are under constant shelling, he said online, adding that Russian ground troops tried to storm the plant  a claim Russian officials denied in recent days  and lay mines. Palamar reported a multitude of casualties."

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant but declined to reveal how many able-bodied fighters remained. He said fighters didn't have lifesaving equipment and had to dig by hand to free people from bunkers that had collapsed under the shelling.

Surrender for us is unacceptable because we cannot grant such a gift to the enemy," Samoilenko said.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the defenders.

On the economic front, leaders from the Group of Seven industrial democracies pledged to ban or phase out imports of Russian oil. The G-7 consists of the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.

The United States also announced new sanctions against Russia, cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest TV stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services, and cutting off Russia's industrial sector from wood products, industrial engines, boilers and bulldozers.

Trudeau met with Zelenskyy and made a surprise visit to Irpin, which was damaged in Russias attempt to take Kyiv. The Ukrainian president also met with the German parliament speaker, Barbel Bas, in Kyiv to discuss further defense assistance.

Ivan Andreiev who fled from Mariupol with his family kisses his cat Leonardo upon his arrival to a reception center for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2022. Thousands of Ukrainian continue to leave Russian occupied areas. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Jill Biden visited western Ukraine for a surprise Mothers Day meeting with Zelenskyy's wife, Olena Zelenska.

Zelenskyy released a video address marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russias invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism. The black-and-white footage showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, a Kyiv suburb.

Zelenskyy said that generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of the words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow not to allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Elsewhere, on Ukraines coast, explosions echoed again across the major Black Sea port of Odesa. At least five blasts were heard, according to local media.

The Ukrainian military said Moscow was focusing its main efforts on destroying airfield infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine.

In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days. A satellite image by Planet Labs showed smoke rising from two sites on the island.

But Moscow's forces showed no sign of backing down in the south. Satellite photos show Russia has put armored vehicles and missile systems at a small base in the Crimean Peninsula.

The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeast near Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, is making significant progress, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank.

However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from the embattled eastern city of Popasna, regional authorities said.

Rodion Miroshnik, a representative of the pro-Kremlin, separatist Luhansk Peoples Republic, said its forces and Russian troops had captured most of Popasna after two months of fierce fighting.

The Kharkiv regional administration said three people were killed in shelling of the town of Bogodukhiv, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Kharkiv city.

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South of Kharkiv, in Dnipropetrovsk province, the governor said a 12-year-old boy was killed by a cluster munition that he found after a Russian attack. An international treaty bans the use of such explosives, but neither Russia nor Ukraine has signed the agreement.

This war is treacherous, the governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, wrote on social media. It is near, even when it is invisible.

___

Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Construction started last month on the -mile stretch of Hwy. 43/Mankato Avenue between Sugar Loaf View and Belleview St. Now through early November, Hoffman Construction, a Minnesota Department of Transportation contractor, is reconstructing the road to improve safety and reduce congestion.

Here is a look at the work being completed right now, and whats to come later this month.

Current work

Between now and mid-May, construction is focused on the Hwy. 61/Hwy. 43 intersection and along Hwy. 61. The number of travel lanes there have been reduced temporarily. Please plan on longer travel times when driving through the area, and keep an eye out for turn lanes, zipper merge and lane closure signs in the work zone.

Crews have been building a temporary road on east side of Hwy. 61 to assist when roundabout work begins in mid-May.

Looking ahead

The work zone will get busier and traffic congestion will likely increase in mid-May. Starting in mid-May, work will move along the west side of Hwy. 43/Mankato Avenue. Crews will close access to the businesses on the west side of the street one at a time, leaving the remaining accesses open. Parks Avenue, near Dairy Queen and Winona Health, will be the first intersection that is temporarily closed during this phase of work.

Access to East Lake Boulevard near the corner of Hwy. 43/61 will also be closed beginning in mid-May, and there will be no through traffic on East Lake Boulevard. If you live on East

Michael Dougherty is director of public engagement and communications, Minnesota Department of Transportation, District 6.

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A group of students heard from a veteran of the Vietnam War before heading to the nations capital this summer. It was an opportunity to hear what went on before seeing the memorials in a few weeks.

This year marks the return of Bartels Middle School students heading to Washington, D.C. Jace Merrill was helping sell brat and baked goods at VFW Hall 1707 in Portage on Friday afternoon.

Merrill, an eighth-grader, he said he is excited for the trip to D.C. beginning June 12.

Students worked together with the VFW to put the brat fry and bake sale together, explained Susi Smalley, Merrills mother.

We thought it would be a great idea to work with the VFW to help raise funds, Smalley said. Its a really good way for the VFW to work together with the students and the parents for a common goal.

Vietnam Veteran Ron Woodard cooked the brats for the brat fry at the VFW Hall. Woodard also cooks brats for the Concert at the Portage series at the VFW Hall, 215 W. Collins St., every Wednesday night during the summer from June 1, when the Portage High School Band will play, through Aug. 31, when Swing Crew plays.

It was really good for the students to hear some of Rons stories before they go to D.C., Smalley said. They will see the Vietnam War memorial wall and will have a little background for what it really means.

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Potstickers with a crispy edge in Saigon point to Taiwan

Whenever Taiwanese cuisine is mentioned in Vietnam, the first term that pops up is tra sua or milk tea. Theres much more to it, of course.

Similarly, one assumes that the best place to find Taiwanese food, which many consider a derivative of Chinese cuisine, would likely be Cho Lon or its somewhat blurred geographical boundaries extended over numerous decades thanks to Vietnamese-Chinese influence.

Well, assume again.

Once Vietnam embarked on its Doi Moi, or open-door policy more than three decades ago, Taiwanese merchants were one of the first to arrive in Ho Chi Minh City, seeking affordable labor and land to start factories.

Today, most of this activity in the country's south continues in Binh Duong province and Ho Chi Minh City's Binh Tan District where the Taiwanese shoe manufacturing industry flourishes. It is here that one can find samples of authentic Taiwanese cuisine.

And it is here that one comes across a dish that's a treat for the eyes and the palate - "snowdust" potstickers - an iconic highlight of Taiwanese cuisine.

A plate of snowdust potstickers (L) at Cuu Long Sui Cao Restaurant in HCMC's Binh Tan District is served next to dumplings with garlic and chili sauce. Photo to by Mervin Lee

Situated on Ten Lua, one of Binh Tan District's widest roads, Cuu Long Sui Cao (Jiulong Shuijiao in Mandarin) is one of many Taiwanese eateries in the vicinity that cater to hungry Taiwanese expats seeking a taste of home.

The name of the restaurant is somewhat of a misnomerCuu Long can mean Hong Kong's Kowloon or a collective region in Vietnam's southwestern Mekong Delta area, and the word Sui Cao likely triggers memories of yellow lye-dyed Cantonese-style soup dumplings filled with shrimp and/or meat.

Indeed, Taiwanese chef and Cuu Long owner Cheng Jenyu serves up formidable plates of pale white Northern-Chinese dumplings filled with chives and minced pork, but the star of the show at Jiulong Shuijiao happens to be rather unique to the humble joint itselfTaiwanese potstickers.



The making of snowdust potstickers at Sui Cao Cuu Long: Dumpling wrappers are filled with pork and shrimp and pulled by hand. Photos by Mervin Lee

"Non-Taiwanese customers often ask me whether this is Japanese gyoza!" Cheng said, explaining how the restaurant's signature snowdust potstickers resemble gyoza cooked with a similar layer of crispy, burnt battercommonly seen at places that serve ramen.

We did not attempt to investigate the dishs debatable origin, but the purpose of this crunchy layer goes beyond "trypophobia" and taste."It helps you judge the doneness (of the potstickers) when you fry them," Cheng said.

The popularity of Cheng's dumplings and potstickers means a team of at least four nimble-handed ladies making more than 2,000 pieces a day. Unlike typical dumplings which are pinched and sealed, potstickers start their life as typical dumpling wrappers which are pulled by hand after fillings like pork and shrimp are added. The final action of pulling them to completion is itself a testimony of how elastic the dough has to be to make al dente potstickers.



Women make potstickers at Cuu Long Sui Cao. Photo by Mervin Lee
Over 2,000 health care workers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are set to strike Monday, May 9 to demand improved staffing levels, higher pay and better protections against the COVID-19 pandemic. Striking workers include certified nursing assistants, sterile processing technicians, transporters, environmental services, plant operations, surgical technicians, and foodservice technicians who are members of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW).

The strike at Cedar-Sinai is the latest in a wave of struggles by health care workers against exhausting workloads, the refusal by the giant hospital chains to hire sufficient staff and the eating up of their paychecks by surging gas, food and other living expenses.

The Cedars Sinai Medical Center is located in the West Hollywood District of Los Angeles, near Beverly Hills (median income $120,000), where most hospital service workers earning around $17 an hour cannot afford to live. Management has resisted giving anything beyond token wage increases, despite reporting a record $1 billion in profits last year, a 222 percent increase from 2020.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center workers walk outside the hospital, in Los Angeles on Jan. 5, 2021. [AP Photo/Chris Pizzello]

These are the same problems facing all health care workers. Instead of uniting workers in a common fight, the health care unions have isolated each section of workers, blocked strikes or limited their impact. The Los Angeles strike takes place less a week after the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement (CRONA) shut down a powerful weeklong strike by 5,000 Stanford Health nurses and imposed a contract, which did nothing to address their demands for safe staffing levels and substantial raises.

Although there is widespread support for an all-out strike against Cedars Sinai, which paid its top executive $5.6 million last year, SEIU-UHW officials plan to end the walkout in five days. The strike is also limited to 13 percent of the hospitals workforce because the California Nurses Association and other unions are keeping their members on the job.

There is widespread support from rank-and-file workers who voted by 93 percent last month to support the strike. Several posted comments on the unions social media outlets to express their determination to fight.

Its shameful that right here in Beverly Hills, healthcare workers are struggling to support their families on $17 an hour. Yet, Cedars-Sinai pays its executives millions, said Yudis Cruza certified nursing assistant. Cedars should invest more in their low-wage front-line caregivers and less in highly paid executives that rarely interact with patients.

Workers are rushed, stressed out and stretched thin, which causes longer wait times for patients and delays in care, declared Jose Sanchez, a lead transporter at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Luz Oglesby, a clinical partner at Cedars-Sinai said, Management doesnt seem to take patient or worker safety seriously, in our latest round of bargaining, Cedars-Sinai rejected our proposals on PPE stockpiles, COVID exposure notifications, keeping pregnant and immunocompromised workers away from COVID patients, and other safety measures.

The pandemic continues to be a major fueling the struggle of health care workers. Many workers are suspicious that the Medical Center is hiding the actual number of its staff that has been infected with the coronavirus.

In April, the State of Californias CAL/OSHA agency issued seven citations against Cedars-Sinai for violating health safety regulations. Four of these citations were classified as serious violations related to the hospitals weak COVID-19 measures. Last fall the hospital received its next to lowest rating (D) from the Leapfrog organizations Hospital Safety Group, down from a C grade in 2021, in large measure as a result of understaffing and overworked employees.

Since the pandemic, health care workers have had to confront death at an unprecedented rate. In addition to risking exposure to a deadly pathogen on a regular basis, they have also had to deal with severe mental health issues, including PTSD, which has become common among hospital staff. Tragically, a nurse at Kaiser Permantes Santa Clara Medical Center committed suicide last month. Recent reports have shown that up to 90 percent of nurses are considering leaving the profession by the end of the year.

Although health care workers have been touted to as heroes during the last two years, they are now made to bear the blame for the failures of the hospital administration. Radonda Vaught, a Tennessee nurse working at Vanderbilt, was recently convicted for the death of a patient caused by a medication error. She is facing sentencing in Nashville court this week despite significant evidence that the administration enforced cost-cutting practices that contributed to the death and tried to cover it up. Well aware that this case will sets a precedent for the scapegoating of nurses, a petition for clemency has now garnered over 200,000 signatures and large numbers of nurses from around the country are expected to show their support for Vaught at the court this Friday.

The conditions for a unified struggle exist but the critical question is preparing the leadership and organization of health care workers to fight back. This means taking the conduct of the struggle out of the hands of the SEIU-UHW, the CNA and other pro-corporate unions and building rank-and-file committees as the unifying voice and leadership of the struggle.

This committee should outline a series of demands based on what workers and their families need, not what the corporate executives, big business politicians and union officials claim is affordable. This should include:

A fifty percent increase in wages and monthly Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) so workers can afford the surging price of housing, food, fuel and other expenses in Los Angeles.

The immediate hiring of new staff at all hospitals, clinics and medical centers! No more phony staffing committees and empty promises. Hiring and staff levels must be overseen by a committee of rank-and-file workers, not a joint labor-management committee aimed at cutting costs.

Advanced and sufficient health protection measures and equipment for COVID-19. No more lies about the COVID-19 numbers at Cedar-Sinai and everywhere else!

To fight for these demands, rank-and-file service workers should appeal to nurses and all hospital staff to honor the picket lines and shut down the hospital.

At the same time, calls should go out to nurses and other workers at Sutter, Kaiser, University of California and other medical centers to prepare a statewide strike to win safe staffing, living wages and COVID protections.

Cedars Sinai workers must reject the SEIUs efforts to limit the struggle to an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike and appeals to Democratic Party politicians who are in the pockets of the health care and insurance industries. A ULP strike is not merely a legal designation, but one that ties the hands of workers by limiting them to non-economic demands. This is a time-tested tactic of the SEIU to cut employer-friendly deals, which betray the interest of workers.

A real fight is possible and absolutely necessary. Cedars-Sinai workers should join hands with the Stanford Nurses Rank-and-File Committee and urge all health care workers in California, the US, and internationally, to unite in a common struggle.
In large parts of Berlin it will be forbidden to display Soviet flags during the commemoration of the liberation of Germany from fascism in 1945. Among places included in the ban are memorials, commemorative sites, and historical buildings where survivors of the Holocaust and the Nazi war of extermination and their relatives, as well as opponents of the war, traditionally hold events.

Commemoration on 9 May 2014 at the memorial at Treptower Park (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) [AP Photo/Markus Schreiber]

According to a general order issued by the Berlin police on May 4, the ban will be in effect from May 8 at 6 a.m. to May 9 at 10 p.m. in parts of the districts of Treptow-Kopenick, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Lichtenberg, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Mitte, Reinickendorf, Pankow and Spandau. The list of memorial sites and areas where the ban applies fills two and a half A4 pages.

The implications are breathtaking. With German tanks, placed in the hands of the Ukrainian state, now once again taking aim at Russian forces, and the threat of a third world war growing daily, the Berlin Senate (state administration) governed by the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Left Party and Greens, is prohibiting Holocaust survivors from displaying the flag of their liberators. World War II veterans are banned from wearing the emblem under which many sacrificed their lives in the fight against fascism.

A spokesman for the Berlin police told the newspaper Junge Welt that the ban was implemented to avoid provocations and conflicts, adding in Orwellian fashion that remembrance should be in the foreground.

In reality, any political remembrance of the Second World War and its victims is being criminalised. The ban even extends to items on military uniforms and Saint George's ribbons worn by Red Army veterans. Russian and Ukrainian military songs, as well as flags and banners with a Russian or Ukrainian connection, are also prohibited unless they are part of wreaths and floral arrangements.

The Berlin police claim that displaying the flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is likely to glorify the Russia-Ukraine war. This turns reality on its head. In the Red Army, Russian and Ukrainian soldiers fought together against the Nazi Wehrmacht (Army), enduring unimaginable sacrifices.

The ban is at the behest of the so-called Red-Red-Green Senate of the SPD, Left Party and Greens in Berlin. Only one day before the prohibition was imposed, the Senate had decided to quietly and non-publicly commemorate the end of the war, i.e., not to hold any commemorative occasions for the historical events on that day.

Berlin's Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) said she would publicly participate only in a solidarity event for the Ukrainian community on Sunday. The end of the Holocaust, the victory over the Nazis in Berlin, the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmachtall this is to be erased from public memory if the Berlin state executive has its way.

In recent weeks several Red Army memorials in Berlin, which the Federal Republic of Germany had specifically undertaken to protect and care for during reunification in 1991, have been desecrated. A particularly nasty attack was carried out on the memorial in Treptower Park, which was smeared with racist and right-wing extremist slogans such as Death to all Russians. The police, who were present, claim to have noticed nothing happening.

Now, on May 8, the day of liberation, the same police officers have been given license to harass former concentration camp prisoners or veterans of the Red Army for carrying flags of the Soviet Union.

The actions of the Red-Red-Green Senate are themselves an unprecedented desecration of the celebration of the Red Armys liberation of Europe from fascism. In the battle for Berlin alone, some 80,000 Red Army soldiers and allies died; 280,000 were injured. In total, 27 million Soviet citizens fell victim to the Nazis' war of extermination.

The fact that these victims and the liberators may no longer be commemorated with dignity has nothing to do with Russias reactionary invasion of Ukraine, but with the aggression of German militarism. The NATO powers, which have systematically provoked the war, are now using the suffering of the Ukrainian population to carry out an unprecedented military escalation.

The historic crimes of German imperialism are being trivialised. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) declared on Friday, during a speech in Hamburg, that Russia was waging a war of extermination and was committing a breach of civilisation. Both terms have previously been used to describe the historically unprecedented crimes of the Nazis, in particular their planned extermination of 30 million Slavs and the industrial killing of six million Jews.

To apply these words now to the Russian invasion of Ukraine is to trivialise the Nazis crimes against humanity in an unspeakable way. The war presently being conducted by Russia is based on poisonous nationalism, but it is not aimed at the complete annihilation of the Ukrainian population, nor is it anywhere near the scale of the Nazis' crimes.

It is the Putin regime's reactionary response to NATOs systematic aggression. In 2014, the German government, together with the US, supported a coup against pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in order to bring the country under its own influence. From the beginning, it worked closely with fascists who stand in the tradition of the Ukrainian Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera.

Even in 2014, the end of Germany's military restraint, as the then Federal President Joachim Gauck put it, went hand in hand with the falsification of German history.

It is hardly possible to pursue a responsible policy in Europe if you have the idea: We were to blame for everything. In relation to 1914, that is a legend, said Herfried Munkler, then a professor at Humboldt University, in the Suddeutsche Zeitung at the beginning of 2014.

His colleague Jorg Baberowski went one step further and cast doubt on the cruelty of the Nazis and their leader Hitler. In the newsweekly Der Spiegel, Baberowski is quoted saying, Hitler was no psychopath, and he wasnt vicious. He didnt want people to talk about the extermination of the Jews at his table. He compared the Holocaust to shootings during the Russian Civil War, explaining, Basically it was the same thing: industrial killing. Elsewhere, he blamed civilian deaths that occurred during the war of extermination on the conduct of the Red Army.

The Red-Red-Green Senate has played a central role in this falsification of history from the beginning. Representatives of all three Senate parties backed the radical right-wing professor Baberowski. The Senate has covered for him time and again when he has advocated his positions and falsified history.

Most recently, the Berlin Senate worked to ensure that a misconduct complaint filed against the former president of the institution, Sabine Kunst, receive no positive reply. Kunst, defending Baberowski, had declared it humanly understandable that the professor physically assault students and threaten them. Previously, Kunst had described Baberowskis remarks on Hitler and the war of extermination as not radical right-wing and defended them. For the SPD, the Greens, and the Left Party, who are now banning the commemoration of the Red Army, such behaviour last autumn was simply not official misconduct.
25 years ago: Inequality sparks upheavals in Argentina

On May 15, 1997, a 24-hour general strike was declared in San Lorenzo, Argentina, to protest conditions in which 40 percent of the towns population were unemployed.

The strike was part of broader upheavals throughout the country to protest inequality. Workers occupied roads and clashed with riot police as protests against mass unemployment and increasing social inequality spread nationwide later in the month.

The protests expanded from Patagonia in the south to the impoverished northern provinces of Juyjuy and Salta in a movement of poor and unemployed, which developed outside of the control of the Peronist labor bureaucracy of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT).

The Peronist government of President Carlos Menem responded with violent repression, in which at least one person was killed and hundreds of others were wounded.

The international financial institutions and foreign banks praised the Menem government for the same economic austerity policies which provoked the social unrest.

Menem

Since Menem came to power in 1989, official unemployment rose from 7 percent to 17.3 percent. In many areas of the country, however, factory shutdowns and the closing of industries producing for the national market pushed much larger numbers onto the unemployment lines. Meanwhile, a thin layer of the bourgeoisie and privileged upper-middle class enriched themselves through stock market speculation and deals with transnational corporations.

The occupation of roadways began in the southern province of Neuquen in March and April. Security forces there shot one young woman dead and wounded dozens of others. At least 35 percent of the workforce in the area was jobless following the closing of a YPF oil plant. Similar clashes took place in Tartagal, in the northern province of Salta, where the shutdown of another YPF facility left 65 percent of workers unemployed.

Minister of Defense Jorge Dominguez held a secret meeting with key military commanders on May 17 to draft plans and make logistical preparations for the possible imposition of a state of siege and martial law.

50 years ago: Assassination attempt leaves Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace paralyzed

On May 15, 1972, Alabama Governor George Wallace, a candidate for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, was shot five times in an assassination attempt after a campaign rally in Maryland. Wallace would survive the shooting but was left paralyzed from the waist down. The shooter, Arthur Bremer, was arrested immediately after he wounded Wallace and three others.

Wallace, a third-party candidate in 1968 on a segregationist platform, when he won five states, all in the Deep South, sought the Democratic nomination four years later, winning three state primaries in the South before he was shot, and later carrying Michigan and Maryland. In 1972 he no longer openly defended racial segregation, but opposed busing and other measures to promote integration, and focused more on a populist appeal over economic issues.

A vicious racist and anti-communist, Wallace had fought as governor against the desegregation of Alabama public schools, ordering state police to block black students from integrating. At one point Wallace physically stood in the doorway of a University of Alabama building to block black students from registering for classes. The struggle concluded with President John F. Kennedy ordering federal troops into Alabama to oversee desegregation.

George Wallace

Wallaces would be assassin did not have any political motivations behind the shooting. During Bremers trial the court psychiatrist stated that Bremer had schizoid personality disorder with some paranoid and psychopathic features but also declared that his mental condition did not prevent him from understanding the criminality of his actions.

Bremer had long planned a presidential assassination attempt in hopes of becoming historically famous. In a diary found after his arrest Bremer disclosed that he had initially hoped to kill President Nixon but settled on Wallace after he found it too difficult to carry out a presidential killing. In his diary Bremer even mentions that he did not have any particular political disagreements with Wallace but considered him a suitable enough figure to earn fame by killing him.

The Workers League, the American predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party (US), had campaigned hard against Wallace and fought for workers to take control of the unions and build a labor party to defeat Wallace and the other capitalist politicians. After the assassination attempt the Workers League published a statement condemning the violent attack, writing such actions only feed Wallaceism and give the capitalist class an excuse to institute further repression against the working class movement and the revolutionary party. We oppose such actions because only the independent political struggle of the working class can defeat Wallace and the two parties of big business.

75 years ago: General strike, mass protests against food shortages in US-occupied Germany

On May 9, 1947, some 120,000 workers in Hamburg carried out a general strike and marched through the city center to protest food shortages imposed by US and British authorities in the German city. The mobilization was one of a series against starvation rations, in the first mass struggles in Germany since the defeat of the Nazis and the end of World War II in May 1945.

Following their victory in the conflict, the Allied powers had divided Germany into four occupation zones, managed separately by the US, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. As the US initiated the Cold War in 1947 and broke with its previous alignment with the Stalinist bureaucracy, the US and British zones were merged in January to create an entity known as Bizonia, which Hamburg was a part of. This was increasingly ranged against Eastern Germany, under the control of the Soviet Union.

A post-World War II hunger protest in Germany

The zones were ruled with an iron fist by the allied militaries and a layer of German functionaries, including former Nazis, who collaborated with them. In April, the daily food ration for residents of Bizonia was cut from 1,500 calories to just 1,200. But workers claimed that in reality, they were frequently only receiving 800 calories, less than they required to live.

The Allied powers were preoccupied with gaining maximum resources and profits from their newly-acquired European possessions. Their aim was also to suppress the working class to prevent a revolutionary movement from emerging out of the horrors of war and the defeat of Nazism.

As the protests and strikes spread, the imperialist powers threatened repression. On May 16, Dr. James R. Newman, the US military governor of Hesse, declared on American radio that those organizing the protests against food shortages could face the death penalty. Martial law could be established, he stated, unless attitudes improved among German workers. At the same time, Newman stated at the moment, and for some weeks to come, it will be impossible to supply sufficient food to meet the rationed allowance.

Commenting on Newmans statements, the Militant, then the newspaper of the Trotskyist movement in the United States, declared: Unconditional submission to orders! Death to all who disobey or try to protest! That was how Hitler ran Germany before and during the war. And that is how American occupation authorities want to run it now. The Militant noted that the imperialist powers were continuing one of Hitlers key policies, the deliberate lowering of workers living standards to intensify exploitation and capitalist profits.

100 years ago: League of Nations establishes protectorate in Albania

On May 14, 1922, the League of Nations agreed to establish a protectorate in the Principality of Albania at the request of the southeastern European nation. Representatives of Italian imperialism, which had considerable interests in Albania, objected to the plan but relented after the Leagues governing council suggested that Italy would appoint some of the foreign economic and military specialists that the League would send to Albania.

Albania had been an independent state since it seceded from the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War in 1912. During the First World War, it had been occupied by Greek, Serbian, German, and Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian, French and Italian troops. Incursions by Greek, Yugoslav and Italian forces continued after the war and the country was torn by communal differences between Muslims and Christians.

The League of Nations did not allow Albania to be represented at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 which created the new post-war imperialist order. The conference sought to divide Albania between Yugoslavia and Italy. American imperialism, however, intervened by March 1920 to block the plan, and to guarantee Albania representation in the League as an independent country. In December 1920, the Americans accepted an official representative of Albania in Washington D.C. Albanian forces expelled Italian and Yugoslav troops by 1921.

Fan Noli

The imperialist powers, particularly the United States and Britain, saw the need for the protectorate because the Albanian ruling elite, divided between the pro-British People's Party of Harvard-educated Bishop Fan Noli and the pro-Italian Progressive Party of Ahmet Zogu (later King Zog I), was on the verge of civil war that could have turned into a wider European conflagration.
Many seasonal workers don't have labor contracts despite lasting working durations, preventing them from accessing benefits like social insurance or sick pay.

Hua Van Tai, 23, traveled from Binh Phuoc Province to Ho Chi Minh City, more than three hours away, to look for a job four months earlier. He later got one at a factory of Japanese electrical component firm Nidec in Thu Duc City as a seasonal employee, thanks to the help of a labor agency. There was no CV involved.

Tai said the firm only required an ID card, which the labor agency would keep for seven days before returning. There was no labor contract. Tai's income consists of a basic salary of around VND4.7 million ($204), along with travel, accommodation support and social insurance payments, among others. They all add up to around VND10 million a month for 22 days of work, 12 hours a day.

"I'm working for a while to help with expenses for my siblings to study," said Tai, adding that he knew a seasonal job would not entail full benefits like a full-time worker, like sick pay. But he chose to do it regardless thanks to the extra income as the company does not have to cut his salary for monthly social insurance contributions, he said.

Tai is only one among around 2,700 seasonal workers at Nidec Vietnam, who make up half the factory's workforce. These seasonal workers were supplied to the factory by 20 labor agencies, said Luu Kim Hong, chairman of the company's labor union.

Besides Nidec Vietnam, certain other factories at the hi-tech area in Thu Duc also hire seasonal workers. In July last year, Thu Duc authorities reported that the actual number of seasonal workers in 17 factories in the area was 20,000 more than official workforce.

Hong said seasonal workers are hired because factories find it difficult to hire full-time employees. Some employees don't want to become official employees as they want their monthly social insurance contributions included in their salaries as well, which would make their monthly income higher. They can also quit at any time, not having to report to management about their departure 30-45 days prior as per usual.

An HR director of a tech firm in the hi-tech area said several factories in Vietnam are restricted by the main companies when it comes to the number of official workers they can hire, so they had to resort to seasonal workers. Hiring seasonal workers also helps factories cut costs, for example training and benefits, the director added.

Seasonal workers can also be let go or fired at any time, without all the documents, procedures and compensations needed if they were official employees, the director said.

Pham Thi Thu Lan, deputy head of the Institute for Workers and Trade Unions, said the fact that factories cooperate with labor agencies to get workers without informing authorities or paying their social insurance has made them all unofficial workers.

"It is a away to evade the law, but it has been overlooked by labor inspectors," she said.

Measures to protect the rights of unofficial workers are still lacking in Vietnamese law, Lan said. When unofficial workers quit, they would have no unemployment benefits; they don't get sick pay and may not get any support if they have work accidents. Even governmental support for workers is geared to prioritize official workers who contribute to social insurance, not unofficial workers.

If factories continue to hire seasonal workers, the labor market would be "distorted", said Lan. Workers' basic rights would not be ensured, tipping the scale of balance between employers and employees, she added.

Hong said that even with the social insurance payment added to their monthly incomes, seasonal workers would still get the short end of the stick due to the nature of contracts signed between companies and labor agencies.

Nguyen Quoc Thanh, deputy director of HCMC Social Security, said businesses must pay social insurance for all workers who've worked for at least a month, even for those who don't have a labor contract. The fact that companies add social insurance payments to workers' income is wrong and show signs of evading social insurance payments.

Ho Xuan Lam, deputy head of the HCMC Confederation of Labor, said there are only 20 jobs where businesses may hire workers from labor agencies or other third parties, like assistants or receptionists. But many companies still hire seasonal workers all the time anyway and relegate all responsibilities regarding contracts or social insurance payments to third-parties.
Vietnam PM to have working week in US

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in his speech recorded at the Global Trade in Services Summit in China in 2021. Photo by Vietnam government's portal

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will lead the Vietnamese delegation at the ASEAN-U.S. summit in Washington and pay a visit to the U.S. between May 11 and 17.

Chinh will join other leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members at the ASEAN-U.S. Special Summit on May 12 and 13 at the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden.

The summit commemorates the 45th anniversary of ASEAN-U.S. relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Sunday.

The ASEAN-U.S. dialogue relationship was established in 1977 and upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2015. The U.S. is the blocs second-largest trading partner after China, and largest investor.

As of last year, the U.S. announced that it had provided more than 42 million doses of vaccines and supported ASEAN members with more than $200 million to fight the pandemic. The U.S. also contributed $500,000 to the ASEAN Covid-19 Response Fund.

Besides the ASEAN summit, the Vietnamese PM will pay a visit to the U.S. and also work at the United Nations.

Vietnam and the U.S., former foes, normalized relations in 1995.

Recent milestones in bilateral ties include the U.S. fully lifting the lethal arms ban on Vietnam during President Barack Obama's visit in May 2016; and sending aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to Da Nang in March 2018, marking the biggest U.S. military presence in Vietnam since the Vietnam War ended in 1975.

Bilateral trade surged from $450 million in 1994 to $111.56 billion in 2021.

Vietnam joined the United Nations in 1977. The two sides are implementing the Joint Strategic Plan for the 2017-2021 period, supporting Vietnam in the implementing its five year (2016-2020) Socio-Economic Development Strategy as well as measures to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals, which comprise four priority areas: investing in people; ensuring climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability; promoting prosperity and partnerships; promoting justice, achieving peace and comprehensive governance.
Photo credit: CTZN Cosmetics



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In addition to including tentpole holidays like Mother's Day and Memorial Day, May is also Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which was created to celebrate the rich histories of Asian-Americans as well as those of Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian decent. While this month provides a great opportunity to spotlight these cultures' contributions to this country, we believe in supporting Asian- and Pacific-American businesses year-round through active purchases.

In recent years, the urgency around inclusion has increased, and many big box retailers like Nordstrom are dedicating more shelf space to AAPI-owned companies in general and beauty brands in particular. Below, we've pulled together a short list of some of the best AAPI-owned beauty brands Nordstrom shoppers are raving about. From SKYLAR's bevy of clean fragrances to LARUCE's expert-level makeup tools, we're betting you'll find plenty of excellent options to round out your beauty rotation.

You may already be familiar with Boy Smells' cult-favorite scented candles, but the brand is also popular for its clean and gender-neutral fragrance collection. Each scent includes a masterful blend of notes like saffron flower, white leather, tobacco, and more.

Created by former tech and beauty industry executive Cat Chen, SKYLAR has developed some of our favorite clean perfumes, all inspired by nature and madeto be layered. Their perfumes are also hypoallergenic, making them safe for those with sensitive skin to wear on a regular basis.

Thirteen Lune co-founder Nyakio Grieco counts the CTZN COSMETICS Nudiversal Lip Duo as one of her daily makeup go-tosand not just because celebrity makeup artist Sir John serves as the company's chief creative officer. "It's, like, the full range, because nude is not just pink or peach, so everybody can find their nude," she told BAZAAR.com. CTZN was created by three sisters who intended to build a beauty brand with inclusive products designed for under-served skin tones and undertones.

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Shiseido is one of the oldest cosmetics companies in the world, offering a wide range of skin-, body-, and hair care, makeup, and more to beauty-loving shoppers. The company launched in Japan in 1872 and transitioned into a Western-style pharmacy during the 1920s. The name Shiseido roughly translates to a combination of the words "house of and "where everything is born, derived from I Ching, an ancient Chinese text.

Powered by probiotic extracts and superfood ingredients, TULA Skincare products are not only popular among Nordstrom shoppers, but also used frequently by celebrity makeup artists to prep skin ahead of makeup application. Founder Dr. Roshini Raj, a trained gastroenterologist, uses her medical knowledge to inform the brand's product formulations and offerings.

For an easy and effective way to create salon-worthy gel manicures at home, co-founder Christina Kao started Le Mini Macaron in 2015 with her business partner Francois for a French twist on an American beauty business. In addition to featuring vegan formulas, each polish shade and top coat from the brand is also 9-Free.

For beauty tools that are equal parts eye-catching and effective, look no further than the high-tech essentials from ReFa, a brand that's best known for solar-powered face and body rollers.

Designer Rei Kawakubo expanded the reach of her buzzy fashion brand Comme des Garcons with this robust perfume line that evokes the same quirky luxury as her wardrobe staples.

Rael, co-created by CEO Yanghee Paik, is a part-wellness, part-skincare brand that's currently available in 19 countries around the world. It uses science-backed South Korean technology to create its acne, feminine, and body care offerings.

Developed by renowned Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, this perfume brand is housed under the Shiseido EMEA Group. The brand offers a range of men's and women's fragrances created with sustainability in mind, featuring PCR packaging and aiming to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that can sometimes go along with the manufacturing process.

Vegan makeup tool brand LARUCE was created by Michael Tran in 2019. His idea: to design products to complement his wife and daughter's individuality. LARUCE's artist-level face and eye brushes stand out from the pack, as they're designed with signature textured handles that are not only aesthetically-pleasing but also help improve your grip.

Chemist-created K-beauty brand VITABRID C12 uses a stabilized version of vitamin C as a main ingredient in each of their skin- and hair care products. For added effective, it's time-released over 12 hours.

Threading expert and Blink Brow Bar founder Vanita Parti launched her beauty venture BBB London to provide customers with an easy-to-use range of products for professional-level beauty enhancement. The emphasis here is very much on brows and lashes.

Featuring encapsulation technology from Japan to protect skincare ingredients from light exposure and oxidation, Skin Inc.'s products are ideal for a range of skin types since they're expertly customized for each shopper. The brand also uses a self-diagnostic tool developed by its scientists to inform product recommendations.

Similar to Skin Inc.'s customized approach to beauty, emerging brand Hawthorne uses an onsite quiz to develop a data algorithm based on information from its customers. The quiz results ultimately make it simple for the brand to tailor its collection of elevated grooming products according to their customers's specific body- and hair care, fragrance, and shaving needs.

Coming from one of the first non-toxic nail salons in Denver, Colorado, Base Coat's company ethos prioritizes both beauty and wellness, and uses mainly plant-based ingredients in its products to minimize toxic chemicals.

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A full guide to Vietnam's northern border province

Home to a UNESCO-recognized geopark and Southeast Asia's largest waterfall, Cao Bang remains off the beaten track and less busy than neighboring Sa Pa or Ha Giang.

Quay Son River is surrounded by golden rice fields and karrst limestone mountains in Cao Bang Province. Photo by Tran Bao Hoa

The cool climate of Cao Bang Province that borders China ensures that you can come here all year round. The best time to visit Cao Bang is during the dry season from October to May with little rain. If you want to see white frost and ice covering mountainous areas in Phia Oac, the second highest peak in Cao Bang, you better come there from November to January as the temperature could drop to below zero degree Celsius.

WHERE TO STAY For budget-friendly travelers, Yen Nhi Homestay, Khuoi Ky Homestay and Lans Homestay Ban Gioc offer prices of VND200,000 ($8.71) a night. Some downtown addresses that should be considered are Primrose Homestay Cao Bang, Son Tung Hotel, Jodevi Homestay Cao Bang, and Jeanne Hotel with prices of VND300,000 a night.

Homestay options in Cao Bang. Photos courtesy of the homestays

If you want to enjoy a luxury stay, Saigon-Ban Gioc Resort near Ban Gioc Waterfall in Trung Khanh District with 53 rooms could be an option, as the only four-star accommodation facility in Cao Bang. WHERE TO VISIT For a three-day itinerary in Cao Bang, here are some places not to be missed. The first place during your journey should be Non Nuoc Cao Bang, a geopark founded in 2015 and covers 3,000 square kilometers. Its collection of fossils, sediment, volcanic rocks and karst landscape is believed to illustrate 500 million years of the earths history.

Ngoc Con Commune in Trung Khanh District, part of Non Nuoc Cao Bang geopark, during the golden rice season. Photo by VnExpress/Pham Khoa

Once a remote and lesser-known destination on the tourism map, Non Nuoc Cao Bang, which literally means mountains and water of Cao Bang, catapulted to global fame since it was declared a new global geopark by UNESCO in 2018, making it the second of its kind in the country after Dong Van Plateau in Ha Giang Province. With 90-percent mountainous terrain, the area is inhabited by nine different ethnic minority groups, including the Nung, Tay, Hmong, Dao and San Chay. Inside the geopark are scenic spots like Ban Gioc Waterfall, Pac Bo Cave, Thang Hen Lake and Phia Oac eco-tourism area.

Pac Bo Cave (also known as Coc Bo) is named after a small village in Cao Bang that served as President Ho Chi Minh's residence in the winter of 1941 following his return after 30 years in exile. It has become a popular tourist attraction with the Ho Chi Minh Shrine, Lenin Creek and Karl Marx Peak.

A pool with turquoise water at Lenin Creek where swimming is banned. Photo by Shutterstock/Jimmy Tran

The first thing that catches the eyes of visitors is the turquoise water of the famous Lenin Creek with the signboard that said President Ho Chi Minh used to sit there fishing after work in 1941. Swimming is strictly forbidden in Lenin Creek as it is sacred to Vietnamese. Ban Gioc Waterfall, which straddles the China border 30 kilometers from the central market of Cao Bang's Trung Khanh District, is the largest waterfall in Southeast Asia and the worlds fourth largest along a national border after Iguazu, Victoria and Niagara. The waterfall is 53 meters high and 300 meters wide and has three levels of smaller waterfalls. There is a small sloping path to the waterfall. Buses with a seating capacity of 25 or less can travel down the path while bigger ones drop their passengers off at a parking lot at the Vietnam border station for them to walk down.

A raft carries tourists to visit Ban Gioc Waterfall in Cao Bang. Photo by VnExpress/Tran Bao Hoa

Three kilometers from Ban Gioc Waterfall lies Nguom Ngao, a stunning cave with stalactites in various shapes and sizes. Created by an underground river, it runs several kilometers and was where villagers sheltered during the country's 1979 border war with China. It takes around one hour to walk through Nguom Ngao. Locals discovered the cave in 1921, but it was not opened to tourists until 2006 when paths were built for visitors.

Inside Nguom Ngao Cave in Cao Bang Province. Photo by Shutterstock/Jimmy Tran

In the language of the Tay ethnic minority group, "Nguom Ngao" means tiger cave. It is believed that this cave used to be a habitat for tigers, hence the name. Based on data published by British Caving Association in 1995, Nguom Ngao has a total length of 2,144 meters with three main entrances and thousands of caverns. Inside is a collection of tiny limestone cliffs and unique stalactites that took millions of years to form. Thang Hen Lake is 30 kilometers north of Cao Bang's capital town, but since the road there is twisting, it can take around an hour to reach. The lake is made up of 36 smaller lakes that are all connected through caves and underground passageways.

Thang Hen Lake in Cao Bang Province. Photo by Kieran Turner-Dave

During the dry season the water level drops, showing the 36 distinct lakes. The best time to visit is the monsoon season (from May to October) when the water level rises and links all of them into one big lake. Unlike other lakes that turn brown during the rainy season, Thang Hen stays blue all year round since it is fed by clear pure water from a cave above. At a height of 1,931 meters above sea level, Phia Oac mountain is the second highest mountain in the province after Phia Da.

During the winter season from November to January, tourists always flock to the mountain range to admire the white frost as temperatures plunge to sub-zero degrees Celsius.

Phia Oac Mountain in Cao Bang.

Cao Bang is dotted with small villages hidden in valleys, the countryside and mountains with some even dating back to French colonial times. You can visit Phia Thap Village to see the traditional way of making incense or Pac Rang Village, famous for its blacksmiths. The incense making craft of the Nung ethnic minority in Phia Thap Village has a long history. Phia Thap incense is made entirely from natural materials, including bamboo, the bark of the cotton tree and sawdust and the leaves of a wild tree named "bau hat" to make the glue for bonding the materials together.

A woman makes incense in Phia Thap Village, Quang Uyen District, Cao Bang Province. Photo by VnExpress/Pham Khoa



Hoang Van Ut, a local, said after drying the sticks his family would dye their bottom red and tie them into bundles to sell in mountain markets. Visitors can buy three bundles for VND10,000 ($0.43). Nestled at the foot of Phja Cao Mountain in Ha Lang District, around 100 kilometers from downtown Cao Bang, Na Vi Village is surrounded by the green color of bamboo groves and rice fields. This area is close to Quay Son River, forming a natural border with China to the north.

A Tay family sit in their stone house inside Na Vi village in Cao Bang. Photo by Ha Cuong

The village is home to 100 ethnic Tay families living in centuries-old stone houses. Na Vi is one of the few places to retain traces of Mac Dynasty (1527-1595), a royal family in Vietnams feudal history. Local authorities plan to develop community-based tourism in the locality. WHAT TO EAT Banh ap chao, or fried duck meat cake is served at a stall in Cao Bang Town. Photo by Anh Tu

Banh ap chao, or fried duck meat cake, is a popular street food in Cao Bang. The crust is a dough mixture of rice flour, glutinous rice flour and soybean. Locals use newly harvested rice, soak it in water for half a day to soften and grind it into flour. Soybeans and egg yolks are added to the flour to make a batter. The filling is made from duck meat deboned and marinated just like roasted duck. It is then deep fried in a large wok in hot oil and flipped over until golden brown on both sides. Ms. Hac's stall at 116 Hien Giang Street is one place to try this.

Trung Khanh chestnut. Photo by Mac Kham For snacks, one can try Trung Khanh chestnuts from Trung Khanh District. Since the district enjoys cool weather and ideal soil, chestnuts here have a subtle richness unlike the mild taste one would normally associate with them. Roasted, steamed or dried chestnuts are all ideal for the rainy season. People also add chestnuts to pork to make a stew or grinding it to a powder for use as cake filling. Vit quay bay vi, or roasted duck with seven flavors, is another famous culinary specialty of Cao Bang.

A plate of roasted duck with seven flavors in Cao Bang. Photo by Vi Yen

The seven flavors refer to seven spices and condiments used to marinate the duck - ginger, garlic, dried onion, pepper, honey, tofu, and dried leaves of clausena (mac mat in Vietnamese) that grows in Cao Bang's forests. The duck is then roasted with crispy golden-brown skin outside and tender meat inside.

Sour pho is a specialty one should not miss in Cao Bang. This dry pho is different from the southern version thanks to a combination of herbs, roasted peanuts, pork, duck, and a sour sauce made from lime.

A plate of sour pho in Cao Bang. Photo by Shironeko

It's not difficult to find stalls selling this treat in Cao Bang but Ms. Quyen's stall on Ly Thuong Kiet Street and another stall near Hien River Bridge in Cao Bang Town are highly recommended.
The Sandals Emerald Bay Resort in Great Exuma Island, Bahamas. (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris via Getty Images)

The Sandals Emerald Bay Resort in Great Exuma Island, Bahamas. (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris via Getty Images)

Three Americans were mysteriously found dead at a Sandals vacation resort in the Bahamas on Friday, launching a police investigation into what initially started as a health emergency, resort officials said.

The guests, identified as two men and a woman, died at Sandals Emerald Bay in Great Exuma while a second woman had to be airlifted to a local hospital, Bahamian Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper said in a statement that did not list the surviving womans condition. Foul play is not suspected, he said.

The resort said a health emergency was initially reported, leading to police and medical officials responding to the Caribbean resort.

We are actively working to support both the investigation as well as the guests families in every way possible during this difficult time. Out of respect for the privacy of our guests, we cannot disclose further information at this time, according to a statement obtained by HuffPost on Sunday.

Bahamian health minister Dr. Michael Darville told Eyewitness News Bahamas that some of the guests had sought medical treatment the day before for nausea and vomiting. They later discharged themselves.

We feel that what we are seeing is an isolated case associated in a particular area, he said, adding that local authorities have some ideas about the cause but that its too soon to say, with toxicology reports still pending.

One of the fatalities was identified as an Alabama man who was celebrating his wedding anniversary with his wife when they both fell ill, the couples son told ABC News.

She woke up and my dad was laying there on the floor, and she couldnt move, Austin Chiarella said of his parents, Vincent and Donnis Chiarella. Her legs and arms was swollen and she couldnt move and she screamed to get someone to come in the door.

The bodies were reportedly found in two different villas, according to a preliminary police report obtained by CNN.

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The officers found a Caucasian male slumped against a wall in a bathroom, unresponsive, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in their report. The woman was also unresponsive. Both individuals showed signs of convulsion. The officers examined the bodies and found no signs of trauma.

Local authorities did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment Sunday.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
In the juicy reunion of Netflix's Selling Sunset Season 5, Chrishell Stause confirmed that she is dating someone after breaking up with Jason Oppenheim due to differing thoughts on starting a family together. The reality star's new love interest is G-Flip, an Australian musician whose music video Stause made an appearance in.

After an emotional conversation about Stause's split with Oppenheim, host Tan France asked if she is dating anyone at the moment. "I recently have been spending a lot of time with someone that's very important to me. Their name is G-Flip. They're non-binary, so they go by they/them. And they are an extremely talented musician," she said on the show.

She then explained that she first connected with G-Flip through their music video for the track "Get Me Outta Here," which releases on May 13. "It started because I was just going to be in their video. And it's about this chaotic love story. I come from soaps, I love acting. And with the job that we have, I don't always get to do it. At first of course I was like yes, let's do that." She added: "It was so much fun, we had such a blast. Not everyone's going to be ready for it, but I think it's great. I think it's amazing, the song is amazing."

Sources close to Stause have revealed that the relationship has gotten quite serious, with the reality star having moved G-Flip in. Since making their relationship public, Stause shared a video clip on her Instagram Stories in which she jokes about "coming out" of the closet.

Following the Selling Sunset reunion, G-Flip took to Instagram to share a quick update with Stause, who is pictured giving them a tattoo. "F-ck houses do ink," the caption reads. Peep the photo down below.
Critics were stunned Saturday after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas scolded Americans for not accepting controversial rulings  after his own wife battled against the results of a legitimate presidential election.

Thomas chided a distraught public in comments Friday at a judicial conference in Atlanta following the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would gut Roe v. Wade and a half-century of the right to an abortion.

He complained that Americans are addicted to results they want  while not living with rulings they oppose. He warned that the court will not be bullied in the face of protest. Declining respect for the law and institutions, Thomas warned, bodes ill for a free society.

Thomas detractors were agog. Not only has his wife, Virginia Ginni Thomas, refused to live with the presidential election, he was the sole Supreme Court justice to vote that former President Donald Trump should not have to release his White House documents to the House committee investigating last years insurrection.

Ginni Thomas, who had special access to the Trump administration because of her husbands position, peppered then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows with dozens of texts as she worked feverishly to upend the results of the election. That revelation in March triggered calls for Justice Thomas to recuse himself from all insurrection issues  or be impeached.

Question for CT/SCOTUS:



Is it ok to be bullied into over turning the results of an election? Asking for a friend. https://t.co/e85PjCY8Bn  Vote Blue To Save Democracy #VoteBluein2022  (@parrot_this) May 7, 2022

Ginni and Clarence Thomas do seem to know a thing or two about bullying to get the results you want. pic.twitter.com/mi9kytDuQQ  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) May 7, 2022

Thomas has also repeatedly attempted to rip up legal precedence set by the court.

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The irony is so thick you wonder if its maybe a Clarence Thomas impersonator, former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman said on MSNBC Saturday.

Among other things, this is a guy who has spent a lifetime trying to take a battering ram to all the Supreme Court major precedents of law, Litman added. Hes now saying people dont respect the law enough. Thats even leaving aside all the controversies he has engendered, as has his wife. Its just ... remarkable.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) wrote that its the Supreme Court aiming to bully women into having government-mandated pregnancies.

Justice Clarence Thomas is wrong, again. Governments are bullying women into having government-mandated pregnancies, under threat of jail. Multiple Supreme Court Justices lied during their confirmation process about their view of #RoeVWade and stare decisis. Those are the facts. https://t.co/4kUUVpckPG  Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 7, 2022

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) pointed out even before the speech that both Thomas and conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh were questioned about credible accusations of sexual misconduct in their confirmation hearings, yet are deciding reproductive rights for women.

As a survivor, I am thinking about how Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas are credibly accused of having violated and harassed women and are now the ones about to deny us our right to abortion care.



Abusers do not belong in public office. Period.  Cori Bush (@CoriBush) May 4, 2022

And that was just the beginning.

We cant be an institution that can be bullied into giving you just the outcomes you want. - Clarence Thomas, yesterday



Lets bully Congress into giving us just the outcomes we want. - Ginni Thomas, January 6, 2021  Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) May 7, 2022

Women shouldnt be bullied to have babies by a Supreme Court that recognizes only one religion as legitimate, and seeks to impose their personal convictions upon the entire country, despite 70% of the country being against them.   (@opusworks) May 7, 2022

Someone should ask Thomas to define the word "bullying". Is it what he did to Anita Hill?  Rick (@response_w) May 7, 2022

So the Supreme Court justice whose wife sent text messages pressuring White House staff to do more to overturn a free and fair election doesnt believe government officials should be bullied into delivering the preferred outcome? Do tell.   Greg Pearson  (@GDNPearson) May 7, 2022

Shame Clarence Thomas didn't tell his wife Ginni to learn to "live with" the outcome of the 2020 election.  Janice Hough (@leftcoastbabe) May 7, 2022

Not The Onion:https://t.co/pXfnxeqjEl  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) May 7, 2022

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Looking back, Mary Martelli always thought that having kids was "something my mother did." The now 91-year-old had little idea that life would bring her nine children, six girls and three boys.

"Patience, a lot of patience," Martelli said describing her journey as a mother.

The secret to being a good mom is to "just chill," and "love each for who they are," she said, a piece of advice she offers her own children who are parents themselves.

Martelli raised all her kids in Wilmington, Delaware, with her late husband, Guido Rosario Martelli. Over the years, the couple also opened their home to seven foster kids.

Mary Martelli and her late husband, Guido Rosario Martelli, left, along with eight of their nine children and their new daughter-in-law, who is holding flowers.

Now as she spends her days at the Rockland retirement community home, Martelli still remains close to all her kids despite being briefly disconnected during the pandemic. She said her children, some of whom live as far away as Taiwan, still call her from time to time for advice or when they simply need to talk to their mother.

That is why the 91-year-old mom sees Mother's Day as just another day. She does not need a holiday to remind her children to talk to her because "that wouldn't have much meaning," she said.

Even so, on the morning of Mothers Day, some of Martelli's children joined her for tea at her Rockland Place residence to recognize and celebrate their mother's "unconditional love."

Children came to celebrate their moms at the Rockland retirement community home on Saturday for Mother's Day tea party.

Daniel Martelli, Mary's eldest son, had a child-like giggle as he poured his mother some hot tea while she recounted tales of his childhood mischiefs.

She was just like any mother except that she had a bunch of kids and a wooden spoon which she would often use on me, Daniel said, grinning.

In between small sips of tea and ventures down memory lane, Mary asked questions about her grandchildren. She smiled proudly when Daniel showed her pictures of her youngest granddaughter's graduation day.

MOTHER'S DAY TO HEAL FROM VIOLENCE: For these Wilmington moms, this Mother's Day brunch is a way to heal from gun violence

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At 91, Mary said she was simply "grateful and thankful" for the opportunity to celebrate Mother's Day with her children.

Staying involved

Growing up, their mother was a blend of "strict and nurturing," said Eileen Martelli, Mary's fourth child. Mary was actively involved in their lives and made sure they were involved in hers, Eileen said.

"She did a lot of community work where she would take us with her and we always saw that as an adventure," she said. "She was very clear and consistent in her parenting style and had a terrific sense of humor."

Mother's Day's tea party conversations reminded Daniel how growing up their mother always encouraged them to have open discussions at the dinner table about "religion, sex, politics and everything in between." The family also had no gender-specific roles, Daniel said.

Mary Martelli and her son, Daniel Martelli, 66, joked about his childhood mischiefs as the two sipped tea on Mother's Day event at the Rockland retirement community home.

"We were a very progressive family and everybody in the house helped with the cooking and cleaning," Daniel said. "My mother never assigned us gender roles so I learned at an early age how to iron my own shirt and do my own laundry."

Mary managed a large household by setting clear expectations for her children. But according to Anne Louise, Mary's sixth born, her mother was much more than a manager of the house, noting she was actively parenting and present throughout their childhoods.

There was a selflessness to her, she said. My mother never had her hair or nails done and she always ensured there was a balanced meal on the table. Her time went to either caring for us or others in the community who needed help.

Motherhood for Mary was not limited to her own children. She even opened her home to foster kids, six babies and one teenager.

As the Irish say, Its only one more potato in the pot," Mary said.

Mary Martelly, 91 in the middle with her late husband Guido Rosario Martelli on the far right, along with her nine children and all her grandchildren.

Being a mother has been a significant part of Mary's life and her identity, but she said it was "not always sunshine" and there were days when she was not "as patient as many would expect from mothers."

According to Mary, there are all kinds of mothers in the world, and "they are what they are."

"Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are not so good, sometimes they are patient, and sometimes they are not," Mary said. "The world should not limit them to an ideal vision, just love them regardless."

Contact the reporter Yusra Asif @ yqureshi@delawareonline.com

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 91-year-old mom shares her secret to being a good mother
I had planned to write this column about Viola Davis, because, well, what a role model she is, rising from Central Falls poverty to A-list Hollywood actress, with her new memoir, Finding Me, a top seller on Amazon.

My approach was going to be a glimpse of Viola through her sister Deloris Grant, who still lives in Rhode Island.

The two are close, Viola now 56 and Deloris 58.

Of course, some of this will indeed touch on Viola.

But Im shifting my focus.

Because, after I chatted with Deloris this week, she stood out to me as an equally important role model.

Deloris Grant, a high school teacher in Central Falls for 25 years.

Among the unsung heroes in American life are teachers who stand a post in urban schools. Its not an easy job, and many move on from it.

Deloris is among those whove remained committed for decades. Shes been a high school teacher in Central Falls for 25 years. Her subjects are Advanced Placement English and, no surprise, drama.

Deloris and Viola were into acting even as kids. It helped get them through.

More: Viola Davis wins an Oscar

When still elementary school age, they won a skit contest in the citys Jenks Park. And they used to play characters in their kitchen, a favorite being a pair of rich ladies based on Zsa Zsa Gabor.

The two are still in theater, Viola on screen and Deloris directing high school plays, currently the Greek tragedy "Medea."

Deloris lives in Lincoln with her husband, Peter Grant, who runs a firm that wires buildings for computers.

I told her I might have thought that the sister of an Oscar-winning actress wouldnt still be working in Central Falls.

Oh no, said Deloris, I dont look at life like that at all. I like returning here every day. I know the families. I get a sense of kinship with the community.

Having struggled in poverty herself, she relates to some of the kids who do the same.

I see myself in these children, said Deloris.

But she says Central Falls High has a lot of spirit, and high performers, and she loves that its a United Nations, her students coming from places like Guatemala, Honduras and Africa.

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More: Viola Davis donates $10,000 to Central Falls High

I asked what percentage of the school is people of color, and she gave an answer that set me straight.

I dont see race or ethnicity, she said, I just like to get to know the kids as people.

Most, she says, work hard. Over her 25 years, Deloris has seen some become doctors and lawyers, and one, Theresa Matos Agonia, now chief of external affairs for the City of Providence, was Miss Rhode Island USA in 2016.

Deloris and Viola were among six kids, mostly raised in a rundown building on Washington Street that was loaded with rats and eventually condemned.

Their mom, Mary Alice, was a maid and their dad a horse groomer and janitor.

Viola wrote honestly in the book about her father, who died in 2006, having a phase as an abusive alcoholic, but he overcame it, and shes forgiven him.

Viola Davis, left, with her sister Deloris Grant at the 2017 Academy Awards ceremony, where Davis won best supporting actress for "Fences."

I asked Deloris about him, and she prefers to remember the side of her dad that worked hard, and how all of them had fun as a family.

The abuse is something the Davis family had rarely talked about before the book, and Deloris is aware that both her colleagues and some students will read it, which she admits is a bit uncomfortable.

But its her family's truth, and to Deloris, the message is one of perseverance and overcoming through education. That was the way up for Viola, who got a theater scholarship to Rhode Island College and went on to the prestigious Juilliard School of performing arts.

Deloris herself has a Ph.D. in education from RIC, and her daughter Anabella is studying for a doctorate in history at the University of Southern California.

Deloris credits her mom, Mary Alice, who is about to turn 79 and still lives in Rhode Island, for always emphasizing school.

When people ask Mary Alice if shes proud of her famous Oscar-winning daughter Viola, she has a standard reply.

Im proud of all my kids.

Having met Deloris, and learning of her 25 years teaching at Central Falls High, I understand why.

 mpatinki@providencejournal.com

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Patinkin: Viola Davis' RI sister Deloris is a star in her own right
Police Shooting Michigan (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Patrick Lyoya, a Black man who was killed by a Michigan police officer, died from a gunshot to the back of his head, according to the official autopsy, which matched the conclusion of an expert hired by Lyoya's family.

The report from the Kent County medical examiner also said that Lyoya's blood-alcohol level was 0.29, more than three times over the legal limit for driving, when his car was stopped in Grand Rapids on April 4, the Detroit Free Press reported Friday.

Lyoya, 26, a refugee from Congo, was killed during a physical struggle with Officer Christopher Schurr shortly after 8 a.m.

Schurr, who is white, told Lyoya that he had stopped him because the license plate didn't match the vehicle, according to video.

Lyoya began to run after the officer asked for a driver's license. Schurr quickly caught him, but the pair continued to struggle across a front lawn in a residential neighborhood while Lyoya's passenger recorded the scene on a phone.

Lyoya was on the ground when Schurr shot him. He had demanded that Lyoya take his hand off the officers Taser, according to video.

Dr. Werner Spitz performed a separate autopsy at the request of the family and announced the findings on April 19. He, too, said a shot to the head killed Lyoya. He believes the gun was pressed against the head.

It's highly significant that Dr. Steve Cohle found the identical findings of Dr. Spitz, said Lyoya family attorney Ven Johnson, referring to the county medical examiner.

He said Lyoya's blood-alcohol level was irrelevant.

Drinking and driving isn't punishable by execution, Johnson told The Associated Press. We can all debate, assuming the results are correct, what effect it had my client's behavior. But it had nothing to do with the cause and manner of his death.

State police investigating the shooting submitted a report last week to the Kent County prosecutor, who will decide if Schurr will face charges. Chris Becker said he still wanted reports about the officer's Taser and body-worn camera.

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Lyoya's parents want the officer fired and charged. Schurr, who was placed on leave, hasn't responded to requests for comment.

___

Find the APs full coverage of the fatal police shooting of Patrick Lyoya: https://apnews.com/hub/patrick-lyoya
A vehicle has been found in the search for an escaped inmate and prison officer, according to the US Marshals Service.

The 2007 Ford Edge used by Vicky White and Casey White to flee Alabama was found in a tow lot in Williamson County, Tennessee, two hours north from the site of their escape.

Investigators say the discovery on Friday comes as they are working through hundreds of tips from all four corners of the United States to try and track down the inmate and the officer who allegedly helped him go on the run.

Authorities released images of how Vicky White, 56, would look if she changed her blonde hair to a darker colour or shorter cut.

They also released pictures of 38-year-old Casey Whites distinctive tattoos. The pair are not related despite sharing a surname.

The subjects should be considered dangerous and may be armed with an AR-15 rifle, handguns and a shotgun, the agency has said.

A $5,000 reward has been issued for information about their location, and $10,000 for information leading to their capture.

A warrant has been issued for Vicky White, 56, charging her with permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree in connection with capital murder suspect Casey White's escape from jail: https://t.co/9Lx6DHM6PC pic.twitter.com/hULhU1g1QR  U.S. Marshals (@USMarshalsHQ) May 3, 2022

The Marshals Service says that in 2015 Casey White, who is 6ft 9in tall, threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and her sister, and said he wanted to be killed by police.

He was being held in Lauderdale County jail awaiting trial on capital murder charges against him, and was already serving a 75-year sentence for crimes committed in 2015.

The USMS is releasing more photos of Casey White depicting his identifiable tattoos. If you have information as to the whereabouts of Casey of Vicky White, submit a tip here: https://t.co/3Jrp4ji80V pic.twitter.com/hauwz92a3j  U.S. Marshals (@USMarshalsHQ) May 6, 2022

The pair left the Lauderdale County Detention Center on 29 April, with officials saying that they may have had a romantic relationship before going on the run.

A warrant is out for Vicky Whites arrest and she faces charges of permitting or facilitating escape in the first degree.
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 operational authority to their subordinates, who have little to no leadership experience.

Russian commanders rarely delegate operational authority to their subordinates, who in turn do not gain vital leadership experience, the ministry said.

However, it is not clear that the presence of these commanders on the battlefield has led to a refined or altered operational concept, the ministry added. Flawed planning assumptions and failures in sustainment continue to undermine Russian progress.

The ministry also said the latest movements put the senior officials at more risk, adding that this can lead to more deaths among Russian soldiers.

These issues are likely to endure given the relative lack of operational command experience of the officers promoted in place of those killed, the ministry concluded in its update.

The update comes as the ministry, along with Russia, is celebrating the 77th anniversary of VE day, also referred to as Victory in Europe Day, when Nazi Germany surrendered, making the end of the Second World War.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Biden are scheduled to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday about sending more aid to the country amid its ongoing war with Russia.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A treasure trove of artifacts recovered from a 165-year-old shipwreck at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean is about to go on a nationwide tour while the man responsible for the discovery sits behind bars for a sixth year.

Tommy Thompson, a deep-sea explorer who found the S.S. Central America shipwreck in 1988, could get out of the federal prison in Michigan if he would just reveal the whereabouts of 500 gold coins.

Thompson, who turned 70 while sitting in his cell last month, is being held in contempt of court and fined $1,000 a day for every day he doesn't answer the government's questions about the gold. He's racked up more than $2 million in penalties so far and there's no sign he's close to being released.

Tommy Thompson, a former deep-sea treasure hunter, has spent six years in jail for refusing to disclose the whereabouts of 500 missing coins made from gold found in a historic shipwreck. Lon Horwedel/The Columbus Dispatch

"I feel like I don't have the keys to my freedom," Thompson said at a hearing in 2020, adding that he's told the government everything he knows.

The saga of the 'Ship of Gold'

Thompson is now far removed from his life as one of the most successful treasure hunters in the U.S., a feat accomplished when he and his team discovered the S.S. Central America, also known as the Ship of Gold. The Central America was laden with California gold rush booty when it sank in 1857 off the Carolina coast; 425 people drowned and the wreckage remains 7,000 feet below sea level.

Soon after Thompson announced his momentous discovery of the Ship of Gold, a group of insurance companies laid claim to its treasures without proof they had insured them. A court battle ensued, with Thompson and his team ultimately coming out on top.

In 2000, Thompsons company sold 532 gold bars and thousands of coins to the California Gold Marketing Group for about $50 million. Thompson said the bulk of that money went toward legal fees and bank loans.

Meanwhile the group of investors who paid millions to fund Thompson's dream of finding the ship never saw any returns. In 2005, they sued Thompson, who went into seclusion in Florida and in 2012 became a fugitive after an Ohio judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

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Thompson managed to elude authorities for more than two years, hiding in a hotel under a fake name and paying for everything in cash.

He was captured in 2015, and more than $425,000 in cash was seized from the hotel.

Later that year, Thompson reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and was sentenced to two years in prison for failing to appear in court.

But Thompson hasn't served a single day of that sentence, instead racking up year after year in contempt of court for violating his plea agreement, which stipulated that he answer questions about the gold.

The judge in the case appears prepared to wait Thompson out indefinitely.

"He will contemplate cooperation in confinement," U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley said at a hearing in February 2017. "The fortunate part of it is I have life tenure, too. So we'll always have a special place to accommodate him and others like him who don't believe that laws apply to them and who act in absolute defiance of the law.

The search for 500 gold coins

Dwight Manley, a former high-profile sports agent who bought the gold and the rights to Thompson's life story, said the treasure hunter has turned into a victim.

"He did something very wrong ... he should be punished," Manley said. "But he's paid far too big a price for a financial issue. There's people that kill people that get out sooner than that."

Not everyone involved in the saga agrees.

"It's a cliche but he's made his bed and now he has to sleep in it," said Bob Evans, who was part of Thompson's team that discovered the S.S. Central America.

"He's running out the clock on himself," Evans said. "I don't feel particularly sorry for him because so much of it was self-inflicted."

At various points in his court case, Thompson has said he put the 500 gold coins in a blind trust in Belize. At others, he has said he doesn't remember where the gold is. He insists he is unable to track it down and has filed multiple requests to be released from prison, though Marbley has said he will not rule on them until Thompson obtains an attorney.

Thompson has said he's trying to obtain an attorney but is bogged down by medical problems and only has the use of a prison phone for seven minutes a day.

"It's hard to explain the number of roadblocks," Thompson said earlier this year. "I don't know any deep-water oceanographers that are lazy ... I'm working all the time here. It's hard to communicate from here."

Marbley hasn't bought any of Thompson's explanations over the years.

In this June 18, 1991 photo, Tommy Thompson, right, talks with Bob Evans on the Artic Discover as they depart Norfolk,Va. Thompson led a group that recovered millions of dollars worth of sunken treasure only to end up involved in court cases brought by dozens of insurance companies laying claim to the treasure. (AP Photo, Mike Munden)

"He sounds like the savvy treasure hunter that he in fact is, who is an engineer. His mind is sharp, his wit is acerbic, and he seems to be possessed of a steely will that will require him to just wait out all of his investors and everyone," he said in 2017.

No new court date has been scheduled and Thompson's most recent filing is a request for more time to hire an attorney.

Treasures of S.S. Central America on tour

As Thompson remains in legal limbo, the life of the ship of his dreams goes on.

This month, hundreds of artifacts recovered from the ship between 1988 and 2014 went on display for the first time ever.The tour began at the Old West Show just outside of Sacramento in Grass Valley, California.

USA TODAY was given an exclusive first look at the artifacts, which include personal letters, clothing, a saloon sign, a pistol in its holster, a photograph nicknamed "The Mona Lisa of the Deep," and a first edition of "The Count of Monte Cristo."

"It's like time capsule," Manley said. "It's the human side of the story."

The team that discovered the S.S. Central America in 1988 nicknamed this area of the Atlantic Ocean seabed filled with some of the ship's sunken treasure "The Garden of Gold."

As a USA TODAY Network photographer captured pictures and video of the artifacts, an armed security guard in a bulletproof vest watched closely. Each of the items ranges in value from a few hundred thousand dollars to more than $1 million.

Evans, who has been on every voyage to the Central America and remains in charge of preserving its treasures, said they're worth far more than that.

"What stories do these objects have to tell, thats the real thrill," he said.

The items will make at least six stops across the nation (in California, Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, Connecticut and New York) between May and September before being auctioned off in the fall.

More exclusive reporting from USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Treasure hunter who found S.S. Central America and its gold is jailed
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Sunday, according to Irpin Mayor Olexander Markushyn.

He came to Irpin to see with his own eyes all the horror that the Russian occupiers had done to our city, Markushyn said of Trudeau in a Telegram post.

And, of course, he was shocked. After all, he saw burned and completely destroyed not military facilities, but the homes of Irpin residents, who until recently enjoyed life and had their own plans for the future, the mayor also said.

Irpin, which is located northwest of Kyiv, was hard-hit at the start of the invasion. But the Ukrainian city regained control of itself after intense fighting with Russian forces in March.

We have good news today  Irpin has been liberated, Markushyn said at the time. We understand that there will be more attacks on our town and we will defend it courageously.

Throughout the conflict, Trudeau has condemned the unprovoked military invasion, saying last month that Russian President Vladimir Putin is systemically targeting civilians and deliberately committing war crimes.

The images are horrific, the stories were hearing and we have been hearing from Ukrainian Canadians, but through social media as well, of whats going on, Trudeau said.

It is clear that Putin is systematically targeting civilians, whether its hospitals or train stations or maternity wards. This is one of the reasons why Canada was one of the first countries to call on the International Criminal Court to look into Putins war crimes, the prime minister added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is making plans for a massive return of Syrians to their homeland as public hostility to their presence in the country is escalating.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey is building homes and public facilities in parts of Syria held by Turkish-backed forces to support the new plan of encouraging the voluntary returns of 1 million Syrian refugees.

Making the remarks in a video message to a Turkish-sponsored residential construction project in Idlib, a rebel-held province of Syria, Erdogan said some 500,000 Syrians have already returned to "safe regions" in their home country in recent years.

Erdogan's repatriation talks came after he vowed in mid-March not to send Syrians back despite mounting public unease at almost 4 million Syrian refugees taking shelter in the country.

Last week, Turkey banned Syrian refugees it has hosted from traveling back to Syria for Eid al-Fitr, a holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in what seems a first-ever shift from its "open door" refugee policy for Syrians since the outbreak of their country's civil war in 2011.

However, the Turkish decision of voluntary repatriation remains problematic, as the present security conditions in Syria are not conducive for them to rebuild a life, experts said.

"There are still clashes in certain parts of north Syria, and it is not favorable for the Syrians to return at this point," Metin Corabatir, an expert on refugee issues, told Xinhua.

As a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, Turkey is bound by the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of anyone to a place where they would be at risk, said Corabatir, head of the Ankara-based Research Center on Asylum and Migration.

Turkey hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees in the world, in addition to several hundred thousand asylum seekers of other nationalities, mainly from neighboring countries.

The sheer number of refugees has become Turkey's headache over the years, while they have been increasingly blamed for many of Turkey's social and economic ills.

Turkey is currently in the grip of an economic crisis as consumer prices accelerated to an annual rate of almost 70 percent in April, the highest in over two decades.

"Since the start of Turkey's economic hardships in 2018 there is an intensifying opposition to Syrians, people believe that we are robbing them of their jobs and wealth," Wahid, a 34-year-old Syrian migrant who didn't want his surname to be divulged, told Xinhua.

A study carried out by Turkish-German University Migration and Integration Research Center shows that over 70 percent of Turkish respondents have a "negative perception" of Syrians in general.

But 77.8 percent of Syrian respondents said they were not planning to return to Syria, according to the survey.

Wahid said he has been living and working illegally in Turkey's capital city Ankara for over eight years, and none of his close family are taking steps to return home.

The Syrian said he wanted to return but could not see a safe future for his family there. 
The above unsigned lacquer painting, "Landscape in Northern Vietnam" portrays three farmers against mountains and rice fields. It is not signed but belonged to artists at the Hanoi College of Fine Art, an art school in Hanoi that was originally established under French colonial rule in 1925.

It sold at 94,500 euros.

The painting was part of the auction houses "Indochine Sale" of almost 50 picturesque early 20th century depictions of northern villages and the suburbs of Saigon in lacquer and oil paintings
The Biden administrations efforts to provide intelligence to Ukrainian forces has garnered attention this week as the war between Russia and the former Soviet state drags on through its third month.

A report from The New York Times stated that intelligence provided to Ukraine by the United States helped to target and kill Russian generals.

The Washington Post, among other outlets, reported that the U.S. provided intelligence to help sink a Russian flagship vessel in the Black Sea.

The administration for its part rebuked the reports, stating that they are misleading as it tries to walk a fine line between helping Ukraine and remaining unentangled with Russia, a nuclear power.

A member of Russian Parliament on Saturday characterized these efforts as direct participation in the conflict in Eastern Europe.

President Biden also announced yet another haul of security assistance to Ukraine amid a larger ask to Congress for an additional $33 billion in aid to the country.

Here are five things you need to know about the war this week:

US sends another $150 million to Ukraine

President Biden announced on Friday the U.S. is giving another $150 million in security assistance to Ukraine to aid in its fight against Russia.

The security assistance package includes artillery munitions, radars and other equipment.

Today, the United States is continuing our strong support for the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their country against Russias ongoing aggression, Biden said in a statement.

Along with the security package, the White House asked Congress to approve $33 billion for Ukraine in humanitarian and economic assistance.

With todays announcement, my Administration has nearly exhausted funding that can be used to send security assistance through drawdown authorities for Ukraine, Biden said.

The $33 billion is what the Biden administration believes Ukraine needs to get through the next five months of the invasion amid uncertainty about when the conflict will end.

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For Ukraine to succeed in this next phase of war its international partners, including the U.S., must continue to demonstrate our unity and our resolve to keep the weapons and ammunition flowing to Ukraine, without interruption. Congress should quickly provide the requested funding to strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.

Zelensky says U.S. leads world in sanctions against Russia

In an interview with Fox News on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the U.S. for actions taken against Russia since the invasion began.

So far, I think that the United States of America is the accelerator of the sanction policies and I think they do more than any other country, Zelensky said.

And this is the way it should be because they are the most powerful country right now. I see the same support with respect to sanctions from the United Kingdom.

The U.S. has sanctioned dozens of Russian officials, banned Russian oil imports to the country and encouraged allies to apply similar sanctions since the beginning of the war.

Pentagon denies sharing specific intelligence on Russian officials and ships

Since the beginning of Russias invasion into Ukraine, the U.S. has made good on its promise to deliver harsh economic sanctions on Russian oligarchs, Russian banks and even Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.

The United States, along with its allies, have also delivered a significant amount of military and humanitarian aid to the country.

But reports from major news outlets this week gave the American public a better picture about how U.S. intelligence is helping Ukraine issue some surprising defeats to Russian forces.

Citing American officials, The New York Times reported that the U.S. has provided intelligence to target and kill Russian generals during the conflict. According to Ukraine, about a dozen Russian generals have died thus far during the war.

The Times reported that the information provided by the U.S. is part of a classified effort by the Biden administration to provide real-time battlefield intelligence.

On Thursday, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the U.S. has not given Ukraine intelligence on senior military leaders.

The United States provides battlefield intelligence to help Ukraine defend their country, Kirby said. We do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military.

Kirby said Ukraine makes decisions based on intelligence from multiple countries, not just the U.S.

Ukraine combines information that we and other partners provide with the intelligence that they themselves are gathering, and then they make their own decisions and they take their own actions, he said.

The Washington Post later reported that American information helped Ukraine sink a Russian flagship, the Moskva, in the Black Sea.

But Kirby had made a similar statement on Thursday denying the U.S. provided specific targeting information.

We did not provide Ukraine with specific targeting information for the Moskva. We were not involved in the Ukrainians decision to strike the ship or in the operation they carried out, Kirby said. We had no prior knowledge of Ukraines intent to target the ship. The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case.

US accelerates training of Ukrainian soldiers

Defense officials said Wednesday hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers are now training with U.S. forces.

The U.S. is training troops in locations throughout Europe to use weapons such as artillery systems, drones and radars.

The officials said more than 220 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained with U.S. artillery including M777 Howitzer while others have learned to operate the Phoenix Ghost unmanned aerial system.

We are running them through a streamlined course here on the new equipment that theyll be receiving. The goal in all of this is to get them back as soon as possible, so that then they can train others within their army on the equipment, Gen. Joseph Hilbert, head of the 7th Army Training Command in Europe, said.

In the last seven years, the U.S. has trained around 23,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

George W. Bush and Zelensky have virtual meeting

Former President George W. Bush and Zelensky participated in a virtual meeting on Thursday.

I was honored to spend a few minutes talking with President Zelenskyy  the Winston Churchill of our time  this morning. I thanked the President for his leadership, his example, and his commitment to liberty, and I saluted the courage of the Ukrainian people, Bush said.

Bush is the only other U.S. president besides Biden who is known to have spoken with Zelensky since the war began.

President Zelenskyy assured me that they will not waver in their fight against Putins barbarism and thuggery. Americans are inspired by their fortitude and resilience. We will continue to stand with Ukrainians as they stand up for their freedom, Bush added.

Zelenskys office released a statement about the friendly meeting, with Zelensky saying Bush is a strong leader.

Our conversation is important to me because you are an example of a strong leader, Zelensky told Bush.

The Ukrainian leader also discussed with Bush the sympathy Ukraine felt towards the U.S. after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Photo credit: Max Mumby/Indigo - Getty Images

Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan are set to return to the United Kingdom this June to attend Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

And they're taking their kids with them.

The trip will mark the first time the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will publicly arrive in the United Kingdom since the couple stepped back as senior members of the royal family in early 2020.

Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan are set to return to the United Kingdom this June to attend Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrationsand they're taking their kids with them.

"Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are excited and honoured to attend The Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations this June with their children," a spokesperson for the couple tells BAZAAR.com.

The trip will mark the first time the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will publicly arrive in the United Kingdom since the couple stepped back as senior members of the royal family in early 2020. And while their three-year-old son, Archie, will be returning to his place of birth, the visit will be 11-month-old Lilibet's first time in the country.

Today, a spokesperson for Queen Elizabeth II confirmed the official guest list for royal family members who may attend the traditional balcony appearance during the Platinum Jubilee.

In a statement to BAZAAR, the spokesperson says, "After careful consideration, The Queen has decided this years traditional Trooping the Colour balcony appearance on Thursday 2nd June will be limited to Her Majesty and those Members of the Royal Family who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of The Queen."

The decision means that Harry and Meghan are not invited to appear on the balcony, and neither are other non-working royals including Prince Andrew and his daughters, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice.

Those who will join Her Majesty on the balcony include Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla, and Prince William, Duchess Kate, and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

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G7 bans Russian oil imports as first lady Jill Biden visits Ukraine

Following a virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the United States and the Group of 7 leaders announced a new round of sanctions against Russia on Sunday as allies continue to pressure Moscow into ending the war. The sanctions include a commitment from the G7 to ban the import of Russian oil  a restriction only the U.S. has committed to in the past. In addition, the U.S. will apply new sanctions against some Russian TV stations and bank officials, and impose new export controls on certain industrial and commercial products.

Meanwhile, U.S. first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced trip into Ukraine on Sunday, entering an active war zone where she met with her Ukrainian counterpart. Biden met Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, during a visit to a school in Uzhhorod. It was the first time Zelenska has appeared in public since Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24. Biden spent just less than two hours in Ukraine before crossing the border back into Slovakia.

First lady Jill Biden meets with Olena Zelenska, spouse of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at School 6, a public school that has taken in displaced students in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2022.

Rich Strike wins in historic upset at Kentucky Derby

Rich Strike pulled off a stunning win at the Kentucky Derby Saturday, marking the second-biggest upset in Derby history at 80-1 odds with the win paying $163.60 on a $2 win bet. Rich Strike and Sonny Leon, his jockey, completed the 1 mile fast track in 2:02.61 and finished three-quarters of a length ahead of 4-1 favorite, Epicenter. Rich Strike was on the also-eligible list until Friday morning, only receiving a spot after trainer D. Wayne Lukas chose to scratch Ethereal Road. Hell now go down in history after winning his owner, Richard Dawson of RED TR-Racing, the winners share of $1.86 million.

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Rich Strike, with Sonny Leon aboard, wins the 148th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

3 American tourists found dead, fourth hospitalized at Bahamas Sandals resort

The State Department said Sunday that it is "closely monitoring" a Royal Bahamian Police investigation into the deaths of three Americans and one hospitalization at Sandals Emerald Bay Resort in the Bahamas. The circumstances of the deaths have not been released, but the police said two of the individuals had reported feeling ill and received medical treatment. Staff at the Sandals resort Friday morning informed Bahamian police they had found the body of one man unresponsive in a villa and another man and woman unresponsive in another villa, according to police. The couple in the second villa "showed signs of convulsion," according to police, and had sought medical attention the day before. Police do not suspect foul play, Bahamas Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper said.

Taliban rulers order Afghan women to cover up head to toe

Afghanistans Taliban rulers on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public  a sharp, hardline pivot that confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and was bound to further complicate the militant group's dealings with an already distrustful international community. It was the latest in a series of repressive edicts issued by the Taliban leadership, not all of which have been implemented. Last month, for example, the Taliban forbade women to travel alone, but after a day of opposition, that has since been silently ignored. The decree, which calls for women to only show their eyes and recommends they wear the head-to-toe burqa, evoked similar restrictions on women during the Taliban's previous rule between 1996 and 2001. The decree added that if women had no important work outside it is better for them to stay at home.

Afghan women wait to receive food rations distributed by a Saudi humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 25, 2022. Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Saturday, May 7, ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public, a sharp hard-line pivot that confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and was bound to further complicate Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international community.

Real quick

Federal grand jury charges suspect in Brooklyn subway mass shooting with committing terrorist attack

A federal grand jury has indicted a man suspected of shooting up a New York City subway train last month  an attack that wounded 10 people. The panel charged Frank James, 62, on Friday with committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. The weapons count has a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. James was arrested on April 13, about 30 hours after authorities say he drove from Philadelphia and unleashed smoke bombs and dozens of bullets in a train full of morning commuters. Authorities said James's bank card, cellphone and a key to a van he had rented were found at the shooting scene. Police also said they found the handgun used in the shooting and traced it to James.

Baby formula shortage worsens: About 40% of popular brands sold out across US

The infant formula shortage isn't over yet  and appears to be getting worse. Nearly 40% of popular baby formula brands were sold out at retailers across the U.S. during the week starting April 24, according to an analysis by Datasembly, which assessed supplies at more than 11,000 stores. That's up from an already-high out-of-stock percentage of 31% two weeks ago, Datasembly said. Major retailers including CVS, Target and Walgreens are limiting the amount of formula shoppers can purchase. Six states  Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota  faced supply shortages higher than 50% the week starting April 24, Datasembly said. The metro area with the highest out-of-supply rate was San Antonio, with 57%, followed by Memphis & Nashville (52%), and Des Moines & Houston (50%).

Baby formula powder is harder to find since Abbott Nutrition issued a recall in February for select lots of Similac, Alimentum and EleCare formulas that were manufactured at an Abbott facility in Sturgis, Michigan. This photo was taken April 8 at a Target in Boca Raton, Florida.

P.S. Like this roundup of stories? Sign up for "The Short List" newsletter here.

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Contributing: Associated Press.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kentucky Derby, Ukraine, Bahamas deaths: Biggest news you missed
Just days after winning an uncontested primary election, a Politico report revealed an "unhealthy" work environment coupled with high staff turnover in Rep. Victoria Spartz's office.

According to the nonpartisan website Legistorm, Spartz, a Republican representing Indiana's 5th district, had the highest staff office turnover in the House of Representatives in the fiscal year 2021. This put her at the top of the annual "Worst Bosses" list.

Politico interviewed eight people anonymously about Spartz's workplace culture, including former staffers and "Republicans familiar with her office dynamics."

Hamilton County prosecutor-elect: Greg Garrison falsely claims he got Indianapolis writer fired, IndyStar doesn't call him

Those interviews revealed a toxic workplace culture and painted Spartz as a demanding boss with a penchant for hurling insults at her staffers.

Three of the former staffers told Politico Spartz usually avoided firing her aides and instead appeared to make the workplace environment difficult so they would leave on their own.

Manic is a correct description, a former Spartz staffer told Politico. The reason for [former aides] departing after a short time was because of her.

In a statement to Politico, Spartz said her working style is not for everyone.

Im grateful to my current and former staff," she said. "I work extremely hard at a pace that is not for everyone. I remain focused on working hard for the people of Indiana.

Three former staffers told Politico that more than once, Spartz compared the writing skills of her aides to elementary school students and declared her children more talented and capable than her staff.

Thats the common theme: Staffers do their job, and then Victoria comes in saying that they have no idea what theyre doing, that they are morons, calling them idiots, one former staffer told Politico. Senior staff was amazing. That staff was really trauma bonded."

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Victoria Spartz, the winner of the race for Indiana's 5th congressional district, gives a press conference from Westfield, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. The Republican defeated Democratic challenger Christina Hale in the race.

Spartz's chief of staff, Renee Hudson, is departing her office Friday after being with Spartz since January 2021, according to Politico. Hudson, who one staffer told Politico was the "gold standard" for a boss, allegedly protected staffers against the worst of the abuse.

Spartz, 43, is a former state senator for Indiana's 20th district who joined the House of Representatives in January 2021.

Indiana primaries: Far right fails to overthrow establishment GOP in Indiana Statehouse races

She is the first-ever Ukrainian born person to serve in the U.S. Congress. Her emotional testimony in early March at a GOP-led press conference calling Russia's war tactics "genocide against the Ukrainian people" garnered attention. "

Spartz's office did not immediately respond to IndyStar's request for comment regarding the report.

Contact IndyStar trending reporter Claire Rafford at crafford@gannett.com or on Twitter @clairerafford.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Politico: Victoria Spartz accused of being the House's 'worst boss'
The bottled-in-bond category has been expanding over the past few years, with major distilleries entering the fray alongside craft operations that finally have whiskey old enough to qualify. And now Tennessee distillery Jack Daniels, one of the best-selling whiskey brands in the entire world, has its own bottled-in-bond whiskey (two, actually).

For those who are unfamiliar, here are the basics of what bottled-in-bond means: the whiskey must be at least four years old, bottled at 100 proof, aged in a federally bonded warehouse, and be the product of one distillery and one distilling season.

More from Robb Report

When the Bottled in Bond Act was first passed in 1897, there was a good reason for itwhiskey was often adulterated with additives and other unsavory things that you probably wouldnt want to actually consume by unscrupulous producers. So when a whiskey was marked as BIB, you could at least be assured that it wasnt colored with shoe shine or flavored with leather straps. Nowadays, there are some who consider the BIB designation as more of a marketing gimmick than a useful indicator, given how strictly regulated alcohol is here in the US. But it still does have meaning, particularly for small distilleries who at long last have whiskey thats more than four years old instead of rushing to bottle it at half that age. Its also comparable to vintage, because whats in the bottle must come from one distilling season.

Bonded, left, and Triple Mash, the new bottled-in-bond expressions from Jack Daniels. - Credit: Jack Daniel's

Jack Daniel's

Jack just released the first two expressions in its Bonded Series: Jack Daniels Bonded, a BIB Tennessee whiskey, and Triple Mash Bottled-in-Bond, the focus of this taste test. The regular Bonded is basically a higher proof version of Old No. 7, made with the distillerys tried and true 80 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley and 8 percent rye mash bill. The Triple Mash, on the other hand, is where things get a bit more interesting. This is a blend of three-component whiskeys, all distilled at the Lynchburg, Tenn. distillery60 percent Jack Daniels Tennessee Rye, 20 percent Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey and 20 percent Jack Daniels American Malt. Jack has had a rye whiskey expression for a few years now, but I did not realize they were making malt whiskey, let alone 100 percent malt whiskey. And though the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau hasnt yet set a definition for American single malts, I believe this component whiskey would meet the criteria.

Story continues

This is an intriguing whiskey, still very recognizably Jack Daniels with some other elements on the palate that are less familiar. There is sweet banana and custard on the nose, along with a bit of baking spice. The palate is a bit more complex than regular Jack, or at least strays farther afield than what youre used to. That trademark banana bread is present, along with some tannic spice, brandied cherry, leather wallet and bitter cocoa powder notes, followed by a pleasantly hot finish.

Whatever you think about Old No. 7, and Im not one who pours that particular whiskey very often, Jack Daniels has consistently released some interesting expressions over the past few years. Single Barrel is usually very good (the Coy Hill release was probably the highest proof whiskey Ive ever tried, for better or worse), the 10-Year-Old was one of my favorites of the past year, and the Tennessee Tasters series has had some welcome surprises. Theres no real reason a behemoth like Jack needs to keep making these comparably experimental whiskeys given its massive sales, but I appreciate the push to appeal to whiskey drinkers who probably dont normally drink Jack. Triple Mash might not be an everyday pour for me, but its certainly an interesting one to try.

Score: 83



Pre-Order Now: $37.99

What Our Score Means

100: Worth trading your first born for

95  99 In the Pantheon: A trophy for the cabinet

90  94 Great: An excited nod from friends when you pour them a dram

85  89 Very Good: Delicious enough to buy, but not quite special enough to chase on the secondary market

80  84 Good: More of your everyday drinker, solid and reliable

Below 80 Its alright: Honestly, we probably wont waste your time and ours with this

Every week Jonah Flicker tastes the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Friday for his latest review.

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Zelenskyy warns that Moscow wants to conquer other countries after Russian military leader hints at expansion into Moldova

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a video address on April 22, 2022. Office of the President of Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia wants to capture other countries on Friday.

The comment responded to a Russian military leader hinting at Russian expansion into Moldova.

The Russian major general said control of southern Ukraine would give Moscow access to Transnistria in Moldova.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia wants to occupy other countries, suggesting that the invasion of Ukraine may be the start of a campaign of Russian expansion.

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine is intended only as a beginning," Zelenskyy said in a video address on Friday night. "Then they want to capture other countries."

Zelenskyy, in the video address, asked that nations not remain neutral in the conflict because they could be putting themselves in jeopardy.

"All the nations that, like us, believe in the victory of life over death must fight with us," he said. "They must help us because we are the first in line. And who is to come next?"

The comments followed reports that one of the Kremlin's leading military figures raised the prospect of Russian expansion into Ukraine's neighbor Moldova.

Maj. Gen. Rustam Minnekayev, deputy commander of Russia's Central Military District, was quoted in state media as saying that Russia seeks total control over the south of Ukraine and the Donbas.

Minnekayev said it would give Russia access to a Russian-backed separatist region of Moldova, say reports.

"Control over the south of Ukraine is another way out to Transnistria, where there are also facts of oppression of the Russian-speaking population," said Minnekayev on Friday at a meeting with the Union of Defense Industries, Russian media reported, per BBC News.

A map showing where Transnistria is in relation to Ukraine. Wikimedia Commons

Transnistria is next to Ukraine's western border. It's a breakaway state that is internationally recognized, even by Russia, as part of Moldova. Russian troops have been based there as "peacekeepers" since 1992.

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Moldova summoned Moscow's ambassadors over the comments, BBC News reported, with the foreign ministry describing them as "deeply concerning."

Moldova's government said in a statement on Friday that Minnekayev's claim that the Russian-speaking population of Transnistria is facing oppression is "not only unacceptable but also unfounded."

Russian President Vladimir Putin made similar claims about the alleged oppression of Russian speakers in Ukraine prior to the invasion on February 24.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A polar bear with her cubs. Art Wolfe/Getty Images

Whether they're doing it alone or with help from others, animal moms protect and raise their young.

Female cheetahs and polar bears raise their cubs alone with little help from the father.

On the other hand, sperm whales and African elephants live in groups to raise offspring together.

Matthew Wilson contributed to a previous version of this article.

In a typical pride, many lionesses will give birth at the same time and will all take care of their cubs together.

A lion with her cub. Anup Shah/Getty Images

Lionesses can give birth to between one and four cubs at a time, and it's typical for the other lionesses in the pride to give birth around the same time.

For the first eight weeks, when the cubs are truly helpless, a mother will take care of her cubs on her own, but once they hit that 2-month milestone, the mother introduces her cub(s) to the pride, which is when the "communal care" sets in. Lionesses will even nurse each other's cubs.

Adult orca whales stick with their mothers well into adulthood.

An orca whale with her calf. Jeff Foott/Getty Images

Science Mag reported that an adult male killer whale has a better chance of survival with his mother close by, and even suggests that this is why female orcas live so long after their reproductive prime: to keep an eye on their kids.

Moose cows raise their calves alone for a year.

A moose and her calf. picture alliance/Getty Images

Funnily enough, a mother moose will sometimes "abandon" her calf for a few hours in a spot she knows is safe  and sometimes this spot is in a human's backyard.

"People see a calf crying in the backyard, that's a signal for the cow to come get it. It's a natural response. They're fine, but people don't understand that and they feel bad. The first thing we tell them is to wait, unless dogs are chasing it or something. And often people call us and tell us, 'Yeah, the cow came back,'" state wildlife biologist Rick Sinnott told the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Gorilla mothers do not put their babies down for their first six months of life.

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A gorilla and her baby. Mark Newman/Getty Images

Yes, a gorilla mother will hold her baby for six months straight to keep them safe and warm, and to keep track of them while the mother does her own activities and tasks. A mother gorilla also will nurse her baby and let them sleep in her nest for years, according to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

The distinct spot patterns on a mother giraffe will be passed down to her offspring.

A giraffe and her calves. brytta/Getty Images

Live Science reported that "young giraffes inherit much of the detail in their spots from their mamas."

Giraffes don't form long bonds with partners or family members, but females do travel and raise their babies in groups. That way, when a mother needs to get food or water, the other females can watch over her calf, according to Pets on Mom.

Lemur mothers have something called a "threat stare" to protect their babies from other animals.

A lemur and her baby. Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images

Lemur mothers first hold their babies to their chests, but later transfer them to their backs once they're old enough. Besides being extremely loud, lemur mothers also scare off predators with their "threat stare."

Female polar bears raise their cubs alone and are extremely protective of them.

A polar bear with her cubs. Art Wolfe/Getty Images

As previously reported by Insider, male polar bears play almost no role in a cub's life  there have even been reports of males killing young cubs. A female polar bear cares for her cubs for the first 28 months of their lives, teaching them how to hunt and other skills needed to survive.

Cheetahs are also single mothers, raising a litter of three to five cubs in solitude.

A cheetah and her cubs. WLDavies/Getty Images

According to Dell Cheetah Centre, cheetahs are solitary creatures with males and females only interacting during mating season. When cubs are born, they are blind and helpless, dependent on their mother to survive.

Every few days the mother will move her litter to prevent predators from tracking their scent. Despite these efforts, cub mortality is high in the first six weeks because the mother will leave them alone to hunt, according to USA Today.

Cubs live with their mother until they're 16 to 24 months old.

Like humans, female orangutans form a strong, long-lasting bond with their offspring.

An orangutan with her infant. KatePhotographer/Getty Images

According to Orangutan Foundation International, infant orangutans are completely dependent on their mothers for the first two years of life. They will cling to their mother's stomach, side, and back as she moves through the jungle.

Orangutans remain with their mother until they're around 10 years old, and female orangutans have been known to make frequent return trips to visit their mothers until they are 15 or 16.

Female opossums will carry their litter on their backs.

An opossum with her litter. Stan Tekiela/Getty Images

According to National Geographic, opossums are as small as honey bees when born and develop in their mother's pouch after birth. Opossums may give birth to more than 20 in a litter, but less than half survive.

Raising offspring is a family affair for red foxes.

A red fox with her pup. Bob Hilscher/Getty Images

According to Live Science, red fox pups are raised equally by both the mother and father. Older siblings will also sometimes lend a hand by bringing them food. When pregnant, the female fox will form a nursing chamber inside her burrow.

Unlike some reptiles, female alligators are protective of their young and will carry their eggs in their snout to assist in hatching.

An alligator with her hatchling. Eric Woods/Getty Images

A female alligator will lay between 10 and 50 eggs. Before doing so, she will build a nest from mud, sticks, and plants. The temperature of the nest determines the sex of the hatchlings, and the female will try to achieve a temperature in the nest that produces both male and female offspring.

When it comes time for the eggs to hatch, the mother will carry the hatchlings down to the water. She will also carry any eggs that haven't hatched, rolling them in her mouth in an attempt to help them open up.

Baby porcupines are called porcupettes, and mothers usually have between one and four at a time.

A female porcupine with her porcupette. iStock/Getty Images

According to National Geographic, a newly born porcupine will have soft quills, but they will harden after only a few days. Porcupines live with their mothers for two months before they're ready to strike out on their own.

Female emperor penguins will travel up to 50 miles to bring food back for their young.

An emperor penguin protects her chick. Paul Souders/Getty Images

According to National Geographic, a female emperor penguin will leave her egg with the male to protect it while she leaves the breeding site to fish. The mother will return and regurgitate her meal to the newly hatched chick.

The male emperor penguin will depart, leaving the female to raise their offspring. Mothers will protect their young from the elements with the warmth of their brood pouches.

Female koala bears shelter their newborns in their pouches for six months.

A koala bear with her joey. Ian Waldie/Getty Images

According to National Geographic, a koala bear is about the size of a jelly bean when born. Hairless, no ears and blind, a joey will spend six months in its mothers pouch until developed enough to come out. Afterwards, they'll stay close to their mothers, often riding on their mothers' backs.

Giant pandas are very careful when handling their newly born cubs.

A giant panda with her cub. VCG/Getty Images

When born, a panda cub weighs only around 3 to 5 ounces. In comparison, an adult panda can weigh up to 300 pounds. Mothers will handle their cubs with extreme care, rarely putting it down between feedings.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, panda cubs will live with their mothers until they are 18 months old. Sometimes mothers will have twins, but they are unable to care for both animals so will often abandon one, according to BBC Earth.

Both the female bison and her offspring live in a herd.

A bison with her calf. Zen Rial/Getty Images

According to Live Science, the herd protects both mother and child from outside threats. A female bison will give birth after nine months to typically one calf, who will mature by 2 or 3 years old.

Both male and female great egrets help incubate their eggs in the nest.

A great egret with her offspring. pchoui/Getty Images

According to the National Park Service, female great egrets are gentle mothers despite their size. Egret chicks will nest for three weeks before taking small excursions through the trees and eventually taking their first flights at 5 to 6 weeks old.

African elephants form a herd of females that help raise young calves.

An elephant with her calf. 1001slide/Getty Images

"It takes a village" for elephants. The extended family is led by an older female, who helps to shepherd the others and their young, according to PBS. When they turn 14, male elephants leave the herd to either range alone or join other males in what are known as "bachelor herds."

When they're born, calves have poor eyesight but can recognize their mothers through scent, touch, and sound, according to Thought Co. They weigh around 250 pounds when born. The mother is responsible for feeding the calf, but the entire herd protects them from predators.

When nursing their young pups, elephant seals don't eat anything.

An elephant seal with her pup. VW Pics/Getty Images

According to National Geographic, female elephant seals, after an 11-month pregnancy, give birth to a single pup in late winter and will nurse it for a month. They both sustain themselves off the energy the mother managed to reserve in her blubber.

Female dolphins will guide their calves through the water.

A dolphin swimming with her calf. Wild Horizon/Getty Images

According to Sciencing, a calf will follow in its mother's slipstream, a wake that forms as the mother swims, allowing both to keep up with other dolphins. Female dolphins will also receive help from their own mothers in raising their young.

Sperm whale pods will defend mother and infant when a whale is giving birth.

Sperm whale with her calf. Westend61/Getty Images

According to Oceanwide Expeditions, female sperm whales and their offspring live in pods of up to 20 members. Males will typically leave this pod when they're 4 years old to form their own pod with other males or strike out on their own.

When a whale is giving birth, members of the pod will form a defensive barrier around her to protect against predators.

A female kangaroo protects her offspring by carrying them in her pouch.

A kangaroo with her joey. phototrip/Getty Images

According to Live Science, a kangaroo is about the size of a grain of rice or bumble bee when it is born. The mother will nurse the young joey in its pouch between 120 to 450 days while it continues to develop.

Desert bighorn sheep raise their young in a nursery system of 25 to 100 sheep.

A bighorn sheep with her lamb. sherwoodimagery/Getty Images

According to the National Park Service, the bighorn sheep have their young in high terrain to protect them from predators. A couple of the sheep will stay with the young while the other females go to feed. The female sheep will trade responsibilities until the lambs are old enough to eat solid food and travel with their mothers at 6 months old.

Red panda cubs stay with their moms for a year.

A 4-month-old red panda cub and its mother rest on tree branches. JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images

According to the National Zoo, red panda cubs are born entirely covered with fur in order to protect them from the elements.

Read the original article on Insider
Moms Demand Action Volunteer Robin Lillies reads a poem about the struggles of being a Black mother and losing her son during the Black Mothers Rally hosted by the Dream Defenders at Citizens Field in Gainesville on Saturday. (Lawren Simmons/For the Guardian)

Local activists came together on Saturday to celebrate Mothers Day during the Black Mothers Matter Rally at Citizens Field in East Gainesville.

With music, food and an open mic, the celebration featured an intersection of racial and social justice.

Organized by the Dream Defenders, the event was held to uplift Black mothers, while also bringing awareness to the Erica Thompson incident that occurred at the Alachua County Jail last August, resulting in the death of her premature-born baby.

As an inmate, Thompson said staff members ignored her screams that she was in labor and are to blame for the babys later death. She posted on social media that the nurse told her that she couldnt be in labor because she had not yet dilated when checked at a hospital the day before.

Alachua County Jail is responsible for all of my pain and suffering physically and mentally and theyre responsible for the death of my daughter, Thompson wrote. Im so hurt and just still in disbelief that I had to have my child in jail in my bunk all by myself.

Read the story: A baby born in Alachua County Jail died. The mother said jail staff ignored her screams

Dream Defenders issue demands: Gainesville racial justice group issues demands in death of baby at Alachua County jail

'A serious problem with race relations in Gainesville': Racial equity movement had gains and losses in 2021 in Alachua County

Dream Defender Nevaeh Renwick, a recent UF graduate running for a board position with the Alachua County Water and Soil Conservation Commission, leads the crowd in an organized meditation during the Black Mothers Rally hosted by the Dream Defenders at Citizens Field on Saturday. (Lawren Simmons/For the Guardian)

Were still angry, said Dream Defenders spokesperson, Zora Viel on Saturday. Something happened to a Black woman thats not getting acknowledged. We want more justice for what happened to her.

No misconduct by jail officials was found in Thompsons case despite her saying she repeatedly screamed for help and to be hospitalized. And Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. said in a press release that there were no findings of law or policy violations on the part of Alachua County Sheriffs Office employees or the contracted medical provider.

Alachua County Jail has blood on their hands because they made the conscious choice to ignore Heaven [Thompson] and her cries and her screams while she gave birth on the concrete floor, said Nevaeh Renwick during the rally.

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Nothing can make up for the neglect and abuse, but a public formal apology by the Alachua County Jail is the second step, the humane step in helping Heaven find peace and healing, Renwick said.

Black mothers matter. And because I am one, Ive lost a lot of sleep worrying about my Black son, said Moms Demand Action volunteer, Robin Lillies, who lost her son to gun violence. "Being Black in America is not an easy task and our lives do matter.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Black Mothers Matter: Florida activists, Dream Defenders host rally
Mayor Lori Lightfoots predecessors, Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel, had a calling card theyd rely on frequently to flex Chicagos status as a true global city. For Daley and Emanuel, decisions by Americas corporate giants to relocate to the citys downtown signaled Chicagos rightful place among cities that mattered not just domestically, but internationally.

Under Emanuel, Archer Daniels Midland, McDonalds and Motorola all relocated their headquarters to Chicago. Facebook, Yelp and Google opened offices here under his watch. And well before Emanuel, in 2001, Daley landed the corporate titan that instantly swung the worlds gaze toward Chicago  commercial aviation leader Boeing.

Boeings move to a 36-story building at 100 N. Riverside Plaza added only 400 employees to downtown  but the move carried massive symbolic weight.

No longer could Chicago be tossed into the Rust Belt bucket alongside Cleveland or Detroit. Chicago, and more specifically the Loop, had arrived as a destination for corporations that competed on a global scale. That meant Chicago itself could compete globally, and aspire to the same strata as global cities like New York, London, Paris, Shanghai and Singapore.

Alas, those halcyon days seem far away now. Boeings announcement last week that it will move its corporate headquarters to Arlington, Virginia, broadsided the city with a jolt that threatens to reverberate for some time. The body blow isnt about the loss of employees  in fact, Boeing has said it will keep its roster of 400 workers in Chicago and maintain a presence in the city.

The hurt felt by Boeings departure is all about perceptions about Chicago. And, specifically, its beleaguered downtown.

The Loop hasnt just gone through a rough patch lately  its been put through the wringer.

Even as downtown begins to gradually loose itself from the pandemic, COVID-19s ravages have left an indelible mark on the Loops hectic, bustling vibe. Marquee restaurants have shut down. Workers are coming back, but offices have far from fully rebounded; the downtown vacancy rate is up to 19.7% as of the end of March. Thats worse than the 17.9% mark at the end of December. Retail vacancy along the Magnificent Mile is also worryingly on the rise. And recent outbreaks of violent crime have heightened a wariness about just how safe downtown streets and CTA train platforms are.

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Lightfoot hasnt formally announced her reelection bid, but all signs point to her pursuit of a second term. As she winds down her first term in office, she faces a bevy of top-shelf priorities: tackling the intractability of citywide violent crime; bringing to fruition her pledges to revitalize long-neglected neighborhoods on the South and West sides; implementing genuine, lasting police reforms; and ensuring that the just-announced Ballys casino in the River West neighborhood gets done in a way that enhances the city rather than diminishes it.

One of those priorities must also be the future health and viability of Chicagos downtown.

When corporations mull over a relocation to a new urban center, they consider a gamut of factors. Does the candidate citys workforce mesh with their companys needs? Does that citys geographic location work well for the companys logistics? Are there potential sweeteners such as tax incentives on the table?

But just as important are much more universal factors. How safe is the downtown for employees and visitors? What are the citys cultural amenities like? How easy or hard is it to get around? Is the downtowns economic arrow heading up or down?

Despite its famed passenger jets, Boeings also a major defense contractor, and its exit may say less about the Loops travails and more about the plane-makers desire to be closer to the nations capital, a metro region that is home to other rival military contractors like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. The region makes strategic sense for our global headquarters given its proximity to our customers and stakeholders, and its access to world-class engineering and technical talent, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a statement.

Still, its not the only corporate giant to recently reduce its footprint in the Loop. In December, United Airlines announced it was moving a quarter of its downtown workforce  900 workers  from its headquarters in Willis Tower to northwest suburban Arlington Heights.

Lightfoot reacted to Boeings departure by downplaying it. We have a robust pipeline of major corporate relocations and expansions, and we expect more announcements in coming months, Lightfoot said in a statement Thursday. What remains to be true is that Chicago is a major hub for global corporations that recognize our diverse workforce, expansive infrastructure, and thriving economy.

Indeed, Chicago can remain a major hub for global corporations, but only if Lightfoot and the rest of City Hall craft a road map for the Loops post-pandemic rebound. That will mean finding ways to help the Loop adapt to the likelihood of hybrid work environments at employers big and small, nurturing a retail comeback along Michigan Avenue, State Street and other prime shopping and leisure corridors, and most of all, doing what it takes to rekindle among Chicagoans, suburbanites and tourists a sense of safety on downtown streets.

It may seem that Boeings departure is weighted with gloom, but it doesnt have to be that way. It could be the wake-up call that Lightfoot and City Hall need to make the Loops resurgence a top-line task. But that requires heeding the alarm.

Join the discussion on Twitter @chitribopinions and on Facebook.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County agencies:

Neighbors evacuated during barricade

OXNARD  A barricaded subject in Oxnard Friday morning led Ventura County Sheriff's personnel to evacuate surrounding neighbors as they used flash-bang grenades and other means to get him out.

The sheriff's special crimes unit executed a search warrant around 7:15 a.m. in the 1400 block of Casa San Carlos Lane. The block is on the east side of Ventura Road on the north side of a shopping center along Channel Islands Boulevard.

Since March, detectives had investigated a 34-year-old man believed to be engaged in illegal drug and firearms activities. The subject is a convicted felon and known member of an Oxnard criminal street gang, authorities said.

The man barricaded himself in the garage and refused to exit, officials said. Authorities had armored vehicles, police dogs and other equipment at the scene.

An armored BearCat and the agency's armored multipurpose vehicle known as the Rook  which can serve as forklift, hydraulic ram, claw-wielding grabber and more  were deployed, said sheriff's Capt. Eduardo Malagon. Two K-9 dogs were also on hand.

Authorities evacuated nearby residents as a safety precaution.

Sheriff's officials seized evidence after a warrant search turned into a barricade situation that evacuated nearby residents in an Oxnard neighborhood Friday morning.

As negotiations carried on, authorities deployed light-sound devices known as flash-bang grenades to urge the man to leave the garage, Malagon said. They also used the Rook to tear down some fencing that was blocking deputies' view of the front door.

The overall presence of such resources  SWAT teams in body armor, barking K-9s, diversionary devices, the BearCat and the Rook taking down fencing  all serve to compel people to surrender peacefully, Malagon said.

After about an hour, the man left the garage and was taken into custody without incident and without the use of force, Malagon said.

More local news: Father, daughter shot in Oxnard during family dispute, police say

Detectives seized evidence of suspected narcotics sales, an unregistered short-barreled assault weapon, a handgun, body armor and dozens of live rounds of ammunition. The short-barreled firearm was a so-called "ghost gun," officials said, because it was privately made and lacked serial numbers and other markings. The suspect is barred from having firearms and ammunition due to prior convictions.

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He was arrested on suspicion of firearms and narcotics offenses and remained in Ventura County jail Saturday in lieu of $120,000 bail.

No injuries were reported.

Driver barricades in stolen car

SIMI VALLEY  Authorities in Simi Valley summoned an armored vehicle and a sheriff's helicopter when a man allegedly driving a stolen car refused to come out for hours on Saturday.

Shortly after 11 a.m., Simi Valley Police Department officers located a stolen vehicle near Tapo Street and Township Avenue. The driver, 40, who sometimes lives in Simi Valley, refused to comply with directives to get out of the vehicle, according to police.

The department's armored BearCat was summoned to immobilize the car and K-9 police dog teams were deployed. In addition, a Ventura County Sheriff's helicopter crew assisted.

The driver ultimately surrendered without incident after about 3 hours of negotiations, officials said, and was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft and delaying an officer.

Sentencing, pleas for 4 burglary crew members

VENTURA COUNTY  All four members of a Chilean theft crew who took part in a Camarillo home burglary in March have now pleaded guilty, with one man sentenced this week, prosecutors said.

The crime took place in the 800 block of Corte La Cienega, in the Spanish Hills area, on March 2 while residents were home. Ventura County Sheriff's deputies responded and launched a high-speed pursuit into Los Angeles, with a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter assisting from above. Two suspects were apprehended that night in Van Nuys. Two others who escaped were arrested a week later in LA.

More local news: Ventura landmarks featured on exclusive cover of 'The Amazing Spider-Man' comic

All are Chilean nationals who were members of a so-called South American Theft Group, authorities said. On Thursday, Galvez Lorenzo Valdivieso, 33, was sentenced in Ventura County Superior Court to 300 days in county jail and 36 months probation, according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. Valdivieso had previously pleaded guilty to first-degree residential burglary, conspiracy and resisting.

Senior Deputy DA Brandon Ross had asked the court to impose two years prison time for Valdivieso, but the judge decided on a lesser sentence after a review of the defendant's criminal history and other information, Ross said.

On Wednesday, 18-year-old Enrico Francesco Martinez pleaded guilty to the same charges. A third defendant, Byron Manuel Moris Perez, 25, also pleaded guilty to the same charges last month. In addition, Martinez and Moris Perez admitted a special allegation that the burglary was a violent crime because the resident was in the house at the time, prosecutors said. The two will be sentenced in June and remain in jail with bail set at about $250,000 each.

The fourth burglar, a 16-year-old male, has admitted his involvement and is scheduled for sentencing Wednesday at the Juvenile Justice Facility.

Drowning victim identified

PORT OF HUENEME  Authorities have identified the man whose body was found floating in the Port of Hueneme harbor in late March.

Nhuom V. Le was 53, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office. He was described as unsheltered. The cause of death was drowning, officials said, and the manner was undetermined.

The body was reported floating face down shortly before 5 p.m. on March 29. Ventura County Sheriff's investigators found no evidence of a crime.

Distracted drivers rack up citations in April

VENTURA COUNTY  April  in case you weren't paying attention  was distracted driving month, with some local police agencies targeting drivers who violated cell phone laws requiring hands-free operation.

The Oxnard Police Department issued 115 such citations last month. The Simi Valley Police Department issued 127.

Despite repeated efforts to warn drivers about the hands-free cell phone law, some drivers continue to use their phones while operating a vehicle, Simi Valley police Cmdr. James Buckley said in a statement. Our ultimate goal is to change behaviors that help make our roads safer.

California's law, which has been in place since 2008, bars drivers from holding a phone or other electronic device for talking, texting or using apps, the agencies said. Handheld cell phone use can be punished with a fine. A second violation within 3 years adds a point to your driving record.

Police officials reminded residents to pull over and park if you need to hold your phone to an important call, message or to get directions.

The enforcement efforts were funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Oxnard barricade evacuates neighbors, more news
"Generally speaking, the BRI has provided tremendous opportunities and benefits to all participating countries around the world, helping to boost regional and global economies during and after the pandemic," said Vasim Sorya, undersecretary of state and spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. "This initiative, in my view, is importantly contributing to building a community of shared future for mankind."

PHNOM PENH, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Projects under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have been greatly boosting Cambodia's economy and improving local people's livelihoods, Cambodian officials and experts said.

Large BRI projects in the Southeast Asian country include the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, hydropower plants, Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, new Siem Reap International Airport, Morodok Techo National Stadium, roads and bridges, hospitals, and rural water supply among others.

"These projects have provided and will continue to provide a lot of tangible benefits to the economy and people of Cambodia," Vasim Sorya, undersecretary of state and spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, told Xinhua.

"The BRI projects here are sincere with no strings attached, and their aim is to help boost our socio-economic development and improve our people's livelihoods," he said.

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, all BRI projects in the kingdom have made headway steadily, Sorya said, giving an example of the construction work on the 2-billion-U.S. dollar Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway.

Begun in 2019, the project is expected to be fully finished on schedule this year, he said, adding that it has generated more than 3,000 jobs for Cambodians during the construction.

"The 190-km expressway is the largest project under the BRI in Cambodia, and it will add a new impetus to Cambodia's economic development since it links the capital Phnom Penh with the international deep-water seaport in Sihanoukville," he said.

The BRI, a reference to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was initiated by China in 2013 to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

Sorya said that all BRI projects have been built in an environment friendly manner.

Since its inception in 2013, the BRI has significantly boosted regional and global cooperation in terms of hard and soft infrastructures, economy, trades, investment opportunities, cultural exchange, and people to people connectivity, he said.

"Generally speaking, the BRI has provided tremendous opportunities and benefits to all participating countries around the world, helping to boost regional and global economies during and after the pandemic," Sorya said. "This initiative, in my view, is importantly contributing to building a community of shared future for mankind."

Ministry of Commerce's undersecretary of state and spokesman Penn Sovicheat said the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) is the a perfect example of a win-win cooperation under the BRI.

"The SSEZ has provided a lot of jobs to the workers and served as a role model for the cluster industries and as a base for exports," he told Xinhua.

According to an operator's report, the SSEZ recorded a surge of 42 percent year-on-year in the value of imports and exports, reaching 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2021.

For the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, Sovicheat said the project is crucial to reducing travel time and transportation cost, improving the logistics connectivity, and increasing the import-export activities between Cambodia and the world, especially China.

Neak Chandarith, director of the Cambodia 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Research Center, said the BRI has been greatly contributing to Cambodia's development strategies, such as the Rectangular Strategy Phase IV, the Industrial Development Policy 2015-2025, the logistic system improvement master plan, and the multipurpose special economic zones in the coastal city of Sihanoukville.

"It will help Cambodia to achieve its ambitious goal of becoming an upper-middle income country by 2030 and a high income country in 2050," he told Xinhua. "The BRI projects will be the major contributors to Cambodia's economic growth in the post-pandemic era."

Mak Chamroeun, vice president of Phnom Penh-based online market Smile Shop, said the BRI is building a connected world with peace, harmony, common development and prosperity, and for Cambodia the BRI projects have delivered many potential benefits to businesses and local residents.

"China, ranked top among foreign investors in Cambodia, has various investments in Cambodia's backboned sectors such as special economic zones, transport infrastructure, energy, agriculture, telecommunication, and tourism among others," he told Xinhua.

"All these infrastructure projects have been playing a key role not only in improving people's daily lives, but also in promoting economic growth and modernizing rural areas," he said.
Madeira is a semi-tropical island floating in the Atlantic, part of Portugal though a distant 669 miles from mainland. Pristine black sand beaches, verdant mountains and a patchwork of hiking paths are a dream for nature lovers. Its remote location offers a sense of safety and seclusion thats a balm for these times.

Visitors seeking outdoor adventures will find many, while those craving rest and relaxation on a beautiful beach or a stroll around a cosmopolitan capital will be equally satisfied. Travelers who live to eat will find luscious island-grown produce and fish so fresh it still tastes of briny seawater, accompanied by potent fortified wine.

A near-perfect climate and hospitable locals who speak English almost as well as their native Portuguese are perks. Nonstop flights from New York City can get you there in six hours.

Heres our guide to 10 of the best things to do on Madeira.

Plunge into a natural rock pool

This article originally appeared on 10Best.com: Madeira: 10 reasons to visit this stunning Portuguese island
May 8It was after 10 p.m. on a Saturday and quiet in the small town of Portapique, Nova Scotia, when gunshots rang out and bright flames from a house fire lit the night.

A man had shot at his partner, set fire to their house and in the span of a half-hour gunned down 13 people in the village, including two neighbors whose children were hiding behind a bed. Over the next 13 hours, Gabriel Wortman, 51, dressed as a police officer and driving a replica cruiser, killed nine more people, including a pregnant woman and a constable from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Three others were injured.

Wortman was shot and killed by police outside a gas station on April 19, 2020, the day after his rampage began. Officers searching the Mazda 3 he stole from one of his victims found five firearms and dozens of rounds of ammunition.

Three of those firearms  a Glock 23, a Ruger P89 and a Colt Carbine semi-automatic rifle  came from Houlton, nearly 300 miles and across an international border from the small beachside community where the worst mass shooting in Canadian history began.

Two guns, authorities would later determine, had been purchased by a friend of Wortman's in Houlton and a third came from a gun show in the same Aroostook County town.

Three Canadians who supplied the gunman with ammunition used in the attacks faced charges. But the people in Maine who helped Wortman acquire guns have not been charged and likely never will be.

A Canadian Mass Casualty Commission charged with examining the shooting and recommending ways to keep communities safer released a detailed report last week about the firearms used in the attacks and how the gunman was able to access them.

In the days and weeks after the shootings, investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Canada and the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives descended on Houlton, where they interviewed Wortman's friends and acquaintances.

Transcripts of those interviews and the firearms report released last week document how investigators traced guns to a private sale at a Houlton gun show and to Sean Conlogue, a friend of Wortman's who had given him the Ruger to thank him for doing odd jobs. Wortman took the Glock 23 from Conlogue's home without his permission, according to the report.

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Investigators determined that an acquaintance of Wortman's purchased the Colt Carbine for him at the gun show for $1,000 cash, an illegal move known as a straw purchase, where someone buys a gun for another person who is prohibited from buying it.

It is a violation of federal law for a person to give, sell or transfer a gun to someone who is not a U.S. resident, though Conlogue told police he didn't know he wasn't allowed to do so. But that offense is rarely prosecuted because it is usually a low priority for the Department of Justice, which prosecutes around 14,000 firearms cases each year, according to Margaret Groban, a retired federal prosecutor who now teaches a firearms regulation course at the University of Maine School of Law.

When the Department of Justice is deciding whether to charge someone with a firearms offense, it looks at whether the person has a criminal record, has given guns to multiple people, was aware of the intent of the person receiving the gun, and shows remorse, Groban said.

"It is unusual to prosecute someone for violating this statute," she said. "He himself has not committed a violent crime."

A spokesperson for the FBI said the agency would not comment on a possible investigation of the Maine guns used in the attack. The ATF did not respond to requests for information about its involvement in the case, but a spokesperson told CBC News in Canada last month that there is no investigation underway and that no charges related to the mass shooting have been referred at the local, state or federal level.

Conlogue did not respond to messages from a reporter asking to discuss his connection to Wortman.

Maine has less restrictive regulations for purchasing guns than many other states, so it is considered a source state for guns, Groban said.

"If you opened Uncle Henry's (classified ads) today, you'd see pages and pages of firearms for sale  and you don't need a background check for those private sales (in Maine)," she said. "Our guns show up in other states at crime scenes or where it is not as easy to get a gun."

It's not surprising, therefore, that guns from Maine ended up in Canada, "but it's tragic nonetheless," Groban said.

THE HOULTON CONNECTION

Wortman, a 51-year-old denturist, was a frequent visitor to Houlton, where he sometimes stayed with Conlogue in his home near the town center. Conlogue told investigators that he had met Wortman through a mutual friend at an Irish pub in Fredericton, New Brunswick, decades earlier.

They grew close over time, often going to the Elks club down the street for drinks when Wortman was in town. When Wortman turned 50, Conlogue, who is in his 60s, traveled to Nova Scotia for the party. And when Conlogue was recovering from surgery, Wortman closed his business and came to Houlton for 10 days to care for him.

Conlogue allowed Wortman to ship items he purchased  mostly motorcycle parts but also a light bar later mounted on his replica police cruiser  to Conlogue's house in Houlton. Conlogue told an RCMP investigator that he stacked the boxes unopened in his garage until his friend came to Maine to retrieve them.

Occasionally the two men would get together to skeet shoot. At Conlogue's camp in Haynesville Woods, they shot at targets and clay pigeons. They also shot together at a gravel pit in Haynesville and off the porch of Conlogue's camp in Forkstown, according to the commission report.

They used various guns, including a commemorative Smith & Wesson, shotguns and two Glock handguns owned by Conlogue. Wortman, whom Conlogue described as an "average shot," enjoyed shooting the Glocks, the report said.

Conlogue told police he had given his friend a Ruger handgun two to five years earlier to show his gratitude for the tree removal and other odd jobs he did for him.

"Mr. Conlogue said he assumed the perpetrator could take a firearm into Canada and never questioned the perpetrator about how he would get the firearm home," the commission report says.

A few years before the shootings, Conlogue realized Wortman had taken his two Glock handguns from a bedroom he used for storage, according to an interview transcript.

Conlogue told a detective "it broke my heart because he betrayed trust that I'd had in him," but he did not report the guns stolen or push Wortman to give them back.

Conlogue told a detective that he asked his friend why he had taken them and Wortman told him that he needed them "for protection." One Glock 23 that Conlogue had purchased in 2009 from a gun shop in Mattawamkeag was found in Wortman's Mazda. Investigators later determined it was used to shoot multiple people during the rampage.

Police traced another gun from Maine, a Colt carbine 5.56 caliber semi-automatic rifle, to an annual gun show in a Houlton arena where table rentals started at $30.

The gun was originally purchased in Ventura, California, then transferred to a man named Gary Sewell, who arranged for his friend Don Dematteis to sell it at the Houlton gun show, held April 27 and 28, 2019, according to the report. Wortman saw the gun at the show, but as a Canadian citizen was not allowed to buy it.

Dematteis told the FBI and ATF that a man who said he was from Massachusetts approached him about buying the gun. Dematteis told him he could only sell it to someone with a Maine driver's license and a concealed carry permit. The man was later identified through a photo lineup as Wortman, according to the report.

Later that day, Dematteis sold the gun for around $1,000 to a man in his 60s who had a Maine license. Because no paperwork or background check was required for that sale, Dematteis did not remember the man's name, according to the report.

Detectives later determined the gun was purchased by Neil Gallivan, who initially told investigators he thought he was buying it for Conlogue. But Gallivan later admitted that the money used to buy the gun came from Wortman, the report said.

Investigators learned through interviews with witnesses that Wortman, who was not licensed to own firearms, smuggled the guns to Canada in pieces rolled up in the tonneau cover on the back of his pickup truck.

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS

A month after the shootings, Conlogue told a sergeant from the RCMP that what had happened was "a nightmare to me," according to a transcript of the interview. He said he just couldn't wrap his head around it, and neither could others around town who knew Wortman.

"I believe, I really believe, and I hate to say it, but (from) what I can understand, what I read and what I hear on the news, he set me up and ... that's what kills me," Conlogue told the officer. "The thing that eats at me are those people that got killed and that that man was in my house, that man was a monster and I didn't see it."

A motive for the violence has never been determined.

Less than two weeks after the mass shooting, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an immediate ban on 1,500 makes and models of "military-grade assault-style" weapons, including the types of guns Wortman used in the attacks.

In the wake of the attacks, the federal and provincial governments established the Mass Casualty Commission to conduct an expansive public inquiry. Its mandate includes examining the RCMP response, crime prevention and access to firearms.

The commission is expected to release a final report in November that lays out lessons learned and recommendations that could help prevent and respond to similar situations in the future.

The commission released an interim report on May 2, a required step in the inquiry that does not include recommendations or findings. The following day, the commission presented the firearms report to the public.

Commission counsel Amanda Byrd's presentation of the firearms report was somber and at times emotional. She paused to compose herself and wiped her eyes before describing the bullets recovered from the body of 33-year-old Kristen Beaton, who was expecting her second baby. Byrd never spoke Wortman's name, in keeping with a request from Trudeau to avoid giving him "the gift of infamy."

Groban, the retired prosecutor, said that while some may want to focus on whether or not people should be prosecuted for their role in helping Wortman get guns, it's more important to focus on how it happened and how to keep it from happening again.

Before giving others firearms, she said, people need to look for any indications that the firearms might be used for violence. Such warning signs might include owning multiple guns or having a history of domestic violence and trauma, Groban said.

"We want people to be more vigilant when it comes to firearms and red flags that may be present in those situations," she said.
Vice-President Wang Qishan's trip to South Korea is expected to help Beijing strengthen ties with Seoul as it tries to counter Washington's efforts to step up relations in the region, diplomatic observers said.

Wang, 73, will lead a delegation to attend president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's inauguration ceremony in Seoul on Tuesday as special envoy of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday.

South Korea and China " are important cooperation partners as well as close neighbours", foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, announcing the trip.

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Chinese leaders have made few overseas trips since the Covid-19 pandemic erupted in 2020.

The rare trip by a senior leader signals the importance Beijing attaches to relations with Seoul amid tensions with Western countries, particularly the United States, and an economic slowdown at home.

The United States is sending Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice-President Kamala Harris, as the head of its delegation to the inauguration.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will make a two-day trip to Seoul from Monday as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's special envoy.

US President Joe Biden will visit South Korea after the ceremony and meet Yoon on May 21 before travelling to Japan to meet Kishida.

Biden and Kishida will also meet the Australian and Indian prime ministers at a gathering of the Quad security group.

"Obviously, both China and the US are striving to win over South Korea," said Pang Zhongying, a professor of international relations at the Ocean University of China in Qingdao.

China is watching closely how Yoon will balance his foreign policy priorities of improving its alliance with the US and Japan, while also stabilising relations with China.

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"A pro-US president would pose a challenge to China's foreign policy. Wang's trip shows China's strong desire to manage a good relationship with South Korea on fronts from the economy to security," Pang said.

Yoon has taken a harder stance on China than outgoing liberal president Moon Jae-in, who has placed considerable importance on ties with the world's No 2 economy, both in terms of trade and its ability to help negotiate with North Korea.

China is by far South Korea's biggest trading partner, accounting for about a quarter of South Korea's exports last year, helping push bilateral trade to a record US$301.5 billion.

But the rivalry between Beijing and Washington poses a dilemma for Seoul, which must balance its economic ties with China and its traditional security relationship with the US.

Sun Xingjie, an expert on northeast Asian affairs at Jilin University in China, said ties had been close but China saw room for expansion.

"The two countries have maintained close economic and trade relations in recent years," Sun said.

"As it enters into the 30th year since China and South Korea established diplomatic relations, China would like to consolidate the relations and expand their cooperation from trade to technology and security."

Gu Su, a political scientist at Nanjing University, said Chinese diplomats were likely to offer friendlier messages to world leaders at the inauguration, underlining Beijing stress on developing closer ties with neighbouring countries.

Chinese officials have also pledged to further open up the economy following concerns raised by foreign businesses over disruptions caused by Covid-19 pandemic control measures.

Gu said that only Japan was more important than South Korea to the US in East Asia, and Beijing had to consolidate ties with Seoul by boosting economic cooperation.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON  First lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Sunday, meeting with the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, as Russia continues to attack the country.

Biden crossed into Ukraine at Uzhhorod, visiting a school that is being used as temporary housing and shelter for 163 displaced Ukrainians, including 47 children.

I wanted to come on Mothers Day. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop, and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine, Biden said.

The visit was among Bidens last stops of a Mothers Day weekend trip to the region. She spent time with U.S. troops in Romania and met with displaced Ukrainian refugees in Romania and Slovakia. Biden's trip to Ukraine also comes one day before Russia will celebrate its Victory Day, the anniversary of the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany.

Live updates: First lady Jill Biden visits shelter in Ukraine, meets with country's first lady

First lady Jill Biden hugs Olena Zelenska, spouse of Ukrainian's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, outside of School 6, a public school that has taken in displaced students in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)

Biden greeted Zelenska with a bouquet of flowers and a hug. The two first ladies have exchanged correspondence in the past few weeks, according to a pool report. This is the first time Zelenska has appeared in public since Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24.

Biden spent roughly two hours in Ukraine, where she held an hourlong private meeting with Zelenska and went on to meet with children who were sheltered at the school.

Zelenska said Bidens visit to Ukraine is a very courageous act.

Because we understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when the military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day even today, Zelenska said, according to a translation provided to reporters.

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First lady Jill Biden meets with Olena Zelenska, spouse of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at School 6, a public school that has taken in displaced students in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2022.

Zelenska said that Ukraine feels supported by the United States and by President Joe Biden.

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We all feel your support and we all feel the leadership of the U.S. president, but we would like to note that the Mothers Day is a very symbolic day for us because we also feel your love and support during such an important day, Zelenska said.

Jill Biden and Zelenska met with about 15 displaced Ukrainian children who were doing arts and crafts projects for Mothers Day.

An official with the U.N.s International Organization for Migration told reporters the projects were recreational and psychosocial, in an effort to promote socialization among children who are now living at the school and dealing with trauma from the war.

The children used cardboard and tissue paper to make bears, which represent the region around Uzhhorod. Both first ladies crafted their own bears, using white and yellow tissue paper, according to the pool.

That was Bidens last stop during her multiday trip to eastern Europe before heading back to Slovakia to depart at Kosice Airport.

Michael LaRosa, press secretary to the first lady, said during a press briefing on the plane that Biden first expressed that she wanted to visit Ukraine in March for her spring break, but the opportunity was not available at the time.

"Mothers Day was something she thought would be special for the mothers of Ukraine, he said.

LaRosa said officials who landed in the region 10 days in advance of Biden's trip began notifying regional government officials of the first lady's travel plans. At that point, Ukrainians offered to arrange a visit with Zelenska.

While Biden had always planned to visit the school, the meeting with Zelenska was only confirmed in the last few days, LaRosa said.

LaRosa said that during their meeting, Biden asked Zelenska how she was doing as a mother and handling the war.

Zelenska said she was grateful she is able to hold her childrens hands every night even though she cant be with her husband," LaRosa shared.

More: Russia's Victory Day on May 9 could mark key deadline in its invasion of Ukraine

Biden was quickly praised for her trip to Ukraine.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Bidens visit with Zelenska will bring so much support and encouragement to the Ukrainian women and children.

For her to go there on Mother's Day to meet with the Ukrainian first lady, I think sends a very strong, a very positive message, Thomas-Greenfield said on CNNs State of the Union.

Thomas-Greenfield noted she met with Ukrainian mothers during a trip to Romania and Moldova a few weeks ago and has seen the strength they have.

Having the first lady there, encouraging them, supporting them, actually in Ukraine, I think sends a strong message of support and commitment that the U.S. government has to supporting Ukrainians moving forward, she said.

Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_

US First lady Jill Biden (L) and Ukraine President wife Olena Zelenska (R) join a group of children making tissue-paper bears for Mothers Day gifts at School 6, a public school that has taken in displaced students in Uzhhorod on May 8, 2022, during an unannounced visit of Jill Biden to Ukraine on the sidelines of an official trip in nearby Slovakia. (Photo by Susan Walsh / POOL / AFP) (Photo by SUSAN WALSH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jill Biden makes surprise trip to Ukraine, meets Ukrainian first lady
An exam room where fixtures and other items were removed to prevent harm, at Children's Hospital in Aurora, Colo., April 5, 2022. (Annie Flanagan/The New York Times)

On a rainy Thursday evening last spring, a 15-year-old girl was rushed by her parents to the emergency department at Boston Childrens Hospital. She had marks on both wrists from self-harm and a recent suicide attempt, and earlier that day she confided to her pediatrician that she planned to try again.

At the ER, a doctor examined her and explained to her parents that she was not safe to go home.

But I need to be honest with you about whats likely to unfold, the doctor added. The best place for adolescents in distress was not a hospital but an inpatient treatment center, where individual and group therapy would be provided in a calmer, communal setting, to stabilize the teens and ease them back to real life. But there were no openings in any of the treatment centers in the region, the doctor said.

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Indeed, 15 other adolescents  all in precarious mental condition  were already housed in the hospitals emergency department, sleeping in exam rooms night after night, waiting for an opening. The average wait for a spot in a treatment program was 10 days.

The girl and her family resigned themselves to a stay in the emergency room while she waited. But nearly a month went by before an inpatient bed opened up.

The girl, being identified by her middle initial, G, to protect her privacy, spent the first week of her wait in a psych-safe room in the emergency department. Any equipment that might be used for harm had been removed. Her door was kept open night and day so she could be monitored.

It was padded, insane-asylumlike, she recalled recently. Just walls  all you see is walls.

She grew catatonic, her mother recalled. In this process of boarding we broke her worse than ever.

Mental health disorders are surging among adolescents: In 2019, 13% of adolescents reported having a major depressive episode, a 60% increase from 2007. Suicide rates, stable from 2000 to 2007, leaped nearly 60% by 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Across the country, hospital emergency departments have become boarding wards for teenagers who pose too great a risk to themselves or others to go home. They have nowhere else to go; even as the crisis has intensified, the medical system has failed to keep up, and options for inpatient and intensive outpatient psychiatric treatment have eroded sharply.

Nationally, the number of residential treatment facilities for people under age 18 fell to 592 in 2020 from 848 in 2012, a 30% decline, according to the most recent federal government survey. The decline is partly a result of well-intentioned policy changes that did not foresee a surge in mental-health cases. Social-distancing rules and labor shortages during the pandemic have eliminated additional treatment centers and beds, experts say.

Absent that option, emergency rooms have taken up the slack. A recent study of 88 pediatric hospitals around the country found that 87 of them regularly board children and adolescents overnight in the ER. On average, any given hospital saw four boarders per day, with an average stay of 48 hours.

There is a pediatric pandemic of mental health boarding, said Dr. JoAnna K. Leyenaar, a pediatrician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the studys lead author. She extrapolated from her research and other data to estimate that at least 1,000 young people, and perhaps as many as 5,000, board each night in the nations 4,000 emergency departments.

We have a national crisis, Leyenaar said.

This trend runs far afoul of the recommended best practices established by the Joint Commission, a nonprofit organization that helps set national health care policy. According to the standard, adolescents who come to the ER for mental health reasons should stay there no longer than four hours, as an extended stay can risk patient safety, delay treatment and divert resources from other emergencies.

Yet in 2021, the average adolescent boarding in the ER at Boston Childrens Hospital spent nine days waiting for an inpatient bed, up from three and a half days in 2019; at Childrens Hospital Colorado in Aurora in 2021, the average wait was eight days, and at Connecticut Childrens Medical Center in Hartford, it was six.

Doctors and hospital officials emphasize that adolescents should absolutely continue to come to the ER in a psychiatric emergency. Still, many emergency room doctors and nurses, trained to treat broken bones, pneumonia and other corporeal challenges, said the ideal solution was more preventive care and community treatment programs.

Frankly speaking, the ED is one of the worst places for a kid in mental health crisis to be, said Dr. Kevin Carney, a pediatric emergency room doctor at Childrens Hospital Colorado. I feel at a loss for how to help these kids.

The challenge was evident one day in late February when Carney arrived for his shift at 3 p.m. The childrens hospital has 50 exam rooms in its emergency department, which fill with patients who have gone through an initial screening and need further evaluation. By midafternoon, 43 of the rooms were full, 17 of them with mental health cases.

Its breathtaking, Carney said as he stood in the hallway. Forty percent.

On clocking in, Carney had inherited a block of 10 exam rooms from a doctor who was clocking out. Seven are mental health issues, Carney said. Six are suicidal. Three of them made attempts.

Throughout the day, staff members at the hospital had called eight inpatient facilities in the region, looking for available slots in treatment centers where the 10 young boarders, as well as 17 other adolescents boarding at three smaller Colorado Childrens Hospital campuses around the state, could be placed.

Colorado is struggling with the same shortage of services that has hit hospitals nationwide. The state has lost 1,000 residential beds serving various adolescent populations since 2012, according to Heidi Baskfield, vice president of population health and advocacy for Childrens Hospital Colorado.

The emergency department is just a collection of rooms where patients are expected to stay in their rooms and comply with rules, said Lyndsay Gaffey, director of patient care services at Childrens Hospital Colorado. In the inpatient ward, she said, the aim instead was to stabilize patients by having them work through trauma, receive therapy and interact with peers.

For adolescents like G, who stayed in the emergency room of Boston Childrens Hospital last spring, the experience can be wrenching.

G lives in a Boston suburb with a teenage brother, father and mother. The family has a history of anxiety and depression, the mother said, but G had been a happy and adventurous child. In middle school she started talking back and acting somewhat obsessively, behavior that her mother figured was typical for a teenager.

What Gs mother did not know was that her daughter had been cutting herself for two years, since seventh grade, before the pandemic began.

As the pandemic set in, G withdrew, and her grades fell. Then came April 29, her mother said. We had a life before April 29 and a life after April 29.

That day, she picked up G at school for a routine visit to the pediatrician. As G got into the car, her mother saw the marks on her wrists.

At the emergency room, G told the medical team she had tried to overdose a few weeks earlier and had regretted the next morning that she was still alive.

Admitting to her pain and self-harm provided her with kind of a little bit of relief, she said. After two years of cutting and trying to kill myself, I was finally going to get some help. But I didnt really get help.

Dr. Patricia Ibeziako, a child psychiatrist at Boston Childrens Hospital, said that adolescents do, in fact, receive some treatment while boarding in the emergency department, including basic counsel aimed at crisis stabilization that is all geared to safety.

Boarding is not a great thing, but its still care, Ibeziako said. Were not just putting a kid in a bed."

Finally, 29 days after G arrived, a bed was located for her at an inpatient facility in an outlying suburb. She spent a week there but did not find the experience all that helpful.

We learned the same coping skills over and over, she said.

In the fall, she told a counselor at school that she planned to kill herself; she was quickly readmitted to the same inpatient unit, given priority as a former patient, and spent two weeks there. When her stay ended, G went into an intensive outpatient program. But a counselor there told her mother that G needed more intensive care because she had described a plan to kill herself.

They told me, This kid is on fire; shes too acute to be here, Gs mother recalled. This time, the family went to the emergency room at a different Boston-area hospital, Salem Hospital, where G boarded only one night and, this time, was lucky to get a bed in that hospitals inpatient unit, where she spent three weeks, until mid-October.

Gs mood these days is better than it was, but it still sucks, she said recently. And, she added, Im better at covering things up more.

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US Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his daughter Meghan McCain (L) attend a campaign rally at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio on October 19, 2008. ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

In a ferocious Twitter thread, John McCain's former campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, called Meghan McCain a "bully."

Schmidt alleged that the late senator was "embarrassed" by his daughter's behavior on the 2008 campaign trail.

Schmidt and McCain, 37, clashed online after he tweeted about her disappointing book sales.

John McCain's former campaign manager Steve Schmidt vented about the late senator's daughter on Twitter, describing Meghan McCain as "a bully, entitled, unaccomplished, spoiled and mean."

Her tantrums and antics, Schmidt alleged in an 11-part Twitter thread, left the veteran senator "appalled and embarrassed" by his daughter during his 2008 campaign trail.

Schmidt, who headed up the day-to-day operations of the McCain-Palin campaign, used Twitter to rage about the 37-year-old television personality after the pair clashed online about the sales of her latest book.

According to the Washington Examiner, McCain has sold just 244 copies of "Bad Republican: A Memoir." Schmidt pointed this out, and McCain appeared to like a Twitter reply baselessly claiming that Schmidt had "been "running a pedo racket" in response.

"After 14 years of abuse and attacks, today is the day I have decided to respond," Schmidt said in the ferocious Twitter thread.

Steve Schmidt, left, and Meghan McCain, right, in a composite image. Getty Images

"I was the first adult that @MeghanMcCain ever encountered that she heard the word 'NO' from. I told her she was unimportant and that the Presidential election wasn't about her," Schmidt wrote.

The former campaign strategist recalled how he "left her on the tarmac" after she was late for a flight to one of her father's speaking engagements. "He was appalled by @MeghanMcCain conduct on the campaign. Appalled and embarrassed," Schmidt wrote.

Schmidt went on to describe McCain's alleged conduct throughout the campaign. "The tantrums were beyond anything I have ever witnessed from any other human being," Schmidt said in a tweet.

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"They were epic meltdowns that would test the range of Meryl Streep, Kate Winslett, Jodi Foster, and Anne Hathaway on their best days," he continued.

He alleged that the tantrums, which he said involved "raging, screaming, crying," were directed at staff, makeup artists, and the Secret Service.

Schmidt said he confronted the former TV personality and was met with an entitled response. "I told her she was privileged and lucky and should be grateful," he wrote. "She told me and anyone else who would listen in response, ''Do you know who the Fuck my Dad is?''"

The former aide drew the tirade against McCain to a close-by accusing her of rejecting her "family's history of service for a shallow and purposeless celebrity."

Insider reached out to McCain and Schmidt for comment but did not immediately receive responses.

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Amaria Dowdell , a student in the Teen Parent Program plays with her 1-year-old son Atreus in the Toddler 1 classroom at Ridge Technical College in Winter Haven. ERNST PETERS/ THE LEDGER

Fear, denial, embarrassment and disappointment were all emotions experienced by three local teen moms.

My mom was disappointed," said Amaria Dowdell. "We were like best friends but after she found out I was pregnant she didnt talk to me for three months and we lived in the same house.

Dynisha Fulgham, 24, was a cheerleader in the 10th grade at Tenoroc High School when she found out she was pregnant. She felt like she was an embarrassment to her mother and was adding an extra burden on her.

We were already a burden on her 'cause she was a single parent and didn't make a lot of money so now me putting this extra person on her it was a lot, Fulgham said.

Jeyshka Garcia, 18, was a student at Bartow High School when she took a pregnancy test. Garcia was initially in denial about the possibility of being pregnant after experiencing continuous vomiting.

I denied it all the time, said Garcia. It had to be junk food which I ate all the time.

Amaria Dowdell , left and Jeyshka Garcia are students in the Teen Parent Program in a classroom at Ridge Technical College in Winter Haven. Garcia attends classes at Traviss Technical College in Lakeland. ERNST PETERS/ THE LEDGER

As each of these young ladies questioned what was to come in the next chapter of their lives, The Polk County Public Schools Teen Parent Program was a saving grace.

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According to the Polk County School's website, the Teen Parent Program is designed to meet the needs of pregnant or parenting students and their children. The voluntary program provides participating students with educational and ancillary services to facilitate the completion of high school.

Its more relaxing, less students for an easier environment, Fulgham said.

Dowdell, 18, realized she had to balance out her playful spirit and now provide for a baby.

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I didnt take anything serious at that time but then when I got pregnant, I had to realize its time to get up on my A game, Dowdell said.

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She was a student at Ridge Community High School but was taking classes through Florida Virtual School during the first fall season of the pandemic.

My mama thought I was going to drop out, we werent talking, I stopped taking the online classes, I was failing, said Dowdell. I was telling her Mama, I know we dont talk but I do want to graduate.'

Amaria Dowdell , a student in the Teen Parent Program, washes the hands of her 1-year-old son Atreus in the Toddler 1 classroom at Ridge Technical College in Winter Haven. ERNST PETERS/ THE LEDGER

Garcia thought she was going to be kicked out of her house but her mother, despite being angry and disappointed, came to her aide.

She was like 'Im going to help you in whatever way I can,' Garcia said. My support system is awesome.

'It was a big help'

In addition to providing services like parenting education and transportation, parents in the program are able to take their children to school with them. Fulgham participated in the program at Traviss Technical College.

It was a big help because I didnt have to worry about who was going to watch my child, said Fulgham.

It was convenient for me because I knew we were in the same environment, the same building at all times, she added.

LaTonnja Key, 54, has been the Director of Teen Parent Program and Childcare Services for Polk County Schools for 15 years. Her goal is to make parents self-sufficient.

We make them self-sufficient now, so we dont have to worry about them later, said Key.

LaTonnja Key is the Director of the Teen Parent Program for Polk County Public Schools. ERNST PETERS/ THE LEDGER

Bonnie Gaynair, 62, is a social worker at Traviss and has been with the Teen Parent Program since 1994. She loves her job assisting the young parents.

Im a Christian and I believe its my way to give service to others and to help others," she said. "Its a privilege.

As a social worker, Gaynair can take students to doctors appointments or take them and the child home if the child is sick. She has even taken in a teen parent who did not have a home.

Im there to support them in any way, said Gaynair.

A brighter future

The young ladies are grateful for the help the program has given them.

This program has made me who I am today, said Dowdell.

Dowdell now has a one-year-old son named Artreus. She graduates at the end of the month from Ridge Community High School and Ridge Technical College. She will return to Ridge Technical to participate in the licensed practical nursing program.

I want to become an RN and a traveling nurse, said Dowdell.

Garcia is the mother to one-year-old Alexander. She will graduate from Bartow High and Traviss. One of her teachers was able to get her job as a secretary at a law firm, which she is expected to start immediately after.

I want to become an attorney. Ive always loved law, Garcia said.

Moments where teachers help students outside of school bring Gaynair joy.

Theres a lot of networking within. Theres a family unit here where they want to connect each other," said Gaynair. "The teachers, I think, are caring about the students.

Fulgham has been a police officer with the Winter Haven Police Department for three years. She is the mother to 8-year-old LaAndre.

I wanted to have a stable career for him because I didnt want to job hop, Fulgham said.

Dynisha Fulgham , now a police officer for the City of Winter Haven, is a graduate of the Teen Parent Program at Traviss Technical College in Lakeland. ERNST PETERS/ THE LEDGER

Fulgham had a full circle moment when she received a potential suicidal call from dispatch over the Christmas holiday. When she arrived there was a teen mother who needed a dedicated support system.

Once I went to the house, I realized who it was because weve been to the house before. She had a lot going on," Fulgham said. "I knew right then and there that she didnt want to give up, but she needed support.

Fulgham spoke with the mother for two hours and shared her own story.

When I left, I started tearing up, I started crying," said Fulgham. "I can remember going through the same thing and wanting to give up.

Key was also notified of that call since the mom is in her program. She is thankful that Fulgham was the one to respond to the call.

For her to get that call, for her to be a teen parent and for her to go see a teen parent it was Gods divine purpose for her to get that call, Key added.

She was still struggling, she came back to school but luckily, she got with Amaria and she's doing much better," Key added. "Amaria is truly a leader here.

To learn more about the teen parent program visit www.polkschoolsfl.com/teenparent.

Breanna A. Rittman writes news features for The Ledger. Send your feature ideas to BRittman@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County Schools' Teen Parent Program helps young moms reach dreams
Sherry Carpenter talks about her time in Canton Quilters Guild as they celebrates its 25th anniversary. The quilt on the wall was made by Judy Stump. Thursday, April 28, 2022.

NAVARRE  What began as a way for thrifty women to keep their families warm, quilting has became a treasured art form around the world.

Quilts are no longer just bedding; they've become heirlooms that have earned a place in some of the world's top museums.

For 25 years, members of the Canton Quilters Guild have created hundreds of quilts, many of which have been donated to charity. Last year, members crafted and donated 193 pieces to nonprofit organizations throughout Stark County, including CommQuest, the Shipley Child Health Clinic, the McKinley Life Care Center, Stark County Operation Freedom, and Quilts of Valor to honor veterans and first responders.

They also produced quilts for fundraisers to benefit Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health, Sancta Clara Monastery, the Stark County Hunger Task Force, and The Wilderness Center.

On May 6, members will celebrate their anniversary with a private lunch and program at First Christian Church. Kaitlin Bergert, collections manger at the William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, will speak.

Longtime member Judy Stump said Guild President Brenda Burwell suggested the party as a way for members to celebrate themselves.

The colorful and intricate quilts that adorn the walls of Stump's home attest to how much she enjoys the craft.

"The purpose of the Guild is to teach as much as we can to anyone who wants to learn how to quilt," Stump said. "So many things are fading away. We really like the art of quilting ... and it's just fun."

Judy Stump and Sherry Carpenter talk about their time in Canton Quilters Guild as they celebrates its 25th anniversary. Thursday, April 28, 2022.

The Guild was formed in 1997 by four friends who shared a love of quilting, said Suzanne Slater of Louisville, one of the four. The others were Sherry Carpenter, Jane Reeves and Mary Bachus.

"Sherry and I were next-door neighbors," said Slater, who began quilting in 1980. "We discovered we were both quilters."

Carpenter said quilting was a natural extension of her lifelong love of sewing.

Members talk about their organization as Canton Quilters Guild celebrates its 25th anniversary. Thursday, April 28, 2022.

Birth of a sisterhood

Story continues

Carpenter and several others concurred on how the love began. "I grew up with quilts on my bed," Carpenter said.

The Guild members, whose monthly gathering include a quilting "bee," have created a sisterhood.

"Many of us in the Guild became first-time grandparents and great-grandparents while in the Guild," Slater said. "We've lost spouses. When women get together, no matter what the purpose, there's support and a good time."

Margaret Cash, whose quilts have won awards, said she grew up sleeping under quilts made by her grandmother.

"It's relaxing and therapeutic," said Cash, who recently made five "fidget" lap quilts for Alzheimer's patients at the Glenwood Care & Rehabilitation Center.

Ruthanne Lungociu said there's also eating and camaraderie.

"It keeps you out of the bars," she said to laughter.

Suzanne Slater talks about the Canton Quilters Guild as they celebrate its 25th anniversary. Thursday, April 28, 2022.

The women are quick to boast about one another's talents.

"Everybody has a different talent," Stump said. "Some people's talent is colors; other people's is design. We have quilters who make gorgeous tops. Like like bright colors. Many can make appliques, like Margaret, who makes award-winning quilts."

Carpenter said that Stump, a former wedding-gown seamstress, is a very talented designer and artist.

"Sherry is the queen of scraps," Slater said. "Ruthanne is good with Civil War fabrics. I love to sew pieces together, and I love kids' quilts."

One of Cash's masterpieces is a stunning 90-by-104 inch applique quilt that won a prize at a quilt show at Stan Hywett Hall in Akron.

It took her a year to make.

Margaret Cash talks about her award-winning quilt as Canton Quilters Guild celebrates its 25th anniversary. It took her a year to make. Thursday, April 28, 2022.

"It's amazing how much people appreciate when you make them a quilt; I've had friends who have cried," she said. "There's something about a quilt that's ..."

"Comforting," others chimed in.

Stump said her favorite part of the activity is the "aha" moment when she completes a quilt and she moves on to planning the next project.

"I have several going right now," Lungociu said.

"History has stitches"

Stump said fabric designer Judie Rothermel and her late husband, Bob, co-owners of the Schoolhouse Quilt Shoppe, were instrumental in their support of the Guild and for quilting in Northeast Ohio.

In the spring, Guild members take day trips, usually to Amish country, where quilting has always been popular. They've also traveled to Pennsylvania and Paducah, Kentucky, a magnet for quilters.

Slater said although their Guild doesn't have young members, quilting is growing in popularity among young women. It ebbed after World War II with the advent of store-bought bedding, but she credits America's Bicentennial for sparking renewed interest in the art form.

America's story, from slavery to women's suffrage, Slater noted, can be seen in a quilt.

"In learning the history of quilts, you learn American history and about women's lives," she said. "How communities were built around quilting. Quilts were made for political rallies. You learn about pioneer life and how women made quilts for men. History has stitches."

Members talk about their organization as Canton Quilters Guild celebrates its 25th anniversary. Thursday, April 28, 2022.

The members say they find great reward in making quilts for their families and others. For several years, they've made and donated quilts to young adults aging out of the foster care system, and have donated quilting materials to the Mansfield Women's Correctional Facility.

"We donate to places for people who need something to do," Lungociu said.

Quilters, Slater said, are generous people.

"Two of our most prolific quilters are in their 90s," she noted.

Stump said members of the Canton Quilters Guild are happy to teach techniques and tips to anyone interested in learning the art of quilting.

"If they don't know something, they'll point you to someone who does  we're amazing," she said to laughter.

Slater said the friendships made have been as treasured as the quilts.

"We have a lot of wonderful memories from the beginning, to now," she said. "One stitch at a time."

Members talk about their organization as Canton Quilters Guild celebrates its 25th anniversary. Thursday, April 28, 2022.

The Guild meets at 9:30 a.m. on the first Friday of every month at the Garden Center at 1615 Stadium Park Drive NW in Canton.

On May 19, they will host a "Spring Fling" at 10 a.m. at First Christian Church at 6900 Market Ave. N in Plain Township. Reservations are requested.

To learn more, email to: sandrasoni@neo.rr.com or visit https://www.neorqconline.org/canton-quilters-guild.

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton Quilters Guild creates art and friendships "a stitch at a time"
DUBAI, UAE, May 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wego and Cleartrip Travel Insights Report delves into traveller sentiments and readiness to travel in a post-COVID world. These findings are brought to you from our independent research and data on MENA travellers' behavior.

Wego, Cleartrip and Flyin (PRNewsfoto/Cleartrip,Wego)

Recently, around 4,390 residents from UAE and KSA were asked about their thoughts, and behaviors surrounding travel. The report also highlights the impact of COVID-19 on travel, the trends currently being witnessed and positive signs of recovery.

The near-term outlook for travel looks favourable, and people are looking to spend more and travel longer in 2022.

Travel Scenario

After numerous lockdowns, never ending changes in restrictions and the constant updates on flights, airport protocols and hotel capacity changes, a lot of passengers are still eager to travel albeit being a bit more cautious.

Vaccinated travellers

Out of the total survey respondents, 99% said they were vaccinated while only 1% said they weren't. The increase in the number of vaccinated people has had a positive impact on travel and gives reassurance for people to travel more to the countries that have high vaccination rates.

Forward look and planning a trip

As more restrictions are eased worldwide, and vaccinations rates have increased, people are eager to travel more and make up for the lost time.

According to Wego, in 2022, flights and hotel searches increased by 81% in February and 102% in March. This is testament that people are looking to travel more.

Lower risk destinations that guarantee an easy return have been prioritized. The majority of the respondents have opted for destinations which are perceived to be safe and where COVID19 protocols have been adhered to.

Remote work and increase in hotel bookings

With more people continuing to work remotely in 2022, hotels are seeing a great demand regardless of seasonality. People can work from anywhere and are booking more hotel stays based on their new remote work destination.

Story continues

As a result, Wego saw a spike in the number of searches on holiday homes 136%, hotel apartments 92% and apartments by 69%.

The length of stay has increased by 19% in 2022 in comparison with 2021.

People are also opting for 5-star hotels who follow stricter measures and give them a safer travel experience. Wego saw an increase of 66% in searches for 5-star hotels.

Airport experience

During these unusual times, airports across the globe have implemented necessary measures to ensure passenger safety. Travel experience has improved however it is still not as convenient as it used to be pre-COVID.

Trip Expenses and Likelihood to travel + Summer travel

79% of respondents from Cleartrip's survey witnessed an increase in Covid19 requirements, sore in ticket prices and unexpected circumstances leading to flight changes, which contributed to a 20% increase in their trip expenses post-COVID-19.

78% of respondents are likely to travel and have trips planned, at least once in the next three months. The near-term outlook for travel looks favourable.

According to Wego's data, summer 2022 will be all about long holidays and travelers will be spending more on leisure travel to make up for the lost time.

Popular destinations

Travellers are still aching to travel but additional factors are now considered while planning a trip. Destination cases, travel requirements and ease to move around all currently play a major role.

Leisure destinations

As to the most popular destinations respondents plan to visit, the following look to remain tourism powerhouses:

UAE, KSA, Maldives, United Kingdom, Georgia, Turkey, Serbia, Seychelles.

Average Airfares and average booking value 2022

Wego and Cleartrip see an increase in the average Airfares in 2022 compared to 2019.

The average round-trip fares to and from the UAE have increased by 23%.

Round-trip airfares to the MENA region increased by 20%.

Round-trip airfares to Europe increased by 39%.

Round-trip airfares to South Asia increased by 5%.

For India specifically round-trip fares have witnessed a 21% increase as compared to 2019.





Cancellations

In the UAE, the average flight cancellations in 2019 were 6-7% pre-COVID19. At the onset of the pandemic, the cancellations witnessed a considerable spike and were as high as 519% (During this period very few bookings were made coinciding with a large volume of cancellations from past bookings). In April 2021, the closure of the Asian corridor once again led to a rise in cancellations. However, in 2022 with travel recovering the cancellations are slowly moving back to pre-COVID19 figures at 7-8%, with a small spike during the January to February wave. A similar trend was witnessed in the Saudi market.

Most booked destinations

UAE: India, Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, Nepal, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Georgia, Turkey.

KSA Domestic: Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Jazan, Madinah and Tabuk.

KSA International: Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Philippines, Bangladesh, Bahrain

MENA: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, India, UAE, Turkey, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco

Advance Purchase

The rise of the pandemic also showed a sudden spike in share of near-time bookings (0-3 days) and a steep drop in the average number of days between booking and the actual travel date. This was due to the unpredictable changes that COVID19 brought from sudden border closures to heightened restrictions.

In 2022, travellers are significantly more comfortable planning travel in advance after more streamlined processes have been put in place. Although subsequent waves at the end of 2021 did cause another spike in bookings made close to travel dates even with simplified travelling prerequisites.

Journey Type and leisure Holidays

Stay Duration

The pandemic brought out an increase of unpredictable scenarios and with expats readjusting their work and family plans, the proportion of one-way trips spiked during the early months of the pandemic. Cleartrip also saw a corresponding decline in round trips. Round trips and, more specifically, leisure travel, have rebounded significantly in the recent months.

KSA

The share of KSA Domestic travel has been observed to increase during periods of increased travel restrictions. Same trend has been observed for One Way trips.

Wego recorded over 65% increase in flight searches for leisure trips between January  April 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. Searches for hotels surged by 29% between January  April 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.

Trip duration

According to Wego, the overall trip duration has increased, and people are looking for longer trips.

47-day trips saw an increase of 100% whereas the demand for 811-day trip rose by 75%.

*Please refer to the report attached for the full details and statistics as well as the additional survey questions and charts.

The press kit can be downloaded via this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hjsrYot8q904iUJavbyoyTYUtM5lNfxW

About Wego

Wego provides award-winning travel search websites and top-ranked mobile apps for travelers living in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East regions. Wego harnesses powerful yet simple to use technology that automates the process of searching and comparing results from hundreds of airlines, hotels, and online travel agency websites.

Wego presents an unbiased comparison of all travel products and prices offered in the marketplace by merchants, both local and global, and enables shoppers to quickly find the best deal and place to book whether it is from an airline or hotel directly or with a third-party aggregator website.

Wego was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Dubai and Singapore with regional operations in Bangalore Jakarta and Cairo.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1812936/Wego_Cleartrip_Flyin.jpg

PDF - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1812937/Wego_Cleartrip.pdf

Wego and Cleartrip Travel Insights Report

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/travel-insights-report-delves-into-traveller-sentiments-and-readiness-to-travel-in-a-post-covid-world-301542150.html

SOURCE Wego; Cleartrip
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday in an interview with Fox News that the U.S. is the accelerator of the sanction policies against Russia.

So far, I think that the United States of America is the accelerator of the sanction policies and I think they do more than any other country. And this is the way it should be because they are the most powerful country right now. I see the same support with respect to sanctions from the United Kingdom, said Zelensky.

President Biden repeatedly stated before Russia invaded Ukraine in February that the United States would issue crippling economic sanctions, should Russian President Vladimir Putin decide to make inroads into the former Soviet State.

After Putin announced Russias military operation into Ukraine on Feb. 24, the U.S. sanctioned Russian banks, oligarchs with ties to the Kremlin, and Putin himself, among other measures.

Shortly afterward, the Biden administration announced a ban on Russian oil imports. Members of the Biden administration also worked in confluence with western allies and countries like Japan to coordinate sanctions against Russia for its war with Ukraine.

Zelensky expressed appreciation for the work of Western countries to aid Ukraine in its fight.

However, Zelensky criticized the United Nations, specifically the security council, saying that it was unable to accomplish any significant steps to provide Ukraine with security.

Im open to saying about that organization, especially on such high level, that it doesnt work, Zelensky said of the UN. And especially the Security Council thats supposed to do one specific thing, its responsible for security. So the question is, what can it do to provide security or avert any war around the world?

Zelensky approved of the unity and accomplishments of the European Union and its shared values with Ukraine.

The European Union should be in a united position. They dont have it with respect to certain sanctions. For those sanctions the European Union introduced, we are thankful to them. However, they have to be thankful to themselves because the role of Russia against Ukraine, its a war against the values that Ukraine defends, and these values are the values of the European Union countries, said Zelensky.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will attend a grand gathering at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League of China.

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will deliver an important speech at the event.

The event will be broadcast live by China Media Group and on xinhuanet.com. It will also be rebroadcast simultaneously on some other major news websites including people.cn, cctv.com and china.com.cn, and news apps.
FILE - A demonstrator holding a cross protests outside of the U.S. Supreme Court, Thursday, May 5, 2022, in Washington. Americas faithful are bracing, some with cautionary joy and others with looming dread, for the Supreme Court to potentially overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and end the nationwide right to legal abortion.
Future of Idaho Republican Party on line this primary in May 17 primary
Vital computer system has gone down more than 50 times since launching in Spokane, VA confirms
To the editor  Since 1952, the League of Women Voters of Yakima County has had a goal of offering local residents nonpartisan information on our government and how it functions. We have arranged candidate forums, voter registration and community meetings to bring information to citizens of Yakima County.

Until this year, the League annually published and distributed free to a multitude of entities the TRY  They Represent You. It's a directory of whos who in national, state and local elected offices, with how to access these representatives to share your thoughts.

In response to changing times, the League now offers this directory on our League Facebook page for all to see.

Check it out at www.facebook.com/LWVYC, updated for 2022! For a printable pdf. email yakimacountylwvyc@gmail.com.

Remember, Every Vote Counts.

KITTY JUBRAN

Leadership Team,

League of Women Voters Yakima County
To the editor  The Central Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors wants to give a big thanks to all of our sponsors, volunteers, vendors and attendees for making the return of Yakima Taco Fest a success!

We are a fully volunteer board and we know that we would not be able to organize Yakima Taco Fest or serve our members throughout the year without the amazing support of our community.

The CWHCC Board of Directors is gearing up to provide more technical assistance for businesses, celebrations of Hispanic/Chicano/Latinx professionals and businesses, and support of community events. We are committed to being the best chamber we can be for Yakima and all of Central Washington.

Again, thank you to the community and all of the attendees, vendors, volunteers and sponsors for making Yakima Taco Fest possible and supporting the Central Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

SAM JOHNSON

Board Treasurer,

CWHCC Board of Directors
Illustrative image (Source: baodautu.vn)

According to Vietnam News Agency, in 2020, Vietnam was in the 64th position out of 73 countries in the rankings.

The top 10 countries in the 2021 global rankings are the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, France, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

The US News ranking results are based on a global survey on criteria such as having a well-developed public education system and the ability to offer top-quality education.

Photo for illustration (Source: VNA)

Last month, seven Vietnamese universities were also listed in the Impact Rankings 2022 released by the Times Higher Education (THE).

In 2020, only two Vietnamese education institutions were on the list and the figure was double last year.

Of them, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU-Hanoi), Ton Duc Thang University and Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) are in the group of 601-800 while Phenikaa University is among 801-1,000.

The three new institutions that are on this years list are Duy Tan University and National Economics University (601-800) and FPT University (801-1,000).

Vietnam Airlines resumes Kuala Lumpur-Hanoi route

A Vietnam Airlines flight from Malaysias Kuala Lumpur landed safely at Noi Bai international airport in Hanoi at night on May 7, making it the first operated by the national flag carrier between the two capitals after 26 months due to COVID-19 pandemic.

A Vietnam Airlines aircraft (Source: VNA)

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency in Kuala Lumpur, Hoang Minh Tri, head of the airlines branch in Malaysia, said there will be three flights on the route per week.

The resumption is necessary, as demand is recovering thanks to the control of the pandemic, Tri said.

He said that Malaysia authorities request passengers to present a negative COVID-19 test result prior to boarding.

According to the manager, between now and the end of the year, Vietnam Airlines will also gradually increase its frequency on the Kuala Lumpur  Ho Chi Minh City route to a maximum of two flights a day.

Tri said he hopes in 2023, demand for travel between the nations will get back to the level before the pandemic.

The branch stopped operating flights from Malaysia to Vietnam from March 17, 2020, due to the formers pandemic-induced border closure. On February 18 this year, it reopened the air route.

First quarter pepper exports to EU market surge by 92.9%

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is being effectively utilized by local enterprises amid the export turnover of peppers to the EU market expanding by 92.9% during the opening quarter of the year, reported the Voice of Vietnam.

The share of Vietnamese pepper exports to the EU increase from 20.21% in the first quarter of 2021 to 28.08% in the first quarter of this year.

Statistics compiled by the General Department of Customs indicate that pepper exports during the first quarter of the year reached 53.8 thousand tonnes, worth US$ 250.8 million, a drop of 12.1% in volume but up 40.3% in value compared to the same period from last year.

Most notably, the first quarter of the year saw, the export speed of pepper to the European region increase the most with a rise of 92.9%, whilst strong growth was seen in the Americas, up 63.5%, Africa, up 10.3%, and Asia, up 6.4%.

Furthermore, the share of Vietnamese pepper exports to the EU increased from 20.21% in the first quarter of 2021 to 28.08% in the first quarter of this year.

According to the EVFTA, EU countries pledge to eliminate all tariffs placed on pepper products (HS code 0904) as soon as the deal comes into effect.

Experts note that the effective implementation of the EVFTA will serves as extra leverage for Vietnamese businesses to increase exports to the EU market, especially for processed products that previously had a tax rate of between 5% and 9%.

Moreover, the incentives from the agreement are being effectively utilised by local businesses, particularly as pepper export turnover to the EU has seen consistent growth over recent years. It is therefore anticipated that the bloc will continue to increase pepper imports from the Vietnamese market in the year ahead.

Moving forward, Vietnam is anticipated to take advantage of opportunities to develop the pepper processing industry when investors in the EU move their processing plants to the nation in order to take advantage of cheap raw materials and labour, thereby creating a driving force to promote pepper exports to the EU.

According to experts, the EU represents a potential but fastidious market. Therefore, local businesses operating in the pepper industry must establish production linkages in terms of raw material areas, build trade brands by improving product quality, and maintain sustainability based on product certifications.

Vietnamese wood exports forecast to enjoy positive growth in first half

According to the Voice of Vietnam, among the top 5 agro-fishery products with an export turnover of over one US$ billion, wood exports are anticipated to grow by between 5% and 8% in the first half of 2022.

Vietnam fetches US$5.48 billion in wood export turnover during the first four months of this year, posting a year-on-year rise of 4.9%.

According to data provided by the General Department of Customs, the export turnover of wood and wood products in April alone reached an estimated US$ 1.5 billion, up 7.3% compared to the same period from last year, bringing the export turnover during the first 4 months of 2022 to US$5.48 billion, an increase of 4.9% on-year.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that throughout the reviewed period, there were 5 products and product groups with export value of over US$1 billion, including timber and wood products.

According to the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VIFORES) currently, the export trend of wood and wood products is focusing on high value-added items such as wooden frame chairs, living room and dining room furniture, and bedroom furniture which are all products of Vietnam's strengths.

In the face of the current situation, despite facing plenty of difficulties, such as the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic causing labor shortage, the Russia-Ukraine conflict pushing up gasoline prices, resulting in increases in the price of petroleum products, wood materials and production costs, wood industry businesses had to go ahead with production activities as numerous orders had been placed previously.

However, with constant efforts, wood industry enterprises have overcome difficulties, serving as extra leverage for the wood industry to record positive growth during the first months of 2022.

According to Do Xuan Lap, chairman of the VIFORES, Vietnam's wood production and export activities are promoted by a series of free trade agreements (FTAs) being carried out such as the EU-Vietnam Fee Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), thereby creating competitive advantages for wood products when the tax rate is gradually reduced to 0%.

Besides, China - the largest wood export market in the world, is pursuing the "Zero COVID" strategy, causing production and export disruptions. On the other hand, China does not encourage wood furniture development due to rising costs.

Meanwhile, Italy, Germany and other developed countries are narrowing production due to the impact of recession and growing costs as a result of limited wood supply caused by many other factors. This is viewed as an opportunity for Vietnam to increase the export of this item.

According to experts, there are still certain difficulties for the wood industry, which slows down production activities of enterprises and directly reduces their competitive advantage.

Therefore, in addition to developing domestic material areas, businesses need to maintain and expand export markets by effectively implementing FTAs, they emphasized./.
Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.
Today, Union home ministry granted security clearance to Jet Airways as airline plans to relaunch commercial flight operations in upcoming months, stated an official document, as reported by PTI. The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium is currently the promoters of Jet Airways. The airline in its old avatar was owned by Naresh Goyal and had operated its last flight on April 17, 2019.

Last Thursday, the airline conducted its test flight to and from the Hyderabad airport in a step towards obtaining the air operator certificate. A letter sent by the civil aviation ministry to the airline on May 6 informed it about the grant of the security clearance by the Union home ministry.

The letter, which has been accessed by PTI, said, it is "directed to refer to your application" to convey security clearance for change in shareholding pattern of the company/firm, for scheduled operator permit, on the basis of security clearance received from the Ministry of Home Affairs."

Also read: Jet Airways CEO has a message for European Airlines to improve service, have smiling staff

Last Thursday's test flight was conducted to prove to aviation regulator DGCA that the aircraft and its components are operating normally.

After the test flight on Thursday, the airline has to conduct proving flights after which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will grant the air operator certificate. Proving flights are similar to commercial flight with DGCA officials and airline officials as passengers and cabin crew members on board.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor recently shared a list of his views on what European carriers should avoid providing better service for their travellers. These pointers he mentioned were based on his recent travelling experience in a full-service carrier. The pointers he shared covered multiple points, including staff behaviour, the boarding process and services in general.

In his tweet, Jet Airways CEO mentioned, "Boarding an FSC [full-service carrier] in Europe. Things to avoid". Furthermore, elaborating on the subject and talking about the services, he said, "1. Staff travellers making bookings and checking in at a business class counter, holding up the line. 2. Having to remind glum-looking, non-smiling, no greeting agent to put priority tag. 3. Poor priority boarding process for stairs gate.

Boarding an FSC in Europe. Things to avoid: 1. Staff travellers making bookings & checking in at Business Class counter, holding up the line. 2. Having to remind glum looking non-smiling, no greeting agent to put Priority tag. 3. Poor priority boarding process for stairs gate.  Sanjiv Kapoor (@TheSanjivKapoor) May 7, 2022

However, when a Twitter user inquired about the name of the airline, Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor refused to say the name by saying, "My lips are sealed." It is to be noted he has recently been appointed as Jet Airways CEO, before that, he has had experience working with other airlines like SpiceJet, GoAir and Vistara.

Also read: Direct flights from India to Madagascar soon, Visa on arrival for Indian tourists

Meanwhile, Sanjiv Kapoor's Jet Airways is scheduled to restart operations, with its first test flight to and from Hyderabad airport taking place on May 5 after nearly three years of being grounded.

The test flight, which demonstrated an aircraft's airworthiness, was the first step in obtaining an air operator certificate from the aviation regulator DGCA, which would allow commercial flights to resume.
New Delhi: In a shocking incident reported from Uttar Pradeshs Agra, a primary school principal was receiving a salary without actually attending the school and has hired a woman to teach students on her behalf, reported News18 quoting the UP Basic Education Department.

According to the report, the principal was paying the woman Rs 5,000 per month for teaching students on her behalf while she was absent the entire time and received her monthly salary throughout.

The incident was reported in the primary school Nagla Surai in Jaitpur Kalan

Upon being reported, the Divisional Sub-Inspector Urdu Rakesh Kumar and Divisional Coordinator Mid-Day Meal Rakesh Kumar Parashar visited the school to inspect the case.

The principal was not present in the school at the time of inspection. However, the girl hired by the principal was present, said the News18 report.

As per the womans testimony, she was hired by the accused in 2021 and was being paid a monthly salary of Rs 5,000.

AD Basic Mahesh Chandra has directed the in-charge BSA to take disciplinary action against the headmistress and the culprits concerned. He said that the entire matter should be resolved by forming a committee at the earliest, reported News18.

During the investigation, the villagers and locals told the police that they had never seen the principal in school.
Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra is well known for his sass and humour, thanks to his Twitter post but his soft side, especially for his fellow Indians is not unknown to us! He is popular for making the netizens go awww with his sweet gestures and this time is no different.

On the occasion of Mothers Day, Anand Mahindra has once again won millions of hearts with his special gift to her sworn mother Idli Amma.

Anand Mahindra, who got in touch with Tamil Nadus famous Idli Amma via a tweet, gifted a home to her other mother. On Sunday, the business tycoon took to Twitter to congratulate his team that helped in the construction of the house.

In the video shared by Mahindra, Idli Amma can be seen cutting the ribbon of her new home with the team members.

Immense gratitude to our team for completing the construction of the house in time to gift it to Idli Amma on #MothersDay Shes the embodiment of a Mothers virtues: nurturing, caring & selfless. A privilege to be able to support her & her work. Happy Mothers Day to you all! pic.twitter.com/LgfR2UIfnm  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) May 8, 2022

Immense gratitude to our team for completing the construction of the house in time to gift it to Idli Amma on #MothersDay Shes the embodiment of a Mothers virtues: nurturing, caring & selfless. A privilege to be able to support her & her work. Happy Mothers Day to you all wrote Anand Mahindra in his tweet.

His heartwarming gesture is hugely appreciated by the netizens.

Who is Idli Amma?

Idli Amma, original name Kamalathal became an internet sensation in 2019 for selling the cheapest idlis for over 30 years. Not caring about her profits, Amma extended her services keeping in mind those in need.

Idli Amma and Anand Mahindra- How did the mother-son relationship begin?

Interestingly, Anand Mahindra came to know about Idli Amma through Twitter only, when one of her videos went viral.

This is the tweet where it all began.

One of those humbling stories that make you wonder if everything you do is even a fraction as impactful as the work of people like Kamalathal. I notice she still uses a wood-burning stove.If anyone knows her Id be happy to invest in her business & buy her an LPG fueled stove. pic.twitter.com/Yve21nJg47  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) September 10, 2019

At the time, Mahindra declared on Twitter that he will invest in Idli Ammas business and also sent his team to meet her. He also gifted a gas stove to Idli Amma to help her cause.

It is also believed that Idli Amma expressed her wish for a new house and today, Anand Mahindra fulfilled his promise on Mothers Day.
Chandigarh: AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal will address a rally in Haryana's Kurukshetra on May 29, senior party leader Dr Sushil Gupta said on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters in Karnal, Gupta, who is in-charge of party affairs in Haryana, said Kejriwal will address the "Ab Badlega Haryana" rally.

"The rally will be addressed by Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal ji," he said, adding people of Haryana are fed up with alleged misrule of the BJP-JJP government and they are looking for a change.

Gupta said people have already "rejected" the Congress and the AAP is the only viable alternative.

"People want change. The change will start from Kurukshetra (referring to the rally). Like Delhi, people of Haryana also want good hospitals, good schools, round-the-clock power, employment to youth... Delhi model will come to Haryana too and we will form a government in the state after the next assembly polls," he said.

Buoyed by its stupendous win in Punjab in March this year, AAP has increased its activities in neighbouring Haryana, where it is eyeing to capture power in the 2024 assembly polls.

Gupta has held a series of meetings of party workers in the state over the past few weeks and enrolled new members into the party fold. Last month, former Haryana Congress president Ashok Tanwar, who had left the grand old party over two years ago, joined the AAP.
New Delhi: Hitting out at poll strategist Prashant Kishor for his "no development in Bihar for 30 years" remark, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday (May 7) dismissed it as baseless and questioned Kishor's significance in politics so far.

"Prashant Kishor`s statement does not make any sense that I even answer to it. It is a baseless statement. I am not aware of his whereabouts, who is he? He has never been a factor in anything so far," Tejashwi Yadav was quoted as saying by ANI.

The RJD leaders statement comes in the wake of Prashant Kishor, also known as PK, blaming Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and former chief minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav for no development in the state for 30 years during their respective tenures.

The political strategist had claimed on Thursday that despite two political regimes of two different ideologies ruling the state for 15 years each, adequate development works have not been carried out in Bihar compared to other states, IANS reported.

"It is reflected in the analysis of Central agencies. The basic infrastructures in sectors like health and education are having pathetic situations in Bihar," PK had said.

Reacting to Kishor's remark, Bihar CM Kumar said he attached no importance to his administration's assessment by the political strategist. PK replied in a tweet: "Nitish ji is right. Only truth is of importance. And the truth is that after 30 years of rule by Lalu-Nitish, Bihar remains the poorest and most backward state. Its transformation is possible only through its people's collective efforts, with a new mindset (nayi soch).

(With agency inputs)
Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam (the fifth from the left) at the event. (Photo: VNA)

He has step down as former Deputy Chief Medical Official (DCMO) for England at the end of March to take up new role as Pro-Vice Chancellor for the faculty of medicine and health sciences at University of Nottingham.

VIS Chairman Nguyen Xuan Huan spoke highly of Jonathan Van-Tams role as honorary chairman. He affirmed that Professor Jonathan Van-Tams support will help VIS fulfil its mission of promoting connection and cooperation among members, as well as strengthening cooperation between Vietnam and the UK in important fields such as science, technology and economy.

At the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Nguyen Hoang Long expressed his belief that Jonathan Van-Tam will make effective contributions to the association's activities.

The Ambassador affirmed that education is an important pillar in the bilateral cooperation as the UK is Vietnam's leading partner in the field of education, especially higher education.

He pointed out that with a network of members who are professors, PhD students and intellectuals in the UK, VIS plays an important role as a bridge to promote educational cooperation between the two countries.

The Ambassador said that the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK will do its best to support VIS's activities to develop the Vietnamese intellectual community in the UK and the educational cooperation relationship between the two countries.

For his part, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam expressed his honour to assume the position of honorary chairman of VIS. As a British of Vietnamese origin who has worked for the British Government for a long time, he hopes to contribute to VIS's activities as well as to promote collaboration between the two countries, which he believes has great potential.

At the event, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam shared information and experience in COVID-19 pandemic prevention of the UK, especially the role of science and vaccines in pandemic prevention and preparedness for future pandemics. He also talked about his reflections on carrying out his responsibilities as a government health official.

Jonathan Van-Tam, an expert on influenza, has been Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England from October 2017 to March 2022. He has played important roles in a number of different incidents, including domestic outbreaks of MERS and monkeypox, 2017 to 2018 influenza season and most notably the response to the novichok attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic where he worked on the Vaccine Taskforce and supported the development of treatments.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, he has become famous for his press conferences on the situation that attracted millions of viewers. The Sunday Times called him an unexpected hero in the pandemic.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has received a Knighthood from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to the fight against COVID-19.

At the Vietnam National Day celebration in London in September last year, the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK honoured the professor for his provision of policy advice for Vietnams COVID-19 prevention and control./.
New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department on Sunday (May 8, 2022) informed that the deep depression over Southeast Bay of Bengal Sunday moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 16 kmph during the past 6 hours and intensified into a cyclonic storm Asani'.

At 5:30 AM, the system lay centered over Southeast Bay of Bengal, about 450 km west-northwest of Car Nicobar (Nicobar Islands), 380 km west of Port Blair (Andaman Islands), 970 km southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 1030 km south-southeast of Puri (Odisha).

It is very likely to move northwestwards and intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm over east central Bay of Bengal during next 24 hours, IMD said. The weather office also said that the system is very likely to continue to move northwestwards till May 10th evening and reach West-central and adjoining Northwest Bay of Bengal off North Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coasts.

Deep Depression over intensified into a cyclonic storm Asani about380 km west of Port Blair (Andaman Islands).To move northwestwards and intensify further into a Severe Cyclonic Storm over east central Bay of Bengal during next 24 hours pic.twitter.com/3AkJAtHIxw  India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) May 8, 2022

The cyclonic storm is very likely to recurve north-northeastwards and move towards Northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha coast thereafter.

Earlier, on Saturday, IMD DG Mrutunjay Mohaptra had informed that the cyclone was unlikely to make landfall either in the coast of Odisha or Andhra Pradesh, but will move parallel to the coast in the sea.

According to IMDs latest bulletin, the system will remain in the form of a cyclonic storm till Sunday evening and later intensify into a severe cyclonic storm and will continue to remain in this form till May 10 night.

However, later on, it will lose steam in the sea and become another cyclonic storm on May 11 and 12.

While the maximum speed limit on May 8 will remain at 60 to 70 kmph, gusting to 80 kmph, its speed may increase to 90 to 100 kmph with gusting up to 110 kmph by Sunday afternoon and then speed up by evening to reach 95 to 105kmph with gusting to 115 kmph.

On May 9th, the wind speed will be 105 to 115 gusting 125 kmph and then the storm is expected to lose stream in the sea on May 10 with wind speed coming down to 96-105 gusting 115 in the early hours reducing progressively as the day wears off.

Meanwhile, the governments of Odisha and West Bengal have taken all precautionary measures to deal with the possible situation.

The Odisha government stated that even though the cyclone will not make landfall in the state, it will still not lower the preparation to deal with the possible situation and will keep cyclone shelters ready to house as many as 7.5 lakh people, if evacuated for the purpose.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Five members of a family, including three children, were killed after they drowned in a water-filled quarry in Maharashtra's Thane district, the PTI news agency reported on Saturday (May 7, 2022) quoting a fire brigade official.

The incident took place around 4 pm in Sandip village in Dombivli, PTI said.

"A woman and her daughter-in-law were washing clothes near the quarry when one of the woman's three grandchildren, who were sitting close by, slipped into the water. The other four tried to rescue the child but they all drowned," the PTI news agency quoted a fire brigade official as saying.

The bodies were fished out and an accidental death case has been registered at Dombivali police station, the official said.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Amid the intense heatwaves and constantly rising temperature, schools in Delhi and NCR are stepping up to take the necessary steps to save children from any adverse effects of the heat. These steps involve revising school timings, restricting outdoor activities, stocking ORS and glucose sachets, and constantly motivating children to stay hydrated, reported PTI.

While closing schools due to heatwaves is not an option after a two-year-long Covid-induced break, schools have been asked to make sure that kids are safe amid the heatwaves.

According to Shubhi Soni, the Head of the Shri Ram Wonder Years school in Rohini, all outdoor activities have been restrained in the wake of the rising temperatures.

"School timings will also be revised as per the prevailing conditions and dispersal in the afternoon peak hours will be avoided to prevent heat strokes and energy drainage among students, Soni told PTI

"We also have an emergency kit for use, which comprises ORS, glucose, and oral electrolyte to be given to children if they need it. The school staff is keeping a thorough check on children and constantly motivating them to drink water to manage the heatwave," she added.

Anshu Mital, the principal of MRG School, Rohini, said they have also reduced outdoor activities extensively to safeguard students from exposure to heat.

Water is sprinkled on the school ground and terrace to bring down the temperature, Mital said.

Delhi weather and heatwave

A torrid heatwave had sent the mercury soaring across large swathes of India with the temperature in Delhi rising to 46 degrees Celsius. The national capital also recorded its second hottest April in 72 years with a monthly average maximum temperature of 40.2 degrees Celsius.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier this week said a fresh spell of a heatwave is likely to begin over northwest India from May 7 and over central India from May 8.

Amid the intense heatwave across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting to review the preparedness of states to salvage the situation.

The prime minister held discussions about rainwater harvesting and preparations of hospitals and health staff among others.

(With PTI inputs)
Maharashtra government is likely to challenge the bail of Lok Sabha MP from Amravati Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana today. "I have sent a few clips of Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana. After watching those clips carefully, I am satisfied that those conversations of them are in violation of the condition put in the bail order given to them. So, I am duty-bound to bring this before the court. I will put this before the court today. I will request the court to issue a non-bailable warrant against them and to take them into custody," said special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat.

Mumbai`s session Court on Wednesday granted bail to the Ranas who were arrested after they declared that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray`s residence.

After her release from Byculla Jail on Thursday and Navneet Rana was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai for a medical check-up. She underwent an MRI scan and a full body checkup at Lilavati Hospital on Saturday after she complained of pain in the chest, neck, and different parts of the body as well as spondylitis.

Rana couple got bail from the court after staying 12 days in jail.

While granting bail, the court had also put several conditions, violating which the bail was subjected to be cancelled. One of such conditions includes that Navneet Rana and her husband could not issue any statement in the media regarding the case.

However, Navneet Rana spoke to the media as soon as she was discharged from the hospital and gave a statement regarding her arrest.

The MP-MLA couple was arrested on April 23 from their Mumbai residence after they declared that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Uddhav Thackeray`s home in Bandra.The two were booked in two FIRs lodged on charges of sedition, promoting enmity, and assaulting a public servant to prevent discharge of duty.
New Delhi: Independent Amravati MP Navneet Rana, who triggered the Hanuman Chalisa row in Maharashtra, on Sunday challenged Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to contest election against her and get elected directly by the people, PTI reported.

Adding that people of Maharashtra and Lord Ram will teach Shiv Sena a lesson, Rana, dared Thackeray to choose any constituency of his choice and face her in the next elections.

Talking to reporters on Sunday after being discharged from the hospital, Navneet Rana said, "I challenge Uddhav Thackeray ji to chose a constituency and get elected directly by people. I will fight against him."

"I will work hard with honesty and win the election, and he (the CM) will know the people's power," she said.

"What crime did I commit that I was jailed for 14 days? You can put me in jail for 14 years, but I will not stop chanting the names of Lord Ram and Hanuman. Mumbaikars and Lord Ram will teach the Shiv Sena a lesson in the civic polls," the parliamentarian said.

Navneet Rana to contest BMC election

The Independent MP also announced plans to campaign for the ensuing Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections and uproot what she alleged was the `Lanka of corruption` built by the Shiv Sena which is ruling it for over two decades.

Navneet Rana also said she will campaign in Mumbai and support 'Ram bhaktas (followers of Lord Ram) to end the "corrupt rule" of the Shiv Sena.

Rana, who was arrested and charged with sedition after she announced the recital of Hanuman Chalisa outside Uddhav Thackerays residence Matoshree, was recently released on bail after 14 days in custody.

She was later admitted to Mumbais Lilavati hospital after a medical checkup. Her lawyer then said she had complaints of high blood pressure, body ache and spondylitis.

Though the Court had barred her from speaking to the media, she told media persons that she was allegedly ill-treated by the authorities at the Byculla Women Jail, forced to lie on a mat on the floor, and slammed the Sena and its leaders.

Shiv Sena president Thackeray, who became the CM in November 2019 after forging an alliance with the NCP and Congress, took oath as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council in May 2020. Prior to that, he was not a member of the state legislature.

This Shiv Sena shares power in the state with the NCP and Congress. The Thackeray-led party also controls the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Notably, CM Uddhav Thackeray's son Aaditya Thackeray is the first from the family to enter the electoral fray.
New Delhi: Indore Police Commissioner, Harinarayan Chari Mishra on Saturday (May 7, 2022) said that the police suspects that a young man whose love was unrequited set fire to a double-storey building in Indore`s Swarna Bagh Colony in which seven people were charred to death and nine others were injured.

In an interview with news agency ANI, the Commissioner said, during the investigation it was found that a man namely Sanjay alias Shubham Dixit started the fire.

"More than 50 CCTV footages were analysed. One footage showed that a person, namely Sanjay alias Shubham Dixit, going just before the incident. Police got more information and found that he started the fire. More information is being scooped out," Mishra said.

Mishra also informed that the accused had an unrequited love for a girl. They had an altercation earlier also where the accused threatened the girl and set a scooter on fire.

"Primarily, the accused had money and wanted to marry a girl, but his love was unrequited. They had had a fight on two issues before as well. He threatened the girl and set a scooter on fire, which developed into a massive one," Mishra said.

"Action will be taken under sections of murder. The accused has not been arrested yet but will be soon. The girl is safe and out of danger," he added.

Seven people were charred to death after a massive fire broke out in a double-story building in Swarna Bagh Colony in Indore, the police said. The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday.

"Seven people have died and nine people have so far been rescued by officials present at the spot," police had informed. Meanwhile, it took the fire department three hours to bring the fire under control.

(With agency inputs)
Shimla: After `Khalistan` flags were found tied on the Himachal Assembly main gate and walls, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur on Sunday said that he has directed the police to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident, adding that those behind the incident would not be spared.

Speaking to reporters here today, the Chief Minister said, "The state government has directed the police to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a DIG rank officer.

This six-member SIT will find each and every detail of the case and will coordinate with the state and central agencies."

"FIR has been registered against whoever tied Khalistan flags and wrote Khalistan outside the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Dharamshala today. The investigation has been initiated. Our efforts are to nab them as soon as possible. Strict action will be taken against the accused, Thakur said

We have been observing for some days that some powers from behind are carrying out such incidents. They will not be successful or spared," he added.

Thakur also hinted out to hand over the case to central agencies but the decision will be taken only after some input from the SIT.

Thakur said that the government will review the security along the borders with various states.

His remarks came after the Superintendent of Police, Kangra, suspected the hands of "some tourists from Punjab" in the incident.Notably, Himachal Pradesh is a hilly state that attracts tourists from various parts of India. The state shares its borders with Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Punjab.

Speaking to ANI, Thakur said, "I condemn the incident. I urge the people of the state to maintain peace. Action will be taken against the perpetrators. We will soon review the security system at our borders with other states.

The Chief Minister further informed that an FIR has been registered following the incident and a probe has been ordered to nab the culprits.

"The incident is unfortunate and I have ordered a probe. An FIR has also been registered and we are trying to catch the culprits," he said.

Thakur said that the culprits took the advantage of the deployment of the police in the interior of the Assembly campus and put up the flags on the walls and gate.

"It is being said that the incident took place at night. The police are deployed in the interior of the Vidhan Sabha campus since it is very large. So the poster was put up on the wall and the main gate of the Assembly. The CCTV footage is being probed to get a clue about the culprits," the Chief Minister said.

Earlier, `Khalistan` flags were found tied on the main gate and boundary wall of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Dharamshala on Sunday morning.
New Delhi: Two terrorists were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday (May 8, 2022), police said, adding that a Pakistani terrorist of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was among two ultras.

The encounter broke out after security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Cheyan Devsar area of the south Kashmir district following inputs about the presence of terrorists, a police official said.

#UPDATE | Both the trapped terrorists killed (in the Cheyan Devsar area of Kulgam). Incriminating materials including arms & ammunition recovered. Search is underway. Further details awaited: J&K Police  ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2022

In the ensuing exchange of fire, two terrorists were killed, the official said.

Earlier, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, had said one of the trapped ultras was a Pakistani. "01 #Pakistani #terrorist (Haider) of LeT terror outfit & a local terrorist trapped in on-going #encounter," Kumar said on Twitter.

Kumar also informed that Haider had been active in North Kashmir for more than two years and is involved in several terror crimes.

According to the police, the encounter started during the early hours on Sunday.

"Encounter has started at Cheyan Devsar area of Kulgam. Police and Army on the job. Further details shall follow," the police had tweeted.
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir police on Sunday arrested a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist associate at Baramulla. Arms and ammunition, including pistols, were recovered from the militant, the police said.

The primary interrogation revealed that the arrested terrorist was involved in the planned killings of panchayat members and non-locals.

The police acted on a specific input regarding the movement of terrorists in the general area of Frasthar Kreeri area of district Baramullah Joint forces of Baramulla Police, 3 FID/15 CIB, Army 29 RR, and 2nd Bn SSB established an MVCP ( Mobile Vehicle Check Post ) near Frasthar Kreeri.

During the patrolling, one individual was observed moving suspiciously along the orchards in the Frasthar area and the lookout party alerted the joint MVCP. The security forces challenged the individual, however, he fled to the orchards.

The MVCP chased the individual and nabbed him. The individual was identified as Ajaz Ahmed Mir of Tilgam Payeen. The search of the individual led to the recovery of one pistol along with Magazine and ammunition cartridges 09 in numbers.

The recent killings of non-local labourers and grenade attacks in multiple locations were investigated and suspected individuals from various places were detained and sustained interrogation established the role of the LeT terrorist organisation behind these heinous crimes.

The interrogation revealed that terrorist organisations are planning such heinous crimes in the general area and one LeT Terrorist Associate has been tasked for the same.

The successful apprehension of the hardcore & active Terrorist Associate has evaded major terror plots and busted the module responsible for various recent attacks and planned execution of PRI and non-local labourers.
New Delhi: Amid tussle with MNS, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday (May 8) targeted Raj Thackeray over his forthcoming visit to Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and said that Lord Ram "does not bless those coming to him with "fake" emotions and for political reasons".

The MNS chiefs visit comes as Maharashtra Tourism Minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray is also slated to go to Ayodhya.

"This is not political, but a matter of faith for us. Aaditya Thackeray has been invited by different sections of society to highlight the true essence of Hindutva," the Shiv Sena MP was quoted as saying by PTI.

"Lord Ram doesn't bless those going to him with fake emotions and for political reasons, and such people are bound to face opposition," Raut added.

Speaking to reporters, Raut said that Aaditya Thackeray's Ayodhya visit will likely occur around June 10. Aaditya Thackeray will be accompanied by Shiv Sainiks from Maharashtra and all over the country, Raut said.

Meanwhile, Raj Thackeray, who started a political slugfest in Maharashtra after giving a call for the removal of loudspeakers in mosques, had announced last month in Pune that he would visit Ayodhya on June 5 to seek the blessings of Lord Ram. "On June 5, I will go to Ayodhya along with other MNS workers to have darshan of Lord Ram. I appeal to other people also to come to Ayodhya," Thackeray had said at a press conference.

Notably, BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has raised objection to Raj Thackeray's Ayodhya visit and warned that the MNS chief will not be allowed to enter the city till he apologises publicly for humiliating north Indians. Before coming to Ayodhya, Raj Thackeray should apologise to all North Indians with folded hands, he said, as per ANI.

He also urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath not to meet Raj Thackeray till he apologises to the North Indians.

(With agency inputs)
Vice Chairman of the Can Tho Peoples Committee Duong Tan Hien (right) speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA)

He made the statement on May 6 at a working session with Nesto Santos Franco, Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Spanish Embassy in Vietnam, on proposals relating to the urban reconstruction plan and new model development for the citys downtown area in line with the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) model.

TOD can be regarded as an urban development model that optimise the residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport

Can Tho has been implementing many projects to expand its cultural and commercial centres and architectural landscapes, Hien said, adding that however, the urban development of the city is still not commensurate with its central position in the Mekong Delta.

The urban planning scheme will span over 360 hectares, mainly focusing on the Can Tho river banks. It aims to improve the architectural landscape, and cultural and commercial services in Ninh Kieu wharf area.

Franco said he highly appreciated the initiative and feasibility of the plan for urban reconstruction and development for the citys centre, adding that Spain has a lot of experience in developing this model.

Spain and Vietnam have signed many financial cooperation programmes with priority given to climate change response, he said, adding that these are advantages for Spain to support Can Tho to effectively implement the plan.

Franco suggested the city focus on detailed planning on urban infrastructure development included in the plan.

Attention should be paid to the expansion of a tram system, which can connect the Ninh Kieu wharf area with neighboring localities, he said./.
Palghar: Nineteen policemen were injured and 12 of their vehicles damaged when they tried to control attack on employees of a steel company by over 100 members of a labour union here in Maharashtra, an official said on Sunday.

The police have so far arrested 27 people in connection with the incident that took place on Saturday in the company's factory premises located in an industrial area in Boisar town of Palghar district, they said.

Heavy security has been deployed in the premises. The situation there is tense, but under control, Palghar police spokesperson Sachin Navadkar said.

An issue pertaining to the labour union was going on in the company for long, the official said, without specifying details of the matter.

On Saturday, several union members barged into the factory and allegedly started beating up some employees and officials and also ransacked the premises, he said.

A police team rushed there, he said, adding that the mob then allegedly hit the security personnel with stones.

Nineteen policemen were injured and window panes of 12 police jeeps were smashed by the mob, he said.

The police have so far arrested 27 people and registered a case against them under various IPC sections, including attempt to murder, rioting and criminal conspiracy, the official said.

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Balasore: A middle-aged married woman was allegedly raped repeatedly by a 'tantrik' for 79 days in front of her two-and-half-year-old son in Odisha's Balasore district, police said on Saturday.

Police rescued the woman and her child from a locked room on Friday but the accused managed to escape and a manhunt has been launched to nab him.

In her police complaint, the survivor alleged that her husband and in-laws had forced her to stay with the tantrik to resolve a marital discord between the woman and her in-laws.

The woman, who got married in 2017, claimed she had to undergo physical and mental torture by her in-laws for dowry.

The tantrik had assured the family that he would resolve the discord if the woman stays with her for a few months. When she refused to oblige, her mother-in-law allegedly sedated her and she later regained consciousness in the tantrik's room and found her son also in it.

The tantrik repeatedly raped the woman for 79 days in the room in front of her son.

The accused arranged food for the mother and child. On April 28, she found that the tantrik had left his mobile phone in the room, and used it to call up her parents and narrate her ordeal. They, in turn, informed the police.

But by the time the police reached the place, the tantrik had managed to escape. A case under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 376 (rape), has been registered against the accused.

The woman has named her husband, his brother, and other in-laws in the FIR. However, no arrests have been made so far.

She has been admitted to a hospital, and her condition is stated to be stable.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (May 7, 2022) chaired a high-level meeting to review the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and advocated developing a hybrid system of online and offline learning to avoid overexposure of schoolchildren to technology.

In the meeting, the prime minister discussed a variety of issues from National Curriculum Framework, Hybrid system of education, UGC two degree framework and more.

According to an official statement, PM Modi stated that the new policy is being rolled out with the objectives of access, equity, inclusivity and quality.

Here are the key highlights of the meeting:

- The prime minister said the databases maintained by anganwadi centres should be seamlessly integrated with school records as children move there from anganwadis, and called for their regular health check-ups and screening in schools with the help of technology.

- Pitching for emphasis on the use of indigenously developed toys to develop conceptual skills in students, PM Modi also suggested that secondary schools with science labs should engage with farmers in their area for soil testing, the statement said.

- PM Modi also Lauded the new education policy, and said from special efforts to track out-of-school children and bring them back into the mainstream and the introduction of multiple entry and exit in higher education, many transformative reforms have been initiated that will define and lead the progress of the country as it enters the 'Amrit Kaal'.

- The prime minister was apprised that the work of the formulation of the National Curriculum Framework under the guidance of the National Steering Committee is in progress.

- The official statement also said that in school education, initiatives like quality ECCE in 'Balavatika', NIPUN Bharat, Vidya Pravesh, examination reforms and innovative pedagogies like art-integrated education, toy-based pedagogy are being adopted for better learning outcomes and holistic development of children.

- PM Modi while referring to multi-disciplinarity in higher education said he was informed that the guidelines for multiple entry-exit for flexibility and lifelong learning along with the launch of academic bank of credit on digilocker platform will now make it possible for students to study as per their convenience and choice.

- The statement said that the National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) is also at an advanced stage of preparation, while the UGC is revising the existing Curriculum Framework and Credit System for Undergraduate Programme in alignment with the NHEQF.

- 2,774 innovation councils have been set up in higher education institutions in 28 states and six union territories in order to encourage an ecosystem of start-up and innovation.

- Laying emphasis on multi-modal education, the statement said, online, open and multi-modal learning have been promoted vigorously by both schools and higher education institutions.

- UGC has notified Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and Online Programmes Regulations under which 59 higher educational institutions are offering 351 full-fledged online programmes and 86 higher education institutions are offering 1,081 ODL programmes. The permissible limit of online content in a programme has also been raised to 40 per cent, the statement said. It added that stress has also been given to multi-linguality in education and testing to ensure that lack of knowledge of English does not impede the educational attainment of any student.

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday (May 8, 2022) inaugurated the new campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

While addressing the audience at the inauguration ceremony, President Kovind said, I am sure that the ecosystem at IIM-Nagpur will provide the students with a mindset of becoming job creators instead of being job seekers.

I am sure that the ecosystem at IIM-Nagpur will provide the students with a mindset of becoming job creators instead of being job seekers: President Ram Nath Kovind pic.twitter.com/fLdSwzting  ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2022

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan and Maharashtra ministers Nitin Raut and Subhash Desai were also present.
A day after receiving a rousing reception from an enthusiastic audience in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sadhguru, Founder-Isha Foundation, reached Palestine on day 47 of his #JourneyForSoil. In a stirring appeal from Palestine, Sadhguru called for a forward-looking, solutions-oriented approach that would help nations keep the bitterness of the past aside and pave a wonderful future for our children.

Borders mean nothing for soil. All nations and the planet itself must thrive. Only then can we live well. I appeal to all nations and religions, let us put aside the bitterness of the past, and strive to create rich soil & rich nations for the sake of future generations, Sadhguru said.

Borders mean nothing for soil. All nations & the planet itself must thrive. Only then can we live well. I appeal to all nations & religions, let us put aside the bitterness of the past, and strive to create rich soil & rich nations for the sake of future generations.-Sg #SaveSoil pic.twitter.com/QDLX4IPXf6  Sadhguru (@SadhguruJV) May 8, 2022

Sadhguru is on the Middle East leg of his 100-day, 30,000-km lone motorcycle journey as part of the Movement to Save Soil from extinction globally. In a video message recorded in a date nursery in Palestine, Sadhguru spoke of the nations rich agricultural history, skill and knowledge which had shrunk in a big way due to the long-running conflict.

Sadhguru revealed that as recently as in the 60s, 90% of the Palestinian population was engaged in agriculture which accounted for over 50% of the countrys and regions economy. Its my wish that we support the Palestinian people to enhance the richness in their soilso that future generations .can once again bring back agriculture as a significant force in their life, he said.

Sadhguru has often referred to the Movement to Save Soil as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Humanity to rally behind a cause that affects every human being and every life on the planet.

As human beings, we have divided the world in so many ways, he said, but as Life, as Soil, national borders mean nothing for soil, nothing for the microbial life, so its important for us to understand if our nation has to be good, all nations around us must be good. The planet itself must be healthy and thriving as a Life. Only then our lives will be truly good.

He appealed to all nations concerned, to all people concerned, all religious groups concerned to make the choice to move forward rather than living in remembrance of a painful history. Let us look at the faces of our children, let us not remember the injustices of the past, he said adding, its very important we look at the joyful faces of our children and strive to create a rich soil and a rich nation.

Sadhguru will also travel to Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman during the Middle East leg of his journey.

In March this year, Sadhguru launched the global Movement to Save Soil from extinction. The primary objective of the Movement is to urge nations of the world to formulate policies to ensure all agricultural lands have a minimum of 3-6% organic content.
New Delhi: BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga's father Preetpal Singh Bagga distributed sweets after his son got relief from the Punjab Police after midnight Punjab and Haryana High Court hearing at midnight.

Preetpal slammed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal saying that the latter is scared of his son. Bagga`s father also claimed that Kejriwal tried to persuade Tajinder Bagga to join AAP.

"We are happy that Punjab-Haryana HC directed not to take coercive action against Tajinder. Arvind Kejriwal is scared of him as he`s exposing his wrongdoings. He also tried to persuade Tajinder to join AAP but he didn`t join," Preetpal told ANI.

Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga got relief from Punjab police till May 10 after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed late Saturday (May 7) night that Punjab Police cannot take any coercive action against the Delhi BJP leader.

I am happy that Tajinder got relief from Punjab High Court. They (Punjab govt) want to drag him in some case or the other. They will keep filing FIRs but we are not going to stop, this fight will last long: Preetpal Singh Bagga, father of Tajinder Singh Bagga pic.twitter.com/HlRgABW80o  ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2022

Justice Anoop Chitkara passed the order while hearing a petition challenging the arrest warrant for Bagga issued by the Mohali court, reported ANI.

Notably, Bagga reached his residence in Delhi on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday after he was "rescued" by the Delhi Police. He had later claimed that the Punjab Police had barged into his home in large numbers and arrested him "as they do it with a terrorist".

The BJP protested against the Punjab Police`s action to arrest Bagga after the alleged threat to Arvind Kejriwal. Earlier this month, the Punjab Police registered a case against Bagga on charges of making provocative statement, promoting religious enmity, and criminal intimidation for targeting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal over his comments on `The Kashmir Files`.

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New Delhi: Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga on Sunday (May 8, 2022) thanked the Punjab and Haryana High Court along with Minority Commission for staying his arrest and said that the "law still works in the country".

"I thank the Punjab and Haryana High Court along with Minority Commission who showed yesterday that law still works in this country. The Minority Committee sent a notice to the Punjab government for not letting me wear my turban. In Sikhs, we can`t go out without a turban," Bagga was quoted as saying by ANI news agency.

In a reprieve for Bagga, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday night had directed that no coercive step be taken against the Delhi BJP leader after he sought a stay on the arrest warrant issued by a Mohali court.

Hours after the Mohali court issued the arrest warrant in connection with a case registered against him by the Punjab Police last month, Bagga moved the high court challenging it.

Justice Anoop Chitkara took up Bagga's petition in an urgent hearing at his residence just before midnight.

"No coercive steps till May 10," said Bagga's counsel Chetan Mittal on the high court order.

The high court is to take up Bagga's petition on May 10, seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him in April 2022.

Earlier on Saturday, the court of Judicial Magistrate Ravtesh Inderjit Singh issued the arrest warrant against Bagga in connection with a case registered last month.

The Punjab Police had booked Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga on the charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity, and criminal intimidation. The case was registered on a complaint of AAP leader Sunny Ahluwalia, a resident of Mohali.

The FIR registered on April 1 referred to Bagga's remarks on March 30, when he was part of a BJP youth wing protest outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Bagga was booked under relevant sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place, etc), 505 (whoever makes, publishes, or circulates any statement, rumour or report) and 506 (criminal intimidation), of the Indian Penal Code.

Bagga was then arrested by the Punjab Police from his Delhi home on Friday, stopped in Haryana while being taken to Punjab and brought back to the national capital by Delhi Police hours later.

(With inputs from agencies)
Four more Tamil Nadu cops were arrested on Saturday in connection with the custodial death of Vignesh, who was taken into custody in Chennai on April 18 and died the next morning. The arrested policemen have also been charged under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Vignesh and his friend Suresh, both habitual offenders, were taken into custody by the Secretariat police in Chennai on April 18.

The following morning, the police said he developed seizures and was taken to the Kilpauak government hospital where he was declared brought dead.

After his death, Vignesh`s family staged protests and the state police suspended Sub-Inspector Pugazham Perumal, Constable Ponraj, and Home Guard Deepak of the Secretariat colony police station.

Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday told the Assembly, "As the Leader of Opposition said, the post-mortem indicates thirteen injuries. On the basis of this, I would like to inform this House that the case has been changed into a murder case. A murder case has been filed against the police. The CB-CID has been instructed to continue its investigation."

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Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday (May 7, 2022) arrested two Hizbul Mujahideen hybrid terrorists from North Kashmir`s Bandipora district.

Two hybrid terrorists in Bandipora were apprehended with arms and ammunitions, said Jammu and Kashmir Police.

"Based on a specific input regarding movement of Hybrid terrorists from Bandipora to Srinagar, a joint check post was established near Wullar Vantage Aragam by Bandipora police,13RR Army & 3rd BN CRPF, read a police statement.

While conducting search of pedestrians and vehicles two individuals were observed moving suspiciously in an Alto Car bearing Reg. No. JK13-G 6139, who tried to conceal their identity on seeing the searching party. On being challenged, the suspicious persons tried to break the checkpoint but were tactfully apprehended, the statement added.

The two terrorists have been identified as Abid Ali, 27, of Herpora Achan Pulwama and Faisal Hassan Parray, 21, of Herpora Achan Pulwama.

During the search, the police recovered 01 AK-47 rifle, 02 Magazines with 30 live Rounds, 01 Pistol, 01 Magazine with 04 live Rounds and 04 Pistol fired cases.

The police said that further investigation is underway and police expect that more arrests will be made.

Pertaining to mention here that security forces have managed to arrest 33 terrorists till now these years and most of them are hybrid terrorists says police.
New Delhi: Unidentified men on Saturday (May 7, 2022) evening opened several rounds of fire at a car in west Delhi's Subhash Nagar area and injured two men, the PTI news agency reported.

The victims were identified as Ajay Chaudhary and Jassa Chaudhary, the PTI said quoting a police official.

"Around nine to 10 rounds of shots were fired," the police said.

The police said that prima facie appeared to be a case of personal rivalry and that a case of attempt to murder read with sections of arms act has been lodged with the local police station.

Watch:

#WATCH | More than 10 rounds of firing reported yesterday in the Subhash Nagar area of West Delhi has left 2 injured. Police & top officials were deployed at the spot. More details awaited: Delhi Police (Video: CCTV) pic.twitter.com/EJaE6FKIEh  ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2022

"Two persons got injured in the incident which took place under Hari Nagar police station area. Various teams have been formed to investigate and police are checking the CCTV cameras," Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Ghanshyam Bansal told PTI.
Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Tat Thanh (second, left) pays a courtesy visit to NSW Governor Margaret Beazley (centre). (Photo: VNA)

During his visit on May 4 and 5, Thanh paid a courtesy visit to NSW Governor Margaret Beazley, who stressed that NSW attaches importance to cooperation with Vietnamese localities.

The Governor also agreed to coordinate with the Vietnamese side in celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of Australia-Vietnam diplomatic ties in 2023, saying she is willing to welcome Vietnamese high-ranking delegations and will visit Vietnamese localities soon to boost the bilateral comprehensive cooperation.

In reply, Thanh said he hopes that NSW will soon implement an action programme to realise the 2019 memorandum of understanding on cooperation with Ho Chi Minh City, and consider expanding collaboration with other localities of Vietnam.

The ambassador also had meetings with leaders of the NSW Parliament, who noted with pleasure the development of the Vietnam-Australia relations, including their legislative ties.

At meetings with Jess Scully, Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney, and Joseph La Posta, Chief Executive Officer, Multicultural NSW, Thanh thanked local leaders for their assistance to the Vietnamese community, and called for their further support in preserving Vietnamese language and culture in NSW.

The diplomat also met with Chief Justice of NSW Andrew Bell, and representatives from Australian investors and businesses. Thanh noted his hope for stronger trade and investment ties between Vietnamese localities and NSW as the trade cooperation remained modest.

He used the occasion to make a field trip to the University of New South Wales and the University of Technology Sydney, which are leading educational institutions in Australia.

The ambassador said the two sides should step up cooperation in science and technology, and expressed his hope for tripartile cooperation between Vietnamese and Australian universities and businesses from one of the two countries./.
NEW DELHI: Late actor Amjad Khan's son, Shadaab Khan, opened up about his father's death and what happened in its aftermath. He said that his father was a large-hearted soul who had loaned out lots of money to producers in the film industry, but they didnt see a single penny after he died.

While speaking exclusively to 'The Times of India', Shadaab said 'his father had a habit of helping people out and letting go of a lot of money after listening to sob stories. He knew that he was being taken for a ride, but didn't care.'

Shadaab said that the late actor preferred keeping all his money with his friends instead of depositing them at banks. He revealed that after his father's death, only 'a handful' of the actor friends repaid his money.

He also added, "About four months after my dad passed away, a gangster from the Middle East called and wanted to speak to my mother. He told her that he had heard from unconfirmed sources that the industry owed her (late) husband Rs 1.25 crore. He further said that he would give her that amount in 3 days because her husband was a good man. My mother flatly refused, saying that her husband never took favours from the underworld. My mother put the lives of Seemab and my sister Ahlam back on track. If she hadn't been strong at that time, we would have been on the streets. She got into the construction business."

Amjad died in July 1992 of a heart attack. He was 51 then. Amjad and Shaila had three children--Shadaab, Ahlam Khan and Seemaab Khan. The actor made his debut with 'Sholay' (1975), which was to be his most memorable role. Over the years, he worked in a number of successful films, playing diverse roles. While he appearaed in a number of film, he gained popularity for villainous roles, the most famous being 'Gabbar Singh'.

In 1976, Amjad Khan met with a serious accident on the Mumbai-Goa highway which left him with broken ribs and a punctured lung. He was going to participate in the shooting of the film 'The Great Gambler', starring Amitabh Bachchan. In July 1992, at a fairly young age of 51, he died of a heart attack.

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New Delhi: On Mothers Day 2022, Zee Theatre stars Himani Shivpuri, Suchitra Pillai and Vibha Chibber look back at their motherhood journey and discuss the difficulties they faced while trying to manage multiple commitments at home and on the work front.

Suchitra Pillai who stars in teleplay 'Dance Like A Man', says, "Time management is tough when you are a working mom. Dealing with the guilt of being away is hard as well but the hardest is not knowing for sure what is the right way to initiate sensitive discussions with your child. You also cannot delegate motherhood to someone else when things get hard. It is a misconception that the bond between a child and mom used to be different generations ago or that it's ok for a nanny to take your place in the upbringing of your child. No mom can rest easy doing the latter. Now that I am a mom, I also realise how my mother must have felt when I behaved in certain ways with her, whether they were good or bad."

Over the years, Suchitra says, her daughter has taught her a lot of life lessons and she says, "I have learnt from her, unfiltered honesty and selflessness and I would like to teach her to always be financially independent and not depend on anyone for her success or happiness. To never ever allow anyone to disrespect her or make her feel small. And to live life to the fullest."

Actor Vibha Chibber who stars in teleplay 'Panchi Aise Aate Hai', says the toughest challenge she faced as a mom was to impart the values, traditions and culture that she grew up with to her children. She says, "As a mother, to keep up with the changing times was definitely challenging but I am happy that I have succeeded. Over the years, as a family, we have also busted the myth that you cant be friends with your parents as we talk about everything and share every small thing with each other. It is truly a big blessing. My children have also taught me to take care of my physical as well as mental health. They have taught me that its important to take care of myself too."

And the one life lesson she has imparted to them? She says, "To treat everyone with respect and love, and to always be positive in life."

Veteran actor Himani Shivpuri who stars in teleplay 'Hamidabai Ki Kothi' lost her husband Gyan Shivpuri in 1995. She recalls, "The toughest challenge was to be a single parent of a young son. It was so hard to manage everything by myself. I used to feel so guilty that as a working mother, I couldnt spend enough time with my child. In my line of work, we dont have regular hours and I still remember there was a time when I was doing three shifts in one day and would come home at about 4 am in the morning. During that time, my son's exams were going on and even though I wanted to give him more time, I had too many responsibilities. But looking back, I think, I got through that time successfully even though the biggest misconception about motherhood is that a mother knows all the answers."

About her relationship with her son, Himani says, "Well, my son has taught me a lot. He has taught me how to make the right decisions in my career and to just 'chill out' and enjoy life because he has seen me working day in and day out. He has taught me patience, love, how to love life despite its challenges and so much more. My son is so generous and such a wonderful human being. He is always thinking about others but one life lesson I would like to pass on to him is to cultivate some humility, patience and to take life as it is."
Mumbai: Actor Shehnaaz Gill attended an event on Empowerment of Girl Child hosted by Brahmakumaris in Gurugram. The Bigg Boss 13 alum posted photos with Brahma Kumari Shivani on her Instagram account on Saturday from the same event. She called her soulsister in the caption. In the photo, Shehnaaz is dressed in an all-white Anarkali suit with a turquoise blue coloured dupatta.

Shehnaaz also spoke at the event. In a viral video, she can be seen addressing the audience and speaking about the importance of staying mentally strong. She asked her fans to believe in the ultimate power of God.

In another video, the actress shared how bad experiences teach you a lot in life. Thokar khaa kar hi akal aati hai, she said. In the same video, Shehnaaz responded to a fan who screamed I love you by I love you too.

Shehnaaz received immense love from her army of fans. Shehnaaz spoke so truthfully and without inhibitions. Every word, so relatable. Love her so much, one fan commented on the YouTube video of Brahmakumaris event. Her and late actor Sidharth Shuklas fans or SidNaaz fans also dropped messages for the actress.

Shehnaaz was introduced to Brahma Kumaris by Sidharth. Shehanaaz and Sidharth met on the sets of Bigg Boss 13 and were rumoured to be dating each other. The two would often be seen together in public until Sidharths tragic death last year due to a sudden cardiac arrest at the age of 40.

On the work front, Shehnaaz is rumoured to have bagged a role in Salman Khans upcoming film Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali.
New Delhi: Banks will be closed for a total of 11 days in the month of May 2022. In the coming week itself, there will be three days on which banks will remain closed in the country. So, if you are a bank customer and have important banking work lined up, you should check bank holiday dates before stepping out to visit your nearby branch.

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, public and private sector banks, foreign banks, cooperative banks, and regional banks will need to remain shut on the holiday dates. RBI categorises bank holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act, Holiday, Real Time Gross Settlement Holiday, and Banks Closing of Accounts.

However, bank customers should note that, usually, not all banks are closed in all parts of the country on all bank holidays, barring the weekend and national offs. But on days like Republic Day (January 26), Independence Day (August 15), Gandhi Jayanti (October 2), and Christmas Day (December 25), among others, banks are closed across the country. Holidays on which banks are closed in some parts of India while open in others are categorised under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Also Read: Google Assistant can now auto-update breached passwords

In May 2022, there are four holidays falling under the Act. On the other hand, the month will witness seven weekend leaves. While customers wont be able to visit the bank on holiday dates, they can use online banking services to complete their important work. Also Read: Garena Free Fire MAX redeem codes for today, May 8: Big rewards are up for grabs; check how to claim

List of bank holidays next week:

May 9, 2022 (Monday): Birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore [Holiday in West Bengal]

May 14, 2022: Saturday

May 15, 2022: Sunday

List of bank holidays in the remaining May 2022

May 15, 2022: Sunday

May 16, 2022 (Monday): Buddha Purnima [Banks will remain closed in Tripura, Belapur, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, Uttarakhand, Jammu, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, New Delhi Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Srinagar]

May 22, 2022: Sunday

May 28, 2022: Saturday

May 29, 2022: Sunday

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New Delhi: The American space agency, NASA not only gives its curious stargazers a chance to experience the incredible scenes of extraterrestrial cosmic phenomenons through visualisation but also lets them hear sounds of the outer space which are not audible to humans ordinarily.

Following the same course, NASA has brought us the sound produced by the black hole with the help of its Chandra Xray Observatory. NASA used the sonification technology and interpreted the astronomical data into the sound waves that are audible to the human ears. As expected the sound produced by the black hole is eerie and haunting.

The black hole whose data has been sonified is at the center of the Perseus galaxy cluster and according to NASA, it has been associated with sound, since 2003. ALSO WATCH: Solar eclipse on Mars- NASA's Perseverance captures amazing cosmic event

It is associated with sound because "astronomers discovered that pressure waves sent out by the black hole caused ripples in the cluster's hot gas that could be translated into a note  one that humans cannot hear some 57 octaves below middle C," said NASA.

If a black hole erupts in space and no one is around to observe it, does it make a sound? Not to worry; the @ChandraXray Observatory is here with new #BlackHoleWeek sonifications from galaxy clusters far, far away. Listen: https://t.co/yGu0RuP7TX pic.twitter.com/6rAgJafmAa  NASA (@NASA) May 5, 2022

Misconception: There's no sound in outer space

It is a popular misconception that there is no sound as most of the space is essentially a vacuum, providing no medium for sound waves to travel however a galaxy cluster has copious amounts of gas that envelop the hundreds or even thousands of galaxies within it, providing a medium for the sound waves to travel hence there's sound in space, just not audible to human ears.

ALSO WATCH: NASA breaks record after Hubble discovers farthest individual star ever

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New Delhi: Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has finally revealed the name of the school where he studied in Chennai. In an interaction at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, someone asked Pichai about the school he went to in his hometown. Responding to the question, he said that he completed his schooling at Vana Vani in Chennai.

Pichai also added that the school he was talking about is located inside the IIT Madras campus. He was shown a long list of schools named on his Wikipedia page. He responded by saying that only two of them are true.

With the rise and rise of Sundar Pichai, many Chennai schools have tried to associate his name with their school to attract more admissions. Even on his Wikipedia, there have been several tweaks to the school name in which he completed his schooling.

According to media reports, his Wikipedia page saw about 350 edits in the same week he was appointed as Google CEO in 2015. He was later also appointed as the CEO of Googles parent company Alphabet Inc. in 2019. He is among the top leaders in the tech industry and finds himself on the list of 100 most influential persons in the world.

During the interaction at Stanford Graduate School of Business, he also cleared the rumour that he was homeschooled. He cleared that the news about his untrue, hinting that many pieces of information about him on Wikipedia are fake.

Pichai had completed his B.Tech from the IIT-Kharagpur, MS from Stanford University, and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania. He was part of the team that launched the Chrome browser in 2008. Also Read: Mother's Day 2022: Google celebrates the spirit of Ma with a heartening doodle

Prior to that, Pichai worked on various search products, including Google Toolbar, Desktop Search, Gadgets, and Google Gears and Gadgets. Before joining Google, Pichai worked as an engineer at manufacturer Applied Materials, followed by a stint in management consulting at McKinsey & Company. Also Read: iPhone 13 price further drops on Amazon, Flipkart; best time to upgrade smartphone?

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New Delhi: India is celebrating Mothers Day 2022 on Sunday, (May 8, 2022), continuing with the tradition of commemorating the special day on the second Sunday of May every year. Google is celebrating the spirit of Ma today with a heartwarming doodle.

The Google Doodle for Mothers Day 2022 is a heartening GIF that showcases the special bond between the mother and her child. The doodle, which is in the GIF format, shows several instances wherein a mother teaches her child important life lessons such as education, saving water, and growing trees. The GIF also shows a tiny hand of a child in the mothers secure hand.

Google, which usually comes up with unique doodles to mark important days, has indeed done an impressive job on Mothers Day 2022. The creativity of the Google Doodle team is also receiving appreciation on the microblogging platform Twitter.

Mothers Day 2022

In India, Mothers Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May every year. However, that is not the case with every country. For instance, Mothers Day is commemorated on the fourth Sunday of March in the UK.

Also, in Greece, Mothers Day is celebrated on February 2. In the Hellenic Republic, the day is linked with the Eastern Orthodox commemoration of Jesus Christs presentation at a religious place.

History of Mothers Day

Observers are of the view that Mothers Day celebrations started in the US in 1907 when Anna Jarvis held a service of worship at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia in honour of mothers. Also Read: Bank Holidays in May: Banks to remain closed for 3 days next week; check important dates

According to Jarvis, she had expressed her wish to commemorate Mother's Day as a recognised holiday in 1905 when her mother Ann Reeves Jarvis passed away. The first recorded Mother's Day was celebrated in 1907. Also Read: Garena Free Fire MAX redeem codes for today, May 8: Big rewards are up for grabs; check how to claim

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New Delhi: Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp has alleged its top executives faced threats of "physical violence" and coercion during questioning by India`s financial crime fighting agency, according to a court filing seen by Reuters.

Officials from the Enforcement Directorate warned the company`s former India managing director, Manu Kumar Jain, current Chief Financial Officer Sameer B.S. Rao, and their families of "dire consequences" if they did not submit statements as desired by the agency, Xiaomi`s filing dated May 4 stated.

After the Reuters story was published, the Enforcement Directorate issued a statement saying Xiaomi`s allegations were "untrue and baseless" and company executives had deposed "voluntarily in the most conducive environment".

Xiaomi has been under investigation since February and last week the Indian agency seized $725 million in the company`s India bank accounts, saying it made illegal remittances abroad "in the guise of royalty" payments.

Xiaomi has denied any wrongdoing, saying its royalty payments were legitimate.

On Thursday, a judge heard Xiaomi lawyers and put on hold the Indian agency`s decision to freeze bank assets. The next hearing is set for May 12.

The company alleges intimidation by the enforcement agency when executives appeared for questioning multiple times in April.

Jain and Rao were on certain occasions "threatened ... with dire consequences including arrest, damage to the career prospects, criminal liability and physical violence if they did not give statements as per the dictates of" the agency, according to the filing in the High Court of southern Karnataka state.

The executives "were able to resist the pressure for some time, (but) they ultimately relented under such extreme and hostile abuse and pressure and involuntarily made some statements," it added.

In its media statement, the Enforcement Directorate said it is a "professional agency with strong work ethics and there was no coercion or threat to the officers of the company at any point of time".

Xiaomi declined to comment citing pending legal proceedings. Jain and Rao did not respond to Reuters queries.

Jain is now Xiaomi`s global vice president based in Dubai and is credited with Xiaomi`s rise in India, where its smartphones are hugely popular.

Xiaomi was the leading smartphone seller in 2021 with a 24% market share in India, according to Counterpoint Research. It also sells other tech gadgets including smart watches and televisions, and has 1,500 employees in the country.

FIGHT OVER REMITTANCES

Many Chinese companies have struggled to do business in India due to political tensions following a border clash in 2020. India has cited security concerns in banning more than 300 Chinese apps since then and also tightened norms for Chinese companies investing in India.

Tax inspectors raided Xiaomi`s India offices in December. On receiving information from tax authorities, the Enforcement Directorate - which probes issues such as foreign exchange law violations - started reviewing Xiaomi`s royalty payments, court documents show.

The agency last week said Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited (XTIPL) remitted foreign currency equivalent to 55.5 billion rupees ($725 million) to entities abroad even though Xiaomi had "not availed any service" from them.

"Such huge amounts in the name of royalties were remitted on the instructions of their Chinese parent group entities," the agency said.

Xiaomi`s court filing alleges that during the investigation, Indian agency officials "dictated and forced" Xiaomi India CFO Rao to include a sentence as part of his statement "under extreme duress" on April 26.

The line read: "I admit the royalty payments have been made by XTIPL as per the directions from certain persons in the Xiaomi group."

A day later, on April 27, Rao withdrew the statement saying it was "not voluntary and made under coercion", the filing shows.

The directorate issued an order to freeze assets in Xiaomi`s bank accounts two days later.

Xiaomi has said in a previous media statement it believes its royalty payments "are all legit and truthful" and the payments were made for "in-licensed technologies and IPs used in our Indian version products".

Its court filing stated Xiaomi is "aggrieved for being targeted since some of its affiliate entities are based out of China".

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#mute
A 72-year-old man from Bangkok in Thailand, who lived with his wife's dead body for 21 years, has finally cremated her. Since the death of his wife in 2001, the retired military officer named Charn Janwatchakal kept her body at their home.

Janwatchakal bid farewell to his partner after holding on to her remains for more than two decades and he called it a demonstration of endless love. He was seen crying and helping to carry the coffin outside his home.

In a video, he could be heard telling his wife- "Mum, you are just going for a brief business and youll be back home again. It wont be long, I promise.

As per a report on the Strait Times, Chanwatcharakarn was worried that he could die without holding a funeral for his wife and hence, he decided to cremate her with the help of a foundation.

According to the report, his wife passed away due to a brain aneurysm after experiencing high blood pressure. Her body was taken for conducting Buddhist rites, but he did not cremate her body and kept it in a coffin.

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Havana: Relatives of the missing in Cuba's capital desperately searched Saturday for victims of an explosion at one of Havana's most luxurious hotels that killed at least 27 people. They checked the morgue, hospitals and if unsuccessful, they returned to the partially collapsed Hotel Saratoga, where rescuers used dogs to hunt for survivors.

A natural gas leak was the apparent cause of Friday's blast at the 96-room hotel. The 19th-century structure in the Old Havana neighbourhood did not have any guests at the time because it was undergoing renovations ahead of a planned Tuesday reopening after being closed for two years during the pandemic.

On Saturday evening, Dr Julio Guerra Izquierdo, chief of hospital services at the Ministry of Health, raised the death toll to 27 with 81 people injured. The dead included four children and a pregnant woman. Spain's President Pedro Sanchez said via Twitter that a Spanish tourist was among the dead and that another Spaniard was seriously injured.

Cuban authorities confirmed the tourist's death and said her partner was injured. They were not staying at the hotel. Tourism Minister Dalila Gonzalez said a Cuban-American tourist was also injured.

Representatives of Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA, which owns the hotel, said during a news conference Saturday that 51 workers had been inside the hotel at the time, as well as two people working on renovations. Of those, 11 were killed, 13 remained missing and six were hospitalised.

Gonzalez said the cause of the blast was still under investigation, but a large crane hoisted a charred gas tanker from the hotel's rubble early Saturday.

Search and rescue teams worked through the night and into Saturday, using ladders to descend through the rubble and twisted metal into the hotel's basement as heavy machinery gingerly moved away piles of the building's facade to allow access. Above, chunks of drywall dangled from wires, desks sat seemingly undisturbed inches from the void where the front of the building cleaved away.

At least one survivor was found early Saturday in the shattered ruins, and rescuers using search dogs clambered over huge chunks of concrete looking for more. Relatives of missing people remained at the site while others gathered at hospitals where the injured were being treated.

A desperate Yatmara Cobas stood outside the perimeter waiting for word of her daughter, 27-year-old housekeeper Shaidis Cobas.

My daughter is in the Saratoga; she's been there since 8 am (Friday), and at this time I don't know anything about her, Cobas said. She's not at the morgue, she's not in the hospital. The mother said she had gone everywhere seeking answers from authorities, but coming up empty.

I'm tired of the lies, she said.

Gov Reinaldo Garcia Zapata said Saturday evening that 19 families have reported loved ones missing and that rescue efforts would continue.

Lt Col Enrique Pena briefed Comandante Ramiro Valdes, who fought alongside Fidel Castro, on the search efforts at the site. Peia said the presence of people had been detected on the first floor and in the basement and four teams of search dogs and handlers were working. He did not know if the victims were alive or dead.

I don't want to move from here, Cristina Avellar told The Associated Press near the hotel.

Avellar was waiting for news of Odalys Barrera, a 57-year-old cashier who has worked at the hotel for five years. She is the godmother of Barrera's daughters and considers her like a sister.

Neighbours were still in shock a day after the explosion.

I thought it was a bomb, said Guillermo Madan, a 73-year-old retiree, who lives just metres from the building, but was not injured. The three-decade resident of the neighbourhood was cooking and watching television when he heard the blast. My room moved from here to there. My neighbour's window broke, the plates, everything.

Katerine Marrero, 31, was shopping at the time. I left the store, I felt the explosion, she said. Everyone started to run.

Although no tourists were reported injured, the explosion is another blow to the country's crucial tourism industry.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic kept tourists away from Cuba, the country was struggling with tightened sanctions imposed by former US President Donald Trump and kept in place the Biden administration. Those limited visits by US tourists to the islands and restricted remittances from Cubans in the US to their families in Cuba.

Tourism had started to revive somewhat early this year, but the war in Ukraine deflated a boom of Russian visitors, who accounted for almost a third of the tourists arriving in Cuba last year.

A 300-student school next to the hotel was evacuated.

The emblematic hotel had a stunning view of Cuba's centre, including the domed Capitol building about 110 yards (100 m) away. The Capitol suffered broken glass and damaged masonry from the explosion.

The hotel was renovated in 2005 as part of the Cuban government's revival of Old Havana and is owned by the Cuban military's tourism business arm, Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA. The company said it was investigating the cause of the blast and did not respond to an email from the AP seeking more details about the hotel and the renovation it was undergoing.

In the past, the Hotel Saratoga has been used by visiting VIPs and political figures, including high-ranking US government delegations. Beyonce and Jay-Z stayed there in 2013.

Garcia Zapata said structures adjacent to the hotel were being evaluated, including two badly damaged apartment buildings. Diaz-Canel said families in affected buildings had been transferred to safer locations.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador arrived in Havana for a visit late Saturday. He was scheduled to meet with Diaz Canel Sunday morning and return to Mexico Sunday night.
Illustrative image (Source: VGP)

In 2020, Vietnam was in the 64th position out of 73 countries in the rankings.

The top 10 countries in the 2021 global rankings are the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, France, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

The US News ranking results are based on a global survey on criteria such as having a well-developed public education system and the ability to offer top-quality education.

Last month, seven Vietnamese universities were also listed in the Impact Rankings 2022 released by the Times Higher Education (THE).

In 2020, only two Vietnamese education institutions were on the list and the figure was double last year.

Of them, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU-Hanoi), Ton Duc Thang University and Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) are in the group of 601-800 while Phenikaa University is among 801-1,000.

The three new institutions that are on this years list are Duy Tan University and National Economics University (601-800) and FPT University (801-1,000)./.
John Lee has been elected as Hong Kongs Chief Executive after winning more than 99% of votes cast by a largely pro-Beijing election committee.

Lee, the sole candidate, received the votes of 1,416 members of a pro-Beijing election committee on Sunday morning, granting him the majority required to anoint him as Hong Kong`s next leader. Eight voted to not support him.

Lee was endorsed for the city`s top job on Sunday by a committee stacked with pro-Beijing loyalists, as the financial hub attempts to relaunch itself after several years of political upheaval.

Speaking afterwards, Lee said it was his historic mission to lead a new chapter for Hong Kong, while pledging to unite the city and preserve Hong Kong`s international status as an open, and more competitive financial hub bridging China and the world.

Few of the city`s 7.4 million people have any say in choosing their leader, despite China`s promises to one day grant full democracy to the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Security was tight around the venue, with police preventing a small group of protesters from approaching.

"We believe we represent many Hong Kong people in expressing opposition to this China-style, single-candidate election," said Chan Po-ying, a protester with the League of Social Democrats, holding up a banner demanding full democracy.

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New Delhi: Group of Seven (G7) leaders including US President Joe Biden will attend a virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday (May 8, 2022) in a show of unity the day before Russia marks its Victory Day holiday, the White House said.

"On Sunday morning, President Biden will participate in a G7 virtual Leaders meeting chaired by German Chancellor Scholz. The Leaders will be joined by President Zelenskyy of Ukraine," a National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson said.

The G7 leaders will discuss the latest developments in Russia`s special military operation in Ukraine. The talks will focus on efforts to bolster the Ukraine and ways to demonstrate "continued G7 unity in our collective response, including by imposing severe costs for Putins war."

The Group of Seven (G7) leaders includes the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy.

White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki highlighted that the timing of the session was significant because it will take place a day before Putin participates in Victory Day. The holiday on Monday marks the end of World War Two and includes military parades across Russia.

"While he expected to be marching through the streets of Kyiv, that certainly is not going to happen," she said.

The White House Press Secretary also said that US is considering imposing more sanctions on Russian oligarchs and companies as well as taking steps to avoid Russians previously sanctioned from evading them.

Meanwhile, ahead of the virtual meeting, the United Kingdom has announced an aid of $1.3 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. Putin's brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine  it is also threatening peace and security across Europe, Johnson was quoted as saying in reports.

On Wednesday, Biden said he planned to discuss potential additional measures against Moscow for its continuing and intensifying war in neighboring Ukraine, adding that the United States was always open to more sanctions.

"I`ll be speaking with the members of the G7 this week about what we`re going to do or not do," he told reporters this week, after the European Union proposed its toughest sanctions yet against Russia, including a phased oil embargo.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who will participate in the call, is also scheduled to give a televised address to the German people on Sunday.

(With agency inputs)
KYIV: Russia`s bombing of a school in the eastern Ukrainian village of Bilohorivka killed two people and left 60 in the debris feared dead, the governor of the Luhansk region said on Sunday.

Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces dropped a bomb on Saturday afternoon on the school where about 90 people were sheltering, causing a fire that engulfed the building.

"The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the rubble was cleared, and, unfortunately, the bodies of two people were found," Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

"Thirty people were evacuated from the rubble, seven of whom were injured. Sixty people were likely to have died under the rubble of buildings," he added.

Ukraine and the West have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians and war crimes, charges Moscow rejects.

Russia`s 10-week-old war on Ukraine has killed thousands, destroyed cities and driven 5 million Ukrainians to flee abroad.

The besieged port city of Mariupol, a strategic target for Russian forces, has been virtually destroyed, with the last 300 civilians trapped in the bombed-out Azovstal steelworks evacuated on Saturday. Evacuation efforts will now focus on getting the wounded and medics out of the steelworks.

Ukrainian fighters in the plant have vowed not to surrender and Russian forces are seeking to declare a victory in the prolonged battle for the vast plant in time for Monday`s Victory Day celebrations in Moscow, which commemorate the Soviet Union`s triumph over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

The Soviet-era Azovstal steel mill, the last holdout for Ukrainian forces in the key port city, has become a symbol of resistance to the Russian effort to capture swaths of eastern and southern Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders are to hold a video call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday in a show of unity ahead of Victory Day, in which President Vladimir Putin typically inspects a massive military parade in Moscow.

"Putin`s brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine  it is also threatening peace and security across Europe," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement on Saturday pledging more military aid.

Britain pledged to provide a further 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion), double its previous spending commitments and what it said was the country`s highest rate of spending on a conflict since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

PUTIN`S VICTORY DAY SPEECH

Putin`s Victory Day speech could offer clues on the future of the war he launched on February 24 with an unsuccessful assault on the capital, Kyiv. Russia`s efforts have been plagued by logistical and equipment problems and high casualties in the face of fierce resistance.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said Putin was convinced "doubling down" on the conflict would improve the outcome for Russia.

"He`s in a frame of mind in which he doesn`t believe he can afford to lose," Burns told a Financial Times event.

Other observers suggest Putin may declare mission accomplished. Ukraine`s defence intelligence agency has cited reports that Kremlin were in Mariupol preparing for a Victory Day parade in the devastated city.

The Kremlin did not respond to requests for comment on what Putin might say in the speech, to be delivered from the Red Square tribune in front of Vladimir Lenin`s Mausoleum.

Moscow calls the war a "special military operation" to disarm Ukraine and rid it of anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West. Ukraine and the West say Russia launched an unprovoked war.

SHELLING, TANKS

Mariupol, which lies between the Crimean Peninsula seized by Moscow in 2014 and parts of eastern Ukraine taken by Russia-backed separatists that year, is key to linking the two Russian-held territories and blocking Ukrainian exports.

Ukraine`s general staff said on Sunday that Ukrainian units near the Azovstal plant continued to be blockaded and Russia continued its assault using artillery and tanks in Mariupol.

Russia`s offensive in eastern Ukraine aims to establish full control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions - where pro-Russian separatists have declared breakaway republics - and maintain the land corridor between these territories and Crimea.

Ukraines forces in the two regions repulsed nine enemy attacks, destroying 19 tanks, 20 combat vehicles and one unit of enemy special engineering equipment, said the general staff on Sunday. Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.
Ihor Zhdanov, Information Defence Project , Open Policy Foundation

Information Defence of Ukraine provides a daily review of the military-political situation in Ukraine as of the past day of May 7th, based on an analysis of open sources.

PLEASE NOTE! The first review was published on February 26th. All experts of the Information Defence of Ukraine project work free of charge, on a volunteer basis. We need your help. Each of your charitable donations is important to us. Your help in UAH can be transferred to the Oschadbank card: 5304 0999 9952 1978, Beneficiary name: Ihor Zhdanov. Your help in US dollars can be transferred to the account: IBAN number: UA513226690000026207001378162; Name of bank: Acc. 04-095-334 PJSC State Savings Bank of Ukraine, Hospitalna str., 12 G, Kiyv, Ukraine; SWIFT: COSB UA UK KIE. Beneficiary name: Ihor Zhdanov (  ). For more information about our team, see the link in the end of this review.

1. The Armed Forces of Ukraine heroically restrain the enemy's attacks in the decisive battle for the Donbas.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the enemy does not stop conducting offensive operations in the Eastern Operational Zone in order to establish full control over the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk areas and the maintenance of the land corridor between these territories and the occupied Crimea.

In the Slobozhanskyi direction, the enemies focused their main efforts on preventing further advance of the Armed Forces in the direction of the state border of Ukraine. The occupiers strengthened the groups of troops of the 20th General Army and the 1st Panzer Army of the Western Military District of russia at the expense of reserve units.

As a result of the offensive attacks of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the enemy lost control over the settlement of Tsyrkuny. The enemy tried to launch an offensive attack in the direction of the settlement of Vernopil, was unsuccessful, sustained heavy losses and retreated.

According to the experts of the Information Defence project, the successful counter-attacks of the Armed Forces in the Slobozhanskyi direction create threats to the operational environment of the enemy group in the Iziumskyi and Barvenkovskyi operational districts.

In the Donetsk direction, the enemies concentrated their main efforts on taking full control of Rubizhne and preparing for attacks on the settlements of Lyman and Severodonetsk. Moreover, the enemy tried to take control of the settlement of Olexandrivka but was unsuccessful.

In the Mariupol direction, the enemy continues to block the units of the Defence Forces in the area of the Azovstal plant, conducting assault operations with the support of artillery and tank fire.

In the Zaporizhzhia areas, the enemy, with the support of aircraft, tried to conduct offensive operations in the direction of the settlement of Poltavka, sustained losses, retreated to the previously occupied positions.

Units of the Defence Forces in the area of the settlement of Polohy, in the Zaporizhzhia region, successfully provided fire damage on the enemy, destroying some of its weapons and military equipment. The enemy combatants left their positions.

The total combat losses of the enemy from February 24 to May 7 were: combatants - approximately 25,100 (+200) people were eliminated, tanks - 1122 (+12) units, armoured combat vehicles - 2713 (+27) units, artillery systems - 509 +7) units, MLRS - 172 (+1) units, air defence means - 84 (+1) units, aircraft - 199 (+0) units, helicopters - 155 (+0) units, motor vehicles and tank trucks - 1934 (+ 8) units, ships / boats - 11 (+0) units, UAVs of operational and tactical level - 341 (+17), special equipment - 38 (+0), cruise missiles - 90 (+0).

The greatest losses of the enemy yesterday were observed in the Slobozhanskyi operational direction. Thus, more than 100 wounded servicemen of the airborne troops of the russian federation were found in the settlement of Burchak .

The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine confirmed that a russian landing craft and two Thor anti-aircraft missile systems were hit in the area of the Zmiinyi Island with the help of the Bayraktar drone.

2. Information summaries, reviews and assessments of foreign, Ukrainian intelligence and think tanks.

According to the UK intelligence review , the war in Ukraine is causing serious damage to the most capable units and the most advanced capabilities of russia, it will be difficult to restore them due to sanctions.

The UK intelligence notes that at least one newest russian T-90M tank was destroyed in the battles. The T-90M was introduced in 2016 and has improved armour, an upgraded gun and improved satellite navigation systems.

About 100 T-90M tanks are currently in service with the best-equipped russian units, including those fighting in Ukraine. The upgraded armour of the system designed to counter anti-tank weapons remains vulnerable if it is not supported by other power elements, the review said.

The review informed that replacing upgraded and improved equipment would be particularly difficult due to sanctions that restrict russia's access to critical microelectronic components.

3. The possibility of russia's use of tactical nuclear weapons.

Financial The Times reports that Western officials have already questioned russia's readiness to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

According to them, russia has come to the conclusion that the use of any type of nuclear weapon will be too high a price for them due to the reaction of the West to this course of events. Instead, russia seeks to increase tensions to discourage the United States and Western nations from engaging and helping Ukraine even more.

Analysts at the Information Defence of Ukraine project, like their Western colleagues, believe that the risk of russia's use of tactical nuclear weapons has decreased significantly. Our conclusions are based on the following grounds.

First. The United States and the NATO allies have radically changed their policies toward the russian-Ukrainian war. If at the first stage the main task of our partners was to prevent defeat Ukraine, the United States has now set itself the task of helping our country defeat russia in this war: with massive supplies of modern offensive and heavy weapons, tough political support, and deepening and increasing the effectiveness of economic sanctions against russia.

The change in policy is due not only to the heroic actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but also to the fact that the US military and political leadership has made a fundamental decision - not to respond to russia's nuclear blackmail and convey to putin as clearly as possible that the response of the West will be crucial and adequate.

That is, if russia strikes a tactical weapon at a NATO country, it will retaliate with the same force. Thus, putin's doctrine of the de-escalation of ordinary military conflict through its escalation has collapsed.

The United States and NATO are ready for a violent conflict, even with the use of nuclear weapons.

Others. The rhetoric of official russian spokesmen, who are trying to appease their Western counterparts by promoting the thesis that russia did not intend to use nuclear weapons during a "special operation", that russia has a clear legal basis for decision-making on the application of a nuclear strike, etc., has been changed drastically.

Last but not least, the change in such belligerent nuclear rhetoric to a more peaceful one is due to clear personal signals to putin that the United States has some opportunities to pose a deadly threat to him personally.

Third. At the same time, the risks of using nuclear weapons in the russian-Ukrainian war remain.

There are no international guarantees in Ukraine in case tactical nuclear weapons are used on the territory of our state. This creates certain temptations for russia to prevent Ukraine's victory in any way, including not only blackmailing with a tactical nuclear strike, but also the actual use of weapons of mass destruction.

For example, such a development of events will be quite probable in the event of a decisive victory of the Ukrainian armed forces and an offensive attack to liberate the Crimea from the occupiers.

4. The russian occupiers are violating international humanitarian law and committing genocide against Ukrainians.

The russian occupiers kill and abduct civilians, hold them hostage and torture them. A representative of the occupiers, the so-called "deputy head of the military-civil administration of the region" Kirill Stremousov in a comment to the RIA Novosti has said that all residents of the Kherson region will have the right to obtain a russian citizenship.

The russian invaders are launching missile and bomb strikes on civilians, towns and villages. russian troops are shelling the entire Donetsk region, and civilians are urged to evacuate. Bakhmut suffered the most as russians fired there. One person was confirmed killed and there is a reason to believe that the total number of victims will be higher. In the city, 2 private houses were completely destroyed, 11 houses and premises of several enterprises were damaged.

This morning, May 7th, russian troops launched a missile strike on the Donetsk region, resulting in a fire in the building  1 in Kostiantynivskyi Professional Construction Lyceum in Kostiantynivka, in the Kramatorsk district. As a result of the analysis of the debris, 9 victims including two dead were found.

The enemy carried out a missile strike on Odesa, the details have not been cleared yet.

A spokesman for the State Border Guard Service, Andrii Demchenko, said in a comment to the UE that enemy aircraft had twice fired missiles and bombs into the Sumy region.

The shelling took place in the area of the Yunakivka border service department of the Sumy detachment. During one of the incidents, enemy planes fired not only on Ukrainian but also on the russian territory.

5. Evacuation of civilians, exchange of prisoners.

On Friday, May 6th, 50 women, children and the elderly were evacuated from Azovstal in Mariupol.

The Azov Regiment Command told Ukraiinska Pravda that three Ukrainian defenders were killed and six others were seriously injured in the evacuation of civilians from Azovstal on May 6th.

Kyiv veterans of World War II have called on russian president putin to allow Ukrainian soldiers and civilians stationed at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol to leave the encirclement.

6. Political and socio-economic situation in Ukraine, economic losses due to russian aggression.

Economic losses due to russian aggression. According to preliminary estimates, Kyiv's city budget will receive less than a third of its revenues due to russian aggression, i.e. more than UAH 20 billion.

In the capital shelling more than 200 homes were damaged. 46 schools , 30 kindergartens and more than 70 objects of city infrastructure were destroyed. The mayor Vitalii Klitschko wrote about this in the Telegram.

Restoration of infrastructure in deoccupied and war-affected areas. In the Kyiv region, gas supply has been restored to 119 settlements: 117 completely, 2 - partly, currently only some residential buildings remain without water. In the city of Irpin, gas supply was restored by 59%. Only the village of Pochepyn (15 facilities) in the Bucha district remains without gas supply.

Over the past day, emergency repair crews returned lighting to more than 5,000 families in more than 18 settlements of the liberated Kyiv and the Donetsk regions. The electricity supply in the Borodianka and Makariv communities has been completely restored.

On May 7th, the railway connection between Irpin and Kyiv was restored, and the first electric train from the capital has already arrived at the station.

7. International support and assistance to Ukraine.

Political support for Ukraine. The UN Security Council has expressed its deep concern for the maintenance of peace and security in Ukraine. The UN Security Council recalls that all countries have committed themselves to resolving their disputes by peaceful means. The UN Security Council supports the UN Secretary-General's efforts to find a peaceful solution to the problem.

The statements of the Security Council have been confirmed by consensus, i.e. the text was confirmed, including russia. The short text, adopted on Friday, was drafted by Norway and Mexico without the word "war".

The Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Andrii Melnyk was outraged by the ban on Ukrainian symbols at events on May 8-9 in Berlin. This was reported by RND.

"We are shocked that the Berlin police banned the carrying of flags associated with Ukraine on May 8th and 9th", Melnyk said.

For a limited time, however, the Berlin authorities allowed Ukrainian symbols during a commemorative event dedicated to the end of the World War II in Europe to be held by the Ukrainian embassy. Activist Oleksandr Snidalov, who will take part in the action on May 8th, told the European Truth about this.

According to Snidalov, the action will start on May 8th at the midday and will last about an hour, during which the use of Ukrainian symbols is allowed.

Military assistance to Ukraine. The US President Joe Biden will sign a new package of weapons for Ukraine worth at least $150 million in the coming days. The aid package includes: 25 thousand 155-mm artillery shells; 3 anti-artillery systems AN / TPQ-36; electronic equipment for suppression of interference; spare parts for equipment.

According to the Pentagon, the United States has provided Ukraine with about $4.5 billion in security assistance during Biden's presidency, including about $3.8 billion since russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24th.

Humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The US First Lady Jill Biden, accompanied by Romanian First Lady Carmen Iohannis, visited a school in Bucharest on Saturday morning to talk to Ukrainian and Romanian educators, as well as Ukrainian mothers and children.

The UK government has promised to send 287 mobile generators to Ukraine, in addition to 569 that have already been transferred. This was reported by Sky News.

The new generators, enough to power nearly 8,000 homes, will be used for hospitals, shelters and other necessary services amid ongoing destruction in eastern Ukraine.

8. Statements, provocations and fakes of the russian aggressors.

The press center of the Azov Regiment , which defends Mariupol from the russian occupiers, denied the fake about the alleged "capitulation" of the city's defenders with a white flag.

According to some Internet sources, the defenders of Mariupol joined the russian military with a white flag. In fact, white flags are used by both groups to implement the civilian evacuation plan. This procedure is being held for the fourth time.

russian propagandists claim that on May 9th, those servicemen of the occupying forces who took part in the occupation of Ukraine, including an airborne unit, will take part in the parade on the Red Square.

9. Political and socio-economic situation in russia, the impact of international sanctions on it.

New sanctions and restrictions against russia. The newly appointed Montenegrin government is preparing a package to implement all sanctions against russia, previously imposed by the European Union.

Chinese tech giants such as Lenovo and Xiaomi, to avoid falling under Western sanctions, publicly refuse to do business with russia. This was reported by Wall Street Journal with a reference to interlocutors in the market, in particular, the traders.

***

The Open Policy Foundation (hereinafter - the Foundation, http://openpolicy.org.ua ) is a well-known public organisation that conducts analytical research and information campaigns, in particular on Ukrainian and foreign policy, protection of the rights of young people from the temporarily occupied territories to receive higher education in Ukraine.

With the beginning of the russian aggression, the Foundation's experts, together with other leading Ukrainian analysts, have joined a team to implement the Information Defence of Ukraine project. Experts of the project prepare daily reviews of the military-political situation in Ukraine in Ukrainian, English, and Russian, the first review was released on February 26th, moderate the telegram channel Information Defence of Ukraine, https://t.me/info_defense_ua .

For three months now, we have been working on a volunteer basis, free of charge in the conditions of hostilities, sometimes under the sounds of air attack sirens.

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BEIRUT, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The second phase of Lebanese expatriates voting in parliamentary elections kicked off in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and 48 other countries on Sunday.

More than 25,000 Lebanese voters residing in the UAE are eligible to vote and long queues were reported outside polling stations, Lebanese news platform L'Orient Today reported.

According to the official Lebanese National News Agency (NNA), a total of 194,348 Lebanese expatriates have registered to cast their votes in the ballot boxes in Lebanese embassies and consulates in Canada, the United States, Australia, and other countries in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Lebanon's President Michel Aoun visited Sunday the Foreign Ministry to inspect its monitoring of the second phase of expat parliamentary elections that got underway in the morning, noting he hoped "the elections will end without any problems or objections."

The first phase of expatriates' voting took place on Friday in 10 countries, namely Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Iran.

The voter turnout in the 10 countries was 59.49 percent on Friday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib was quoted by the NNA as saying.

The Lebanese elections, which are slated for May 15 at home, come amid an unprecedented economic crisis that emerged about three years ago, leading to the currency collapse and plunging over 70 percent of the population into poverty.

Holding the elections is among the many requirements from the international organizations and donor countries for extending their support to the crisis-hit country.

Parliamentary elections are held in Lebanon every 4 years, and a total of 718 candidates, including 118 females, are running for the elections of the 128-seat Lebanese parliament scheduled for May 15. Editem
An initial probe by the Israeli Army showed that the Israeli forces have fired dozens of bullets during the raid in the West Bank that led to the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh (51) on Wednesday, Israeli newspaper HAARETZ reported.
Over 40 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians captured by Russia, among them 11 women and a cleric, have been freed in a new prisoner exchange, Kyiv said Friday.

"Another prisoner exchange has taken place: 41 people, including 11 women were brought home," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on Telegram.

Among those released were 28 soldiers and 13 civilians, one of whom was a member of the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

She did not say how many Russians were released in exchange.

A number of prisoner exchanges have taken place between Kyiv and Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, with the last swap taking place on April 30, in which 14 Ukrainians were freed, among them pregnant women.

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Ukraine's deputy prime minister says all women, children and elderly have been evacuated from a Mariupol steel mill long besieged by Russian forces.

Iryna Vereshchuk made the announcement on Saturday.

She said: ``The president's order has been carried out: all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal. This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed.''

She did not elaborate. The Russian news agency Tass had reported that 50 civilians were evacuated from the plant on Saturday. A similar number left on Friday.

The civilians had been holding up in the plant with Ukrainian fighters making a final stand to prevent a complete takeover of Mariupol.

Evacuating civilians from the steel mill had drawn the world's attention, with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross desperately trying to organize departures.

In recent days, fighters inside the plant had described bringing out small groups of civilians who had been hiding for weeks. But Russian fire had continued in the area, making the operation difficult.

It remains unclear what will happen to the Ukrainian fighters there, both those still in combat and hundreds who are believed to be wounded. In recent days, the Ukrainian government had been reaching out to a variety of international organizations to try and guarantee them safe passage.

The escape of the civilians puts new pressure on Ukraine to find a way out for the fighters, who had vowed not to surrender. Already, Russian forces had probed the plant and even reached into its warren of tunnels, according to Ukrainian officials.

Russia had been trying to clear the plant, the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance, before it marks Victory Day on Monday. That commemoration honors the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

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Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi mourned on Saturday an Army officer and ten soldiers who were killed foiling a terrorist attack on a checkpoint at a water lifting station in East Suez Canal area.

The loyal sons of the nation are still responding to its call with courage and sacrifice, continuing in a unique self-denial and a belief in protecting the nation that will not be shaken, El-Sisi said Saturday evening.

I assure you that those treacherous terrorist operations will not undermine the determination of the sons of this nation and its Armed Forces in uprooting terrorism completely, he added.

El-Sisi added that he offered his condolences to the Egyptian people, the Armed Forces, and the families of the victims while wishing a speedy recovery to the injured and praying to God to protect Egypt and its people.

The Egyptian Armed Forces announced the attack by takfiri terrorists on Saturday evening, adding that five more soldiers were injured in addition to those killed.

The remaining terrorists are currently being hunted down and are besieged in one of the isolated areas in Sinai, the statement added.

This is the first major attack of its kind in 2022. Terrorist attacks in the Sinai, especially in the north where they had been concentrated, have declined since 2013 following massive and successive security and Army operations.

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European diplomats were locked in difficult negotiations on the terms of the EU's sixth round of sanctions against Russia on Sunday, with several members seeking guarantees for their oil supplies.

The package suggested last week by the European Commission would have seen most EU members halting oil imports from Russia by the end of the year, to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine.

But several member states, most vocally Hungary, demanded exemptions from the ban and or support to help them escape their long-standing dependence on a single pipeline for Russian crude.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has declared the package as presented crossed a "red line" for Hungary, but diplomats in Brussels insist the technical negotiations are not blocked.

Ambassadors were to meet again on Sunday, but hopes that the package will be ready before Monday -- to send a signal to Moscow on Russia's Victory Day celebrations -- were fading.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that if there is no agreement over the weekend he will call a meeting of foreign ministers next week.

Any decision on sanctions would have to be approved unanimously by member state governments.

"There is no political blockage, but the need to guarantee alternative sources of supply to landlocked countries dependent on Russian oil by pipeline. And it is not easy," a European diplomat told AFP.

"These are new infrastructure and technological changes, which require not only European funding, but agreements between several member states. We are making progress, but that automatically takes time."

Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have been offered permission to continue importing Russian oil until the end of 2024, but they also want help securing new sources of oil and retooling their refineries.

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Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed on Sunday cooperation for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), said Egypt's Foreign Ministry.

According to the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shoukry discussed a number of issues with Petteri Taalas, secretary general of the organisation.

Chief among the issues was cooperation between the two parties during the upcoming COP27, which Egypt is set to host in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh in November.

The two officials discussed highlighting linkages between water and climate issues, in the context of the global momentum to address adaptation to climate change impacts, including water scarcity.

The WMO is a UN agency responsible for promoting international cooperation concerning the Earths atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces and the distribution of water resources.

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A NASA climate research scientist who has spent much of her career explaining how global food production must adapt to a changing climate was awarded the World Food Prize.

Cynthia Rosenzweig, an agronomist and climatologist, was awarded the $250,000 prize in recognition of her innovative modeling of the impact of climate change on food production. She is a senior research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and serves as adjunct senior research scientist at the Columbia Climate School at Columbia University, both based in New York .

Rosenzweig, whose win was announced during a ceremony at the State Department in Washington, said she hopes it will focus attention on the need to improve food and agricultural systems to lessen the effects of climate change.

We basically cannot solve climate change unless we address the issues of the greenhouse gas emissions from the food system, and we cannot provide food security for all unless we work really hard to develop resilient systems, she told The Associated Press during an interview ahead of the ceremony.

The Des Moines-based World Food Prize Foundation award recognized Rosenzweig as the founder of the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project. The organization draws scientists from around the world and from many disciplines to advance methods for improving predictions of the future performance of agricultural and food systems as the global climate changes.

The foundation credited her work with directly helping decision-makers in more than 90 countries establish plans to prepare for climate change.

In her work, Rosenzweig has studied how farmers can deal with climate change and how agriculture worsens the problem. For example, she contributed to a research paper published last month that said global agri-food systems create nearly one-third of the total global greenhouse gases emitted by human activity.

Rosenzweig said the world needs to reduce such emissions and adapt to the changing climate. She noted that greenhouse gases come from many parts of food production, including the release of carbon and carbon dioxide through the clearing of forests for farmland and the oxidization of carbon through the plowing of fields. The use of fertilizer also releases atmospheric nitrous oxide, farm equipment emits fossil fuels and cattle release methane.

Rosenzweig, who describes herself as a climate impact scientist, grew up in Scarsdale, New York, a suburban area that she said led her to seek out life in the country. She moved to Tuscany, Italy, with her husband-to-be in her 20s and developed a passion for agriculture. Upon returning to the United States, she focused her education on agronomy.

She worked as a graduate student at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in the early 1980s, when global climate models were beginning to show the effects of human generated carbon dioxide on the global climate. As the only team member studying agronomy, she researched the impact on food production and has been working since then to answer those questions, she said.

Rosenzweig's work led to the Environmental Protection Agencys first projections of the effect of climate change on the nations agricultural regions in the agency's assessment of the potential effects of climate change on the United States in 1988. She was the first to bring climate change to the attention of the American Society of Agronomy and she organized the first sessions on the issue in the 1980s.

She completed the first projections of how climate change will affect food production in North America in 1985 and globally in 1994, and she was one of the first scientists to document that climate change was already impacting food production and cultivation.

The research organization she founded, AgMIP, develops adaptation packages, which could include the use of more drought-tolerant seeds and improved water management practices. In Bangladesh the group is working with rice farmers to develop new practices for managing rice paddies to reduce the significant release of methane produced by the existing process.

She said even the largest agribusiness corporations have shown a willingness to listen. She said some models colleagues have developed show how businesses could be effected by climate change and how they too have a role to play in reversing impact on climate.

Its really a global partnership of all the global food system to come together to restrain climate change and maintain the food security for the planet, she said.

World Food Prize Foundation President Barbara Stinson, who announced the winner, credited Rosenzweig for innovations that helped countries respond to climate change.
Twenty Egyptian sailors, who were released earlier this month after being held by Yemens Houthis for about a month over charges of trespassing into Yemeni territorial waters, have arrived back home.

The sailors arrived in Suez City onboard their fishing boat, the Nour El-Behar, days after they were released due to intervention by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, according to local reports.

Arriving back home, the sailors thanked El-Sisi, adding that they fully trusted the governments ability to end their tragedy.

The families of the 20 sailors, who started their journey from the Egyptian Red Sea Port of Berenice on 18 March, lost touch with them in late March when they were arrested by Houthis.

The Houthis issued a ruling sentencing the sailors to six months, seizing their boat, and fining them $25,000, according to reports.

However, the ruling was canceled following the Egyptian governments intervention.

In February 2020, 32 Egyptian fishermen returned home after being detained by the Houthis for weeks, reportedly after having breached Yemeni territorial waters.

Early in 2021, Egypts emigration ministry urged fishermen to avoid other countries territorial waters after Tunisia seized a number of Egyptian fishing boats over illegal fishing.

The Egyptian government is working to ensure that the countrys fishermen do not enter the territorial waters of other countries out of a respect for international law and a keenness to protect their lives, the ministry added.

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Pakistan condemns the heinous terrorist attack in Sinai, which resulted in the death of 11 security personnel, an official statement read.

"The Government and people of Pakistan extend deepest condolences to the bereaved families; we pray for the early recovery of those injured in the attack," the statement read.

Pakistan also voiced condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

"We also reaffirm our solidarity with the brotherly people of Egypt," the statement added.

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Ambassador Moushira Khattab, the president of the National Council of Human Rights (NCHR), received on Sunday Jeremy Hopkins, the UNICEF Representative in Egypt, to discuss cooperation on implementing the country's recently launched human rights strategy, an official statement read.

During the meeting, Khattab and Hopkins agreed on the outlines of the mutual cooperation between UNICEF, the NCHR, and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) to implement the country's recently launched National Human Rights Strategy.

Khattab lauded the NCCMs expertise in a wide range of areas, including childrens helpline, children with disabilities helpline, and family consultations.

She added that the complaints mechanism in NCHR shall benefit from the NCCM's pioneering experience.

The two sides have agreed to use the NCCM experience to implement the national human rights strategy to protect children from school dropout and child labour, according to the statement.

Furthermore, the NCHR president highlighted that the legal framework for the protection of children in Egypt complies with the highest international human rights standards.

Khattab noted that the constitutional status of NCCM shall boost the ability of law enforcement to protect children from school dropout and the population explosion, which undermine the countrys development.

She also commended the cooperation with UNICEF in the implementation of the girls education initiative, as part of the platform to address all forms of violence against children, including marriage of minors and child labour.

She also added that the Egyptian experience in girls schools constitute a pioneering experience in the provision of high quality education that was documented by UNICEF and inspired many countries worldwide.

Egypt has been working closely with UNICEF to spread awareness about protecting childrens rights and has expressed keenness to enhance cooperation with UNICEF.

Last December, Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities lit up the Giza Plateau in blue for one hour to celebrate the 75th anniversary of UNICEF. The foreign ministry also lit up its headquarters with the word UNICEF75.

UNICEF celebrates its anniversary on 11 December every year.

In a speech during a ceremony in Cairo sponsored by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNICEF to mark the anniversary, Egypts FM Sameh Shoukry said the longstanding cooperation and partnership between Egypt and UNICEF is entering a new phase.

This cooperation comes amid ongoing efforts to complete the UNICEF Egypt Country Programme Document (CPD) 2023-2027 as a regulatory framework for all the funds activities in the country, he affirmed.

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Hong Kong: John Lee wins CE election

John Lee won the 2022 Chief Executive Election today with 1,416 valid "support" votes from Election Committee members.

Returning Officer Keith Yeung declared under Section 28 of the Chief Executive Election Ordinance that Mr Lee was elected as he obtained more than 750 valid "support" votes.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam extended her sincere congratulations to Mr Lee on his successful election.

In her statement, Mrs Lam said that she and the current-term Government will ensure a seamless transition with the Chief Executive-elect and render all the support needed for the assumption of office by the new term of government.

She will submit a report of the election result to the Central People's Government later today.

This story has been published on: 2022-05-08. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
ADDIS ABABA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on Saturday called for the provision of seeds and fertilizers to farmers in conflict-affected northern Ethiopia ahead of main rainy season.

"Seeds and fertilizers need to urgently be available for farmers across conflict-affected northern Ethiopia to support the Meher planting season (Ethiopia's main rainy season) which is just weeks away," UNOCHA said in its latest situation update.

It said the overall humanitarian situation in northern Ethiopia remains dire, as the UN continues to closely work with all stakeholders to scale up much needed assistance in Tigray, Afar, and Amhara regions.

"The food and nutritional security in conflict-affected communities across northern Ethiopia will be further impacted if seeds and fertilizers are not availed on time to farmers ahead of the harvest season," UNOCHA warned.

Ethiopia's main rainy season, which covers the period from June to September, contributes to the production of about 85 percent to 95 percent of the food crops of the country, according to government figures.

UNOCHA warned that failure to provide seeds and fertilizers would result in a third consecutive poor agricultural season in the conflict-affected areas.

"The implication of a third consecutive poor agricultural season will be devastating on the lives and livelihoods of the conflict-affected population," it said.

In the Tigray region, UNOCHA said, some 60,000 metric tons (MT) of fertilizer, 50,000 MT of improved crop seeds, 40,000 liters of pesticides and 34,000 liters of fungicides are needed. In addition, vaccines, drugs and equipment are also required for at least 12 million livestock.

In the Amhara region, 3.3 million farmers are in need of at least one type of agricultural intervention; out of these, 2.6 million farmers are targeted for multiple types of agricultural interventions.

The UN estimated that more than 9 million people now need food assistance in conflict-affected parts of northern Ethiopia.

Humanitarian aid is recently heading to the Tigray region, albeit insufficient according to the UN, after the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) agreed to a conditional cessation of hostilities and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid into the region.

The TPLF and the Ethiopian National Defense Force, backed by allied forces, have been engaged in an 18-month conflict that has reportedly left tens of thousands of people dead and millions of others in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

The Ethiopian parliament designated the TPLF as a terrorist organization in May 2021. 
The US condemns the terrorist attack that targeted members of the Egyptian military in Sinai on Saturday, said a statement by the Department of State.

The State Department also emphasised the long partnership between the US and Egypt in confronting terrorism, saying that for decades, the United States has been and remains Egypts strong partner in the region.

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that the US expresses its profound condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in this heinous attack."

The U.S. condemns todays terrorist attack in the Sinai targeting members of the Egyptian military. We remain Egypts strong partner in confronting terrorism in the region. We express our condolences to those who lost loved ones in this heinous attack. https://t.co/al4nRb5Qa5  Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) May 8, 2022

The Egyptian Armed Forces announced on Saturday the death of an officer and 10 soldiers and the injury of five others as the army thwarted an attack launched by a terrorists targeting a water lifting station east of Suez Canal in Sinai.

The Egyptian army said that the remaining terrorists are currently being hunted down and are besieged in an isolated area in Sinai.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the first major terror attack of its kind in recent years.

Terrorist attacks in North Sinai have declined in recent years following massive and successive security and military operations.

These attacks targeted security forces, particularly at military and police checkpoints, as well as civilians, causing hundreds of casualties.

Meanwhile, hundreds of terrorists were killed in anti-terror military operations, according to Armed Forces periodical reports.

In 2018, the Armed Forces launched a major counterterrorist drive, Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018, that has succeeded in near eradication of terrorism from North Sinai as well as the Nile Delta and desert areas.

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Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf condemned a terrorist attack targeting a water-lifting station in Sinai on Saturday that claimed the lives of an army officer and ten soldiers and left five others injured.

In a statement on Saturday, Al-Hajraf stressed the GCC member states solidarity with Egypt against terrorism and extremism, asserting his full rejection of terrorist attacks, which violate all religious and humanitarian principles.

He also extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the attack, the government, and people of Egypt and wished a speedy recovery for the injured.

The Egyptian Armed Forces announced on Saturday that it foiled an attack launched by a group of terrorists targeting a water-lifting station in the east of the Suez Canal in Sinai.

The Egyptian army said that the remaining terrorists are currently being hunted down and besieged in an isolated area in Sinai.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the first major attack of its kind in recent years.

Terrorist attacks in North Sinai have declined in recent years following massive and successive security and military operations.

These attacks targeted security forces, particularly at military and police checkpoints, as well as civilians, causing hundreds of casualties.

Meanwhile, hundreds of terrorists were killed in anti-terror military operations, according to Armed Forces periodical reports.

In 2018, the Armed Forces have launched a major counterterrorist drive, Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018, that has succeeded in near eradication of terrorism from North Sinai as well as the Nile Delta and desert areas.

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Turkey, UK, Italy condemned on Sunday the terrorist attack that targeted a water lifting station east of the Suez Canal in Sinai and resulted in the death of an officer and ten soldiers as well as the injury of five others according to the Egyptian army.

In a short statement issued by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey presented its condolences to the families of the victims, the Egyptian people, and government, as well as wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.

The UKs Minister of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs Lord Tariq Ahmed also stated on Sunday that he was appalled to learn about Saturdays attack.

The UK stands with Egypt in its fight against terrorism, he said, extending his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and the injured.

Italys Embassy in Cairo issued a statement strongly condemning the terrorist attack as well, conveying its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.

We strongly condemn yesterdays terrorist attack in the Suez Canal area. We convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and we wish a speedy recovery to the injured.  Italy in Egypt (@ItalyinEgypt) May 8, 2022

The Egyptian Armed Forces announced on Saturday that it foiled a terrorist attack against a water lifting station east of the Suez Canal in Sinai.

Terrorists that fled the scene of the attack are currently being hunted down and are besieged in one of the isolated areas in Sinai, the statement added.

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In a meeting with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) a day after the terrorist attack on a water-lifting plant in Sinai that left 11 army personnel dead, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi directed the army to continue purging North Sinai and the peninsula of terrorists and takfiris.

President El-Sisi, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, directed the Armed Forces to continue security operations in order to eliminate all forms of terrorism, according to a video published by the Egyptian presidency.

The SCAF meeting came one day after the Armed Forces announced the death of an officer and ten soldiers and the injury of five others as it foiled a terrorist attack on a water-lifting station east of the Suez Canal in Sinai.

In a statement on Saturday, the Armed Forces asserted that the terrorists that fled the scene of the attack are currently being hunted down and are besieged in an isolated area in Sinai.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the first major attack of its kind in recent years.

The SCAF meeting reviewed the fallout from the attack that targeted a number of Armed Forces personnel who were performing their patriotic duty.

The meeting also reviewed the measures taken to hunt down and eliminate the fugitive takfiri elements.

El-Sisi also praised the Armed Forces efforts to uproot terrorism in Sinai and dry up its sources in cooperation with the honourable people of Sinai, the video statement said.

The president also praised the Armed Forces efforts to implement various giant national projects in cooperation with all other state institutions.

El-Sisi affirmed to the SCAF the Egyptian peoples appreciation of the sacrifices made by army and police personnel to safeguard the nation's sanctities, the statement added.

The meeting also reviewed a number of files and issues related to the activities and duties of the Armed Forces as well as its efforts to protect the country's national security on all strategic fronts.

Saturday's terrorist attack is the first major attack of its kind in Sinai in recent years.

Terrorist attacks in North Sinai have declined in recent years following massive and successive security and military operations.

These attacks targeted security forces, particularly at military and police checkpoints, as well as civilians, causing hundreds of casualties.

Meanwhile, hundreds of of terrorists were killed in anti-terror military operations, according to periodical Armed Forces reports.

In 2018, the Armed Forces launched a major counter-terrorist drive, Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018, that has succeeded in almost eradicating terrorism from North Sinai as well as the Nile Delta and desert areas.

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Egyptian human rights organisations have welcomed the Egyptian authorities decision to release a number of activists and journalists while demanding an amendment to the pretrial detention law.

In a joint statement, the Egyptian Coalition for Human Rights and Development, the Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue, and the Arab Network for Digital Media and Human Rights praised the reactivation of the Presidential Pardon Committee and the start of a political dialogue between all parties,

Both decisions were announced by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi during the Egyptian Family Iftar banquet that gathered in late April Egyptian that was attended by a wide range of representatives of Egyptian society.

The pardon committee was first formed in October 2016 and facilitated the release of hundreds of prisoners via presidential pardons at the time.

The scope of the committee, which started work immediately upon reactivation, has been expanded to allow for cooperation with state institutions and NGOs and to cover male and female indebted prisoners.

During the banquet, El-Sisi assigned the National Youth Conference to conduct political dialogue with all parties and youth political powers on the current priorities of national action and to present its outcomes to him personally.

Following the event, the Egyptian authorities released a number of prisoners who received final court rulings in addition to pre-trail detainees. The lists included a number of activists and journalists.

The human rights organisations said the decision accompany the issuance of the National Strategy for Human Rights and the declaration of 2022 as the Year of Civil Society, in addition to ending the state of emergency, indicating the existence of a political will on the part of the Egyptian state to improve human rights conditions.

The organisations that signed the statement value the measures announced by the Presidential Pardon Committee after its reformation, which include launching an electronic form to record requests submitted to the committee through the National Youth Congress website.

The joint statement also called upon the Egyptian Parliament to amend the pretrial detention law with the aim of ending the crisis of long-term detention and to use alternatives to pretrial detention such as electronic bracelets and confining detainees to their residence or within a specific geographical scope.

The openness to dialogue between youths and political currents, and concern for the right to freedom of expression pushes human rights in Egypt to better horizons, stressed the joint statement.

It achieves for the Egyptian citizen the ability to enjoy the rights stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also achieves long-term political stability for the Egyptian state, noted the statement.

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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.

El-Gebaly said the bill on the Anti-Money Laundering Law (Law 80/2002) was referred to the Economic Affairs and the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committees to be discussed in hearing sessions.

The bill, which was approved by the Cabinet in a meeting on 20 April, aims to set up an independent anti-money laundering unit to be affiliated with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

The anti-money laundering unit, which will also help fight funding of terrorist operations, will be led by a council of trustees to be headed by a judicial official with at least 15 years of experience in cassation and appeal courts.

Members of the units council of trustees will include the prosecutor-general, the CBEs deputy governor, deputy chairperson of the General Financial Supervisory Authority, head of the Cabinets Council of Advisers, a representative from the Egyptian Federation of Banks, an economic expert, and the units executive director.

The bill also states that all financial institutions as well as leaders of non-financial professions and activities shall be obliged to implement all the instructions and orders that will be issued by the anti-money laundering unit in line with international conventions and agreements in this respect. Violators will be obliged to pay a fine ranging from EGP 100,000 to EGP 300,000.

El-Gebaly also revealed that a legislative amendment to the Budget Law was referred to the Houses Budget Committee to be discussed.

The amendment states that an additional allocation will be earmarked to the current FY 2021/22 budget. The speaker did not say how much the additional allocation will be or what it will fund, however, insider parliamentary sources say that it will cover the increase in the bill of imports caused by the war in Ukraine.

Furthermore, El-Gebaly indicated that a new bill aiming to regulate Haj (pilgrimage) in terms of setting up the Unified Egyptian Portal for Online Haj Visas was also submitted to the House.

He said that the bill  which was referred to the Houses Tourism and Civil Aviation Committee for discussion  states that an online portal to apply for visas will be made available for Egyptian citizens seeking to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform their pilgrimage.

All the information related to Egyptian pilgrims will be registered on this Unified Egyptian Portal for Pilgrimage ahead of their travel, said the bill, adding that each pilgrim will have a code number to be stamped on their passport.

The bill also states that at the start of every pilgrimage season, an official mission will be formed to follow and evaluate the performance of authorities in charge of organising pilgrimages and will then send their recommendations to the president.

Additionally, the House approved on Sunday a government-drafted law aiming to regulate the Cairo-based El-Zahraa Station for Raising Authentic Arab Horses.

Chairperson of the Houses Agriculture Committee Hesham El-Hosary said the bills philosophy is to recover Egypts pioneering role in the area of raising and breeding authentic Arab horses in order to create a tourist, economic, and cultural added value for the country in this respect.

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Syrian President Bashar Assad met with Iranian leaders in Tehran on Sunday, Iranian state-linked media reported, marking his second trip to major wartime ally Iran since Syria's civil war erupted in 2011.

Nour News, a website close to Iran's Supreme National Security Council, reported that Assad met Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi earlier in the day. It said the leaders praised the strong ties between their nations and vowed to boost relations further. Assad was reported to have left Tehran for Damascus later on Sunday.

``Everybody now looks at Syria as a power,'' Khamenei told Assad in the meeting, according to Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to the country's powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. ''The respect and credibility of Syria is now much more than before.``

Assad, for his part, said that strong relations between Iran and Syria served as a bulwark against Israel's influence in the Middle East.

``Strategic relations between Iran and Syria is caused by the lack of domination of the Zionist regime in the region,`` Assad was quoted as saying by Nour News.

Iranian media published photos of Assad shaking hands warmly with Khamenei and grinning beside Raisi.

Assad has rarely travelled abroad since his crackdown on Syria's civil unrest in 2011 led to a devastating civil war and made him a global pariah.

He has visited key patrons Russia and Iran, and made his first trip to the United Arab Emirates since the conflict earlier this year, the clearest signal yet that the Arab world is willing to re-engage with Syria's once widely shunned president.

The Tehran visit on Sunday marked Assad's first trip to the Iranian capital in over two years. The visit was not announced beforehand.

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Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian who tried to enter Israel through the Israel's barrier in the northern occupied West Bank on Sunday, the army said, as a hospital reported his death.

Soldiers "identified a (person) trying to cross the security barrier... near Tul Karem," a statement from the Israeli occupation army said. "The force shot at him in accordance with procedures. The suspect was taken for medical care."

A spokesman for the Sheba hospital in central Israel told AFP the Palestinian had died of his wounds, with the Palestinian health ministry identifying the deceased as Mahmud Eram.

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Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germany's surrender in 1945.

Cutting out Russian oil supplies ``will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putin's economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war,'' the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement.

``We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies,'' they added.

Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.

``We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community,'' they said.

U.S. President Joe Biden's call with the G7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.

The U.S. also announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. They include cutting off Western advertising from Russia's three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian, and piling additional restrictions on Russia's industrial sector, including cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

The White House announced the new sanctions ahead of the May 9 Victory Day, when Russia traditionally celebrates Nazi Germany's defeat in 1945 with huge military parades.

Putin is expected to talk about what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine and address troops on Red Square on Monday.

The U.S. and European allies were seeking to offer counter-messaging that Putin is further isolating Russia from the rest of the world and doing enormous harm to the Russian economy.

Ahead of the call, U.K. officials said Britain will provide an extra 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support to Ukraine to help the nation defend itself against Russian forces.

The funding, which comes from British government reserves, includes 300 million pounds of military kit promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this week, such as radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment and night vision devices.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Ukraine Sunday, touring the northern town of Irpin, which had been heavily damaged by Russia's attempt to take the capital of Kyiv at the start of the war. The mayor on Sunday posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeau's office later said ``the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canada's unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.''

Jill Biden also made an unannounced visit on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting in western Ukraine with first lady Olena Zelenska. Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old war with Russia.

``I wanted to come on Mother's Day,'' the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. ``I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.''

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a televised address that Sunday was ``a May 8th like no other.''

He said Germany has worked hard to own up to its actions during World War II, reconciling with both Russia and Ukraine and committing itself to the concept of ``never again.'' But Russia's ``barbaric'' invasion of Ukraine in February has brought war back to Europe, Scholz said, a prospect that once seemed unthinkable.

``Freedom and security will prevail -- just as freedom and security triumphed over lack of freedom, violence and dictatorship 77 years ago,`` Scholz said in his address.

German Bundestag President Barbel Bas, the second highest-ranking German official after the president, met Sunday with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and attended a memorial event honoring the anniversary of the end of World War II.

``We really appreciate that on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation itself, and in what for us is such a trying time of war, the President of the German Bundestag Barbel Bas came to support Ukraine,'' said a post published Sunday on Zelenskyy's Telegram channel.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal posted a photo of himself shaking hands with Bas on Twitter. He wrote that Ukraine is counting on Germany's support to recover Ukraine and join the European Union's 27 nations.

Croatia's prime minister was also in Ukraine on Sunday following reports that a Croatian citizen fighting in Mariupol was captured by Russian forces. The Croatian government said the visit by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic presented ``an expression of solidarity and support'' with the Ukrainian leadership and the people.

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RABAT, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Morocco foiled 63,121 illegal immigration attempts in 2021, the interior ministry said in a report published on Saturday.

In the first quarter of 2022, the North African country foiled 14,746 illegal immigration attempts, according to the ministry report published after Friday's meeting of the Moroccan-Spanish Permanent Joint Migration Group.

Morocco has become an important crossing point for migrants, mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa to Europe.

In 2021, Moroccan authorities bust 256 migrant trafficking networks, and 52 more in the first quarter of 2022, the report said.

About 3,500 people chose to return voluntarily from Morocco to their country of origin in 2021, and 1,080 in the first quarter of 2022, it added.

A total of 14,236 migrants were saved at sea in 2021, according to the report.

The Moroccan-Spanish Permanent Joint Migration Group met on Friday for the first time since 2019, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and their diplomatic crisis over Madrid's changed policy on Western Sahara question that lasted a year and ended only a month ago. 
Egypts net international reserves (NIRs) rose slightly in April to $37.1 billion, up from $37 billion posted in March, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced on Sunday.

As a result of ongoing challenges, particularly the war in Ukraine as well as rising food and energy prices, CBEs NIRs in March dropped for the first time since May 2020 by about $4 billion, down from $40.9 billion recorded in February  prior to the war breaking out.

In April, Fitch Ratings affirmed Egypts long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) at B+ with a stable outlook, which reflects the countrys liability to fulfill its international financial obligations.

Fitch attributed such a drop to portfolio outflows and CBE interventions to smooth exchange-rate volatility through devaluing the Egyptian pound by 14 percent on the heel of the Russian war in Ukraine.

Moreover, foreign holdings of local-currency government debt fell to $17.5 billion by mid March, a decline of $11 billion from the end of 2021 and $16 million from their all-time high recorded in September 2021, according to Fitch.

In addition, Standard and Poors (S&P) maintained Egypts long and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings at B/B.

However, S&P warned that it could downgrade Egypts credit ratings over the next 12 months in case the rising commodity prices has negative prolonged effects on the countrys external position, which could cause a decline in foreign exchange reserves and a reduction in its ability to service debt and interest payments.

During February and March, Egypt received around $20 billion in deposits from UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Moreover, the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), known as the Abu Dhabi wealth fund, completed in April acquisition deals for five companies in Egypt, including private sector and state-owned firms, with a total value of $1.8 billion.

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Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

G7 to meet on Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to hold talks with G7 leaders via video conference to discuss the situation in his country.

Further sanctions or at least a tightening of the huge array of economic punishments already inflicted on Russia are expected to be discussed.

Last civilians rescued from Azovstal

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says "all women, children and the elderly" have been evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the destroyed port city of Mariupol.

Kyiv urges aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to evacuate its soldiers from the steel plant, adding those wounded are "dying because of gangrene and sepsis" without medicine.

Victory Day rehearsal

Russia holds its final rehearsal for an annual parade marking the Soviet victory in World War II, where its military might will be showcased amid Moscow's ongoing campaign in Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin is expected to deliver a speech during the parade, which some Western officials believe could be a declaration of all-out war on Ukraine, speculation the Kremlin has dismissed as "nonsense".

Ukraine says sinks Russian landing craft

Ukraine's defence ministry says it has destroyed a Russian landing craft near the Black Sea's Snake Island, posting overhead footage on social media of what appears to be an explosion over a light craft. Russia has not yet confirmed the strike.

Snake Island became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance after its soldiers colourfully rebuffed a demand by the Russian warship Moskva to surrender.

Staggering Russian violations

The Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, calls Russian violations of human rights in Ukraine "staggering" after a four-day visit to the country.

The visit to areas outside Kyiv illustrated "mounting evidence of widespread arbitrary killings, torture, and enforced disappearances," the council says in a statement.

Italy impounds Putin-linked yacht

Italy has impounded a $700 million, 140-metre mega yacht as speculation swirls it could belong to Putin.

An Italian investigation has helped establish "significant economic and business links" between the official owner of "Scheherazade", and "eminent people in the Russian government", as well as Russians on the West's sanctions list, the economy ministry says.

Eastern city surrounded

Russian forces have almost encircled Severodonetsk, the easternmost city still held by Ukraine where about 15,000 people remain, a local official says.

Jill Biden visits refugees

US First Lady Jill Biden visits refugees from Ukraine in Romania, where women and children tell her their stories.

"We stand with you, I hope you know that," she tells them during a visit to a school in Bucharest, where she is accompanied by her Romanian counterpart Carmen Iohannis.

New US weapons

US President Joe Biden announces a new $150 million weapons package to Ukraine, including artillery munitions and radar, while urging Congress to pass a $33 billion aid package including $20 billion in military aid.

The new batch brings the total value of US weaponry sent by the Biden administration to Ukraine to $3.8 billion since Russia invaded on February 24, says Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

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U.S. first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mother's Day meeting with the nation's first lady, Olena Zelenskyy, as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.

``I wanted to come on Mother's Day,'' Biden told Zelenskyy. ``I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.''

The first lady traveled by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian village that borders Ukraine.

The two came together in a small classroom, sitting across a table from one another and talking before reporters before they met in private. Zelenskyy and her children have been at an undisclosed location for their safety.

Zelenskyy thanked Biden for her ``courageous act'' and said, ``We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day -- even today.''

The school where they met has been turned into transitional housing for Ukrainian migrants from elsewhere in the country.

The visit allowed Biden to conduct the kind of personal diplomacy that her husband would like to be doing himself.

President Joe Biden said during his visit to Poland in March that he was disappointed he could not visit Ukraine to see conditions ``firsthand'' but that he was not allowed, likely due to security reasons. The White House said as recently as last week that the president ``would love to visit'' but there were no plans for him to do so at this time.

The meeting came about after the two first ladies exchanged correspondence in recent weeks, according to U.S. officials who declined to provide further details because they were not authorized to discuss the ladies' private communications.

As she arrived at the school, Biden, who was wearing a Mother's Day corsage that was a gift from her husband, embraced Zelenskyy and presented her with a bouquet.

After their private meeting, the two joined a group of children who live at the school in making tissue-paper bears to give as Mother's Day gifts.

Jill Biden's visit follows recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, as well as a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Her visit was limited to western Ukraine; Russia is concentrating its military power in eastern Ukraine, and she was not in harm's way.

Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, she toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and other relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel, where a priest intoned, ``We pray for the people of Ukraine.''

Before that, in Kosice, Biden met and offered support to Ukrainian mothers in Slovakia who have been displaced by Russia's war and assuring them that the ``hearts of the American people'' are behind them.

At a bus station in the city that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center, Biden found herself in an extended conversation with a Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children because she cannot understand it herself.

``I cannot explain because I don't know myself and I'm a teacher,'' Victorie Kutocha, who had her arms around her 7-year-old daughter, Yulie, told Biden.

At one point, Kutocha asked, ``Why?'' seeming to seek an explanation for Russia's decision to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.

'It's so hard to understand,'' the first lady replied.

The 24-hour facility is one of six refugee centers in Slovakia, providing an average of 300 to 350 people daily with food, showers, clothing, emergency on-site accommodations and other services, according to information provided by the White House.

Biden also dropped in at a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students.

Slovakian and Ukrainian moms were brought together at the school for a Mother's Day event while their children made crafts to give them as gifts.

Biden went from table to table meeting the mothers and kids. She told some of the women that she wanted to come and '' say the hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine.''

``I just wanted to come and show you our support,'' she said before departing for Vysne Nemecke.

In recent weeks border crossings are averaging less than 2,000 per day, down from over 10,000 per day immediately after Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, and a large portion of that flow is daily cross border traffic.

Biden is on a four-day visit to Eastern Europe to highlight U.S. support for Ukrainian refugees and for the allied countries such as Romania and Slovakia that are providing a safe haven for them.

She spent Friday and Saturday in Romania, visiting with U.S. troops and meeting with Ukrainian refugee mothers and children.

With her trip, the American first lady followed the path of prior sitting first ladies who also traveled to war or conflict zones.

Eleanor Roosevelt visited servicemen abroad during World War II to help boost troop morale. Pat Nixon joined President Richard Nixon on his 1969 trip to South Vietnam, becoming the first first lady to visit a combat zone, according to the National First Ladies' Library. She flew 18 miles from Saigon in an open helicopter, accompanied by U.S. Secret Service agents.

Hillary Clinton visited a combat zone, stopping in Bosnia in 1996. Four years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, Laura Bush went to Kabul in 2005 and Melania Trump accompanied President Donald Trump to Iraq in December 2018.

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Researchers trying to learn what killed the first person to receive a pig heart transplant have found the organ harbored an animal virus.

Researchers trying to learn what killed the first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig have discovered the organ harbored an animal virus but cannot yet say if it played any role in the mans death.

A Maryland man, 57-year-old David Bennett Sr., died in March, two months after the groundbreaking experimental transplant. University of Maryland doctors said Thursday they found an unwelcome surprise  viral DNA inside the pig heart. They did not find signs that this bug, called porcine cytomegalovirus, was causing an active infection.

But a major worry about animal-to-human transplants is the risk that it could introduce new kinds of infections to people.

Because some viruses are latent, meaning they lurk without causing disease, it could be a hitchhiker, Dr. Bartley Griffith, the surgeon who performed Bennetts transplant, told The Associated Press.

Still, development is under way of more sophisticated tests to make sure that we dont miss these kinds of viruses, added Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, scientific director of the universitys xenotransplant program.

The animal virus was first reported by MIT Technology Review, citing a scientific presentation Griffith gave to the American Society of Transplantation last month.

For decades, doctors have tried using animal organs to save human lives without success. Bennett, who was dying and ineligible for a human heart transplant, underwent the last-ditch operation using a heart from a pig genetically modified to lower the risk that his immune system would rapidly reject such a foreign organ.

The Maryland team said the donor pig was healthy, had passed testing required by the Food and Drug Administration to check for infections, and was raised in a facility designed to prevent animals from spreading infections. Revivicor, the company that provided the animal, declined to comment.

Griffith said his patient, while very ill, had been recovering fairly well from the transplant when one morning he woke up worse, with symptoms similar to an infection. Doctors ran numerous tests to try to understand the cause, and gave Bennett a variety of antibiotics, antiviral medication and an immune-boosting treatment. But the pig heart became swollen, filled with fluid and eventually quit functioning.

What was the virus doing, if anything, that might have caused the swelling in his heart? Griffith asked. Honestly we dont know."

The reaction also didn't appear to be a typical organ rejection, he said, noting the investigation still is underway.

Meanwhile doctors at other medical centers around the country have been experimenting with animal organs in donated human bodies and are anxious to attempt formal studies in living patients soon. Its not clear how the pig virus will affect those plans.

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The head of the Journalists Syndicate Diaa Rashwan on Sunday called on Sunday on all journalists and media workers to confront takfiri and extremist ideologies that lead to terrorism and violence.

In a statement a day after the terrorist attack on a water-lifting station east of the Suez Canal in Sinai that left 11 army personell dead and five other injured, Rashwan stressed: "It is imperative for all of us to continue our confrontation not only against criminal and terrorist operations, but against each and every takfiri and extremist thought that leads to [terrorism] as well."

This confrontation will rely on journalistic and media tools such as pens and cameras, targeting raising the public awareness, in general, and youth awareness, in particular, to reveal the truth of takfiri and extremist ideologies and the terrorist groups and organisations, he added.

Rashwan, who also chairs the State Information Service (SIS), called for raising awareness about the pioneering experience of the Egyptian government confronting the challenges that beset it.

Rashwan urged Egyptian journalists and media professionals to continue sticking to the national work agenda, which stipulates continued efforts, participation, and dialogue among all Egyptians.

The syndicates chief also called on journalists to not allow desperate attempts of the forces of evil, extremism and terrorism to distract them from the [national work agenda].

In a statement on Saturday, the Journalists Syndicate condemned the terrorist attack, reiterating its support for the government to uproot terrorism and hailing the Armed Forces' sacrifices against terrorism.

Saturday's terrorist attack in Sinai resulted in the death of an officer and ten soldiers as well as the injury of five others, according to the Armed Forces.

The Armed Forces asserted that the terrorists that fled the scene of the attack are currently being hunted down and are besieged in an isolated area in Sinai.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the first major terror attack of its kind in recent years.

Terrorist attacks in North Sinai have declined in recent years following massive and successive security and military operations.

These attacks targeted security forces, particularly at military and police checkpoints, as well as civilians, causing hundreds of casualties.

Meanwhile, hundreds of terrorists were killed in anti-terror military operations, according to Armed Forces periodical reports.

In 2018, the Armed Forces launched a major counterterrorist drive, Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018, that has succeeded in near eradication of terrorism from North Sinai as well as the Nile Delta and desert areas.

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On the 9th of May we mark Europe Day! This year we have dedicated the whole month of May to The European Union in Egypt with a series of activities organised by the EU Delegation and our Member States - in Cairo, Alexandria, and online like our video campaign [email protected].

What does Europe Day tell us? It reminds us of the visionary ideas of European leaders like Robert Schuman to create an ever-deepening Union of sovereign European States to end a millennium of war and bloodshed among the European peoples. This plan, presented in a declaration on 9 May 1950, one day and five years after the end of a world war that had brought suffering and destruction on an unrivalled scale to Europe and far beyond, gave birth to an extraordinary peace project. For this achievement, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012.

To our shock and dismay, on 24 February this year all-out war returned to Europe. Our neighbour, Ukraine, a sovereign and independent State has found itself subjected to a brutal and unprovoked aggression. Millions of innocent civilians have been forced to flee their country, many killed, maimed, raped or orphaned. The Russian war is causing unspeakable pain and destruction. It is gravely impacting a global economy still reeling from the pandemic. The EU and its Member States stand with Ukraine.

And we stand with our partners that are affected by this war. The European Union is making available to countries in the region, particularly those hit by the disruption of grain deliveries, financial support under a dedicated Food and Resilience Facility. In the case of Egypt it is 100 million. This comes just after our support to confront Covid-19, with deliveries from the EU of millions of doses of vaccine to Egypt thus far. Our cooperation with a current active portfolio of well over 1 billion of grants, loans, and investments in Egypt covers every walk of life and hopes to benefit people all over the country in line with Egypts Vision 2030.

2022 is a special year. Five decades ago saw the beginning of a close cooperation between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean, 45 years ago our partnership with Egypt. Together we have created profound ties in trade, investment, tourism and people-to-people contacts. We are strategic partners and 2022 will see more high-level visits, and the new Partnership Priorities to guide us in our cooperation.

2022 is the Year of Youth in Europe and of Civil Society in Egypt; in 2022, Egypt will host COP27, a major international conference dealing with the climate crisis. Youth and Climate will thus be prominent during our EU month. The proud history of Egypt dates back thousands of years, but its population is young. The youth of our countries remind us each day that time is running out to save our planet. As Team Europe, EU Member States, EU Institutions and Banks, we are United for Climate. We are committed to work with the government and the people of Egypt for a safe and peaceful planet, on Europe Day, and every other day.

**The writer is the EU Ambassador to Egypt

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KYODO NEWS - May 8, 2022 - 14:12 | All, Japan

The Japanese government will promote inbound tourism to a major cultural complex in Hokkaido dedicated to the indigenous Ainu people, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Sunday.

Matsuno, who also heads the government's Ainu policy promotion headquarters, visited the Upopoy complex in the town of Shiraoi on the northern main island, his first trip since assuming the post of top government spokesman in October. He also held talks with Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki and local people preserving Ainu culture.

Upopoy, situated on a site of approximately 100,000 square meters adjacent to Lake Poroto, comprises the National Ainu Museum, the National Ainu Park and a memorial site, among other facilities. Upopoy means "singing in a large group" in the Ainu language.

During a meeting with Suzuki, Matsuno stressed the government's stance of supporting the Ainu people in maintaining their culture, and called Upopoy, which opened in 2020, "a symbol" of their culture.

The ethnic group has lived for centuries in areas that became northern Japan, notably Hokkaido, as well as on neighboring Sakhalin, now part of Russia.

Beginning with the government's assimilationist policy in the Meiji Era (1868-1912), the ethnic minority suffered discrimination and land dispossession, spilling over into ongoing income and educational disparities.

The Ainu also struggled to maintain their culture due to Japan's assimilationist efforts that prohibited them from speaking their native language.

The Japanese government only recognized the group as an "indigenous people that have their own language, religious and cultural identity" in 2008.

The park in Upopoy has a hall for Ainu dance and musical performances, workshops for Ainu cuisine and instruments, a studio for craft demonstrations and a traditional Ainu village.

The memorial site has buildings for the performance of memorial services and keeping the remains of displaced Ainu people, along with a monument. In the past, Ainu remains and related burial items were excavated, collected and stored at universities all over Japan.
KYODO NEWS - May 8, 2022 - 14:30 | World, All

North Korean media made no mention Sunday of a suspected firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile the previous day, amid growing speculation that the country may carry out a nuclear test in the near future.

Pyongyang has also not commented about a weapon test since South Korea and Japan said the nuclear-armed nation fired a ballistic missile on Wednesday. North Korea's state-run media usually reports on weapons tests the day after they are carried out.

North Korea is likely to launch more ballistic missiles and could conduct its seventh nuclear test as South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol takes office on Tuesday, foreign affairs experts said.

Pyongyang, which has urged the United States to drop its "hostile policy," also might step up military provocations on the occasion of U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to South Korea and Japan for five days from May 20, they added.

South Korea and Japan said the North fired a ballistic missile on Saturday that was likely launched from a submarine into the sea off its eastern coast.

The missile is believed to have flown around 600 kilometers and up to an altitude of about 50 km before landing outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. The Japanese government has received no reports of damage, according to its officials.

Last Wednesday, Tokyo said Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile eastward into the Sea of Japan. The missile is estimated to have traveled to an altitude of around 800 km and covered a distance of about 500 km.

Since January, North Korea has tested a barrage of missiles in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions imposing economic sanctions on the country.

On March 24, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that the Japanese government assessed to be a new type, marking an end to its self-imposed moratorium on ICBM firings dating back to April 2018.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported that the missile was the Hwasong-17, which could be capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to anywhere in the continental United States.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has recently reiterated his intention to "pre-emptively" use the nation's nuclear weapons if the country is threatened by what it regards as "hostile forces."

Related coverage:

North Korea fires apparent submarine-launched ballistic missile

North Korea could be ready to conduct nuclear test this month: U.S.
KYODO NEWS - May 8, 2022 - 10:50 | All, Japan

Okinawa Prefecture has called on the central government to scrap a plan to relocate a U.S. air base within the southern Japanese prefecture in its new proposals for creating a "peaceful and prosperous" future released Saturday ahead of the 50th anniversary of its reversion to Japan later this month.

The proposals also request a drastic review of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, as Okinawa hosts the bulk of U.S. military installations in Japan, and a spate of crimes and accidents involving U.S. soldiers and base personnel have angered residents. They view the agreement as overly protective of U.S. service members and civilian base workers if they are implicated in crimes.

The Japanese government plans to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a crowded residential area of Ginowan to the less populated coastal zone of Henoko, both in Okinawa, as agreed on with the U.S. government in 1996.

Japan's security policy relies "too heavily" on Okinawa, Gov. Denny Tamaki said at a press conference on the proposals on "realizing a peaceful and prosperous Okinawa" prior to the anniversary on May 15.

The new documents say the prefecture hosts 70.3 percent of the land occupied by U.S. military bases in Japan, up from 58.8 percent in 1972 when it was returned to Japan from U.S. control, and that the burdening in hosting the U.S. military facilities should be reduced.

As the proposals released in 1971 called for creating a peaceful island without military bases, "I want to abide by the principle that residents hoped for 50 years ago," Tamaki said.

In the prefecture's first referendum conducted in 2019 on the plan to move the Futenma base, more than 70 percent of voters rejected the plan.

But the Japanese government maintains its view that the relocation is "the only solution" for removing the dangers posed by the Futenma base without undermining the deterrence provided by the Japan-U.S. security alliance.

Given Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's military buildup partly amid growing tensions over Taiwan, Okinawa should never become an attack target just because military bases are concentrated in the prefecture, about 600 kilometers west of Taiwan's capital Taipei, the prefectural government says in the new proposals.

Tamaki said he is seeking to present the documents to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the chiefs of both houses of parliament and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel as early as Tuesday.

Related coverage:

Nearly 80% of Japanese think Okinawa's base-hosting burden unfair

55% of Okinawans unhappy with 50 yrs since reversion to Japan: poll
KYODO NEWS - May 9, 2022 - 07:20 | All, World

Slovakia will keep providing military support to Ukraine in its fight against Russia out of shared values of democracy and freedom, according to the NATO member's Prime Minister Eduard Heger.

Speaking in an interview Friday in Bratislava, Heger said Slovakia would "swiftly respond" to Ukrainian requests for MiG-29 fighter aircraft and that the two governments are in the final stage of talks to deliver howitzer artillery guns to the war-torn country.

Heger condemned Russia's aggression in Ukraine, saying, "The whole world changed" from a "brutal war" and that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's eastern flank has "immediately become an important symbol of this new era."

Slovakia has provided Ukraine with its S-300 anti-air defense system and copious ammunition while also helping to repair its Eastern European neighbor's heavy vehicles, according to Heger.

Bratislava is helping Kyiv because "they are really a democratic country, and they are trying to defend the values we live as well," he said. "They are fighting also for our freedom, for our values."

In exchange for handing over its S-300 system, Slovakia received four batteries of Patriot missile systems from the United States, Germany and the Netherlands.

"With this brutal war and seeing what Russia is capable to do, we understand that we have to protect the whole territory," Heger said. "One thing is to have a strong eastern flank so that in case of an attack, we are able to bounce it off."

The prime minister expressed determination to reduce Slovakia's dependence on Russian oil and gas, saying Europe is under a "hybrid economic war of Russia toward the EU."

Citing Russia's threat to cut off energy supplies to European countries, he said, "(President Vladimir) Putin wants to divide our unity. And it is very important that we stay united in every subject of the relationship towards Russia."

"We want to find, as quick as possible, alternatives for the Russian gas and oil," he said.

Touching on Slovakia's deepening ties with Taiwan, Heger said his country employs a one-China policy but has a "very pragmatic relationship" with Taipei, especially in the economic realm.

He said Taiwan's investments in Slovakia are four times larger than China's, and Taiwan's investments have a higher-added value.

Heger voiced an eagerness to strengthen political ties with Taiwan, as well.

Taiwan is a democracy under democratic principles, he said. "On those values, we would like to have the relationship with them."
SEOUL, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Japan's plan to dump radioactive waste water from its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean will endanger marine products and contaminate the ocean further, a South Korean green activist has said.

"Eleven years has passed since the Fukushima power plant accident occurred, but its radioactive contamination has not been mitigated much," Ahn Jae-hun, energy and climate change director at the Korea Federation for Environment Movement, a green advocacy group in Seoul, told Xinhua recently.

The group's analysis of the 2021 data from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare showed that cesium was detected from 8 percent of Japanese fishery products.

"If radioactive waste water is discharged into the ocean, it will endanger marine products and deepen marine contamination further. The contaminated water will inevitably spread into the Pacific Ocean, polluting oceans in neighboring countries (of Japan)," said Ahn.

The Japanese government planned to release about 1.25 million tons of nuclear waste water into the ocean spanning 30 years from 2023.

Japan has claimed that the contaminated water could be diluted with water and discharged at a lower concentration, but Ahn said the claim repeatedly proved wrong as the purification equipment cannot eliminate radioactive materials completely.

The green activist said the dilution with water cannot lessen the total amount of contamination, calling the irradiated sewage discharge "the worst way to resolve" as it can never be retrieved after being released into the ocean.

"The ocean is not a wastebasket. The international community should urge the Japanese government with one voice to stop its irresponsible push for the contaminated water discharge into the ocean, and find safer ways," said Ahn.

He added that neighboring countries, including South Korea, may consider forming a consultative body to make concerted efforts to tackle the issue.

The incoming South Korean government of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, set to be sworn in as president on May 10, reportedly planned to sternly deal with the tritium-laced water release by Japan.

The Yoon government will strengthen radiation checks and the country origin mark of imported marine products while expanding the origin labeling in restaurants.

The current Moon Jae-in government has completely banned the import of marine products caught in the Japanese waters near the Fukushima prefecture. 
Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin (1st L) gives an interview at the site of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022. Laying wreaths at memorial plaques here dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, representatives of Serbia and China on Saturday commemorated the Chinese martyrs and condemned NATO's "barbaric act."(Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

BELGRADE, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Laying wreaths at memorial plaques here dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, representatives of Serbia and China on Saturday commemorated the Chinese martyrs and condemned NATO's "barbaric act."

Among the officials present at the commemoration were Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin, Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, and Tian Yishu, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Serbia.

"Chinese citizens that laid their lives here, didn't even need to be here, but they chose to do so, in order to share the most difficult and saddest moments with us," Vulin said.

"Serbia will never stop asking for responsibility for crimes conducted by NATO during their aggression," Vulin said. "Those (Western powers) which now ask from us to align with their policies should remember their statements from 1999."

He noted that Serbia and China "have a friendship made of steel, forged in the most difficult of times."

Tian said that "China-Serbia friendship of steel is now playing a vital role in the peace and economic recovery of this region."

"We wish to continue comprehensive cooperation with all peace-loving countries, both in fields of economic cooperation and security," he said.

Svetozar Parezanin, a retired colonel of the Serbian Army who came here with a local citizen association, held a banner with photographs of the three killed journalists -- Shao Yunhuan of Xinhua News Agency, and Xu Xinghu and his wife Zhu Ying of the Guangming Daily newspaper.

"We remember that day very well, and we will never forget it. We come here every year to show our feeling of respect towards brotherly Chinese people," Parezanin said. 

Wreaths are seen at memorial plaques dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022.(Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Darija Kisic Tepavcevic (1st L) gives an interview at the site of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022. Laying wreaths at memorial plaques here dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, representatives of Serbia and China on Saturday commemorated the Chinese martyrs and condemned NATO's "barbaric act."(Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Officials of the Chinese embassy to Serbia mourn for the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022.(Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Tian Yishu, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Serbia, gives an interview at the site of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022. Laying wreaths at memorial plaques here dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, representatives of Serbia and China on Saturday commemorated the Chinese martyrs and condemned NATO's "barbaric act."(Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin (L, front), Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Darija Kisic Tepavcevic (R, front), and Tian Yishu (C, front), Charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Serbia, mourn at memorial plaques dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022.(Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)
Photo taken on May 8, 2022 shows a handmade backpack in a carpet shop in Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghanistan has exported more than 1 million square meters of carpet over the past year, a local television channel reported Saturday. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

KABUL, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan has exported more than 1 million square meters of carpet over the past year, a local television channel reported Saturday.

Quoting the Union of Carpet Producers and Exporters of the country, Tolonews reported that "the number of carpet weavers increased over the past one year and the country produced and exported more than 1 million square meters of carpets in the year of 1400 (in Persian calender ended on March 20).

"Production has increased by 20 percent," the media outlet quoted Mohammad Asef Yaghoubi, a member of the Carpet Producers and Exporters Union, as saying.

However, following the U.S. military withdrawal, Washington has slapped sanctions on the new Afghan administration, freezing Afghanistan's central bank assets worth more than 9 billion U.S. dollars and thus plunging the aid-dependent country into an economic crisis.

The U.S. sanctions have also led to the isolation of Afghanistan and restricted air connection between the war-torn country and other countries.

Some carpet exporters are concerned about the lack of flights and the closure of air corridors between Afghanistan and other countries, calling for facilitating the export of carpets, according to the media outlet.

"The air corridors are closed, we do not have visa facilities, and we have few exports through Pakistan," said Mohammad Rafi, a carpet seller. 

An Afghan person works in a carpet shop in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 8, 2022. Afghanistan has exported more than 1 million square meters of carpet over the past year, a local television channel reported Saturday. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

A man cleans a carpet in a carpet market in Kabul, Afghanistan on May 8, 2022. Afghanistan has exported more than 1 million square meters of carpet over the past year, a local television channel reported Saturday. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
*John Lee won 1,416 votes by the Election Committee members in the first chief executive election in the HKSAR since the improvement to its electoral system in 2021.



*The smooth running of the chief executive election marked the further implementation of the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong," said Tam Yiu-chung, a member of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

*The new HKSAR government will act to win confidence with actions, narrow differences with results, and build mutual trust with achievements, so as to work together to build a more livable, open and harmonious Hong Kong that is full of hope, opportunities and vitality, said Lee.



HONG KONG, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The election of the sixth-term chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was held on Sunday with John Lee declared as the winner of the election.

The 64-year-old former chief secretary for administration of the HKSAR government won 1,416 votes by the Election Committee members in the first chief executive election in the HKSAR since the improvement to its electoral system in 2021.

John Lee (2nd L) attends a press conference in Hong Kong, south China, May 8, 2022. John Lee was elected as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's sixth-term chief executive designate on Sunday. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

"I will faithfully and resolutely undertake this historic mission and shoulder the great responsibility to unite and lead the 7.4 million Hong Kong residents to open a new chapter for Hong Kong," Lee said when meeting the press after the election.

He still awaits the appointment by the Central People's Government before being sworn in as the HKSAR chief executive on July 1, also the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.

PATRIOTS ADMINISTERING HONG KONG

Polling for the election ran from 9:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) to 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Members of the Election Committee cast their secret ballots on a one-person-one-vote basis at the main polling station at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The smooth running of the chief executive election marked the further implementation of the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong," said Tam Yiu-chung, a member of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

John Lee communicates with a fisherman in Hong Kong, south China, May 3, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua)

In 2021, the HKSAR made systematic amendments and improvements to its electoral system according to the decisions of the NPC and the legislation of the NPC Standing Committee, and successfully held elections of the Election Committee and the seventh-term Legislative Council of the HKSAR, a solid step forward promoting the development of democracy in line with the reality of Hong Kong.

Under Hong Kong's amended electoral laws, the expanded Election Committee comprises 1,500 members from five sectors, and candidates for the office of the chief executive shall be nominated jointly by not less than 188 members of the Election Committee, among whom the number of members of each sector should not be less than 15.

Tam said such stipulations ensure that the Election Committee is widely representative and the result of the chief executive election is sound under the improved electoral system.

Lau Siu-kai, vice president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said the Election Committee fully represents the positions and interests of the growing patriotic forces of different sectors and groups.

John Lee communicates with a fisherman in Hong Kong, south China, May 3, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua)

The sixth-term chief executive election has further enhanced the unity of the patriotic forces and the implementation of the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong," Lau said.

Tse Hiu-hung, a member of the Election Committee, said it is the committee's responsibility to elect a chief executive who can fully and accurately implement "one country, two systems" and lead Hong Kong toward better development.

NEW CHAPTER FOR HONG KONG

Announcing his decision to run for the election a month ago, the 64-year-old Lee said if he wins the election, his administration will work on three goals: first, to address different issues with a result-oriented approach; second, to enhance Hong Kong's overall competitiveness; and third, to lay a solid foundation for Hong Kong's development.

John Lee communicates with citizens in Hong Kong, south China, May 1, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua)

Chan Yung, a member of the Legislative Council (LegCo) of the HKSAR, said the three goals outlined by Lee fit Hong Kong's actual situation and accurately capture the key to Hong Kong's future development.

With the support from the central authorities and the efforts from the Hong Kong society, Hong Kong will surely usher in a new chapter in the coming five years, Chan said.

Lee said that he wishes to lead Hong Kong in opening a new chapter which is from order to prosperity in the next five years.



His election manifesto contains four tenets of vision: to strengthen governance capability and tackle pressing livelihood issues together; to streamline procedures and provide more housing and better living; to enhance overall competitiveness and pursue sustainable development; and to build a caring and inclusive society and enhance upward mobility for youths.

Joseph Chan, a member of the Election Committee of the HKSAR, said Lee has made clear and unambiguous proposals on strengthening patriotic education for youths in Hong Kong, promoting better integration of Hong Kong youths into the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), and initiating targeted measures to solve housing problems.

Chan, who is also the president of the Hong Kong Youth Association, said that Lee's proposed policies will allow more Hong Kong youths to live a peaceful and prosperous life.

Zhi Zhenfeng, a researcher with the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Lee's election manifesto further expands the space for Hong Kong's development and provides a path for Hong Kong to maintain and enhance its international competitiveness.

John Lee communicates with residents in Hong Kong, south China, April 24, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua)

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. The governing team of the new term of the HKSAR government shoulders responsibilities in ensuring the implementation of "one country, two systems" without being bent or distorted.

In the eyes of Chan Yuet-lan, a local resident, Hong Kong has seen a lot of ups and downs in the past two years. "Only when the social environment is stable and harmonious can our families be happy and healthy," she said.

Amid the increasingly complicated international environment, Hong Kong faces multiple security threats. It has always been the primary duty of those administering Hong Kong to do everything possible to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests as well as Hong Kong's interests, said Zhang Jian, director of the Hong Kong and Macao research section of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies.

Lee said the next five years will be a crucial period for Hong Kong in which Hong Kong will transform from order to prosperity amid opportunities and challenges.

The new HKSAR government will act to win confidence with actions, narrow differences with results, and build mutual trust with achievements, so as to work together to build a more livable, open and harmonious Hong Kong that is full of hope, opportunities and vitality, said Lee.

(Video reporters: Zhang Yichi, Lin Ning, Hui Long Hin, Wan Houde, Zhang Yue; Video editors: Li Ziwei, Cao Ying, Lin Lin, Zhao Xiaoqing)
By laying wreaths at memorial plaques dedicated to the three killed Chinese journalists on Saturday in Belgrade, officials of the Serbian government, the Chinese embassy as well as gathered journalists and other citizens condemned the "barbaric act" of the NATO 1999 embassy bombing.



Produced by Xinhua Global Service






In a month we can weave up to 70 baskets of different sizes and each member can receive about 15,000 shillings (about 129 U.S. dollars), says Peninah Mueni, leader of a women weavers' group in Machakos County, east of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

NAIROBI, May 8 (Xinhua) -- A group of women deftly weave sisal baskets under the cover of a tree in a sleepy Katangi village in Machakos County, east of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

For these women, weaving has become a crucial source of economic empowerment and a significant part of their cultural heritage.

Women weave baskets at Katangi village in Machakos County, Kenya, on May 3, 2022. (Photo by Chrispinus Omar/Xinhua)

"The way I am dressed and the way I look is because of doing this kiondo (basket) business. I do not have anyone helping me," Peninah Mueni, the group's chairlady, told Xinhua in a recent interview. "Weaving has seen me educate my children and do other things which would have been impossible if I were not weaving."

Mueni's association of weavers which was founded in 2015, hails from the Kamba tribe, a Bantu-speaking community that resides in the vast southeastern Kenyan lowlands.

A woman weaves a basket at Katangi village in Machakos County, Kenya, on May 3, 2022. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

The name of the group in translated English means to love your neighbor. It constitutes 30 women of mixed ages who identified a need to generate income amid scarce employment opportunities and low levels of education.

"In a month we can weave up to 70 baskets of different sizes; each member can receive about 15,000 shillings (about 129 U.S. dollars). After we fulfill an order, each member is paid according to the number of baskets they have weaved," said Mueni.

Their most recent order came from South Africa, where they sold 100 small baskets. Other international markets that they have penetrated include Ghana and China. Word of mouth has proven a successful marketing strategy for the women weavers.

The women unanimously agree that the group has been supportive when one of them falls into misfortune.

"We are like sisters here, we support each other with what we can, if one of us is sick we pool resources to support them. If someone has fallen sick in the middle of weaving we take up their project and still pay them," said Mueni.

Women sort baskets at Katangi village in Machakos County, Kenya, on May 3, 2022. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

The group's business acumen is demonstrated in their subsequent investments. They have bought 100 goats which they dispose of during important holidays such as Christmas. In addition, they are the title deed holders of a small piece of land within their locality.

"The goats are distributed among the members with each receiving a certain number to look after," Mueni told Xinhua.

Jecinta Kimeu loops over one sisal fiber over the other, unheeding the exhaustion in her hands. It is an activity she has been doing since she joined the group at its inception.

"I can weave around 10 bags in a month and earn some money to fulfill family and personal needs. The group has helped me and I see myself continuing with this trade for a long time to come," said Kimeu.

In Kenya, the art of basket weaving is a long-standing tradition practiced by the Kamba, Kikuyu, and Giriama ethnic communities. It is an enduring undertaking that forms the identity of these Bantu tribes.

The preferred materials for weaving include sisal, reed, papyrus, bamboo and banana leaves.

Women dance at Katangi village in Machakos County, Kenya. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

At present, weavers line the inside of the baskets with a cloth and add leather straps as handles among other modern embellishments to resonate with the modern-day customer.

Kimeu affirms that the women have been compelled to tweak their weaving techniques to create better contemporary designs.

At only 24 years, Irene Syombua is the youngest in the group. She joined the women after witnessing their lives changed by weaving.

"As I sat with the women I saw that they made money and that changed their lives whereas I did not have anything to do. I am currently in the process of learning how to weave," said Syombua.

She offers advice to young people to desist from favoring white-collar jobs and instead try out whatever legal income-generating opportunity they stumble upon.

With the entry of young people such as Syombua, Mueni, the chairlady, says that the art is likely to enjoy longevity and prosperity.

Among the challenges endured by these women include difficulties in market access, highly-priced raw materials, and exploitative middlemen. 
ISTANBUL, May 8 (Xinhua) -- For James Mckay, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen who went abroad in his early 20s to see the world and make a living, his home country has changed in various ways to an incomprehensible degree.

Mckay is now living in Kazakhstan. Before that, he lived subsequently in South Korea, Japan, and then Turkey, where he spent 13 years and is planning to return to.

Life overseas has brought this English teacher a satisfactory income, as he told Xinhua recently. "At that time, of course, when you are young and don't have experience, it is difficult to get a position and jobs in the U.S. ... But when you travel abroad as a foreigner, you have some advantages."

After living for over 20 years abroad, Mckay now feels a "little bit like a foreigner," especially when he visits his own country, which has taken on another look with rising social, cultural, and political problems.

As Mckay sees it, the social problems in the United States stem from systemic racism and economic gaps. The lower class has been facing an ingrained lack of opportunities like his grandparents experienced in the past, he said.

Commenting on the growing racism with discrimination and inequality experienced by black people, Mckay said the issue is far from being fixed as there are structural problems that should be addressed.

"We have a long history with racism, which is unique to our system of slavery in the past, so a lot of our ways of lives are based on color, and that maintains its influence today ... and it continues to be the hot topic and applies for people of all races," he said.

Besides communities, there are divisions on a wide range of topics across different states, social strata and between the urban and rural areas, such as gun control, Mckay noted.

"I believe that the situation is getting worse ... if people in Texas want to live in certain ways and have certain laws and people in New York want to live a different life and have regulations, it doesn't make sense at a certain point to be under the same umbrella," he said.

Mckay said he has been following the political events and elections in his home country, but chose not to participate, not out of apathy or lack of understanding but rather because he doesn't "see any real choice."

"The electoral system is set up as an illusion of choice in America ... We see in different leaders no fundamental differences between the parties they are representing since both are holding the same interests of the Wall Street," he said.

In his view, the electoral system should be changed to have a clearer, simpler and straightforward voting process with easy access for everyone.

"I think electoral reforms should be the top priority from the local to the states, federal levels because the system can be much more simplified as we see in other electoral democracies where votes are easily counted and registration is free and open, easily done for all people and the votes matter equally," he said.

Mckay said both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party fell short in delivering "real" reforms and representing the interests of people more broadly.

He argued that petrochemicals, tobacco, and alcohol lobbies are very strong with a lot of influence in Washington, forcing the electoral system to represent their wills "rather than the choices of the people at large."

For him, the idea of "making America great again," as championed by the former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration "really" becomes a concept, and a mere paradigm now.

Mckay believes that "this paradigm cannot be achieved in the current political system" of his country, without making the middle class grow and offering people equal opportunities. 
Photo taken on May 5, 2022 shows a damaged bridge after heavy rains in Parwan province, Afghanistan. (Str/Xinhua)

Pakistan has dispatched emergency relief items for the Afghans hit by flash floods which killed at least nine people and injured 10 others.

ISLAMABAD, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Saturday dispatched one C-130 aircraft to Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of Afghanistan's northern Balkh Province, carrying emergency relief items for the people hit by flash floods, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.

"Pakistan as a neighboring country has been at the forefront of efforts for provision of humanitarian assistance for the Afghan people," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

People work outside of damaged houses after a heavy rain in Baghlan province, Afghanistan, May 4, 2022. (Photo by Mehrab Ibrahimi/Xinhua)

Pakistan hopes that the international community would also play its active part in providing timely relief and economic assistance to the affected people in Afghanistan, it added.

A second plane-load of food and shelter items would be sent in a few days as a gesture of goodwill for the flood victims in Afghanistan, according to the statement.

At least nine people were killed, 10 others were injured and three went missing in recent floods triggered by heavy rains in Afghanistan, the Afghan authorities said Friday. 




LHASA, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Many children in southwest China's Tibet suffer from congenital heart diseases (CHDs) due to high altitude and a lack of oxygen. Given the limited local medical conditions, medical teams from Jiangsu Province in east China traveled to Lhasa to screen children under the age of 18 and review patients who had previously received surgery. Over 10,000 children were examined by medical professionals in a single week. On May 8, 60 of those children were screened out and flown to Jiangsu for free surgery.

A medical expert carries out CHD screening for students in Qushui County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, April 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng)

A medical expert carries out CHD screening for a student in Qushui County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, April 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Jian)



A medical expert registers a student for CHD screening in Qushui County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, April 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng)



A medical expert carries out CHD screening for a child in Qushui County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, April 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Jian)



A medical expert carries out CHD screening for a child in Qushui County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, April 25, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng)



A medical expert carries out CHD screening for a child in Qushui County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, April 25, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng)



A medical expert carries out CHD screening for a child in Qushui County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, April 25, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Jian)





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Russia held the final rehearsal on Saturday for this year's Victory Day military parade to mark the 77th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.



Produced by Xinhua Global Service


Wreaths are seen at memorial plaques dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

"China-Serbia friendship of steel is now playing a vital role in the peace and economic recovery of this region," said Tian Yishu, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Serbia.



BELGRADE, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Laying wreaths at memorial plaques here dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, representatives of Serbia and China on Saturday commemorated the Chinese martyrs and condemned NATO's "barbaric act."

Among the officials present at the commemoration were Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin, Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, and Tian Yishu, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Serbia.

Officials of the Chinese embassy to Serbia mourn for the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

"Chinese citizens that laid their lives here, didn't even need to be here, but they chose to do so, in order to share the most difficult and saddest moments with us," Vulin said.

"Serbia will never stop asking for responsibility for crimes conducted by NATO during their aggression," Vulin said. "Those (Western powers) which now ask from us to align with their policies should remember their statements from 1999."

He noted that Serbia and China "have a friendship made of steel, forged in the most difficult of times."

Tian said that "China-Serbia friendship of steel is now playing a vital role in the peace and economic recovery of this region."

"We wish to continue comprehensive cooperation with all peace-loving countries, both in fields of economic cooperation and security," he said.

Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Darija Kisic Tepavcevic (1st L) gives an interview at the site of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2022. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Svetozar Parezanin, a retired colonel of the Serbian Army who came here with a local citizen association, held a banner with photographs of the three killed journalists -- Shao Yunhuan of Xinhua News Agency, and Xu Xinghu and his wife Zhu Ying of the Guangming Daily newspaper.

"We remember that day very well, and we will never forget it. We come here every year to show our feeling of respect towards brotherly Chinese people," Parezanin said. 
HONG KONG, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said Sunday that the COVID-19 virus continues to be detected in sewage samples from different areas in Hong Kong, indicating that there may be hidden cases in the premises in these areas.

About 150,000 sets of COVID-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) kits will be distributed to residents, cleaning workers, and property management staff working in the areas with positive sewage testing results showing relatively high viral loads, in order to help identify infected persons, it said.

The HKSAR government also urged RAT kit users to report any positive results for COVID-19 via the government's online platform.

In efforts to combat COVID-19, the HKSAR government's Environmental Protection Department and the Drainage Services Department, in collaboration with a cross-disciplinary team of the University of Hong Kong, have strengthened the sampling of sewage in all districts of Hong Kong for COVID-19 virus testing.

A spokesperson for the Center for Health Protection (CHP) strongly appealed to the public to continue to comply with social distancing measures and urged unvaccinated individuals to get vaccinated as early as possible, as the local situation of COVID-19 infection is still severe.

On Sunday, Hong Kong registered 112 new COVID-19 cases by nucleic acid tests, and 154 additional cases through self-reported RATs, official data showed. 
Servicemen pass by before a rehearsal of the Victory Day parade in Moscow, Russia, May 7, 2022. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)

Moscow had held two nighttime rehearsals on April 28 and Wednesday for this year's parade.



MOSCOW, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Russia held the final rehearsal on Saturday for this year's Victory Day military parade to mark the 77th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Around 11,000 people, 131 types of weapons and military equipment as well as 77 airplanes and helicopters took part in the dress rehearsal, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Moscow had held two nighttime rehearsals on April 28 and Wednesday for this year's parade.

In total, military parades will be held in 28 Russian cities this year, involving almost 65,000 people, about 2,400 types of weapons and military equipment as well as more than 460 aircraft, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday.

Russia holds military parades on May 9 every year to commemorate the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany. 
John Lee waves to people at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in Hong Kong, south China, May 8, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Sunday. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

HONG KONG, May 8 (Xinhua) -- John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday.

Born in December 1957 in a working-class family in Hong Kong, Lee's origin can be traced back to Panyu, now a district of the city of Guangzhou.

After graduating with top grades from secondary school Wah Yan College in Kowloon, Lee joined the Hong Kong police force as a probationary inspector in 1977.

During his over-30-year career in the Hong Kong police force, Lee held various posts including chief superintendent, assistant commissioner, senior assistant commissioner and deputy commissioner of police. On his watch, the Hong Kong police force busted a number of high-profile cases.

In September 2012, Lee was appointed as under secretary for security of the HKSAR government, concluding his career in the Hong Kong police force.

He was appointed by the State Council as secretary for security of the HKSAR government in July 2017 and chief secretary for administration of the HKSAR government in June 2021.

In dealing with major events in recent years including the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong, the fight against the COVID-19 and the improvement to the HKSAR's electoral system, Lee has taken a firm stand and fulfilled his responsibilities.

By making all-out efforts in safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and development interests and the fundamental interests of Hong Kong, Lee has won the support and respect of Hong Kong residents.

In April this year, Lee resigned from the post as chief secretary for administration of the HKSAR government and formally submitted his candidacy application for the chief executive election.

He said he decided to stand for the election out of his loyalty to the country, his love for Hong Kong and his responsibility to its residents, and stands ready to meet the greatest challenge in his career serving for the public.

Lee's election manifesto contains four tenets of vision: to strengthen governance capability and tackle pressing livelihood issues together; to streamline procedures and provide more housing and better living; to enhance overall competitiveness and pursue sustainable development; and to build a caring and inclusive society and enhance upward mobility for youths.

Lee loves music. He married his wife Janet Lam in 1980. They have two sons. 

John Lee poses for a group photo in Hong Kong, south China, May 6, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

John Lee communicates with a fisherman in Hong Kong, south China, May 3, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua)

John Lee communicates with citizens in Hong Kong, south China, April 24, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua)

John Lee submits the completed nomination forms in person to the returning officer for the election of the sixth-term chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), in Hong Kong, south China, April 13, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the HKSAR on Sunday. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

John Lee communicates with citizens in Hong Kong, south China, May 1, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua)

John Lee communicates with a volunteer at a community in Hong Kong, south China, May 1, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua)

John Lee communicates with a fisherman in Hong Kong, south China, May 3, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua)

John Lee releases his election manifesto in Hong Kong, south China, April 29, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

John Lee visits Yau Ma Tei of Hong Kong, south China, April 24, 2022. John Lee was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. (Xinhua)
SAO PAULO, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched Saturday his campaign for the presidency alongside his proposed vice president, former Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin.

Lula announced his candidacy and unveiled the seven-party alliance Let's Go Together for Brazil Movement to a crowd of about 4,000 people here.

"It is more than urgent to restore the sovereignty of Brazil," he said during his speech at the rally, adding that if he wins the elections scheduled for Oct. 2, he will work "again on the mission to combat hunger."

The 76-year-old has run for president several times before: he was defeated three times before triumphs in 2002 and 2006.

In 2018, he ran for a sixth time but was disqualified a month before the election after conviction of corruption, a charge ultimately overturned by the Federal Supreme Court in 2021.

Lula said during the rally that his proposed foreign policy would be "active," reinforcing regional blocs and pushing to "modify world governance," with an emphasis on the need to strengthen BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

He added that his government program includes the defense of public companies and banks, while maintaining that the driver of development should be the state oil company Petrobras.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, of the Liberal Party, has expressed his intention to stand for re-election. 
TRIPOLI, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Libya has condemned the deadly attack on a water pumping station in Egypt's western Sinai region, the foreign ministry said Saturday.

Libya stands with Egypt "against anything that threatens its security and stability," the Libyan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Saturday, at least 11 Egyptian troops were killed in clashes with a group of terrorists at a water pumping station in western Sinai, according to the Egyptian army. 
JERUSALEM, May 8 (Xinhua) -- A knife-wielding Palestinian was shot dead in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank on Sunday night after attempting to carry out an attack, Israeli authorities said.

The incident took place in the settlement of Tekoa in the southern West Bank.

"A terrorist armed with a knife entered the community and a civilian shot him," the Israeli military said in a statement. The man was later confirmed dead.

"Soldiers were dispatched to the scene and are searching the area for additional suspects," the army said.

Also on Sunday night, a Palestinian stabbed and injured a border police officer in East Jerusalem, the police said in a statement. Other police officers at the scene fired at and "neutralized" him, the police said.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said the officer sustained moderate injuries.

The police identified the "neutralized" Palestinian as a 19-year-old who entered Israel without permits.

The incidents were the latest amid rising Israeli-Palestinian tensions caused by a recent spate of deadly Palestinian attacks on Israelis, Israeli raids in the West Bank, and repeated clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. 
SANAA, May 8 (Xinhua) -- A ship carrying cooking gas was allowed to enter Yemen's blockaded Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Sunday as part of the ongoing truce between the country's warring sides, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

The Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen agreed to grant the ship access to the port after having withheld it for more than a week, according to al-Masirah TV.

Last week, the Houthi rebels accused the coalition of having been holding the ship since April 27 despite permission granted by the United Nations.

So far, several fuel ships have arrived at Hodeidah's port since a UN-brokered two-month truce entered into force on April 2, the Houthi-run television said.

The truce between the Houthi rebels and the coalition-backed Yemeni government includes allowing the entry of 18 fuel ships into the Houthi-held port of Hodeidah, two commercial flights a week to and from the Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport, and humanitarian aid access to the government-held Taiz city.

The truce has been largely held by the warring sides but they have yet to reach a final agreement on resuming commercial flights in the Sanaa airport.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government out of the capital Sanaa.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the population to the brink of starvation. 
ADDIS ABABA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia recorded 5,856 cyber attacks in the first nine months of the current Ethiopian Fiscal Year, which started on July 8, an official said on Saturday.

Solomon Soka, deputy director-general at Ethiopia Information Security Agency (INSA), said his agency managed to foil 97.7 percent of those attacks.

The number of cyber attacks targeting Ethiopia has jumped by 400 percent compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year, Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporate quoted Soka as saying.

"Most of the cyber attacks involved malware attacks on websites, with cyber attacks on infrastructure and online scams being the second and third most frequent forms of cyber attacks," he said.

"The cyber attacks had varied motives, including geopolitical, political and economic ones," Soka said.

Ethiopia is upgrading its largely traditional basic services infrastructure and government bureaucracy, using cyber technology as a key component.

Since assuming office in April 2018, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who was previously head of INSA, has engaged in an ambitious drive to introduce cyber technology across all public and private sectors. 
BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine:

The humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol has ended, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, said Saturday.

"Thanks to unprecedented measures taken by the leadership of the Russian Federation, with the active participation of representatives of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, the humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal plant has completed today," he said.

During the operation starting from Thursday, 51 people, namely 18 men, 22 women and 11 children, were rescued, according to the official.

- - - -

Ukraine has evacuated all women, children and the elderly from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday.

"This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed," Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram, noting the evacuation was carried out following the order of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

On Friday, head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak said that Ukraine had evacuated about 500 civilians from Mariupol.

- - - -

Ukraine has limited the exports of buckwheat, rye and oats amid a possible shortage, the Ukrinform news agency reported Saturday, citing Taras Vysotsky, Ukraine's first deputy minister of agrarian policy and food.

The new restrictions will be in place until the end of the martial law in Ukraine, Vysotsky said, noting the government is monitoring a possible shortage of wheat and sugar on the Ukrainian market.

The stocks of corn and sunflower oil in Ukraine are sufficient to satisfy domestic and external demands, he added. 
A major decree from the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan has come under the spotlight. Yes, and it's being called the Tughlaqi Decree. In fact, a decree has been issued by Taliban leaders on Saturday. According to this new decree, all Afghan women have been ordered to dress from head to toe in public. In fact, it has been said by the Taliban rulers that unless necessary, women should not leave the house. At the same time, the order also said that strict action will be taken against women for violating this dress code.

At the same time, the men of their house will also be held responsible for the violation of the dress code. Let me tell you all that in the past also many decrees have been issued by the Taliban rulers about women. On the other hand, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said, "An explanation will be sought from the Taliban regarding this decision." The mission also said, "These decisions regarding women contradict the statement of Taliban representatives that the international community will not be compromised in any way with the rights of Afghan women." On the other hand, Taliban minister Khalif Hanfi said, "We want our sisters to live with dignity and security.''

Apart from this, he also said that 'Women who are not very old or young, should cover their face, except for the eyes. Hanafi said that Islamic principles and Islamic ideology are more important to us than anything else.' With this, Shir Mohammad, an official of the Taliban government, said, 'It is necessary for Afghan women to wear hijab and the best hijab is chadori (burqa from head to toe) which is part of our tradition and is respectable.'

At the same time, the White National Security Council condemned the Taliban's decree and urged them to withdraw it immediately. On the other hand, Heather Barr, a woman official at Human Rights Watch, has urged the international community to put pressure on the Taliban. In fact, she wrote on Twitter that this decision is proof of the Taliban's growing attack on women's rights and is very serious.

Big relief to Tajinder Singh Bagga, arrest stayed till May 10

Central allows additional 2,051 MT of raw sugar to be exported to US under TRQ

Wonderful! The son whose last rites were performed yesterday, he returned home today, the family members were surprised to see
Kathmandu, April 27

The government has adopted a two-day weekend provision beginning from May 15, 2022.

A cabinet meeting held on Tuesday made the decision, according to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deubas press coordinator Govinda Pariyar.

Pariyar says from now onwards, the office hours, however, have been expanded to 9:30 am  5:30 pm.

With the decision, government offices and most private offices too will close on Saturdays and Sundays. Until now, Nepal closes its offices on Saturdays only.

The decision is primarily aimed at cutting down fuel consumption as the import of petroleum products has been blamed for depleting the foreign exchange reserves of the country. Hence, the government says the decision is provisional.

Nonetheless, some government officials including former Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai have been proposing the two-day weekend provision to promote domestic tourism for the past few years. But, some stakeholders have criticised the proposal as impractical, blocking its implementation process. But, the imminent economic crisis forced the government to change its mind now.




Description

VIEW, a waterfront destination overlooking the Great South Bay, is celebrating Mothers Day with a special a la carte dinner menu available Sunday, May 8th from 12 to 7 p.m. Reservations are recommended. Menu items, subject to change, include:

Appetizers

Jumbo Lump Crab Cake $20

Mango salsa, avocado, Meyer lemon aioli

Crispy Thai Calamari $17

Peanuts, sesame seeds, cilantro, lime, sweet chili glaze

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail $19

Traditional cocktail sauce

Burrata $15

Sweet tomato-eggplant caponata, ciabatta, arugula

Long Island Stuffed Clams $14

Applewood smoked bacon

Steamed Prince Edward Island Mussels $16

Chorizo, garlic, saffron, shallots

Peking Duck Tacos $15

Scallion, avocado, hoisin sauce

Maine Lobster Bisque $12

Lobster claw meat, sherry cream

Iceberg Salad $16

Gorgonzola, applewood smoked bacon, red onion, plum tomatoes, red wine vinaigrette

Classic Caesar Salad $15

Garlic herb croutons, classic Caesar dressing

Entrees

Pan Seared Sea Scallops $49

Sweet Montauk lobster-white risotto, edamame, citrus beurre blanc

Cedar Roasted Scottish Salmon $33

Spinach-pistachio fregula, coconut-ginger broth, agretti

Maine Lobster Pasta $34

Roasted corn, smoked bacon, caramelized shallots, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, garganelli pasta, cognac cream

Cage Free Roasted Chicken Breast $29

Spring peas, cremini mushroom, pancetta, smoked baby potato, summer truffle-madiera reduction

Filet Mignon $50

Garlic confit potato puree, butter poached asparagus, caramelized shallot demi glace

Surf & Turf $62

Filet mignon, Maine lobster tail, garlic confit potato puree, butter poached asparagus, caramelized shallot demi-glace

Bolognese Pasta $27

Pappardelle pasta, ground beef, veal & pork, sheeps milk ricotta cheese, basil

Desserts

$12 each

Key Lime Tart

Sticky Toffee Cake

Wild Berry New York-Style Cheesecake

Valrhona Chocolate Bomb

Childrens Menu

$12 each

Chicken Fingers

Hamburger or Cheeseburger

Pasta with Marinara Sauce or Butter
(Bloomberg) -- Proposals to severely restrict private property rights in Chiles giant copper and lithium deposits will get one more roll of the dice after falling short in a Constitutional Convention vote.

Most Read from Bloomberg

While a package of measures passed the two-thirds threshold in the plenary on Saturday, several individual items lacked the required votes, including giving the state exclusive rights over lithium and majority ownership of copper mines, as well as replacing concessions with temporary permits.

Saturdays voting will come as somewhat of a relief to mining companies and global metal markets, although many items have one more chance to be modified in committee before going back to the plenary ahead of this weeks deadline. Two prior attempts to get versions of the package through the plenary failed.

Still, a broad item declaring minerals the domain of the state was approved, as was an expansion of environmental governance, including a reshaping of water rules to focus on availability and greater water protection in indigenous lands. Others to allow nationalizations and ban mining in glaciers, watersheds and the ocean floor fell short.

The measures were presented by a committee stacked with young ecological activists and left-wingers, elected in the wake of protests that began in October 2019 over inequality. The full convention floor has a more diverse mix of members.

While the increased environmental powers of the state would erode the appeal of projects, the more radical measures regarding ownership would trigger international legal battles, impair Chiles investor-friendly reputation and put at risk an almost $70 billion project pipeline, according to BTG Pactual analyst Cesar Perez-Novoa.

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Those investments are crucial for supplying the clean energy transition. To be sure, surveys show a trend toward rejection of the document in a plebiscite scheduled for September.

Weve got some really, really exciting plans for Chile as an organization, BHP Group President Minerals Americas Ragnar Udd said in an interview earlier this week. We hope that the uncertainty gets resolved soon.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
TALLAHASSEE  Gov. Ron DeSantis said that a North Florida district, with more than 255,000 Black voters and represented by Black Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Lawson since 2017, will be overhauled in the upcoming special session to redraw congressional districts.

Speaking Tuesday in Miami, the governor reaffirmed his pledge to recast Lawsons Congressional District 5, now with a 44% Black voting age population, to where it is a race neutral district. The white voting age population of the district is 40%, with Hispanic and Asians making up the rest.

It will have North Florida drawn in a race neutral manner, DeSantis said of his congressional redistricting map. We are not going to have a 200-mile gerrymander that divvies up people based on the color of their skin. That is wrong.

While downplaying race, the governor has earlier outlined plans to revamp Congressional District 5s current, Jacksonville-to-Tallahassee design to where instead of electing Lawson, it is likely to elect a Republican to Congress.

In a rare move by a Florida governor, DeSantis in January and February introduced his own proposed congressional maps, which included districts with voting histories that would give Republicans complete command of all North Florida seats.

Even Gadsden County, the states only majority Black county, would be moved from Lawsons District 5 and placed into a Republican-heavy district now served by U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Panama City, who is white.

Democratic-leaning Tallahassee and Leon County also would be placed entirely into Dunns District 2 in the governors proposals.

Floridas 27 congressional districts are currently split 16-11, with Republicans controlling most seats. But DeSantis approach would likely give the GOP either 18 or 20 districts out of 28 Florida districts, with the state adding a seat because of population gains from the 2020 Census.

Gov. Ron DeSantis promised that congressional redistricting will create a "race neural" North Florida district. It would likely elect a Republican to a seat now held by a Democrat

More Republicans, fewer Black Floridians in Congress

DeSantis increase in Republican-leaning seats comes at the expense of Black Democrats. Along with Lawsons seat, the Orlando-area district represented by U.S. Rep. Val Demings, a Black Democrat now challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, also would be dramatically changed by DeSantis maps. Of Floridas four congressional districts with Black voting age populations considered large enough to elect a representative of their choice, two would be erased under the governors plan.

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DeSantis push fits into a national Republican effort to maximize their seats in Florida, with the party riveted on recapturing control of Congress in this falls midterm contests, when the governor also will be up for re-election.

DeSantis warned: Hinting veto, DeSantis pressures lawmakers to reduce Black-held congressional districts

Legislature wouldn't go along: Florida Senate breaks with Gov. Ron DeSantis on congressional redistricting map

A goal of mMore Republican red: Painting the town red: How Ron DeSantis is trying to turn Tallahassee Republican

How we got here. What's at stake: After past mockery, Florida GOP to begin new high-stakes redistricting effort

Now, DeSantis appears to be in the drivers seat for the special session, scheduled to run from April 19-22.

In a memo sent Monday, House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, and Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, said the Legislature will not submit maps of their own. Instead, the governor is expected to put his own preferred map in play for the Republican-controlled Legislature, which seems inclined to endorse what he wants.

Our goal during the special session is to pass a new congressional map that will both earn the governors signature and withstand legal scrutiny, if challenged, Sprowls and Simpson wrote Monday.

DeSantis at the wheel

DeSantis in March vetoed a congressional plan approved by lawmakers that included a primary map that turned Lawsons district into a Duval County-only district, but still with a 35% Black voting age population, and a secondary map that retained the Jacksonville to Tallahassee district and had a Black voting population of 43%.

The Republican leaders view was that if a court struck down the primary map as failing to meet state or federal redistricting requirements, the secondary map could be accepted, keeping the wide-ranging District 5 in place.

But DeSantis derailed that path with his veto. He acknowledged Tuesday that his approach is certain to be tested in a court.

Obviously, that will be litigated, DeSantis said. But I can tell you, the original district would have absolutely been litigated. And if you look at whats happened in the U.S. Supreme Court over the last four or five years, you know, that would be the case.

DeSantis is relying on a 2017 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a North Carolina case that found it unconstitutional to racially gerrymander a seat, except in narrow instances, which Lawsons Jacksonville-to-Tallahassee district may not meet.

That North Carolina ruling came two years after Congressional District 5 was created by the Florida Supreme Court, which had taken over the map-making in the last round of once-every-decade redistricting because of constitutional violations by Republican lawmakers who drew the states initial maps.

DeSantis argues that federal law conflicts with the states voter-approved Fair Districts amendments, which prohibit line-drawing that for minority voters, diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice.

But DeSantis arguments are viewed starkly by Democrats, who say they are intended to diminish the role of Black voters in Florida. The first three Black Floridians elected to Congress since shortly after the Civil War occurred in 1992, after districts were drawn with sizable Black populations. There were no Black members of Congress from Florida over a 115-year period, between 1877 and 1992.

At the time of his veto, Rep. Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, said the governor was seeking to diminish the voices of Black voters in North Florida, despite what federal law and the Florida Constitution require.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge DeSantis, said in a statement last week that DeSantis is "forcing the Legislature to return to Tallahassee in a blatantly discriminatory effort to enact his unconstitutional maps, erase minority-access districts, and set up a challenge to the Voting Rights Act.

Our state government should be working to help people, not wasting taxpayer dollars on racist redistricting battles, she said.

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Networks Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida governor wants to redraw heavily Black, Democratic district
Michigans Democratic attorney general warned on Sunday that Republican-led states would start investigating and prosecuting abortion providers and abortion patients if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court.

Attorney General Dana Nessel told NBCs Meet the Press that while she would refuse to enforce laws that would endanger womens health, she believes more conservative leaders in offices across the country will criminalize abortion care, which could include the prosecution of doctors as well as women who take abortion pills.

Were talking about not just throwing providers and anybody who works for the provider under aiding and abetting theories in prison but also women themselves who procured abortion through abortion medication, Nessel told moderator Chuck Todd. Its a really scary set of circumstances for women here in Michigan.

A leaked draft opinion published last week by Politico showed the Supreme Courts conservative majority was in favor of overturning the 1973 landmark ruling, which legalized abortion.

About 23 states have abortion bans that would go into effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned, while some, such as Oklahoma and Texas, have passed laws that would criminalize abortion and make providing it a felony.

Michigan also has a law banning abortions and making it a felony to perform an abortion procedure that would go into effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Last week, Nessel warned that county prosecutors could still enforce the law even if she doesnt, according to Michigan Public Radio.

Nessel on Sunday warned that doctors and abortion providers will be so afraid if the court precedent is overturned. She called on Democrats to codify abortion rights into state law.

If we have enough people that care about this issue and come out to vote in November, I see that happening, she said of codifying abortion rights into state law. Both of these forces of action need to occur in order to better protect women in our state.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
 QA QC Certification Services Sourcing and Procurement Market Report highlights the effect of COVID-19 on this market.

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NEW YORK, May 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The QA QC Certification Services Sourcing and Procurement Market will grow at a CAGR of 6.77% by 2026. This report offers key advisory and intelligence to help buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers for their QA QC Certification Services Sourcing and Procurement Report requirements.

QA QC Certification Services Market

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Major Price Models in the QA QC Certification Services 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 QA QC Certification Services Sourcing and Procurement Market

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Spend Growth and Demand by Region

The QA QC Certification Services Sourcing and Procurement market will register an incremental spend of about USD 102.38 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.

To get a detailed analysis of the regional factors driving the QA QC Certification Services Sourcing and Procurement Report:

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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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Benedict Cumberbatch is a British actor whose versatile career allows him to go seamlessly from drama to fantasy to mystery to sci-fi to eventually becoming a fixture in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Dr. Strange. He will reprise the role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which came out on May 6, 2022.

See: How Much is Patrick Stewart Worth?

Find Out: How Rich Is Elizabeth Olsen?

There might not be a role Cumberbatch, who works in theater, movies and television, cannot take on. He has portrayed many real people such as Stephen Hawking, Willian Carey, Vincent van Gogh, Thomas Edison, Julian Assange, Dominic Cummins and Alan Turing.

On the flip side, he has appeared as famous fictional characters in The Hobbit films, Star Trek Into Darkness, Hamlet, Sherlock Patrick Melrose and, of course, in various iterations in the MCU including The Avengers films and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

He also lends his voice to a variety of other projects including narrating documentaries, books on tape, BBC radio broadcasts, Penguins of Madagascar, The Jungle Book, The Grinch and The Simpsons.

Cumberbatch has won BAFTAs, Primetime Emmy Awards, Critics Choice Awards, Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and he has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and many more.

In 2016, he received the honor of CBE from the Queen.

With most of his projects being critical and commercial successes, Cumberbatch has a net worth of $40 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Early Life and Career

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch was born to an aristocratic family on July 19, 1976. While he was growing up in the Kensington and Chelsea boroughs, both of his parents worked as actors in the London district of Hammersmith. At the age of 8, he was sent to boarding schools and was in his first Shakespearean play when he was 12-years-old.

He pursued his love of art at Victoria University of Manchester where he was worked in oil painting, then later went on to earn a Masters degree in classical acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

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Cumberbatch had his first big theater success in Londons West End theater district in Frankenstein. From there, he started migrating towards television and film, landing his first big television part in 2004 in which he played Stephen Hawking. His first starring role in a film came was in Atonement in 2007. After that success, in 2010 he got the role of Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock. The show ran for seven years. It was during this time that he hit his stride with a prolific body of work.

Personal Life

Cumberbatch met actress Sophie Hunter working with her on the film Burlesque Fairytales 2009. He was dating someone else at the time, so they were just friends for four years. Apparently, something clicked because after they began dating sometime in 2013, they quickly got engaged and pregnant. They were married on February 14, 2015, at St. Peter and St. Pauls Church, Mottistone on the Isle of Wight. The couple was so hush-hush about their relationship that few details of their courtship are known. They share three children together, Christopher Carlton, Hal Auden and Finn, each born two years apart.

Charitable Work and Donations

The actor is known to be generous with his time and money. He started between his college degrees by volunteering as an English teacher in a Tibetan monastery in Darjeeling, India.

Some of his charitable donations involve The Princes Trust, Odd Arts, Annos Africa, Dramatic Need, the Motor Neurone Disease Association, The Willow Foundation, Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Cancer Research U.K. and the Save Soho campaign.

For his services, Queen Elizabeth II appointed him Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2015.

Cumberbatch was reported to have opened his $14.4 million Tuscan-inspired estate in the Hidden Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles to a displaced Ukrainian family in Spring 2022.

See: How Rich is Tom Holland?

Find: Ranked: The Salaries of Tom Holland and Other Spider-Man Actors

Benedict Cumberbatch resumes his portrayal of Dr. Strange in Dr. Strange: in the Multiverse of Madness, May 6, 2022.

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Kid forget to hand your their field trip permission slip? Have them take a photo of it and send it to you. Then use your iPhone's Notes app to scan and sign it without having to download any third-party apps.

You may have a flatbed scanner at home or perhaps one of those all-in-one printer/scanner/copier machines, but did you know your smartphones camera can also double as a flatbed scanner?

Its not only fast and convenient to scan something when away from your computer, but the quality is surprisingly good, thanks to much better camera sensors and smarter software.

Your iPhone or Android device is also ideal for digitizing old photos (in photo frames, albums, or hanging on the wall), documents (menus, contracts, vaccination proof), notes, business cards, whiteboards and receipts (ideal for expense tracking or reimbursement)  and then storing those images for when you need them or sending them to someone else, if desired, via email or text.

Obviously, a scan really means taking a photo of what youre pointing the camera at, but the technology can go beyond that.

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Along with adding color and lighting correction to photos, todays phones also boast OCR technology, which stands for optical character recognition, which can translate typewritten (and even handwritten) words into editable and searchable text.

Without OCR, when you scan, say, a newspaper article, it saves it as an image file on your phone, but you wont be able to search for a keyword or text a friend specific sentences from within the article.

To digitally import text using your iPhones Notes app, simply hover your camera lens over the desired text and it will magically appear as a Notes document.

Heres how to get going:

For iPhone users

Heres how to use the Notes app to scan documents, photos and even add a handwritten signature using your fingertip.

Open the Notes app and create a new note (or select an existing one) Tap the Camera button at the bottom of the screen and select Scan Documents (yes, even if its a photo). Place whatever youre scanning your document in view of the camera. If your device is in Auto mode, your document will automatically scan. If you need to manually capture a scan, tap the Shutter button to scan (or one of the Volume buttons). Drag the corners to adjust the scan to fit the page, then tap Keep Scan.

Story continues

If you scanned a photo, youll also see some editing options at the bottom of your iPhone screen, such as cropping, tweaking the color and lighting, adding a filter (such as black & white) and more. Tap Done, followed by Save.

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(But be aware this will stay in your Notes folder. If youre digitizing a paper photo, its probably better to open the Camera and snap the photo and you will have many more editing and sharing options.)

How to sign a form using your iPhone

If the document you scanned needs to be signed, such as a waiver to swim in a public pool, follow these additional steps:

Open the Notes app and then tap the document in the note. Tap the Share button, which is in the top right of your screen and looks like a square with an arrow pointing up. Tap Markup icon. Use your fingertip (or a stylus) to sign wherever you need to. You can use your fingers to zoom in and out the document before you sign. There are different pen and marker options to select at the bottom of the screen if you like. When youve finished, tap Done.

If you want to see this in action, I created a short Twitter video demonstrating how to do this.

Turn your #iPhone into a flatbed scanner!



For todays #TechTipofTheDay (#TTOTD) no. 349, heres how to digitally scan & sign a paper document.



1. Press & hold Notes icon. Tap Scan Document.

2. Scan any paper.

3. Tap "Share" button and choose Markup.

4. Sign, save n' send! pic.twitter.com/iWIZAxDF12  Marc Saltzman (@marc_saltzman) July 9, 2021

Use iPhone to digitize text

One of my favorite iPhone tricks is using the camera to immediately (and accurately) import text, as I demonstrate here.

For example, say youre flipping through a cookbook and see something you want to make for dinner. Rather than manually typing out the ingredients you need to buy at the supermarket, hovering your iPhone camera above the recipe will immediately import the text into your Notes app.

Heres how:

Open the Notes app, tap to start a new note. Tap the Camera icon above the virtual keyboard and select Scan Text. Hover your iPhone camera above the text you want to capture (see the actual cookbook on the bottom third o the screen) and watch the words pop up in the Notes app (the top two-thirds of the screen). When youve finished, tap Done.

How to digitize text with an Android phone

its easy for Android users to digitally scan text, which also includes OCR (optical character recognition) to digitize the captured words and numbers, too (ideal for importing business cards into your Contacts, as an example).

Android users, on the other hand, can use the Google Drive app built into the phone to scan documents, but use the Camera app to digitize text with OCR (see below).

If you dont see the Google Drive icon on your home screen, which looks like a colorful triangle, simply search for the word drive and itll pop up.

How to use Android for regular documents:

Open the Google Drive app and at the bottom right, tap Add (the large plus sign). Tap the Scan icon. Now take a photo of the document that you'd like to scan. To adjust the scan area, tap Crop (bottom right icon) and move the blue dots wherever you like (such as cropping out the top of a desk behind the document youre scanning). If its a multi-page document youre scanning and want them all to be part of one PDF document, tap the Add (+) symbol again to scan more pages or tap the Checkmark to upload the document to Google Drive. (Every Google Account starts with 15 gigabytes of free storage  shared across Google Drive, Gmail and Google Photos  but you can always pay for more or choose to download and save your scans to your phones memory if you prefer.) To save the finished document, tap Done.

How to digitize text using an Android phone

Open your Camera app and point the phone at a document. As you do this, the phone will recognize its a document  like a contract or a business card  and add highlighted borders in yellow, along with a Scan icon on the right side of the screen. Select the words Tap to Scan and youll be prompted to draw the corners of the image to crop it. Tap the Save option.

If you dont see this option, open the Camera apps Settings and choose Scene optimizer, to ensure the Scan documents option is enabled.

COUNTERSURVEILLANCE: How to know if someone is snooping on your PC or Mac

Follow Marc on Twitter @marc_saltzman for his Tech Tip of the Day posts Email him or subscribe to his Tech It Out" podcast. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: iPhone, Android tricks: How to your smartphone to digitize text
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Gazprombank is seen at a branch office in Moscow

By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) - The United States on Sunday unveiled sanctions against three Russian television stations, banned Americans from providing accounting and consulting services to Russians, and sanctioned executives from Gazprombank to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

The new sanctions are the latest effort by the United States to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin after his country's assault on Ukraine and came as President Joe Biden met virtually with G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss the war.

The measures leveled against Gazprombank executives were the first involving the giant Russian gas exporter as the United States and its allies have avoided taking steps that might lead to disruptions of gas to Europe, Russia's main customer.

"This is not a full block. We're not freezing the assets of Gazprombank or prohibiting any transactions with Gazprombank," a senior Biden administration official told reporters. "What we're signaling is that Gazprombank is not a safe haven, and so we're sanctioning some of their top business executives ... to create a chilling effect."

Eight executives from Sberbank, which holds one-third of Russia's banking assets, were added to the sanctions list. Moscow Industrial Bank and its 10 subsidiaries were also added.

The new export control restrictions were aimed at directly degrading Putin's war effort, including controls on industrial engines, bulldozers, wood products, motors, and fans. The European Union is moving in tandem with additional controls on chemicals that feed directly into the Russian military effort, the official said.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a special operation that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbor's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists. Ukraine and its allies say Russia launched an unprovoked war.

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Limited Liability Company Promtekhnologiya, a weapons maker, was sanctioned, along with seven shipping companies and a marine towing company. The White House also said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would suspend licenses for exports of special nuclear material to Russia.

The sanctioned television stations are directly or indirectly state-controlled, the White House said, and included Joint Stock Company Channel One Russia, Television Station Russia-1, and Joint Stock Company NTV Broadcasting Company.

Americans will be prohibited from providing accounting, trust and corporate formation, and management consulting services to Russians, though providing legal services is still permissible.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
(Bloomberg) --

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to gradually phase out imports of Russian oil as he joined other Group of Seven leaders in stepping up pressure on President Vladimir Putin by pledging to halt crude imports from his country.

Oil fluctuated in trading to start the week with investors weighing the impact of the move by the bloc. Crude has had a tempestuous year as Russias invasion of Ukraine upends global commodity markets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy marked a day of remembrance for the defeat of Nazi Germany, with Putin set to address a military parade in Moscow Monday where he may lay out the next steps of his war.

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

Key Developments

Mariupol Steel Plants Dead Men Defenders Call for Rescue Plan

U.S. Bans Accounting Services to Russia in New Sanctions Package

Ukraines Tiny Neighbor Suffers Economic Fallout From the War

Hungary Continues to Block EU Oil Sanctions on Russia

All times CET:

Oil Swings as Traders Weigh G-7 Crude Ban (5:16 a.m.)

Oil fluctuated as investors weighed a pledge by the Group of Seven to ban imports of Russian crude against a cut in official prices by Saudi Arabia and the impact of Chinas energy-sapping lockdowns.

West Texas Intermediate traded near $110 a barrel after earlier losing as much as 1.7%. The U.S. and the U.K. have already moved to ban imports of Russian fuel in response to the assault, but the weekend pledge by the G-7 will increase the pressure on Moscow further.

Read more: Oil Swings as Traders Weigh Up G-7 Crude Ban, Saudi Price Cuts

Jill Biden to Meet President of Slovakia (2:32 a.m.)

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Jill Biden finishes her trip to the region with a meeting Monday with Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova before returning to Washington, her office said in a statement.

The U.S. first lady earlier crossed into western Ukraine for an unannounced visit and met Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelenska. Zelenska hasnt appeared in public since Feb. 24, the day of Russias invasion, a U.S. official said.

Read more: Jill Biden Meets Zelenskiys Wife in Unannounced Ukraine Visit

U.S. Bans Accounting Services to Russia (1:39 a.m.)

The U.S. banned American accounting and consulting firms from working with Russia and imposed its first sanctions on Gazprombank.

The latest penalties include new export controls on industrial goods, limits on three of Russias top state-controlled television stations and additional visa restrictions, according to a White House statement.

Read more: U.S. Bans Accounting Services to Russia in Added Sanctions

Japan Takes Difficult Decision on Russia Oil (12:48 a.m.)

The impact of the ban is likely to be limited, as the worlds third-largest economy imported only 3.6% of its crude oil from Russia in March, compared to 10.8% of its coal and 8.8% of its gas in 2021. Still, the move threatens to add to surging gasoline costs that have stoked inflationary fears ahead of an upper house of parliament election two months away.

Read more: Japans Kishida Says Phasing Out Russian Oil to Take Time

U.K. Sets Third Round of Russia Sanctions (11:30 p.m.)

The U.K. announced a third round of trade sanctions against Russia and Belarus, taking to more than 4 billion pounds ($4.9 billion) the value of products subject to full or partial import and export bans.

New import tariffs will cover 1.4 billion pounds in goods, including platinum and palladium. Russia is a leading producer of both metals and is highly dependent on the U.K. as a buyer of its exports, the U.K. government said in a statement.

Zelenskiy Calls on G-7 to Keep Up Arms Supplies (10:45 p.m.)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked G-7 countries for supplying weapons and said they need to keep up supplies so Ukraine can defeat Russia, according to an account of his comments to Group of Seven leaders on Sunday provided by his office.

Deliveries of multiple-rocket launchers, for instance, would have saved many lives, he told the G-7.

Trudeau Pledges More Military Aid in Kyiv Visit (10:02 p.m.)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv and said Canada will provide an additional $50 million in military support, including drone cameras, satellite imagery, small arms and artillery ammunition, his office said in a statement.

Canada will also continue to help with demining operations, Trudeau told reporters in the Ukrainian capital, where he also reopened the Canadian Embassy during his previously unannounced trip.

Mariupol Steel Plant Defenders Call for Rescue (9:19 p.m.)

If Russias President Vladimir Putin hoped to mark Victory Day by celebrating the capture or surrender of Mariupols last Ukrainian defenders, a Zoom appearance by their commanders suggests hell have to wait.

In an online press conference on Sunday, an intelligence officer of the Azov regiment holed up in the southeastern port citys massive Azovstal steel factory said surrender would amount to suicide. He said they had enough food and weapons to hold out a while yet.

Describing their increasingly grim, and likely ultimately hopeless, circumstances, Illia Samoilenko also made clear his bitterness with the Ukrainian government in Kyiv. It had, he said, failed in its defense of southern Ukraine, where Russia made much faster progress than in the north, and had abandoned Mariupols garrison to its fate.

Lockheed Seeks to Double Javelin Missile Output (8:03 p.m.)

Lockheed Martin Corp. is working to almost double its production capacity for Javelin missiles to 4,000 a year and achieving that goal will require the supply chain to crank up, the defense contractors top executive said.

The Ukrainian army has used Lockheeds missiles to great effect in destroying Russian tanks and armaments, and the company is ramping up production to ensure the U.S. militarys supplies arent depleted. Right now Lockheed can build about 2,100 Javelins a year, Chief Executive Officer Jim Taiclet said Sunday on CBSs Face the Nation.

G-7 Leaders Commit to Russia Oil Import Ban (6:30 p.m.)

Leaders of the Group of Seven pledged to ban the import of Russian oil.

The heads of the leading economies made the commitment after holding a video call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday, the eve of Russias May 9 Victory Day, which commemorates Russias victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The date has become a touchstone of the Kremlins campaign to whip up public support for the invasion.

The leaders will commit to phase out our dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, the G-7 said in the statement.

Germanys Scholz Sets Limits on Ukraine Policy (6:00 p.m.)

Chancellor Olaf Scholz outlined limits on Germanys efforts to help Ukraine in a televised address. While Germany will continue to supply heavy weapons to help Ukraine defend against Russia, Europes biggest economy wont sacrifice its security or affluence, he said.

U.S. Diplomats in Kyiv Ahead of Embassy Reopening (5:15 p.m.)

Charge dAffaires Kristina Kvien led a team of U.S. diplomats that traveled to Kyiv for ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba the diplomats were there to conduct diplomatic engagement in advance of the planned resumption of Embassy Kyiv operations, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

The U.S. initially moved its diplomats to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv in the days leading up to Russias invasion, then operated from Poland. Diplomats last month started making day trips into Lviv.

Russian Infrastructure Official Visits Mariupol (4:30 p.m.)

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, whose portfolio includes construction, visited occupied areas of Ukraine including the recently captured city of Mariupol, according to a statement posted to his Telegram channel.

Khusnullin, who was sanctioned by the European Union in February for his role in undermining Ukrainian sovereignty, said Russia would help the seized territories rebuild and provide humanitarian support.

Vitol Says Itll Get Harder to Trade Russian Oil From Mid-May (2:30 p.m.)

Commodity firms will find it much harder to buy and sell Russian oil from the middle of this month, according to the worlds biggest independent crude trader, as Europe tightens sanctions on Moscow.

Russias exports of crude and oil products have probably dropped by about 1 million barrels a day from 7.5 million before the attack in late February, Mike Muller, head of Asia at Vitol Group, said Sunday. They could fall further after May 15, he said, because many trading houses interpret EU regulations as prohibiting them from dealing with Russian state energy companies beyond then. There will be a different reality.

U2s Bono, the Edge Perform in Kyiv Metro (2:26 p.m.)

Bono and the Edge, members of Irish rock band U2, performed in a Kyiv metro station on Sunday at the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, the band said on Twitter.

In a video posted by Ukrainian politician Serhiy Leshchenko, the pair were seen with Taras Topolia, front man of the local band Antytila, performing the Ben E. King standard, Stand by Me.

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Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN), said on Sunday that first lady Jill Bidens visit to Ukraine sends a strong message of support amid Russias ongoing invasion of its neighbor.

During an appearance on CNNs State of the Union, Thomas-Greenfield told moderator Jake Tapper that Bidens visit with her Ukrainian counterpart, Olena Zelenska, sends an important message of encouragement on this Mothers Day.

The first ladys visit has given so much support and encouragement to the Ukrainian women and children and for her to go there on Mothers Day to meet with the Ukrainian first lady, I think, sends a very strong, a very positive message, Thomas-Greenfield told Tapper.

Thomas-Greenfield also mentioned that she saw the strength and courage Ukrainian women have shown during her travels a few weeks ago, adding that Bidens visit will send a strong message regarding U.S.-Ukraine relations.

Ive met with Ukrainian mothers at the border when I traveled to Romania and Moldova a few weeks ago, Ive seen the strength that these women have, Thomas-Greenfield told Tapper.

So having the first lady there, encouraging them supporting them, actually, in Ukraine, I think sends a strong message of support and commitment that the U.S. government has to supporting Ukrainians moving forward, Thomas-Greenfield concluded.

Biden made a surprise visit to the western part of Ukraine earlier Sunday to meet with Zelenska.

It was a part of Bidens trip to Europe over the weekend, where she first met with Ukrainian refugees.

Russias invasion of Ukraine, which began last February, has killed thousands on both sides and displaced more than 5.8 million Ukrainian citizens.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Anti-abortion and pro-choice supporters, spurred by the leaked draft opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, demonstrate outside a federal courthouse in Indianapolis, May 3, 2022. (Jamie Kelter Davis/The New York Times)

For nearly half a century, the anti-abortion movement has propelled itself toward a goal that at times seemed impossible, even to true believers: overturning Roe v. Wade.

That single-minded mission meant coming to Washington every January for the March for Life to mark Roes anniversary. It required electing anti-abortion lawmakers and keeping the pressure on to pass state restrictions. It involved funding anti-abortion lobbying groups, praying and protesting outside clinics, and opening facilities to persuade women to keep their pregnancies. Then this past week, the leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the constitutional right to abortion revealed that anti-abortion activists dream of a post-Roe America appeared poised to come to pass.

The courts opinion is not final, but the draft immediately shifted the horizon by raising a new question: If Roe is struck down, where does the anti-abortion movement go next?

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Many leaders are redoubling state efforts, where theyve already had success, with an eye toward more restrictive measures. Several prominent groups now say they would support a national abortion ban after as many as 15 weeks or as few as six, all lower than Roes standard of around 23 or 24. A vocal faction is talking about abortion abolition, proposing legislation to outlaw abortion after conception, with few if any exceptions in cases of rape or incest.

The sprawling anti-abortion grassroots campaign is rapidly approaching an entirely new era, one in which abortion would no longer be a nationally protected right to overcome, but a decision to be legislated by individual states. For many activists, overturning Roe would mark what they see as not the end, but a new beginning to limit abortion access even further. It also would present a test, as those who have long backed incremental change could clash with those who increasingly push to end legal abortion altogether.

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This past week, many anti-abortion leaders were wary of celebrating before the courts final ruling, expected this summer. They remembered Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, when they hoped the court would overturn Roe and it ultimately did not. But they said they have been preparing for this moment and its possibilities for decades.

If a dog catches a car, it doesnt know what to do, said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee. We do.

The Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion political group, is planning a strategy involving state legislatures in which it sees room to advance its cause or protect it. The National Right to Life is trying to support its affiliates in every state as it looks to lobby lawmakers. Both groups have been hoping to build support in Congress for a national abortion ban, even if it could take years, just as it did to gain momentum to undo Roe. Many Republicans have repeatedly tried to enact a ban at about 20 weeks, without success. This coming week, Democrats in the Senate are bringing a bill to codify abortion rights to a vote, but it is all but certain to be blocked by Republicans.

Abortion-rights advocates are using the moment to reenergize their own supporters, organize protests and mobilize for midterm elections in November. Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Emilys List announced Monday, hours before the leaked draft appeared, that they would spend a collective $150 million on the midterm election cycle. Other groups are planning a nationwide day of action May 14, with marches in cities including New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles.

The reality of the leaked draft shocked casual supporters of abortion rights who werent paying particularly close attention to the issue, or who had grown numb after decades of warnings about the end of Roe.

People just couldnt fathom losing a constitutional right that has been enshrined for nearly half a century, said Kristin Ford, vice president of communications and research for NARAL Pro-Choice America. To see it in such stark terms has really galvanized people.

Across the anti-abortion spectrum, everything is on the table, from instituting bans when fetal cardiac activity is detected to pressing their case in Democratic strongholds. Some activists are prioritizing limiting medication abortion, which accounts for more than half of all abortions.

This past week in Georgia, former Sen. David Perdue, who is challenging Gov. Brian Kemp in the Republican primary for governor, called for a special session to eliminate all of abortion in the state, which already has an abortion ban at about six weeks on the books that would likely take effect if Roe is overturned.

While many fighting for restrictions believe abortion to be murder, only a small fringe openly call for punishing a woman for procuring one.

Lawmakers in Louisiana, however, advanced a bill Wednesday that would classify abortion as homicide and make it possible for prosecutors to bring criminal cases against women who end a pregnancy.

If the fetus is a person, then we should protect them with the same homicide laws that protect born persons, said Bradley Pierce, who helped draft the Louisiana legislation and leads the Foundation to Abolish Abortion. Thats what equal protection means.

A more prominent anti-abortion group, Louisiana Right to Life, however, opposes the bill for going too far.

For the more mainstream campaigners, a post-Roe landscape would mean the anti-abortion fight will become even broader, clearing the path to expand further into state politics. It will be different work, said Mallory Carroll, spokesperson for the Susan B. Anthony List. If Roe is overturned, anti-abortion activists would be free to pass legislation without having to work around Roes limits. Instead of just fighting for the right to pass pro-life laws, we will actually be able to pass and protect pro-life laws, she said.

On Monday, before the leak, a coalition led by Students for Life Action told Republican members of Congress in a letter that abortion restrictions even at 12 weeks of pregnancy were not sufficient but that what ultimately mattered was whether the infant is a human being.

Ultimately, abortion opponents biggest goal extends beyond legislation. It is an effort to change broader American culture and get more people to see a fetus as a human person with an inherent right to life. Many activists talk about making abortion not merely illegal but unthinkable.

Public opinion polls show that a majority of Americans say abortion should be legal in at least some cases. But anti-abortion activists say they see plenty of room for persuasion in the details. Polling also suggests most Americans are open to some restrictions. Thirty-four percent of Americans say abortion should be legal at 14 weeks of pregnancy  roughly the end of the first trimester  compared with 27% who say it should be illegal, according to a survey released Friday by the Pew Research Center. An additional 22% say it depends.

We are prepared to not only create a legal landscape to protect life at the federal and state levels, but also to support a culture of life, said Kristen Waggoner, general counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which supports Mississippis ban at 15 weeks that led to the Supreme Court case that could overturn Roe.

Advocates on the left see the leaked draft laying out a playbook for a sweeping attempt to roll back other established rights. There are some folks on the right saying theyre just turning back to the states, when in fact its very clear their agenda is much broader than that, Ford of NARAL said. Its not just about abortion.

Criticism that such a decision could create a cultural revolution, potentially upending precedent protections for other issues, including contraception and same-sex and interracial marriage is hysteria and scaremongering, Waggoner said.

Abortion uniquely has sustained support and energy, as shown by the annual March for Life, abortion opponents said.

Carroll, the spokesperson for the Susan B. Anthony List, noted that there have not been sustained mass protests over other landmark Supreme Court rulings, on issues such as interracial marriage and contraception.

The movement has long been divided loosely into incrementalists, mainstream groups such as the Susan B. Anthony List and the National Right to Life Committee, that for years focused on gaining ground restriction by restriction, and absolutists, who saw anything less than the total elimination of abortion as failure. This moment is a convergence of both, with the court considering reversing Roe, and states like Texas and Oklahoma effectively banning abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even realize they are pregnant.

Now there are emerging disagreements on the moral and practical benefits of strategies like prosecuting pregnant women and making it illegal to cross state lines for an abortion.

Pierce, of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, the group behind the Louisiana bill that would punish women who end a pregnancy, said that the anti-abortion movement as a whole has treated Roe as the law of the land and has really just tried to regulate abortion like health care, or like an industry instead of dealing with it like homicide.

Much of the anti-abortion campaigns energy comes from a network of church ministries and small nonprofits that work directly with pregnant women, with the goal of making it possible for more women to choose options other than abortion.

But the effort as a whole is only beginning to face the vast needs of pregnant women, from child care to health care to housing. Those needs will only expand as women in states that ban abortion could be required to carry their pregnancies to term.

In 2019, the Trump administration offered a $1.7 million grant to a California-based network of facilities run by an anti-abortion nonprofit that sought to compete with Planned Parenthood. In Texas, Republican lawmakers assigned $100 million in their 2022-23 budget to a program called Alternatives to Abortion, which distributes funds to an array of anti-abortion nonprofits.

Anti-abortion pregnancy centers typically provide free pregnancy tests, as well as pregnancy and parenting resources. Some centers offer services like ultrasounds and referrals to prenatal care, employment and other needs.

Our ministry model has been a post-Roe ministry model from the beginning, said Roland Warren, president and CEO of Care Net, a network of more than 1,100 pregnancy resource centers across the country.

Critics say the centers are ill-prepared to serve as a meaningful social safety net.

We know they are inadequate, and we know they are not ready, said Katrina Kimport, an associate professor with Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco.

Abortion-rights activists call the centers fake clinics that mislead women about what they actually offer and stigmatize abortion.

Kimport, a sociologist, has studied pregnant womens experiences at pregnancy resource centers. Although many clients are grateful for things like free diapers and baby clothes, the scale of need far exceeds what the centers were able to provide for them, she said. Were talking about prenatal vitamins and they dont have stable housing.

 2022 The New York Times Company
Visitors from near and far have been seeking refuge at a farm in Culpeper County to escape the daily cares and pressures of life. They are com
Thomas Michael Holliday Jr. of Hartwood Troop 1717B, the son of Thomas and Sarah Holliday of Stafford County, has earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Scouts BSA. A special court of honor was held May 7; Scoutmaster Michael Grabber officiated. In addition to the Eagle rank, Michael also earned four Eagle palms for having completed an additional 20 merit badges beyond the 21 necessary for Eagle, leading to a total of 41 merit badges.

For his Eagle Scout service project, Michael led a group of friends, family and fellow Scouts to create an educational nature trail behind Falmouth Elementary School. The path is focused on teaching students about various native plants and providing them with a beautiful landscape to learn and reflect within. The trail was created from scratch, which included clearing the woods of small trees and existing ground foliage; as well as leveling the trail for ease of use for all students, including those with special needs, before placing the native species and plant signs. Teacher guides for each classroom were also provided in order to help teachers guide their students through the trail.

Michael joined Scouting as a Tiger Cub with Cub Scout Pack 773 in Pasadena, Maryland, ultimately advancing through the ranks to earn his Arrow of Light award, the highest award in Cub Scouting, as well as achieving the coveted Super Achiever award for completing all of the Webelos requirements and rank pins. Michael also earned the Parvuli Dei (Light of Christ) award during this time. Michael crossed over to Scouts, BSA Troop 516, sponsored by Saint Andrews Chapel. In the winter of 2018, Michael decided to support his younger brother, Alexander, in transitioning from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and shifted over to Troop 1717, which is proudly sponsored by the historic Hartwood Presbyterian Church. There, Michael served in multiple leadership roles, including senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, patrol leader and troop Order of the Arrow representative. Michael was elected to the Order of the Arrow, Scoutings camping honor society, where he became brotherhood member of the AmangamekWipit Lodge 470. There, he served as the vice chief of ceremonies on two occasions and proudly served as a ceremonialist principal for five years.

Michael has camped widely throughout his Scouting career, including many troop campouts and summer camps in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Virginia. He has also participated in several Order of the Arrow fellowships and conclaves. The highlight for him was the chance to make a day trip to the World Scout Jamboree at Bechtel Summit in West Virginia in the summer of 2019.

Michael, a senior at Stafford High School, has earned an academic letter and a varsity letter and pin as a member of the wrestling team; he has been a member of Scribe literary magazine. He is a parishioner of Saint Marys Catholic Church and a volunteer at SERVE whenever possible. He also enjoys being a mentor to younger students.

Michael has aspirations of exploring a career in forensic science and psychology and has been accepted at the University of Tampa in Florida in pursuit of that goal. In addition, the university has awarded him an academic merit scholarship for his exemplary work and focus on his studies.

Scouts BSA Troops 1717B (boys) and 1717G (girls) meet at the Hartwood Presbyterian Church hall on Mondays at 7 p.m.. To find a Cub Scout Pack or Scouts BSA Troop near you, visit BeaScout.org.
World Relief Saturday, an annual event unique to Lake of the Woods Lions Club, is a way that the club can reach out to offer help outside of the local community. When natural disasters strike, Lions Clubs are among the first to offer help. Lions Clubs International Foundation offers assistance in a variety of ways, including major catastrophe, emergency, community recovery and disaster preparedness grants.

On Sept. 18, 2021, Lake of the Woods Lions held its third annual World Relief Saturday, and 100% of the proceeds from that mornings yard sale were donated to support LCIFs worldwide disaster relief programs. With sales of $2,216 and $936 in cash donations, LOW Lions was able to send a $3,152 check to LCIF in support of this important effort.

Because of the overwhelming need to aid and support Ukrainian refugees, LOW Lions designated March 19, 2022, as a special World Relief Saturday. This was no ordinary Saturday. Shoppers came determined to buy and were generous with their donations for the Ukrainian Refugees Fund. Sales reached $2,971, and along with cash donations from customers and club members, LOW Lions was able to send a check for $26,545 to the LCIF Refugees and Displaced Persons Fund for Ukraine.

The club would like to offer a big thank you to all LOW Lions who volunteered or donated and to the extremely generous neighbors who supported this important cause on that very special Saturday.
A variable speed zone on Interstate 95 is expected to go live soon.

Fredericksburgs Virginia Department of Transportation Administrator Marcie Parker noted the launch of the zone among other upcoming projects during a gathering at the recent local meeting with state officials for the draft of the transportation Six-Year Improvement program.

VDOT hasnt released a specific start date for the $10.6 million project that will add variable speed limits along a 15-mile stretch of the interstate, from three miles north of the Ladysmith exit to State Route 3.

We are still planning to activate variable speed limits on I95 northbound this spring, so we are very close! local VDOT spokeswoman Kelly Hannon said in an email. We remain on target for this season.

That stretch leads into the bottleneck where northbound traffic often proves unpredictable.

Parker said local traffic congestion problems are probably going to continue for several years because of construction on the interstate, and the variable speed zone is designed to help avoid frustrations for drivers.

The variable speed zone is designed to help traffic adjust to unexpected slowing and stoppages by using dynamic messaging boards and multiple new signs to show the variable speeds, which will range between 35 mph and the normal speed limits of 6570 mph along the corridor.

Using detectors along the interstate, VDOT will use real-time information on speeds and traffic volume ahead of the variable speed zone. A software program will then recognize when traffic is changing and assign incrementally lower speeds in the corridor. Speeds also can be managed by operators at the VDOT Traffic Operations Center.

The new speed limit signs are up but not running yet. VDOT has been testing the system and collecting algorithm data since November.

This is gonna kind of slow you down before you get there, Parker told the group, including Virginias secretary of transportation, at James Monroe High School during the meeting in late April. It seems kind of counterintuitive, but it will work  You wont be going 65, but you will get through smooth. Theres nothing anybody hates worse than stop-and-go traffic.

The variable speed zone was recommended as part of the I95 Corridor Improvement Plan in 2019. Depending on how the local corridor works, others could be implemented throughout the state.

Debris cleanup

Folks in Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties are probably wondering why debris from the early January storm still clutters the shoulders along some roads.

That cleanup proved more extensive than planned, and is expected to continue into June.

About a month ago, VDOT announced its revised estimates. The debris amounted to about 1.2 million cubic yards in the 14-county district, a big bump over the initial estimate of 300,000 cubic yards.

VDOT has 16 contracted crews working seven days a week to clear out the debris.

If you havent seen them yet, you should soon.

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TRADE SCHOOLS are an equally respectable option as traditional 4-year colleges

The days of having a college diploma guarantee a good job have long been over. More and more, college graduates are not only seeing employers shrug their shoulders at diplomas, but also the job opportunities that are available to them often dont pay enough to cover their student loan debt.

President Joe Biden, well aware of the college debt burden to graduates, promised in his presidential campaign to forgive $10,000 of student loan debt per borrower, but as of this writing, that has not happened.

While there currently is a pause on federal student loan repayments, that ends Aug. 31. It is not known if Biden will be able to fulfill his hopeful campaign promise. His administration is continuing to pursue it, taking a piecemeal approach while it explores its legal authority to pursue wider loan forgiveness programs without congressional support.

However, more and more it is looking like the best way to avoid student loan debt is to not take one out in the first place. For many, this would mean not attending college, a thought that for a long time was blasphemous for many.

For years, graduating college was considered the best, most respectable route to a good career. However, the burden of student loan debt is something that should be considered by every potential college student, along with the realization that many of the most secure, best-paying jobs are available for applicants who went to trade or vocational school instead of college graduates.

Additionally, along with good jobs with good benefits, often including a pension, which is a foreign concept to many college graduates, the jobs that require trade or vocational school are good for the country.

One of the things highlighted by the current state of world affairs is Americas reliance on others for things that we used to take care of on our own, such as manufacturing and infrastructure. These sectors, along with transportation, are expected to grow in coming years, and many of those jobs do not require a college degree. Instead, they require trade or vocational school.

The problem for too long has been the stigma about choosing trade school over college. For decades, a four-year college degree has been looked at as the true path to success, but we are now seeing that college is not the best or most practical option for many.

I am not saying college is only for those who can afford itanyone who wishes to go to college should. I am simply saying that trade and vocational schools should be viewed as respectable alternatives that should be considered by more than just those who do not want to be saddled with hefty college loan payments.

Trade school programs usually offer certifications that take two years or less to completeat a fraction of the cost of a traditional college. The Simple Dollar reported that the average trade school costs $33,000, compared with $127,000 for the typical bachelors degree. Additionally, if one tries trade school and then wants to attend college, academic credits from an accredited trade school often transfer, allowing that student to bypass some college classes and thus reducing the cost.

Trade schools typically offer classes in things such as carpentry, masonry, electrical work and construction management, as well as cosmetology; heating, ventilating and air conditioning; and computer-aided drafting and manufacturing. Vocational schools often offer niche training in things such as emergency services, culinary arts and medical or dental fields. All of these jobs are respectable and secure, and many pay more than a job one would get after college.

Not all trade schools are the same. Some have seemingly preyed on trade school candidates, including veterans, single parents and other working adults. I would advise being very wary of for-profit schools, which according to a recent Chicago Tribune editorial, often convert to a nonprofit status to abuse the tax system and boost their profits while making no additional investment in students.

One such school, The Future Tech Career Institute on South Michigan Avenue, is accused of scamming more than 300 military veterans and has been targeted by legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. Of course, not every for-profit trade school is bad, but potential students should research the schools before enrolling and try to find better options if possible.

High school students seem to be realizing the value of trade schools, as evidenced by the increased enrollment at trade schools over the last few years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. It is now time for high schools to present trade schools as a respectable option.

Jeffery Leving is founder and president of the Law Offices of Jeffery Leving. He is the author of Fathers Rights, Divorce Wars and How to be a Good Divorced Dad.
Patriotism, unease mix as Russia marks Victory Day in WWII

The Russian holiday of Victory Day brings out patriotic displays of flags, military parades and marches by veterans' groups celebrating the country's triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945. At first glance, the preparations for Mondays celebration seem to be the same as ever. But the mood this year is very different, because Russian troops are fighting and dying in a war in neighboring Ukraine. The pride and patriotism usually associated with Russias most important holiday is mixing with apprehension and unease over what this years Victory Day may bring. Some Russians fear that President Vladimir Putin will use it to implement a broad mobilization of troops to bolster Russias forces, although the Kremlin denies it.

More than 60 feared dead in bombing of Ukrainian school

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  Dozens of Ukrainians are feared dead after a Russian bomb destroyed a school sheltering about 90 people in eastern Ukraine. The governor of Luhansk province said Sunday that 30 people were rescued from the rubble of the school in the village of Bilohorivka but the rest probably didn't survive. Elsewhere, more explosions rocked the Black Sea port of Odesa. Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers making a last stand at a steel mill in the besieged city of Mariupol said they wouldn't surrender following the evacuation of civilians from the sprawling site. As the largest European conflict since World War II churned on, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. first lady Jill Biden made surprise visits to Ukraine.

Court leak is catnip for those who love a juicy DC whodunit

WASHINGTON (AP)  Theres nothing official Washington loves better than a juicy whodunit. And the mystery over who leaked the Supreme Courts draft opinion in a landmark abortion case offers the added subplot of tantalizing questions about why the leaker did it. Its an intrigue in the tradition of Watergates Deep Throat or the Trump-era whistleblower Anonymous. The hunt for the high court leaker is afoot. Chief Justice John Roberts has ordered an investigation into what he called an egregious breach of trust. And amateur sleuths have been eagerly trading theories on social media. One way or another, big secrets in Washington have a way of eventually coming out.

"Everything shook": Last civilians leave Ukraine steel mill

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  Pale and drawn, the last civilians sheltering in the bunkers beneath the sprawling steel mill in the decimated Ukrainian port city of Mariupol arrived late Sunday night in Zaporizhzhia, the first major Ukrainian city beyond the frontline. The seaside steel mill, where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters are making what appears to be their last stand, is the only part of the city not under Russian control. Thanks to its warren of tunnels and bunkers deep underground, many civilians had chosen it as the safest place to take cover from the relentless shelling of Mariupol, a formerly thriving port city that has been largely reduced to rubble.

EXPLAINER: What comes next with John Lee leading Hong Kong?

HONG KONG (AP)  A Hong Kong committee stacked with mostly pro-Beijing members has almost unanimously voted for John Lee to become the city's next leader. On July 1, the anniversary of Hong Kongs 1997 handover from Britain to China, Lee will take control of the semi-autonomous territory. Outgoing leader Carrie Lam leaves after five tumultuous years that spanned pro-democracy protests in 2019, a subsequent crackdown that snuffed out virtually all dissent, and the coronavirus pandemic. Lee was a career police officer and the city's security chief. His choice signals China's central government in Beijing is looking for someone reliable to ensure that its authority in Hong Kong is never questioned again.

Strong, swirling winds complicate New Mexico wildfire fight

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP)  Fast winds are complicating the fight against fires burning across northeast New Mexico. Wind gusts were as fast as 50 miles per hour on Sunday. That forced some firefighting aircraft to be grounded, taking away a key tool for battling the blazes. The area's largest rural town is Las Vegas, New Mexico, and it appears safe for now thanks to fire lines and other preparations. But the northern and southern ends of the fire are proving trickier to contain with the fast winds. The National Interagency Fire Center says more than 20,000 structures remain threatened.

Havana hotel death toll at 31 as dogs search for survivors

HAVANA (AP)  The death toll of a powerful explosion at a luxury hotel in Cubas capital has increased to 31 as search crews with dogs hunt through the rubble of the iconic, 19th century building looking for people still missing. The five-star Hotel Saratoga in Old Havana was preparing to reopen after being closed for two years when an apparent gas leak caused a massive explosion on Friday. The blast damaged nearby structures, including the historic Marti Theater and the Calvary Baptist Church. It's the headquarters for the denomination in western Cuba. Municipal authorities say burials for victims have begun, but some people are still waiting for news of missing friends and relatives.

Dictator's son a front-runner as Filipinos elect next leader

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Filipinos are voting for a new president with the son of an ousted dictator and a champion of human rights as the top contenders. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the strongman ousted in a 1986 People Power uprising, has led pre-election surveys. But his closest challenger, Vice President Leni Robredo, has tapped into shock and outrage over the prospect of another Marcos holding the top office. The winner of Monday's election will take office on June 30 for a single, six-year term and stands to inherit immense problems, including deep poverty and the legacy of a brutal anti-drugs crackdown led by outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte. His daughter, Sara Duterte, has topped surveys for the vice presidential race.

How climate scientists keep hope alive as damage worsens

Many climate scientists share a sense of optimism with professionals in other tough jobs like emergency room doctors and researchers who study Alzheimers Disease even as they chronicle a world losing its protective balance with the sun. Psychologists say how those experts cope may help us in a world that seems to be going off the rails. Climate scientists who have been through a lot both personally and professionally say the key is often action. Don't wallow, they say. Do something.

EXPLAINER: How 81-1 shot Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby

This doesnt happen. Horses at odds of nearly 81-1 dont win the Kentucky Derby. Jockeys who have never won any big stakes race of any kind dont win the Kentucky Derby. Owners with fewer than 10 career wins dont win the Kentucky Derby. Rich Strike and his connections disagree with those sentiments. One of the biggest upsets in racing history happened Saturday in the Kentucky Derby, when Rich Strike shocked the establishment by running past everyone and winning the first leg of this years Triple Crown series.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Afghanistans Taliban-led government says it is investigating reports that rockets have been fired into Tajikistan from Afghan territory.

The Islamic State (IS) extremist group said earlier on May 8 that it had fired eight rockets from Afghanistan into the territory of neighboring Tajikistan, according to an Afghan media report.

The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) news agency quoted an IS press release claiming the militants had fired the rockets from the Khawaja Ghar district of Afghanistan's Takhar Province toward unspecified military targets in Tajikistan on May 7.



In a statement, however, Tajikistan said bullets, not rockets, were fired accidentally into Tajik territory during a firefight on the Afghan side of the border between Taliban forces and IS militants.

The press center of the State Committee for National Security said border troops have been put on alert but added that the situation at the border "is considered stable and under control" after "bullets accidentally crossed the territory of our country."



No casualties were reported. Neither account could be verified independently and there was no confirmation by the Taliban.

The local IS affiliate, Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), is a foe of the Taliban militants who took over Afghanistan in August following a blitz offensive amid the withdrawal of U.S.-led international troops.

IS-K has claimed responsibility for a series of recent bombings, the worst of which was an attack last month on a mosque and religious school in the northern province of Kunduz that killed at least 33 people.

With reporting by AIP
Colorado Springs is responsible for identifying a site for a passenger rail station that would serve Amtrak and intercity commuter trains, and the staff has narrowed the options down to four sites in the downtown area.

You voted:
Police are investigating an alleged sexual assault involving a child, Colorado Springs police Saturday.

Police officers were notified of a sexual assault just before 1:40 a.m. on Saturday at the 2400 block of Payne Circle East. Upon arrival, police arrested a male suspect on unrelated warrants and took him to El Paso County jail.

The child and their parent were taken to a hospital and evaluated, officials said.

The investigation is ongoing.
Right on schedule, baby Canada geese are making their debut appearance across northern Iowa.

Although nesting Canada geese can be observed on Clear Lake wetlands stretching from the Ventura Marsh to the Lekwa Marsh Wildlife Area; there are perhaps no geese better known to more human residents than the pair of giant honkers who annually set up housekeeping on the small pond located on the east side of Apple Valley Assisted Living.

The geese first showed up in the spring of 2009. The female had been previously fitted with a numbered, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service leg band. It took a bit of patience, but aided by a telephoto lens, I was able to collect all the bands numbers which revealed that the hen was at least four years old that spring.

The love birds promptly built their first nest at waters edge which produced five goslings. Closely guarded by their devoted parents, the sight of the fuzzy newly hatched babies was an endearing sight. It was little wonder that Apple Valley residents immediately adopted the goose family as their own.

Despite the pairs initial success, shoreline nests are often unsuccessful as fluctuating water levels, roving dogs, fox, raccoons, and other factors take a toll on eggs. To help prevent these calamities and enhance future success, Al Hancock and I erected an over-the-water goose structure in the winter of 2009. Returning to the pond in March of 2010, the pair quickly took to the elevated nest and produced six goslings.

The pair continued to successfully nest in the structure each spring until the banded female failed to return in 2018. At least 12 years old in 2017, the hen had produced a total of 45 goslings during her lifetime.

In 2018, a new pair arrived on the pond and quickly claimed the nest structure. Upon reaching adulthood, female Canada geese tend to return to natal areas. The new three-year-old female -- also banded  was likely a daughter of the original hen.

Since their appearance in 2018, the pair has continued to return each March and have produced a successful nest each year.

This year, and just in time for Mothers Day, the pair hatched a brood of six fuzzy little babies on Saturday, May 7. A total of 59 goslings have been produced at the Apple Valley pond.

Enjoy more wildlife tales online at Washburns Outdoor Journal at iawildlife.org/blog

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So, my regular (and maybe some irregular) coffee guys got together, seated at the big rectangular round table last week and were, for the first time since late January "All Present and Accounted For, Sir!"

Bits and pieces of this quorum have met every week during this hiatus, but since totality could not be achieved, the eclipse could not be compassed and the remarkable solutions to threatening problems, we as a unit only can provide to the American way of life, had become dormant and hibernating.

Lucky for y'all that high cholesterol breakfasts and copious amounts of caffeine came to the top of each of our lists.

After a few minutes of desultory family updates, stories, bad jokes and reminiscences, we got down to the business that is America.

First out of the shoot was the situation in Ukraine, and frankly, we never got off of that topic.

You have to remember that the make-up of my "Band of Brothers" goes from hippy war protestor to Viet Nam General Westmoreland's volunteer driver and every ideology in between.

So one would expect the dialogue to be pretty circular, yet, in amongst some exclamations that we should mount up and become a 70-year-old lean, mean, fighting machine for Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the serious conversation turned to;

"What is a Just War?"

Although the term "Just War" sounds like the mother of all oxymorons, I remember studying it in both US Army command school and again in a college philosophy course as a bromide concept necessary to the overall premise of waging an ethical and moral war.

Centuries-old and occasionally modernized, universal and ubiquitous decalogues for the moral conduct of wars exist within international agreements.

Some of those still in force you may know; Hague Conventions; Geneva Conventions; and Abraham Lincoln's Lieber Code (General Order 100-1863).

The most frequently quoted as the earliest theses covering the likely philosophical tenets for a "Just War" were written by St. Thomas Aquinas, who makes these points:

 The war must have a just cause.

 The war must be declared and controlled by a proper authority.

 The war must be fought to promote good or avoid evil, with the aim of restoring peace and justice after the war is over.

 The war must be a last resort when all peaceful solutions have been tried and failed.

 The war should be fought with 'proportionality', with just enough force to achieve victory and only against legitimate combatant targets.

 The good which is achieved by the war must be greater than the evil which led to the war.

Yet, sitting with a table full of warriors of all kinds; veterans of wars and engagements, some militarized, some personal and some spiritual, the unanimous consensus was that "All Wars Suck".

In the time in which we live, and knowing the place that this Earth is becoming, I get hives from thinking about politicians, academicians, scientists, clerics, philosophers, The New World Order, and even me and you, toiling to come up with the perfect criteria for a "Just War".

Tolstoy, in his epic, "War and Peace", ruminates, "If there were none of this playing by the rules with such chivalry and generosity in warfare, we would never go to war, except for staring down that which is so evil, that without confronting it, our own life is moot and meaningless."

The Ukrainian people are staring down that which is evil and are fighting for their very lives.

The "Free World" is calling out Vladimir Putin as a "War Criminal", not because it makes a good sound bite, but to let him know that he could be tried for said crimes by an international tribunal, and find himself dancing at the end of a short rope when convicted.

If anyone is looking for hangman volunteers, I know of a table full of grizzled old veterans of war and veterans of life, any one of whom would welcome drawing that straw.

But in the final analysis and at the end of the day, war in Ukraine, defined either just or unjust, cannot determine who is in the right or who is wrong, only, as with all wars, who is left.

JW Sayles is a Mason City resident. Opinions are his own.
Re: To combat persistent counterfeiting, Lackland's currency was redesigne [ #permalink

To combat persistent counterfeiting, Lackland's currency was redesigned to include images that cannot be convincingly duplicated by the means used to successfully counterfeit the old bills. Last year, after the old currency was replaced, many crude counterfeits of the new bills were detected. But now it has been several months since any counterfeit currency has been found. Therefore, it is clear that counterfeiters have largely abandoned their attempt to reproduce the new currency, always assuming that _______.



Which of the following most logically completes the argument?





A. none of the old currency is still in use in Lackland Incorrect



already know old currency was replaced by new currency



B. there are no other currencies that can be convincingly duplicated using the old techniques Incorrect



argument is talk about only Lackland's currency, other currencies are irrelevant



C. they have no adopted new counterfeiting techniques Correct



possible choice - that is the reason counterfeiters abandoned their attempt to reproduce the new currency



D. the penalties for counterfeiting have not increased Incorrect



irrelevant



E. Lackland's currency is worth more than when the new bills were first introduced Incorrect



not related with last line
The next wave of infections courtesy of ever-changing COVID-19 variants likely will look vastly different compared to the roller coaster of guidelines from the last two years.

Thats because itll be the first surge as the Dan River Region  and the nation  enters a new phase of the pandemic: navigating how to coexist with an illness that wont go away.

COVID will be with us for quite a while, Dr. Scott Spillmann, director of the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District, said bluntly Friday.

At least for this moment, caseloads are at a low level compared to other parts of the two-year COVID-19 battle. That means many residents have lifted the veil of protective measures and returned to a routine lifestyle.

We are learning to live with COVID, Spillmann told the Register & Bee.

That said, vaccinations and safe behaviors continue to be the foundations of good health with COVID as well as many other health issues, he stressed.

Those standards include the now-famous three Ws  washing hands, watching distance and wearing a mask  and things like covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.

Despite our hopes and wishes, COVID-19 is not completely gone, Dr. Sheranda Gunn-Nolan, market chief medical officer for Sovah Health, said Friday.

Sovah Health is currently treating less than five patients for the illness caused by the coronavirus across both campuses in Danville and Martinsville. For a weary and tired health care force, thats a fraction of what theyve endured in the pandemic. But, its also an increase from zero patients in mid-April.

Rising cases

Last week, the University of Virginias Biocomplexity Institute upped the chances of a summer surge of COVID-19. Its now predicted the next wave will be larger than what occurred in the summer of 2021.

With gatherings for spring holidays and graduations, numbers will rise, Brookie Crawford, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Health, wrote in an email to the Register & Bee.

At Sovah Health, officials review the trends at least a few times a day and are ready to react if such a surge occurs.

We are entering year three of the COVID-19 pandemic and have the groundwork in place to respond to a surge at a moments notice, Gunn-Noland explained.

The Pittsylvania-Danville Health District remains in a slow-growth trajectory, meaning infections are rising, but not at a surge level. However, 11 health districts are experiencing surges and overall cases are on the upswing throughout the state, UVa reported Friday.

Variants of the omicron version of the novel coronavirus are to blame. In dizzying fashion, there subvariants are constantly popping up. Each alteration brings even more transmissibility.

Hidden numbers

Previously, current case counts provided daily by the Virginia Department of Health helped to provide a snapshot of the pandemic.

Thats no longer the situation.

First, ongoing data adjustments are muddying the daily numbers. These routine checks and changes can move cases from a city to a county, mainly based on ZIP code confusions. For example, if someone with Danville ZIP code may actually be a resident of Pittsylvania County. Labs reporting during the record January wave may have placed the positive result in the wrong locality.

The adjustments sometimes lead to negative daily numbers, confusing the current infection level.

Another culprit is at-home test kits.

The use of at-home tests is not captured in our dashboard data, Carolyn LeMere, a co-leader of the health departments testing unit, said Friday. Thats why its important to look at COVID-19 data as a whole.

LeMere explained the test positivity rate, hospitalizations, deaths and outbreak data all needed to be taken into account.

It has always been important to use data in context  this is now more true than ever, she said.

For a positive result from an at-home test, the health department recommends the resident isolate at home and notify their close contacts. When there are more concerning symptoms like shortness of breath, people should get in contact with a health care provider to determine the next steps.

What to do

All health experts agree vaccinations and booster are the best line of defense against serious illness. That doesnt mean its not possible to catch COVID-19, especially with mutating versions spreading more easily.

However, vaccinations protect against the sickness progressing to the point of hospitalization or deaths.

We recommend that everyone who hasnt yet get vaccinated and boosted, Gunn-Nolan said.

In addition to vaccines, Crawford recommends people evaluate the individual situation to determine if masking is appropriate. For example, if someone is showing signs of COVID-19, they should wear a mask.

She also pointed to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions weekly update community levels. The CDC moved its mask wearing guidance in February to be based on hospitalizations and not earlier factors like caseloads and positivity.

Right now, Danville and Pittsylvania County are in the CDCs green level, meaning face coverings arent recommended.

The picture isnt the same based on the transmissibility factor, the pre-February benchmark. That map shows Danville and Pittsylvania County in the highest category of virus spread, a tier that used to carry advice to mask up for indoor public settings.

The best guidance is to continue to follow CDC guidelines, Gunn-Nolan said. Our local data shows low COVID-19 numbers in our area; however, our health system follows information from the CDC about transmissibility and our area currently falls in the moderate to high category.

The February switch was seen by many experts as a nod to learning to live in the COVID-19 era, given the waning public appetite for pandemic precautions. Gunn-Nolan hopes the CDC will soon provide more information for the public.

Beyond COVID-19

After more than two years of putting off other health issues because of COVID-19, officials say its time to circle back to those routine appointments.

Now is a great time to catch on preventative health screenings, to do a mental health check and to just take the time to take care of yourself and your loved ones, Crawford said.

Spillmann also suggested things like eating properly, exercising, getting plenty of rest in addition to making time to engage in pleasurable activities.

Read to a child when you can, he said. Visit or call your mother.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY  Jacobs Creek Batteau Landing opened as the newest Dan River access point this week with county economic development officials hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the rustic recreational spot.

The Rockingham County Tourism Development office held the ceremony to honor contributions made by numerous volunteers, organizations and financial backers of the four-year project, the agency said in a news release.

This effort began in 2016 after a group of community partners identified a need for increased river access points between Madisons N.C. 704 access and the Settle Bridge Road access in Stoneville.

After a bit of research, organizers found a tract of land on Planters Road, just outside of Madison, which proved to be an ideal location for a new access and also held historical significance.

The initial 3.45 acres of the proposed ADA-accessible park and river access, were made possible by a grant from the Duke Energy Water Resources Fund and included the area above the historic batteau landing of Governor Alexander Martins plantation.

The batteau landing, owned by the State of North Carolina, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 as part of the Dan River Navigation System thanks to the efforts of Dr. Lindley Butler and Jeff Johnston.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, holds that differently abled individuals should have as much access to services and recreation as anyone else.

An additional approximate 16.5 acres were added to the park with funding from NTE Energy in 2019.

Rockingham County has preserved all 20 acres for future generations with protective covenants.

The Batteau Landing project has been born from a long standing partnership with the Dan River Basin Association (DRBA), which led the land acquisition and funding efforts and began the park development.

In conjunction with the county, DRBA prepared a North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) grant application, and funds were awarded to the county for the project.

Required matching funds were obtained from Rockingham County Friends Meeting, which pledged $25,000 in memory of John Lamiman. Other support came from Rockingham County residents, organizations and groups, including Good Stewards of Rockingham and Three Rivers Outfitters.

Now complete, Jacobs Creek Batteau Landing offers a variety of assets for its visitors, including an ADA-accessible sidewalk leading to the new handicap accessible covered river observation platform, cleared walking path to the river access, as well as new galvanized steel grated steps, which create safer and easier access to the Dan River.

With this first phase of the park complete, additional plans will soon be devised to expand on the park, creating an even bigger asset for residents and visitors to appreciate.

Jacobs Creek Batteau Landing is a great addition to Rockingham Countys amazing recreational opportunities, said Lee Mitchell, Rockingham County Tourism Development Authority Chair and director of the Madison-Mayodan Recreation Department.

Residents and visitors alike will be able to enjoy and appreciate this new destination for many years to come.

For more information about county tourism efforts, including the countys river accesses, visit http://www.visitrockinghamcountync.com.
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Q: How can I find out the outcome of a trial?  H.B.

Answer: A spokesman for the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts explains how to find the information you want.

Practically all court records are public, from speeding citations to divorce to murder and everything in between.

The only exception is juvenile records.

The clerk of superior court is the custodian of records in North Carolina, so contacting the local clerks office, either by phone or in-person, is the best way to determine the outcome of a trial.

If you have a case number, that will make it much easier.

You can learn more about how to obtain court records on our website at this link: https://www.nccourts.gov/help-topics/court-records/obtaining-court-records, the spokesman said.

Emergency supply kit

Although hurricane season doesnt officially begin until June 1, its never too soon to put together emergency plans and an emergency supply kit.

Here are some suggestions from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Emergency Management:

Emergency supply kits should contain enough nonperishable food and water to last each family member three to seven days.

Other essential items include:

First-aid kit.

Weather radio and batteries.

Prescription medicines.

Sleeping bag or blankets.

Changes of clothes.

Hygiene items such as toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, and deodorant.

Cash or checkbook.

Pet supplies including food, water, leashes, bedding, muzzle and vaccination records.

Face masks and hand sanitizer.

Residents should stay informed during severe weather by using a battery-powered radio for weather and evacuation information and should know evacuation routes in their community. When asked to evacuate, residents should leave the area immediately.

For more information on hurricanes and overall emergency preparedness go to ReadyNC.gov.

 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  State health officials are seeing increases in four key metrics they use to determine how COVID-19 is spreading and affecting health systems.

And North Carolina isnt alone in seeing a resurgence of the coronavirus.

Nationwide, cases have been gradually rising for the past month. New York City this week raised its COVID-19 threat level and encouraged residents to voluntarily wear masks. Also, coronavirus cases are continuing to increase in California, prompting one health official to warn that the state is heading into the next wave of the pandemic.

Health officials say the latest uptick is being fueled by a rapidly emerging lineup of omicron subvariants  each apparently more contagious than the last.

While few are calling for mask mandates and other extreme measures  yet  health experts wonder if its just a matter of time before the country struggles with how to handle another new wave of infections.

At the moment, locally and across the nation, the number of new cases hasnt reached a concerning level.

In fact, Guilford Countys COVID-19 community level spread remains low, according to metrics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Statewide, its the same story. While the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals across the state increased, the number was manageable  373 for the week ending April 30. Thats compared to 256 the previous week, according to data released Wednesday by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

Newly-reported cases also increased with 12,509 confirmed in the state through last Saturday  up from 9,800 the previous week.

In Guilford County, public health officials reported 271 new cases on Wednesday  2,169 total  and no deaths.

Locally, 32 coronavirus patients were being treated on Wednesday in Cone Health hospitals, according to the Greensboro-based health system. Of those patients, 26 are unvaccinated and six are fully vaccinated.

The percentage of all emergency room visits statewide for patients with COVID-19 symptoms slightly increased for the first time since the beginning of March. It was 3% for the week ending April 30, compared to 2% the previous week, according to the DHHS report.

Another metric that health experts are watching closely is the number of COVID-19 virus particles found in wastewater, which has been shown to be an early indicator of how quickly the virus may spread without relying on individual test results.

In the states latest report, 12.2 million coronavirus particles were found in wastewater samples last week  up from 11.3 million the week prior.

To put that into context, 100 million COVID-19 particles were found in wastewater samples in late January during the peak of the omicron surge.

Throughout the pandemic, health officials have been touting vaccines and boosters to reduce the risk of infection as well as curtailing severe illness and death. To that end, at least 53% of North Carolinas vaccinated population have received at least one booster shot or additional dose of vaccine, the DHHS report showed. Also, 76% of adults have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, and 38% of children ages 5 through 17 have been given at least a dose.

The Tribune News Service contributed to this report.
RALEIGH  Officers shot and killed a man Saturday afternoon who was throwing Molotov cocktails and setting cars on fire near a police station in North Carolinas capital city.

The confrontation began after an officer observed a man lighting vehicles on fire in a parking lot near a district station around 1:20 p.m. The officer called for assistance, and three other officers came to help.

After being ordered to stop, the man continued to throw Molotov cocktails, ultimately tossing one near an officer close to him.

Multiple officers then discharged their weapons, and the individual was struck multiple times, Police Chief Estella Patterson said.

Police then moved the man away from two vehicles that had become engulfed in flames and attempted life-saving efforts, Patterson said. He was rushed by paramedics to a hospital but died. He wasnt immediately identified.

Body cameras were active, as well as cameras outside the police station that captured events, Patterson said, adding she didnt have any information on the number of shots fired or how many had struck the man.

She thanked firefighters for quickly arriving and putting out the flames.

Although the chief didnt elaborate on the vehicles burned, news photographs showed a police cruiser with what appeared to be a blackened and heavily damaged engine bay being towed away.

The police chief said an investigation is ongoing and more details of the shooting would be released in the coming days.

The FBI was notified in keeping with department policy, Patterson added, noting the investigations findings will be submitted to the Wake County district attorney.

Police, fire and other emergency response vehicles swarmed the street afterward and the stretch of road remained close for several hours while the investigation continued.
Hong Kong: CE poll conducted smoothly

The overall polling and counting processes of the Chief Executive Election ran very smoothly, Electoral Affairs Commission Chairman Barnabas Fung said today.

Meeting the media after the poll, Mr Fung noted that 1,428 Election Committee members had cast their votes, representing a voter turnout rate of 97.74%. The counting of ballot papers was completed in about 23 minutes.

The election was conducted in an open, just and honest manner, he said.

The commission was satisfied with the electoral arrangements and will conduct a detailed review.

A report will be submitted to the Chief Executive within three months as prescribed by the law.

This story has been published on: 2022-05-08. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
So, lets talk about That Word.

Meaning the word the political left was using to define itself until the political right got hold of it and made it an object of ridicule. The word that quickly became unusable, even faintly embarrassing.

No, the word is not woke.

It is, rather, liberal, a word that, linguist Geoffrey Nunberg argues in his 2006 book, Talking Right, was already associated with profligacy, spinelessness, malevolence, masochism, elitism, fantasy, anarchy, idealism, softness, irresponsibility and sanctimoniousness by the late 1970s as a result of white backlash to Black progress, the national schism over Vietnam and the perceived failures of the Great Society.

Then Ronald Reagan piled on. In 1988, he  soon to be followed by George H.W. Bush  dubbed it the L-Word, i.e., unsayable in polite company. Together, they conducted a master class in how, through relentless ridicule, a self-definition could be weaponized against those who chose it. Democratic leaders soon began refusing the label outright or accepting it only with prickly reluctance. The left was forced into a defensive crouch from which it has never quite emerged.

Understanding how That Word was taken out of service is invaluable in understanding what is transpiring now with That Other Word. And here, yes, we are talking about woke.

Because weve seen this movie before. Once again, the right mocks a word with undisguised glee  it is slapped on a Florida education censorship bill; it is blamed by the L.A. County Sheriff for making the city unlivable; Rep. Matt Gaetz claims it will destroy the military. And once again, the left responds with a crouch. Or has no one else noticed how the word has magically disappeared from the mouths of all but its detractors? A list that, not incidentally, includes Democratic strategist James Carville, who made news last year by declaring, in a Vox interview, that Wokeness is a problem.

But is it, really? Or is the problem not that the left keeps allowing the right to frame the debate? Is the problem not the failure to finally realize that there is no word the left can use to define itself that will stop those mean conservatives from picking on them? Because its not the words the right opposes. Rather, its the beliefs those words express.

Like the belief that people should not have to breathe carcinogens in their air, drink poisons in their water or eat maggots in their meat. And that the work week should not be 80 hours long. And that children should not be in factories, nor hard-working families in slums. And that women should control their reproductive destinies, LGBTQ people should be treated like human beings, Black people should be free to vote. And that government has a responsibility to enforce it all.

Those are noble causes to fight for. That those who have historically done so find it necessary to crouch in defense speaks to how upside down and inside out is this era  and to the success of the right in defining those who are too often timid and inept in defining themselves.

Woke means awake and aware. Liberal means generous and broad-minded. Progressive  just to complete the triumvirate  means characterized by progress. Each is preferable to its alternative.

Thats not to advocate for any particular word. Rather, its to say that every moment spent debating words is a moment spent not advocating for the beliefs those words express.

Its hard to fight from a crouch.

Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 3511 NW 91st Ave., Miami, FL 33172. Readers may contact him via e-mail at lpitts@miamiherald.com.
For the first time in three decades, Montana will send two representatives to the U.S. House. Five Republicans say they are the best choice to represent the new western congressional district.

Covering 15 counties and a portion of Pondera County, Montanas western U.S. House district includes Missoula, Butte, Bozeman, Browning, Libby, Dillon, Deer Lodge, Hamilton, Kalispell and Polson. Former congressman and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and former state lawmaker and statewide candidate Al Olszewski are the most well-known in the GOP primary. They face Mary Todd, a church leader and small business owner from Kalispell; Mitch Heuer, a home builder from Whitefish; and Matt Jette, a school teacher from Missoula in the Republican primary.

In recent interviews with the Montana State News Bureau, forums and radio interviews throughout the district, the candidates identified the problems they see with the state and the country and weigh in on policies as they make their case to voters for the June 7 primary election.

Ryan Zinke

Zinke comes into the race with the highest profile and, according to political analysts, as the likely frontrunner. He first came onto the state political scene in 2008 with election to the Montana Senate. Following an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor, Zinke emerged from a competitive GOP primary in 2014 for the states sole U.S. House seat, going on to win.

In 2016 the former Navy SEAL from Whitefish had just been reelected when then-President Donald Trump tapped him as Secretary of the Interior, making Zinke Montanas first presidential cabinet member. There, he expanded oil and gas leasing on federal lands; backed shrinking several national monuments while recommending three new ones including the Badger-Two Medicine area in Montana; and pushed a new wildlife migration corridor initiative.

Zinkes tenure ended in 2019, when he resigned amid multiple ethics investigations before Democrats took control of the House. An inspector generals report released this year found he misused his authority to help with a commercial project in Whitefish, and then misrepresented his role to investigators  issues that several of his political opponents have zeroed in on.

When announcing his run for the western district, Zinke touted his experience in energy and public lands, identified housing as a major issue, and endorsed conservative policies on immigration, abortion and guns. He says division in the country needs to be mended.

I think theres too much anger, and the anger is distracting us from getting things done, he said in a recent interview. In Montana when a barns on fire, you dont ask if its Republican or Democrat, you put it out, thats what we do."

Still, Zinkes campaign continues to take an uncompromising line at times, putting the election in terms of war, and in campaign materials and emails portraying Democrats as authoritarian and radical. He defends the language, saying he has friends who are Democrats but that crazy is crazy no matter where it comes from, and adding that he hopes the woke movement will eventually only be found in history books.

I think most of America doesnt believe in the woke movement, he said. I think most of America is kind of waking up, and I think there are values thats made America great and I think we should defend those values. And I think theres values in Montana that are unique and we should defend our lifestyles here.

The new western district stands out in terms of diversity, he says, with timber, wilderness areas, brucellosis and cities ranging from Kalispell to Butte. Zinke was happy to see the Blackfeet Reservation included in the west.

If they were in the east, I think the plight of the Blackfeet would be blended in with some of the other tribes, he said. Ive spent a little time with the Blackfeet recently and I can tell you the Blackfeet need some resources and need some help.

Another major concern from voters is Montana's affordable housing crisis.

I hear a lot about affordable housing, just the concern that property values have gone up, that means taxes will go up, rental costs have gone up, its the lack of ability and affordability of housing across the board, Zinke said.

As a congressman, Zinke says lawmakers can look at access to capital through federal programs such as Freddie Mac, as well as ways to add flexibility in regulations for states to address supply and costs in more tailored ways.

Zinke quickly garnered support from some high-profile Republicans, receiving endorsements from Gov. Greg Gianforte and Sen. Steve Daines. He also received perhaps the biggest endorsement in the race with Trump backing his former Interior secretary.

Zinke has denounced the investigations at Interior as politically motivated and a product of the so-called deep state.

When you start exposing the serpents when you drain the swamp, they dont like it, and they attack, he said. And time and time again, they attack me, and time and time again if you read the IG report closely, no wrongdoing.

When asked about his opponents in the race, particularly those lodging attacks against him, Zinke replied, You know I dont think of them at all, I just think about my country and our state.

Al Olszewski

Olszewski continues to tout his conservative roots as he makes his bid for Congress, campaigning to defend the Second Amendment, protect the unborn, rein in the high cost of health care, open public lands, and protect agriculture.

Olszewski recently visited the southern border with the House Freedom Caucus. He plans to join the caucus if elected, and pledges to double down on the votes of Montanas Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale, who has taken a number of controversial votes in his first term and is running in the new eastern district, where he is considered a favorite to win.

I refuse to let this federal government tell me how to run my life, how to run my business through burdensome regulations, how were going to educate our children and whether or not I get to go to church, Olszewski said. The battle is in D.C. and Id like to go join that battle.

Olszewski cites his legislative experience coupled with his status as a D.C. outsider as assets. While he has taken a hardline on many issues and continues to do so, he pointed to bipartisan work in the state Legislature on mental health and child welfare.

Lets fight for our country and work together on those things that have common ground, he said. But when were dealing with people who are trying to cancel through a woke philosophy, its not 'live and let live,' its 'if you disagree with us were going to do everything to cancel you and destroy you and belittle you.' There is no room to compromise on those issues that deal with freedom and our Constitution and our bill of rights.

Olszewski has also targeted Zinke as a big government Republican, saying Zinke promised conservative votes but voted another way. Olszewski believes the former congressman is too moderate, citing scores from third-party conservative organizations.

Theres only two candidates in this race that have an extensive voting record, that people can not only hear what we promise but to see if those promises convert into support for legislation that goes along with that, Olszewski said. This is a real race. Ryan is the first candidate Ive ever run against that puts wind in my sails.

Olszewski has also attacked Zinke on his resignation from Interior, as well as raised issues about the amount of time Zinke spends out of state and travel violations while in the Navy. Following the release of the inspector generals report earlier this year, Olszewski released a statement calling Zinke one of the most corrupt persons in Washington and a dishonest man.

What the inspector general, who was appointed by Trump, stated was he lied, lack of candor, Olszewski said.  That is an integrity issue.

Despite not receiving Trumps endorsement, Olszewski says he respects the former president and that nobody has yet to replace him as leader of the Republican Party.

Like almost all Montanans who voted and supported him, whether in the Republican Party or Independent or even our Trump Democrats, is that we respect what he was doing for the country and his America-first policies, which I 100% support, he said. He endorsed Ryan Zinke, who was a former Trump administrator, who had to resign in disgrace as weve seen with OIG report, and thats up to President Trump to make that determination.

Mary Todd

Todd, a political newcomer, is a church leader and small business owner from Kalispell. She bills herself an America first conservative, promising to crack down on China and government corruption. She highlights her opposition to abortion, support of gun rights and public lands access as priorities.

Todd notes that she is the only woman running on the Republican side, and if elected, would be only the first woman since Jeannette Rankin sent from Montana to Congress.

I want voters to know that Im a pioneer, Im a fighter, pioneers dont quit, they dont stop when things get hard, they push through, she said. I dont have a voting record but I have a life record. Everything I say can be backed up by looking at my life.

A significant theme of Todds campaign focuses on the 2012 death of her son, Shane, in Singapore where he was working as an electrical engineer. Despite a finding of suicide by authorities there, evidence examined from Shanes hard drive shows he objected to the illegal transfer of U.S. data to a Chinese tech giant, Todd says.

At home Todd says some federal authorities and lawmakers agreed with the familys conclusion that Shane was murdered, but refused to investigate. She believes the lack of action is due to Chinas influence here.

Todd says her campaign is not an effort to seek justice for her son  she wrote a book about the events titled Hard Drive: A Familys Fight Against Three Countries  but to illustrate corruption and the knowledge she has gained through her familys experience.

Im looking at this as a national election. Its a national story and I care about whats happened to our nation, she said. I want to end government corruption, expose it and be part of this solution, and I cannot be bought.

Todd was excited to see the new western congressional district but had issues with the candidates when she decided to file.

The reason Im running is Ive been speaking on national security for several years, and every time I speak people keep saying I need to run for office, which was not my dream come true, Ive never considered it, she said. When this new district came up I kept hoping thered be a really good candidate, and I didnt see that happen.

Todds assertions at times tread into the unverifiable or conspiratorial, believing many issues are part of a larger effort to weaken the United States or push global socialism. She often cites efforts from China to grow its global influence or entities such as the World Economic Forum as behind-the-scenes actors.

People are starting to understand, all of this stuff were going through, the COVID lockdowns, (Black Lives Matter), critical race theory, the gender stuff theyre trying to shove down our kids, telling little boys they can be little girls, is all connected and is all part of a plan to destroy the United States, she said.

Matt Jette

Jette, a Missoula school teacher, has sought to separate himself in the race, arguing that culture war politics is a distraction from tackling important issues facing the country. To that end he has waged a campaign of equal opportunity criticism at both parties, but also argues the current state of education is creating a failing electorate.

One of the grossest things happening in education is decay in terms of reading and writing and to be able to think well as students, he said. I think that is probably the precursor to a big problem in our representative democracy where people no longer think, they just go by labels, R or D or whatever the case might be.

Jette, an organ donor recipient, launched an organ donor nonprofit with his brother and started a business helping students prepare for standardized tests. He ran unsuccessfully in Arizona both as a Democrat and Republican, although he leans right on most issues, he said. When he heard Zinke planned to run, Jette was living in Florida at the time. He decided to return to Montana to launch his own campaign.

The primary reason and Ill be honest with you, is Ryan Zinke, he said of why he's running. I believe in American exceptionalism, I believe in doing better in education and health care, but the primary reason is Ryan Zinke. Enough is enough, Im just tired of bad people representing good people.

Jette sees both positives and negatives with Montana gaining a second congressional seat. More representation is certainly good, he says, but it also means that Montana is changing in terms of population, and not all growth is good.

Its going to come down to what policies are best for the state of Montana, what policies are best for the country, and I think that starts with health care, I think it starts with education, it starts with a proper defense, and the idea that America is exceptional, that we still have to adhere to the fact that we are a beacon, that the stronger America is the better the world is, he said.

Jettes answers to questions often tie back to what he sees as missing details from discussions, for example a lack of understanding economic forces and the importance of trade. Talking about the education system, the media and the extreme sectors of parties driving messaging, he goes so far as to characterize many voters as not just ignorant but willfully dumb.

I hate to use the word but being dumb is a choice. If youre ignorant then youve never been exposed to something, but youre choosing to be dumb because youre not researching, youre not reading, youre not thinking through, he said.

Jette says his goal is to educate people and to capture those in the middle raising families and living their lives that struggle to know who to believe at election time.

Mitch Heuer

Heuer, a home builder and inventor from Whitefish, is another political newcomer. He believes his background is needed in Congress to tackle issues ranging from the southern border to housing.

Well I guess the brokenness of whats going on in Congress, and being a mechanical mind, and an engineering mind, Heuer said about choosing to run.  So I understand how solutions need to be from the foundation all the way up to solve things sequentially to get the desired outcome.

Im up against some tough competition, thats for sure, but I dont see any of my competition having the innovative and engineering-type approach to problem solving.

Heuer believes Congress has become so inoperable that part of his campaign focuses on the calling of a Convention of States. There, with the power of state legislatures, he hopes to push for amendments installing term limits for Congress, requiring a balanced budget and ensuring border security.

We have a lame duck Congress thats inactive on many of these crises, he said. Congress is not getting it done, they havent been getting it done, theyve got to go.

Heuer would also like to see more vocational training in schools, and with his background in homebuilding, more focus on Montanas affordable housing crisis.

As an inventor, Heuer developed the "Protectors Choice," a weapon designed to fire both lethal and nonlethal projectiles. He believes the device would be a major asset to school staff in the event of an active shooter. He has also developed a product using recycled Styrofoam to build Lego-like blocks for construction use  a potential solution to high housing costs.

I see the potential for many amazing things in society if we can help our fellow man reach their full potential, but they cant do it if theyre consumed with the burden of lack of shelter. Theyre never going to be all they can be, he said.  Im kind of the reluctant candidate, I dont have much of an appetite for politicians but I didnt see anybody presenting solutions, and the more I dig into it, there needs to be a lot more solutions.

Heuer would like to look at what government programs may be available but says he does not favor government housing.

Im not saying the federal government should supply houses to people, thats not my point of view at all, he said. Its actually detrimental in my mind to the development of a human being to give them much of anything at all. If they dont earn it, (theyll) not see value if theyre given things.

Tom Kuglin is the deputy editor for the Lee Newspapers State Bureau. His coverage focuses on outdoors, recreation and natural resources.

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Throughout Montana, nurses help to provide the baseline of care in our communities. Serving at the front line for public health, theres no overstating their importance and significance in making our lives as long and healthy as possible.

National Nurses Week is an opportunity to thank and give back to nurses everywhere, with specific dates for National School Nurse Day (May 6), National Student Nurses Day (May 12), and International Nurses Day (May 12). The annual events conclusion coincides with the anniversary of Florence Nightingales birthday.

In tandem with this event, Nurses: The Heart of Health Care celebrates those who choose a career of compassion in the nursing field, and recognizes the dedication of nursing staff across the state of Montana. Ten outstanding nurses are featured, nominated by their community for making an extraordinary difference in peoples lives.

From numerous submissions, nine nurses were selected by a panel of judges from Lewis and Clark Public Health and the Independent Record. The tenth selection, Readers Choice, was voted on by the community. Presented in no particular order, these nurse interviews give insight into those who give so much of themselves, and offer thanks for their dedication to a field fraught with obstacles.

A nurse herself, Montanan Becky Kloker, RN, CCM, is also the Unit Manager, Clinical Operations, in the Health Care Management Department of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana. With 25 years of nursing experience, and 13 years at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, Kloker understands that caring is a critical component of health care.

People become nurses to serve and to help make a difference in the lives of others. I believe that some of the highest qualities and characteristics that nurses possess include integrity, compassion, empathy, and confidence -- along with a sense of humor, said Kloker.

Kloker leads a team of nurses that helps members navigate their personal health care journey. In recent years, the significant impacts from an ongoing global pandemic are undeniable. Nurses are integral to public safety, yet frequently faced with limited resources.

Nurses have played a vital role throughout the pandemic; whether through emergent care, administering COVID vaccinations, collaborating with the Care Van program, or comforting patients throughout the state. Nurses have been short-staffed, worked long hours, dealt with many unexpected and diverse circumstances, and have continued to be resilient through the pandemic, said Kloker.

National Nurses Week is already a time to recognize nurses and their profession, but since the pandemic its crucial to celebrate these invaluable people. Simple gratitude and respect are essential in these times of incredible stress and a constantly evolving health care environment.

Nurses provide a big, big part in education and support for the patients that we work with every day on preventative health. And for the future, with some of it being unknown still, that is going to be a big piece of moving forward; to continue to follow some of the recommendations that our medical profession has for us, so that we can continue to do the things that we love to do together as groups, said Kloker.

This fourth-annual edition of Nurses: The Heart of Health Care is made possible by the Independent Record, statewide sponsor Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana, and supporting sponsors Carroll College, St. Peters Health and Benefis Health System.

The interviews have been edited for clarity and length.

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CHARLESTON  Five-year-old Ren Ruppert alternated Saturday between looking with pride at his mom, Hope Ruppert, in her graduation cap and gown and looking for places to explore in Eastern Illinois University's cavernous Field House.

Hope Ruppert of Bethany said she appreciates all the support that the naturally fidgety boy has given her while she completed her communication in organizations degree at Eastern.

"I did all of it online so I could work and still be a mom," said Ruppert, who works at Cerro Gordo Junior and Senior High School. "Ren was a champ throughout all of it, being patient as I did the assignments and stayed up through late nights."

As they gathered Saturday for commencement ceremonies in Eastern's Lantz Arena, Ruppert and other spring 2022 graduates took time to talk about overcoming challenges and taking opportunities while completing their higher education and navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spring 2022 graduate Zula Pendowski of Roselle said she opted to take a gap year off in 2021 during the height of the pandemic before enrolling at Eastern to complete her master's in art. She works in watercolor paintings, pencil and ink drawings, and other mediums.

Pendowski said she appreciated having renewed opportunities during the 2021-22 school year to collaborate with other artists in the Burl Ives Studio Hall and to display her works in a professional setting at the Tarble Arts Center.

While taking a photo of her daughter in her cap and gown in the Field House, Joanne Pendowski noted that Saturday was her 24th birthday.

"She is graduating on her birthday. We are proud of her," Joanne Pendowski said.

Before taking a place among the waiting graduates in the Student Recreation Center, spring 2022 graduate Casey Evans of Atwood paused to look at giveaway stickers for her 12-year-old daughter, Lilly, who loves stickers. She noted that Lilly was in attendance in Lantz Arena to see her graduate with a degree in public relations.

Evans, 35, said the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic motivated her to go back to school in January 2021 to complete studies that she had originally started after graduating from high school in 2004.

"I wanted Lilly to see even if it was hard, I stuck with it and saw it to completion even if it took a lot of years to get to this point," Evans said.

Rhonda Rogers of Chicago said her heart was full of joyful emotions as she took part in the 10 a.m. commencement ceremony and completed her journey to obtaining a construction management degree. Rogers said she loves EIU, especially her "great support system" in Career Services, the School of Technology and TRiO Student Support Services.

Rogers said she feels fortunate to have been able to stay healthy and to adapt to the difficult transition of all of her classes being online during the height of the pandemic.

"It turned out to be a great blessing because it challenged me to go beyond my limits, beyond what I thought I would be able to do," Rogers said.

Contact Rob Stroud at (217) 238-6861. Follow him on Twitter: @TheRobStroud

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New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Partly cloudy. Near record high temperatures. High 93F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low 69F. SSE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
BRISTOL, Tenn.  Dallas Wayne sat inside his office upstairs in his home in Bristol, Tennessee, on a recent Friday afternoon. He sat at a console, microphone near his face, and spoke of the country music he adores listening to and making, the likes of which led to his current album called, Coldwater Tennessee

Issued worldwide last month, Wayne strikes through the fringes of life. Darkened odes that mine murder, loss and hopelessness coincide with two-stepping songs of hope, heart, and love.

Its hardcore country, said Wayne.

Red, white, and blue, a Buck Owens guitar gleamed from a nearby wall. A large-bodied Hank Thompson guitar parked its twang on a stand a few feet away. A book on Merle Haggard occupied a shelf.

Hardcore country music, its what I started out to do, Wayne said. Its where a good portion of my listeners tastes lie.

Wayne, most famous as an on-air personality on SiriusXM satellite radio channel Willies Roadhouse, has for a couple of years now, broadcast his nationwide show from his home in Bristol. Hes on the channel six days a week. He spoke for this interview while seated at the console where he records his radio program.

Country music and bluegrass is all Ive ever done, the native of Missouri said. They both grabbed me early on, really early. Its where I feel comfortable. The renaissance of country music writing, the 1950s to the 1980s, is the purity of American country music.

Waynes past solo albums reflect that focus. From 1990s Georgia Dreamin through 2016s Songs the Jukebox Taught Me, Volume 1 and its 2018 follow-up, filler does not occupy Waynes records. He seeks songs of substance like ticks crave a hound dogs hide.

Its gotta have country shuffles, Wayne said. I love country shuffles. If These Walls Could Cry from the new record is a country shuffle.

Country shuffles, for which Wayne looks most significantly to the styles of Johnny Bush and Ray Price and the Cherokee Cowboys, typically bear 4/4 time signatures. Led by prominent fiddle and steel guitar presences, If These Walls Could Cry could easily have fit with either Bushs or Prices repertoire.

I also love a good recitation, Wayne said.

As the word implies, a country recitation is a story song thats either all or in part spoken amid musical accompaniment. Porter Wagoner, Jimmy Dean, Hank Williams, and Bill Anderson all made prominent use of recitations.

Theres a recitation on my new album, Wayne said.

Hes referencing the song He Even Brought Her Flowers, a song he co-wrote with Buddy Cannon and Country Music Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson. Wayne sings; Anderson voices the recitation.

I love the ballads, Wayne said. I love the stories in the songs. The lyrics are everything.

Widely heralded Buddy Cannon, whose long past in country music includes an impressionable stint in Mel Tillis band the Statesiders, produced Waynes new album.

He said, Id kind of like for this new record to sound like a 70s or early 80s Statesiders record, Wayne said.

Listen to Tillis circa his Coca-Cola Cowboy era. Wayne and Cannon hit the mark in that the new album sounds like Dallas Wayne recalling Mel Tillis and the Statesiders.

You hit the point, Wayne said. Thats what its a product of. I sent Buddy about 20 or 25 songs.

Click play on Waynes Coldwater, Tennessee. His calm voice sings like Rod Serling led the curious through the tempest of The Twilight Zone. An unflinching country troubadour the likes of whom could compel the late Ernest Tubb to tip his hat, neither the blink of an eye nor the blush of a cheek accompanies Waynes harrowing narration through the lead track.

Through Coldwater, Tennessee, and beyond, revelation pierces the dark.

The title track is about sacrifices you have to make in the music business sometimes that can destroy your home life, Wayne said. A lot of times youre lucky. Not that Im justifying the murder of this guy, but he probably deserved it.

Real life pulsates through the grooves cut deep inside Dallas Waynes Coldwater, Tennessee like the countless numbers of skip-a-beat heartbreaks of regular folks.

This is an important record for me because of the songwriting aspects of it, Wayne said.

Wayne wrote or co-wrote each of the albums 10 songs.

I had gotten away from that on the Songs the Jukebox Taught Me records, he said. Well, its about the songwriting. Thats what I set out to do to begin with. Songs are a little piece of you.

Copies of Waynes album on CD can be purchased via such outlets as www.dallaswayne.com, Target, and Amazon.

Meanwhile, Dallas and wife Jo immerse themselves into downtown Bristol. They shop downtown, dine downtown, attend concerts downtown, and yes, they love downtown. They found home in the heart of the Birthplace of Country Music.

As a music town, I see a lot of what Austin was in the 1970s, Wayne said. Its a thriving downtown. Im grateful. Im grateful for my new adopted hometown.

Tom Netherland is a freelance writer. He may be reached at features@bristolnews.com.
As sure as the sun comes up every morning, solar energy is going to be with us.

In 2015, there were zero large-scale solar farms in Virginia. Now, there are 51. According to a survey done by the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia, 279 applications for large-scale facilities have been, or are being, reviewed. And thats just the number from the 109 localities (out of 133) that responded to the survey.

Because fossil fuels are a finite commodity, more groups are moving ahead on harnessing the sun. And great strides have been made. There is at present enough solar power in the United States to power more than 23 million homes.

The question is, how are localities, and the commonwealth of Virginia itself, going to handle this solar boom? Its pretty much going on a case-by-case basis right now. Some localities havent come up with comprehensive land plans that weigh solars positives and negatives. In the Weldon Cooper survey, 70% of responding localities said their plans did not prioritize types of lands preferred for utility-scale solar.

Culpeper County, where solar developers are looking to build, is wrestling with the issue now. Its planning commission has recommended solar plants be limited to land zoned for industrial use. A solar farm in Spotsylvania went online last year that eventually will include more than 1.5 million solar panels on about 3,500 acres (about 5  square miles).

In the Southside, Charlotte County is wrestling with a proposed solar project that would require 21,000 acres, or about 33 square miles, with 3,100 acres dedicated for the solar panels themselves. For comparisons sake, 33 square miles is more than three times the size of Fredericksburg.

Anyone who has burned his name into a summer camp badge using only the sun and a magnifying glass understands the potential here, but it isnt that simple.

Storage is a big issue, and so is the amount of land required. The rule of thumb with present technology is that 10 acres are required to create one megawatt of power. One megawatt, according to Solar Energy Industries Association, would meet the needs of 164 homes. There are about 140 million homes in the U.S., so home usage alone would require about 8.5 million acres, or more than 13,000 square miles.

In addition, if the land that is cleared for solar previously was forested, how green is it to cut down thousands of acres of trees in order to install solar collectors? In more arid climates in the West, this isnt as much of an issue, but Virginias pretty green right now, tree-wise. Also, how smart is it to turn farmland into solar farms?

There are many issues that need to be addressed, and we encourage localities to get a handle on solar energy that goes beyond large corporations desire to make money vs. landowners and homeowners concerns. What is an appropriate place to clear a town-sized space for solar? How close should the panels be to existing housing? Is the land already cleared, or is it forested? Is it now farmland? How big is too big? Some localities are dealing with this issue; many are not.

State-wide guidelines might not be appropriate. What works for Arlington County may not work for Accomack. In lieu of that, we encourage the states counties and cities to get a grip on the solar surge, and to do it quickly. Many entities are scrambling to get in on the boom, to make hay while the sun shines, so to speak.

Energy-wise, solar is the future, or at least a large part of it. Like all big projects where big money is involved, it needs some oversight.
HICKORY  Michael Sowers, Managing Director  Investment Officer and Michael Webber, MBA, Managing Director  Investment Officer of Sowers & Webber Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors in Hickory, have been recognized as some of Forbes 2022 Best-in-State.

Its an honor to be recognized by Forbes as one of the 2022 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors, Sowers and Webber said. They said that as investment planning has become more complex, their top priority is to work with their clients to develop strategies to help give them confidence around all facets of their financial lives and achieve their short- and long-term investment goals.

Sowers has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a Bachelor Degree in Industrial Relations with a concentration in economics.

Webber has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a graduate of Wake Forest University and earned a Masters of Business Administration.

The Forbes Best-In-State ranking algorithm is based on industry experience, interviews, compliance records, assets under management, revenue and other criteria by Shook Research, LLC, which does not receive compensation from the advisors or their firms in exchange for placement on a ranking. Investment performance is not a criterion.

With $1.88 trillion in client assets as of March 31, Wells Fargo Advisors provides advice and guidance to help clients maximize all aspects of their financial lives. Its network of financial advisors serves investors through locations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Wells Fargo Advisors is a part of Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management (WIM), a division within Wells Fargo & Company and one of the largest wealth managers in the U.S.
In April, Emmanuel Macron defeated right-wing populist Marine Le Pen in the second round of Frances presidential election, winning 58.5% of the vote. The Center Holds, The Economist announced, the result being, at least partially, a victory for centrist, broadly liberal, pro-European politics over the forces of nationalism and populism.

Politics in France in recent times have seemed to run contrary to broader trends. During the 1980s, when economic neoliberalism (a belief in laissez-faire capitalism) held sway in the United States and Britain (with Ronald Reagan president in the U.S. and Margaret Thatcher prime minister in the UK), France had a democratic socialist president (Francois Mitterrand, who was elected in 1981 and reelected in 1988). A year after Donald Trump was elected president in the United States and British citizens voted to exit the European Union, French voters elected Macron, a pro-EU centrist.

Macrons reelection seems to run contrary to high levels of polarization elsewhere. But closer looks at the results suggest that France may not be as distinct as one might assume.

Macron won a plurality in the first round of this years election (with 28% of the vote, more than any other candidate). But the results revealed a high level of support in France for polarized candidates. Jean-Luc Melenchon on the far-left won 22% of the vote, while Marine Le Pen won 23% and Eric Zemmour won 7% of the vote on the far-right. Collectively, such candidates won a majority of the vote.

The two traditionally dominant, relatively moderate, political forces in France fared poorly (to put it mildly)  Valerie Pecresse of The Republicans won 5% of the vote and Anne Hidalgo of the Socialist Party won 2%. Aside from Macrons La Republique En Marche!, the center in French politics has been hollowed out.

Though Marine Le Pen lost in the second round of the election, she came closer than ever to capturing the presidency. When her father Jean-Marie Le Pen of the then-named National Front progressed to the second round of Frances presidential election in 2002, he was defeated by a 64 point margin, winning only 18% of the vote. Marine nearly doubled her fathers result by winning 34% in the second round of the 2017 election. In this years election, with 41.5% of the vote, Le Pen demonstrated that a far-right victory is within reach.

The election results illustrated, furthermore, that France is deeply fractured, as The Economist put it, along geographic lines. Eighty-five percent of Parisians voted for Macron in the second round, in contrast to French residents of Auchy-les-Mines in the industrial north where 69% voted for Le Pen.

Enthusiasm for Macron in this years election was muted. In the first round, he was the first preference for only slightly more than a quarter of French voters. Turnout in the second round was lower than it has been in decades. Many of those who voted for Macron in the second round may have done so to prevent a Le Pen victory rather than out of support for Macron.

Election results can be misleading. They do not always reflect underlying preferences as much as some might assume. Results are dependent on voters preferences, but other factors matter such as the electoral system, the options available to voters, and personal characteristics of those who are running for office.

Macrons victory provides many with a sense of relief. A Le Pen victory would have resulted in an increase in racial tension and a decrease in French support for NATO and the EU at a critical time as Ukraine battles Russian forces. Macrons win demonstrates that cooler heads can still prevail.

But we should not ignore the undercurrents of French politics. Legislative elections in June will provide a further indication of how strong polarized forces currently are in France. Will the center once again hold? Perhaps. But the pull of those on the fringes will not be going away any time soon. Le Pen and others on the ideological fringes are making headway. If left unchecked, it wont be long before they tear the center apart.

Dr. David Dreyer is a political science professor at Lenoir-Rhyne University.
Honor your father and your mother. (Exodus 20:12)

Today is a big day in the life of mothers. Our country has celebrated Mothers Day on the second Sunday in May ever since President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed it as a national holiday in 1914.

But thats just part of the story about how one of our nations most coveted days began. Strangely, the rest of the story has been forgotten. I guess it has given way to all the commercialism that Mothers Day now carries with it.

The whole notion of honoring our mothers began long before 1914. Julia Ward Howe first proposed the idea in 1872. Howe, who wrote Battle Hymn of the Republic, saw Mothers Day as one being dedicated to peace. She wanted to use Mothers Day to help heal the scars that had resulted from the Civil War.

But it wasnt Julia Ward Howe who is recognized for the Mothers Day holiday that we now enjoy. It was a Philadelphia woman by the name of Anna Jarvis who is universally credited with founding the holiday.

The year was 1908, just a little more than two years since Jarvis had lost her own mother. Still grieving and struggling for some way to honor her mother, Jarvis held a ceremony in Grafton, West Virginia. She was so moved by what she experienced that she embarked on a national campaign to have our country honor the many contributions that mothers make. In 1910, West Virginia became the first state to celebrate Mothers Day. A year later, most of the countrys other states officially set aside the day as well. The momentum was obviously too great for President Wilson to refuse Jarvis quest to honor her own mother by designating a day each year for all of us to honor our mothers.

But what you probably dont know is that Anna Jarvis spent the rest of her life trying to undo what she had done. Enraged by the commercialization that an entrepreneurial America developed for Mothers Day, Jarvis filed a lawsuit in 1923 to stop a Mothers Day festival. She was later arrested for disturbing the peace when she learned that a war mothers convention was selling white carnations  Jarvis symbol for mothers  to raise money. This is not what I intended, Jarvis said. I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit!

History wasnt very kind to Anna Jarvis. She had obviously started something that she couldnt stop. Never a mother herself, she died at age 84. Her life was one of strange irony. In fact, she spent the most of the fortune her mother left her to fight against a holiday she created to honor her. Just before her death, Jarvis told a reporter she regretted she had ever started Mothers Day. Whats equally ironic is she made that comment from her room in nursing home - the room that had been filled with cards every Mothers Day honoring her for what she had done.

Jarvis was right. Mothers Day is way too commercial. My mother passed away when I was a small child. But if I could, I would want to look into her eyes and tell her how much I love her and appreciate everything she did for me.

May she who gave you birth rejoice. (Proverbs 23:25)
Monday, May 9

The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner and provide proof of vaccination.

Tuesday, May 10

The Cabarrus County Retired Nurses meeting will be at Punchy's Diner from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call Gayla Spears 704-786-0333 if you have questions.

Thursday, May 12

Old Courthouse Theatre presents The Addams Family: A New Musical. Performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.octconcord.com or at the door 45 minutes prior to the show starting.

Kannapolis Farmers Market is open 4-7 p.m. at the corner of Vance St. and Dale Earnhardt Blvd. Vendors offer a wide variety of fresh, local produce, as well as meat, eggs, spices, crafts, and prepared foods and sauces.

Friday, May 13

The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner and provide proof of vaccination.

Heavenly Hot Dogs at Mount Olivet United Methodist Church, 301 Mount Olivet Road, will be offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free delivery for orders of more than $15, and takeout is available. Homemade desserts and chicken noodle soup are available. For more information, visit www.mtochurch.com or call 704-782-8846.

Hot dogs at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, will be sold along with fried bologna and barbecue sandwiches and desserts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Old Courthouse Theatre presents The Addams Family: A New Musical. Performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.octconcord.com or at the door 45 minutes prior to the show starting.

Saturday, May 14

The Piedmont Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon at 518 Winecoff School Road. It features lots of local produce, meat, flowers and other products.

Old Courthouse Theatre presents The Addams Family: A New Musical. Performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.octconcord.com or at the door 45 minutes prior to the show starting.

Sunday, May 15

Old Courthouse Theatre presents The Addams Family: A New Musical. Performance will be at 2:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.octconcord.com or at the door 45 minutes prior to the show starting.

Monday, May 16

The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner and provide proof of vaccination.

Tuesday, May 17

The Cabarrus County Council on Aging will hold its first meeting of 2022 at 1 p.m. at the Concord Senior Center. Cabarrus County Sheriff Van Shaw will speak about senior scams. Light refreshments will be provided by the COA in place of a covered dish luncheon. Dues can be paid at this time: $3 per person or $5 for two people. Non-members are welcome.

Wednesday, May 18

The Cabarrus Senior Center Photo Club is alive and clicking away. If you like taking photos, come join the members on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 1:30-3 p.m. at the Cabarrus Senior Center, 331 Corban Ave. SE, Concord, and share your photographic creativity. Whether you are a seasoned photographer or strictly amateur, all are welcome.

Thursday, May 19

Kannapolis Farmers Market is open 4-7 p.m. at the corner of Vance St. and Dale Earnhardt Blvd. Vendors offer a wide variety of fresh, local produce, as well as meat, eggs, spices, crafts, and prepared foods and sauces.

Friday, May 20

The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner and provide proof of vaccination.

Heavenly Hot Dogs at Mount Olivet United Methodist Church, 301 Mount Olivet Road, will be offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free delivery for orders of more than $15, and takeout is available. Homemade desserts and chicken noodle soup are available. For more information, visit www.mtochurch.com or call 704-782-8846.

Hot dogs at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, will be sold along with fried bologna and barbecue sandwiches and desserts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Old Courthouse Theatre presents The Addams Family: A New Musical. Performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.octconcord.com or at the door 45 minutes prior to the show starting.

Saturday, May 21

The Piedmont Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon at 518 Winecoff School Road. It features lots of local produce, meat, flowers and other products.

Old Courthouse Theatre presents The Addams Family: A New Musical. Performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.octconcord.com or at the door 45 minutes prior to the show starting.

Sunday, May 22

Old Courthouse Theatre presents The Addams Family: A New Musical. Performance will be at 2:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.octconcord.com or at the door 45 minutes prior to the show starting.

The Piedmont Prime Time Community Band is presenting a concert titled "Movie Music & More" at 4 p.m. at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Rd, Concord. The concert will feature familiar music from the movies and celebrates John Williams' 90th birthday. Selections include music from James Bond, Star Trek, Star Wars, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, The Wizard of OZ, and more favorites. The band consists of community members of all ages from the local area, and is directed by Chris White, who is also the band director at Hickory Ridge High School. Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted.

Wednesday, May 25

American Legion Post 51 is hosting a Blood Drive from 1:30-5:50 p.m.

Join the American Legion and the Red Cross on this lifesaving mission by scheduling an appointment with the Red Cross: 800-733-2767. American Legion Post 51 is located at 165 Wilshire Ave. Southwest.

Thursday, May 26

Kannapolis Farmers Market is open 4-7 p.m. at the corner of Vance St. and Dale Earnhardt Blvd. Vendors offer a wide variety of fresh, local produce, as well as meat, eggs, spices, crafts, and prepared foods and sauces.

Friday, May 27 The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner and provide proof of vaccination. Heavenly Hot Dogs at Mount Olivet United Methodist Church, 301 Mount Olivet Road, will be offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free delivery for orders of more than $15, and takeout is available. Homemade desserts and chicken noodle soup are available. For more information, visit www.mtochurch.com or call 704-782-8846. Hot dogs at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, will be sold along with fried bologna and barbecue sandwiches and desserts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 28 The Piedmont Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon at 518 Winecoff School Road. It features lots of local produce, meat, flowers and other products Cabarrus chapter of Disabled American Veterans and DAV Auxiliary will be replacing flags on veterans' graves at West Concord Cemetery on Union Cemetery Rd starting at 10 a.m. Everyone is welcome to participate. The ground is hard; so bring a large screwdriver to poke a hole for the flag."

Monday, May 30 The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner and provide proof of vaccination. Wednesday, June 1 The Cabarrus Senior Center Photo Club is alive and clicking away. If you like taking photos, come join the members on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 1:30-3 p.m. at the Cabarrus Senior Center, 331 Corban Ave. SE, Concord, and share your photographic creativity. Whether you are a seasoned photographer or strictly amateur, all are welcome. Thursday, June 2 Kannapolis Farmers Market is open 4-7 p.m. at the corner of Vance St. and Dale Earnhardt Blvd. Vendors offer a wide variety of fresh, local produce, as well as meat, eggs, spices, crafts, and prepared foods and sauces. Friday, June 3 The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner and provide proof of vaccination. Heavenly Hot Dogs at Mount Olivet United Methodist Church, 301 Mount Olivet Road, will be offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free delivery for orders of more than $15, and takeout is available. Homemade desserts and chicken noodle soup are available. For more information, visit www.mtochurch.com or call 704-782-8846. Hot dogs at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, will be sold along with fried bologna and barbecue sandwiches and desserts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 4 The Piedmont Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon at 518 Winecoff School Road. It features lots of local produce, meat, flowers and other products. New Gilead Reformed Church is hosting a hot dog sale and yard sale. The yard sale will be held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Hot dogs and homemade desserts are available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., dine in or carry out. The church is located at 2400 Old Salisbury-Concord Road, Concord.

Got news or events?

Does your community group or nonprofit agency have an upcoming event that would be of interest to the public? Email it to mplemmons@independenttribune.com.
LINCOLN  The final graduation at Lincoln College was supposed to be a moment of joy mixed with a bit of sadness.

However, the faculty, staff and 2022 graduating class of the now bygone school found happiness in the colleges final ceremony Saturday. Officials had announced in March that the the 157-year-old institution would close this month, citing financial issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic, declining enrollment and a cyberattack.

The college president and other speakers addressed the crowd in the schools gymnasium with hope for the future. Little was said about the last days.

Lincoln College President David Gerlach understood the day would be bittersweet.

Its both a wonderfully happy day and a terribly sad day, he said. After 157 years, the coronavirus really knocked us in the chin.

According to Gerlach, 22 colleges have worked with Lincoln to accept the remaining students, including their credits, tuition prices and residency requirements.

Im happy we were able to take care of our other students, he said. Weve done all we can in prepping the students to be ready for that transfer. They will do well.

More than 200 students graduated during Saturdays ceremony. Organizers decided to keep the festivities similar to previous graduations, although the ceremony was also shown virtually this year.

Alumni were invited back to the college on April 30 to revisit the highlights from their college years. A view of the bookstores and other halls and buildings, a meal at the cafeteria, and a tour of the community were part of the visits.

Jocelyn Paige Fletcher graduated on Saturday with a bachelor's degree. She had plans to remain on campus for work. Now, she has no choice but to look elsewhere for a job.

I had the intention of working here after graduation, she said about her first career step. Now thats been taken away, so I have to figure something else out. And I still dont know what Im doing.

Puerto Rico native Miguel Reyes was the only graduating student receiving a bachelor's degree in theater.

Im the last one in my department graduating, he said. Everything happens for a reason, probably something bigger for us in the future. Were just going to go forward.

Reyes plans to return home for the summer, but thats not where he will stay. Disney, Pixar and other studio companies are on his list of aspirational career moves.

But my ultimate goal will be Marvel Studios, he said.

Dressed in a purple robe, Kaylee Winebrinner received her associate degree on Saturday.

I was planning to stay all four years, she said. Im pretty sad, but if this is happening, then maybe its meant to be.

As a Lincoln native, her limited college years were part of her hometown experience.

This is my home, Winebrinner said. It was just another home to me.

The future for Winebrinner may include colleges close to home, such as Millikin University or the University of Illinois-Springfield.

According to Lincoln native Stacy Jackson, the college closing is another worry for the city. A nursing home, a development center and other businesses have closed in the past few years.

But this is huge, she said while waiting for her nephew's graduation. Because if this isnt in place, its going to make an impact on us.

Lauren Grenlund, director of public relations at the college, is moving on just like the students.

I have been looking for a new place to work, she said. Ive had some offers. Just looking for which one will be the best.

Grenlund has studied the vibe of the campus since the news broke in March that the college would permanently close at the end of the school year.

Everybody has been handling it positively, she said. I think some of our long-term staff are having difficulty, because theyve been here since they were young. They bleed purple.

With mixed emotions, Ariana Trotter received her bachelors degree while wearing a black robe and a cap adorned with flowers and a crown.

Lincoln was another home to me, she said.

Its not very often you get to say goodbye to people and know youre not going to see them again, said Trotters classmate Caroline Reynolds.

Although the two graduates had already planned to continue their education elsewhere, they had built a strong bond with one specific teacher, Monica Overton, the lead faculty for community and human services.

Leaving her, knowing she is left to be in an awkward state, leaves us in an uneasy feeling, Trotter said. Shes like a mom to us away from home.

Overton wasnt worried about her future as much as her students were. She instead focused her concerns on them.

My students arent just numbers, they are important to me, she said. Their success, what happens to them next, is a natural thing for me to consider.

With a strong faith, Overton said she is relying on God for direction.

Hell navigate me wherever I need to go, she said. Itll be good, but its definitely a journey. Im excited about whats next.

Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR

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CHICAGO - For years after her son was fatally wounded by Chicago police officers on the South Side during a traffic stop in the Washington Park neighborhood, Octavia Mitchell stopped celebrating Mothers Day.

But in 2021 she decided to refocus her fight to clear her sons name after a decade of confronting city officials to prove her son was not firing a gun at police. She changed her focus to bringing life to the Heal Your Heart Foundation, a nonprofit she started in honor of her son Izael Jackson, then 18, who was a senior preparing to graduate from Hyde Park High School.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic making it harder for gatherings nationwide, she pulled off the first annual Mothers Day brunch in 2021 for other moms who lost children to Chicago gun violence. Some of the mothers had brunch with women who were the rivals of their children, sometimes connected by gang activity to their childs slaying.

The meeting of the moms was successful, and they embraced and shed tears, realizing the assignment was now preventing other mothers from experiencing the same dreadful pain.

This Mothers Day, Mitchell and Dedra Morris are revamping the celebration to focus on trying to help the mothers healing process.

I hope to be able to bring more mothers, and to make it bigger and more special, Mitchell said near the anniversary of when her son was pronounced dead from his wounds, April 25. Last year I had a banner with all the deceased childrens names. It was too emotional and filled with pain so I dont want to do that again. Some moms had two and three kids on that banner. I was like Wow, this mother has it worse than me.

Mitchell explained that her goal is to put a smile on each womans face.

Last year was Mitchells first time celebrating Mothers Day in years, she said.

I dont want it to be that long for any mom because you deprive your other children from celebrating their mom, she said. Although we are grieving, we cant be selfish.

This Sunday, Mitchell and Morris hope to have brunch together with at least 100 others who lost children to gun violence or COVID-19. Other attendees might also have lost mothers to violence or the virus.

Our plans are to have a surprise for each mother or child to brighten up their day, Mitchell said.

Lately, Mitchell is fully involved with the Heal Your Heart Foundation and addressing the long-lasting grief mothers have to grapple with until their death.

Last year, an out-of-state attorney, Phillip Aaron, who agreed to take the Izael Jackson case for free, died of natural causes. Aaron had worked in Chicago representing young African American victims of sex abuse by priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago. He had said he felt a kinship with Mitchells case because it involved Black residents being abused by the system.

Miss Mitchell is a special person, Aaron said in a 2019 Tribune article. She was working through pain and tears at a time, in a way when most people would have given up. But she knew in her heart her son didnt do what they accused him of. Ive never really met anyone with that type of firm determination to go on no matter what the obstacles were.

Mitchell is still as determined in 2022, as she waits for the federal court to assign her a new attorney.

I dont fault people. I understand nobody wants to go behind someones mistake because its a problem someone else created, Mitchell said. I try to make negatives into a positive.

Since the Chicago Office of Police Accountability declined to open the case again because labs ruled the DNA results inconclusive, Mitchell now wants to know the ingredients used in the testing to determine if another conclusion could have been reached.

The Illinois State Police refuse to speak with me, Kim Foxx wouldnt call me back, and Mayor Lightfoot led me around for months until one day cold-bloodedly her clerk said shes not meeting with you, Mitchell said. Am I not owed an explanation after my baby was shot in the back three times, and the DNA recovered at the scene went missing for years?

This is your city, Mayor Lightfoot. Its your city and now its your problem, she said. Stop putting names in a bucket and having a lottery on who gets justice depending on where it happened.

Recently one of last years Warrior Moms got a sliver of justice when the alleged shooters of her son, Carlton Weekly, also known as FBG Duck, were arrested and charged in his slaying in downtown Chicago after the FBI got involved in the matter.

Mitchell pointed to the multiple arrests of looters downtown following the civil unrest after George Floyds murder by a Minneapolis police officer.

Only clothes being stolen from downtown is more important than our babies being murdered, she said.

This Mothers Day brunch is being held in the North Pullman District. Those wishing to attend or support the event can contact Octavia Mitchell at 312-581-1770.

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Inmar Intelligence has carved a successful corporate niche out of finding solutions to customers data and research challenges, sometimes before they even know the challenges exist.

Inmar, founded in 1980, offers consulting and digital software services in the promotional, health care and supply-chain industries.

It has nearly 1,000 employees in Forsyth County  making it one of the largest Triad private-sector employers  and about 5,000 companywide, including a major operational hub in India.

The company recently completed a self-examination in which applying its disruptive analysis persuaded David Mounts, 58, to retire in April after 12 years as chief executive and eight years as chairman.

Inmar has named Spencer Baird, president of Inmars Martech division, as interim chief executive.

With this announcement and as a best practice, our board has begun a formal CEO search process, which will include both internal and external candidates with material input from Inmars executive leadership team, the company said.

These searches can take some time, but we expect to complete the search before the end of the year.

Mounts said he will remain active during the transition process over at least the next six months, including serving as a senior strategic adviser to Inmars board of directors.

Succession planning has been in the works for a few years, Mounts said.

COVID delayed the timing, as our company and all companies needed to manage through the crisis periods.

The companys strategy and position helped it perform through COVID and accelerate afterward. With that stability, the time is right, Mounts said.

The company said Mounts has led a transformation of the company from nine separate units in the areas of supply chain, health care and coupons, to an industry leader as an applied data-platform company.

Mounts has led Inmar through two private-equity ownership changes during his tenure, which enabled Inmar to invest more than $1 billion to fully upgrade and digitize its business operations, technology platform and product suite.

Its majority owner is OMERS Private Equity, owned by the OMERS pension plan for municipal employees in Ontario, Canada.

Mounts also cited a desire to spend more active time with his parents and his children, some of whom have the same entrepreneurial bug as he does.

Recognizing a fine line

Mounts said the change from himself to Baird is an example of recognizing theres a fine line between performing well and understanding the benefits of strategic disruption to improve performance.

Its based in knowing what needs to change, and then not changing anything that shouldnt be changed, Mounts said.

Baird joined Inmar in May 2020, hand-picked by Mounts to be chief transformation officer before becoming president of Martech.

David said that, Spencer, youve always been in the transformation business, but just never got paid for it, until joining Inmar, Baird said.

Baird has been leading Inmars Retail Commerce Media and Data platform that addresses consumer demand for personalized, targeted digital marketing and messaging.

Inmar said Baird was instrumental in key acquisitions, including Aki Technologies, and in expanding product development.

The core competency of Inmar is that it is very, very good at assessing technology, accessing the problems that customers have, and then applying that technology and getting the outcomes, Mounts said.

At the end of the day, what customers really want to do is buy an outcome.

Mounts said that when you look at our strategy and how we got to where we are today, its very well positioned for the digital transformation needs of our clients.

We have built up the technology, the data platform and cloud application layers and COVID-19 only accelerated that transformation.

As a result of being willing to embrace disruption, Mounts said Inmar had its best financial yearly performance in 2021 and is poised to exceed that level in 2022.

Understanding retail

Mounts said he felt comfortable with the timing of the transition because of the management team that has been in place since 2010.

The team underneath Spencer is very, very deep, so that gives me confidence about the timing, Mounts said.

Mounts said he hand-picked Baird in large part because of Bairds background in the retail and consumer packaged goods sectors  a growth area for Inmar.

Bairds corporate background includes leadership roles in grocery retail, e-commerce and consumer packaged goods for several well-known retail companies, such as HJ Heinz, The Dannon Co., Kellogg Co., Ahold Delhaize (owner of Food Lion) and Peapod.

Spencer is positioned well within Inmar because hes been in those roles for the customers were selling to, Mounts said.

Baird, in turn, said a statement from Mounts persuaded him that Inmar would be a good enough fit for his management skills to move his family from Chicago to Winston-Salem.

Baird said Inmar represents a great intersection of all these different places that Ive been ... and I feel I can help our asset base do what they do much more effectively.

I dont have to guess what their problems are because, frankly, I have experienced them.

Moving in

Inmar is settling into its new headquarters space, having moved from a 242,000-square-foot space in Innovation Quarter to 177,000 square feet in the One West Fourth tower a few blocks to the west.

The transition began earlier this month. Inmar occupies the second through fifth floors in the 13-floor building, taking up 38.3% of the 461,500 square feet.

The company said in May 2021 that the COVID-19 pandemic showed it needed less office space because a majority of employees were planning to continue to work from home.

The pandemic provided an opportunity to explore a reimagined, transformed workplace that holds advantages for faster innovation, better client service and improved employee satisfaction, the company said .

Our experience teaches us that the work from home or hybrid (of working in the office and at home) ... is the preference for the majority of our corporate teams during the work week.

Under this new (work from home/hybrid) model, we can recruit talented individuals from anywhere in the world, it said.

Always learning

Baird said another reason Inmar piqued his interest is that Ive always been a guy that really appreciates and values learning.

Oftentimes, what comes with that is disruption and change and transformation.

What I saw in Inmar was a company that had the asset base to truly transform, not just the retail or the consumer packing company, but actually the whole ecosystem with the asset base following the 20 acquisitions that weve made over the past 10 years, Baird said.

Baird said his main goal as interim chief executive is to listen deeply to why we have done what we have done and think differently how we can effectively use these assets that were so attractive to me.

Mounts, meanwhile, said he believes his time with Inmar dovetails wonderfully with downtown Winston-Salem revitalization efforts.

Our collaboration and trust with Wake Forest was the basis for community betterment and became the tipping point for Innovation Quarter to become the success it is today, Mounts said.

Now our new location at One West Fourth and the new Kaleideum facility will revitalize that part of downtown. Im certain our downtown workforce will be patrons often of the downtown restaurant scene.

All that adds to the good works done over the years by Don Flow and Billy Prim on the West side, which makes for several square miles of walkable, livable and lovable space and activity in the Twin Cities, he said.

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North Carolina is ranked again as the nations top state for economic and business development projects, claiming the 2022 Prosperity Cup from Site Selection magazine.

It is the second consecutive year North Carolina topped the Prosperity Cup ranking. The award is shared by the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. and N.C. Commerce Department.

This is not some blip, said Gary Daughters, Site Selections senior editor.

North Carolinas increasingly resonant example represents the triumph of long-term planning, perseverance and adaptability, investment and execution.

The magazine listed the planned Toyota Battery Manufacturing N.C. electric-battery manufacturing plant in the Greensboro-Randolph County megasite as a key factor in remaining No. 1.

Toyota has pledged to create 1,750 jobs at the plant where it will build lithium batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles. It has committed to at least $1.29 billion in capital investments.

Site Selection also cited Apples $1 billion investment in Wake County, bringing in 3,000 jobs, and Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, which announced a $2 billion investment for a biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Wake County that will create 725 jobs.

Altogether, North Carolina was credited for 174 projects for a combined more than 23,000 new jobs for residents, along with $10 billion in capital investment.

The rest of the top five for 2022 are Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and Indiana.

Criteria includes: the total number of new and expanded facilities in the state; total capital investment in new and expanded facilities; total number of new jobs created; and business-climate attractiveness.

North Carolina has a promising chance at remaining No. 1 in the 2023 ranking given it already has landed several high-profile economic projects.

In January, Denver-based Boom Supersonic committed to hiring initially 1,761 jobs by 2030 and at least 2,400 jobs by 2032 for its $500 million superfactory at Piedmont Triad International Airport. The facility will feature manufacturing, assembly, testing and distribution operations.

Construction of the 400,000-square-foot facility is slated to begin later this year on a 65-acre property. The first Overture jet is expected to go into commercial airline service in 2029.

In March, North Carolinas decades-long quest to secure an automobile manufacturer came to fruition with Vietnamese electric vehicle startup VinFasts plans for a $4 billion campus within a 1,977-acre megasite near Sanford.

The governors office said it is the largest economic development announcement in state history. The first phase will represent a $2 billion capital investment.

The Moncure megasite, recently rebranded as Triangle Innovation Point, lies in the Carolina Core corridor that stretches from the Triad down U.S. 421 to Fayetteville.

Other high-profile projects involve retail department store chain Macys Inc. said in March it would create 2,800 jobs in Rowan County as part of building a $584 million automated fulfillment center. The 1.4-million-square-foot center will be in the China Grove community.

Theres also Nucor Corp. saying in April it will build a $350 million steel manufacturing plant in Lexington. The steel manufacturer is projected to create at least 180 jobs between 2023 and 2025.

In November, Site Selection ranked North Carolina as having the nations top business climate for 2021.

North Carolina edged out Georgia for the top honor after the states tied for first place in the 2020 rankings.

The rankings remain based 50% on a survey of corporate real-estate executives and 50% on an index of seven criteria derived from data in the Conway Projects database. The cutoff for the data was 2020.

North Carolina had a previous multiyear run at the top from 2005 to 2010.

For 2021, Site Selection cited the blend of location ingredients required by capital investors in key industry sectors as major factors for North Carolinas first-place recognition.

Those include advantages in supply-chain logistics, lower cost of doing business, the 2.5% corporate tax rate, fewer regulations, economic incentives and workforce-training programs.

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By Trend





The Azerbaijani Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations together with the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA) will hold a big conference exhibition in Azerbaijan in October 2022, the confederations vice president Vugar Zeynalov told Trend.

According to Zeynalov, ICCIA hasnt chosen the country as venue for this event by chance.

"Azerbaijan is a regional hub and an exhibition-conference of halal food products [permissible in Islam] will be held here. Now we are preparing for this event," the official said.

He noted that information about the countries which will take part in the conference exhibition is clarified.

According to him, 56 countries are members of the ICCIA.

Speaking about the activities of the confederation, Zeynalov said that one of the main activities is to provide business entities with access to their financing.

"We are working on the implementation of six sustainable goals in the field of entrepreneurship development. In this direction, we are carrying out relevant activities together with entrepreneurs," he said.

"This is a broad tool which will accelerate the development of entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan and expand access to financing for small and medium business entities," added the official.
With the unprecedented magnitude of the leaked opinion that the Supreme Court has the requisite five votes to overturn Roe v. Wade, the gauntlet has been thrown and the dynamics for the upcoming 2022 midterm elections could not be clearer.

Going forward, will we return the traditions of democratic-republicanism or perilously spiral downward into the abyss of democratic-radicalism?

The landmark case that affirmed abortion rights, as part of the constitutionally protected right to privacy, will soon be no more. It remains to be seen what the post-Roe world will look like.

That this court would overturn Roe, along with Casey v. Planned Parenthood, which strengthened Roe, is about as shocking as the sun making its predictable rise over the eastern horizon. But the binary terrain that much of our public discourse relies on is woefully inadequate to judiciously address many of our contemporary concerns. There is a tendency to place an overreliance on the outcome as a way to measure our support or opposition.

The revelation of the leaked memo that Roe would be overturned cannot be divorced from then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells 2016 decision to not hold hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland. McConnell summarily concluded that eight months before a presidential election was insufficient time to hold nomination hearings. But McConnells brazenly political decision eight weeks before the 2020 presidential election was determined more than adequate to hold hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

The decisions to step beyond the nations democratic norms could only be accepted by those who approved the outcome. But this ends justifying the means approach is a double-edged sword. Given American politics, especially at the national level, is a cyclical endeavor, retribution is a matter of time.

If Democrats were able to expand their majorities in Congress, it is increasingly likely that justices would be added to the Supreme Court. And like McConnells decisions, there would be nothing unconstitutional about such acts.

If this were to happen, the likely cries of victimization by the opposition notwithstanding, the nation would officially be on an irrepressible downward slide, away from its democratic traditions.

In the leaked majority opinion published by Politico, Justice Samuel Alito opined that the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and 14th Amendments to the Constitution  where the court concluded, per the 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut, that the right to privacy was contained in the penumbra of rights embedded in the aforementioned amendments  was not applicable to Roe.

Is Alito suggesting that, the moment a woman becomes pregnant, she loses some of her constitutionally protected right to privacy? Given that the right to privacy is not expressly stated in the Constitution, is it a constitutionally protected right in Alitos jurisprudence worldview?

Alitos subjective conclusion that the right to an abortion is not deeply rooted in the nations history is cause for concern for myriad reasons. The constitutional underpinnings that supported Roe were privacy. Is the right to privacy deeply rooted in the nations history?

Moreover, Alito specifically criticizes landmark civil rights cases Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized marriage equality, and Lawrence v. Texas, which legalized private consensual sex, as not deeply rooted in the nations history.

Alitos assertion that certain issues he considers not deeply rooted in the nations history offers a misguided, radical and dangerous understanding of the American adventure.

Equality, though stated as part of the nations civic virtue in 1776, was not deeply rooted in the nations history, when the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868. One might make a similar claim with the ratification of 19th Amendment and womens suffrage. It wasnt until 1965, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act, that full citizenship for all Americans became ubiquitous. Until the change occurred, each was a concept that was not deeply rooted in the nations history.

The very essence of change, consistent with the nations democratic values, is by definition not something deeply rooted in the nations history until it is brought to fruition.

Alitos opinion, in its current leaked form, may be rivaled only by the opinions offered in Dred Scott v. Sanford and Plessy v. Ferguson, widely considered among the worst decisions ever rendered by the court.

Do we sit passively, endowed with apathy, or do we conclude this potentially radical and dangerous path that at least five members of the court seemed committed to tread is a bridge too far? Americas next steps await our decision.

The Rev. Byron Williams (byron@publicmorality.org), a writer and the host of The Public Morality on WSNC 90.5, lives in Winston-Salem.
The recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in Forsyth County and the Triad is worth monitoring, but not overreacting to, according to an infectious diseases expert.

Dr. Christopher Ohl, an infectious diseases expert with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, said Thursday that over the past month, the new daily case count in Forsyth has risen from 10 per 100,000 to 21 per 100,000.

By comparison, Forsyth was at 100 cases per 100,000 during the omicron daily case peak in February.

During the week ending April 30, COVID-19 cases in Forsyth increased by 40%, or from 372 to 521, according to Wednesdays COVID-19 dashboard update by N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

In all, Forsyth has reported 93,499 COVID-19 cases and 824 related deaths since mid-March 2020.

Ohl stressed that daily and weekly DHHS case counts since the omicron surge began in mid-December dont reflect home testing results. Those positive results are not required to be reported to county health departments.

The actual numbers could be higher than what DHHS is reporting, Ohl said. But I still think were in a comfortable range.

Forsyth health director Joshua Swift said new cases have jumped by 150% over the 14-day period ending May 5.

The majority of new Forsyth cases for the week that ended April 30 were been in the 25 to 49 age group at 168. Thats followed by 102 of those ages 55 to 64, 86 of those ages 18 to 24, 69 of those children up to age 17, 65 of those ages 65 to 74, and 38 of those age 75 and older.

We dont anticipate a surge like we did with omicron and delta, Swift said.

We are pretty much back to normal, whether its prom season, concerts and other gatherings. Its the nature of where we are now.

But, we are really encouraging people to be up to date on their vaccinations because a third of our (new) cases are breakthrough cases, Swift said. COVID is much less severe if you are vaccinated.

Those new cases, however, have not translated into a surge in COVID-19 related hospitalizations, Swift said. There were just eight COVID-19 hospital patients as of Wednesday.

DHHS reports the BA.2 omicron subvariant comprised 81% of North Carolina cases for April 3-16.

Currently, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists Forsyth as a county with low community spread. The same is true in all of North Carolinas counties.

Last week, the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals in North Carolina rose to 373, up from 256 the previous week.

COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide averaged 409 last week, up from 356 the previous week.

Hospitals in the 17-county Triad region averaged 79 COVID-19 patients, up from 66 in the previous week.

Ohl stressed that COVID-19 hospitalizations remain typically among unvaccinated individuals.

Kody Kinsley, North Carolinas health secretary, said in March that the state would begin placing more emphasis on measures including wastewater surveillance. Officials also continue to monitor hospital admissions and new variants.

COVID-19 virus particles appearing in wastewater can signal how quickly the virus is spreading, even if people dont get tested or have symptoms, DHHS said in announcing the shift.

DHHS latest COVID-19 update reported 12.2 million COVID-19 virus particles found in the wastewater samples last week.

Thats up from 11.3 million for the week that ended April 23 and from 5.1 million for the week that ended April 16.

Ohl said that the wastewater counts continue to rise in the Triad, while they appear to be leveling off in the Charlotte area.

Im not too worried about the increase, but its a sign that the pandemic isnt over, Ohl said.

Ohl said the increase in new cases is an expected ripple effect in the current pandemic phase in which fewer people are masking indoors.

Im hearing a lot about COVID colds after going to an activity, Ohl said.

Ohl and Swift have said a COVID cold tends to have symptoms of mild cold, sore throat and cough for those who have been vaccinated and/or received a booster.

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Revenge politics

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a good example of what it will be like if Republicans regain power. His going after Disney for being against the so-called Dont say gay bill is a perfect example of revenge politics, which Republicans have said is on their agenda.

Thomas Murray

Winston-Salem

Emotional support

I am a retired special needs teacher with a granddaughter attending kindergarten in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools. After reading Journal articles about our school board candidates, I worry that some of them fail to realize that many children need emotional support as well as academics. As teacher/author Nicholas Ferroni has wisely observed, Students who are loved at home come to school to learn  and students who arent, come to school to be loved. With that in mind, the back to basics curriculum approach advocated by some current candidates simply doesnt address the needs of many children in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. We need candidates who are going to fully support teaching the whole child, and not just the academic child.

Perhaps most disturbing: When asked, three candidates (Millie Williams, Holly Pegram and Jimmie Boyd) admitted they currently couldnt even make a case for public schools. What an affront to our dedicated educators and staff!

The good news is, we have qualified candidates on both sides of the aisle. Yvonne Williams (R) is a retired educator who volunteers in our schools. Sabrina Coone-Godfrey (D) has two kids in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools and was nominated to be the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Volunteer of the Year. Richards Watts (D) and Stan Elrod (R) are both retired principals from Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools. Lets choose wisely during the primaries who will be on the ballot in November. This race deserves our full attention. There is too much at stake.

Teresa Koehler

Winston-Salem

Follow through

According to the National Right to Life Committee, more than 63 million abortions have been performed in the United States since Roe v. Wade first passed in 1973. Thats more lives than were lost in the Holocaust, the world wars and 9/11 combined.

Thats some 63 million children who did not grow to contribute to our society as doctors, teachers and business owners. Sixty-three million children who did not grow up to fall in love, adopt pets, write books, create medicines and perhaps even find the cure for cancer.

We simply cannot afford to lose another 63 million, or even 1 million or even one. Every child has a right to life, to joy and fulfillment, and thats more important than any womans economic struggle or inconvenience.

We need to develop a culture of life in America, an appreciation for life in its full, from beginning to end and every point in between. We cant do that until Roe is eliminated. I thank the Supreme Court for approaching that point and pray the court will follow through.

Shelby Wilson

Winston-Salem

Enough

If men could get pregnant abortion would be a sacrament! Enough said.

Murray C. Greason Jr.

Winston-Salem

Trust choice

Over five decades ago as a hospital chaplain in Atlanta, I visited women who had tried to self-abort with a coat hanger or attempted suicide desperate with an unwanted pregnancy. If the Supreme Court does away with Roe v. Wade, it will not stop abortions. But it would likely end safe and legal abortions in many states.

I am pro-life, but I am also pro-choice. I trust and have supported women to choose what is important for their own bodies and lives under the care of their doctors.

Should we criminalize the mother of two or her doctor who warned that continuing her third pregnancy would endanger her health? She later adopted two more children. Should we arrest the mother who wanted another child but ended her pregnancy when tests showed the one in her womb would not live after birth? She later birthed another healthy child. Should we force the pregnant teen to have a child? She chose to end her pregnancy, but now is married and glad to be a mother.

Should we require women pregnant by rape or incest to give birth? Heaven forbid!

The Rev. Stewart Edward Ellis

Clemmons

School lunch

School lunch is an issue for many students in a lot of different schools around the world. Every day we come to school and we have to eat school food. Around 29.6 million children in school rely on school lunch every day. There are a lot of students who go home hungry because the school lunch is so bad.

I think that we should still keep the food we get healthy but just provide better quality food. We need to figure out how to make a change so there are fewer children going home hungry every day. Schools can present different options to the kids to see what the kids would like.

I know some students in my school are religious and some cannot eat meat. These are the students who have no other option but to go hungry. Students dont need to go home hungry; thats just not right.

Savanah Slocumb

Thomasville

Real life support

On all levels of government, we need lawmakers who support real life.

Lawmakers who support real life would face the reality of our multiple current health crises. We need to increase access to medical care for: people living in poverty; people managing the global COVID-19 pandemic; people addicted to opioids and other drugs; and people experiencing mental health challenges, including young people damaged by social media pressures exacerbated by the early puberty trend.

Lawmakers who support real life would recognize that our federal, state and local social services agencies need additional funding to help the estimated 120,630 children in the United States who lost a primary caregiver due to COVID-19-associated death (per study cited on CDC website).

Lawmakers who support real life would vote to fund the full 40% of cost of special education provided by local public schools as mandated when the Individuals with Disabilities Act was approved decades ago. Congress has never appropriated the promised funding  current funding to states is about 14% of costs. Thank you to Rep. Alma S. Adams for co-sponsoring the House version of the IDEA Full Funding Act currently awaiting approval in the House of Representatives.

Lawmakers who support real life would vote to assist the people of Ukraine fighting for their democracy.

Lawmakers who support real life would focus on the impact our changing climate has on life itself. To paraphrase our state motto, we need lawmakers to be (pro-life) rather than to seem.

Julie Johnson Coulter

Winston-Salem

That was quick

You recently printed a letter from someone who pointed out how the Republican Party has opposed the government, the ballot box, medical authorities, judges, courts, public schools, libraries, the military, the police, other Republicans and every other American institution. The letter writer asked how long it would be before Republicans criticized Christianity (Institutional attacks, April 14).

On April 28, we learned that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia recently said that Christian organizations are working to resettle undocumented immigrants and refugees in the U.S. because Satans controlling the church.

That was a lot quicker than I expected.

By the way, Im not related to her.

Howard Greene

Winston-Salem
You have questions. I have some answers.

Q: Is the struggling actor in the Liberty Mutual insurance commercials the same man who played Finn on The Bold and Beautiful? And why did that show kill him off?

A: That is Tanner Novlan in both cases, in the commercials (where hes famous for saying Liberty Biberty) and as the recently killed Dr. John Finn Finnegan on the daytime drama. That soap-opera demise caught him by surprise. But, as he told Soap Opera Digest, thats the nature of soap opera. Anything can happen at any time, and thats ultimately what keeps people engaged with the show. Besides the commercials, he expects to be back recurring on Roswell, New Mexico, which begins a fourth season on The CW on June 6  and has hopes for a fifth season. Youre going to see plenty of me annoying you on your TV screen, he joked.

Q: In 2021 I accidentally came upon the movie John Wick and I was amazed! My question is this: When is Chapter 4 going to be released? I am anxiously awaiting it.

A: Keanu Reeves laconic action character has certainly created a lot of fans in John Wick (2014), John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) and John Wick: Chapter 3  Parabellum (2019). Many of us are waiting for John Wick: Chapter 4 and will have to keep waiting. The latest release date announced for the film is March 24, 2023.

Q: I loved the series Major Dad with Gerald McRaney. I cannot find it on DVD. Is it available?

A: The comedy, which originally aired on CBS from 1989 to 1993, starred McRaney as a Marine officer who married Polly Cooper (played by Shanna Reed), a liberal reporter and mom. I do not know of an authorized DVD set (and I only mention authorized sets here). However, you can find episodes other ways, including on NBC.com and Prime Video.

Q: Some shows I watch every week are 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Magnum P.I., Blue Bloods and S.W.A.T." I also like New Amsterdam and Bull, but they were canceled. Will the other shows be back?

A: First of all, New Amsterdam is not canceled; it will be back for a 13-episode final run sometime in the 2022-23 season. As for the rest, CBS recently announced another season for Blue Bloods and had previously picked up S.W.A.T. No word yet on Magnum or on the two 9-1-1 series. The networks full new-season announcements are coming in a couple of weeks.

Reach Rich Heldenfels at P.O. Box 417, Mogadore, OH 44260, or brenfels@gmail.com.

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Have you ever wondered which craft beers go best with which foods?

A new cookbook has the answer for you, and it has a bit of a local flair.

The Craft Brewery Cookbook by John Holl, which will be released Tuesday, features more than 70 recipes and beer pairings from chefs and brewers across the country, including one from Lincoln.

The Lincoln entry in the book is a spicy shrimp cocktail paired with an American sour ale.

Sam Riggins, owner and brewer at Cosmic Eye Brewing, said he got the inspiration for the recipe after trying different versions of the brewery's house bloody Mary mix and realizing there was something missing.

"After having a Mexican shrimp cocktail at El Chaparro, the flavors just clicked, and I knew what changes to make to the mix, Riggins said.

He said that when Holl reached out to him about the book, he contacted Mike Vandenberg, executive chef of Course Restaurant, which is part of the Great Plains Culinary Institute on the Lincoln campus of Southeast Community College, to come up with his own recipe for a Mexican shrimp cocktail.

It was a no-brainer to get Mike involved," Riggins said. "Hes a great chef, a good friend, and the restaurant is just down the street from the brewery.

Vandenberg said he had never made a Mexican shrimp cocktail before but relished the challenge and was pleased with the result.

"I am not only very proud of how this dish turned out but also very humbled to be published in a cookbook with Cosmic Eye and many other talented brewers and chefs, he said.

Cosmic Eye will be hosting a tasting of the final recipe Saturday in its taproom at 6800 P St. Tickets for the tasting, which are available at cosmiceye.beer, will include an 8-ounce portion of the spicy shrimp cocktail featured in the book and one Cosmic Eye beer.

Riggins said the cookbook only features types of beers and not those from specific breweries, but Cosmic Eye does have three different sour ales to pair with the dish.

"Or it would also work with our premium American lager -- Dead Man's Run and Dead Man's Light," he said.

Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.

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As pilots age out of the industry nationwide, major airlines are vying to get ahead of the staffing problem.

With COVID-19 in retreat across the U.S., Americans are ready to travel once more. Nearly 90% have trips planned, according to a May report by Destination Analysts, a market research firm. Although both gasoline and consumer prices are steep right now, almost 61% say leisure travel remains a high priority for their budgets over the next three months.

The survey utilizes data from 4,000 American travelers collected in April.

However, the question remains: Who will fly the plane? The Federal Aviation Administration limits the age of commercial pilots to 65. As pilots age out of the industry and fewer pilots leave the military, the airline industry is rushing to secure new hires quickly, reports management consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

Potential talent is also balking at training costs. For instance, L3Harris Airline Academy, which runs five global academy locations with 10 affiliate airline partners, starts its prices for a commercial pilot license at almost $67,000.

Airlines have to contend with the impact of the Great Resignation, as millions of American workers handed in their two-week notices during the coronavirus pandemic. The transportation sector is one of several industries undergoing a labor shortage, with a high number of job openings but relatively low quit rates, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports.

The pilot deficit isnt relegated to just the U.S. A global pilot shortage will emerge in certain regions no later than 2023 and most probably before, with North America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East likely to see the largest dearths, according to the Oliver Wyman analysis.

In North America specifically, the shortfall is estimated to reach over 12,000 pilots by next year, or 13% of total demand, Oliver Wyman reports.

Numbers by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are even more dramatic, estimating that, from 2020 to 2030, about 14,500 openings for airline and commercial pilots are projected each year because workers are either switching jobs or leaving the labor force.

With all of these factors working against them, airlines are turning their attention to bulking up their labor forces. United, which employs around 12,000 active pilots, is not really seeing any staffing issues on the pilot front, said Captain Marc Champion, managing director of flight training. However, Uniteds regional carriers, such as CommutAir, GoJet Airlines and Air Wisconsin Airlines, are experiencing constraints, he added.

The age-65 issue isnt really problematic in and of itself, Champion said in a telephone interview. Instead, whats really placing the heavy demand on pilots is a combination of factors: early retirements spurred by COVID, regular retirements and expansion occurring at United and other carriers, he added.

On top of that, we dont have enough women and underrepresented groups in our ranks as pilots, Champion said. This is really, frankly, part of the constraint, as breaking into the career field has traditionally come with barriers to accessibility.

To promote aviation careers to underrepresented groups, United bought a flight school as a subsidiary  dubbed the United Aviate Academy  in Arizona, and plans to train 500 pilots annually. The goal is to produce a very diverse group of 5,000 new pilots by 2030, Champion said.

The United Flight Training Center also operates out of Denver at 7500 East 35th Avenue as the worlds largest airline training facility.

Delta hired more than 10,000 employees last year and another 4,000 this year, putting the company largely where we need to be on staffing, said CEO Ed Bastian on the companys Q1 2022 earnings call in April. Weve been at this for the better part of the last 18 months, getting ahead of it.

He acknowledged pilots still must complete their training, so it could take another year or two before pilots are fully in-category and where we want them positioned. Circumstances are also similar for flight attendants, Bastian added.

Still, although the labor situation has changed pretty dramatically in recent years, you look at our operational stats over that timeframe  weve led the industry consistently, he said.

Southwest is hyper-focused on hiring right now, said spokesperson Dan Landson, adding that Denver is a key focus for us as its our largest operation out of 121 destinations.

He described the factor of retiring pilots as not necessarily a major issue for his company. Instead, Landson pointed to Southwests statistics that showed about 3,000 applications received for 120 first officer positions in December.

The airline is focusing on the Denver market, as it opened a $100 million maintenance facility at DIA in late March. Southwest also plans to cut the ribbon on a 16-gate expansion project at the airport this month, Landson said.

Frontier reports that it isnt experiencing issues related to pilots aging out, said Jennifer de la Cruz, senior director of corporate communications. We currently have a robust pipeline of pilots and continue to experience strong response to our hiring initiatives, she wrote in an email.

American, Spirit Airlines and Alaska Airlines didnt respond to multiple requests for comment.

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'A Taste of OLLI' replaces showcase event

Hungry to learn about the community and the world around you?

The OLLI at UNL program promises to satisfy your appetite by giving you a sweet deal on Friday afternoon, Aug. 12. OLLI at UNL will roll out the welcome mat by filling you with information and sweet treats.

From 1-2:30 p.m. Aug. 12, you can discover how lifelong learners ages 50-plus can grow intellectually and socially through OLLIs non-credit courses, travel opportunities, special events, and interest groups.

From 2:30-3:30 p.m., OLLI rolls out the goodies with A Taste of OLLI, an ice cream social that includes sundaes, toppings, cookies, lemonade and iced tea. The activities, scheduled in the Great Plains Room at the UNL East Campus Union, will feature information tables and a chance for existing and new members to register for OLLIs fall term to kick off its 2022-23 year.

Incentives

OLLI members and non-members will have added incentives to attend the Aug. 12 activities:

* Members who register, attend, and bring a non-member guest will be entered into a drawing for one of five free OLLI memberships, a $75 value.

* Non-members who register, attend, and join OLLI at the event will receive a voucher for one free course in Term 1.

There will be ample free parking that day and signage with directions to the event, said OLLI at UNL Director Bob Michl.

After having to cancel our showcase in 2020 due to COVID, we were able to have a Showcase last fall, said Michl. Were planning to give attendees a look at all we have to offer through multiple snippets of lectures, discussions, events, and active learning opportunities. There will be a lot of emphasis on socialization and exchanging information, to make sure all questions are answered.

Sign-up required

Registration for the OLLI Ice Cream Social is required and starts June 13 at olli.unl.edu. Registration deadline is Aug. 4.

Space is limited; early sign-up is encouraged. The activities are free to the public.
A camera caught Mabior Mabior in the act of shooting two men in cold blood on a northeast Omaha street.

The only problem: The camera was filming from a distance and Omaha police needed confirmation that Mabior was the gunman.

Enter Mabior himself.

Days after the shooting, Omaha police performed a traffic stop and found Mabior sitting in a car near a gun magazine that had bullets matching the ones that killed the two men.

After taking him to police headquarters, Omaha police detective Mike Young told Mabior officials knew what went down.

Young explained to Mabior that what happened was captured on video from across the street  courtesy of cameras at Lothrop Elementary School, 24th and Emmet streets.

Boxed into a corner  as prosecutors Corey Rothrock and Ann Miller described it  Mabior decided he had to explain himself. He acknowledged that the camera showed him stooping over the men.

Yes, you saw me touching them but someone else shot them  I was just looking for my cellphone, he told Young, according to prosecutors.

His explanation didnt fly. After a weeklong trial, a jury deliberated about 100 minutes Friday before finding Mabior, 25, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and weapon use in the March 2021 killings of LokLok Thok, 27, and Duop Tang Deng, 24. Mabior will be sentenced July 20 to life in prison.

Miller gave jurors one measure of the senselessness of the crime: Mabior blamed Thok for taking his cellphone and the two got into an argument over it.

At one point in the grainy video, Thok opens his jacket to show Mabior that he has nothing inside. The next moment, a car passes, obstructing the cameras view of Mabiors actions: He pulled out a 9mm handgun and shot Thok at point-blank range.

The camera, which had motion detectors on it, resumed filming as Thok crumpled to the ground. It then captured Mabior rushing after Deng  who had no part of the original argument  and shooting him several times.

Rothrock and Miller said Mabior did so to eliminate a witness.

Mabior couldnt eliminate the video. The footage further showed Mabiors friend, Goa Dat, 24, march over to Thok and fire again. That bullet went through Thoks head. Nine months later, Dat was shot and killed in Lincoln.

As for Mabior's motive, Miller said, prosecutors are at a loss. Miller told jurors the argument over the cellphone, as dumb as it seems, could have been the motive. She also noted that Mabior and Thok had been in feuds before.

Heres how prosecutors found that out: During the autopsy, a coroners physician found a bullet that had been lodged in Thoks buttocks for some time. That bullet got there during a confrontation in which Mabior shot Thok when both men lived in Dallas two years ago.

Thok survived that shooting but had no chance this time. Testimony from a woman at the scene also corroborated the video.

Relatives of Thok and Deng wept during closing arguments. At one point, Miller displayed an autopsy photo of Thok on a big screen in the courtroom. An older relative of Thok stood up for a few minutes to get a closer look, then began praying.

She sat down and burst into tears, her sobs quieted only by the hugs of the women sitting next to her.

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Don Walton Political reporter/columnist Don Walton covers politics and the Legislature along with writing a weekly column. Follow Don Walton 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

If you measure the legislative experience in terms of variety of challenges, current members of the Nebraska Legislature certainly are getting their money's worth.

Perhaps two special sessions, one already in the books to complete redistricting tasks that occur only once every decade, and another that may be in the works if the U.S. Supreme Court proceeds to overrule Roe v. Wade, leaving it to the states to determine abortion rights.

And there was a legislative session conducted in the midst of a pandemic with safeguards in place.

And a legislative session overflowing with an abundance of revenue and opportunity, with more than a billion dollars of federal pandemic recovery assistance to allocate along with a surge of unanticipated state revenue.

This has been a unique legislative experience for the senators who have held office during this period of unusual challenge and opportunity.

It doesn't pay much, it requires personal sacrifice and some very long days, but being a member of the Legislature is a treasured experience for state senators and perhaps especially so in Nebraska where both the one-house system and the nonpartisan feature give each individual senator unique power.

They are uniquely independent from party dictate, punishment or reward within this legislative system. No majority or minority leaders; no partisan whips; no party agenda or party caucuses; no gubernatorial dictate or control unless an individual senator decides to cede his or her own independence.

The Legislature loses important and talented senators every election year, but this year's losses are going to be unusually large and impactful.

Gone at the end of the year will be some of the best and the brightest, independent thinkers and doers who, in former Sen. Kathy Campbell's words, were the kind of senators who parked their party jerseys at the door.

Just as she did.

For those who remain, this rather dramatic change in membership opens up new opportunities for individual senators to grow and to lead.

And you can spot some of them already.

* * *

Following selection of a Republican gubernatorial nominee on Tuesday, Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue will move into a share of the political spotlight that has shone almost exclusively on the GOP primary race as attention pivots to the Republican and Democratic nominees.

With the support of her party, the two-term state senator has a clear path to the Democratic nomination in a two-candidate primary race. And then comes the really hard part.

Winning a statewide contest in Nebraska is a daunting challenge for a Democrat today, but she's a fighter and as a former member of the city council in Bellevue she has identified an issue that she hopes might have some special appeal for rural voters as she begins the struggle for statewide votes.

Blood has proposed a constitutional amendment that would require the state to pay the full costs of any new programs or increased levels of service imposed upon local governments, all generally known as unfunded mandates.

That would make certain the new costs are not borne by local property taxpayers.

Democratic nominees for statewide office are competitive in metropolitan Omaha and Lincoln today, but they run into a buzz saw west of Lincoln where property taxes are the paramount issue.

Blood was born in McCook and graduated from high school in Hastings and will try to connect with rural Nebraska voters as she competes against heavy odds.

The urban-rural political split in Nebraska is increasingly dramatic.

In 2018, both Gov. Pete Ricketts and Sen. Deb Fischer trailed in their re-election bids in both Omaha and Lincoln while former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry ran behind in Lincoln and Rep. Don Bacon lost in Omaha.

But they were all re-elected with strong Republican support outside the big cities.

In 2020, President Trump lost in both Lincoln and Omaha in his bid for re-election while both Fortenberry and Bacon once again trailed behind their Democratic challengers in the major cities in their districts.

But all three won with Republican votes outside the two cities.

Here was the Trump vote in western and central Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District: Trump, 222,179; Joe Biden, 65,854.

Finishing up

* You won't find his name in print, but Donald Trump has an invisible presence on the ballot in Nebraska on Tuesday. His trip to the state to support Charles Herbster, along with a follow-up tele-rally, tests his current political strength and influence in a highly competitive Republican gubernatorial primary election and is being closely tracked by national media.

* Plenty of healthy growth and development in Lincoln, including construction of new high schools and ongoing redevelopment downtown, but it sure would be nice to begin to see visible progress now in redeveloping the Pershing Center block.

* Whether you like the approaching U.S. Supreme Court decision on the challenge to Roe v. Wade or not, there's rather clear evidence that recent court nominees were either misleading, or much worse, in suggesting to senators that the decision was settled law under the legal doctrine of stare decisis during their confirmation hearings.

* The Nebraska Democratic Party is vying to be one of five states chosen to host the earliest Democratic presidential primary elections in 2024.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon

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By Trend





Heydar Aliyev was one of the few leaders who could confront Armenian nationalism, which turned to be fatal for the USSR, Igor Korotchenko, a political expert and editor-in-chief of Russias National Defense magazine, told Trend.

The political expert pointed out that Heydar Aliyev was a great personality in the history of Azerbaijan.

Back in the days of the Soviet Union, Heydar Aliyev was holding one of the key positions, the post of First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers. Before that, he had successfully led the State Security Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR. Then, he headed Azerbaijan and was further appointed to higher posts in the Soviet Union for his fruitful work. I'm deeply convinced that if Heydar Aliyev had headed the Soviet Union, the country would probably exist today and take the leading positions in the world. But, because of Gorbachev, who was considering Heydar Aliyev as one of his rivals, Aliyev was dismissed. Heydar Aliyev was possibly one of the few leaders who could confront the Armenian nationalism, which became fatal for the multinational state of the USSR, Korotchenko said.

He noted that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan found itself on the verge of losing its statehood and independence under the reign of the populists from Azerbaijani Popular Front Party.

At this critical moment, the Azerbaijani people requested Heydar Aliyev to come to power and lead the country, which was subjected to a destructive war by Armenia and Armenian separatists. Actually, this was a turning point in the history of the country. Heydar Aliyev not only revived the Azerbaijani statehood, but also established a new energy strategy for the benefit of the country and its people. It was under Heydar Aliyev's leadership that the country signed significant contracts that made Azerbaijan a reliable energy supplier to the world market and one of the guarantors of the EU energy security, Korotchenko added.

The political expert underscored the respect of millions of Russian people towards Heydar Aliyev.

President Vladimir Putin, both at public and private events, has always emphasized his respect for Heydar Aliyev's personality. Russia remembers this outstanding political figure, who left a deep mark in the history of the Soviet Union, the political analyst said.

Korotchenko pointed out that the 100th anniversary of the great national leader in 2023 should be marked solemnly

not only in Azerbaijan, but also in Russia.

Heydar Aliyev is a worthy politician in the history of new Azerbaijan. I think that the 100th anniversary of the his birth will be solemnly marked at the highest level in Russia as well. Of course, the expert community of public figures will also participate there in order to once again honor the memory of this outstanding person, the political analyst said.
OMAHA -- Forensic anthropologists at Offutt Air Force Base have identified the remains of a missing World War II pilot who earned the Medal of Honor for his role in a spectacular 1943 raid on German oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania.

DNA samples from relatives of Lt. Col. Addison Baker matched bones buried for decades at a U.S. military cemetery in Belgium, in a grave marked unknown, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced recently.

Baker, 36, of Akron, Ohio, piloted Hells Wench, the lead aircraft in a wave of 32 B-24D Liberators from the 93rd Bomb Group that flew at treetop level to attack the oil complex known as Hitlers Gas Station  deep in enemy-held territory.

One hundred seventy-eight of the twin-tailed B-24 Liberators took off from a rustic desert airstrip near Benghazi, Libya, early on the morning of Aug. 1, 1943. Fifty-four crashed, were shot down, or failed to return, 22 of them near Ploesti.

Of the 1,763 airmen who took off, 310 were killed, and 190 were taken prisoner.

Historians called the raid Black Sunday. A survivor described it as being dragged through the mouth of Hell, according to Ploesti historian Duane Schultz.

Eighty crewmen could not be identified, even after the war. Baker was the most senior, and the most decorated, among the unknowns  until the Armed Forces DNA Lab in Dover, Delaware, confirmed his identity April 8.

My heart flipped over. I was sort of stunned, said George Baker, 82, of Cary, North Carolina, whose father was Addison Bakers first cousin. Heres this one of many brave airmen, who happened to be my relative. Theyre finally being properly identified.

Since 2017, the accounting agency has been exhuming 88 graves marked unknown that are associated with the Ploesti raid from the Ardennes and Henri-Chapelle American cemeteries in Belgium.

Caskets have now been disinterred from all but two of the graves and shipped to the accounting agencys Offutt laboratory, said Megan Ingvoldstad, the forensic anthropologist in charge of the Ploesti project. The two remaining caskets are expected to arrive sometime this summer.

She and her team have individually catalogued more than 6,000 bones and bone fragments.

Its kind of like a giant jigsaw puzzle, she said. If I want to create an individual, I have to do a lot of assembly first.

Their work has been aided by CoRA (short for Commingled Remains Analytics), a computer program developed by students from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. CoRA analyzes the characteristics of individual bones and groups those that are mostly likely to belong to the same person.

It can sometimes be hard to extract DNA from bones as old as these, but Ingvoldstad said the Ploesti remains have yielded useful DNA samples. And DPAA has received family reference samples from relatives of all but five missing Ploesti airmen.

Addison Baker was the 17th identified so far, she said. Ten more have been tentatively IDd, pending final approvals and family notifications.

The DPAA anthropologists often know little or nothing about the people they are tasked with identifying. But Ingvoldstad said she recently read Schultzs 2007 Ploesti book Into the Fire and knew about Addison Bakers prominent and heroic role.

Most of the time, were working in the blind, Ingvoldstad said. When we have a personal element  putting a face to a name  thats been really interesting.

Addison Baker was born in Chicago in 1907 and moved to Akron, Ohio, as a youth when his father took a job with the BFGoodrich tire company. He joined the Army in 1929 and earned his pilots wings two years later.

Baker served in the Ohio National Guard during the 1930s while operating a filling station in Detroit. He enjoyed racing Model T Fords.

He loved speed, George Baker said. My dad said he had a very adventurous spirit.

Baker was called to active duty in November 1940 and trained as a B-24D Liberator pilot. He was assigned to the 93rd Bomb Group, where he served as a squadron commander, then as the groups operations officer.

Thats how he came to be in the pilots seat of Hells Wench, alongside Maj. John Jerstad, leading the wave of 93rd Liberators who called themselves the Flying Circus.

They were trailing another wave from the 376th Bomb Group, led by Col. Keith Compton  who a quarter of a century later would cap his career at Offutt, as vice chief of staff for the Strategic Air Command.

But Compton made a fateful navigational error as the Liberators approached Ploesti, turning toward the target 20 miles too soon. Because of enforced radio silence, no one could tell him of the mistake.

Baker followed for a few minutes. But seeing smoke of the already burning oil complex off to his left, he veered toward the fire.

The improvised route saved the attack but took the Flying Circus into a thicket of German anti-aircraft guns in the most heavily defended quadrant of the Ploesti complex.

Dodging intense enemy fire and a gauntlet of barrage balloons, Baker and Jerstad aimed for the nearest refinery, Columbia Aquila. Bullets pierced their wing tanks, setting the plane on fire. A huge shell shattered the Plexiglas nose cone, killing the bombardier.

Other pilots motioned for Baker to ditch in the farm fields and save his crew.

But before the mission, Baker had briefed his men: Im going to take you to this one even if my plane falls apart.

He did just that. Baker and Jerstad continued their beeline for the refinery.

Moments after clearing the Columbia Aquilas twin smokestacks, the bomber climbed to 300 feet as crew members leaped from the blazing fuselage. Then the right wing collapsed, and Hells Wench plummeted into a railyard.

It narrowly missed hitting another bomber called Queenie, piloted by Lt. Col. George Brown. Brown later became a four-star general and served in the mid-1970s as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Flames hid everything in the cockpit, Brown would say later, according to the website HomeofHeroes.com. Baker went down after he flew his ship to pieces to get us over the target.

For all the airmen lost, the raid had little impact on German oil production. Most of the Ploesti refineries were soon operating again.

Still, it was considered a qualified success, Christine Cohn, the chief historian for the Ploesti project, said in an article on DPAAs website.

The units completed the mission objective, Cohn wrote. They bombed their targets and many did return safely. Yes, they lost a lot of men. Yes, they lost a lot of aircraft. But they learned much from the mission.

Bakers men were in awe of his heroism. His co-pilot was awarded the Medal of Honor  the nations highest award for valor  within weeks.

But Bakers award was held up for months, according to HomeofHeroes.com, while higher-ups debated whether he should be disqualified because of his decision to break formation and bomb a target of opportunity instead of following Compton on his mistaken route.

Finally, on March 11, 1944, Bakers widow, Fran, was presented with the honor. The Medal of Honor citation praised his extraordinary flying skill, gallant leadership, and intrepidity.

Romanian civilians gathered the broken remains of the men who died in the crash for burial in a local cemetery. They collected dog tags and turned them over to the International Red Cross so the men could be accounted for  a move that nevertheless complicated efforts to identify the bodies after the war.

Those still unidentified were reburied in Belgium, where they remained until 2017.

DNA technology now offers the hope that many of them may be returned to descendants who may know these long-lost airmen only from faded photos and family stories.

It really brings a personal touch to know that these remains are being identified, said Jim Root, president the 93rd Bomb Group Association. We still hear new stories all the time.

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May 2-6

This list is not comprehensive. Municipalities are listed as they appear on the criminal complaint. Suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. To see mugshots of the accused, visit journaltimes.com/gallery. Additional information about the complaints can be found at: journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts.

Angel J. Arteaga-Wenzlaff, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of THC, operating with restricted controlled substance in blood (1st offense, with a minor child in vehicle).

Anthony L. Ball, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, delivery of schedule I or II narcotics, manufacture/deliver heroin (less than or equal to 3 grams), felony bail jumping.

Curtis Bates, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operate motor vehicle while revoked.

Dajuann (aka Whop) D. Bogan, 1600 block of Grand Avenue, Racine, attempting to flee or elude an officer, obstructing an officer.

Aria N. Brown, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, misdemeanor battery, disorderly conduct.

Keyron R. Canady, 2000 block of Marquette Street, Racine, concealing stolen firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, felony bail jumping.

Kalib P. Crandall, 900 block of Peck Avenue, Racine, possession with intent to deliver narcotics (use of a dangerous weapon), possession with intent to deliver/distribute/manufacture THC (less than or equal to 200 grams), maintaining a drug trafficking place, possession of a firearm by adjudicated delinquent, obstructing an officer, felony bail jumping.

Michelle M. Desautelle, Franksville, Wisconsin, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of THC, misdemeanor bail jumping, failure to install ignition interlock device, operate motor vehicle while revoked.

David A. Ferrell, 1200 block of LaSalle Street, Racine, misdemeanor battery, felony bail jumping, disorderly conduct.

Robert L. Ford, 900 block of Superior Street, Racine, possession of a firearm by a felon (firearm mandatory minimum enhancer), carrying a concealed weapon, possession of THC, resist officer (failure to stop vehicle).

Leonardo (aka XX Low Dog) Garcia, Minneapolis, Minnesota, attempting to flee or elude an officer, second degree recklessly endangering safety.

Isidro Jorge Gonzalez, 200 block of Howland Avenue, Racine, first degree recklessly endangering safety, second degree recklessly endangering safety, vehicle operator flee/elude officer causing damage to property, obstructing an officer, resisting an officer, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (2nd offense), operate motor vehicle while revoked, misdemeanor bail jumping.

Konrad J. Haase, 1500 block of Thurston Avenue, Racine, strangulation and suffocation, misdemeanor battery, disorderly conduct.

Jonathan J. Harris, Sauk Village, Illinois, possession of a firearm by outstate felon, possession of THC, possession of drug paraphernalia.

Marcus C. Haynes, 1800 block of Clayton Avenue, Racine, throw or discharge bodily fluids at public safety worker, obstructing an officer.

Connell H. Herring, 1800 block of Sheridan Road, Kenosha, operate motor vehicle while revoked.

Scott D. Johnston, La Crosse, Wisconsin, resisting an officer, disorderly conduct.

Charles O. Kaplan, 7700 block of Gittings Road, Mount Pleasant, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (3rd offense, general alcohol concentration enhancer), failure to install ignition interlock device, operate motor vehicle while revoked.

Daniel A. Kirk, 500 block of Sixth Street, Racine, physical abuse of child (intentionally cause bodily harm), disorderly conduct, possession of THC.

Mauro Lopez, 1500 block of Maple Street, Racine, obstructing an officer, possession of drug paraphernalia.

Ageo Machuca-Aguirre, 200 block of Amanda Street, Burlington, disorderly conduct (use of a dangerous weapon).

Gloriana Martinez, 1800 block of Clayton Avenue, Racine, financial transaction card (fraudulent use less than $2,500).

Demarius (aka X Denariusd) D. Nash, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, attempting to flee or elude an officer, second degree recklessly endangering safety, obstructing an officer.

Bryan C. Overstreet Jr., 200 block of Howland Avenue, Racine, first degree recklessly endangering safety (domestic abuse assessments), felony bail jumping, obstructing an officer, disorderly conduct (domestic abuse assessments), attempting to flee or elude an officer.

Nicholas A. Sabala IV, 4000 block of Washington Avenue, Racine, operate motor vehicle while revoked (4th+), disorderly conduct, misdemeanor bail jumping.

Renee Darnita Spinks, 1600 block of Howe Street, Racine, first degree recklessly endangering safety, possession of a firearm by a felon, attempting to flee or elude an officer, criminal damage to property, possession of THC, obstructing an officer.

Morningstar Thomas, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, possession of cocaine.

Alias Trevino, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, possession of cocaine (possession of a controlled substance on or near certain places), possession of narcotic drugs, felony bail jumping.

Bruce A. Wardell, 500 block of Edgewood Drive, Burlington, physical abuse of child (intentionally cause bodily harm).

Eric Warfield, Zion, Illinois, attempting to flee or elude an officer, drive or operate motor vehicle without owners consent, second degree recklessly endangering safety, misdemeanor theft, carrying a concealed weapon, obstructing an officer, possession of THC, possession of drug paraphernalia.

Tymon V. Washington, 1800 block of 67th Street, Kenosha, possession with intent to deliver/distribute/manufacture THC (between 200-1,000 grams).

Keiveon D. Williams, 2700 block of Gilson Street, Racine, possession of a firearm by a felon (firearm mandatory minimum enhancer), possession of THC, felony bail jumping, misdemeanor bail jumping.

Xavier R. Williams, 700 block of Monticello Drive, Racine, criminal damage to property (domestic abuse assessments), disorderly conduct (domestic abuse assessments).

Jermaine T. Wilson, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, possession of drug paraphernalia, felony bail jumping.

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WATERFORD  Less than six months after serving its first krazy shake in Downtown Waterford, Kravings is getting ready to introduce its wild frozen creations in two new locations.

Ice cream lovers in Burlington and Mount Pleasant are about to discover the exotic world of colorful milkshakes topped with donuts, brownies and other decadent treats.

That could be just the beginning for business partners Jordan Karweik and Mike Ottelien, who have mapped out an aggressive strategy for expanding the Kravings concept far beyond its Racine County roots.

Karweik said the partners hope to open five to eight locations before the end of 2022, and then double the number of Kravings stores the following year. He mentioned Lake Geneva, Kenosha, Waukesha and Oak Creek among the sites under consideration.

The business partners, Karweik said, are committed to growing the Kravings name rather than resting on their laurels and staying comfortable, as he put it.

Its easy to stay where you are when youre comfortable, he said. We want to push forward before we get too comfortable.

The stores in Burlington and Mount Pleasant, both scheduled to open next month, already are creating a buzz.

Kravings is setting up shop at 344 N. Pine St. in Burlington, in a former dance studio downtown. In Mount Pleasant, the store is opening at 5517 Durand Ave., in a strip-mall location most recently occupied by a hair salon.

Christine Mangold, who works in a neighboring jewelry store in Burlington, said she looks forward to trying one of the zany Kravings concoctions. Mangold expects to see many other people do the same, too.

Its something different and unique, she said. And we like that.

The first Kravings opened its doors at 202 E. Main St. in Waterford in January, after construction delays forced the owners to risk a mid-winter opening that was unusual for an ice cream place in Wisconsin.

But crowds packed the place from the very start, and have continued lining up for krazy shakes, which come in bright colors with such toppings as cupcakes and peanut butter cups. Customers enjoy snapping pictures of their dessert almost as much as they enjoy devouring it.

Patrons can also make special requests or build their own milkshake, choosing from 16 ice cream flavors and 15 topping choices. Prices range from $8 to $11 for krazy shakes and for build-your-own creations.

Thousands of people have already experienced Kravings in Waterford; the store averages more than 100 customers a day.

Minh Pham, who owns a nail salon next to the future Kravings store in Mount Pleasant, said he expects the non-traditional ice cream shop to draw crowds that will benefit other retailers along Durand Avenue.

We dont have anything like that around here, Pham said. Im looking forward to it.

In Burlington, city officials have assisted and welcomed Kravings to the communitys popular downtown shopping district.

The City of Burlington is excited to see Kravings join our historic downtown, City Administrator Carina Walters said. Jordan and his team will add another excellent experience to our residents and visitors.

Karweik sold his insurance brokerage in Waterford to pursue his gourmet milkshake idea, joined by Ottelien, a one-time insurance customer who already owned a successful commercial painting business.

The two partners said they have the resources to pursue their ambitious expansion strategy without seeking outside financing.

Ottelien said a couple of would-be franchisers already have stepped forward, including one who has previous experience with another ice cream name that has done pretty well: Dairy Queen.

The Kravings owners have consulted with a franchise specialist about options for growing the brand by franchising.

Were aiming high, Ottelien said. You set your goal high so youve got something to work toward.

For now, the partners are focused on launching the new stores in Burlington and Mount Pleasant.

Like the Waterford flagship, both will be leased spaces, as the business owners concentrate on building their brand rather than accumulating real estate.

Both new stores offer bigger spaces than Waterford for larger kitchens and more room for customer seating. Karweik, however, said he wants to remain consistent by delivering the same products and fun atmosphere that have made the original store a success.

Its more than just ice cream, he said. Its creating an experience.

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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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MINDEN  Casey and Paula Hermanson happily describe themselves as museum nerds.

When the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, couple visited Pioneer Village a year ago, they realized it needed some TLC. Paula, a native of Fremont, remembered visiting Pioneer Village as a child. Now, as they explored and poked around, We wanted to do our part to beautify it, she said.

Thats exactly what they did.

On April 10, the retired couple returned. They parked their camper at the Pioneer Village campground and have been raking, painting, sanding and cleaning ever since. They will stay until next Friday.

Alan Farlin, the new Pioneer Village volunteer coordinator, is thrilled. They are doing some really nice projects, preserving and renewing some of our neglected artifacts, and theyre enjoying it, he said.

There is so much to do that sometimes I think were shoveling snow with a teaspoon, but they do one project at a time and do it really well. Theres no rush. Theyre concerned about quality, not quantity, he said.

First visit

The Hermansons volunteer venture sprouted with that visit in the summer of 2021. The nice thing about being retired is you can pick your schedule, Casey said. We had a five-week period open, and there was no reason why we couldnt come.

When they arrived April 10, the staff told them to do whatever you want to do, so we did, Paula said.

She spent her first two days raking the Village Green behind the main museum. With cool weather, raking was easy, she said. Casey hauled items out to the dump east of town and tended to a drainage issue.

They have sanded and painted the glider. They have power-washed, sanded and painted picnic tables. Casey has looked at drainage areas under downspouts. Paula has spruced up an old wheel at the blacksmith shop.

Last week, Casey power-washed the water fountain in the middle of the green. He took off as many layers of paint as he could. As it began to come off, he discovered old letters and more underneath.

The couple generally puts in about six hours a day, from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. with an hour for lunch, but theyll work longer if a task requires it. Were having a lot of fun, Paula said. Theres so much wed like to get done. I can walk around and find half a dozen more things to do.

They take Sundays off, but even then, theyre off exploring. Theyve headed to the laundromat, done geocaching in Axtell and visited museums. We dont sit still, Paula said. A beach vacation for us would be boring. Our mission is to wear out, not rust out.

Pioneer Village

Pioneer Village was the brainchild of Harold Warp, who was born in 1904 in a sod house nine miles southeast of Minden. He grew up listening to his parents homesteading stories. In 1924, he moved to Chicago and became a successful manufacturer, but he never forgot Minden.

Home for Christmas in 1948, he learned that his old schoolhouse would be sold at auction, so he purchased it. He then purchased other old buildings, too, including Mindens first church, an old railroad depot. The original U.S. Government Land Office, an Elm Creek (Native American) Fort, Bridgeport Pony Express Station and more.

In 1953, he created Pioneer Village to display them, and it kept growing. It now has 50,000 items in 28 buildings on 20 acres.

The Warp family ran the Harold Warp Pioneer Village Foundation for years, but last Christmas Day, Warps son Skip died, and the family asked that the city of Minden become more involved.

The community is really taking hold of this, Farlin said. Theyre excited. Things are being washed and painted again and things are getting fixed, including the old merry-go-round. Its kind of exciting.

Farlin ran the merry-go-round at Pioneer Village 40 years ago. A former math teacher in Axtell, he then spent 35 years teaching in the Philippines. Now hes back. Last year at the Kearney County Fair, they were looking for people to help at Pioneer Village, so I talked about it, although it was winter before I really got involved, he said.

He said many locals have helped with raking and cleaning this spring. On Monday, a group of RVers will arrive to volunteer for a week. An Eagle Scout will do a project this spring, too. Anyone is invited to pitch in.

We are actively seeking donations and volunteers to continue to support Pioneer Village for future generations, he said.

Keeping busy

Farlin was thrilled when the Hermansons arrived. He said 120 people are on the volunteer list. I dont shake bushes getting them to come, but once they come, I can help them find something to do, he said.

Look at that water fountain. Casey was going to paint it, maybe add some color. It looked like it was black to begin with; then white. He tried to highlight cast iron lettering on it, but some lettering down below was totally gone. There were so many coats of paint that he couldnt see it until he cleaned it, Farlin said.

Casey is a U.S. Air Force veteran. He did aerospace psychology, which, in laymens terms, meant that he trained those who were going into flying. A Wisconsin native, he is the son of a preacher. The family moved every three to five years, and he graduated from high school in Brule. Among other jobs, Paula worked as a service coordinator in vocational settings for adults with disabilities.

They are generous volunteers back home, too. They volunteer for Meals on Wheels. They serve at the citys Night Watch Canteen, which serves the homeless six nights a week, and help area churches feed the homeless on Sundays.

For 11 years, Casey has made blankets for veterans out of old military uniforms. He then gives the blankets away. I dont keep count of how many Ive made. I just keep doing it, he said. He has also made quilts out of his fathers old shirts.

Happy Hermansons

The Hermansons cant say enough about their Pioneer Village experience. Everybody has been so nice, Paula said. Theres a steady crowd of visitors, and its always fun to talk to people.

In one day, Casey chatted with visitors from Norway, Great Britain and the Czech Republic. They come from Tennessee, Arkansas, from all over, he added.

Farlin said, The Hermansons have been working really hard  and the fun part is, theyre enjoying it. Theyve already talked about coming back next year.
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Azerbaijan, the Turkish media report.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan will take part in TEKNOFEST International Aviation, Space and Technology Festival to be held on May 26-29.

TEKNOFEST in Baku is organized by the Azerbaijan Ministry of Digital Development and Transport. 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.
As Mothers Day approaches, I remember the 10-day journey I took with my mother and my daughter Sara in Wyoming and Montana in 2002. More than the mountain peaks, rushing brooks and the wind through the fragrant pines, I remember our laughter, the way it tightened the already taut ties among us.

Widowed for just a year, my mother had traveled with my father to London, Paris, Vienna, the Canadian Rockies, Toronto, Hawaii, Nova Scotia and the Passion Play at Oberamergau and far more. Shed flown in a four-seater plane over the Arctic Circle and ridden a camel to the Pyramids on her visit to the Holy Land.

But she hadnt been to Glacier National Park, so thats where we went.

I picked her up at her suburban Cleveland home at 5:30 a.m. that July morning. I was so excited I practically danced into her house. We flew to Billings, Montana, where we rendevouzed with Sara, who was married and living in Los Angeles.

Three generations. No men meant we could wander into all the scented gift shops we wanted.

Our first stop was a lofty log-cabin B&B near Big Horn, Wyoming. After a steak dinner, the hosts took us out at dusk for a moose hunt. We had no rifles; we hunted with our eyes. Finally, we saw a clumsy moose in a pond. As we headed back to the B&B, stars scattered across the sky like tiny white Christmas lights.

The next day, we headed north into Montana to the Little Bighorn Battlefield. The day after that, we went west to Virginia City, Montana. My mother looked out at the empty landscape and said, People who live out here must be very lonely.

In Virginia City, Montana, I was bit by a spider in our log-cabin-style B&B. That bite swelled up to the size of a walnut, but we laughed at that, and at a delightful melodrama. We also  what else?  sampled gift shops.

In Missoula, Montana, we rode an old carousel. Outside Glacier National Park, we stayed at a curious hexagon-shaped B&B, with an equally curious proprietor. How old is your mother? she muttered, peering around my shoulder to catch a quick glimpse of my white-haired mother. My mother, standing behind my daughter, whispered, Dont tell her!

We still laugh about that B&B. On paper, my mother was 80, but she still lived in the house where shed raised us. She played bridge, flew to Florida to visit my brother and seldom missed a Cleveland Orchestra concert.

Glacier was gorgeous. We took short hikes and sampled huckleberry jam. One evening, we watched the sun set behind Lake MacDonald as a man sat on a boulder and strummed Amazing Grace on his guitar.

We drove over Going to the Sun Road, which zigzags up to 6,646 feet high, then spills over the summit and winds down past trickling creeks and wildflowers under achingly blue skies. We saw mountain goats and marmots.

My mother settled down to read on the hotel porch when Sara and I took a two-hour guided trail ride into the mountains.

But I think our best day was the damp, frowning, rain-spitting morning we drove up to Polebridge on the empty North Fork Road in a remote part of the park. Polebridge was a rusty spot with a few cabins and the historic Polebridge Mercantile, a red wooden structure built in 1914 that looked like it had been plucked from a John Wayne movie.

We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at a picnic table. Then we indulged in bear claws from the mercantile. As we ate, it began to drizzle. We just laughed. Wed laughed every day of the trip.

On our last morning, I braved fog and spits of rain to go kayaking around a lake. As I paddled alone on that raindrop-dimpled water under mighty alpine peaks, I never wanted to go home.

Im forever grateful that we took that trip. Not long after that, Sara and Peter started their family. My mother sold her house and moved into a retirement home. She died six years ago. Now, like wine, the memories sweeten with age.
PLOVER  The village and town of Plover near Stevens Point are not unlike many midsize communities in Wisconsin, with tidy homes, stores, schools, restaurants, parks and more. But Plover has something hard to find in most other places: It has an organized group of early stage investors.

Billed as central Wisconsins only angel investment group, the Wisconsin River Business Angels and its management arm, Midwest Wealth Ventures, embody the fact that early stage investing is not confined to Americas West and East coasts  or the larger cities in Wisconsin, for that matter.

With a half-dozen or more company investments in its portfolio and others likely to follow, Wisconsin River Business Angels is a network of investors who come together on a regular basis to hear company pitches, conduct due diligence and make relatively small investments  typically six figures  in young companies. Many are tech-based firms.

The list includes companies from central Wisconsin but others from southern Wisconsin, such as Blue Line Battery, Nurse Disrupted and Pyran, the latter two being graduates of the Wisconsin Governors Business Plan Contest.

Founded by Jeff Ebel and Leon Ostrowski, Wisconsin River Business Angels aims to make money for its investors and has done so over time. Nothing else good happens otherwise. In the process, however, the group is investing in the future of central Wisconsin, which needs to diversify its business base beyond traditional industries.

We aspire to create a culture of entrepreneurial ambition focusing on, but not limited to, central Wisconsin, Ebel said during a Wednesday night investor dinner in Plover.

In addition to the networks investors, attending the event were managers from the Idea Fund of La Crosse, which is part of the larger Badger Fund of Funds, and Wisconsin Investment Partners, one of the states largest and oldest angel networks. That broader presence speaks to the continued rise of co-investing among Wisconsins early stage groups, which is usually  if not always  necessary to bring young companies across the finish line.

Twenty years ago, the number of early stage investor groups in Wisconsin could be counted on one hand. Today, there are about 40 of all descriptions, with more of them calling places other than Madison and Milwaukee home.

Those groups and the Tech Council Investor Networks often share information about potential deals among themselves and others outside Wisconsin, which is drawing more attention from out-of-state investment groups.

Those kinds of connections were evident in 2021, when Wisconsin recorded a record dollar amount in early stage investments. The total was $852 million, up from $483 million in 2020 and $454 million in 2019. In fact, the trend line has been largely up in dollars for the last decade.

Much of that is because larger venture funds in Wisconsin and well beyond are putting money into maturing companies such as SHINE Technologies, Fetch Rewards, Redox and others. It is also because the pipeline of young companies is being replenished by smaller networks and funds such as the Wisconsin River Business Angels.

In addition to being a record year for dollars invested by angel and venture capitalists in Wisconsin, 2021 set a new standard for interest by out-of-state investors. Ninety out-of-state or international groups put money into 42 Wisconsin deals last year, about one-third of the states total. That nearly doubled the total of non-Wisconsin investors from 2020.

All of that is progress, but Wisconsin has a long way to go to catch neighboring states, let alone the Big Four of California, Massachusetts, New York and Texas. It is closing the gap with states such as Minnesota, however, after decades of lagging behind that comparably sized state.

One reason for growth is smaller networks and funds that operate in Wisconsins midsize cities, investing in young companies that show market promise. Even in 2021, when the average Wisconsin deal size shot up to $7 million, the median size remained at roughly $1 million. That suggests tomorrows major deals are emerging today.

The investors in Wisconsin River Business want a solid return on investment, beyond financial returns. They want to see communities such as Plover and Stevens Point remain healthy places to live for this generation and the next.

Tom Still is the president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. Email: tstill@wisconsintechnologycouncil.com.

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Denise Becker, a registered nurse at Mayo Clinic Health System, has gone far above and beyond what is expected of a single nurse -- making an impact not just on those immediately around her but throughout the entire La Crosse hospital.

"Denise is a very special person and gives freely of herself and her resources. She is always willing to help with what is needed and constantly goes above and beyond to show kindness to the entire hospital. Denise fits the description of someone who would give 'the shirt off her back,'" Becker's coworker, Katie Hansen, shared in her nomination for Becker to be honored as part of the River Valley Media Group's Heart of Healthcare program.

"She is also very humble and does not look for acknowledgement for the things she does, however, she is such an amazing co-worker to have so she deserves to at least know the impact she has across the entire hospital," Hansen wrote.

Hansen included in her nomination multiple departments at Mayo that shared their positive thoughts on Becker.

"Denise Becker is a very supportive RN always looking out for her patients and coworkers, she is very compassionate and giving. She communicates with other staff members of the team including us in Respiratory Therapy," respiratory therapy staff said.

The third surgical team also noted, "Words to describe Denise: thoughtful, generous, supportive, team player. She is very willing to help, goes out of her way to make people feel supported, thinks about all floors not just 7th and sparks positivity wherever she goes."

While Becker, who previously was honored with a DAISY Award, shared that having the spotlight on her isn't really something she prefers, she did say, "It's very nice and I think it's a great thing to be nominated. I'm just kind of on the other side, I like to give, I don't like to receive."

Becker grew up in the military, moving around the country and attending multiple schools before eventually landing close to La Crosse in Lansing, Iowa. She graduated from Kee High School.

After high school, Becker stayed in the area by attending what was then a community college in Calmar, Iowa, where she received her associate degree in nursing.

Becker, who later received her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Viterbo, decided to go down the nursing path after seeing her older sister do the same.

She said that she viewed the career field as very honorable.

After spending time in the administrative side of nursing -- working as a the director of nursing in some area communities -- Becker decided to go into more direct patient care once her children were grown.

Becker, who specializes in cardiac care and stroke management, has been working as a registered nurse at Mayo for the past 16 years.

Her favorite part of nursing, Becker said, is "probably watching people succeed or overcome and celebrating that with them, helping them to do that."

Becker still celebrates with one patient who she helped through the challenges of cancer almost 10 years ago. She recalls that the patient "leaned on her quite a bit" because of a lacking support system of her own when she was facing a cancer diagnosis.

COVID-19 has been one of the most impactful parts of Becker's career so far, but she said that she is able to overcome it thanks to feeling like she's part of a family at Mayo.

"I think you can ask any nurse at Mayo and they would say the same thing. It's just the teamwork and family cohesiveness," Becker said.

She shared that the team at Mayo watches out for each other, helping to make each other's days a bit better. Even if someone is at home sick, coworkers will step up to help make them feel better by sending items to them such as gatorade.

Becker, who just recently cut back on her hours, said that she's taking some more time in life to focus on being there for her grandchildren -- including her recently born ninth grandbaby.

"Like I said, I grew up in the military, so I didn't get to grow up around my grandparents. So I just want to make sure that my grandchildren know who I am," she explained.

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Nurses: The Heart of Healthcare Nurses have perhaps never been more challenged than over the past two years, with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic increasing their workloads and physical and mental stresses. And yet, they have risen to the occasion, putting in long hours while still delivering top quality and compassionate care. The Tribune invited community members, including hospital staff, to nominate an outstanding nurse for the annual Nurses: The Heart of Health Care program. A panel of independent judges poured through the nominations to select nine extraordinary nursing professionals and one Nurse of the Year. The honored nurses will be recognized in a River Valley Media Group special section next month. We hope you will join us in celebrating these dedicated and exemplary individuals.

Ben Kruse had a number of jobs before pursuing nursing, and when he joined the staff at Mayo Clinic Health System, his vast experiences and knowledge proved invaluable in the hospital setting.

Kruse graduated with a degree in Spanish, working as an interpreter before taking a job at nonprofit Place of Grace and assisting with a mission trip. Reading a book about medical service in Haiti inspired him to take his passion for service work into the healthcare field, and after becoming a CNA Kruse worked in a nursing home. He later furthered his education to be a registered nurse and joined Mayo eight years ago.

Each of his careers has had an impact on his role at Mayo, where he exudes compassion and has the ability to communicate with patients for whom Spanish is their first language.

"We cared for a patient together who did not speak English," says Kruse's colleague, respiratory therapist Sarah Burnham, who nominated him for a Heart of Healthcare award. "Ben communicated with the patient effortlessly, and Ben helped me understand so that I could also be part of the conversation. He helped the patient feel comfortable by getting items printed in their language and made the patient's experience at Mayo outstanding."

While Mayo has interpreters onsite, having Kruse able to speak with the patient at the moment allowed him to learn about the symptoms the patient was experiencing and provide the necessary care faster.

"I have worked with Ben for several years, and have seen him go above and beyond every day to not only treat, but really care for his patients," Burnham said in her nomination letter. "He really is the ultimate nurse because of his calming and friendly personality to his patients and other staff members he encounters day to day. I see that he has a joy in doing his work, and the expertise and knowledge he provides to his patients is exceptional."

From the beginning, Kruse was eager to enhance his abilities by asking questions, being a team player and picking up extra shifts. While working in the ICU, Kruse enjoyed building an "amazing skill set" in the challenging role of keeping track of multiple measurements and needs at once, while always being alert to even subtle patients. Today, he takes the mentor role himself.

When COVID hit, Kruse already had experience with ventilators and other equipment needed to care for those with severe cases of the virus. But entirely new was the halt of visitation, and the difficulty of communicating with families who couldn't be there for a face to face discussion. At times there was no one to talk to on behalf of a patient, and staff had to make the decisions for them. Adding to the stress was an influx of ICU patients -- at one point half of those patients were there for the coronavirus.

"It was exhausting because it was new. It was a different disease progress. It was hard to tell when the patients were improving or not improving," Kruse said. "You could put in so much effort and really not know if we were making a difference or not."

During the height of the pandemic, Burnham says, Kruse provided "strength and support to his co-workers. He has jumped in to assist with medical emergencies."

Kruse, who is currently enrolled in a nursing anesthesia program and working only a limited number of shifts, calls his Heart of Healthcare nomination, "A little surreal. I recognize that nurses everywhere give so much effort and step up to the plate. And we rely so much on other staff members, who contribute really key pieces to patient care.

"It's hard for me to say that there is any one nurse who is deserving -- you work as a team," Kruse continued. "There is no way you do nursing on your own. To have a good outcome you need everyone's input. I've been lucky enough to work with great people. I feel lucky that I've been able to do nursing."

To Burnham, Kruse is no doubt worthy of the award.

"Ben is very deserving of this recognition," Burnham said. "He is selfless, kind, and a good nurse and friend to all."

Emily Pyrek can be reached at emily.pyrek@lee.net.

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Cindy Vogel began her nursing career later in life. She was working at Vernon Memorial Healthcare as a health coordinator, and at the age of 35 she decided to attend Western Technical College for nursing.

I admired what they did and wanted to go back to school to be a nurse, said Vogel, who has been a nurse for 21 years and has been at VMH for 25.

Vogel chose nursing as a career because she likes to help people.

I enjoy getting to know people and helping them, she said. It fills my heart when a patient gets better and they are happy to see you and have confidence in you.

Vogel is a medical/surgery nurse at the hospital. She said she cares for a wide variety of patients  from cardiac patients to pneumonia patients, from COVID patients to pre- and post-operative patients to pediatric patients. We do it all there.

She said the most rewarding part about being a nurse is being able to spend time with all age groups.

They become familiar to you in the community, Vogel said. You help them get better and if they have to come back for something else they look forward to seeing you.

Vogel was on vacation in Florida when her boss informed her she was nominated for Nurses: The Heart of Health Care program.

It makes me proud to be one of the ones nominated, Vogel said. It shows you have meaning in other peoples lives.

She said her coworkers are like family. For Easter we had a potluck. It is my family here. A lot of the people here Ive worked with for 25 years. There are quite a few nurses and staff still here from when I started.

Amanda White, one of Vogels former co-workers, nominated her.

Shes willing to do more and she supports her colleagues, White said. She looks at the whole picture... When she has a patient she cares about the whole family. She helps build a safe plan for returning home. If theres a situation, she is one to go above and beyond. She steps up and puts herself before others. Cindy is a great nurse and a great person.

In her nomination letter, White wrote: Cindy has always worked hard to insure that her patients are taken care of, the families of her patients are informed and that her co-workers have a good time. Working in a hospital you learn quickly that your co-workers are like family, so treating them with respect is just as important as taking care of your patients.

"She is caring, honest and above all, she is fun! She brings a smile to anyone and brightens the day of people that are in there darkest times. She lends a hand to those in need, will hold your hand when you need support and will give a round of applause for those that deserve it.

Angela Cina can be reached at angie.cina@lee.net.

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After a whirlwind of court decisions, Wisconsins political district maps are set. For 2022 at least.

The maps for the two houses of the state legislature  the Senate and Assembly  are projected by some to give Republicans, who drew them, an even greater advantage over their maps from the previous decade, which some experts called the most gerrymandered in the country.

The new maps for Congress also contain a minor victory for Democrats and competition in politics. The makeup of the red 1st District in southeastern Wisconsin, Paul Ryans seat for 20 years and currently held by Republican Bryan Steil, changed enough to become winnable for Democrats, experts say. In a state where the incumbent party did not lose a single congressional election in the past decade, two of the eight congressional districts are now competitive.

But overall, experts agree the Wisconsin Supreme Courts decision to base all the new maps off the old, gerrymandered ones, then to choose maps for state legislature that Republicans had drawn, are huge wins for the GOP, and huge losses for Democrats and competitive elections.

Simply put, it was a terrible decision that eliminates democracy in Wisconsin for the next 10 years, said Spencer Black, a former Democratic state legislator. Its what Vladimir Putin would like to achieve in Ukraine, if he didnt have to send his tanks and could just get the Supreme Court to do it for him.

Black, who retired from the state Assembly in 2010, for years pushed his party to enact a nonpartisan redistricting commission that would draw maps without partisan tilt. Democrats had the chance in 2009, when they held complete control of state government.

Despite pleas from Black and pro-democracy groups such as the League of Women Voters, party leadership did not act. That was a big mistake, Black said.

I wish they had heeded my advice back then, he said. I suspect in hindsight they have changed their minds.

The Tea Party wave followed in the 2010 elections, wiping out Democratic majorities. Fortified by gerrymandering, Republicans have been in near-total control of the state legislature since.

But while the maps likely will be in place for the 2022 election, more legal challenges are almost certainly on the way. And an upcoming election could upend everything.

How we got here

Every decade, the political districts for state legislature and U.S. Congress must be redrawn across the country, a task normally left to the legislature. In Wisconsin, the governor can veto the maps, which is what Democratic Gov. Tony Evers did to the Republican-drawn districts last year.

Wisconsin state government also failed to agree on redistricting maps after the Census in 1980, 1990 and 2000. In litigation over those years, the state Supreme Court declined to take the case or plaintiffs took their arguments directly to the federal courts. Both paths led to federal courts drawing the political districts, leading to generally competitive maps, experts say.

But when Republicans won complete control of the state legislature and governors office in 2010, they were able to draw the maps without interference. The results were heavily partisan-skewed districts in a state thats almost evenly split between Democratic and Republican voters. Those maps allowed Republicans to hold the legislature for nearly the entire decade, even when its candidates vote totals across the state were less than Democrats totals.

With little fear of losing their majorities, state Republicans have made little to no effort to adopt some measures that have strong public support across Wisconsin. Those include legalizing marijuana, mandating universal background checks on all firearms purchases, enacting red flag laws on guns, and expanding Medicaid, said Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll.

The latest round of redistricting in Wisconsin has been a rollercoaster ride.

First, the conservative majority on the state Supreme Court decided to take the case, despite recent history and the courts own decision in 2000 to let the federal courts handle it. Democrats had hoped the case would again be decided in the federal courts, where they thought they had a more favorable chance.

Then, the state Supreme Court gave Republicans another major win. It agreed with the Republican argument that the new maps should change as little as possible from the maps of the past decade. Maps Republicans had drawn to maximize their advantage.

While other courts have accepted this least-change argument in the past, usually the new maps in those cases are based on court-drawn versions with little to no political lean, said Robert Yablon, an associate professor at the UW Law School who focuses on political and election law.

What is virtually unheard of is to rely on a least change approach when the prior maps clearly have a partisan skew, Yablon said.

Courts sometimes use outside experts to draw nonpartisan maps to settle redistricting disputes, as the federal courts had done for Wisconsin in the past. But the Wisconsin Supreme Court asked the plaintiffs in the case, Democrats and Republicans, to submit maps.

Despite being constrained by the courts least change mandate, Democrats tried to claw back some of the partisan advantage Republicans had given themselves, while Republicans submitted maps maintaining or increasing their advantage.

Initially, the right-leaning Justice Brian Hagedorn, an occasional swing vote, sided with the left-leaning wing of the court, and chose the maps Democrats had drawn.

Republicans then made an emergency request for the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. Using its shadow docket, which allows it to issue decisions without explanation or declaring how the individual justices ruled, the U.S. Supreme Court said Democrats had not provided sufficient justification for adding an extra majority Black district in the state Assembly, a potential violation of the federal Voting Rights Act, and kicked the maps for the state legislature back to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court left the Congressional maps in place, giving Democrats and pro-democracy advocates their minor win.

Back at the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Hagedorn rejoined the state courts conservative wing and ruled that the Republican-drawn state legislative maps, which subtracted one Black majority district from the state Assembly, more closely followed the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling.

New lawsuits over the maps are highly likely, Yablon said, specifically on the issue of whether the Republican-drawn state legislature maps intentionally discriminate against Black voters. But the maps are unlikely to change before the 2022 election, he said.

The future

Across the country, Democrats have tried to match Republican ruthlessness by gerrymandering the states they control. Many experts now project a more evenly divided national map for the House of Representatives for the next decade, compared to the previous maps that generally favored Republicans.

And in some states, like Michigan, which previously had badly gerrymandered maps, citizens banded together to take the redistricting process out of the hands of politicians. After gathering the necessary signatures, the movement got an initiative onto the ballot in the 2018 election to create a nonpartisan restricting commission. It passed with more than 60% of the vote, and Michigan will now have competitive maps in the 2022 election and beyond.

But Wisconsin is one of many states that does not allow citizen ballot initiatives, and the national outlook doesnt help Democrats in the Wisconsin State Legislature.

Looking forward, its possible the state Supreme Court could reverse its previous decisions on redistricting, but thats only likely if the courts makeup changes, Yablon said.

It could. Conservative Justice Patience Roggensack is up for reelection in April 2023. The winner of that race will decide which political party controls the court. Conservatives currently have a tight 4-seat majority on the 7-seat court.

The election of 2023 is the best hope, Black said. In a 2019 column for The Cap Times, Black had argued for recalling state Supreme Court justices if they did not prevent another decade of partisan gerrymandering. But noting the lengthy process to launch a recall, and the fact that Roggensacks seat is enough to swing control of the court, Black said the 2023 election will have the same effect.

That should be really the only issue in that election: will we have democracy in the state of Wisconsin or not? Black asked.

Democrats have introduced a bill in Congress that would ban partisan gerrymandering nationally, requiring redistricting to be done by a nonpartisan commission, but that bill has no Republican support and has stalled. Its prospects for passage become even dimmer if Republicans take back the House this year, as many project them to do.

Former state Sen. Dale Schultz, a Republican in the Wisconsin State Legislature for decades, takes the long view on redistricting reform.

Since his retirement from the legislature in 2015, he has worked to raise the issue of nonpartisan redistricting with the public. An issue that used to make voters eyes glaze over is now firing up people across the state, he said. Thats a positive he takes from the redistricting fight, and one encouraging him that grassroots push for reform isnt going away.

I didnt get into this with the idea that it was going to be easy, Schultz said. Any great social and governmental change in our country has taken an enormous amount of effort.

The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin. This story was funded in part by a grant from the La Crosse Community Foundation.

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I want to believe it is just ignorance of the law because the alternative is far more disheartening and troubling. Recently, UW-L administrators informally amended its sidewalk chalking policy to bar profanity and identifying university officials by name. This came after selectively removing all chalked messages criticizing School of Education administration.

Initially, university officials justified the removal as remediating vandalism, but they apparently now realize it is hard to be a vandal for doing what the universitys chalking policy explicitly authorizes. Now, the effort is to constrain the message.

Under the law, profanity is not obscenity, and I am confident that our students can survive reading it. Additionally, the law does not confer anonymity on university officials  students are free to criticize Dean ****** as much as they choose (not sure how one can reconcile an alleged school administrator right to anonymity with the presence of their university-hosted, publicly accessible, profile webpage).

Criticism of government officials is at the core of the First Amendments protection. As a state university, this includes UW-L administrators  with the privilege of public service comes being the object of public grievance.

The dialogue is not always as civil as we may hope. The United States Supreme Court, in its seminal New York Times Co. v. Sullivan decision on defamation, affirmed that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials[.]

Life at a regional public university is laser-focused on the three Rs  recruitment, rollment, and retention. With the state of legislative and taxpayer support, it is unlikely that the sifting and winnowing for truth will unseat these priorities in the foreseeable future. The thought of one family losing interest in UW-L after reading critical chalking during a campus tour likely terrifies administrators.

Though one may empathize with the universitys plight, it does not justify infringing the Constitutionally protected rights of our students. No, the ends do not justify the means. Yes, I, too, wish the dialogue was more civil, but that is no reason to censor. Instead of censoring, identify the underlying symptoms that led to the students expression. Instead of dwelling on the frustration with the chalkers, celebrate the civic engagement that we so often lament is lacking among students.

This fall, undergraduate students at the 13 University of Wisconsin System campuses will be surveyed for their thoughts on campus free speech, viewpoint diversity, and self-censorship. The project is funded by the Menard Center for the Study of Institutions and the survey has been designed in collaboration with the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service, and is overseen by a bi-partisan advisory board. It was delayed to the fall due to resistance from UW System Chancellors.

These recent events, however, only underscore the importance of a methodologically sound evaluation of the state of free speech on campus, and I look forward to UW-Ls support and cooperation upon the surveys launch.

Dr. Jim Szymalak is an affiliated faculty member with the Menard Center for the Study of Institutions and was formerly a civil rights legal advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower & Reserve Affairs. The opinions expressed above are his alone.

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Misinformation is a recognized concern for American democracy. People realize that a misinformed population may not make the best voting decisions regarding important issues. But misinformation can have a devastating social impact on communities as well. Consider the story of the river drownings in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

From 1997 to 2006, eight young people drowned in the Mississippi River, which runs adjacent to downtown La Crosse. The community was outraged by the repeated pattern of unresolved deaths by drowning and there was a pervasive rumor being circulated that the deaths were caused by a serial killer. In each case, local law enforcement found no evidence of foul play. To be as thorough as possible, the FBI was invited to conduct investigations and they too found no evidence of foul play. The conclusion of law enforcement was that the deaths were connected to the over-consumption of alcohol in nearby downtown taverns. Despite these findings, local residents were not buying it and continued to grab at the story of a serial killer.

Finally, in 2006, in an effort to steer residents away from this false rumor, a community town hall meeting was held. Hosted by the La Crosse Police Department, in collaboration with local media, the town hall meeting was a watershed event. Still the collaborative messaging, in itself, did not dramatically change peoples minds about the cause of these deaths. However, it did appear to open the door to accepting that there may be other conclusions to draw.

Meanwhile, the City Council, La Crosse Police Department, the La Crosse Tavern League and the three La Crosse institutions of higher education began taking a number of steps to address the issue, ranging from safety barriers at the levy to student awareness campaigns. The focus was to address the culture of binge drinking.

An ambitious effort that especially stood out was Operation Riverwatch. Led by Sigma Gamma Tau fraternity at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, a cadre of student volunteers were recruited to patrol the levy in Riverside Park on weekends during the academic year. They partnered with the student organizations at Viterbo University and Western Technical College. The effort was deemed a success.

It is not surprising that a student-led initiative would produce good results in the short term. More remarkably, when those early student champions graduated the next students behind them picked up the mantle. Operation Riverwatch continued for 14 years, being passed on from one generation of students to the next! Furthermore, all three campuses were actively involved. In an October 2019 analysis, it was reported that volunteers, on average, turned 700 people away from the river  each year. Without question, lives were saved!

But this story has an unfortunate footnote. With the spring of 2020 came the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The three higher education institutions suspended classes and ultimately moved all programs to remote learning. Extracurricular activities (including Operation Riverwatch) were halted.

In the spring of 2022, Hamud Faal, a UW-La Crosse student, drowned in the Mississippi River. He was last seen walking late at night near Riverside Park. We can only speculate whether he would have been turned away from the river if Operation Riverwatch was in place.

Operation Riverwatch accomplished several important things. First of all, it likely saved lives. Over a 14-year span, the volunteers turned people away from the river nearly 10,000 times. Even if only a very small percentage were sufficiently intoxicated to reach the waters edge and fall in, tragedies were averted. Operation Riverwatch also provided data to counter the misinformation surrounding the river drownings. Prior to 2006, most people couldnt imagine intoxicated people wandering on their own, toward the river after 2 am. Yet the tracking data showed that indeed, that is exactly what was happening.

The Operation Riverwatch story serves as a reminder of the challenges faced in countering strongly held beliefs in theories or rumors. The dissemination of the facts from trusted sources can set the stage for changing minds and beliefs. The community town hall meeting in 2006 served that purpose. It was the first step. However, it took follow-up action to produce results (no drowning deaths) and to provide the data in support of the effort.

There is no question, countering misinformation can be difficult. It may mean running counter to the beliefs of family, friends and neighbors. But it is important to take the first step. In the case of Operation Riverwatch, the collaborative town hall meeting played an important role.

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By Trend





Delegation led by Chairman of Azerbaijani Parliament (Milli Majlis) Sahiba Gafarova will pay an official visit to Switzerland on May 9, Trend reports citing press service of Milli Majlis.

Delegation will include the Chairman of parliamentary Committee for Family and Womens and Childrens Affairs, and the Working Group for the Azerbaijani-Swiss Interparliamentary Relations Hijran Huseynova, MPs Agha Nakhchivanli, Vahid Ahmadov and Erkin Gadirli, Head of the Administration of Milli Majlis Safa Mirzayev and others.

Program of official visit includes meetings of Speaker of Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova with the Vice President of Switzerland, also the chairmen of National Council and the Council for the Cantons of the Federal Assembly (Swiss Parliament).

Current state and prospects for the growth of inter-parliamentary relations, the expansion of cooperation on a bilateral and multilateral basis, and other issues will be discussed during meetings.

The visit will end on May 11.
Alexander Hamilton stated: "If it be asked, what is the most sacred duty and greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be, an inviolable respect to the constitution and laws." (Judicial Watch)

Our current attorney general, Josh Kaul, took the following OATH of office when elected: "I, Josh Kaul, swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin, and will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of Attorney General to the best of my ability, so help me God."

In the Wednesday, May 4, La Crosse Tribune, the headline article written by Mitchell Schmidt of the Wisconsin State Journal boldly proclaimed "AG WON'T ENFORCE STATE ABORTION BAN." In the article Attorney General Kaul is quoted as saying: "... because of the importance of the freedom at stake, but also because of the need to use our resources as efficiently as possible," he won't be using any resources to investigate nor prosecute alleged violations of the state abortion law.

Upon hearing of Kaul's failure to fulfill his OATH of office, Fond du Lac County District attorney, Eric Toney, who opposes Josh Kaul in the fall election said: "Josh Kaul has demonstrated he is nothing more than a politician seeking to defend the laws he agrees with and virtually ignore laws he disagrees with".

As a country divided politically, all sides MUST focus on getting rid of the ROT in our society regardless of party affiliation.

In Wisconsin, the defeat of Josh Kaul would be a good place to begin. OATHS SHOULD MATTER!

David J. Gustafson

La Crosse

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By Trend

Georgia takes a number of important steps toward the digitization of agriculture, Georgian Minister of Agriculture, Otar Shamugia, said at an international conference, Trend reports via Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia.

During International conference Vision for the future: transition to digital agriculture, Shamugia noted that main Georgias achievements in agricultural digitization are:

- operating an electronic system for exchanging information with farmers and entrepreneurs, registering the harvest of grapes on the basis of a unified electronic platform;

- issuing certificates and permits through electronic systems;

- development of digital platforms to improve extension services;:02

- registration of pastures and posting them on a digital map by the National Agency of Public Registry of Georgia.

We are actively discussing such issues as satellite and aerial photography of crops, identification of water shortages in agricultural crops and identification of uncultivated lands, Shamugia added.

International conference Vision for the future: transition to digital agriculture was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
As Americans slowly return to the office, they are rethinking their clothing choices at work.

After two years of working from home in exercise clothes, many people now want to be comfortable while looking professional in the office. Some people are experimenting with new looks. And companies are trying to keep up with the demand for business comfort clothing.

Kay Martin-Pence works for a drug company in Indianapolis. The 58-year-old used to wear structured business clothes, like dress pants and blazers, and high-heel shoes to work before the pandemic. Now she wears comfortable clothes, including stylish jeans and flowing shirts, along with lower-heel shoes.

"Being comfortable is more important than being super structured," said Martin-Pence. She added that she will never wear dress pants to the office again.

Adam Galinsky is a social psychologist at Columbia Business School. He studies the connection between what people wear and how they think. Galinsky said that people will knowingly think about what they will wear to the office. They may compare themselves to others and think about the situation they are in.

He said that back-to-work clothes are still a social experiment and the decision of what to wear could go either way. "My guess is that it will go more casual, but maybe it doesn't," Galinsky said.

Clothing companies are also seeing the changing demand.

The market research NPD Group reported that wire-free bras, a type of womens support wear, are more than 50 percent of the total non-sports bra market in the U.S. This is a big change from prior years.

The most common kind of shoe for the workplace is sneakers. And even though sales of dress shoes have increased slightly, sales are still 34 percent lower than in 2019. The increase is likely to come from more social gatherings and not workplaces.

Rent the Runway, a rental clothing company, said that rentals of blazers are two times higher than last year because people are returning to work. But people are choosing more colorful and lightweight clothes. Traditional business wear rentals are still down by about 50 percent compared to pre-pandemic rentals.

For men, there is an increase in sports pants for office wear, the personal shopping company Stitch Fix said. From January to March of 2022, money from sales of those styles increased three times. There is a high demand for comfortable shirts and pull-on pants. Now there are more pants with stretchy waistbands on the Stitch Fix website than buttons or zippers.

Brooks Brothers produced few casual clothes before the pandemic. Now the 200-year-old company has 45 percent of its offerings in casual sportswear.

Ken Ohashi is the new owner of Brook Brothers. He says that colorful and comfortable clothes are here to stay for men.

As more workers want to feel comfortable in their work clothes, some are excited to dress up again.

One such worker is 42-year-old Emily Kirchner of Stevensville, Michigan. She said she is spending money on new clothes that include blue jeans, shirts, and even blazers. As a mother of a young child, she wants to feel her best when she leaves the house.

"It's kind of fun to dress up, Kirchner said. It's kind of like that back-to-school feeling."

Im Faith Pirlo.

The Associated Press writers Anne DInnocenzio and David Sharp reported this story. Faith Pirlo adapted it for VOA Learning English.

___________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

comfortable  adj. not causing any physically unpleasant feelings; producing physical comfort

pants  n. a piece of clothing that covers your body from the waist to the ankle and has a separate part for each leg

blazer  n. a less formal jacket worn on the body

stylish  adj. fashionable and attractive

psychologist  n. someone who has studied the human mind and feelings

casual  adj. not formal

sneakers  n. cloth shoes that are worn for informal times and for sports

rental  adj. related to renting; paying money to be able to use someone elses property

zipper  n. a device on clothing and bags that is made of two rows of metal or plastic teeth and another piece that slides over the teeth to make them fit together

buttons  n. small disks attached to an article of clothing and used as a clasp by passing it through a hole or loop

What do you think of the American workers casual clothes after the pandemic?
A small group of Cuban dive instructors have started a project to grow corals and replant them. The divers hope to restore part of Cubas barrier reef. And they are working with limited financial support and using materials recovered from the coast.

Luis Muino is one of the projects leaders. The 44-year-old fisherman grew up on Cubas north coast. He said he saw his beloved reefs outside the mouth of Matanzas Harbor slowly weaken and the number of fish lessen over the years.

Muino told Reuters, "It's incredible the loss of coral in the past 30 years." He added, "Our dream is to repopulate again the parts of the barrier reef that have lost their corals."

To make that happen, Muino worked with other dive instructors and neighborhood schoolchildren with support from Cubas National Aquarium and the Cuban environmental program Ecovalor.

They began collecting pieces of coral spread across the ocean floor after large storms three years ago. The pieces were then hung on branches of underwater trees made from old plastic pipes and supported by fishing lines recovered from the coast.

Muino said the pieces grow quickly. They are then replanted on the coral reef, attached by nails driven into the rock. In a year, most survive and grow enough to repopulate part of the barrier reef between 60 to 80 meters in length, he said.

"It's a project that takes time," said co-worker Michel Soto. He said the project has done better than expectations even with little financial support and limited equipment in Cuba. He commented, "Everything is difficult, but we keep pushing ahead ... and we are making progress."

Like many coral reefs around the world, the ones in Cuba are threatened by changing water temperatures, invasive plants and animals, pollution and over-fishing. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says the world has already lost 30 to 50 percent of its coral reefs.

Karine Guillevic is a French diver who just visited Cuba for the first time. She said the reef looked better than others she had seen on dives elsewhere in the world, including in Africa.

"The coral ...needs to be protected," she said after two dives on a recent trip to nearby Varadero. She said, "It's good to see that in Cuba they take care of what they have, and that it is still not too affected by too much tourism."

Muino said a healthy reef and a happy tourist are his real reward. "We do this out of love for the reef," Muino added.

Im Gregory Stachel.

Dave Sherwood reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

____________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

coral  n. a hard material formed on the bottom of the sea by the skeletons of small creatures

reef  n. a long line of rocks or coral or a high area of sand near the surface of the water in the ocean

incredible  adj. difficult or impossible to believe

tourism  n. a tool with many stiff hairs or fibers that is used for cleaning, smoothing, or painting something

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
The American space agency NASA has developed a wearable device to guide future explorers on the moon.

The system is designed to map terrain and guide astronauts through unknown territory and dark areas of the moon.

The device can be worn as a backpack. It is called the Kinematic Navigation and Cartography Knapsack, or KNaCK. The system was specially designed to provide navigation assistance on the moon, which lacks the kinds of GPS systems that exist on Earth.

KNaCK is equipped with a technology called LiDAR to produce real-time, 3D maps. LiDAR uses sensors and light lasers to map the surrounding environment and measure distances.

NASA engineers worked together with private partners to develop the system. One of the partners is Aeva Inc. of Mountain View, California. The company supplied LiDAR sensors and support for the project, NASA said.

The sensors it provided to NASA use a technology known as FMCW, Aeva said in a press release. NASA says the technology can provide millions of measurement points per second and create a high-quality map of an areas terrain.

The company explained that the sun does not interfere with FMCW technology and it can operate in darkness. This can help astronauts and moon vehicles explore and map the lunar surface during the day or at night.

James Reuther is the vice president of technology at Aeva. He said the KNaCK system will be important to help astronauts carry out critical objectives of NASAs Artemis program.

Artemis is NASAs program to return humans to the moon. It aims to land American astronauts on the moon by 2025. It would mark the first time humans have visited the moon since NASAs Apollo 17 landing in 1972.

Michael Zanetti leads the KNaCK project at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He said the device is like a superpowered version of laser-based technologies used in surveying operations and driver-assistance tools for vehicles.

Zanetti noted that KNaCK can be used by astronauts for both navigation operations and science mapping. It also will help ensure the safety of astronauts and rover vehicles in a GPS-denied environment such as the Moon, he said.

Zanetti added that the system can provide real-time maps to show explorers how far theyve come and how far is left to go to reach their destination.

NASA also worked with Alabama-based Torch Technologies Inc. to develop a working model KNaCK backpack. The device has been tested in several settings, including at a NASA research center in Kilbourne Hole, New Mexico. The center is used for lunar research because it is near a volcanic crater that contains terrain similar to the moon.

The space agency says the device can become an important part of future exploration activities on the moon. This could especially be true for astronaut visits to the moons South Pole. NASA wants to send explorers to this area. However, it receives little sunlight and would be difficult for astronauts to navigate.

The development team says it will next work to shrink the size of KNaCK. The current backpack model weighs about 18 kilograms. The goal is to produce a device that is about the size of a soda container for easy transportability.

Engineers are also working to find ways to protect the devices sensitive electronics system from the effects of microgravity and radiation that exist in space.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA and Aeva Inc.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

Quiz - NASA Develops Lunar Backpack to Support Future Moon Exploration Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

terrain  n. a particular kind of land

backpack n. a bag for carrying things that has two shoulder straps and is carried on the back

navigate  v. to find the right direction for traveling by using maps or other equipment

GPS (global positioning system)  n. a radio system that uses signals from satellites to tell you where you are and to give you directions to other places

objective  n. something that you are trying to achieve

survey  v. to examine an area of land by taking measurements and recording details

destination  n. the place where someone or something is going

crater  n. a big hole in the ground created by the force of an object
Andrea Hernandez is a student at the University of Texas.

As a high school student in Dallas, she studied math a lot and was proud of her skill in the subject.

But when schools around the U.S. closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, students started learning by video link and on computers. Hernandez found it hard to make progress.

By then, she was studying in a class called pre-calculus.

After more than one year of learning by video link, she had to take a calculus test before starting school at the University of Texas.

She did not do well. As a result, she had to start her college education in a lower-level math class.

High school success but trouble in college

Hernandez got a top grade of A, but she told The Hechinger Report that she lost some belief in her math ability.

Now, she looks at calculus questions and thinks: I dont understand anything. Ill just sit there, she said, kind of lost.

College professors around the country are saying there are many students like Hernandez. These students had trouble learning when the pandemic changed the way they experienced school.

After two years, many students said they are less prepared for college than they hoped to be. Some say they have forgotten how to be students.

Uri Treisman is Hernandezs professor at the University of Texas. He told Hechinger Report that his students are making basic mistakes that he would not expect. About 25 percent did not pass his class in the autumn of 2021. Usually, he said, five percent fail the class.

Treisman said it was hard to see so many students have problems.

Their failure is my failure, he said.

He is also worried about his students whose families do not make a lot of money. They might not have the same ability to get extra help.

The wealthy are concerned and nervous about the futures of their children, and theyre investing heavily in ensuring their children have an advantage, he said.

The professor said it is normal for students to come to the university with different skill levels, but they are usually able to catch up. During the last two years, it has been harder because students are distracted in different ways than in the past.

Unusual distractions

For example, Hernandezs grandfather, who lived in Mexico, died of COVID-19. She learned about it in the middle of her computer math class. It became hard for her to think about school when family members were sick and others had financial problems.

Another of Treismans students had to drive into Texas from his home in Mexico to go to high school. When the pandemic closed schools, Halil Hamscho had to work from home in the border city of Matamoros, Mexico.

At that point, Hamscho said his classes were not as good. He called them watered down. He still received good grades, but when it was time to take an exam before college, he did not get a good score. In college, he failed his first college calculus exam before forming a study group. After that, he received an A in Treismans class.

Kristin Patterson is an associate professor of genetics at the University of Texas. She said in past years, only two to four percent of students do not get through her class. But last year, about 20 percent did not pass.

Patterson said the university does not fully understand how the pandemic changed learning for students when they were in high school. But it is slowly getting more information.

When students are able to work with a teacher in the classroom, she said, the teacher can judge a students progress. When they are at home, that information is limited. In addition, some high schools permitted students to move on in their studies even with poor grades.

When students came back to school, some did not have to take standardized tests that permitted teachers to find out how much they had learned. In 2021, for example, some states asked the U.S. Department of Education for permission to change or cancel the tests.

Learning about college life

Patterson at the University of Texas said some students did not understand the difference between the large meetings and small group discussions that form her class.

Ed Venit said students lack of preparation will continue.

He works at an education research company called EAB. He said colleges must understand that a large number of incoming students have unfinished learning from high school.

For example, at the University of Maryland  Baltimore County, the number of students having trouble with math classes is higher than in the past. The university added classes to help students learn study skills and ways to plan their time.

Many college officials report that the students they accept do not have lower grades than usual. But they many have not mastered the subjects as well as students in past years.

Over the last two years, the U.S government has made billions of dollars of aid available for school systems across the country. Schools are expected to find out why students are having problems learning.

This year in New York City, the countrys largest public school system, students are getting more tests than before, the Associated Press reports. Virginias Fairfax County school district is using testing to provide more money to schools with lower test scores.

AP reports Chicago is using a system that places importance on a students grades and rates of COVID-19 and violent crime in their neighborhoods.

In Boston, Lorena Rivera has two daughters who had trouble with math in the last two years. Her daughters would often start their work and then stop.

There was a lot of giving up  it was hard, she said.

Early reports have been gathered from some of the biggest school districts in the country. They suggest that student groups which already faced problems, including Black, Hispanic, and poor students, appear to be behind in greater numbers.

But Treisman said lowering standards is not the answer. Sometimes he thinks he could make his classes easier.

The big risk, he said, is that I give them a good grade and theyre not prepared for what comes next.

He commented that students could graduate from college and be unprepared for their jobs.

Venit said he worries that students who come from poor families or who are not white or who are the first in their families to go to college will have problems.

This is a rich gets richer situation and a poor stays poor situation, Venit said. He said that would reverse what those like him have been trying to do for 20 years.

Gisela Field studies the data that comes from student tests in a large school district near Miami, Florida. She said one year will not enough to correct all the problems.

The bottom line, she said, is that we have such a loss that it will take some time.

Im Dan Friedell and Im Jill Robbins.

Dan Friedell adapted this report for Learning English based on a story by The Hechinger Report with additional material from the Associated Press.

Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. Quiz - Professors See Unprepared Students in Math After Pandemic Closures Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

Words in This Story

nervous adj. having or showing feelings of being worried and afraid about what might happen

ensure  v. to make sure something happens

advantage  n. something (such as a good position or condition) that helps to make someone or something better or more likely to succeed than others

distraction  n. something that makes it difficult to pay attentions

watered down  adj. weakened or made less strong or useful

standardized test n. a test that requires all test-takers to answer the same questions which is used to measure a persons abilities

master  v. to get the knowledge and skill that allows you to do, use, or understand (something) very well

district  n. an area established by a government for official government purposes

reverse  v. to change to an opposite state or condition
A group that supports abortion rights says that drugs are used to carry out more than half of the abortions in America rather than operations.

The Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit research group, said earlier this year that the percentage has been increasing yearly.

The drugs are taken in the form of pills to medically end pregnancies.

Recent federal regulations permit women, who live in states where abortion is restricted, to receive abortion pills across state lines.

One woman from the state of South Dakota told The Associated Press she had to take two trips across state lines to get abortion pills last year.

The woman did not want to release her name. She said the pills permitted her to end an unexpected and high-risk pregnancy.

An opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court leaked this week suggested that it would permit individual states to ban abortion. And anti-abortion activists and politicians say cross-border trips, online doctors visits and mail-delivery pills are what they will try to stop next.

Medication abortion will be where access to abortion is decided, said Mary Ziegler. She is a professor at Florida State University College of Law. Ziegler specializes in reproductive rights. Thats going to be the battleground that decides how enforceable abortion bans are.

Use of abortion pills has been rising in the U.S. since 2000. That year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone. It is the main drug used in medication abortions.

The FDA removed a requirement that women receive abortion pills in person during the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Mail delivery is also now permitted across the country.

Those changes have helped create online services that offer information on getting abortion pills and appointments to get a prescription.

The unidentified woman in South Dakota first found that the state's only abortion clinic could not accept her in time for a medication abortion. She was able to find an online service that advised her to drive to Minnesota for a phone call with a doctor. A week later, she went back to Minnesota for the pills.

South Dakota is among several states in which Republican lawmakers and leaders have moved to place restrictions on abortion pills in recent months. Other states include Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas, Ohio, Tennessee and Oklahoma. The AP reports that 19 states require a medical professional to be physically present when abortion pills are given to a patient.

Besides crossing state lines, women can also go to internationally-based online pharmacies, said Greer Donley. She is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh Law School. Some women are also having pills sent through states without restrictions.

Its going to be much harder for states to control abortion access, Donley said. The question is how is it going to be enforced?"

Sue Leibel is with the Susan B. Anthony List, an organization opposed to abortion. She said it is an issue that is gaining in importance to Republican state lawmakers.

This is a new frontier and states are grappling with enforcement mechanisms, she said.

Abortion opponents say they do not want to bring legal action against women who seek abortions.

Instead, Leibel suggested the next target for state enforcement should be the pharmacies, organizations and clinics that provide the abortion pills. She also said abortion-rights opponents should place importance on electing a presidential candidate who could work to change the FDA's policy.

But, Donley, the law school professor, is worried that state lawmakers may seek to take legal action against the women who get the pills.

Many anti-abortion legislators might realize the only way to enforce these laws is to prosecute the pregnant person themselves, she said.

Im Dan Novak.

Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

abortion  n. a medical procedure used to end a pregnancy and cause the death of the fetus pills

regulation  n. an official rule or law that says how something should be done

prescription n. a written message from a doctor that officially tells someone to use a medicine, therapy

clinic n. a place where people can get medical treatment

pharmacy n. a store where people prescription drugs are sold

access n. the ability to get something

frontier  n. the limits of knowledge in a particular field

grapple  v. to struggle with something
Chicago is providing $500,000 to increase access to abortion, particularly for poor people and people of color. Monday's announcement by Mayor Lori Lightfoot came after a leaked draft opinion suggested the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn a landmark 1973 decision and end the nationwide right to legal abortion. Lightfoot says the money will go to providers as well as organizations such as the Chicago Abortion Fund and Midwest Access Coalition, which provide lodging, transportation, meals and other support to people seeking abortions. Funding will be available for Chicago residents and people from across the U.S. Chicago and Illinois already have seen an increase in the number of people from out-of-state seeking abortions because it is surrounded by states that restrict access.
By Trend

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh announced that Polands Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau is scheduled to have a two-day visit to Tehran, Trend reports citing IRNA.

According to the official, in addition to meeting his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian, Rau will have another meeting with high-ranking officials of Iran.

A broad range of issues of mutual interest, including the bilateral ties, as well as regional and international issues will be discussed.
By Trend





A meeting of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek competent authorities on international road transportation, a transport and logistics center and the construction of a railway was held in Kyrgyzstans Osh city, the press service of the Ministry of Transport reported, Trend reports citing Kabar.

The sides considered the issues of cargo carriers of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, the construction of the Kyzyl-Kiya trade and logistics center and the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway.

In addition, the sides considered and discussed issues in accordance with the above-mentioned Agenda and agreed on the following: Consider emerging issues of international transportation, including work on existing issues under a trilateral agreement with the People's Republic of China.

Besides, the issue of building a logistics center on the territory of the former airport in Kyzyl-Kiya, built in 1974, was considered. The airport has not been operating since 1999. The total area of ??the airport is 44 hectares. It is located near the Kyrgyz-Uzbek state border. It is considered that it is economically expedient and convenient to build a trade and logistics center on the site of the airport. Also at the meeting, the construction of the Daroot-Korgon - Uch-Korgon, Sary-Tash-Irkeshtam roads was visually examined on the map. Representatives of delegations visited the site of the road Daroot-Korgon-Uch-Korgon.

As for the construction of the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway, the sides decided to further work on this issue with Chinese specialists.
Vandals set a fire inside the Madison headquarters of the anti-abortion group Wisconsin Family Action early Sunday, police and an official with the group said Sunday.

Investigators are calling the fire at the building, on Madisons North Side near the Dane County Regional Airport, an arson.

Julaine Appling, president of the lobbying and advocacy organization, said she was getting ready for a Mothers Day brunch in Watertown when a building staff member informed her of the break-in. A person on the way to the airport before dawn saw smoke rising from the building and called police, Appling said.

Police said flames were seen coming from the building shortly after 6 a.m. Nobody was hurt.

Arriving at the office at 2801 International Lane at the same time as a reporter, Appling and group event coordinator Diane Westphall found shattered glass from a broken window covering a corner office riddled with burned books. The smell of smoke persisted for hours after the fire, which damaged the corner office carpet and the wall beneath the window.

The outside of the building also was sprayed with graffiti depicting an anarchy symbol, a coded anti-police slogan and the phrase, If abortions arent safe then you arent either.

What youre going to see here is a direct threat against us, Appling said. The incident comes just days after a leaked U.S. Supreme Court opinion revealed a majority of the high court had agreed to overturn the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion across the country. Imagine if somebody had been in the office when this happened. They would have been hurt.

Appling said police found remnants of at least one Molotov cocktail.

Police said a Molotov cocktail was thrown inside the building but did not ignite. It appears a separate fire was started after that, police said.

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said in a statement that the department is working on the arson investigation with federal officials and the Madison Fire Department.

It appears a specific non-profit that supports anti-abortion measures was targeted, he said in the statement.

Barnes said the police department will provide an update on the case at 2 p.m. Monday.

On Twitter Sunday, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers condemned the apparent arson.

We condemn violence and hatred in all forms, including the actions at Wisconsin Family Action in Madison last night, Evers wrote.

We reject violence against any person for disagreeing with anothers view ... We will work against overturning Roe and attacks on reproductive rights by leading with empathy and compassion. We will defend what we believe in with our words and our voices  in the streets, in halls of government, and at the ballot box. In Wisconsin, we must lead by example.

Attorney General Josh Kaul called the arson disgraceful and unacceptable.

This incident must be fully investigated and whoever is responsible should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, he tweeted.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said she understands that people are afraid and angry in the wake of the leaked Supreme Court draft but that resorting to violence isnt an acceptable response.

Madison believes strongly in the right to free speech, but it must be exercised nonviolently by all sides in this increasingly contentious debate, she said.

Rhodes-Conway also said pro-abortion rights groups have also been targeted, and she called for Congress to pass a bill codifying the protections guaranteed under Roe v. Wade.

In 2012, an anti-abortion activist threw a firebomb into Planned Parenthoods Appleton location. The perpetrator, an anti-abortion rights activist, was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The location closed a few years later after a mass shooting took place at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado.

This attack is abhorrent and should be condemned by all, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said.

Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch slammed the attack, saying, The radicals are trying to stop us but they know we wont be intimidated from defending life.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Nicholson added, Disgusting behavior from the left.

From across the aisle, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Nelson said, I am committed to protecting womens rights  but we must do it the right way. Violence and destruction are not the answer. Im glad no one was hurt.

Additionally, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sarah Godlewski said, No one should resort to the kind of violence we have too often seen against abortion providers, doctors, and clinics  we defend our reproductive freedom by contacting our representatives, showing up at the ballot box, and marching in the streets. Violence is never the answer.

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UZHHOROD, Ukraine (AP)  Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

She became the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during the war, while Zelenskas public appearance was her first since since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility.

Zelenska thanked Biden for her courageous act and said, We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day -- even today.

The first ladies met at a school being used to temporarily house Ukrainian migrants. Zelenska arrived first and waited in her black SUV until Biden arrived in similar fashion. The women stepped out of their vehicles and embraced, with Biden  who wore a wrist corsage for Mother's Day  handing over a bouquet of flowers before they entered the school.

The women came together in a small classroom, sitting on either side of a wooden table and greeting each other in front of reporters before they met in private. Zelenska and her two children have been staying at an undisclosed location for their safety.

The visit allowed Biden to conduct the kind of personal diplomacy that her husband would like to do himself.

President Joe Biden said when he visited Poland in March that he was disappointed he could not cross the border and go into Ukraine to see conditions firsthand but that he was not allowed, likely due to security reasons. The White House said as recently as last week that the president would love to visit but there were no plans for him to do so at this time.

The meeting came about after Jill Biden expressed interest in visiting the region, including the school where she and Zelenska met, and settled on the idea of spending Mother's Day with Ukrainian moms, said Michael LaRosa, the first lady's spokesperson.

He said the Ukrainian government informed the United States that Zelenska would like to meet, if possible, and that a meeting was finalized in recent days. The first ladies also had recently exchanged correspondence, according to U.S. officials who declined to provide further details because they were not authorized to discuss those private communications.

After meeting privately for about a half hour, the first ladies joined a group of children who live at the school in making tissue-paper bears to give as Mother's Day gifts.

LaRosa described their conversation as more of a personal mother-to-mother exchange and said Biden was interested in how Zelenska was coping through that lens.

He said Zelenska told Biden that she was able to hold her children's hands every night even though she could not be with her husband.

The Bidens spoke by telephone afterward, he said.

Bidens visit followed recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, and a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Her visit was to western Ukraine; Russia is concentrating its military power in eastern Ukraine, and she was not in harms way. On the same day as Biden's visit, a Russian bomb flattened a school in eastern Ukraine that had been sheltering about 90 people in its basement, with dozens feared dead. Also Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine to meet with the president and "reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people, according to his office.

Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, Biden toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel, where a priest intoned, We pray for the people of Ukraine.

And before that, at a school in Kosice, Biden offered support to Ukrainian mothers in Slovakia. She assured them that the hearts of the American people are behind them.

At a bus station in the city that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center, Biden found herself in an extended conversation with a Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children because she cannot understand it herself.

I cannot explain because I dont know myself and Im a teacher, Victorie Kutocha, who had her arms around her 7-year-old daughter, Yulie, told Biden.

At one point, Kutocha asked, Why? seeming to seek an explanation for Russias decision to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Its so hard to understand, the first lady replied.

Biden also dropped in at a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students. Slovakian and Ukrainian moms were brought together at the school for a Mothers Day event while their children made crafts to give them as gifts.

She went from table to table meeting the mothers and kids, telling some of the women that she wanted to come and say the hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine.

I just wanted to come and show you our support, she said before departing for Vysne Nemecke.

Biden is on a four-day visit to Eastern Europe to highlight U.S. support for Ukrainian refugees and for allied countries such as Romania and Slovakia that are providing a safe haven for them.

She spent Friday and Saturday in Romania, visiting with U.S. troops and meeting with Ukrainian refugee mothers and children.

With her trip, the American first lady followed the path of prior sitting first ladies who also traveled to war or conflict zones.

Eleanor Roosevelt visited servicemen abroad during World War II to help boost troop morale. Pat Nixon joined President Richard Nixon on his 1969 trip to South Vietnam, becoming the first first lady to visit a combat zone, according to the National First Ladies Library. She flew 18 miles from Saigon in an open helicopter, accompanied by U.S. Secret Service agents.

Hillary Clinton visited a combat zone, stopping in Bosnia in 1996. Laura Bush visited Afghanistan twice, in 2005 and 2008, during the U.S.-led war there. Melania Trump accompanied President Donald Trump to Iraq in December 2018.

This story has been corrected to reflect that the name of Ukraine's first lady is Olena Zelenska, not Zalenska.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
If the Supreme Court stands by the leaked draft opinion, and does overturn Roe, it will be a monumental step forward towards the protection of all human life.

Unborn lives will be saved from horror of abortion, and women will be empowered to make life affirming decisions. In many states, including Wisconsin, Abortion will be illegal due to a pre Roe ban on abortion that remains in state law and will once again be enforceable.

By returning the decision regarding abortion access to the states, the Supreme Court is righting a decades long wrong and allowing the American people the ability to act through their elected officials to enact protections for unborn children. In 1973, an all-male Supreme Court made a determination in Roe that overruled countless state laws. In the years following the Roe ruling, scientific advancements demonstrate the humanity of unborn children and allow babies born at earlier stages to receive life-saving care. It is past time to overturn this flawed decision, and once again empower states to defend their existing laws, and pass further pro-life protections.

This is a pivotal moment for the pro-life movement to exemplify the mission of being pro babies, pro women, and pro-life. It is not enough for abortion to be illegal; it must also be unthinkable. Women facing unexpected or challenging pregnancies are in need of resource and support, and the pro-life movement must meet them with compassion and care.

The pro-life movement has long showed care for both mother and child, through the work of pregnancy resource centers, which offer essential care to women on a free or low cost basis including pregnancy testing; options consultation, medical services, prenatal and parenting education, after-abortion recovery support, referrals for medical care, and countless other services.

According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, there are more than 2,700 pro-life pregnancy resource centers nationwide, that served over 2 million people in 2019, at a value of $266 million. For every planned parenthood in the United States, there are 20 PRCs. In the state of Wisconsin, there are over 60 pregnancy resource centers, ready and willing to meet women in need with support and resources. They offer a variety of critical services, including ultrasounds, counseling, and educational classes.

Wisconsin Right To Life offers emergency grants to women in immediate financial distress so they can choose life for their baby, as well as grants to Pregnancy Resource Centers to assist them in providing care to women in need.

According to Planned Parenthoods own annual report, roughly 95% of Planned Parenthoods pregnancy resolution services are abortions. In other words, nearly all women who enter the doors of planned parenthood pregnant leave without their unborn child. While Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers only offer women one solution, a procedure that ends in the death of their unborn child, pregnancy resource centers meet women with kindness, and support them through a myriad of services. Women deserve far more than the empty promises of abortion providers, who profit off the killing of innocent human life.

Wisconsin will be a haven for life if Roe is overturned, and the pro-life movement will be ready to continue our efforts to support pregnant women and children in need. Our work will not end until abortion is not only illegal, but also unthinkable in Wisconsin.
Though COVID-19 numbers remain low, case metrics are again on the rise in Idaho. The week of April 24, Idahos COVID-19 positivity rate rose to 3.1%, up from 2.5% the prior week. The week of March 20, it was 1.5%, according to state data.

Public health officials aim for a rate of 5% or less to indicate control of a respiratory pandemic. Idahos numbers remain below that threshold, but over the past two weeks, the positivity rate has increased in each of Idahos 44 counties.

I dont think its cause for alarm, but it is cause for us to pay attention, Dr. David Pate, a member of the Governors Coronavirus Working Group, told the Idaho Statesman by phone. He added that models indicate upward of half of all tests performed are at-home tests, which are not included in the state tally. That missing data skews the results.

Since the middle of March, the seven-day moving average of new cases has more than doubled across the nation, but Idaho has not seen that kind of surge. Some of the increase is attributable to omicron sublineages, which have shown increasing transmissibility, Pate said.

BA.2, a sublineage of BA.1  the variant known as omicron that caused Idahos surge in December and January  has been circulating in the state since at least late January. Now a third sublineage, BA.2.12.1, is rapidly outpacing even BA.2, indicating it may be even more transmissible, Pate said.

B.A.2.12.1 now makes up around 37% of new cases in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the end of April, the CDCs director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said she did not expect the sublineage to cause more severe disease than other versions of omicron.

In early April, 100% of samples sequenced by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare were omicron, but the data do not specify sublineages. Health and Welfare has not indicated that BA.2.12.1 has been found in an Idaho resident, but Pate said he thinks it is likely here. Nearby states, such as Washington, are seeing large increases.

That means we need to be watchful; we need to pay attention to whats going on, Pate said.

In April, Idahos deputy state epidemiologist, Dr. Kathryn Turner, said that widespread immunity in Idaho from vaccination or recent coronavirus infection would likely limit any bumps from BA.2 to levels below the surge seen over the winter.

Pate said he isnt sure whether thats the case, and pointed to data showing that various omicron sublineages appear able to evade antibodies from earlier infections, while also driving immune systems to create fewer antibodies than previous variants did. To Pate, this could leave many people vulnerable to reinfection.

I dont think we have a wall of immunity, he said. To the extent we do, its got big gaping holes in it.

For now, Boises wastewater testing shows low amounts of the virus, though levels have risen in recent weeks. Idahos seven-day moving average incidence rate of new cases has gone from around 2.8 per 100,000 people to 5.1 per 100,000 as of Wednesday, according to state data. During the wave in January, it peaked at over 243.

Most Idaho counties remain in the CDCs low community risk category, while Adams, Washington and Payette are in the medium category.

We just need to be watchful, Pate said.

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BOISE  Idaho Power has announced plans to install 120 megawatts of battery storage, to come online next summer, which will help maintain reliable service during periods of high use while furthering the companys goal of providing 100% clean energy by 2045.

The batteries would be the first utility-scale storage systems in Idaho.

This is an exciting step for Idaho Power. Not only are we adding capacity to serve our customers, but we are taking advantage of advancements in technology that will be key to our future. Battery storage enables us to use existing generation sources efficiently while setting the stage for more clean energy in the coming years, said Adam Richins, Idaho Power Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

On April 29, the company filed a request for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, which will determine whether the proposal is in the public interest.

The batteries are scheduled to come online by June 2023. A 40-MW system may be located at the proposed Black Mesa solar facility in Elmore County, although the company is still evaluating potential sites. The Hemingway substation near Melba is a viable location for the other 80 MW, although other options are being considered.

Idaho Powers planning process shows the company needs additional capacity as early as summer 2023 to serve customers during peak hours, especially early evenings following hot summer days when irrigation pumps and air conditioners drive up electrical demand.

Although batteries dont generate electricity, they can store power generated during periods of lower use and deliver it when customers need it. A 40-MW battery can power more than 13,000 average homes for four hours during periods of peak use, and more when energy demand is lower. The batteries can be completely recharged in about four hours, depending on their energy source.

Batteries also help to integrate renewable resources like solar and wind by supplying predictable power regardless of weather. Thats key to Idaho Powers goal of providing 100% clean energy by 2045.

The company issued a request for proposals in May 2021 for new resources to meet 2023 energy needs. After evaluating numerous responses, the company selected Portland, Oregon-based Powin to install the systems, which will be owned by Idaho Power.

Were pleased to support Idaho Power and its 600,000-plus customers with 120 MW of battery storage solutions, said Powin CEO Geoff Brown. The Powin Stack750 product will allow Idaho Power to efficiently store power and deploy it when its needed the most. As regulated utilities, IPPs and developers across the country add energy storage to their systems and achieve renewable energy goals, were proud to be their trusted partner.

Several factors are driving the need for additional capacity, including the regions strong economy and rapid population growth. Transmission constraints have also restricted the companys ability to import energy from the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere.

Idaho Powers most recent long-range plan calls for adding nearly 1,700 MW of battery storage and more than 2,100 MW of solar and wind capacity by 2040. These additions will complement the companys 17 hydroelectric projects as it transitions away from coal-fired plants.

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By Trend





Iran's Minister of Trade, Industry and Mines Reza Fatemi Amin has underscored that creating connections among Indonesian and Iranian businesses, decreasing tariffs in preferential trade agreements, as well as facilitating financial transactions, are three strategies to bolster trade ties between the two countries, Trend reports citing IRNA.

The Iranian minister made the remarks on the sidelines of a meeting with Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia and Coordinator for Industry and Development Rachmat Gobel.

Fatemi Amin addressed reporters as saying that in the first place, the two sides should establish good relationship among businesses of both countries.

The two nations of Indonesia and Iran enjoy deep and common ties, but the missing link is the connection among businesses in both states, which should be created, he added.

As to reduction of tariffs in preferential trade agreements, the Iranian cabinet member went on to say that trade tariffs should shrink in order to help hike the volume of mutual trade exchanges; so, Iran is ready to start cutting preferential tariffs.

He further pointed out to facilitation of financial transactions as the third strategy to enhance trade ties between Indonesia and Iran.
DHS this week emphasized that the internal working group, which has no operational authority or capability, will focus on developing best practices to counter disinformation from foreign states and criminal organizations while protecting free speech and other fundamental rights.

Although Republicans who likened the board to an Orwellian Ministry of Truth were exaggerating, there are legitimate grounds for concern about the Biden administrations broader assault on speech it views as dangerous. Even if the DHS boards work does not amount to much, Americans are right to worry about the implications of that multifaceted campaign.

During congressional testimony last week, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas noted that DHS had recently created a misinformation/disinformation governance board. Mayorkas was responding to a question from Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Illinois), who mentioned human smuggling organizations peddling misinformation to exploit vulnerable migrants and said disinformation is being heavily targeted at Spanish-speaking voters, sparking and fueling conspiracy theories.

Politico reported that the board was supposed to coordinate countering misinformation related to homeland security, focused specifically on irregular migration and Russia. But when a reporter asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki about the working group on April 28, she said, it sounds like the objective of the board is to prevent disinformation and misinformation from traveling around the country in a range of communities. She added, Im not sure who opposes that effort.

That broad description of the boards mission, combined with Psakis apparent obliviousness to the civil liberties issues raised by government efforts to prevent disinformation and misinformation from traveling, seemed to validate the concerns of conservative critics. It did not help that Nina Jankowicz, the expert on online disinformation appointed to head the working group, had disparaged free speech absolutists, criticized Republican legislators for laundering disinfo and described the New York Posts accurate reporting about emails from Hunter Bidens abandoned laptop as part of a Russian influence op.

During a CNN interview on Sunday, Mayorkas conceded that we probably could have done a better job of communicating what (the board) does and does not do. But poor communication was not the only problem.

In a Feb. 7 National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin, DHS identified the proliferation of false or misleading narratives that sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions as one of three key factors contributing to the current heightened threat environment. Those narratives, it said, included claims about election fraud and COVID-19, which fed grievances that inspired violent extremist attacks during 2021.

That view of controversial speech is consistent with the Biden administrations attitude toward COVID-19 misinformation, which it has urged social media platforms to suppress. Given the power that the executive branch wields over those companies, such pressure can easily lead to censorship by proxy.

The problem is compounded by the difficulty of defining misinformation. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says it includes statements that are misleading even if they are arguably or indisputably true. Murthys definition hinges on the governments assessment of the best available evidence, which can change over time.

That means misinformation is a moving target. What was once deemed misinformation on issues such as mask mandates and lockdowns can later be blessed by a government-validated scientific consensus, and vice versa.

Murthy says the whole-of-society effort to combat the urgent threat to public health posed by health misinformation may require appropriate legal and regulatory measures. While Murthy, like Jankowicz, has no power to control what Americans say, the administrations endorsement of his vision belies its avowed commitment to freedom of expression.

In a 2017 Washington Post op-ed piece, Jankowicz argued that the key to countering fake news is fostering media literacy so that people can better judge for themselves the credibility of online information. Unlike heavy-handed efforts to stop the spread of misinformation, that approach has the advantage of being constitutional as well as practical.

Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason magazine. Syndicated by Creators.com.

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NATO has 30 members. By the end of June, the roster may grow to 32, should Finland and Sweden join.

The Nordic duo has fans. On April 29 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee America will strongly support NATO membership for Sweden and Finland. On April 28 Jans Stoltenberg, a Norwegian and NATOs secretary-general since October 2014, told international press that Finland and Sweden are our closest partners, they are strong, mature democracies, EU members, and we have worked with Finland and Sweden for many, many years.

Stoltenberg added: We know that their armed forces meet NATO standards, are interoperable with NATO forces. We train together, we exercise together...

Translation: Finland and Sweden field modern military forces that meet NATO standards. They operate effectively with U.S., Canadian, British, French and Italian forces.

Fact: For years both nations have trained with NATO forces, initially on the sly but since 2018 in public view. In March 2022 Finland and Sweden formed a combined brigade that participated in a NATO exercise in Arctic Norway.

Circa 2015 major media began paying attention to polls assessing public support for neutrality in Finland and Sweden. As usual, major media were and still are years behind reality.

March 18, 2014, spurred Finnish and Swedish suspicion of neutrality. On that day Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Crimea.

The historically informed know aggression, annexation and expansion by a major European power leads to mass slaughter across the Continent. In the 20th century, aggression and expansion produced two global wars.

By invading and annexing Crimea, Russia created two other peace-destroying facts. Russia violated a multilateral diplomatic agreement guaranteeing Ukraines territorial integrity. The violated agreement, the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, traded Ukrainian nuclear weapons for mutual security guarantees. Then-President Bill Clinton signed it. It was part of a larger post-Cold War diplomatic framework forwarding disarmament, economic development, cooperation and democratic development in former Iron Curtain countries.

The Budapest Memorandum was supposed to provide an example of successful nuclear disarmament and be a guide to halting nuclear proliferation.

So, no-nuke peaceniks in the U.S., Canada and U.K.  Im calling you out. How come you dupes failed to show up en masse in Red Square to oppose Putins attack on nuclear arms control and fight for the survival of our planet?

One answer: because the dupes media carping was a substantially Russian-financed propaganda campaign.

Finnish and Swedish intelligence know the paid propaganda ruse to be true. Thats one reason Swedish sources say Russian intelligence and propaganda agencies are extremely interested in influencing Swedish politicians who favor joining NATO. Russian subversion warfare is a real threat to the security of every targeted nation.

However, 2022s violent reality of the Russian tank, infantry, artillery, aircraft and missile invasion of Ukraine  the evil deeds  supersedes twisted Kremlin words, fake tweets, faux scandals and cyber hacks.

Understand Sweden has not fought in a war since 1814. However, a recent opinion poll found 57% of Swedes wanted to join NATO, if Finland does. Some 65% to 70% of Finns support NATO membership.

Joining NATO requires amending NATOs Washington Treaty. That can take time  up to a year. All 30 alliance members must ratify the amendment. But so far RUMINT indicates NATO members will fast-track Finland and Sweden.

Finland and Sweden are already functionally members of NATO. There are other nations that are functionally part of NATO  unofficial, off-the-books allies beyond the protection of the NATO treatys Article 5. That is a subject for a future column.

Austin Bay is an author, syndicated columnist, professor, developmental aid advocate, radio commentator, retired reserve soldier, war game designer.

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About a year and a half ago, Madison Cawthorn signs were all over Marion, a community of about 7,700 in one of the easternmost parts of his district. The election results corroborate this: he won McDowell County by 67% in the 11th Congressional District runoff, and with nearly 72% in the 2020 general election.

But if you drive around Marion this week, the only signs youll see for Cawthorn are at the McDowell County Board of Elections.

Its not that similar signs are missing entirely in Marion. Matthew Burril, a McDowell County native and one of the eight candidates taking on Cawthorn in the Republican primary, has signs all over. The candidates arent missing, either: Chuck Edwards, a state senator with support from U.S. Sen Thom Tillis, held an event at Bear Creek Marina on Wednesday night.

Backdropped by Lake James and the Blue Ridge Mountains, Edwards told the small crowd he decided to run when our congressman turned his back on us and moved to run in the 13th Congressional District, only to return to NC-11 when the maps were drawn again.

Its a sentiment other Republicans shared this week, including those who supported the freshman congressman beforehand. Cawthorn may have earned the ire of Democrats before he got elected two years ago, but at least some Republicans now seem tired of him, too.

David Patneaude is a real estate agent and one of McDowell Countys Republican kingmakers. In 2020, he put his weight behind Cawthorn, who he saw as charismatic, bright and a good follow-up to former U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows. In this race, hes supporting Edwards.

Mark was so good, Patneaude told me in his wood-paneled office on Main Street. Out of all the counties, if you needed anything, his people were in touch with you. Mark was here when we wanted him here.

Cawthorn, simply put, has not been. His website lists four offices in western North Carolina, but only two phone numbers. Only one of those connected to a real staffer, who picked up on the second call, and said the offices on the website are satellite offices and that all case workers were located in Hendersonville.

I mean, Ive not seen him since the election, says Joe Hall, the owner of Bear Creek Marina. He doesnt attribute Cawthorns failures to any one thing; instead, he says, it happened gradually. Harold Wilson, a Vietnam veteran at the Edwards event, said the congressman didnt stay in touch with the people who helped him.

Republican opponent Michele Woodhouse, ideologically, is closer to Cawthorn than to Edwards. But she also does not buy Cawthorns belief that theres a left-wing media conspiracy to dispel him from office. The left wing media did not make Madison Cawthorn drive without a drivers license, she says. No one made him be an irresponsible gun owner twice.

The recent scandals about Cawthorn donning lingerie or having sexually suggestive contact with male staffers did not come up at Edwardss campaign event, either. What did was his disregard for the laws that all people have to follow, regardless of party. Beyond that, it comes back to his desertion, both in Washington and in western North Carolina. It was his attendance record in Congress, where he is one of the most frequently absent members. Its the constituent services. Its leaving the district to run somewhere almost entirely new, instead of being the strong Republican the voters in the district want.

Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, has also heard this from voters. He sees this race as likely heading to a runoff  just as it did when Cawthorn was selected, and as it did with Meadows before him.

Its the feeling of resentment for leaving, and its the fact that he left, and it was a very different race than the one he returned to, Cooper says. So now, if you are a America First voter, youve got choices.

There are several people that are running for Congress now that would be better Congressmen, and could serve the constituents better, Patneaude says. Thats what Im looking at. I like the guy, personally. But I do think theres something going on.
We asked local nurses to participate in a Q&A. Thanks for Nancy Lindell and Mission Health for helping us put this together. And thanks to all the nurses who serve our community.

Leah Frady

What attracted you to a career in nursing?

My dad is one of our EMS captains for McDowell EMS so I grew up around the medical field. I knew I always wanted to work in a field that involved emergency medicine. That led me to career in nursing, but I knew I would not be happy in just being a nurse in any department. I knew it had to be in an emergency department. McDowell County is the only place I have ever lived, and I love the people in my community. What better way to give back to my community than to work in the ED at McDowell? I have been at McDowell for almost 12 years and have learned a lot and grown a lot as well. When I first started out, I had my associates degreein nursing at the age of 19 but continued on until I obtained my masters degree in nursing dducation. Bedside nursing will always be my passion but I love that in my role as clinical professional development educator that I now get to help teach/train nurses and share my passion with them.

What is the biggest challenge of your job?

I dont really focus on their being challenges in my job. I love to solve problems and I think that is just a part of nursing. We work together as a team (from nursing, providers, pharmacy, lab, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, etc.  too many roles to list)

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

In my current role, the most rewarding part of my job is watching nurses grow. Seeing them start out as a new nurse and then watching them grow into a nurse that I trust with my life is amazing to witness. Knowing that I contributed to that and helped guide them in that direction makes my job worthwhile. I love being able to work side by side with them and helping them work through a problem. I also learn from them as well and I love learning.

Is there a patient or incident in your career that is particularly memorable?

Last year my grandfather was admitted to our acute care unit here at McDowell. He had served as chaplain here for 25 years at that time (now retired). During his stay, him and my grandmother were going to be celebrating their 72nd wedding anniversary. It broke my heart that they were not going to get to really celebrate something so significant because of him being ill. Staff and leaders at McDowell made sure that this would be celebrated and surprised them with an anniversary celebration including cake and balloons. It was precious to watch the shock/excitement. As they always do, they sang You Are My Sunshine to each other to include the verses they had also written for one another. I consider the staff at McDowell to be family and watching what they did for not only me but my family that day, just goes to show the compassion that the staff have for their patients. I know they would have done this for any one of their patients and have been able to witness this over the last 12 years.

What would you tell someone who was interested in becoming a nurse to encourage them?

Nursing is hard but beyond rewarding. I could not imagine doing anything else with my life. Yes it has its hard days, but the good days make it worthwhile so dont give up!

Barry Mingle

What attracted you to a career in nursing

I have always wanted to be in health care, at age 18 I became an EMT with the Nebo Fire Dept. and a first responder. My love of helping people and the thrill of facing something different on each call had me hooked. It was a natural progression into nursing after that. Even though I didnt enter nursing school until age 30, the love and passion for treating patients never left me.

What is the biggest challenge of your job?

The biggest challenge would have to be the documentation. When I started 26 years ago, the physician and nurses documented on the same page. The physician wrote on the top half of the form and nurses wrote on the bottom half. Today every thing you do for the patient and everything about the patients condition is documented into the their electronic chart.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Making a procedure like an IV less scary for a child and being able to make the ER a little less intimidating for my patients.

Is there a patient or incident in your career that is particularly memorable?

I was precepting an EMS student and had a patient that had just passed away from an aneurysm, We had been with this patient for several hours and performed multiple life-saving procedures on them but to no avail. The patient succumbed to their illness. In another room, approximately 20 minutes after my patients death, I was given a small child that had choked on a rock. The child was breathing fine, but an x-ray clearly showed the rock lodged in their trachea. As the physician and other members from the OR were discussing our next step for this patient, the child stopped breathing. His airway had become totally occluded. Immediately, I took the child from his mother and with multiple rounds of back blows and chest thrusts I was able to clear the childs airway. After what seemed a lifetime, the patient began to breathe again. The patient was transported to Mission Hospital where the stone was removed in the OR and the child recovered with no complications.

What would you tell someone who was interested in becoming a nurse to encourage them?

Nursing can be the most rewarding field that a person can go into, but you have to be willing to put your whole heart into it. It can take you through all the emotions that you have and try you at times, but the rewards will last you a lifetime. No other field that I know of can fill you with as much joy and satisfaction as nursing.
GLEN ALPINE  A man has been charged after police and court documents said he went into a churchs prayer room, defecated and used pages torn from a Bible to wipe himself this week.

Devin Lee Mulholland, 24, was charged with felony breaking and/or entering a place of worship and felony burning a church or religious building, according to records on the North Carolina Judicial Branch website.

The charges came after officers were dispatched to Glen Alpine United Methodist Church around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday when church members noticed a window had been broken in the prayer room, which is kept unlocked for people looking for a place to pray, said Glen Alpine Police Chief Rodney Cox and Officer Shane Trull.

When they went in the building, officers found that someone had defecated on the floor in the prayer room, then used pages ripped out of a Bible to wipe themselves, court documents and the officers said.

The person had also knocked a fire extinguisher off the wall and sprayed it around the room, and a window was broken out.

Officers saw where the person had set some pages from the Bible on fire on the window sill in what they believed to be an attempt to set the church on fire, they said.

At the end of their time at the church, the person cut themselves, leaving a trail of blood in their wake as they walked away from the scene, Trull and Cox said.

In addition to the trail of blood, the perpetrator also left behind a cellphone, officers said. Thats how they connected Mulholland to the scene.

One of his relatives called the police department asking if anyone had turned in a phone that matched the description of the one found in the prayer room.

The Glen Alpine officers, who already had obtained a search warrant for the phone, told the caller to have the phones owner bring their drivers license and the phones passcode to the police department to find out whether they could turn it over to the person.

Mulholland came to the police department this week and was able to unlock the phone, leading officers to ask him about his connection to the church.

Officers said Mulholland confessed to entering the church, and told them he was intoxicated at the time. He said he didnt remember much else.

Mulholland, who also is wanted in the state of Florida on some outstanding drug charges, had his bond set at $100,000 secured and was booked at the Burke County Jail. His next court date is set for May 27.

Chrissy Murphy is a staff writer and can be reached at cmurphy@morganton.com or at 828-432-8941. Follow @cmurphyMNH on Twitter.

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The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) on Sunday said it has provided humanitarian assistance to nearly 66,000 displaced Yemenis in the past six months.

The assistance included food, family basic hygiene kits and female dignity kits, a UNICEF statement said

The humanitarian aid was part of UNICEFs Rapid Response Mechanism program which aims to reach the hardest-hit parts of Yemen, the UN agency added.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014 when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

According to UN figures, there are around 4.3 million Yemenis displaced since the start of the conflict in Yemen in 2014.

The eight-year conflict has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with millions suffering from hunger.
The number of Syrian children in need of humanitarian aid has reached a record high in 11 years of war. There are more than 12.3 million Syrian children in this situation and funding has dropped by half, the UN warned this Sunday.

UNICEF announced that it had received less than half of the funds needed this year for Syrian children. This decline in international funding has had an impact on the situation of these war victims.

Millions of children still live in fear, uncertainty and need in Syria and neighboring countries, UNICEFs regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khodr, said in a statement.

She estimated that currently, more than 6.5 million children in Syria need assistance and nearly 5.8 million Syrian children in neighboring countries depend on it. She says many families are struggling to make ends meet

And these more than 12 million children in need is the highest figure recorded since the start of the conflict more than 11 years ago, explained the UN official.

The crisis in Syria is far from over, said UNICEF, recalling that 213 children were injured or killed in the first three months of 2022, totaling 13,000 children since 2011.

The UN organization says it has an urgent need of $20 million for its cross-border operations, the only means of survival for nearly a million children in northwestern Syria, a region held by the rebels.

About half a million people have been killed in the war in Syria that broke out in 2011. This vast crisis has caused the largest displacement of people since the Second World War.
The Democrats running for Montanas newly created western U.S. House seat mostly agreed on the policies they said could improve life in the states rural communities, though there was some daylight between the three when it came to health care access and how to best bring transparency to cattle prices.

The primary for Democrats running in the new district includes Monica Tranel, a Missoula lawyer who has focused on energy and agriculture litigation; Cora Neumann, a Bozeman resident who has focused on public health work including in rural places and started several nonprofits; and Tom Winter, who lives in Missoula and works to expand broadband access in rural areas.

The hour-long forum was hosted by the Montana Farmers Union and marked the first time all three candidates have appeared on stage together. MFU has already held forums for candidates in the eastern district and plans one for GOP candidates in the western race May 20. The primary is June 7.

While many of the answers from candidates felt similar on things like increasing teacher wages or the need for country-of-origin labeling for meat products, the candidates did aim to carve out how their backgrounds and professional careers make them different from others in the race.

Tranel highlighted her youth in rural Montana, playing up her roots in the eastern part of the state. She also pointed to her work as a lawyer who has represented farmers and ranchers in water rights cases and gone up against the states main utility in court.

Tranel has taken several digs at both the expected Republican primary winner, Ryan Zinke, and her two Democratic candidates, for the amount of time theyve spent outside Montana.

This is my home. This is my only home. Unlike every other candidate in this race, I have a proven track record of delivering for Montana because I've been here for 25 years, Tranel said.

Neumann told viewers she was the candidate who understood what Montana families go through, saying that when she was younger her own had to leave the state to find better jobs. She also pointed to her professional career she said equips her to succeed in D.C.

My decades of experience in rural health care, helping increase access to health care, spur job creation and protect our public lands makes me the right person for this job right now, Neumann said.

Winter used his experience winning a state legislative seat in a district that favored Trump in 2016 to make the argument he had the best resume. He also pushed the idea that a progressive candidate could be successful.

What do you deserve? Does your community deserve dignity? Do you deserve good pay? Do you deserve universal health care? I'm a Montanan, and I know that you do because you are Montanans, Winter said.

Both Tranel and Neumann at points worked to emphasize the moderate path they said theyd take if elected.

We in the middle, the majority of us in the middle, need to get back to being able to get things done, Tranel said in response to a question about why she was running.

Neumann highlighted where she agreed with Republicans on opposition to a property tax ballot initiative and said she worked across party lines when COVID-19 first hit Montana to try to bring health care and aid to rural communities.

Winter, however, said he won his half-rural state House district as an unapologetic progressive Democrat.

We're not supposed to be here in Montana arguing for universal health care, for the right to an abortion, for the right for you to make as much money as a white man, for the right for you to have the dignity of a wage at all, Winter said.

The candidates all called for increasing access to health care in rural and urban parts of the state in response to questions about how to address the states high suicide rate, though the issue illustrated one major policy difference between Winter and the rest of the field.

Tranel said getting health insurance as a farmer or rancher is cost-prohibitive. She added that telehealth could improve services in places that are undeserved.

Stabilizing incomes for farmers and ranchers would also help, she said, and pointed to a time when she helped a client add a wind farm to their property and it increased revenue.

Neumann said recent telehealth legislation passed in Montana was a good start to begin dealing with accessibility. But she added that low commodity prices squeezing out farmers and ranchers also needed to be addressed.

Imagine being a fifth-generation farmer or rancher who is facing the potential reality that you are going to lose your ranch. The stress, the mental health crisis that that brings forward, is one of the reasons, a driving reason, that we're losing so many of our farmers and ranchers here in Montana to suicide, Neumann said.

Winter set himself apart from Tranel and Neumann by calling for universal health care.

A for-profit health care system will never put enough psychiatrists in your small farming community to serve your needs. They will simply never do it, Winter said. I am the only person in this race, regardless of party, who has argued from day one for universal health care.

Another place the candidates didnt all agree was on how to legislatively address cattle contracts that skew the price of feed cattle being sold.

Neumann said she fully supported the Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act. The bill would increase the number of cattle purchased in the cash market, provide additional details on cattle contracts and require reporting the number of cattle that are committed to packers. About 85% of the market is cornered by four national corporations.

This has to end if we want our ranchers to survive, Neumann said.   I will do whatever I can to make sure that there's transparency, a contract library, and the ability for the public and for our ranching community to have transparency into those prices so that we can hold packers accountable.

Tranel, however, said the act was the wrong vehicle.

It creates all kinds of layers of government red tape to this whole pricing process, and it's just not going to work for our operators, Tranel said. The way to solve the problem is to make sure that we're actually enforcing the Packers and Stockyard Act, so that when we get our cattle to market, we know the price is going to be competitive and that we're going to be competing fairly and everybody's going to be playing on a level playing field.

Winter said the Packers and Stockyard Act needs to be reformed and the big ag companies should be broken up.

Tyson, Cargill, etcetera, do not serve the American consumer, they dont serve the American rancher. I'm not so certain who they serve, other than private equity shareholders, Winter said. The price of beef is more expensive because of them. And there's less money in our rural areas because of them. Go upstream. Fight the problem. Break up the packers.

In response to a question about how theyd work to address the lack of childcare options in rural Montana, Neumann pointed to federal funding opportunities and ways states could partner with the federal government on early childhood education. Tranel said that reinstating the child tax credit would continue to lift families out of poverty and that pre-kindergarten should be available around the state. Winter said that there should be direct subsidies for working families across Montana.

All three candidates also said theyd back legislation to give farmers and ranchers the right to repair their own equipment.

We should be able to repair our iPhones. We should be able to repair anything we buy, Tranel said, pointing to her experience litigating against corporations. Once we own it, it should be ours and once we have it we should be able to fix it without voiding the warranty.

Winter said the issue illustrated whats wrong with the world is corporate power (and) inequality.

Neumann said in the past elected officials have just given lip service to farmers and ranchers while letting large farm equipment companies hold our farmers and ranchers hostage.

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Getting back to normal. Ive heard this phrase so many times during the pandemic that Im not even sure what it means anymore, especially for Montanans whose normal wasnt all that great to begin with. COVID-19 exposed serious issues in our healthcare system. Despite dedicated, brave, and unflappable doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals leaving it all on the field to support Montanans, the barriers that exist due to centuries of discrimination against Native people at the hands of government and private sector actors left Indigenous Montanans in a much worse than normal position after the worst of the pandemic was over.

The life expectancy of Native people is 20 years shorter than the national average. This is due in large part to inadequate access to care for treatable illnesses like cancer and diabetes. The complete dearth of mental health assistance both on reservations and in more urban areas has led to a 139% increase in completed suicides amongst Native women. Despite its obligation to provide health care to Native people, the Federal government has failed repeatedly to adequately fund services for Tribal members. Indian Health Services  the federal program responsible for providing care to Native people in Montana, doesnt even have facilities in Montanas cities, despite 56% of Montanas native population living in those areas. The IHS receives a set amount of money each year to take care of 2.2 million native people. In 2013, IHS spending for patient health services was $2,849 a person, compared to $7,717 for health care spending per person nationally. Thats a disparity of nearly 270%. Imagine how much healthier Native people would be if our care was 2.7 times better than it currently is?

While the pandemic exposed the stark realities of systemic inequalities in our health care system, those inequities existed long before the virus took hold on reservations. Indigenous communities regularly experience excessive wait times, rejected hospital admission, denial of access to services, underestimation of symptom severity, and limited resources; and Indigenous people are regularly affected by chronic disease at higher rates than white people. Beyond race, discrimination against mental health and substance abuse patients also remains common. Insurance companies and hospitals have been active or at the very least complacent in allowing discrimination to continue in the healthcare system.

It is time to prioritize policies that eliminate racial disparities and all forms of discrimination in health care. It is time to protect ALL Montanans and ensure that no one goes without quality, affordable, health care. Lets start by permanently expanding Medicaid in Montana and fully funding Indian Health Services at the Federal level.

Barbara Bessette is a born-and-raised Montanan and one of the first Urban Native American women to be elected to the Montana House of Representatives. As a Representative, she helped pass Medicaid Expansion, co-sponsored the Firefighter Protection Act, and sponsored the bill that protects the elderly in assisted living. Shes running for re-election.

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Hong Kong: 266 virus cases recorded

The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating 266 additional COVID-19 cases, of which 112 were detected by nucleic acid tests and 154 were identified via rapid antigen tests.

Among the new cases, 25 are imported while the rest are locally infected.

A total of 1,193,954 people have contracted the virus since the onset of the fifth wave of the epidemic, involving 9,133 deaths.

Four more patrons who had their meals at Peony Golden Court, a restaurant in Yuen Long, on the morning of May 1 tested positive for the virus.

Currently there are eight cases relating to the eatery, the centre added.

Meanwhile, the Government made a restriction-testing declaration to cover Kwai Shun House of Kwai Fong Estate in Kwai Chung, requiring people in the restricted area to undergo compulsory testing before the specified deadline.

Due to a number of positive cases, 40 specified places are included in a compulsory testing notice.

The mobile specimen collection at Cheung Hong Estate in Tsing Yi will reopen tomorrow, while the one at Fu Shan Estate in Diamond Hill will extend its services to May 10.

As there were positive sewage test results with relatively high viral loads in several housing estates in Sai Kung and Kwai Tsing District, the Housing Department and the respective district offices will distribute COVID-19 rapid test kits to relevant residents as well as cleaning workers and property management staff working there.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage.

This story has been published on: 2022-05-08. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
By Trend





Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, postponed a visit planned for Monday to the Syria-Turkey border, but she will still travel to Brussels, Belgium, next week for a European Union conference on the future of Syria, the US Mission to the United Nations said on Saturday, Trend reports citing CNN.

The Biden administration is preparing to make the case for the need to maintain cross-border humanitarian assistance to Syria, a senior State Department official told reporters.

Thomas-Greenfield had planned to meet with Syrian refugees and the humanitarian organizations supporting them. She also planned to visit the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, which is the only crossing from Turkey into Syria that allows humanitarian assistance to be delivered.
Serving the community by providing mental health counseling in a gentle and compassionate manner is what CareNet Counseling has been doing in Iredell County since 1998, and is celebrating its 50 years of care in North Carolina.

As noted on the website, their mission is to improve the health of the mind, body, spirit and community through spiritually integrated counseling, psychotherapy, research and education, helping their clients achieve, restore and maintain mental wellness which improves their overall health.

A division of Wake Forest Baptist, CareNet Counseling came out of the chaplains department of the hospital years ago when people would go to the hospital and have conversations with the chaplains, said Regional Director Cindy H. Ray, MS LCMHC. They loved it and theyd go back to their communities and would say I want to talk to somebody like that again, so the hospital began providing seminary trained mental health counselors. There are 70 therapists in our group across the state.

With a combination of the growth of the area, along with the effects of COVID-19, there has been a major increase in the need for their counseling services.

Ray shared that Blue Cross/Blue Shield said mental health coverage was up 700%. So we are all at our max and have waiting lists.

Therefore, this is one reason why they are working to raise funds, shared Neal Howes, the local community outreach person for CareNet. The demand is growing. This office needs to hire more people. Mooresville is growing.

While affiliated with Wake Forest Baptist, Howes pointed out that each office is not funded by the hospital. Each is independently supported.

We are self-sustaining, each office is, Howes said. And each has to raise their own funds. We are the Central Piedmont Region, he pointed out.

Ray and two additional full-time counselors serve in the Mooresville office, located on East McLelland Avenue, and she noted that she also goes to Statesville a couple days a month and sees people there as well.

She noted that First Baptist Church Mooresville owns the building where they are located locally and that the First Baptist Church Statesville provides her office space in that location. Therefore, they are rent free; however, with the growing needs of the community, along with the growing demands upon CareNet Counseling, the need for additional funds has grown as well.

We need money to help people who cant afford counseling, shared Ray. We need some client aid money so that people that fall between the cracks, can be helped. She noted that a lot of times pastors will call us and say we can pay this much, but people need more than two or three sessions sometimes thus the need for additional funds to provide that aid.

While no specific fundraising event is planned at the current time, they are reaching out through word of mouth and directing people to their website asking for financial assistance. Without the manpower to hold a big fundraiser, Howes said, Im trying to direct people to the website right now. So the main thing is if you take a look at carenetnc.org and you go to Central Piedmont, then people can both donate online and learn more about them.

People may also donate with a check by making it out to CareNet and mailing to 146 E. McLelland Ave., Mooresville, NC 28115.

Their goal is to raise $100,000 for current needs.

There are three therapists that serve in the Mooresville office, Ray noted, including herself, Stacey Steck, MDiv LMFT (licensed marriage family therapist) and Rebecca Setzer, MDiv LCMHC (licensed mental health).

We offer counseling for depression and anxiety, mood disorders and personality disorders. I have one therapist (Stacey) that is a marriage and family therapist so he does a lot of couples work, premarital and couples and then he can work with families too. And then Rebecca can work with teenagers and young people and individuals. I see a lot of women, I see men too, individual counseling, and a lot of our clients are driven here by their physician, Ray shared.

The pandemic not only changed the number of individuals reaching out for counseling, but it also changed the way that counseling has taken place, as virtual counseling sessions were conducted.

Weve been real busy the past two years, and we had to switch and go to virtual for most of our sessions, Ray said.

She has been seeing people in person once again, but she noted that the virtual sessions enabled her to be able to talk with people who have been referred to her beyond Iredell County.

Its been very effective, she shared. And people have come to virtual counseling who probably wouldnt have come to the office.

Both Ray and Howes are dedicated to their roles with CareNet Counseling as are all those who serve at one of the counseling locations. Ray stressed that its important for people to know how big we are across the state and how long weve been doing this and our dedication and commitment. Weve been in Iredell County almost 25 years now and had a presence. Were passionate about the work we do and the people that we see.

Being a therapist is a second career for Ray as she shared that 20 years ago she went back to graduate school and had herself been helped and served by pastoral counseling.

So God kind of tapped me on the shoulder and said, you can do this work. It was quite an adventure and I got a real world class education in Loyola University Maryland, and so its been following God since then. Im just real passionate about the work that happens between two people in this room. Its kind of a holy experience, a front row to see God working in peoples lives.

Ray received her Master of Science degree in pastoral counseling and then continued for two years at Wesley Seminary, a program through Pheiffer University.

For Howes, his commitment can be seen twofold as he noted he has been raising funds since he was 12-years-old, attending community functions and learning those skills from his dad. He continued raising funds for various causes in college and afterward. Ive always been blessed to motivate and to raise funds, he shared.

Serving as a caregiver to two wives, both whom he lost to cancer, and as a caregiver to his mother-in-law, as well as additional health issues of his own including the loss of his hearing in one ear at an early age, being diagnosed as bi-polar and receiving treatment, he noted he has been there, not drastically, but Ive been there when it comes to feeling depressed and seeing the toll it takes. But he noted that youve got two choices, you either stick your head in the ground or keep on running.

So he kept moving forward, and after retirement while looking for something to do, Howes heard Ray speak about CareNet at the church they both attend, they talked and he got onboard. He is trying to raise awareness and help with their current and long-term needs. But when it comes to raising the funds, he is quick to say its we not I. It takes everybody.

For those considering or actively seeking help, Ray said she would encourage people by telling them, its not as scary as they might imagine and that were a safe place for them to talk about and not judgmental, and that it is about gentleness and compassion. We work with the faith they bring. Were not evangelists or anything like that. We work with what the person brings to us and try to strengthen that whole mental health side of it.

While Howes said he knows there are many causes out there, he stressed that, the trouble is, the demand is growing. Weve all heard about it. Depression. We need to hire more people, period. We need to hire more people because the areas growing, theres more demand.

When youre working 70 hours a week, as he noted Ray is doing, sometimes, thats demanding, and its not good for her. Its not good for anybody.

Asking for help is a sign of strength, Ray said, and when she tells people that, she said, you can kind of see people relax when you say its OK for you to be here. It means youre strong. You know you cant do it all.

CareNet is there to help, as Howes pointed out. If you take a look at the name. Care  We care, and Net  everyone needs a safety net.

For those wanting to schedule an appointment, they can call 704-871-1712 or visit www.carenetnc.org.

Ray and Howes noted that they would be happy to visit civic or church groups or any other organizations that would like them to come and speak and provide that opportunity to learn how they can help others. Contact Ray by calling the number above.

Individuals and loved ones are always asking what could I have done, shared Howes. You cannot go back, but forward, and one way is to make a donation to CareNet to help others have a positive mental health.
A North Carolina National Guard regional training center in Burke County could be close to opening by the end of the year.

The three buildings that will make up the Morganton regional National Guard Readiness Center are all on the property that once held a high-rise prison in the Salem community. Western Youth Institution was demolished in July 2020 to make way for the National Guard training center.

Maj. Matthew Boyle, North Carolina National Guard spokesman, told The News Herald last week that construction on the training facility, which started in 2020, is more than halfway complete. He said construction is anticipated to be completed in the fall.

Boyle told N.C. Rep. Hugh Blackwells office in an email that construction is scheduled to conclude in late October with an estimated additional 60 days of outfitting the facility and to work through construction punch list items.

Boyle told The News Herald the facility is expected to be furnished by December.

Theres an expected 30 full-time staff who will work in the facility but it also will be a regional training center for 400 guardsmen from the 630th Support Battalion and elements from the 878th Engineer Company and the 1451st Transportation Company and Detachment 1-626 Maintenance Company, Boyle said.

The training center campus will hold three buildings totaling 66,000 square feet on the 38 acres. It will be the first regional readiness center HUB for the state, the plans for it said.

The largest building will be readiness center that will have a two-story classroom/administration wing and a one-story unit storage/locker room wing connected by an assembly hall/kitchen wing. Support buildings will be a training bay facility and a storage building, according to the plans.

The center campus will include an entrance drive and roundabout with a Minute Man statue in the center. There will be parking for 250 vehicles with some parking spaces specifically designated for motorcycles, an entrance plaza, courtyard, secure military vehicle storage yard, loading ramp, covered wash bay and a half-mile physical training track, according to the plans.

The plans also include a footprint for a future helipad and a solar power field.

The National Guard got $23.33 million from the $2 billion Connect NC bond package to renovate Western Youth Institution for a National Guard training facility. Voters approved the bond package in early 2016.

However, officials determined it would cost more to renovate the 16-story building and bring it up to current building codes than to demolish it and build new. It also will be more energy efficient, say officials.

Boyle told The News Herald last week the total commitment for the Morganton training center is $37 million, which includes design costs, demolition of the high rise prison, debris removal and construction. He said the actual new building and site cost is about $31 million.

Officials say a regional training center will provide quicker response to state emergencies and improve readiness for deployments.

Its a wonderful campus there, Boyle said.
VALDESE  The North Carolina Historic Preservation Office announced Friday that it will conduct a comprehensive architectural survey of historic buildings, structures and sites in the Valdese town limits.

The survey will be conducted by Audrey Thomas, architectural survey specialist in the western office of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in Asheville, a release from the department said.

The survey is expected to be completed the fall, the release said. The project involves the documenting approximately 250 resources throughout the town built prior to 1975, it said.

Thomas will be in Valdese for fieldwork in May and June. She also will meet with representatives of the town and local historians, the release said.

The release said that in addition to documenting properties with photographs, written descriptions and oral and archival history, she will identify properties that appear to be potentially eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, either individually or as districts (and thus potentially eligible for state and federal tax credits for certified historic rehabilitation).

The project will culminate in a final report that analyzes the towns history through the lens of its historic architecture, according to the release.

Valdese Town Manager Seth Eckard said currently the only two buildings in Valdese that are on the historic registry are the Waldensian Presbyterian Church and the Old Rock School. He said there are definitely some more houses and buildings in town that would qualify for designation.

Eckard said the Historic Preservation Office was going to conduct the survey in February 2020. But COVID-19 brought most things to a standstill so they are now restarting that process, he said.

Yeah, its really cool, Eckard said. Im excited to see how the process works.

Eckard said if a town has enough historic structures it can get a historic town or downtown designation. He said property owners with an historic designation could benefit through using historic preservation tax credits. Those tax credits can be used to restore or renovate a structure.

The release from the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources said Burke Countys historic resources were first surveyed in 1983, when architectural historian Randall Cotton recorded historic dwellings, schools, churches and commercial buildings in the county.

Recent consultation between the Historic Preservation Office and local stakeholders has revealed a growing interest in identifying and documenting Valdeses historic buildings. In January 2018, Historic Preservation Office staff examined the town to determine the scope of work for the survey, the release said.

The release said at the conclusion of the project, the Historic Preservation Office will share the digital files with the town. Public access to the information will be available through HPOWEB, the offices geographic information system, which is accessible online at http://gis.ncdcr.gov/hpoweb/.

The survey material will facilitate the environmental review necessary for state and federal undertakings and will aid in planning for future economic and community development projects. Survey products also will be useful for the continued development of heritage tourism programs in Valdese, the release said.

For more information on the comprehensive architectural survey of Valdese, contact Audrey Thomas at audrey.thomas@ncdcr.gov or at 828-668-2588 or Elizabeth King, architectural survey coordinator, at elizabeth.king@ncdcr.gov or at 919-814-6580.

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is the state agency whose mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in the state by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the states history, conserving the states natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism and promoting economic development.
Liquid Intelligent Technologies will use its cellular network capacity to build a 5G network aimed at industries such as manufacturing and mining, reports the Sunday Times.

In March, the company bid R111 million to acquire 4 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum in the 3,500 MHz band.

Spectrum is the raw network capacity cellular operators use for mobile devices to communicate with their towers.

After years of delays, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) held an auction for some of this precious wireless network capacity.

Liquids spectrum purchase during the auction brings its holdings in the 3,500 MHz band to a round 60 MHz.

Although this is a substantial amount of spectrum in a single band, the International Telecommunications Union has recommended that operators have 100 MHz of contiguous spectrum in 3,500 MHz for 5G.

The rest of the unassigned frequencies in this band were bought by Telkom (22 MHz), Cell C (10 MHz), MTN (40 MHz), and Vodacom (10 MHz).

Liquid CEO Deon Geyser told the Sunday Times that they deliberately bid for a small portion of the spectrum.

Geyser said Liquid has a different business model from players such as Vodacom, MTN, and Telkom.

While wireless is important, we have a fibre and data centre strategy, Geyser said.

He said they see the substantial investment other operators made into spectrum as an opportunity.

Icasa raised just under R14.5 billion for National Treasury with the auction.

Vodacom bid almost R5.4 billion for 110 MHz of spectrum, MTN bid nearly R5.2 billion for 100MHz, and Telkom bid R2.1 billion for 44 MHz.

Liquid sees this as an opportunity for growth as they provide fibre to towers throughout South Africa, Geyser said.

For their own 5G network, Geyser said they see an opportunity in manufacturing plants, ports, and mining  particularly in automation.

Geyser said Liquid has no plans to re-enter the consumer market directly as it would require considerable investments in a product distribution platform.
Demand for Covid-19 vaccines has slumped so dramatically that South Africas government is considering giving spare doses to other countries, reports the Sunday Times.

Health minister Joe Phaahla confirmed this in a written parliamentary answer to an EFF members questions and said there are still 23-million vaccine doses in stock.

About 35-million doses have been issued since vaccination first began in South Africa a year ago  and over half of South Africas adult population has yet to receive a single dose of the vaccine.

Given the continuing low uptake of vaccination there is a high risk that a significant number of doses will not be utilised before their expiry date, said Phaahla.

Because of this, the health department is exploring opportunities for donating excess vaccines to other countries, he added.

If this is not possible, then excess vaccines that have reached their expiry date will be discarded.

Phaahla also confirmed that the country is not currently procuring any new vaccines due to the low uptake levels among the South African population.

Vaccine hesitancy

Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy has been a problem for the health department since vaccinations first became available locally in May 2021.

In November, the country had to ask Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer to postpone the delivery of vaccine doses, as the country was sitting on 158 days worth of stock.

The health department offered R100 grocery vouchers to South Africans when they received their first dose of the vaccine.

Later, the department also allowed South Africans to mix their vaccine dosages and reduced the waiting intervals between vaccine doses because of the nations excess stock.

Despite these measures, less than half of South Africas adult population has received a single dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Fifth wave arrives

The fifth wave of Covid-19 has arrived in South Africa. On Saturday, the NICD reported that testing revealed 8,524 new cases of Covid-19 at a 31.1% positivity rate.

The health department also reported 11 deaths  five of which occurred over the past 48 hours.

This brings South Africas official Covid-19 death toll to 100,516.
On May 8, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal and President of the Norwegian Storting (Parliament) Masoud Garahani discussed Ukraine's support in countering Russian aggression and the future restoration of the state.

This was reported by the Government portal.

Denis Shmygal thanked Masuda Garahani for his personal role in strengthening support for Ukraine and for this visit at a crucial time for the whole of Europe.

"Your visit comes at a time when not only within the Euro-Atlantic community, but throughout the civilized world, consensus has already been reached on the only way to stop Russia's current criminal war in Europe. The civilized world unites around Ukraine. Imposes sanctions, provides comprehensive military, humanitarian, economic and financial support, "said the Prime Minister.

The Head of Government noted that today everyone in the world clearly understands that Ukraine is not only fighting for its freedom, but also defending the security of the whole of Europe. He thanked Norway and the Norwegian people for four packages of significant support for our country.

As Denis Shmygal stressed during the meeting, the war in Ukraine is not only about freedom and democracy in Ukraine, it is also about the global crises that Russia is creating using this war.

"Right now, Russia is creating a food crisis in the world. For the first time in world history, one country is blocking the ports of another, depriving us of the opportunity to export goods. More than 90 million tons of agricultural products are needed by a number of countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. Together with you and our allies, we must put significant pressure on Russia to unblock seaports and export this food to the countries that are waiting for it, "said the Prime Minister.

The parties also discussed the Recovery Plan and Fund of Ukraine. Denis Shmygal stressed that after the war Ukraine needs the help of partners, funds and technology to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure and change our country in accordance with European standards. He stressed that Ukraine calls on all our allies to choose a region or city for reconstruction.

The President of the Norwegian Storting, Masoud Garahani, noted that Ukraine is fighting for freedom and democracy, and Norway will help Ukrainians in any way. He stressed that Ukraine will win the war - this is important for the future of Europe.

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Dubais free zones, developing their services throughout the current decade in line with the demands of new economic opportunities, are on track to boost their contribution to Dubais GDP to AED250 billion ($68 billion) by 2030.



Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Free Zones Council (DFZ Council) highlighted this during the councils 20th meeting, reported Emirates News Agency WAM.



He underlined the significance of facilitating investor journey and its critical role in strengthening Dubais and the wider UAEs position as a preferred investment destination. He also highlighted the pioneering role of Dubais free zones, across their various industries and specialisations, in enhancing a diversified integrative economics and putting in place the pillars of a flexible economy that achieves sustainability, accelerates growth, and transforms challenges into opportunities.



Sheikh Ahmed commended the valuable options that the Invest in Dubai platform offers as an entry point into Dubais free zones and a gateway into the local market. It offers a comprehensive suite of services that facilitate business establishment and accelerate founding of promising startups, strengthening Dubais status as a capital for valuable economic and investment opportunities.



This follows the UAE Cabinets recent approval of the executive regulations of the Federal Decree-Law on Entry and Residence of Foreigners, aimed at strengthening the UAEs position as an ideal destination to live, work, and invest. The new system of entry and residence, including amendments to the Golden Residency Scheme, Green Residency Scheme, tourist visas, and other specialised visas such as job exploration, business, temporary work mission, study and training, aims to attract and retain global talent and skilled workers from all over the world, boosting the competitiveness and flexibility of the job market and fostering a high sense of stability among UAE residents and families.



Sheikh Ahmed said that the Dubai free zones model proved its efficiency in growing existing economic industries and building up new specialised and dynamic economic industries such as green economy, circular economy, knowledge-based economy, in areas such as advanced technology, manufacturing, and logistical services.



He noted that the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan presents a framework to advance the free zones experience and take it to new heights, which allows it to play a more substantial role in Dubais socio-economic development. The comprehensive roadmap also boosts Dubais rank in key global indices for competitiveness, innovation, and ease of doing business, enabling a significant jump in the UAEs next 50 years.



The DFZ Council explored a new phase of the Invest in Dubai platform that adds 80 new services, including electronic connectivity through a single portal that is within the reach of startups, investors, and international companies wishing to establish regional headquarters and branches in Dubai, as well as tax registration services, designing business plans, evaluating feasibility, among others.



The new services are a valuable addition utilising digital economy, fourth industrial revolution, and artificial intelligence, to provide business-as-a-service systems, including accounting management, operational and production operations management, cloud computing, and virtual smart service centres.



During the meeting, DFZ Council members called for a comprehensive study to be conducted in collaboration with Digital Dubai, to assess the economic impact of their contribution. The study will provide accurate data and information that empower existing and new investors to make well-informed decisions that maintain the valuable contribution of Dubais free zones to the emirates and wider UAEs economies.



The DFZ Council was briefed on the work of the Energy Committee, whose training programs, awareness workshops, and field visits to various free zones are in line with international standards and best global practices to achieve the goals of managing energy demand, achieving sustainability, smart and efficient use of water and electricity, rehabilitating green buildings, adopting energy-saving lighting solutions, all of which will support sustainable economic growth and contribute to the achievement of the objectives of Dubai Energy Strategy.



Councilmembers discussed the possibility of achieving the Dubai Demand Side Management Strategy 2030, launched by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy with the aim of reducing demand for electricity and water by 30 percent by 2030. This will enhance Dubais position as a global model for efficient energy and water demand management and achieving the strategy of smart sustainable cities and communities for the future.



During the meeting, the DFZ Council explored opportunities for companies to move between free zones as well as the requirements. Councilmembers recommended facilitating procedures and called for a framework that unifies the fee structure.
Napa County and most of its cities continue to shrink in population.

The county as a whole fell from 137,518 residents to 136,179 last year, or by 1%, the state Department of Finance reported this week. That compares to the estimate of 141,649 residents in 2016.

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The city of Napa's population fell from 78,246 to 77,480, or by 1%. Calistoga's fell by 1.6%, St. Helena's 1.5% and Yountville's 3.8%.

Only American Canyon saw an increase, but it wasnt a boom. The citys population rose from 21,566 to 21,658, or by 0.4%.

For a county that mostly saw population growth  often big growth  from pioneer days to 2016, recent years have been a turnaround. The question is why.

One can look to the bigger picture for possible answers. Californias population fell by 117,552 residents, to 39.1 million. The state Department of Finance in a press release gave several reasons.

There is a continuing slowdown in natural increase  births minus deaths  as Baby Boomers age and younger generations have fewer children. COVID-19 led to deaths and immigration restrictions. The number of people leaving for other states increased.

Napa County Planning, Building and Environmental Services Director David Morrison said he didnt have any county-specific data to explain the local decline. But he had some ideas.

The number of vacation and second homes may be a contributing factor, as those owners would be counted where their primary residence is located, he said.

Household size may be decreasing, with families aging and adult children moving away, Morrison said. Some families may have chosen not to rebuild after the 2017 and 2020 wildfires and instead relocated.

As this is a relatively recent trend, we will have to wait until there is reliable and adequate data to be able to provide solid answers, Morrison said.

American Canyon has long been a local growth hot spot and that may resume. The south Napa County city along Highway 29 recently approved a few hundred homes to be built in such places as its planned Watson Ranch community and on Oat Hill.

The housing development is getting a lot of traction, Mayor Leon Garcia said.

American Canyon has a point of distinction in the state's latest population data. It ranked third percentagewise in multi-family housing unit growth at 38.59%.

Building workforce housing means less people have to commute, which leads to less traffic, Garcia said.

In Napa County as a whole, the dip in population hasnt changed the dynamics of the local housing market in ways positive to prospective buyers. Zillow report the typical county home price in March topped $900,000, a one-year increase of 15%.

Meanwhile, the county and its cities under a state mandate must seek to have a total of 3,844 houses built over the next eight years. A shrinking county must still add homes.

Napa County has plenty of company in its population decline. Thirty-four of the states 58 counties had the same experience. Plumas County had the largest percentage decline at 3.2%. Napa Countys 1%-drop was fifth.

Yolo County had the biggest percentage population gain at 1.8%. The state attributed this to an increase in dorms for the University of California, Davis.

Population forecasters predict Napa County will grow in coming decades, but more slowly than the rest of the region.

Last years Plan Bay Area 2050 has the county adding 5,000 households between 2015 and 2050, by far the smallest amount among the nine Bay Area counties. The next smallest is Sonoma County and it is predicted to add 32,000 households.

Plan Bay Area 2050 was produced by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Association of Bay Area Governments.

You can reach Barry Eberling at 707-256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com

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On the morning of April 21, President Xi Jinping delivered via video link a keynote speech titled Rising to Challenges and Building a Bright Future Through Cooperation at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 held in Boao, Hainan Province.

President Xi pointed out that right now, changes of the world, of our times and of history are unfolding in ways like never before. These changes are posing challenges that must be taken seriously by humanity. A review of human history shows that the more difficult things get, the greater the need grows to stay confident. No difficulties could ever stop the wheel of history. Faced with the many challenges, we must not lose confidence, hesitate or flinch. Instead, we must firm up confidence and press ahead against all odds.

President Xi stressed that for us to break through the mist and embrace a bright future, the biggest strength comes from cooperation and the most effective way is through solidarity. Over the past two years and more, the international community has been working extremely hard to respond to the COVID-19 challenge and boost global recovery and development. The hardships and challenges are yet another reminder that humanity is a community with a shared future where all people rise and fall together, and that all countries need to follow the trend of the times featuring peace, development and win-win cooperation, move in the direction of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and rise to challenges and build a bright future through cooperation.

 We need to work together to defend people's lives and health. For humanity to clinch a final victory against the COVID-19 pandemic, more hard efforts are needed. It is essential that countries support each other, better coordinate response measures and improve global public health governance, so as to form strong international synergy against the pandemic. We must keep COVID vaccines a global public good and ensure their accessibility and affordability in developing countries. China has provided over 2.1 billion doses of vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations, and will follow through the pledged donation of 600 million and 150 million doses of vaccines to Africa and ASEAN countries respectively, as part of our effort to close the immunization gap.

 We need to work together to promote economic recovery. We should stay committed to building an open world economy, increase macro policy coordination, keep global industrial and supply chains stable, all in an effort to promote balanced, coordinated and inclusive global development. We should follow a people-centered approach, and place development and people's well-being high on the agenda. We should advance practical cooperation in such key areas as poverty reduction, food security, development financing and industrialization, in a bid to address uneven and inadequate development, and promote solid implementation of the Global Development Initiative.

 We need to work together to maintain peace and stability in the world. The Cold War mentality would only wreck the global peace framework, hegemonism and power politics would only endanger world peace, and bloc confrontation would only exacerbate security challenges in the 21st century.

China would like to propose a Global Security Initiative, that is, to stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and work together to maintain world peace and security; stay committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, uphold non-interference in internal affairs, and respect the independent choices of development paths and social systems made by people in different countries; stay committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, reject the Cold War mentality, oppose unilateralism, and say no to group politics and bloc confrontation; stay committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously, uphold the principle of indivisible security, build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, and oppose the pursuit of one's own security at the cost of others security; stay committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation, support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises, reject double standards, and oppose the wanton use of unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction; stay committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains, and work together on regional disputes and global challenges such as terrorism, climate change, cybersecurity and biosecurity.

 We need to work together to tackle global governance challenges. Countries around the world are like passengers aboard the same ship who share the same destiny. For the ship to navigate the storm and sail toward a bright future, all passengers must pull together. The thought of throwing anyone overboard is simply not acceptable. In this day and age, the international community has evolved so much that it has become a sophisticated and integrated apparatus. Acts to remove any single part will cause serious problems to its operation. When that happens, both the victims and the initiators of such acts will stand to lose. We need to embrace a global governance philosophy that emphasizes extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, promote the common values of humanity, and advocate exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations. We need to uphold true multilateralism, and firmly safeguard the international system with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law. It is particularly important for major countries to lead by example in honoring equality, cooperation, good faith and the rule of law, and act in a way befitting their status.

President Xi emphasized that over the past decades, Asia has enjoyed overall stability and sustained rapid growth, making possible the Asian Miracle. When Asia fares well, the whole world benefits. Therefore, we need to continue developing and strengthening Asia, demonstrate Asia's resilience, wisdom and strength, and make Asia an anchor for world peace, a powerhouse for global growth and a new pacesetter for international cooperation.

First, we should resolutely safeguard peace in Asia. The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit, first advocated by Asia, are all the more relevant today. We should honor such principles as mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence, follow a policy of good-neighborliness and friendship, and make sure that we always keep our future in our own hands.

Second, we should vigorously advance Asian cooperation. The entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the opening to traffic of the China-Laos railway have effectively boosted institutional and physical connectivity in our region. We should seize these opportunities to foster a more open Asia-wide market and make new strides in mutually beneficial cooperation.

Third, we should jointly promote Asian unity. We should cement ASEAN centrality in the regional architecture, and uphold a regional order that balances the aspirations and accommodates the interests of all parties. Countries, no matter their size and strength, and both in and outside the region, should all add splendor rather than trouble to Asia. All should follow the path of peace and development, seek win-win cooperation, and contribute to an Asian family of unity and progress together.

President Xi noted that the fundamentals of the Chinese economy  its strong resilience, enormous potential, vast room for maneuver and long-term sustainability  remain unchanged. They will provide great dynamism for the stability and recovery of the world economy and broader market opportunities for all countries. China will fully apply its new development philosophy, accelerate the establishment of a new development paradigm, and redouble efforts for high-quality development. No matter how the world will change, China's faith in and its commitment to reform and opening-up will not waver. China will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development, and always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order.

Xi concluded his speech with an old Chinese saying, Keep walking and one will not be daunted by a thousand miles; make constant efforts and one will not be intimidated by a thousand tasks. He noted that as long as we join hands and never slacken in efforts, we will be able to build great synergy through win-win cooperation, overcome the various challenges along the way, and usher in a brighter and better future for humanity.
John Lee was elected as Hong Kong's next leader on Sunday, winning more than 99% of the votes cast by an election commission largely supportive of Beijing, the AP reported.

Lee received 1,416 votes in the chief executive election, well above the 751 votes needed to win. Nearly 1,500 members of the election commission voted Sunday morning in a secret ballot.

Lee, as the only candidate in the polls, was expected to win, especially since he had the support of Beijing, and last month received 786 offers from Election Committee members in support of his candidacy.

Lee will succeed current leader Carrie Lam on 1 July.

Lam congratulated Lee in a statement and said she would present the election results to Beijing.

"The current government and I will ensure a smooth transition with the elected chief executive. We will provide all the support necessary for the new government to take office," Lam said in a statement.

John Lee has spent most of his civil service career in the police and security bureau and is an outspoken and vocal supporter of the national security law introduced in Hong Kong in 2020, PA MEDIA writes.
Islamic State militants fired seven rockets in the direction of the Tajik armed forces, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors the activities of terrorist and extremist groups on the Internet.

A source at the Tajik border service confirmed the information about the attack to Sputnik Tajikistan.

According to SITE Intelligence Group, the incident occurred near the town of Kulob. It was noted that the launcher was mounted on a vehicle.

"Soldiers saw the car with the terrorists in it. The car burnt down and three attackers were wounded, one of them particularly bad," a source told Sputnik Tajikistan. According to him, four shells fell into the river Amu Darya, and three more fell into the nearby forest. However, according to the interlocutor of the agency, the incident "is not serious and the people do not need to worry.

Later, the RIA Novosti source specified that the shells were fired from the Takhar province in the north of Afghanistan, and that four shells fell into the Panj River, Kommersant reported.
In an evident and dramatic policy shift recently around the world, several countries are actively pursuing decarbonisation strategies, raising the profile of zero-carbon fuels, said the organisers of the World Utilities Congress which kicks off in Abu Dhabi this week.

It will run from May 9 to 11 in Abu Dhabis ADNEC, where more than 10,000 global utilities professionals will attend to learn details on critical topics driving the future of low carbon power and water supplies, stated dmg events.

As the utilities sector goes through the energy transition, the increasing use of zero-carbon fuels such as green hydrogen is likely to be a significant factor in the quest to decarbonise, it added.

The drive to tackle global warming through decarbonisation has picked up momentum in recent months, with net-zero targets announced by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain (2050), as well as China (2060), Japan, South Korea, and Canada (all 2050), and the Biden administration recommitting the US to the Paris Agreement.

Global demand for hydrogen currently stands at around 810 exajoules (EJ), most of which is consumed in the chemical sector. However, this figure looks set to grow, stated The Hydrogen Council in its report.

It shows that hydrogen can provide the lowest-cost decarbonisation solution for over a fifth of final energy demand by mid-century, while another estimate says that the world is going to need 1000 GW of electrolyser capacity by 2050 to meet demand forecasts.

Currently, approximately 95% of worldwide hydrogen production comes from fossil fuels, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

However, hydrogen from renewable sources has the potential to play a key role as the energy industry tackles various critical challenges including how to channel large amounts of electricity from renewable sources to sectors for which decarbonisation is otherwise difficult, including industrial, transportation and niche applications.

Despite clear demand drivers and several opportunities on the horizon for hydrogen, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says demand for low-carbon hydrogen remains low, limited only to road transport and falling short of Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario requirements.

It says that more efforts are needed to create demand, and reduce emissions associated with hydrogen production.

The EU published its hydrogen strategy last summer aiming for six gigawatt (GW) of capacity by 2024, ramping up to 40 GW by 2030.

Germany, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Poland, and Canada all published a national hydrogen strategy in the last year.

In its report, Hydrogen for Net Zero, the council says the economic case for green hydrogen has improved dramatically with costs for solar and wind dropping, as well as the scale up of electrolyser capacity and associated supply chain.

With the green hydrogen project pipeline burgeoning in the last year, there will be significant demand pressure on electricity supply, where costs remain high.

Ferdinand Varga, Managing Director and Senior Partner of Boston Consulting Group, the Strategic Insights Partner of the World Utility Congress said: "One of the most forward-looking energy supply for industries is low-carbon fuels, specifically hydrogen. Meeting the future demand for hydrogen will not be easy, as production and supply of it might require subsidisation of its production to close the gap with other forms of low-carbon fuels - and most importantly, an adequate supply of cheap renewable power."

Discussion on how hydrogen will play a key role in the decarbonisation of the utility sector will help to provide a path forward on when, where, and how players should participate in it.

One challenge for the clean hydrogen outlook is the slow pace of renewable capacity build-up, which can provide reliable, cost-effective power for electrolysers. Another is the limited funds allocated so far for hydrogen production projects, and a third is slow demand from carbon-intensive sectors such as transport.

Christopher Hudson, the President of dmg events, the organisers of the World Utilities Congress said: "The world is rapidly transitioning towards a decarbonised energy and utilities sector, driven by net zero commitments to fight global warming. There is a clear case for hydrogen that presents several opportunities ahead, but global leaders will need to come together to ensure sustainable growth of the sector meets with new demand to achieve the desired decarbonisation results."

The role of hydrogen in the future of the utilities sector will play an important role at the World Utilities Congress, with a dedicated spotlight session titled What will it take for hydrogen to become the low-carbon champion?

The session will be a focused interview with Gareth Wynn, Chief Communications Officer at TAQA on the role of hydrogen in the energy transition of the utilities sector.

Hydrogen will also be discussed in global leadership panels on meeting rising power demand and opportunities for utilities as the world looks to accelerate the energy transition in the face of global warming risks and net zero commitments.-TradeArabia News Service
Pioneer Woman Drummond gives advice to OSU Class of 2022 at spring commencement

Media Contact: Jordan Bishop | Editor, Department of Brand Management | 405-744-7193 | jordan.bishop@okstate.edu

The newest Oklahoma State University graduating class was treated to an encouraging address from celebrity Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, at Saturdays spring commencement ceremonies inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.

OSU President Kayse Shrum presided over commencement as more than 3,400 undergraduate and graduate students walked across the stage for OSUs 144th graduation.

Drummond  a famed author, TV personality, cooking icon and renowned businesswoman  was the keynote speaker at all four undergraduate ceremonies, imparting wisdom and advice that she has learned throughout her career.

Despite not being an OSU alumna, Drummond joked that since her parents both graduated from OSU  as well as her husband, Ladds parents  that her blood was as orange as her hair.

I have never spoken at a graduation before, said Drummond, whose own college graduation was 30 years ago at the University of Southern California. Thank you for letting me try it out on you guys. Thank you to Dr. Shrum and the entire OSU faculty for letting me be a part of this incredible day.

Drummond read graduates a list of things she wished she had known at her own graduation:

Always be ready to say yes, but dont be afraid to say no. Let your passion drive you and love what you do, but dont expect it to always tickle. Stick to your guns and stand up for what you believe in, but know you will change and evolve throughout your life. Speak up and let your voice be heard, but also be willing to listen and understand. Believe in yourself and be proud of what you accomplish, but stay humble, too.

The last item on my list is to buckle up, you have good times and rough seas ahead, Drummond said. It is just part of life, but enjoy the ride and laugh a lot. In many ways, you guys are several steps ahead of my generation when we were in your shoes. Just look at what you have gone through over the past two years  a global pandemic that interrupted everything  but you made it.

Drummond  who grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and has made her home of Pawhuska, Oklahoma, famous on her Food Network show  congratulated the graduates on their new chapter in life and warned them there would be hard times, but to persevere.

Life is about to unfold for all of you in all of its forms: love, heartache, accomplishments, disappointments, new friendships, lost relationships, babies maybe, testing of faith, development of faith, illness, injury, loss of loved ones, triumph, tragedy and tears, Drummond said. I could check a lot of those off my list, but enjoy it, life is beautiful. Buckle up and laugh along the way.

One graduate who embodied Drummonds message of life having twists and turns was James Hinkel. The native of Watts, Oklahoma, started attending OSU back in 2001 but left in 2006 without earning his degree. Two years ago, he came back and Saturday, he received his diploma.

It was awesome. It was everything I expected. It has been a long time coming for me.  Life happens, said Hinkel, who earned his bachelors degree in agricultural leadership and plans to continue using it in his career as a superintendent at McKee Foods.

For Jordan Baze, also an agricultural leadership graduate, she was excited to see Shrum and Drummond at the lectern. It was Dr. Shrums first spring commencement and second overall graduation ceremony since she took over as OSUs first female president in July 2021.

Just getting to see Dr. Shrum on stage was so empowering, said Baze, a native of Noble, Oklahoma. I am so glad we have a female president now.

Oklahoma State University President Kayse Shrum speaks to the crowd at spring 2022 commencement on Saturday.

Also speaking were Dr. Trudy Milner, chair of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, Dr. Pamela Lovern, chair of OSUs Faculty Council, and Jack Edwards, the graduating Student Government Association president.

Milner welcomed all the graduates into their new role as OSU alumni and the responsibilities it comes with.

For many of us, our time at OSU played a critical role in the development of successful careers and lives well lived, Milner said. Many other factors will determine how you serve, live and work. But on this occasion, we recognize just how important OSU is to all of us.  Graduates of Oklahoma State University, may you enhance its name through your continued academic pursuits, your career and service to the greater good.

Saturday mornings exercises recognized students from the Ferguson College of Agriculture and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The afternoon consisted of ceremonies for the Spears School of Business, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education and Human Sciences.

Graduate students and the College of Veterinary Medicine had their ceremonies Friday. OSU-IT had its ceremony on April 22. OSU-Tulsa will hold its commencement ceremony on Monday, OSU-Oklahoma City will hold its graduation on May 13 and the OSU Center for Health Sciences will celebrate its graduates on May 14.

All commencement ceremony videos can be found on insideosu.com.
"Recently there have been intensified and deliberate attempts to drag Pakistan's Armed Forces and their leadership in ongoing political discourse in the country," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement, Express Tribune reported.

"These attempts are manifest through direct, insinuated or nuanced references to Armed Forces as well as their senior leadership, made by some political leaders, few journalists and analysts on public forums and various communication platforms including social media."

The military's media wing further said that this practice of unsubstantiated, defamatory and provocative statements /remarks is extremely damaging.

"Pakistan Armed Forces take strong exception to such unlawful and unethical practice and expect all to abide by the law and keep the Armed Forces out of political discourse in the best interest of the country," it added.

The statement comes amid the heightened political activity in the country triggered by the ouster of PTI-led government through a vote of no-confidence last month with both former PM Imran Khan and ruling PML-N kicking off mass public campaigns.

--IANS san/

( 217 Words)

2022-05-08-20:58:07 (IANS)
The Toyota Group of Companies, comprising Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts, on Saturday announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the Karnataka government to invest Rs 4,100 crore of a total Rs 4,800 crore towards 'Make in India' and to enable a faster reduction in carbon emissions. The announcement coincides with Toyota Kirloskar Motor's 25 years of journey in India. The MoU was exchanged between Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Vikram S. Kirloskar, Vice-Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor. Speaking on the occasion, Bommai said, "As a state committed to sustainable development and contributing to the nation's progress, we want to make Karnataka a global supply-chain and manufacturing hub under our 'Build for the World' mission. This MoU with Toyota Group of Companies is a huge stride in this regard, and the Karnataka government is confident of Toyota's commitment towards sustainable growth and local manufacturing quality for Karnataka's development." The investments are aimed at promoting greener technologies that will help lower dependence on fossil fuels and mitigate carbon emissions. This investment will also enable local production facilities to build electric powertrain parts and components, and cater to the electrified vehicle manufacturing in India. Vikram S. Kirloskar, Vice-Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, "Toyota is committed to enhance the pace of electrification strengthen domestic production with 'Make in India'." In-addition to boosting the local manufacturing eco-system, the new development will provide an impetus to employment generation and local community development. --IANS pvn/arm ( 256 Words) 2022-05-07-23:06:01 (IANS)
On Saturday night, Munawar lifted the winner trophy, beating contestant Payal Rohatgi in the final race. He was declared winner after receiving more than 18 lakh votes.

Apart from the trophy, Munawar also won Rs 20 lakh, a car and an all expense paid trip to Italy.

Apart from forming strong bonds with other participants, Munawar, who was arrested by the Indore Police in a case for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and was in jail for almost a month in 2021, also revealed several shocking anecdotes from his life during his journey on the show. He spoke about how he was physically abused as a child. He also revealed that his mother died by suicide.

'Lock Upp', produced by Ekta Kapoor, pitted 20 contestants against each other in a jail-like setting. Celebrities like Poonam Pandey, Kaaranvir Bohra, Ali Merchant, Zeeshan Khan, Mandana Karimi, Nisha Rawal, Sara Khan, Vinit Kakar, Babita Phogat, Swami Chakrapani, Tehseen Poonawalla, Siddhartha Sharma, Prince Narula, and Chetan Hansraj were also a part of the controversial show. (ANI)
Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec), the emirates premier event venue, is gearing up to host a wide variety of high-level international conferences throughout 2022.



As a key leader in the business tourism industry, Adnecs hosting of these important and strategic conferences strengthens the reputation of Abu Dhabi as a global business tourism destination and reflects the company's readiness to welcome visitors and exhibitors from the region and around the world. Adnecs events are delivered to the highest standards, befitting the regional and international reputation of the UAE.



Khalifa Al Qubaisi, Chief Commercial Officer of Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), said: This impressive line-up of important conferences highlights the diverse range of events that are coming to both Adnec and Abu Dhabi and its events like these that support UAE businesses and global stakeholders. Adnec has a wide range of facilities and the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre is one of the Middle Easts and the worlds leading exhibitions and conferences venue and I am confident that this year will be a successful one.



On May 8 and 9, the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) will host the World Council of Muslim Communities. The conference will address the challenges related to belonging to contemporary Islamic society, confirming the pioneering role of scholars and thinkers in leading the nation and providing intellectual and legitimate proposals.



The 6th edition of the International Society of the Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP) will be taking place under the partnership of ICUDDR, INL, ISSUP and the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) at Adnec from May 11 to 16. This event will bring the latest learning from the fields of substance use prevention, treatment and recovery support and allow the global workforce to meet and exchange views. There will be an in-person three-day conference with keynote speakers sharing the latest developments from the field.



May 30 to June 2 will see the Worldchefs Congress & Expo held at Adnec with the Emirates Culinary Guild as a co-organiser. The event will unite a global community of chefs and cross-industry innovators to explore the past, present, and future of the culinary trade. The event gives the opportunity to connect with thought-leaders and key influencers from progressive, relevant industries for an immersive programme designed to promote collaboration, build relationships, and put the spotlight on a shared vision for the future of hospitality.



From October 13 to 16, the 48th annual conference for the International Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) will be hosted at Adnec. ISPAD is a professional organisation whose aims are to promote clinical and basic science, research, education and advocacy in children, adolescents and young adults with diabetes. ISPAD is the only international society focusing specifically on all types of childhood diabetes.



The Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC) and the International Society for Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH) have collaborated to organise the ISPAH Congress 2022, which will be held at Adnec from October 23-26. The ISPAH Congress is the largest physical activity and health congress in the world and ISPAH is widely recognised as the leading global society of researchers and practitioners focussed on promoting physical activity across the life course.



Being the first of its kind in the region, the congress will offer a whole new dimension as the unique location of Abu Dhabi will not only allow for knowledge and information sharing across the globe but also bring to the table some much-needed conversations on the role factors such as cultural and gender perceptions play in individuals being physically active.



The 2022 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Processing will be held at Adnec for the first time from December 7-11. EMNLP is a well-established conference for research on natural language processing and has taken place every year since 1996. This year, the conference will adopt a hybrid format with both on-site and virtual participation possible. A range of talks, workshops and tutorials are planned to take place with the aim of encouraging knowledge and information exchange between attendees from all nations.



From March 1 to 5, Adnec hosted the World Union of World Healing Societies (WUWHS) 2022 supported by the International Inter-Professional Wound Care Group (IIWCG) and the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA). WUWHS 2022 was a hybrid congress developed alongside the physical programme to accommodate all. WUWHS is the premier wound care professional association and it represents more than 90% of all practicing wound care specialists in the world. The Associations top priority is to raise and maintain the standard of the medical practice of wound care and improve its practice.



The 37th World Veterinary Association Congress (WVAC2022) was held at Adnec from March 29 to 31 in collaboration with the Emirates Veterinary Association (EVA). The major aim of the congress was to bring veterinarians together from all over the world to exchange professional knowledge. WVAC 2022 explored the areas of clinical and analytical veterinary medicine, veterinary public health, Veterinary Education, Pharmaceutical Stewardship, Animal Welfare, One Health and academic research.  TradeArabia News Service
The 'Kedarnath' actor took to her Instagram story and shared a throwback picture with her mother, Amrita Singh wishing her on mother's day. She wrote, "My whole world" and also dropped a sticker of "super mom" on it.

The mother-daughter duo is looking adorable in this old photo, nearly stealing everybody's heart.

Currently, on the work front, she recently completed Lakshman Utekar's next with Vicky Kaushal and is currently said to be filming 'Gaslight' with actor Vikrant Massey. (ANI)
To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, a new documentary featuring never-before-seen footage of the royal family is all set to premiere on May 29. According to Variety, the 75-minute BBC television documentary entitled "Elizabeth: The Invisible Queen" focuses on the early part of Queen Elizabeth's life, from her birth of Queen Elizabeth to her coronation at the age of 27 in 1953. There are several recordings in the home of the British Royal Family, which have so far been held privately in the vaults of the British Film Institute. The documentary will include unprecedented footage of notable events in the Queen's life, such as Prince Phillip's visit to Balmoral Castle in 1946, just before the couple's engagement was announced. Other important moments in the film include rare footage of her uncle Prince George, the Queen with the Duke of Kent, and footage of the 1951 Bramoral royal family, a year before George VI's death. The film combines video with newsreel audio and Queen's public speech, rather than traditional narration or interviews, as per BBC Queen Elizabeth granted the BBC Studio access to the footage, and the producers and editors watched over 400 films. Home recordings include previously lost newsreels and behind-the-scenes footage of officially state-sponsored events, reported by Variety. "Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen" is directed by Simon Finch, and executive produced by Julia Harrington and Harvey Lilley. Clare Sillery, head of documentary operations at the BBC, commissioned the project, while Claire Popplewell served as creative director. Produced by BBC Studios. This movie will be broadcasted on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. (ANI)
Actor Madhuri Dixit Nene revealed the secret behind her success in Bollywood when she was a struggling actor. In conversation with Tisca Chopra at Goafest 2022, Madhuri opened up about her initial days in the industry and how her mother encouraged her to fulfil her dreams. On the occasion of Mother's Day, she said that hard work and dedication is the success mantra that her mother gave during the initial days of her career when the actor was doubting her decision. "My mother told me to give it my all and to put in the hard work with dedication. She believed in me and was an immense source of encouragement and support to me," Madhuri said. Urging everyone to keep doing the good work, the Kalank actor added, "I came to the movies very early but started questioning my decision as it was not working out for me. But I continued to put in the good work and then Tezaab proved to be an overnight success. So, I say to everyone here, things may take time, but always continue to do the good work consistently." Meanwhile, Madhuri is gearing up for the release of the Amazon Original movie 'Maja Maa', which is directed by Anand Tiwari and produced by Amritpal Singh Bindra. (ANI)
Sunny Leone is one of the hottest beauties in the Bollywood industry and she never fails to enthral her fans with her steamy and sultry looks. Once again, gifting 'eidi' to her fans, Sunny took to Instagram to share some stunning pictures of the beautiful actor on the special occasion of Eid, writing to her fans, "I hope everyone's Eid was amazing." Sunny is seen wearing a cyan coloured gorgeous lehenga with netted sleeves and a purple dupatta, rounding off her look with bold beautiful earrings and striking golden bangles. Looking exquisite in her Eid attire, Sunny perfectly dons the lehenga embroidered in gold. Her outfit is curated by designer Bhumika Grover and styled by Hitendra Kapopara. In the two photos shared by her on the social media site, Sunny is seen posing for the camera, looking surreal in every frame. Reacting to her glamorous pictures, her husband Daniel Weber is seen commenting on the post with heart emojis, expressing his love for his beautiful wife. Prior to sharing these pictures on Instagram, she is seen sharing other awe-striking photos of her previously on social media as well. Her fans can't take their eyes off her sexy pictures as she is seen 'beating the heat' inside the swimming pool, Sunny shared a dreamy picture of hers for the fans. Captioning the post "No filter needed in this paradise!!", Sunny can be seen wearing an exotic swimsuit, basking under the summer sun in Maldives. Also, on April 9, Sunny celebrated her marriage anniversary with husband Daniel. Meanwhile, on the work front, Sunny would be seen next in Tamil movies like 'Quotation Gang,' alongside Jackie Shroff and 'Oh, My Ghost', a horror comedy slated to release this year. (ANI)
New research shows that adults who don't pay off college debt or take on new educational debt during their early adulthood to their early 40s have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease. The findings of the research were published in the journal 'American Journal of Preventive Medicine'. The individuals who repaid their student debt had better or equivalent health than individuals who never faced student debt, suggesting that relieving the burden of student debt could improve population health. "As the cost of college has increased, students and their families have taken on more debt to get to and stay in college. Consequently, student debt is a massive financial burden to so many in the United States, and yet we know little about the potential long-term health consequences of this debt." "Previous research showed that, in the short term, student debt burdens were associated with self-reported health and mental health, so we were interested in understanding whether student debt was associated with cardiovascular illness among adults in early mid-life," explained lead investigator Adam M. Lippert, PhD, Department of Sociology, University of Colorado Denver. The study utilized data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a panel study of 20,745 adolescents in Grades 7 to 12 first interviewed during the 1994-1995 school year. Four subsequent waves of data were collected, including Wave 3, when the respondents were aged 18-26 and Wave 5 when respondents were aged 22-44. Wave 5 respondents were invited to in-home medical exams. Researchers assessed biological measures of cardiovascular health of 4,193 qualifying respondents using the 30-year Framingham cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk score, which considers sex, age, blood pressure, antihypertensive treatment, smoking status, diabetes diagnosis, and body mass index to measure the likelihood of a cardiovascular illness over the next 30 years of life. They also looked at levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker of chronic or systemic inflammation. (ANI) The investigators classified student debt according to the following categories: never had student debt; paid off the debt between Waves 3 and 5; took on debt between waves, and consistently in debt. Models were adjusted for respondent household and family characteristics including education, income, and other demographics. The researchers found that more than one-third of respondents (37 per cent) did not report student debt in either wave, while 12 per cent had paid off their loans; 28 per cent took on student debt, and 24 per cent consistently had debt. Respondents who consistently had debt or took on debt had higher CVD risk scores than individuals who had never been in debt and those who paid off their debt. Interestingly, respondents who paid off debt had significantly lower CVD risk scores than those never in debt. They found clinically significant CRP value estimates for those who took on new debt or were consistently in debt between young adulthood and early mid-life, estimates that exceeded their counterparts who never had debt or paid it off. Race/ethnicity had no impact on the results. Supplemental analyses suggested that, on balance, degree completion provides health benefits even to those with student debt, although these benefits were diminished relative to non-debtors. Dr Lippert observed that these findings underscore the potential population health implications of transitioning to debt-financed education in the US. Though the empirical evidence is clear on the economic and health returns from a college degree, these advantages come at a cost for borrowers. "Our study respondents came of age and went to college at a time when student debt was rapidly rising with an average debt of around $25,000 for four-year college graduates. It's risen more since then, leaving young cohorts with more student debt than any before them," Dr Lippert said. "Unless something is done to reduce the costs of going to college and forgive outstanding debts, the health consequences of climbing student loan debt are likely to grow". (ANI)
While existing Covid-19 vaccines have largely helped prevent deaths, scientists must now train their focus on developing a jab that stops transmission of the virus, according to leading scientist at Oxford. Covid vaccines have led to sharp declines in deaths and severe disease from the virus, but the virus which is continuing to spread is still a cause of concern around the world. "We need a new vaccine to stop transmissions and there are lots of interesting ideas," Sir John Bell, Professor of Medicine at Oxford University was quoted as saying to the Guardian. "Deaths from the disease, those really awful deaths, had largely been eliminated by the late spring (2021), and they rumbled along, at a very low level and very close to baseline, and they've continued to rumble along almost in a flat line since then," he added. But as new variants are emerging, the efficacy of vaccines have shown to wane, increasing the risk. "It's an interesting question whether any of the (current) vaccines have a long-term future," Bell said. "None of them are very good at stopping transmissions," he said and as variants emerged "they get less good over time" at preventing people becoming sick. He said that instead of trying to make a vaccine each time a new variant emerges, it is best to develop something that can curb the spread and not harm people, the report said. Although vaccine manufacturers have created booster doses for the elderly, the immunologist said "the booster had no impact on deaths, despite all the rah-rah," suggesting that two vaccine doses were enough to prevent death and serious illness. Bell nodded in favour of another round of booster shots for those over 65 and vulnerable people with poorer immune systems, but he was "not massively enthusiastic" about offering repeat vaccinations to healthy younger people, children and teenagers, unless a more serious Covid variant emerged. "Their risk of severe illness is low with Covid and they almost never die. If we had a great transmission blocking vaccine then doing kids would make sense but we don't. Most of the world is going to get Covid, we need to get used to it." He estimated a "very high" chance that any new variant will be relatively mild, like Omicron, while the chances of a more lethal variant emerging were "very low but not nothing". "We need to be on the lookout for a highly pathogenic variant that might start killing people at scale and is evading the vaccine response but we see no sign of that today," Bell stated. --IANS rvt/vd ( 445 Words) 2022-05-08-19:19:12 (IANS)
Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda on Sunday said that there is a need for a nationwide awareness campaign through combined efforts of various government stakeholders to tackle thalassemia. Addressing a webinar on the occasion of 'World Thalassemia Day' here, Munda said, "We celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is Prime Minister's vision that we make new resolves which will propel India towards Atmanirbhar Bharat during the period of Amrit Kaal. In this direction, we should also make a new resolve for tackling the problem of thalassemia." "There is a need to have a nationwide awareness campaign through the stakeholders of various ministries and state governments such as teachers-students, Anganwadi and ASHA workers, which is essential for mounting an attack on the problem of thalassemia. A teacher should give five minutes extra to create awareness among students and similarly Anganwadi workers should inform the villagers about the disease and its prevention," Munda said. The webinar was jointly organised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs along with various ministries and the thalassemia association. Experts from India and various parts of the world took part in the conference. Munda also suggested that there should be common literature in simple and local language to guide the local level workers and help them in creating awareness. "Apart from awareness and counselling, cheap medicines availability and community blood donation in rural areas should be promoted," the minister said. In his address, Anil Kumar Jha, Secretary in Ministry of Tribal affairs, said that through awareness, effective participation and the whole of the government approach India can control, prevent and treat the disease. "The Ministry will provide support to all private and public institutions working in the field of controlling thalassemia," Jha added. --IANS ssb/uk/dpb ( 301 Words) 2022-05-08-19:48:11 (IANS)
NEET PG 2022 aspirants held protests at Jantar Mantar here on Sunday seeking postponement of the examination scheduled to be held on May 21. The aspirants are demanding the postponement of exam citing the small gap between 2021 counselling and exam, ineligibility of 5,000 medical interns to appear in the exam, and delay in counselling. The doctors had also urged the Union Health Ministry to further postpone the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) PG 2022 for a reasonable period of time so that the current NEET PG 2021 aspirants may have sufficient time to prepare for it. In this regard, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) wrote a letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya requesting to postpone the exam. Aspirants are also complaining that due to their Covid duties, many of them were unable to complete their internships on time. "The demand of the postponement of NEET PG Exam is going for long now. NEET PG students are getting mentally traumatised and harassed," FAIMA President Dr Rohan Krishnan said, adding it was the time that a permanent solution for all this is found. "NEET exam should be held twice in a year. If AIIMS conducts DNB exam twice in a year, so why cannot NEET exam can be conducted twice in a year, so that a bigger pool of doctors can come in the system, he said. Krishnan said that junior doctors carried out the peaceful protest nationwide on Sunday. --IANS avr/vd ( 258 Words) 2022-05-08-21:28:05 (IANS)
The gang tried to flee in a car but police nabbed them after a dramatic chase. Two dead deer, two cars, an air rifle and six mobile phones were seized from them.

A group of poachers from Hyderabad shot dead two deer in the Polkampet forest area of Lingampally late on Friday night.

A police patrol team found the men moving under suspicious circumstances on Saturday morning near Iyalapur village and asked them to identify themselves. The group panicked and tried to flee in a car leaving the other car behind. After covering some distance, the car broke down forcing them to leave the vehicle and escape. One of the poachers was caught by a farmer, who handed him over to police.

The arrested man revealed all the details to police. The patrol team alerted the control room which informered check posts on district borders. Subsequently, all the accused were arrested.

Those arrested were identified as Hameed Uzzaman, said to be a competitive rifle shooter, Ubaid Khan, Mir Mustafa Ali, Farzan Ghulam Hussain, Syed Rashid and Mir Tayeb Ali.

A police officer said the accused had cut the deer into halves from the middle and stuffed them in a car. They had left behind this car while trying to flee in another vehicle.

Police are on the lookout for two locals who helped the gang in killing the deer.

--IANS ms/uk

( 260 Words)

2022-05-07-21:46:02 (IANS)
Police sources said that Ghulam Hassan Dar from Danwar Eidgah was shot at by suspected militants at Aiwa Bridge on Ali Jan road in Srinagar when he was on the way to join duty.

"Dar was working as a driver at the police control room. He was rushed to SKIMS Soura for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries," the police said.

--IANS sq/arm

( 101 Words)

2022-05-07-21:50:04 (IANS)
In a vieled attack on Aam Admi Party-led Punjab government, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader RP Singh on Saturday alleged that Punjab Police arrested BJP leader Tajinder Bagga out of "political vendetta". After BJP leader Tejasvi Surya announced that Punjab High Court in a midnight hearing directed the state police not to take any coercive action against Bagga until the next date of hearing, Singh congratulated Bagga. While talking to ANI, Singh said, "Punjab Police was put against Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga. Only because of political vendetta. They are repeatedly taking action against some people. We will fight against this and will ensure that the truth will win." "This is a big slap to those who believe that they can run the county with an ideology of anarchy. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should understand that the nation runs on Baba Sahab Ambedkar's Constitution and not by Kejriwal's whims and fancies," he added while talking about Punjab High court's directions. Further, he alleged that the whole law and order situation is falling apart in Punjab, people are getting murdered every day and Pro-Khalistani ideology is on the rise, no one is concerned about that. "Just because of the political vendetta, they are taking such actions against Tajinder Bagga, Congress leader Alka Lamba, AAP leader Kumar Vishwas and more," he further alleged. "If they continue to do so, we will keep on fighting them. I congratulate Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga for getting bail," he further stated. Earlier on Saturday midnight, Punjab High Court held a hearing and directed the state police not to take any coercive action against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tajinder Bagga until the next date of hearing, South Bengaluru MP Tejaswi Surya had said. Taking to Twitter, Surya had expressed his exhilaration and said one more victory for justice and rule of law. Earlier on the intervening nights of Friday and Saturday, Bagga reached his residence in Delhi, after he was detained by Punjab Police in the national capital, a day before. After this, he claimed that the Punjab police had barged into his home in large numbers and arrested him "as they do it with a terrorist". Earlier in April, Bagga had claimed that the Punjab police officials reached his home while he was in Lucknow to arrest him without informing the Delhi police. Bagga said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered an FIR based against him on the basis of a "trimmed" video from his remarks on a television show where he had sought an apology from Kejriwal for his speech on the exodus of Kashmiri pandits in the Delhi Assembly in March. Bagga also slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for "illegally" detaining him and said that his detention is an attempt to give a message that whosoever speaks against the AAP supremo would be termed the "biggest terrorist" and not spared. (ANI)
Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday called for 'collective action' from the people, along with enabling policies, for limiting the impacts of climate change. "To be able to achieve the 1.5-degree Celsius global warming limit, we must aim at both macro-level systemic changes as well as micro-level lifestyle choices. We need a people's movement for environmental protection," Naidu said. Calling for serious introspection and bold actions to mitigate the reality of increasing extreme events and diminishing biodiversity, Naidu said: "It is not only the duty of the government to deliberate, but it is the duty of every citizen and human being on earth to save this planet." The Vice President was inaugurating the International Conference on Environmental Diversity and Environmental Jurisprudence at Chandigarh University, Mohali. Addressing the gathering, Naidu stressed that India has always been leading the world in climate action. He reiterated India's commitment to fulfil the ambitious national targets set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow last year. Referring to how Indian culture has always revered and worshiped nature, Naidu said India had enshrined principles of environmental protection in the Constitution and passed many related laws "even before environmental discourse gained pace in the developed world". "This spirit draws heavily from our ancient values that look at human existence as part of the natural environment and not as one that exploits it," he added. Lauding the Indian higher judiciary for upholding environmental justice over the years, he suggested that "lower courts too must uphold an ecocentric view and keep the best interests of the local populations and biodiversity in their judgments". He also called for stringent action against violators of pollution laws and strict enforcement of the 'Polluter Must Pay' principle. --IANS niv/arm ( 304 Words) 2022-05-07-23:22:02 (IANS)
Based on a specific input regarding movement of hybrid terrorists from Bandipora to Srinagar, a joint naka was established near Wullar Vantage Aragam by Bandipora police, 13RR Army and 3rd BN CRPF, added the police.

The police said, while conducting search of pedestrians and vehicles, two individuals were observed moving suspiciously in an car who tried to conceal their identity on seeing the Naka party.

On being challenged, the suspicious persons tried to break the checkpoint and were apprehended.

The police recovered one AK-47 rifle, two magazines, 30 live rounds, one pistol and one magazine with four rounds of 04 Pistol. (ANI)
National Commission for Minorities Chairman Iqbal Singh Lalpura on Saturday said that the commission has sought report from Punjab chief secretary "within seven days" on allegations that BJP leader Tajinder Singh Bagga was not allowed to wear turban while being arrested by Punjab Police from his New Delhi residence. While talking to ANI, he said, "We have written to the Punjab chief secretary seeking a report within seven days on BJP leader Tajinder Singh Bagga not being allowed to wear a turban while he was arrested by Punjab police." The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on Saturday took suo-moto cognizance of the reports that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tajinder Singh Bagga was allegedly not allowed to wear his turban during his arrest by Punjab police. "The Commission has taken suo-moto cognizance of the media reports that Tajinder Singh Bagga, a person belonging to Sikh Minority community, was allegedly not allowed to wear his turban during his arrest by Punjab police on May 6, 2022. This is a serious case of violation of the religious rights of a Sikh person. You are, accordingly, requested to submit a factual report on the alleged incident and media report within 7 days that is latest by May 14, 2022 to the Commission," the Commission had said in a letter to Punjab Chief Secretary. Notably, Bagga reached his residence in Delhi on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday after he was detained by Punjab Police in the national capital yesterday. After this, he claimed that the Punjab police had barged into his home in large numbers and arrested him "as they do it with a terrorist". Earlier in April, Bagga had claimed that the Punjab police officials reached his home while he was in Lucknow to arrest him without informing the Delhi police. Bagga said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered an FIR based against him on the basis of a "trimmed" video from his remarks on a television show where he had sought an apology from Kejriwal for his speech on the exodus of Kashmiri pandits in the Delhi Assembly in March. Bagga also slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for "illegally" detaining him and said that his detention is an attempt to give a message that whosoever speaks against the AAP supremo would be termed the "biggest terrorist" and not spared. Meanwhile, Mohali court in Punjab on Saturday issued an arrest warrant against Bagga and instructed police to arrest him and produce him before the court. (ANI)
In an affidavit filed before the Jharkhand High Court on Friday, Chief Minister Hemant Soren explained his stand on mining lease controversy. Soren said that the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed to destabilise the government. "I say and submit that the present writ petition has been filed out of personal animosity and at the behest of my political rivals with the ulterior motive and malafide intent maligning me and destabilizing the government of which I am the Chief Minister," stated the preliminary affidavit submitted by him. Hemant Soren is the respondent number seven in the petition. A petition was filed in February by Shiv Shankar Sharma on granting of stone chips mining lease to Soren in Ranchi. The petitioner had approached the High Court for an appropriate direction to prosecute the Chief Minister saying Soren had misused his office in getting the mining lease in his own name. Soren holds the mining and environment portfolio. "I am advised to state that my act of obtaining a mining lease does not entail my disqualification as a member of the Legislative Assembly under any law and I reserve my rights to make further submissions in law on this aspect at the time of hearing through counsel, if necessary," added CM through affidavit. In the same matter, Soren has been issued a notice from Election Commission of India seeking his reply that why he should not be disqualified. Soren has to send his reply by May 10. Soren has given the full detail of the said lease. "...the mining lease was granted to me for a period of 10 years on May 17, 2008. I had applied for renewal of this lease in 2018 but the application lapsed. When the Deputy Commissioner of the district invited fresh applications for the said mining lease sometime in 2021, I applied to his office. The lease was granted in my favour after I had duly complied with the procedure prescribed in the Jharkhand Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2004 as amended from time to time. Consent to Operate of the subject mining lease was not obtained and on 4th February 2022, I had applied for surrender of the subject lease before commencing any extraction and the same was subsequently accepted upon payment of the prescribed fees." He also claimed that the petitioner Sharma and his family harbour personal enmity towards his family (Soren's family) for more than two decades and his petition is devoid of any public interest. Soren further added that present petition and allegations contained in the petition submitted by the BJP are similar and the handiwork of the same person. "It is obvious that the controlling mind behind the petition to the governor and the present writ petition filed before the court is the same." A bench of Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad, while hearing the matter for the first time April 8, had said that it was "a serious matter" and had issued a notice to Soren. (ANI)
Nadda was briefed about the Punjab Police action against Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Bagga.

The BJP chief also asked the Delhi leaders to highlight the shortcomings of the Delhi government.

Nadda on Saturday held a meeting with senior party leaders, including Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, national vice president Baijayant Jay Panda, general secretary (organisation) Delhi Siddharthan.

"Nadda was briefed about the Bagga episode and the action taken by the party on the matter," said sources.

"Details of the organisational works in the upcoming days were also discussed and a detailed roadmap was prepared," sources said.

On Saturday midnight, Punjab High Court held a hearing and directed the state police not to take any coercive action against Bagga until the next date of hearing, South Bengaluru BJP MP Tejaswi Surya said.

Bagga said that the AAP registered an FIR against him on the basis of a "trimmed" video from his remarks on a television show where he had sought an apology from Arvind Kejriwal for his speech on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the Delhi Assembly. (ANI)
Hours after Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga got relief from the Punjab Police after midnight Punjab and Haryana High Court hearing, his father slammed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal saying that the latter is scared of his son. Bagga's father also claimed that Kejriwal tried to persuade Tajinder Bagga to join AAP. "We are happy that Punjab-Haryana HC directed not to take coercive action against Tajinder. Arvind Kejriwal is scared of him as he's exposing his wrongdoings. He also tried to persuade Tajinder to join AAP but he didn't join," Preetpal Singh Bagga, Tajinder's father told ANI. Punjab and Haryana High Court directed late Saturday night that Punjab Police cannot take any coercive action against the Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga till the next hearing on May 10. Justice Anoop Chitkara passed the order while hearing a petition challenging the arrest warrant for Bagga issued by the Mohali court. Notably, Bagga reached his residence in Delhi on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday after he was "rescued" by the Delhi Police. He had later claimed that the Punjab Police had barged into his home in large numbers and arrested him "as they do it with a terrorist". The BJP protested against the Punjab Police's action to arrest Bagga after the alleged threat to Arvind Kejriwal. Earlier this month, the Punjab Police registered a case against Bagga on charges of making provocative statement, promoting religious enmity, and criminal intimidation for targeting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal over his comments on 'The Kashmir Files'. (ANI)
Speaking to ANI, Premlal, Tahsildar, Kozhikode said, "The body of a vlogger Rifa Mehnu, who was found hanging under suspicious circumstances at a flat in Dubai two months ago, was exhumed from a cemetery for a post-mortem as part of a further probe."

Police informed that Rifa's family members filed a complaint against her husband for his involvement in Rifa's death.

"Her family members filed a complaint against her husband for involvement in Rifa's death. Police registered a case against him for mental and physical torturing and prompting for suicide," Premlal said.

Further investigation will be done based on post mortem report, police said. (ANI)
Assam Police has claimed that the average crime rate per lakh population in the state has come down and the average crime rate per lakh of the population was 384 cases last year and has now reduced to 222 cases this year. "The pendency of cases in the state of Assam which was 1,09,081 at the end of May last year has now been reduced to 83,947 at the end of April this year," AYV Krishna, Additional Director General of Police (CID) said. The average monthly registration of cases in the state was more than 11,103 last year, but has now come down to 6,247 this year, he said. Disposal of cases in the first quarter of 2022 is 28,400 as against 24,159 in the first quarter of 2021, Krishna said. The top cop also said after the present state government has taken over, Assam police has registered 2,834 cases under NDPS Act and arrested more than 4838 drug traffickers."During the period Assam police seized 94 kg of heroin, 22348 kg of ganja, 187 kg of opium, 38 lakh of Yaba and other tablets, 2.2 lakh of cough syrup bottles, 214 kg of cannabis, 0.31 kg of cocaine, a cash amount of Rs 2.4 crore and 320 vehicles," Krishna said. "Assam police destroyed 648 bighas of opium cultivation and 32 bighas of cannabis cultivation. In total, drugs worth more than Rs 548.53 crore have been seized," he added. He further said that Assam police has also registered 141 cases of human trafficking, arrested more than 104 human traffickers and rescued around 250 persons."Since the present government has taken over, Assam police has registered 163 cases of smuggled Burmese supari, seized 53 lakh kg of supari, auctioned 1.6 lakh kg and generated Rs 6.53 crore of revenue, arrested 182 persons and seized 146 vehicles," Krishna said.In the last year, Assam police has registered more than 1100 cases of cattle smuggling, arrested 992 smugglers, rescued more than 9454 cattle and seized 417 vehicles, he added. (ANI)
After 'Khalistan' flags were found tied on the Himachal Assembly main gate and walls, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur on Sunday said that the government will review the security along the borders with various states. His remarks came after the Superintendent of Police, Kangra, suspected the hands of "some tourists from Punjab" in the incident. Notably, Himachal Pradesh is a hilly state that attracts tourists from various parts of India. The state shares its borders with Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Punjab. Speaking to ANI, Thakur said, "I condemn the incident. I urge the people of the state to maintain peace. Action will be taken against the perpetrators. We will soon review the security system at our borders with other states." The Chief Minister further informed that an FIR has been registered following the incident and a probe has been ordered to nab the culprits. "The incident is unfortunate and I have ordered a probe. An FIR has also been registered and we are trying to catch the culprits," he said. Thakur said that the culprits took the advantage of the deployment of the police in the interior of the Assembly campus and put up the flags on the walls and gate. "It is being said that the incident took place at night. The police are deployed in the interior of the Vidhan Sabha campus since it is very large. So the poster was put up on the wall and the main gate of the Assembly. The CCTV footage is being probed to get a clue about the culprits," the Chief Minister said. Earlier, 'Khalistan' flags were found tied on the main gate and boundary wall of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Dharamshala on Sunday morning. Soon after the incident came to light, a police official informed that the flags were removed from the gates and walls. Superintendent of police, Kangra, Khushal Sharma said, "It might have happened late night or early morning today. We have removed the Khalistan flags from the Vidhan Sabha gate. It could be an act of some tourists from Punjab." (ANI)
As per a press release from the Ministry of Defence, Captain Prashant Handu, the Commanding Officer called on Colonel Ahmed Daher Djama, Commander of the National Navy of Djibouti and Colonel Wais Omar Bogoreh, Commander-in-Chief of Djibouti Coast Guard during the visit.

"Both dignitaries also visited INS Kolkata, along with personnel from the Djibouti Navy and Coast Guard. The courtesy and camaraderie exhibited by the Djibouti Coast Guard and Navy to INS Kolkata reflects the strong friendship they share with the Indian Navy," the release added.

"Indian Navy warships have been deployed in the Gulf of Aden since Oct 2008 for anti-piracy patrol to ensure safe transit of merchant vessels," tweeted the Navy spokesperson. (ANI)
Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga on Sunday thanked the Punjab and Haryana High Court along with Minority Commission for staying his arrest at a midnight hearing till May 10, saying that the law still works in the country. "I thank the Punjab and Haryana High Court along with Minority Commission who showed yesterday that law still works in this country. The Minority Committee sent a notice to the Punjab government for not letting me wear my turban. In Sikhs, we can't go out without a turban," said Bagga in a self-made video. In a late night hearing, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Punjab government to not take any coercive action against Tajinder Bagga until the next hearing on May 10. Justice Anoop Chitkara passed the order while hearing a petition challenging the arrest warrant for Bagga issued by the Mohali court. Notably, Bagga reached his residence in Delhi on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday after he was "rescued" by the Delhi Police. He had later claimed that the Punjab Police had barged into his home in large numbers and arrested him "as they do it with a terrorist". The BJP protested against the Punjab Police's action to arrest Bagga after the alleged threat to Arvind Kejriwal. Earlier this month, the Punjab Police registered a case against Bagga on charges of making provocative statements, promoting religious enmity, and criminal intimidation for targeting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal over his comments on 'The Kashmir Files'. (ANI)
A plea was filed in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court seeking the directions to the Archaeological Survey of India to probe the 22 closed doors in the Taj Mahal to ascertain the presence of the idols of Hindu deities. The plea sought the constitution of a fact-finding committee and the submission of a report by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). It has been said in the petition that the idols of the Hindu deities are locked up behind closed doors. The plea also cited the claims by some historians and some Hindu groups about the monument being an old Shiv Temple. "Some Hindu Groups and reputable Sants are claiming this monument as old Shiv Temple supported by many historians and facts however many Historian believes it as Taj Mahal build up by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan. Some people also believe that Tejo Mahalaya @ Taj Mahal appears to be one of the Jyotirling i.e. the outstanding Siva Temples," the plea stated. "It is respectfully submitted that there are certain rooms situated in upper and lower portions (approx.22 rooms) of four storied building which is permanently locked and many Historian like P N Oak and crores of Hindu Worshiper strongly believes that in those lock rooms temple of Lord Shiva is present," it further stated. Citing an RTI filed to the ASI regarding the reason behind the doors closed in Taj Mahal, the plea stated "in the Reply by the department of Archaeological Survey of India, Agra it was said that due to security reasons those doors are locked." (ANI)
"Both the trapped terrorists were killed (in the Cheyan Devsar area of Kulgam). Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition recovered," Jammu and Kashmir Police tweeted.

According to the police, the LeT terrorist was active in North Kashmir for more than two years and was also involved in various terror crimes, while the other one trapped was a local terrorist.

"One Pakistani terrorist (Haider) of LeT terror outfit and a local terrorist trapped in on-going encounter. Haider was active in North Kashmir for more than two years and involved in several terror crimes: IGP Kashmir," Kashmir Zone Police tweeted.

According to the police, the encounter started during the early hours on Sunday.

"Encounter has started at Cheyan Devsar area of Kulgam. Police and Army on the job. Further details shall follow," the police had tweeted. (ANI)
Amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Indian Air Force's plans to upgrade the fleet of its Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft has been put on the backburner for now. The deal for the 12 most advanced Su-30MKI aircraft worth over Rs 20,000 crore would also be delayed slightly as the stakeholders will now have to add more Made-in-India content in the planes as per the current policy of the government to promote Indian defence products over imports, government sources told ANI. The Indian Air Force was planning to upgrade 85 of their planes up to the latest standards in collaboration with the Russians and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The plan has been put on the backburner for now in view of the present situation, the sources said. The plan was to equip the Su-30 aircraft with more powerful radars and the latest electronic warfare capabilities to make it more powerful as per the latest standards, the sources said. The Su-30 MKIs form the mainstay of the Indian Air Force as 272 of them have been ordered by the IAF in different batches as every time shortage of fighter jets in service was highlighted, the Russian manufacturers would receive an order of 30 to 40 of these planes. The aircraft are supplied by the Russian manufacturers to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in semi and complete knocked-down kits and then they are assembled in the Nasik facility. The ongoing conflict in Russia and Ukraine has also resulted in delays in the supply of spares for the fighter aircraft fleet. Sources said even though the spares situation is manageable at the moment and expected to remain so in the near future as India had stocked them up in a considerable amount post the Uri surgical strikes and the ongoing China conflict. However, it is expected that the supply of these spares and other equipment may become an issue in near future and that is why, the force has gone on an indigo ration spree of its imported equipment. (ANI)
As many as 19 policemen were injured and 12 of their vehicles were vandalized when they tried to control the attack on employees of a steel company by more than 100 members of the trade union in Maharashtra's Palghar, said police on Sunday. Palghar police spokesman Sachin Nawadkar said that in connection with the incident that took place on Saturday on a steel company premises in Boisar town area of Palghar district, the police have so far arrested 27 people and are on the lookout for many others. "There have been conflicts between labour union and management of Viraj Company. During a protest by members of labour union over their various demands, yesterday stones were pelted at police on company premises and 19 police personnel were injured. More than 27 persons have been arrested," said police. Heavy security has been deployed on the company premises. (ANI)
The AANLA cadres deposited four AK series rifles, five pistols, and a large amount of ammunition.

Senior officials of Assam Police, Indian Army, Assam Rifles, and Central Reserve Police Force (CPRF) were present at the arms laying ceremony.

Satyaraj Hazarika, DIG (Central Range) said that 13 cadres of AANLA laid down their arms on Sunday and they had deposited four AK series rifles, five pistols, and several rounds of live ammunition.

"Following the appeal made by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to make Assam a terrorism free state, we and Indian Army and other security forces were engaged in works to bring the AANLA cadres to the mainstream, and following our efforts, they (AANLA cadres) agreed to come forward and today 13 cadres laid down their arms," Hazarika said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took Twitter to inform about the same.

"Continuing our peace march, I am glad to share that 13 cadres of All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA) have surrendered today at Bokajan PS Karbi Anglong in presence of officials of Assam Police, Assam Rifles, and 20Bn CRPF. They have laid down arms and ammunition," tweeted Sarma. (ANI)
As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Research and Policy Division of the Bharatiya Janata Party (OBC) has started an entrepreneurs' outreach program to encourage young OBC entrepreneurs across the country. The objective of this program is to develop entrepreneurship skills among the youth belonging to the backward classes. The first entrepreneurs' meet was organized at the Constitution Club of India in Delhi on Saturday. "Modi Government is encouraging young OBC entrepreneurs in new India. Now entrepreneurs meet will be organized all over the country," said BJP OBC Morcha President K Laxman. Speaking to ANI, Laxman said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks that it is unfair for the backward classes to not get equal rights in the society like others. Therefore, besides working on the welfare schemes, the Modi government is working out ways to make good entrepreneurs out of the educated youth belonging to the backward classes." About 25 lakh people participated in this entrepreneurship program from all over the country and venture capital of Rs 200 crores has been set up for OBC entrepreneurs, stated Laxman. Before this, the venture capital fund was started under the rule of Congress but it was not for OBC society. It was a venture capital fund only for SCs, he added. According to Laxman, through this program, the importance of entrepreneurship in the country will be discussed. "How much Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is involved in promoting startups in the country? How the youth of backward society can take advantage of these schemes? Such issues were discussed in the entrepreneur's meet on Saturday," he said. Entrepreneurs from more than 21 states in the program participated in the meet. Laxman said that the Modi government has made many plans for the development of the backward classes. "27 per cent reservation and the appointment of people belonging to the backward classes on the vacant posts in universities will be done soon. Our government will be an employment-generating government," stated the BJP OBC Morcha National President. "We are organizing these programs so that along with the development of OBC youth, industries can also develop. Then they can provide economic and social strength to the country," added Laxman. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually launch Madhya Pradesh's Startup Policy and Implementation Plan 2022 at the Brilliant Convention Center in Indore on May 13. According to the official release, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will also be present at the ceremony. The Madhya Pradesh government is launching its "Startup Policy and Implementation Plan - 2022" with an aim to promote startups and encourage budding entrepreneurs in Madhya Pradesh. This startup policy has been specially developed to strengthen and bring to reality the entrepreneurial ideas of the youth of the state. The government has planned a slew of events across the state to drive awareness about the Madhya Pradesh Startup Policy. Elaborating on the uniqueness of the policy, P Narhari, Secretary, MSME Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh, said, "The new Startup Policy is quite different from the old policy. One important feature being added in the MP Startup Policy 2022 is the concept of 'MP Startup Centre'. Earlier, only one policy was being implemented by the department, but now this will be implemented in tandem with the MP Startup Centre. The startup centre will have a dedicated office, a head/mentor for every startup and experts from the relevant field, who will help the startup community." "The Sagar Smart City Incubation Centre, SPARK has made rapid strides towards promoting Madhya Pradesh Startup Policy 2022. A series of policy awareness boot camps and workshops have been organized in various educational institutions, businesses, and startup communities, including Government ITI College, Edina Institute of Science, in Sagar. Not only this but also a live webinar has been organized on May 8, 2022, where startup policy experts and consultants will discuss the key features of MP Startup Policy. This webinar will be telecast on all social media handles of Sagar Smart City," the statement said. Concurrently, about 18 startups are being incubated under Smart City in the Gwalior district. The government has selected a number of ideas from about 50 startups in the region for which a special workshop will be organized on May 11. This would be done to help understand the needs of these needs and to ensure that these ideas come to reality under the new start-up policy. (ANI)
Retired IAS officer CR Chikmath has been appointed as a member of the Commission.

The Commission has been constituted following a Supreme Court instruction in a case related to ensuring suitable representation for backward classes in Panchayat Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies.

The issue was discussed at an all-party meeting held on March 23 and 31 and it was decided to hold the elections to these democratic institutions only after making provision for reservations for these communities.

The Commission would make suitable recommendations after studying the political backwardness of backward classes in these democratic institutions. (ANI)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday will visit Champawat to seek support from the people, from where he will contest the upcoming by-election scheduled to take place on May 31. Dhami is not a member of the state legislative assembly and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kailash Gehtori had resigned from the Champawat assembly seat to pave the way for Dhami to contest by-polls after he lost from the Khatima constituency during the polls held in February. While talking to ANI at his residence in Khatima, Dhami said, "Though Champawat is my new constituency but I have grown up here. I will visit it tomorrow, May 9 to seek support from people. There is a temple of mother Purnagiri, there is a ghat of mother Sharda ji, there is a pilgrimage site and in the coming time we will take Champawat forward." Dhami said that some of the Congress workers had joined BJP as they expressed their intention to work under the leadership of the successful Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "All the workers want to work under the leadership of the successful PM Modi and they want the development of Champawat. So they joined BJP and I welcome them," he said. Despite the BJP winning the 2022 Assembly elections in Uttarakhand with a majority, Dhami lost the Khatima seat to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri. According to the Election Commission, the polling will be held on May 31 while the counting of votes will take place on June 3. Talking about the annual Chardham Yatra, which began on May 3, the Chief Minister said that the government is making all possible arrangements but devotees or tourists visiting the state are in huge numbers. "Devotees' footfall in Chardham Yatra which is resuming after two years is more than expected. We are making all possible arrangements but people are more than capacity at all four dhams. We request devotees to make lodging, and other arrangements prior to their arrival," he said. "Due to low temperature in the night, tourists are facing trouble. Though we have made sufficient arrangements and will continue making more, I urge tourists to make a planned tour so that they can stay for a long period and have darshan," he added. The annual Chardham Yatra began on May 3 on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya with the opening of the portals of Gangotri and Yamunotri Temples in the Uttarkashi district. This year, it is not mandatory for pilgrims to carry a negative COVID-19 test report or vaccination certificate. Char Dham Yatra draws lakhs of tourists and devotees every year from across the country and abroad. (ANI)
Emphasizing on innovation, entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem, President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday called for having a mindset of becoming job-creators, instead of being job-seekers. President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday inaugurated the permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Management, Nagpur. Speaking on the occasion, the President said, "Educational institutes are not just mere places of learning. It is the place which polishes the inner and sometimes even hidden talents ineach one of us." He said both innovation and entrepreneurship have the ability to not just ease our lives through technology but can also provide employment opportunities to many people. He expressed confidence that the eco-system at IIM, Nagpur would promote among the students the mindset of becoming job-creators, instead of being job-seekers. President Kovind said we are living in an era where innovation and entrepreneurship are appreciated and encouraged. "The stories of various unicorns or startups which have been slated to be worth more than 1 billion have scripted new history. It has opened new avenues as new sectors are coming under the loop of business enterprises. From food delivery to picking up odd things, all are provided by start-ups and app-based services. Hitherto unexplored territories like education, health, etc have also become part of these new enterprises. Such forays can be a game-changer for our country. It can be a combination of job provider and revenue earner for our people," he said. The President was happy to note that IIM, Nagpur through its Centre for Entrepreneurship has established IIM Nagpur Foundation for Entrepreneurship Development (InFED). He said that what is a matter of immense pride is that InFED has successfully enabled women entrepreneurs to graduate from Women Start-up Program and six of them have even launched their enterprises. Such programs provide an effective platform for women's empowerment. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari were also present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion Pradhan said that knowledge is a medium for empowerment and public welfare. As the country celebrates the Amrit Mahotsav, students at IIM Nagpur should strive to break the mould and adorn a culture of taking responsibilities and giving back to society with much more vigour. He exhorted IIM Nagpur to facilitate regional development and guided by the NEP 2020, the institution should evolve new pathways to promote entrepreneurship and establish India as a nation of job creators. He further said that the world looks towards India with great hope. He expressed his confidence that IIM Nagpur will steer India towards becoming a knowledge economy that will provide leadership to India, emerging economies, and also the world. (ANI)
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday called upon the Mudaliar community to make its own contribution to the education sector by opening educational institutions in Bengaluru. The Chief Minister in his address at the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of Mudaliar Sangha at Prakash Nagar in Bengaluru said, "The Mudaliar community should draw up good programmes for development in the education sector. In urban areas like Bengaluru the population is huge and government schools are few. The high fee in private schools has put the poor and the middle class in hardship. "The Government would extend full cooperation if Mudaliar and other communities come forward to open their own education institutions. Institutions opened by such communities would provide ethical and quality education for the children. Community participation with social responsibility is essential to bring social change. All organisations in Bengaluru should give importance to education," Bommai said. The Chief Minister called upon the communities and social organisations to join hands with the government in the task of building the State. Mudaliar community is a prominent community spread across South India which was close to the rulers historically. The community has played a major role in formulating various development plans for the state. Recalling the contribution of Arcot Narayanaswamy Mudaliar, Bommai said, "Arcot Narayanaswamy has left his footprints in the history of Mysore province. He was instrumental in building the Athara Kachari, which is the present day Karnataka High Court building and many such landmark structures in Bengaluru. Similarly BR Manickam had a big role in construction of Vidhana Soudha, Vanivilas hospital and Russel Market in Bengaluru", Bommai said. (ANI)
Scientists at the University of Utah has explained how mom and dad's genes shape behaviour. The study was published in the journal, 'Cell Reports'. Parenting is not the only way moms and dads impact the behaviour of their offspring. Genes matter, too. And although most of our genes are inherited in pairs, one copy from each parent, moms and dads exert their genetic influence in different ways. "We're really intrigued that there is this untapped area of biology that controls our decisions," said Christopher Gregg, PhD, principal investigator and associate professor in the Department of Neurobiology. A clearer picture of the genetic factors that shape behaviour is a crucial step toward developing better diagnoses and treatments for psychiatric disorders, he said. Gregg's research team reports that certain groups of cells in the brains of mice rely exclusively on the mother's copy of a gene that is needed to produce essential chemical messengers in the brain called neurotransmitters. In those cells, the father's copy of the gene remains switched off. However, in a different organ, the adrenal gland, certain cells favour the father's copy of the same gene. There, the gene is involved in producing the stress hormone, adrenaline. After identifying this unexpected switch in parental control of a single gene, Gregg's team went on to demonstrate that it had consequences for behaviour found that each parent's gene affected sons and daughters differently: certain decisions in sons were controlled by their mother's gene, whereas fathers had control over some decision-making in daughters. Evolutionarily speaking, this form of genetic regulation may reflect different parental priorities, Gregg says. "Not everybody has the same sort of interests, outcomes, and selective effects," he explained. "Daughters need to rear litters. Sons often disperse and will go to new environments." Consequently, it may be in parents' interest to influence behaviour differently in their sons and daughters. "The revelation that maternal and paternal alleles of the same gene along the brain-adrenal axis could have disparate, or possibly even antagonistic, phenotypic consequences on behaviour is an intriguing observation," said the paper's first author, Paul Bonthuis, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Comparative Biosciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "The brain-adrenal axis is a very important part of mammalian biology that controls behaviour and affects stress, mood, metabolism and decision-making," Gregg explained. He said that this finding is a first step toward understanding how a parent's genes may affect more routine behaviours and related health conditions in people, from mental illnesses and addiction to cancer and Alzheimer's disease. (ANI)
The committee has been constituted in accordance with the government order issued last December.

Retired Secretary of Water Resources department BG Gurupadaswamy an expert engineer and Retired Director of State Accounts and Audit department K Nandakumar from Finance Express have been appointed as the members of the committee.

The committee has been mandated to scrutinise all tenders above Rs 50 crore according to the guidelines already issued to curb irregularities in the tendering process. (ANI)
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday emphasised that a progressive and modern India must have a police force which meets the democratic aspirations of the people and called for a renewed thrust to implementing reforms in the police forces. Addressing a gathering after releasing the book titled "The Struggle for Police Reforms in India" written by a former IPS officer, Prakash Singh, the Vice President stressed the need to upgrade the skills of our policemen to effectively tackle 21st-century crimes such as cybercrimes and economic offences which require special investigative expertise due to their sophisticated and often transboundary nature. The Vice President specifically highlighted issues that need to be addressed on a war footing, including filling up the huge number of vacancies in police departments and strengthening the police infrastructure in tune with the requirements of modern age policing. He called for particularly strengthening the police force at the grassroots, who are the first responders in most cases. Naidu also wanted the housing facilities of police personnel to be improved. Stressing that the behaviour of policemen towards the common man should be courteous and friendly, the Vice President called upon the senior police officers to lead by example in this regard. "A visit to a police station should be a hassle-free experience for a person who goes there seeking help. The first thing to reform for this is the attitude of the police - they must be open-minded, sensitive and receptive to each individual citizen's concerns," he further said. Noting that police reforms are a highly important and sensitive subject, the Vice President said that although there have been various attempts at introducing reforms over the years, progress has not been made to the desired extent. He called for a political will in the states to properly implement the reforms, according to the Supreme Court guidelines. Naidu also reiterated the need for police reforms to uphold law and order in the country and to sustain India's economic growth. "Peace is the prerequisite for progress," he said. Recalling the history of policing in India, the Vice President said that after the revolt of 1857, the British created a police force with the prime aim of upholding their imperial interests, and during the freedom struggle, used the police to mainly suppress and oppress our freedom fighters and revolutionaries. "After independence, sweeping reforms were needed in policing. Unfortunately, we have lagged behind in this crucial area," he said. Naidu said that over the years following Independence, the police force was perceived to be increasingly politicised with significant erosion in values and practices. Instead of being seen as a people-friendly force, it was seen as being elitist and power-friendly, he observed. Referring to the instances of misuse of police force during the infamous Emergency, Naidu said it was used with impunity to suppress human rights and imprison thousands of people, including all the political opponents of the ruling dispensation. "Subsequently, a National Police Commission was set up in 1977, which submitted reports with detailed multi-dimensional proposals for police reforms," he recalled. However, the Vice President noted that not much headway has been made in bringing reforms in our police forces at the individual and institutional levels. Taking note of disappointment over the non-implementation of the Supreme Court's directions on Police Reforms of 2006, Naidu said that policing is a state subject and it is the states that have to lead this drive towards police reforms. "I hope all the states and the Centre would come together in the true spirit of 'Team India' to implement the much-needed police reforms in the country," he said. Naidu expressed happiness over a number of initiatives taken by the Government of India toward better policing, including a project to decriminalize minor offences and violations and the move for amending the Identification of the Prisoners Act, 1920, a legislation that was passed more than 100 years ago. He also appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for making the police a SMART force--standing for a force which is Strict and Sensitive, Modern and Mobile, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive, Tech-savvy and Trained. Underlining the importance of policing to maintain peace and order in society, Naidu commended the Government for giving high priority to the greater use of technology in the day-to-day working of police. He also praised the Indian Police Foundation for its efforts to realise the vision of a SMART Indian Police, especially by bringing internal reforms, technology adaptation, digital transformation and training to improve the professional and ethical standards of the police. Calling for reforms in all walks of public life, including politics, legislatures and the judiciary, Naidu stressed the need for speedy disposal of criminal cases against politicians and civil servants to retain people's trust in the system. The Vice President also called for reforms in the anti-defection law to discourage unethical defections among elected representatives. Praising the author, Singh for championing the cause of police reforms in the county, the Vice President called his book a remarkable account of what an individual officer can achieve through his single-handed efforts. Naidu expressed confidence that, in course of time, a people-friendly police force would emerge in the country, which would give the highest importance to upholding the rule of law. On this occasion, Naidu also paid homage to the policemen who laid their lives in the line of duty battling criminals, terrorists, extremists and all shades of lawless elements in different parts of the country. (ANI)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is scheduled to convene a Cabinet meeting on May 13 with the newly inducted ministers. This would be Jagan's first meeting with his Cabinet after it was reshuffled. Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan administered the oath of office and secrecy to 25 members of the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet at a public function near the state Secretariat in Velagapudi on April 12. The cabinet is scheduled to meet at 11 am. "All the Departments of Secretariat are informed that the next meeting of the Council of Ministers will be held on Friday, May 13, 2022, at 11.00 am in the Cabinet Meeting Hall, on the 1st floor of Building No.1, A.P Secretariat, Velagapudi," Sameer Sharma, Chief Secretary to the Andhra Pradesh government said in a notice. The notice further requested the Special Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, and Secretaries to the state government to send the proposals in the prescribed format to the General Administration Department by 4.00 pm on May 11, 20222, so as to brief the Chief Minister for placing before the Council of Ministers for consideration. "The Departments are requested to furnish a soft copy of the Memorandum in English and Telugu languages in Word/PDF formats along with check list and Takeaway Points. The Secretary concerned should handover the draft resolutions in 0/o the C.S. and Press note (two copies) to the Deputy Director, I&PR available in the waiting hall immediately after the discussion is completed on the subject," the notice read. The Special Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Secretaries to Government are requested to send the proposals in time duly following the Business Rules and Secretariat Instructions scrupulously, it added. The newly formed cabinet has a mixture of senior and experienced leaders as well as fresh and young faces for balanced governance. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party has been ruling Gujarat for nearly three decades and on Sunday BJP received a huge boost ahead of the Assembly polls as about 500 doctors joined the party. ABout 500 doctors joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and party state chief CR Paatil in Gandhinagar. Assembly polls in Gujarat are slated to be held later this year. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while gearing up for Gujarat Assembly polls has asked party workers to continuously work for the next six months after May 4 without a break. After poll victory in four out of five states in the recently concluded Assembly polls, the BJP workers have been asked to prepare for next the big elections in Gujarat. "We want our party cadre to be energised and that is one of the reasons we have decided that May 1 being a public holiday we have decided not to hold any programs from May 1 to 4. This will be the only break that the party workers will get ahead of the poll battle for Gujarat," Paatil told ANI."Be geared up to work non-stop for the next six months because we need to give our best, and that's the message conveyed to the party workers," Patil added. The state has already gotten into an election mode with Prime Minister Narendra Modi already having blown the poll bugle in the state, making two visits in the last two months and many more to follow in the forthcoming months. Gujarat has had a slew of visitors not only politicians from within the state and Centre but also from foreign countries, including Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson and PM of and Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth respectively. Apart from the visits by PM Modi, there have been visits to the state by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also an elected member of Parliament from Gandhinagar. Gujarat has been a BJP bastion with the party now seeking its sixth term. PM Narendra Modi has been the longest-serving chief minister of Gujarat for a total of 21 years. In September last year, the BJP adopted a complete makeover strategy and Bhupendra Patel replaced Vijay Rupani as the Chief Minister along with a complete makeover of the state Cabinet. In the last election to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP won 99 seats with 49 per cent votes and the Congress 77 seats with 41.4 per cent votes. However, in the last four-and-a-half years, more than a dozen MLAs have left Congress. (ANI)
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu will call on Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday, the day when Congress' top decision-making body CWC will meet at the AICC headquarters to deliberate on the agenda for the brainstorming session as well as the party's future strategy. Sidhu will discuss matters regarding the revival of Punjab's economy with the Chief Minister. 'Chintan Shivir' in Rajasthan's Udaipur, the Congress' top decision-making body CWC will meet at the AICC headquarters here on May 9 to deliberate on the agenda for the brainstorming session as well as the party's future strategy. Taking to Twitter the former Punjab Congress president said, "Will meet CM Bhagwant Mann tomorrow at 5:15 pm in Chandigarh to discuss matters regarding the revival of Punjab's economy. Punjab's resurrection is only possible with an honest collective effort." Sidhu's meeting with Mann would be at a time when AICC in-charge of Punjab Harish Chaudhary has recommended disciplinary action against him. Chaudhary moved a complaint to the Disciplinary Action Committee against Sidhu and requested to take action against him. "Having been in-charge of the party's affairs in Punjab from November until now, it has been my observation that Sidhu continuously criticised the functioning of the Congress government terming it corrupt and hand in glove with the Shrimoni Akali Dal," the complaint mentioned. "As the party was fighting the elections, it was inappropriate for Sidhu to set such a precedent. In spite of my repeated advice to Sidhu to avoid such activities, he continued to speak against the government relentlessly," Chaudhary's complaint said, as per sources. After a poll drubbing in five states recently, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi had asked its state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put down their papers. (ANI)
Maharashtra government is likely to challenge the bail of Lok Sabha MP from Amravati Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana on Monday. "I have sent a few clips of Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana. After watching those clips carefully, I am satisfied that those conversations of them are in violation of the condition put in the bail order given to them. So I am duty-bound to bring this before the court. I will put this before the court tomorrow. I will request the court to issue a non-bailable warrant against them and to take them into custody," said special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat. Mumbai's session Court on Wednesday granted bail to the Ranas who were arrested after they declared that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's residence. After her release from Byculla Jail on Thursday and Navneet Rana was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai for a medical check-up. She underwent an MRI scan and a full body checkup at Lilavati Hospital on Saturday after she complained of pain in the chest, neck, and different parts of the body as well as spondylitis. Rana couple got bail from the court after staying 12 days in jail. While granting bail, the court had also put several conditions, violating which the bail was subjected to be cancelled. One of such conditions includes that Navneet Rana and her husband could not issue any statement in the media regarding the case. However, Navneet Rana spoke to the media as soon as she was discharged from the hospital and gave a statement regarding her arrest. The MP-MLA couple was arrested on April 23 from their Mumbai residence after they declared that they would recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Uddhav Thackeray's home in Bandra. The two were booked in two FIRs lodged on charges of sedition, promoting enmity, and assaulting a public servant to prevent discharge of duty. (ANI)
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) conducted a webinar on "Export Promotion of Tissue Culture Plants such as Foliage, Live Plants, Cut Flowers, and Planting Material" with Department of Biotechnology (DBT) accredited tissue culture laboratories spread across India. The top ten countries importing tissue culture plants from India are the Netherlands, USA, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, Kenya, Senegal, Ethiopia and Nepal. In 2020-2021, India's exports of tissue culture plants stood at US USD 17.17 million, with the Netherlands accounting for around 50 per cent of the shipments. APEDA officials informed participants about the latest demand trends for tissue culture plants in these countries and how the apex export promotion body could help Indian exporters/ tissue culture laboratories in accessing these markets. As this was the first interaction programme with these laboratories, APEDA explained about its function, mandate and other financial assistance extended to export oriented plant tissue culture laboratories to improve efficiency, quality of plants, and how the latter could meet the phyto-sanitary norms of the importing countries and enhance their competence in the international market. In order to expand the range of tissue culture plants grown in India, APEDA has asked the exporters to provide a list of germplasms for particular plants/crops which can be imported from producing countries. The exporters, in turn, also suggested that APEDA organize an international exhibition in India to showcase the various kinds of flora such as tissue cultured plants, forest plants, potted plants, ornamental and landscaping planting material available in India. Tissue culture plant laboratories highlighted the issues and challenges faced by them in tissue cultured planting material production and its exports. Exporters drew the attention of APEDA officials to issues such as increasing power costs, low efficiency levels of the skilled workforce in the laboratories, contamination issues in the laboratories, cost of transportation of micro-propagated planting material, lack of harmonization in the HS code of Indian planting material with other nations and objections raised by the forest and quarantine departments which were posing challenges in the export of live planting material. The tissue culture experts suggested that APEDA take up these issues with the concerned departments. APEDA has assured round-the-clock service to tissue culture plant laboratories so as to address all hardships faced by them. APEDA is running a Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) to help laboratories upgrade themselves so as to produce export quality tissue culture planting material. It also facilitates exports of tissue culture planting material to diversified countries through market development, market analysis and promotion and exhibition of tissue culture plants at international exhibitions and by participating in buyer-seller meets at different international forums. India is bestowed with knowledge, biotech experts with vast tissue culture experience as well as with a low-cost labour force to help produce export-oriented quality planting material. All these factors make India a potential global supplier of an extended and diversified range of quality flora to the international market and, in turn, earn foreign exchange. (ANI)
The Punjab Police on Sunday recovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) equipped with RDX packed in a metallic black coloured box weighing approximately 2.5 Kg from Naushehra Pannuan village in the Tarn Taran district and arrested two persons. According to a statement issued by the Punjab Information and Public Relations Department, those arrested have been identified as Baljinder Singh alias Bindu aged 22, a resident of village Gujjarpura in Ajnala, Amritsar; and Jagtar Singh alias Jagga aged 40 of village Khanowal of Ajnala, Amritsar. The police have also recovered a motorcycle and two mobile phones from their possession. Bindu was working as a Nursing Assistant in a private Hospital in Ajnala, while, Jagga is a labourer and both were carrying out this activity for money and drugs, said the statement. According to the statement, the development came three days after four persons were arrested with the recovery of three IEDs packed in a metallic case (2.5 kg each) and one pistol, from Karnal by the Haryana Police following the inputs from the Punjab Police. Divulging details, ADGP Internal Security RN Dhoke said that the Tarn Taran Police had received a piece of secret information that Bindu and Jagga carrying explosives are roaming in Naushehra Pannuan area and are planning to carry out a blast to spread terror among people in the area. Acting promptly, SSP Tarn Taran Ranjit Singh sent police teams to conduct raids in the area and both the accused persons were arrested with an IED in the metallic box when they were going on a motorcycle after retrieving it from the abandoned place. SSP Ranjit Singh said," Initial investigation reveals that the accused persons had gone to retrieve the IED on the instructions of their accomplice identified as Jobanjit Singh alias Joban, a resident of Awan Vasau in Ajnala. Jobanjit is already facing criminal cases under the NDPS act and has been declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO)". The SSP said that the Bomb Disposal team of Punjab Police later diffused the IED, which had nearly 1.5kg of RDX. Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered under section 25 of the Arms Act, sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Explosive Substance (Amendment) Act, and Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Police Station Sarhali in Tarn Taran and further investigation is underway, added the statement. (ANI)
According to the police, the arrested persons have been identified as Vishal (23), Vijay Kishore (47) alias Arun, Vipin (35), and Narinder Kumar (49).

After the paper for the Himachal Pradesh police constable recruitment examination was leaked, the Himachal Pradesh government canceled the written examination, and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to probe the case.

The SIT constituted for the investigation of the above-mentioned case continues to investigate the case in a scientific and professional manner, stated the Himachal Pradesh police.

The written examination for the recruitment of 1,700 constables was held on March 27 earlier this year. (ANI)
According to GSM Arena, the new update has firmware version A325FXXU2BVD6 and brings refreshed UI with new features to the Samsung Galaxy A32.

It will also bump the Android security patch level on the smartphone to April 1, 2022, but hopefully, the May patch will be released soon since a few Samsung smartphones have already received it.

As per GSM Arena, the One UI 4.1 update is currently seeding in India, and for those who haven't received it yet, they can try checking for it manually by heading to their Galaxy A32's Settings, Software update menu. (ANI)
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday said that his government will take every step to restore the 'pristine glory' of the state in every field. "We will give impetus to employment, sports, and industrial growth besides eradicating corruption, unemployment, drugs and pollution from Punjab to make it a frontrunner state in the country," said Mann on Sunday during a program in Nagpur. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and others were also present at the program. The Chief Minister said that his predecessors have looted the state mercilessly due to which the state once known for the vigour of its sons in the Army, sportsmanship of players like the late Dara Singh, and the sweetness of its water has lagged behind. The Chief Minister, while underscoring need for new employment opportunities, said that there is need to replace 'drug syringes' with 'tiffin boxes' to wipe out the drug menace in the state. He said that any person who is gainfully employed carrying a tiffin box to his office won't have any time for drug syringes. Mann said that within 50 days his government has put the wheels in motion to provide government jobs to youth through a transparent, neutral and merit based mechanism. Slamming the political parties for divisive politics, the Chief Minister said, "The nation should unite against such tactics to divide the country. He said that the welfare and development based agenda as propounded by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is the only weapon to stop the chariot of divisive politics". Mann said that it is high time that countrymen must unite to wipe out the parties sowing seed of divisiveness in society. The Chief Minister said that the political parties that had ruled Punjab had looted it mercilessly even as compared to 200 years of the British regime. However he said that Punjabis have given a whopping mandate to his government and they are committed to put the state back on high growth trajectory. The Chief Minister said that his government has already introduced path-breaking initiatives like anti-corruption helpline, one MLA one pension, financial assistance to farmers adopting direct sowing of paddy and others which will help in the resurgence of the state. (ANI)
Qualcomm was earlier rumoured to launch the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ chipset this month, however, a leakster has revealed that it will likely arrive in the second half of the year. According to GSM Arena, the reason for this is the current epidemic situation in China. Further, Lenovo and Qualcomm have a good relationship, which suggests that the first phone with the new chip will likely be Motorola Edge 30 Ultra. After all, the Edge 30 Pro, which launched in China as Edge X30, was the first with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. As per GSM Arena, the name 'Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+' is still just a suggestion, but expectations are the GPU will receive a boost while the CPU will remain the same as the current flagship, one mighty Cortex-X2 at almost 3 GHz, with three more Cortex-A710 performance units and four Cortex-A510 cores for efficiency. (ANI)
Around 250 km from Pune, a village in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district, has become a model village for the society after banning all the ill practices of widowhood. Breaking social reforms, the Herwad village in Shirol Tahseel of Kolhapur district has eliminated all the ill practices of widowhood like wiping the kumkum (Sindoor) from the forehead, breaking the bangles, and breaking of mangalsutra etc. This historic decision was taken in a Gram Panchayat meeting held on May 4. In the meeting, a resolution was moved to abolish all the practices which are being done after the death of the husband. After the meeting, the resolution was unanimously passed by members of Herwad Grampanchayat. In the resolution, it was stated, "In our society after the death of husband during last rites there is a practice of wiping of sindoor, breaking of bangles, removing of Bichiya, etc. Widows are also not allowed to attend any type of social and religious events in the village. "As per the law, every citizen has the equal right to live with freedom however these practice has taken away the rights of the women which is actually against the law and the constitution. Every widow of this village and the country has the right to live respectfully, therefore, all the practices related to widows are being demolished with immediate effect. Simultaneously, an awareness campaign should also be carried out in the village to make people aware of this resolution," said the resolution. Sarpanch of Herwad village, Surgonda Patil said, "The purpose to bring this resolution was to empower widows of our villages, who were facing various issues because of these practices. During COVID time in our village alone, 12-13 men between the age group of 30-50 lost their life. The wives of these men had to go through all these ill practices. It was painful to see those women who were already in pain after losing their husbands. So we have together decided to end all these ill practices. For this, we also had the support of a social activist Pramod Zinjade who encouraged us to ban these practices for good." "We have set an example before the country, to come forward and vanish these ill practices. We want to appeal to the government also to make a law against it. Meanwhile, our efforts are to make an awareness campaign about this resolution in the nearby villages and try to ban widowhood practices from its root," he added. (ANI)
After 'Khalistan' flags were found tied on the Himachal Pradesh Assembly main gate and walls, the state police on Sunday booked banned outfit 'Sikhs for Justice' (SFJ) general counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and called him the 'main accused' in the case. Police registered an FIR under sections 153-A and 153-B of IPC, section 3 of HP Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1985, and section 13 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) at Dharamshala Police station against Pannun. "Keeping in view the incidents of Khalistani elements in the neighbouring states and also the incident of tying a Khalistani banner took place in Una district on April 11 and the recent incident of hoisting banners and graffiti of Khalistan on the outer boundary of Vidhan Sabha in Dharamshala as well as the threat posed by Sikhs for Justice (SJF) regarding the announcement of June 6 as voting date for the Khalistan Referendum in Himachal Pradesh, the DGP-HP has issued directions to the field formations to remain on high alert from today," said the statement issued by the Himachal Pradesh Police. "ADGP-CID, IG/DIG Ranges and District SPs have been directed to seal all interstate borders/barriers and keep strict vigil at the places of probable hideouts i.e. hotels and sarais etc. They have been directed to keep the Special Security Units (SsUs), Bomb Disposal Squads and Quick Reactions Teams (QRTs) in position and on high alert and strengthen the security of dams, railway stations, bus stands, towns, government building and vital installations," the statement added. The field formations have been directed to sensitize all the security staff and chowkidars of government buildings, banks, and public sector undertakings with regard to the threat and they may be advised to report any matter of concern to the local police station immediately. Earlier in the day, 'Khalistan' flags were found tied on the main gate and boundary wall of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Dharamshala on Sunday morning. Soon after the incident came to light, a police official informed that the flags were removed from the gates and walls. Superintendent of Police, Kangra, Khushal Sharma said, "It might have happened late night or early morning today. We have removed the Khalistan flags from the Vidhan Sabha gate. It could be an act of some tourists from Punjab." (ANI)
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday said that the government is committed to protecting and developing ancient sites of cultural and religious significance. His remarks came as he participated in 'Navgrah Ashtamangalam Pooja' at the Martand Sun temple in Anantnag. "Today participated in the auspicious Navgrah Ashtamangalam Pooja at Martand Sun temple, Mattan, Anantnag. Truly a divine experience in a godly ambience," the Office of Lt Governor tweeted. Lieutenant Governor further said that the government is committed to protecting and developing ancient sites of cultural and religious significance. "Government is committed to protecting and developing ancient sites of cultural and religious significance, transforming them into vibrant centers that will guide us on the path of righteousness and blesses this beautiful land with peace, happiness, and prosperity," it added. A special Navgrah Ashtamangalam Pooja was held at the famous Martand Sun temple at Mattan in the Anantnag district of South Kashmir in which Hindu priests of different states of the country participated. Speaking to ANI, BJP leader Surinder Ambardar said, "Mahatmas and religious saints who used to come here earlier to do meditation, their traditions are being carried forward. This pooja is for world peace, for India's peace, and for Jammu and Kashmir's peace. In Kashmir, many temples were broken and the Gods are angry with us so this is an attempt to make them happy so that peace is prevailed in Jammu and Kashmir and in India." The Kerala priest said the special Navgrah Ashtamangalam Pooja was for the peace and prosperity of the whole world and particularly for the county and Kashmir valley. Manoj Vaishno, a priest from Rajasthan said, "Today a special pooja was performed here. We acquired the knowledge of Ved because of Lord Sun. There was a disruption in the worship of God because of the temple we destroyed." The Martand Sun temple is a Hindu temple located near the city of Anantnag in South Kashmir. It dates back to the eighth century AD and was dedicated to Surya, the chief solar deity in Hinduism. Surya is also known by the Sanskrit -language synonym Martand. It is worth mentioning that after a very long time this type of Special pooja was held at this temple. (ANI)
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday met Governor Kalraj Mishra at Raj Bhawan in Jaipur and expressed concern over the riots in Jodhpur and Karauli saying that strict action should be taken against the culprits. While discussing the issues related to the incident, the Governor said that law and security in the state should be ensured at all levels so that such incidents do not recur elsewhere. According to the official release, during the meeting, the deployment of the Vice-Chancellor in Skill University and Act amendment, skill development of youth were also discussed. The appointments to the posts of Registrar in the universities of the state, preparations related to organizing the National Science Congress in Rajasthan, and many other things were also discussed. "In an hour-long meeting, both the Governor and the Chief Minister discussed in detail various issues like expansion of higher education in the state, creation of new posts in universities, quick filling of vacancies in nursing education and others," the statement reads. Governor Mishra and the Chief Minister also discussed connecting the youth with the courses of training, skill development, and entrepreneurship in the relevant professions under the Skill University. Along with this, discussions were also held on issues like streamlining teaching and other activities in newly created universities, filling up of posts there, effective implementation of National Education Policy etc. Governor Mishra expressed the need for continuous work to increase the quality of higher education in the state and also for constitutional awareness under education and stressed upon it to work at all levels in higher education. (ANI)
CULTURE Ethnic Cultural Day pays homage to Indigenous peoples

(HBT) - April 19 is the annual Ethnic Cultural Day in Vietnam, celebrated since the 2008 Prime Ministers Decision No. 1668/QD-TTg, and Hoa Binh province played host to a variety of cultural activities to recognize the day.





Gau Tao Festival of the Mong people of Hang Kia and Pa Co communes (Mai Chau district) attracts a large number of people.

Hoa Binh is home to six main ethnic groups, and each is paid homage by exhibitions of their costumes, music, customs, and festivals. The resolution of the provincial Party Congress for the 2020-25 recognizes culture as one of the driving forces for the provinces socio-economic development.

In implementing the resolutions of 13th national Party Congress and the 17th provincial Party Congress for the 2020-2025 tenure, Hoa Binh continues to compile a scientific dossier for UNESCO in recognition of the Mo Muong epic as intangible cultural heritage.

The provincial People's Committee recently issued a plan to implement a project on preserving intangible cultural values of indigenous groups in Hoa Binh from 2020 to 2030. The local ethnic groups include the Muong, Thai, Tay, Dao and Mong peoples in 10 districts and cities in the province.

This year's Vietnam Ethnic Culture Day marks the 90th anniversary of global recognition of the Hoa Binh culture. To commemorate the day, the province will introduce a thematic exhibition of 500 original stone and bone artifacts, along with 100 documentary photos depicting Hoa Binh culture.

This years Ethnic Culture Day is an opportunity to educate people on the traditions, national pride and sense of responsibility for preserving and promoting national cultural traditions. These acts contribute to consolidate and strengthen national unity by honouring the cultural identity of ethnic groups. This is also an opportunity for ethnic groups in the community to understand each other, to unite for economic development, and to preserve the fine traditions of the past./.
Mission Basundhara was launched in Assam on October 2 last year. The Chief Minister said that it is a decisive step towards streamlining land revenue services and facilitating easy access for the people for their land-related works.

"Around 8 lakhs applications related to the revenue department were resolved under 'Mission Basundhara'. Our government is going to complete the first year of this tenure," Sarma said.

He further said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Assam to mark the occasion. (ANI)
A social media post on Sunday alleged the staff of IndiGo airlines barred an adolescent with special needs from boarding a plane along with his parents at the Ranchi airport on Saturday. "The Indigo staff announced that the child would not be allowed to take the flight. That he was a risk to other passengers. That he would have to become 'normal' before he could be travel-worthy,' read the post. "And the staff then went on to state something on the lines of 'behaviours such as this, and that of drunk passengers unfit to travel," added the post. Meanwhile, the airline issued a statement saying, "In view of the safety of passengers, a specially-abled child could not board the flight with his family on May 07 as he was in a state of panic. The ground staff waited for him to calm down till the last minute but to no avail." "The airline made the family comfortable by providing them with a hotel stay, the family flew this morning to their destination. IndiGo prides itself on being an inclusive organisation, be it for employees or customers; and over 75k specially-abled passengers fly with IndiGo every month," added the statement. (ANI)
The police said a written complaint was received from one Nazir Ahmad Mochi of Zasoo on Friday stating that his daughter was kidnapped by one person, namely Sohail Ahmad Wani, a resident of Zasoo.

"During the course of investigation, officers investigating the case, raided various suspected locations and after strenuous efforts, the team was able to arrest the kidnapper and recover the kidnapped girl within the shortest possible time from Tahab area of Pulwama," police said.

Police said after fulfilling all medico-legal formalities, the girl was handed over to her legal heirs. Further investigation into the matter is in progress.

"Swift action by police against anti-social elements has been appreciated by the locals. Community members are requested to cooperate with the police in curbing social crimes in their neighbourhood. They can share information pertaining to social crimes with police. We reassure the community members that our efforts in curbing social crimes shall continue," police said.

--IANS zi/dpb

( 192 Words)

2022-05-08-19:19:11 (IANS)
The Bharatiya Janata Party's West Bengal unit received a much needed shake-up to arouse it from its slumber during Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to the state recently. According to insiders, Shah, the former national President of the party, made it clear to state leaders that they are free to quit if they are dissatisfied with instructions from the top, and should only make their dissatisfaction public after quitting. The other option is to discuss the matter with the top leadership in New Delhi. "Shah didn't seem too concerned with Babul Supriyo's defection to the Trinamool Congress. Rather, during closed door meetings with the state leadership, he cited Supriyo's example as Supriyo was irked after after he no longer remained a Union Minister. "Shah is said to have told leaders in West Bengal how the top leadership knew that he would defect if not given a ministerial berth. Supriyo could have been accommodated and he would have remained with the BJP. But then, that is not how the BJP works, the party's No. 2 made it clear. Organisational work is of greater importance and that is where commitment comes in. Supriyo didn't have that level of commitment," a senior party source in Delhi said. Over the last few months, the BJP's state leadership has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Dilip Ghosh, former state President, was irked after he lost the position, despite being appointed a national Vice-President of the party. Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar was appointed state president and Ghosh made his objections clear in public. There is also an ongoing tussle between Ghosh and Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, due to their differences. Ghosh is from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and contested his first elections as a BJP candidate from the Kharagpur Sadar Assembly Constituency in 2016 and won and in 2019, won the Medinipur Lok Sabha constituency to became a Member of Parliament. "Adhikari, on the other hand, was a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the Nandigram crisis. He was also an MLA and minister in the state before he split ways with the Trinamool Congress before the 2021 Assembly elections in the state and contested as a BJP candidate from the Nandigram constituency. He defeated Mamata Banerjee, who contested this seat and a legend was born. People like Ghosh, however, don't fully trust people like Adhikari who are not from the Sangh. Hence the rift. The top BJP leadership, however, knows that Adhikari is a face the party needs if it wants to repeat its performance of bagging at least 18 seats in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," the leader in Delhi said. No wonder, Ghosh has been put in place and asked to develop the organisation at the grassroots level along with Majumdar, who can handle affairs in north Bengal. While barely, two years are left for the 2024 polls, but the BJP in the state is yet to get its act in order. Political pundits may say that Parliamentary elections are held on national issues and not on local ones. But there is a problem here. The Trinamool remains contained to the state of West Bengal and there is little possibility of a credible Third Front emerging at the Centre. The common man in West Bengal will then have to choose between drastic economic reforms that the BJP wants and the doles granted by the Trinamool, notwithstanding that the state's debt stands at nearly Rs 5.5 lakh crore. "Shah, during his visit, made it clear that the state BJP has to start working on people's minds about how there has been no industrialisation in the state and jobs are not being generated. The booth level worker will have to learn about how free rations (that ultimately get sold in the market) and payments into bank accounts don't help in the long run. There is a limit to how many Toto and Auto Rickshaw drivers can make sustainable earnings. Industry is the only hope. The Centre's policies will have to be explained clearly. For this, the state leadership will have to work together," a state BJP office bearer said on condition of anonymity. --IANS jayanta/uk ( 722 Words) 2022-05-08-19:34:02 (IANS)
He was speaking after inaugurating the World Bank aided national level Reward project and the Watershed Centre of Excellence at the GKVK campus.

Karnataka has 10 Agro-climatic zones and we are producing diverse crops like Ragi, Jowar, Pepper, and Coffee. Nature has been generous to Karnataka. The Agriculture Department should go for scientific schemes. Agroforestry, horticulture and dairy farming should be integrated with the farmland, Bommai said.

"Serious thinking is needed about the production of seeds. More vigil is needed to curb the menace of spurious seeds. The entire process of seed production to marketing is being tracked," Bommai said.

Stressing the importance of groundwater recharge, Bommai said, Prime Minister Modi has launched the Amrit Sarovar Mission project to rejuvenate at least 75 irrigation lakes in a district, and it would be successfully implemented in the state, Bommai said. (ANI)
The Taliban decree for women to must cover their faces in public might further strain engagement with the international community. Raising concern over the hijab decision, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a statement said, "Information they have received suggests this is a formal directive rather than a recommendation, and that it will be implemented and enforced," reported Pajhwok Afghan News. "This decision contradicts numerous assurances regarding respect for and protection of all Afghans' human rights, including those of women and girls, that had been provided to the international community by Taliban representatives during discussions and negotiations over the past decade," added UNAMA. UNAMA said that it will immediately request meetings with the Taliban de facto authorities to seek clarification on the status of this decision. UNAMA will also engage in consultations with members of the international community regarding its implications, reported Pajhwok Afghan News. The Taliban on Saturday ruled women must cover their faces in public, according to a decree from the group's supreme leader, calling the all-encompassing burqa the ideal face covering, reported Pajhwok Afghan News. A decree from Taliban supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhunzada was read out at a press conference in Kabul by a spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. A woman's father or closest male relative would be visited and eventually imprisoned or fired from government jobs if she did not cover her face outside the home, reported Pajhwok Afghan News. "These assurances were repeated following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, that women would be afforded their rights, whether in work, education, or society at large," said UNAMA. "The international community has been eager for signals that the Taliban are ready for positive relations with the wider world. The decision six weeks ago to postpone secondary schooling for Afghan girls was widely condemned internationally, regionally, and locally. Today's decision by the Taliban might further strain engagement with the international community," it added. (ANI)
Foreign envoys to Sri Lanka and rights groups on Saturday expressed concern over the declaration of a state of emergency by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. They fear that police might use force against peaceful protesters amid the country's worst economic crisis in recent memory, reported Taipei Times. US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung wrote on Twitter that she is "concerned" by the state of emergency, adding that "the voices of peaceful citizens need to be heard." "And the very real challenges Sri Lankans are facing require long term solutions to set the country back on a path toward prosperity and opportunity for all. The SOE (state of emergency) won't help do that," Chung added. Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka David McKinnon said Sri Lankans have a right to peaceful protest under democracy and that it is "hard to understand why it is necessary, then, to declare a state of emergency." The economic and political situation in the Indian Ocean island nation has triggered countrywide protests demanding the resignation of Rajapaksa and his powerful ruling family, reported Taipei Times. Rajapaksa on Friday issued a decree declaring a public emergency. He invoked sections of the Public Security Ordinance that allow him to make regulations in the interests of public security and preserving public order, and for the maintenance of essential supplies. Under the emergency regulations, Rajapaksa can authorize detentions, seize possession of the property and search any premises. He can also change or suspend any law. Sri Lanka is near bankruptcy. It announced that it is suspending repayment of its foreign loans and its usable foreign currency reserves have plummeted below USD 50 million, reported Taipei Times. The country has USD 7 billion in foreign loan repayments due this year out of USD 25 billion to be repaid by 2026. Its total foreign debt is USD 51 billion. Police used tear gas and a water cannon twice on Friday at protesters near the parliament who were criticizing lawmakers for not ousting the president and his government, whom they say are responsible for the economic crisis, reported Taipei Times. Protesters are angry that lawmakers elected a government-backed deputy speaker of parliament by a large majority when the protesters say they should be voting Rajapaksa's government out of power. Police first fired tear gas at a student-led protest that began on Thursday after the election of the deputy speaker in what was seen as a key victory for the governing coalition. Separately, police dispersed more protesters with tear gas on Friday night, also near parliament. Amnesty International said protests have been peaceful and the authorities have unlawfully restricted the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, reported Taipei Times. Protesters have vowed to continue their demonstrations despite the emergency law. (ANI)
Farah Khan, a close friend of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi has sent legal notice to Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz's central leader Attaullah Tarar for "derogatory" remarks against her. Besides submitting a written apology within seven days, the PML-N deputy secretary-general has been asked to pull back his allegations against Farah Khan, Ary News reported. The report further stated that Tarar should tender an apology through the media, otherwise, a defamation suit worth Rs 5 billion will be filed against him. During the reign of the Imran Khan-led government, Farah was booked under corruption charges and the federal government decided to bring her back to Pakistan from Dubai for an investigation into the assets case against her. According to Ary News, a spokesperson of the National Accountability Bureau claimed a huge turnover amounting to Rs847 million was found in her account during the last three years, which did not commensurate with her stated account profile. NAB is an independent institution and the investigation launched against her is as per the rule of the law and constitution, the spokesperson had said. However, former prime minister Imran Khan defended Farah and said, "My spouse is a housewife, they found nothing against her, so they booked her friend in case". "Farah Khan has been in the real estate business for the last 20 years and it has generated a lot of money during the course of the last three years," he added. Earlier, Farah Khan left Pakistan for Dubai amid corruption allegations. Meanwhile, a photograph of Farah Khan seen on a flight with a handbag that is claimed to costs USD 90,000, had gone viral on social media. (ANI)
This comes after Finance Minister, Miftah Ismail held a meeting with the executive directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington for the revival of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme last month and agreed upon IMF's recommendations to reduce fuel subsidies phase-wise.

The global financial institution's delegation will stay in Pakistan for 10 days to hold talks with the Pakistani officials, Ary News reported.

Apart from examining the federal government's plan regarding subsidies on petroleum products, electricity and gas, the IMF delegation will also review the taxes and duties collections in the next round of talks.

They will hold talks about ending additional subsidies worth Rs 500 billion, sources added.

In fact, the finance minister previously emphasised that the government would make all-out efforts to restore the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme with International Monetary Fund (IMF)

"We will restore the programme. If the government had to tighten its belt, it will do so," he said adding that no extra burden would be put on people.

Pakistan is already grappling with a massive rise in foreign debt and its economy is slumping due to low investment, low exports, and low productivity growth cycle which highlights the structural weaknesses of country's economy. (ANI)
Indian Ambassador to Madagascar Abhay Kumar held talks with Madagascar's Mining Minister Rakotomalala Herindrainy Olivier and discussed the prospect of a partnership in the mining sector. The meeting was held on Friday. Taking to Twitter, the Indian Embassy in Madagascar wrote, "Ambassador Abhay Kumar met H.E. Rakotomalala Herindrainy Olivier, Hon'ble Minister of Mines and Strategic Resources of Madagascar today. They discussed the opportunities for cooperation in the mining sector between India and Madagascar." Notably, Madagascar has rich mineral reserves, including copper, iron and manganese ores, nickel, graphite, rock salt, niter, pyrites, gold, rare earth, antimony, ilmenite, tin, asphalt, coal, and petroleum. Madagascar is also rich in precious and semi-precious stones: ruby, sapphire, emerald, aquamarine, beryl, tourmaline, topaz, garnet, cordierite, rose quartz, amethyst, and citrine. Decorative stones found are marble, silicified wood, and jasper. Two Indian companies active in the mining sector of Madagascar are Tirupati Graphites and APC Drilling. Japan Sumitomo group and South Korea's Komir have invested about 8 billion USD in the Ambatovy mine which produces around 60,000 tonnes of nickel and 5600 tonnes of cobalt every year. It is one of the largest nickel mining entities in the world. India imports many thousand tonnes of nickel every year which is a key ingredient in EV batteries. Madagascar can be a source of nickel and cobalt import for India as well as coal and gold. Kumar also met Madagascar's Minister of Transport and Meteorology M Rolland Ranjatoelina on Thursday and discussed the possibility of starting a direct flight between Mumbai and Antananarivo. "Ambassador Abhay Kumar met M Rolland Ranjatoelina, Hon'ble Minister of Transport and #Meteorology of Madagascar today. They discussed the possibility of starting a direct flight between #Mumbai and #Antananarivo," Ambassador Abhay Kumar said in a tweet on Thursday. Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot and has plants and animals which are not found elsewhere in the world. Madagascar remains unexplored by Indian tourists, an island nation just six hours away in the Indian Ocean next to Mauritius. Visa is available for Indian tourists on arrival in Madagascar and there are many places to visit across the country from Baobab Alley to dancing lemurs to singing whales and pristine beaches. Madagascar is a traveller's dream. It is well known for dark night skies for Astro-tourism. All the major constellations visible from the Southern Hemisphere are visible in Madagascar. A direct flight between India and Madagascar can help the people of Madagascar to avail world-class health, educational and financial services in India and can promote tourism between the two countries. India is the fourth largest trade partner of Madagascar. A direct flight between the two countries can promote trade and commerce and people-to-people relations between the two countries. Madagascar has a large Indian diaspora who have family roots in Gujarat. (ANI)
BUSINESS Tay woman changes lives in mountainous region

(HBO)  Bringing in Sachi and Gai Lai seedlings and encouraging local people to start planting the trees, agricultural engineer Trinh Thi Thanh Hoa, a Tay ethnic, has helped numerous mountainous commune households escape poverty.





Trinh Thi Thanh Hoa brings product to the business challenging contest. Her product gets attention from many investors.

Hoa is a Tay ethnic, born and raised in Da Bac district. From an early age, she understood the hardship of local farmers through trips to remote areas with her mother. At the time, her mother was an officer at the local agriculture and forestry extension department, with a passion for doing something meaningful to the community.





After defending her thesis with honors and graduating from the Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Hoa decided to come back to her hometown and work at the districts agriculture and rural development bureau. This was a golden opportunity for Hoa to understand how local people were cultivating the soil and growing crops, so she could make recommendations and help develop the local economy.





Thanks to her field trips to local and neighbouring provinces, Hoa gained a great deal of experience in agricultural development. She decided to initiate the Sachi tree planting project in the Da Bac district material zone in 2016. Once the project received a green light from local authorities, Hoa mobilized local farmers to assist in planting the trees.





Sachi was planted on an area of 15 hectares spanning six communes of Da Bac district on a pilot basis in July 2017 by Hoa Binh agriculture service cooperative, of which Hoa is a member.





To date, the Sachi cultivation area in the district has expanded to 200 hectares, creating stable livelihoods for some 280 households.





A key supply chain for Sachi trees has been developed, generating jobs for 500 local workers.





The Sachi cultivation project has borne fruit. A wide range of products have been developed from the tree by Hoa Binh agriculture service cooperative, including the Omega-3 nutritional supplement, Sachi tea, protein powder and safe Sachi vegetables. All of the products have been warmly received by consumers.





Notably, the initiative of Hoa and her partners won first prize at the startup contest for the Women of Hoa Binh in 2019. After that, the initiative entered the finale of the startup contest for rural youth in the same year, sponsored by the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.





Huge opportunities from sachi tree





The success of the Sachi tree inspired Hoa to carry out further initiatives and projects which bring benefits to the community. This time, Gai Lai (Ramie) tree was chosen and it became a "highlight in Hoas career.





"Cultivation of Gai Lai tree is not difficult. Farmers needs to invest some 25-30 million VND (1,000  1,300 USD) at the beginning while the croplands can be harvested 4-5 times a year, and yield average 100-150 million VND per hectare, Hoa said.





Thanks to support from the local authorities as well as agricultural engineers, local farmers feel secure to engage in supply chains, giving Hoa the confidence to carry out such projects.





Hoa and her partners began the project in December 2020, and after 70 days, they harvested the first crop, which yielded 400 kilogrammes per hectare.





Hoa has completed 60 percent of the projects workload so far. Last year, she successfully mobilised local farmers to plant the tree in an area of 20 hectares. An additional 50 hectares will be developed in supply chain in Trung Thanh commune.





Hoa also won the contract to supply materials for the Nam Dinh Textile and Garment joint Stock Company, the An Phuoc Thanh Hoa Import-Export joint Stock Company, and the Hanoi Textile and Garment joint Stock Company.





"Besides dry Gai Lai fibre, byproducts from the tree are used to make organic compost fertilizer and animal food. Meanwhile,leaves are sold to establishments which make banh gai (glutinous rice cake blackened in a concoction of edible leaves), and the radix boehmeriae herb are provided for medicinal production workshops, she said.





Currently, cultivation of Gai Lai is creating jobs for 120-150 local people, most of whom are ethnic women. If a 100-hectare material area is established, it will generate jobs for some 300 local workers.

Hoa won the gold prize at the European Union and Standard Chartered Bank Entrepreneurship Business Contest with the Gai Lai plantation project.

Hoa also received more than 10 billion VND in sponsorship from the "Technology Transfer, Investment Connection and Market Promotion programme jointly held by the Vietnam Climate Innovation Centre and the Vietnam Womens Union. Last year, she received Luong Dinh Cua award, an annual award of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee given to young people in rural areas with outstanding achievements in production, business, application of modern science technologies, environmental protection and building new rural lifestyles.





The recognitions serve as motivation for Hoa to make further efforts in the journey to create sustainable livelihoods for local ethnic people right in her home community./.




The agenda for the meeting will be issued by Sunday evening. The sitting of the National Assembly will be the first since the formation of the new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government, reported The News International.

The session will be headed by the newly elected NA speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

Notably, Shehbaz Sharif took oath as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan after being elected by the National Assembly of the country.

Sharif was administered the oath by the Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani after President Arif Alvi fell ill.

Ahead of the voting, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) legislators resigned en masse from the National Assembly and walked out of the National Assembly after a speech by former Foreign Minister and PTI candidate for a prime ministerial post, Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

The younger brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was set to grab the top post after former Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was ousted from power following the no-confidence motion against the regime.

The voting on the no-confidence motion had resulted in the Imran Khan-led government losing with 174 votes in favour of the no-confidence motion. Sharif's candidature as the Opposition's choice for the Prime Ministership was revealed by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during a joint press conference of the opposition parties on March 30.

He was elected as the Prime Minister in the same National Assembly session which saw the ouster of Imran Khan, in accordance with the order of the Pakistan Supreme Court. (ANI)
Lee is a former security chief of Hong Kong and he's known for his staunch loyalty to the Chinese government.

The 64-year-old ex-police officer and chief secretary will take the reins on July 1, according to Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP). Lee will replace Carrie Lam as the chief executive, Hong Kong's top job.

It further reported that Lee received 1,416 votes in support from the newly-revamped Election Committee.

The committee, which was vetted by Lee himself last year, gathered on Sunday to cast ballots in the small-circle race at Wan Chai's Convention and Exhibition Centre.

A total of 1,428 members of the 1,461-strong committee cast ballots by the time polls closed at 11:30 a.m. (local time), representing a turnout rate of 97.74 per cent, HKFP reported.

The former Hong Kong security chief is 64 years old and was a key figure in cracking down on the protests in 2019.

He was the security chief for four years before being appointed last year as chief secretary, the number two position in the government.

He also aided the Hong Kong government in ending the political opposition. He made sure that anyone who is outspoken is put behind bars or sent in exile. (ANI)
As Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is likely to resign from his post amid ongoing protests, opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) confirmed that its leader Sajith Premadasa will not accept the PM's post in an interim government. This comes at a significant juncture as Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa is learned to have responded positively to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's request to him to quit in the face of the deepening economic crisis. SJB National Organizer Tissa Attsnayake, while speaking with the Sri Lankan media outlet, said, "Premadasa will not accept premiership of an interim government but SJB will give conditional support for an interim government." "We will only support an interim government which will carry out proposals made by Bar Association of Sri Lanka," he added. Two no-confidence motions against the President and the Prime Minister were handed over to the speaker by SJB. "It will now become clear who is betraying the demands of the people," Premadasa said. Earlier, Premadasa pointed out the present government is "reckless" and has pushed the country to the edge of bankruptcy. He remarked that such a situation had risen for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka. The crisis-hit Sri Lanka on Friday declared a state of emergency after the crippling strike and protest over the external debt for the second time in five weeks. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is struggling with acute food and electricity shortages, forcing the country to seek help from its neighbours. The recession is attributed to foreign exchange shortages caused by a clampdown on tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The country is unable to buy sufficient fuel and gas, while the people are being deprived of basic amenities as well. The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. (ANI)
Farah Khan, a close friend of former Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan's wife was provided security outside her residence by Punjab Police officials' soon after the PTI chief's was elected as the country's Prime Minister, even though neither Farah Khan nor her husband held a public office during that period. The cops were posted outside her home, in the upscale Defence area of Lahore, first in September 2018, confirmed a police officer who was on duty there, on the condition of anonymity, reported Geo News. The security detail was only pulled last month, on the first of Ramadan, he added. The cop further told Geo. tv that the men in uniform were ordered to work in three shifts, eight hours each, to ensure the home was protected 24 hours. Four cops were deployed per shift, meaning 12 police officers and three police vehicles were dedicated to her home. Pakistan's anti-corruption watchdog National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in April authorised an enquiry on Farah Khan, a close friend of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan, over allegations of accumulating "illegal assets beyond known sources of income" among other charges. Last month, NAB opened a case to probe how her assets grew exponentially during the tenure of former prime minister Imran Khan. However, Imran Khan defended Farah Khan and asked how a case of corruption can be made against her. "She was not a public office holder," the former prime minister said, "She has been working in real estate for the last 20 years." Regarding the case, when Geo TV spoke to another cop, he also claimed that the security detail was provided to Farah Khan on the orders of Superintendent of the Police Ayesha Butt. On reaching out to Ayesha Butt, who is now posted as the Superintendent of Police Telecommunications in Punjab, the officer denied she had any knowledge of the officers being posted outside Farah Khan's home, adding that she was surprised to see her name even mentioned in the regards to this, Geo TV reported. "I had no link to this," she said, "I have never been posted in the branch which decides where security will be deployed." Earlier, Farah Khan left Pakistan for Dubai amid corruption allegations, while her husband is in the United States. (ANI)
Due to the critical depletion of fish in the rivers, the Punjab government for the first time has imposed a 10-year ban on commercial fishing. Fisheries Department Secretary Shahid Zaman issued an order regarding this. As per the order, the ban will come into force from September 1 and will remain in force till July 31, 2032. The order said, "There shall be a complete ban on fishing by means of all gears except by rod and line in the waters, including Indus River within the boundaries of Punjab, its reservoirs and pond areas linked to barrages/headworks," reported Dawn. Among the prohibited areas is River Jhelum from Rasool headworks up to Mangla reservoir outflow, River Chenab upstream Marala headworks, River Swan from River Indus junction at Peer Pahai, Mianwali district, to foothills of Murree. According to the order, for fishing through rod and line, weekly and monthly angling permits will be issued with a fee of Rs 500 and Rs 5,000 each permit, respectively, for every district and the angling time will be from sunrise to sunset. Only five fish or total eight-kilo weight, whichever is higher, per permit per day, shall be allowed to be taken away, said the order. Fisheries Department Secretary Zaman added that a serious drop in the number of fish witnessed during test fishing by the department. He said that some means had to be devised in order to tackle the issue and to ensure the conservation of the fish varieties available in the Punjab waters. (ANI)
Pakistan continues to remain in the political crossfire as the stage is set for former Prime Minister Imran Khan to address a rally in Abbottabad of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday amid Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah's warning on holding peaceful protests. This comes as Pakistan's Interior Minister on Saturday warned that the government won't allow an anarchy-like situation to persist in the country. A total of 700 policemen will be deployed for the security of the public gathering. Senior leaders of Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will also be present at the gathering. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister, Mahmood Khan, and acting governor Mushtaq Ghani will address the rally, reported ARY News. This comes ahead of the long march in Islamabad that Imran Khan announced to hold to protest the formation of a "corrupt and imported government". Earlier, in a video message, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief asked his party workers and supporters to carry out a long march and protest against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government. He emphasized that every Pakistani, whether a PTI supporter or not, will march towards Islamabad in the last week of May to stage protest against the 'blatant insult' to the country. Notably, PTI has staged several protests across the country against the United States for an alleged "foreign conspiracy" to oust the country's former Prime Minister Imran Khan from power who has been unseated after the no-confidence vote initiated by the Opposition was carried in the National Assembly. Ahead of ex-PM Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) mega rally in Islamabad, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Saturday had warned that the government won't allow an anarchy-like situation to persist in the country. The Interior Minister slammed the ex-PM for inciting and misleading the public against the ruling government. Addressing the media outside the Lahore sessions court, Sanaullah said, "They will have to give [the government] assurances that the march will be peaceful, political, and democratic." This was in response to Imran Khan's remarks in the address he made at the party's Mianwali rally where he told his workers that neither containers placed on the route could stop them from their march to Islamabad nor the interior minister's threats. (ANI)
Moscow [Russia], May 8 (ANI/Sputnik): Finland's and Sweden's possible accession into NATO would be detrimental to their security and that of Europe, Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov told Sputnik. "Finland and Sweden will be put in a position where they are forced to treat Russia as an adversary. Reciprocally, Russians are to change their perception of previously neutral countries as the springboard of NATO threat. And in such a paradigm one can forget about the non-nuclear status of the Baltic," Stepanov said. The Russian ambassador suggested that after the dissolution of the USSR, the West made a dangerous choice in terms of the future model for security and stability. "For a brief moment, the end of the Cold War could have seemed a common victory. History proved otherwise. The US and its allies, presuming they won, passed up the opportunity to erase the old divisions in Europe and to create a new framework for universal, comprehensive, indivisible European security with equal guarantees for each and every country not only from the Atlantic to the Urals but from Vancouver to Vladivostok. Instead, Washington planners have chosen to enlarge NATO and to ignore Russian security concerns," Stepanov told Sputnik. The ambassador warned that NATO expansion, particularly the potential accession of Finland and Sweden, will only worsen tensions. "Whatever NATO claims it to be, it is a nuclear military machine that came to our doors," Stepanov said, adding that "accepting Helsinki and Stockholm in the NATO's fold also extends its contact line with Russia for more than 1300 km [808 miles]. And our good neighbors will suddenly realize that our region, until now politically and militarily calm, is abruptly included in the arc of NATO-Russia tension." Stepanov emphasized that Russians have always respected the tradition of Swedish democracy and military non-alignment and both Sweden and Finland have had a rather stable model of co-existence with Russia. "US and NATO bureaucracy [are] using various tactics to stimulate certain political camps in Finland and Sweden to convince the two nations to forfeit peaceful way of life and turn Northern Europe from the area of military non-alignment, stability and prosperity into yet another potential theatre of war. Once sovereign and well respected for unique independent standing, they are to lose that aura and be forced to obey the collective NATO discipline governed by the US often contrary to their security interests," the Russian ambassador said. He told Sputnik that Finns and Swedes need to evaluate the situation thoroughly before making a decision on NATO membership, not after, when such a decision cannot be undone. "Do Finns and Swedes really want to be pulled in the US geopolitical march against Russia? We are neighbours, and the price of responsibility for the three of us is much higher than for the ideologues in Washington DC," Stepanov said, adding that "In these testing times for European security, one can only hope wisdom prevails - so that the Finnish and Swedish constituents and their elected representatives once again review and assess whether the NATO enticements are worth it." Finland and Sweden started discussing the possibility of abandoning long-term neutrality and joining NATO amid the Russian military operation in Ukraine. The head of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, said in March that NATO will gladly welcome Finland and Sweden and will provide them with the opportunity to quickly join the alliance. The US expects Sweden to present its formal application to become a full member of NATO by the end of June, while Finland could decide on accession already this month. (ANI/Sputnik)
The seemingly interminable Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought renewed attention to another long-brewing geopolitical crisis as Xi Jinping has stated in no uncertain terms China's determination to 'reunify' with Taiwan, calling it a renegade regime. While Ukraine has no formal military alliance with any country, Taiwan has ties with the US. Washington's stated policy remains that it will commit military force in defence of Taiwan, should such a need arise, arrangements similar to Japan and South Korea. All three are US allies' though not NATO members, Global Strat View reported. However, China has also not failed to grasp the importance of the US and NATO's extreme aversion to casualties. Meanwhile, Moscow has signalled clear intent and political will to continue its offensive, notwithstanding the fallout, which has indeed been severe, especially on the economic front. According to media reports, the Chinese economy is very different from Russia's, and sanctions of a similar kind are as likely to hurt the West as they are to inflict pain on China. Beijing has been closely watching events unfold as it contemplates a similar 'adventure'. In the ongoing invasion of Russia by Ukraine, the West aided the war-torn nation of Ukraine due to shared land borders with NATO countries, however, no significant aid could be provided to Taiwan by its allies if the People's Liberation Army makes its move, as Taiwan is an island with aerial resupply being the only viable option, the report further explained. Since China considers Taiwan as part of its own territory, the use of nuclear weapons on its 'own' population is inconceivable, making it out of the calculus. But as the Ukraine conflict has shown, making ill-advised threats of using tactical nuclear weapons is counterproductive, as China is also a veto-wielding nuclear power. With the Ukraine conflict unfolding, the Chinese apparently have a first-hand assessment of the Western world's stomach for a fight, which doesn't entail boots on the ground, many in China have had the apparent motive of annexing the territory of a non-nuclear and smaller country. Despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades, Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The war between Russia and Ukraine has exhilarated Taiwanese as a poll shows that more than 70 per cent of Taiwanese citizens are willing to militarily defend the country in the event of war against China, local media reported. (ANI)
Washington [US], May 8 (ANI/Sputnik): US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has postponed her planned visit to Turkey, the US mission to the UN informs. "U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield's planned travel to Turkey on May 9 has been postponed. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will continue to travel as planned to Brussels May 9-10 to lead the United States delegation to the 'Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region, Brussels VI Conference,' chaired by the European Union," the US mission said in a Saturday statement. According to the release, during the conference, Linda Thomas-Greenfield is expected to underscore US commitment to work on supporting the Syrian people. "On the margins of the Brussels VI Conference, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will host a ministerial meeting to discuss the future of international support for the Syrian political process and the importance of accountability for human rights violations and other abuses. She will also meet with NATO and EU officials in Brussels to discuss Ukraine and other shared Transatlantic priorities," the US mission said. Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Turkey was announced by the US mission on Friday, May 6. The US ambassador was supposed to visit the Bab al-Hawa border crossing to get briefed on UN humanitarian efforts in Syria. After that, she was set to visit Belgium (on May 10). (ANI/Sputnik)
Moscow [Russia], May 8 (ANI/Sputnik): Russian gas deliveries to Europe can be entirely redirected to the Asia-Pacific region where gas demand is rising, but it would require prompt infrastructure modernization, an energy expert at the Russian company Vygon Consulting, Ivan Timonin, told Sputnik on Sunday. "Russian exports now flowing to Europe could potentially be diverted to the Asia-Pacific region in full. It requires, however, active development of export infrastructure, construction of new gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, which is also time-consuming," Timonin said. Russia's drive to redirect gas flows to Asia is stemming not only from Europe's quest to stop buying Russian energy, particularly oil products, but is also market-driven, the expert said. Current trends show that Asian countries will account for over a half of natural gas demand by 2025, with consumption increasing by 160 billion cubic meters, primarily in China and India, according to Timonin. At the same time, construction of the Power of Siberia pipeline supplying gas to China took five years and the same time is needed to build large-scale gas liquefaction plants. "To keep gas exports at the same level, Russia should already start developing new projects and take investment decisions," Timonin added. The supplies via the Power of Siberia pipeline have started at the end of 2019, and amounted to 4.1 billion cubic meters in 2020. It is planned to increase the volume of supplies until reaching the design annual capacity of 38 billion cubic meters by 2025. Taking the new February agreement into account, the total capacity of supplies along the Far Eastern route to China could amount to 48 billion cubic meters per year. Furthermore, the Power of Siberia 2 project is currently under consideration, which aims to deliver up to 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually to China via Mongolia. (ANI/Sputnik)
RTHK: G7 measures aim at Russian energy exports

The entire G7 club of rich nations is "committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil," the White House said on Sunday, escalating pressure on President Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.

"This will hit hard at the main artery of Putin's economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war," the Biden administration said in a statement, without specifying exactly what commitments the G7 members -- France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US -- have made.

The West has so far shown coordination in its announcements of sanctions against Russia, but has not moved at the same pace when it comes to Russian oil and gas.

The United States, which was not a major consumer of Russian hydrocarbons, has already banned their import.

But Europe is far more reliant on Russian oil. The European Union has already said it is aiming to cut its reliance on Russian gas by two-thirds this year, though Germany has opposed calls for a full boycott, with member states continuing intense negotiations Sunday.

The G7 held its third meeting of the year on Sunday via video conference, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky participating.

The choice of date is highly symbolic: Europeans commemorate the end of World War II in Europe on May 8.

Sunday's meeting also comes on the eve of the May 9 military parade in Russia, which marks the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany.

Washington also announced a new round of sanctions against Russia in a White House statement on Sunday, focusing on two major areas: the media, and access by Russian companies and wealthy individuals to world-leading US accounting and consulting services.

The US will sanction Joint Stock Company Channel One Russia, Television Station Russia-1, and Joint Stock Company NTV Broadcasting Company. Any US company will be prohibited from financing them through advertising or selling them equipment.

"US companies should not be in the business of funding Russian propaganda," said a senior White House official who requested anonymity, stressing that these media were directly or indirectly controlled by the Kremlin.

Another line of attack by Washington: banning the provision of "accounting, trust and corporate formation, and management consulting services to any person in the Russian Federation," according to the White House.

Those services are used to run multinational companies, but also potentially to circumvent sanctions or hide ill-gotten wealth, the White House official said.

The official stressed that while the Europeans had the closest industrial links with Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom dominated the world of accounting and consulting, notably through the "Big Four" -- the four global audit and consulting giants Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC.

Washington has also announced new bans on the export of American products to Russia, covering a range of capital goods from bulldozers to ventilation systems and boilers.

The United States announced on Sunday that it would impose visa restrictions on 2,600 Russian and Belarusian officials, as well as sanctions against officials of Sberbank and Gazprombank. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2022-05-08. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison hoped that in order to win the general elections on May 21 he could use the country's fraught relations with China, but it backfired after the Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China. Soloman Islands and China last month signed the framework agreement on security cooperation that Australia, the US and other allies fear could be used to establish a military base in the Pacific island nation. In the second week of Australia's six-week election campaign, the news of the contentious Solomon Islands security deal with China came and Morrison's plans to use its relationship with China to win votes fell flat. Since early this year, Morrison and his ministers have tried to paint their Labour opponents as soft on China. Morrison's Liberal-National government said that the opposition party was unable to defend Australia's interests in the bitter quarrels that have arisen over the past five years between Canberra and Beijing, reported Straits Times. Australian Foreign Minister met her Solomon Islands counterpart and raised deep concerns over the security arrangement between China and the island nation. Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marise Payne in a statement said, "Australia has been consistent and clear in stating our respect for Solomon Islands' sovereign decision-making, however, we have reiterated our deep concerns about the security agreement with China, including the lack of transparency." After details of the draft pact were released, Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific Zed Seselja flew to the Solomon Islands' capital, Honiara, on April 12, to unsuccessfully ask the government to abandon it. Despite repeated denial from China over plans to militarise the Solomon Islands, the security experts remain wary of Beijing's intentions. (ANI)
China has been developing a strategy to take control of seaports across the globe in alignment with its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to achieve its geopolitical aims and acquire dominance in international shipping and global business Experts believe that establishing ports in geo-strategically important countries, including those that are located near maritime chokepoints, is central to Beijing's global strategy, the International Forum for Rights and Security stated. "These port linkages allow Beijing to exert political influence not only in the country hosting the port but in surrounding countries as well," Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told VOA. Growing Chinese investment in the maritime shipping industry, both domestically and abroad, should be a major source of concern for geopolitical rivals such as the US, Europe and India. Presently, China is home to seven of the 10 busiest ports in the world. According to IFRAS, China has become the leading manufacturer of shipping equipment as well, producing 96 per cent of the world's shipping containers and 80 per cent of the world's ship-to-shore cranes and bagged 48 per cent of the world's shipbuilding orders in 2020. The country also boasts of world's second-largest fleet of commercial shipping vessels and, if the US Naval Intelligence is to be believed, China has surpassed the US in terms of total battle-force ships. As a matter of fact, Beijing either controls or has major investments in all 15 of the world's top 15 ports by container volume. Apart from this massive domestic shipping infrastructure, China has control over 100 ports spread across 63 countries and is looking for more. Radio Free Asia has reported that China is building a new military base at Bata on the West Coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean in Equatorial Guinea (EQG). The US is concerned over this development as the Chinese military presence is opposite the east coast of America. According to the World Bank, EQG is "well endowed with arable land and mineral/hydro-carbon resources ranging from timber oil, gold, uranium, diamond, bauxite and columbite-tantalite." In another recent opinion piece published by the Daily Mail, the experts pointed out that, of the 96 ports owned by Chinese companies around the world, several are at key locations for maritime trade, "giving Beijing strategic dominance without having to deploy a single soldier, ship or weapons." It is estimated that China now controls almost one-tenth of port capacity in Europe and the Mediterranean. The "Big Three" terminals operators, China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), China Merchants Group (CMG), and CK Hutchison Holdings are the key stakeholders in overseas ports with over 80 per cent of ports under their control. The first two are state-owned enterprises, while CK Hutchison is a private company based in Hong Kong with close ties to mainland China. Notably, China's Maritime Silk Road and BRI converge at the Greek Port and President Xi had personally pushed for the port with Greek leadership. Another Chinese shipping company, COSCO is poised to expand its footprint in Europe by taking a stake in the port of Hamburg which, if the ongoing negotiations succeed, would be its eighth port investment in Europe. Citing Radio Free Asia, India-Pacific Defense Forum reported that for years the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been funding the expansion of the maritime vessels to assert its claims in the South China Sea. (ANI)
John Lee, the only candidate for Hong Kong's top post, has been elected for the sixth term as the chief executive of the city-state. He was elected as the sixth-term chief executive designate of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday. Lee's appointment is being seen as a move by the Chinese government to tighten its grip on the city. During his over-30-year career in the Hong Kong police force, Lee held various posts including chief superintendent, assistant commissioner, senior assistant commissioner and deputy commissioner of police. "As Hong Kong's secretary for security--and therefore one of Beijing's right-hand men in Hong Kong--during the 2019 protests against an extradition bill, Lee showed blatant disregard for people's safety," said Maya Wang, Senior China Researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW). Lee has repeatedly shielded the police from accountability, according to HRW. Regarding public calls for an independent investigation into police brutality, he maintained that the existing complaints mechanism - one that is part of the Police Force - is adequate. According to Wang, this performance has yielded him two promotions: first as the city's chief secretary, and now, as the city's chief executive. This is seemingly in conflict with Hong Kong public opinion polls, which have consistently shown that over 80 per cent of people support an independent commission of inquiry to look into police misconduct. The China Researcher went on to argue that Beijing's selection of an abusive former police official heightens concerns of an expansion of its repressive policies in the city. "Chillingly, Lee is well-known for having praised Beijing's severe abuses in Xinjiang against the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims under the guise of countering terrorism--which Human Rights Watch found amounted to crimes against humanity." According to Lee, these abusive policies are "worthy of consideration" for Hong Kong as the city faces a "growing" threat of "domestic terrorism." Since Beijing imposed the first dreaded security law or the National Security Law in June 2020, it has aggressively dismantled the city's freedoms. The law has decapitated the pro-democracy movement, arrested hundreds of protesters, shut down outspoken media, civil society groups, and businesses, and otherwise created a climate of fear. "In showing nothing but disdain for Hong Kong people's rights, and in choosing a person with an abusive record to take the reins over a city already reeling with rights violations, Beijing continues to push many Hong Kong people--who once trusted it--into thinking that their future is incompatible with that of the Chinese government," Wang said. (ANI)
Amid the economic crisis in the country, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka's former Prime Minister and leader of the United National Party, said in a meeting on Saturday that Sri Lanka requires a complete system change with the help of the nation's youth. In a meeting attended by a group of youngsters at the UNP headquarters in Sirikotha, Wickremesinghe spoke about the current condition of Sri Lanka, reported the Colombo Page. He said that the island country currently has less than USD 25 million in reserves. He further pointed out that due to tax cuts by the Sri Lankan government, it has lost Rs. 800 billion. Wickremesinghe explained in the meeting that a change in the system can be brought to the country through a new approach to education. He added that youngsters in the country should have full financial support for their educational ventures. Accompanied by the systematic change, the political sphere must witness changes as well. The former Sri Lankan Prime Minister also emphasized the importance of addressing the cost of the political establishment, reported the Colombo Page. Further, Wickremesinghe added that both education along with the workforce of Sri Lanka "must adapt to all changes" so that the middle class of the country can face a resurgence. "To achieve this we must bring in a new iron framework for a national policy. It may change governments from time to time, but it does not change the direction of the country. This is how countries like India and Japan operate today," said Wickremesinghe. Further, the former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka urged that committees could collaborate with youngsters to observe how the latter's recommendations work for the benefit of the country. In addition, Wickremesinghe expressed hope that this might create news leaders through the new economy, reported the Colombo Page. In conclusion, Wickremesinghe stated that the ongoing economic crisis, no-confidence motions, and constitutional amendments regarding Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa must be resolved soon enough. He insisted that the Sri Lankan government should decrease unnecessary expenditure and instead provide relief to the Sri Lankan people reeling under food shortages. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices, and power cuts affecting a large number of the people. The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. (ANI)
The Navy vessels arrived in Saudi Arabia as part of a five-nation overseas deployment and will stay in the country for four days, the Indian Navy informed in a statement.

During this visit, Captain Aftab Ahmed Khan, senior officer, First Training Squadron along with commanding officers of the accompanying Indian ships called on Rear Admiral Yahya Bin Mohammed Al-Assiri, Western Fleet Commander of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, the statement read.

The statement also added that issues of bilateral Naval cooperation and training initiatives between the two countries were discussed during the meeting between officers.

Jeddah is a port city situated on the coast of the Red Sea, located between the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aden.

Notably, the Indian Navy routinely conducts anti-piracy operations in the region, with the Navy's INS Kolkata recently visiting Djibouti from May 4-7 as part of an anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden.

Indian Navy warships have been deployed in the Gulf of Aden since October 2008 for an anti-piracy patrol to ensure the safe transit of merchant vessels, the Navy informed in a statement on Twitter. (ANI)
The former Chinese official was also fined one million yuan (USD 150,000), a court in Beijing announced on Saturday as per Global Times.

According to the court, Wang took bribes worth about 2.2 million yuan from two institutes and 11 lawyers during the period of serving as an assistant judge at the Supreme People's Court from 2008 to 2018.

In a similar case earlier, the former vice president of China Development Bank was indicted for corruption.

He Xingxiang, former vice president of China Development Bank, has been indicted on charges of taking bribes. He has also been charged with issuing financial bills and granting loans illegally, and concealing overseas bank deposits, as per media reports on Friday.

Prosecutors have accused He of taking advantage of his positions to seek benefits for enterprises and individuals and accepting a huge amount of money and valuables in return.

He was also accused of issuing financial bills in serious violation of regulations and granting a huge amount of loans in violation of state regulations.

The top official also concealed large amounts of overseas bank deposits, according to Xinhua. (ANI)
"The much-awaited Quatre Bornes to Phoenix segment of the India-Mauritius Flagship Metro Express project was launched today by Prime Minister," Indian High Commission in Mauritius tweeted.

"The new stations will bring the safe, timely & transformative Metro Project to a larger number of Mauritian people and make a difference to their daily commute. Progressing towards Curepipe and Mahatma Gandhi station," the High Commission said in another tweet.

Earlier in January, India and Mauritius exchanged two key bilateral agreements including an agreement for the extension of a USD 190 million Line of Credit from the Indian government for the Metro Express and other infrastructure projects.

Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, India-Mauritius Development Partnership projects have progressed rapidly.

In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Jugnauth had jointly inaugurated the Metro Express project and the New ENT Hospital in Mauritius in virtual mode.

Likewise, in July 2020, the new Supreme Court Building of Mauritius was also inaugurated virtually by the two Prime Ministers. (ANI)
UN chief Antonio Guterres aired his concerns about a recent decision by the Taliban to obligate Afghan women to cover head-to-toe, a decision that has led to severe criticism from human rights observers. The Taliban-led government on Saturday issued a decree making the hijab compulsory for women when being in public. "I'm alarmed by today's announcement by the Taliban that women must cover their faces in public and leave home only in cases of necessity. I once again urge the Taliban to keep their promises to Afghan women [and] girls, and their obligations under international human rights law," Guterres tweeted on Sunday. Wearing a burqa, head-to-toe body clothing with a thin veil that leaves the eyes uncovered, was advised but not mandatory. Women working in government agencies who break this rule will be dismissed, and the same measure will be applied to men if their wives or daughters do not follow the dress code. Step by step Taliban is obliterating Afghan women's human rights, UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett said a day after the Taliban issued the latest edict on making full-body veil a mandatory compounding with restrictions on education, movement, employment and public life. "Step by step Taliban is obliterating Afghan women's human rights with the latest edict on mandatory face coverings compounding restrictions on education, movement, employment and public life. There must be consequences for human rights violations - time for the int comm to act," said Richard Bennett said in a tweet. Unrecognized by most of the international community, the Taliban-led government has committed to respecting the human rights and rights of women. The UN mission in Afghanistan has expressed concern about the announcement, saying that this decision contradicts numerous assurances regarding respect for and protection of all Afghans' human rights, including those of women and girls. "Today's decision by the Taliban might further strain engagement with the international community. UNAMA will immediately request meetings with the Taliban de facto authorities to seek clarification on the status of this decision," the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a tweet. (ANI)
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said he regretted that "dirty politics" kept the facility of Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) non-operational for two years and brought it to a grinding halt. He made these remarks while inaugurating the Saleem Memorial Trust Hospital in Lahore, Dawn reported. "Only politics and dirty politics kept the hospital non-operational for two years. It came to a grinding halt," he said, asking "what could be a bigger travesty for the poor," Sharif said. Pakistan Prime Minister said that PKLI was established on the same "analogy" and billions of rupees were invested in it. He further said that he wanted it to become Pakistan's John Hopkins. Shehbaz Sharif asserted that PKLI is a 'World Class Hospital' but still the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has neglected it, Dawn reported. "Without going into any kind of blame game, just because it was built under our watch, this hospital that was meant to serve thousands and thousands from all over Pakistan [...] eminent doctors physicians and surgeons came, but what happened after the government changed is a sorrowful tale. I am not here to tell that tale," Shehbaz Sharif added. Pakistan Prime Minister further said that it was ultimately people's money which was at stake. He also said that the income left over after the divisible pool primarily went towards debt servicing and defence spending. Shehbaz Sharif pointed out that when he inaugurated the PKLI in May 2018, five transplants had already been done. He also recalled how the wife of one of the patients had told him that their life has changed due to the free-of-cost treatment, according to Dawn. Shehbaz Sharif said when he was the Punjab Chief Minister in 2008, he made sure to expand the scope of Rescue 1122 and said that it was a great initiative taken by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid's (PML-Q) Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. "It was such a great initiative that I expanded it to the whole province. Because it was not [about] Parvez Elahi, it was about patients in this country and serving the common man in this country. It's about that," he added. PM Shehbaz also paid tribute to all those involved in establishing the hospital which would benefit millions of patients in the future, reported Dawn. (ANI)
In a rare statement, the media wing of the Pakistan military said "unsubstantiated, defamatory and provocative statements" were extremely damaging.

"Recently there has been intensified and deliberate attempts to drag Pakistan Armed Forces and their leadership in ongoing political discourse in the country," said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement.

"These attempts are manifest through direct, insinuated or nuanced references to Armed Forces as well as their senior leadership, made by some political leaders, a few journalists and analysts on public forums and various communication platforms including social media," the ISPR added.

According to the Pakistan military, this practice of unsubstantiated, defamatory and provocative statements/remarks is extremely damaging.

"Pakistan Armed Forces take strong exception to such unlawful and unethical practice and expect all to abide by the law and keep the Armed Forces out of political discourse in the best interest of the country," it added.

The role of the Pakistan military came under the scanner in the wake of Imran Khan's ouster last month. Trends against the Pakistan armed forces and its leadership saw intense activity on social media platforms, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Pakistan Army last month claimed that there was a "recent propaganda" campaign by some quarters to malign the country's military.

This statement was issued after the 79th Formation Commanders' Conference held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

This high-level meeting was attended by the country's army's corps commanders, principal staff officers, and Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa. (ANI)
EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell Fontelles on Sunday expressed regret over the election of John Lee as the new Chief Executive of Hong Kong and said his appointment violates the democratic norms of the city-state. "Election of Chief Executive violates democratic principles and political pluralism in Hong Kong. The selection process is yet another step in the dismantling of the 'one country, two systems' principle Chinese & Hong Kong authorities should abide by their national and international commitments," Borrell tweeted. Hong Kong's Election Committee has selected John Lee Ka-chiu, the sole candidate for the post of Chief Executive on May 8. This was the first selection process since the imposition of the National Security Law and the implementation of sweeping changes in Hong Kong's electoral system. Preceding his selection, Lee was vetted by the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee, and nominated by 786 of the 1461 members of the revamped Election Committee. The number of voters on the Election Committee was substantially reduced by the electoral overhaul, weakening the already limited democratic elements in the governance of Hong Kong, and running counter to the commitments to greater representation enshrined in the Basic Law. "The European Union regrets this violation of democratic principles and political pluralism and sees this selection process as yet another step in the dismantling of the 'one country, two systems' principle," the European Council said in a statement. According to the statement, the European Union attaches great importance to the preservation of Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy as well as respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including media freedom, democratic principles and the rule of law, in line with the Basic Law and with international commitments. The EU called on Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to abide by their national and international commitments, notably the ultimate aim of electing the Chief Executive and members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage. A Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher said that Beijing's selection of an abusive former police official heightens concerns of an expansion of its repressive policies in the city. "Chillingly, Lee is well-known for having praised Beijing's severe abuses in Xinjiang against the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims under the guise of countering terrorism--which Human Rights Watch found amounted to crimes against humanity," said Maya Wang, Senior China Researcher at HRW. (ANI)
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been attempting for decades to suppress and ultimately eradicate the Tibetan language using means like forcing children to study in colonial style boarding schools and arresting teachers, even as the locals resist the subversion attempt, a media report said. More than 800,000 Tibetan students have been forcibly put into Chinese colonial boarding schools. In these schools, the instruction language is Mandarin, and children are politically indoctrinated, Tibet Rights Collective said citing a Tibet Action Institute report. An interference with education is a key part of Xi Jinping's brutal campaign against Tibetans in order to attempt to replace their identity, further confirming that the CCP policies are continuing to provide a grave risk to the survival of the Tibetan language, the report said. The Tibetans have been resisting the forced attempt at suppression of their language and culture, with large scale protests by all sections of the Tibetan society. Back in 2010, at least 1,000 ethnic Tibetan students in China protested against what they called the erosion of their culture and language, the report said citing BBC. The students were angered by changes to their education policy, limiting the use of the Tibetan language, and were told that all textbooks and subjects will be in Mandarin Chinese, aside from Tibetan and English language classes. Fast-forward to 2018, Tibetan activist Tashi Wangchuk made the headlines when he was sentenced by the Chinese authorities to five years in prison for "inciting separatism" after appearing in a documentary by the New York Times. The documentary highlighted Wangchuk's work on protecting his culture and his concerns that Tibetan language education was being heavily repressed by the Chinese Communist Party, the report said. Earlier this year in February, a university student, Choedon was arrested after teaching the Tibetan language to children in Yamda during the school holidays. Choedon had no prior criminal record, nor did the authorities have any evidence of any wrongdoing being committed by the student, the report said, adding that, she has not been seen since. A similar case occurred on 1 August 2021, when Tibetan teacher, Richen Kyi, was detained at her home. Following a lengthy campaign, including international pressure from United Nations special experts, Rinchen Kyi was released and quietly returned to her home by police on April 24 this year, the report said. Describing the narrow-mindedness of the Chinese in deliberately attempting to erase the Tibetan language, Dalai Lama in a 2017 interview said that it would be impossible for the CCP to achieve its aim, the report said. He went on to say that because of the fact that the Chinese and Tibetans both have an ancient culture, for harmony and stability to succeed one must respect peoples' culture and language, otherwise, it gets very difficult, the report said. (ANI)
The protestors hooted at the Prime Minister when his motorcade was leaving the premises of a Buddhist temple in Anuradhpura, reported the Daily Mirror.

The protesters asked him to resign from his position as Sri Lanka's Prime Minister. Further, they made fun of him, asking if he was wearing clothes. However, the police, who were deployed outside the temple, barred the group of protesters from venturing close to the motorcade.

Meanwhile, Mahinda Rajapaksa, at a special cabinet meeting on Saturday at the President's House, had agreed to resign from his post as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Mahinda's decision was based upon Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa's request for him to step down following Mahinda's inability to curb the deepening economic crisis in the island country.

However, it is yet unclear how Mahinda Rajapaksa's departure would affect political developments in Sri Lanka, reported the Daily Mirror.

Sri Lanka is struggling with acute food and electricity shortages, forcing the country to seek help from its neighbours. The recession is attributed to foreign exchange shortages caused by a clampdown on tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The country is unable to buy sufficient fuel and gas, while the people are being deprived of basic amenities as well.

The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. (ANI)
Amid a devastating economic crisis, Afghanistan received USD 32 million in humanitarian assistance on Sunday, the country's central bank informed while appreciating the humanitarian assistance of the international community. "Following a series of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, a shipment of humanitarian aid worth 32 million dollars reached Afghanistan on Sunday. The cash aid was delivered to a commercial bank," Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) said in a statement, Xinhua reported. The central bank welcomed "the arrival of currencies into the country through principled and legal means," the report said, adding that the Afghan central bank also called for better relations with its partners in the financial and banking sectors. Last week, the central bank informed that Afghanistan has received over USD 760 million in cash as humanitarian assistance from the international community in recent times. The aim of the international aid has been to prevent widespread poverty and food shortages in the country hit by a devastating humanitarian crisis since the Taliban takeover in August last year. The Taliban regime has asked the international community to "provide humanitarian assistance in coordination with the institutions of the Islamic Emirate," Tolo News reported. The United Nations (UN) has been at the forefront of providing cash assistance to Afghanistan by delivering cash to the Afghan Central bank. Recently, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the international community to create conditions conducive to injecting liquidity into the economy of the crisis-struck country. He also highlighted the UN's efforts in helping Afghanistan by bringing banknotes amounting to USD 500 million by plane into the country. Afghanistan is grappling with a serious humanitarian crisis as according to international assessments, Afghanistan has now the highest number of people in emergency food insecurity in the world, with more than 23 million in need of assistance, and approximately 95 per cent of the population having insufficient food consumption. Notably, the situation of human rights in Afghanistan has worsened since the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban's return to power in August last year. Although the fighting in the country has ended, serious human rights violations continue unabated. (ANI)
In a statement issued earlier, the Prime Minister directed the relief teams to deliver food, medicines, and emergency supplies to the affected areas. He also ordered the authorities to ensure the protection of lives and property of people and their evacuation to safer places, Dawn newspaper reported.

Hunza's Hassanabad bridge on the Karakoram Highway has swept away on Saturday. Footage making rounds on social media showed the large wave of water sweeping away a chunk of the bridge as onlookers ran for safety.

Regarding the collapse of a bridge on the Karakoram Highway, Pakistan Prime Minister asked the officials to prepare an alternative route, reported Dawn.

"The prime minister ordered the rehabilitation of two power plants -- 700 megawatts and 250MW -- on a war footing," the statement added.

Shehbaz Sharif issued directions to the federal agencies to provide full support to the Gilgit-Baltistan government.

The glacier flood not only caused harm to the bridge but also submerged houses, hundreds of canals of agricultural land, trees, water supply channels, and two hydropower projects, reported Dawn.

It also damaged the road which gives access between central and upper Hunz, leaving thousands of people, including tourists, stranded on both sides.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani spoke with the media on Sunday about the extent of the damage.

He said that the floodwaters of Shisper Glacier were estimated to be 8,000 cusecs at the time of the lake outburst. "The floodwaters have damaged the bridge, Karakoram water supply and underground cable network," he added. (ANI)
Tel Aviv [Israel], May 8 (ANI/Sputnik): The Israeli government is the only authority entitled to rule on matters pertaining to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and no foreign interference will be tolerated, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday. "And of course, all decisions regarding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem will be made by the Government of Israel, which is sovereign in the city, without any extraneous considerations whatsoever. We certainly reject any foreign involvement in the decisions of the Government of Israel," Bennett said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. Bennett reaffirmed that Jerusalem welcomes and respects worshipers of all religions and will continue to do so. The security situation in Israel has deteriorated in recent weeks. Temple Mount, a sacred place of worship in Christianity, Islam and Judaism, located in the Old City of Jerusalem, has seen a spike of riots and clashes between the Israeli police and Palestinians. (ANI/Sputnik)
Athens [Greece], May 8 (ANI/Sputnik): The Greek coast guard said on Sunday that 106 illegal migrants were found having reached the Greek island of Kos in the southeastern Aegean Sea after their boat sank. The coast guard carried out a search and rescue operation on Saturday night after being informed that a half-sunken sailboat had been detected northwest of Kos, close to a cliff. When coast guards arrived, 106 people from the boat -- including 72 men, 14 women, and 20 children -- had already reached ashore. None of the sailboat's passengers went missing. The migrants appeared to be of various nationalities; all of them have been transported to the Kos identification centre, the agency added. Migrants have been arriving in Greece en mass, mainly from the Turkish territory, for years. Athens accuses Ankara of exploiting migrants as political leverage in a decades-long territorial dispute between the countries, while Ankara says Athens violates international humanitarian law and applies force against migrants and refugees. (ANI/Sputnik)
Ukrainian fighters vowed to continue their fighting against the Russian armed forces at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. "Surrendering is unacceptable for us. And chances of surviving for us if we surrender to Russians tends to zero," Illia Samoilenko of Ukraine's Azov Regiment said at an online news conference, CNN reported. He said that there are "dozens" of civilians still inside the plant. The Ukrainian fighters called on the international community to help in evacuating the injured soldiers from the plant, which is the last holdout from Russian forces in the port city, reported CNN. A day earlier, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defence Control Center said that the humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol concluded due to unprecedented measures by Russia with 51 people, including 11 children, having been rescued, Sputnik News Agency reported. "Thanks to the unprecedented measures taken by the Russian Federation leadership, (and) with the active participation of the United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross officials, the humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steel and ironworks has ended today. For the duration of the operation (from May 5, 2022), we have managed to rescue 51 people (18 men, 22 women and 11 children), including one person on May 7, 2022," Mizintsev said. On March 7, forces of the Donetsk People's Republic surrounded Mariupol and began a liberation campaign, with the remaining fighters of the nationalist Azov battalion now hiding in the underground tunnels of the Azovstal plant. Notably, Russia launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, which the West has termed an unwarranted war. As a result of this, the western countries have also imposed several crippling sanctions on Moscow. (ANI)
His announcement was made in public remarks shortly after two Palestinians suspected of killing three Israelis in a knife attack were arrested earlier in the day.

Bennett noted that Israel was entering "a new stage in the war on terrorism," and the need for a national guard is "more urgent than ever."

The new guard will be deployed throughout the country to enable them respond quickly to emergency even before the arrival of police forces, he said.

Comprised of border police units along with reservists and volunteers trained for the tasks, the guard "will be activated in emergencies and disturbances, and in routine times as well, as necessary," he noted.

Bennett said he had instructed the National Security Council and the Ministry of Public Security to present the government with a budgeted plan to establish the new guard by the end of May.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli security forces said after a three-day manhunt, the two suspects were captured in a forest near Elad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish city where they killed three men and injured four others on Israel's Independence Day on Thursday.

The incident came amid heightened tensions over a string of clashes between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli police in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in recent weeks. (ANI/Xinhua)
He is scheduled to meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to show Canada's support for the country, Toronto Sun reported.

During his surprise visit, Trudeau travelled to the city of Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, and met its Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn.

Markushyn said that Trudeau came to see Irpin with his own eyes and "was shocked" after visiting the homes of local residents who lived peacefully until the Russian military operations, Kyiv Independent reported.

Trudeau's visit comes at a time when US first lady Jill Biden is also on a visit to the war-torn country. Jill visited the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod.

"The motorcade drove through Uzhhorod and arrived at a public school here called School 6. The school is now being used as temporary housing and shelter for 163 displaced Ukrainians, including 47 children," the press pool said.

The US first lady also met with her Ukrainian counterpart, Olena Zelenska, for whom this was the first public appearance since the beginning of Russia's special operation in Ukraine.

Russia started its military operation on February 24 in Ukraine.

This large scale operation has reportedly resulted in a humanitarian crisis, leading to crippling sanctions from Western countries targeting Moscow's high profile individuals and companies. (ANI)
Amid nationwide concerns, China's population of the 10 provincial-level regions have fallen in 2021, according to data released by the statistics authorities. Global Times reported that Heilongjiang province lost 460,000 permanent residents compared with the previous year, the most significant decline nationwide. North China's Hebei and Shanxi and Northwest China's Gansu provinces each lost more than 100,000 people in the same period. China's population reached 1.41 billion as of the end of 2021, up by 480,000 from the previous year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). However, the continuous decline in the number of marriage registrations in China has led to a decline in birth rates, as per reports, which added that it will eventually lead to the world's second-largest economy's demographic issue. Last year, the number of marriages in China fell to a 36-year low, exacerbating the world's second-largest economy's demographic issue. As per the data, analysts predict this will contribute to the country's dropping birth rate. According to the seventh nationwide census of 2020, China's population on the mainland has grown by 0.53 per cent annually on average in the past decade. China's birthrate has been in decline since 2017, despite easing of the 'one-child policy' in order to avert an incoming demographic crisis. Last year, Beijing issued a new Population and Family Planning Law that allows Chinese couples to have three children, ostensibly responding to couples' unwillingness to have additional children due to rising costs. The decision to allow the third child was implemented after the once-in-a-decade census in 2020 showed that China's population expanded at the slowest rate in history, reaching 1.412 billion people. According to census data, China's demographic issue is predicted to worsen as the over 60 years old increased by 18.7 per cent to 264 million people. China's overall population has grown 5.8 per cent since 2000, from 1.27 billion to 1.34 billion, compared to a pace of 11.7 per cent, nearly twice, during the 1990 and 2000 censuses (Hvistendahl, 2011), The Singapore Post had reported. (ANI)
Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has been engaged in military drills intensively over the past few days in the Philippine Sea to the east of the island of Taiwan and south of Japan. With the Liaoning aircraft carrier group to Taiwan's east, the PLA also dispatched an increased number of different types of warplanes and additional warships from the Chinese mainland west of the island of Taiwan, Global times reported citing analysts. After reports that PLA Navy flotilla, consisting of the aircraft carrier Liaoning, a Type 055 large destroyer, three Type 052D destroyers, a Type 052C destroyer, a Type 054A frigate and a Type 901 comprehensive supply ship, sailed from the East China Sea through the Miyako Strait to the Pacific Ocean on May 2, Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff released monitoring reports for four consecutive days from Wednesday to Saturday. It said the carrier group conducted intensive, cross-day-and-night carrier-based aircraft training with live munitions in the Philippine Sea east of the island of Taiwan and south of Japan from Tuesday to Friday, Global Times reported. Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan despite the separate two sides being governed separately for more than seven decades. Taipei continues to counter the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US. (ANI)
Sri Lanka has been reeling under an unprecedented economic crisis that has spiralled into largescale protests, calling for the ouster of Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Sri Lankan Finance Ministry on Sunday said that President of the AIIB Jin Liqun met with Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry virtually.

Sri Lanka's envoy to China Palitha Kohona and Secretary to the Treasury Mahinda Siriwardena along with Finance Ministry officials also took part in the meeting.

A discussion was held on the current areas of cooperation and also the managing of the present situation, Sri Lanka's Newswire reported.

Liqun reiterated AIIB's commitment to supporting Sri Lanka and stated that he was confident Sri Lanka will overcome the current issues that it is facing.

"A discussion was held regarding immediate emergency support to Sri Lanka and Liqun stated that AIIB was considering the granting of USD 100 million to Sri Lanka in principle and he will discuss it further with the Board," the Sri Lanka Finance Ministry said in a statement.

"A discussion was also held regarding the medium to long term support to Sri Lanka. Minister Ali Sabry discussed the need for FOREX liquidity support for the state banks of Sri Lanka and requested if such can be provided by AIIB," the statement added.

Sri Lanka is struggling with acute food and electricity shortages, forcing the country to seek help from its neighbours.

The country is unable to buy sufficient fuel and gas, while the people are being deprived of basic amenities as well. (ANI)
China is closely monitoring Russia's conflict in Ukraine which is affecting Chinese leaders' calculations over Taiwan, said CIA Director Bill Burns, adding that Beijing was looking "carefully at what lessons they should draw" for Taiwan. Speaking at an event in Washington on Saturday, the US intelligence agency chief said that China was also dismayed by "the fact that what Putin has done is driving Europeans and Americans closer together". "It strikes us . . . that Xi Jinping is a little bit unsettled by the reputational damage that can come to China by the association with the brutishness of Russia's aggression against Ukrainians [and] unsettled certainly by the economic uncertainty that's been produced by the war," Burns was quoted as saying by Financial Times. Xi's "main focus" was on "predictability", he added. Burns argued that the Ukraine conflict may have affected Being calculation on Taiwan but it has not eroded Xi's determination overtime to gain control over the self governed island. "I don't for a minute think that it's eroded Xi's determination overtime to gain control over Taiwan," although it was "affecting their calculation", Burns said. According to Burns, China was the biggest geopolitical challenge the US face over the long term even though the threat from Putin's Russia could not be underestimated. "[Putin] demonstrates in a very disturbing way that declining powers can be at least as disruptive as rising one," Burns said. Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite decades of separate governance. Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war. (ANI)
Two bodies were found and as many as sixty people have been feared dead in an airstrike carried out by the Russian forces on Saturday on a school in Luhansk, said a media report citing a local official. The governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hayday on Sunday said that the two bodies were found in the debris and the chances of finding anyone still alive inside the school are very bleak. On Saturday, when the school was bombed by the Russian aircraft, atleast 90 people were sheltering in the school, and around 30 people were rescued from the debris, out of which seven were reported to be injured, Hayday told CNN Media. "The explosion happened inside the building. Rescuers are dismantling the debris as quickly as possible. The bodies of two people were found in the debris. The chances of finding anyone still alive are very small. There were 90 people inside the school building; 27 survived, and 60 people most likely died," said Hayday in a Telegram post. He further said that a Russian aircraft on Saturday dropped a bomb on the school in the village of Bilohorivka, which is some seven miles from the frontlines, CNN reported. The media report further said, citing Hayday, "Almost the entire village was hiding. For everyone who did not evacuate, after the social club was hit, the basement of the school was the only place of salvation, but the Russians took this chance from people." The strike hit the school at around 4:37 p.m., local time on Saturday. Hayday said that it took almost four hours to extinguish the fire caused after the strike. He added that the rescue operation is underway. (ANI)
The move came after PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz lodged a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against fake and objectionable photos of her floating on social media, Dawn reported.

The PML-N leader said she was waiting for action over the malicious social media campaign against her. In a tweet posted, she said she had reported the matter to the authorities and was waiting for action.

Post the Interior Ministry's directive, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) tweeted a warning that the "FIA has taken notice of fake videos running on social media. An investigation has been launched. Strict legal action in the shape of imprisonment & fines will be taken against the persons involved in making, spreading these videos. People are advised to stop sharing these videos."

However, there has been no confirmation of any action taken by the federal government till Friday evening, reported the Dawn newspaper.

The crackdown was announced soon after former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan claimed that his political opponents had hired companies for defaming his character. Earlier, the newly-appointed Interior Minister of Pakistan Rana Sanaulla had also tweeted that those uploading unethical content on social media will be arrested.

Meanwhile, some experts have heavily criticized the cybercrime control mechanism of Pakistan, reported the Dawn newspaper. The experts have urged the Pakistan government that the FIA'S cybercrime unit should be revamped. (ANI)
During a public meeting in Mianwali on Friday, Imran Khan said that he liked to be called Imran Niazi by the "dacoits", The News International reported on Sunday.

On August 20, 2018, two days after his election as the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Division issued a notification saying that then Prime Minister had directed that his name should be written in all the official communications as Imran Khan, not his full name Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi.

The office memorandum was issued with the signature of Cabinet Division Secretary Fazal Abbas Maikan, as per the Pakistani publication.

Many times it has been seen that Imran Khan takes his words back or makes contradictory claims.

Earlier, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman had made a U-turn over his "foreign conspiracy" letter-- the allegations that he made that the US and the country's Opposition were hand-in-glove to remove him from power.(ANI)
Union Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan on Sunday met Qatar's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, H.E Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi in Doha during his first official visit to the country. MoS, with his counterpart, held discussions on various topics related to the development of both countries. "Delighted to meet Qatar's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, H.E Mr Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi in Doha. Had a productive discussion on Energy, Trade, Investment, Education, P2P contacts and diaspora welfare. Confident that the partnership will continue to clock newer heights," tweeted Union Minister. The Union Minister is on an official visit to Qatar from May 8-10. On reaching Doha, he tweeted, "Happy to be in Doha on my first official visit, Significant, as India and Qatar mark 50 years of diplomatic relations. Look forward to my interactions with the Leadership and Indian community." Earlier, in a statement, the external affairs ministry (MEA) said, "During the visit, MoS will hold discussions with his counterpart Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hassan bin Abdulla Al-Ghanim, Speaker of the Shura Council, and other Qatari dignitaries." MoS will also meet a wide cross-section of the Indian community in Qatar, including those working in areas of community welfare, business, health, culture, education, engineering, accountancy, and Indian veterans. He will be participating in Labour Day celebrations with the blue-collar workers from India. The Indian community will host a reception and a cultural event to mark Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav during the visit of MOS. MEA said that the visit of the Minister of State for External Affairs would add to the momentum of the multifaceted bilateral cooperation. Both countries share excellent bilateral relations ranging across - political, economic, defence, cultural and educational fields, which have further strengthened in the past few years. The leadership of both countries has maintained close contact during the Covid-19 pandemic. Qatar is home to over 700,000 Indians. The bilateral trade crossed USD 15 billion in FY 2021-22 and Qatar's investments in India have increased five folds over the past two years. Both countries will be celebrating the golden jubilee of the establishment of full diplomatic relations in 2023. (ANI)
This planned reopening embassy is in line with a pledge made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his most recent visit to Kyiv.

"The Secretary informed Foreign Minister Kuleba that our Charge d'Affaires Kristina Kvien and a small group of diplomats, accompanied by State Department security, travelled to Kyiv to conduct diplomatic engagement in advance of the planned resumption of Embassy Kyiv operations," US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

Blinken spoke by phone today with Kuleba to commemorate Ukraine's Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation to recognize the sacrifices of those lost in World War II.

The US State Secretary also shared additional detail of new security assistance packages to support Ukraine's gains on the battlefield, including the ninth drawdown from U.S. stocks authorized by US President Joe Biden.

Blinken emphasized the US' enduring commitment to Ukraine and its ultimate victory against Russian aggression, Price said.

This call comes as US first lady Jill Biden reached Ukraine on a surprise visit to the war-torn country. Jill visited the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod.

The US first lady also met with her Ukrainian counterpart, Olena Zelenska, for whom this was the first public appearance since the beginning of Russia's special operation in Ukraine.

Russia started its military operation in Ukraine on February 24. This large scale operation has reportedly resulted in a humanitarian crisis, leading to crippling sanctions from Western countries targeting Moscow's high profile individuals and companies. (ANI)
Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi's visit to Panama, Honduras and Chile provided fresh momentum to India's relations with these countries in central and south America, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Sunday. Issuing a press release to summarise MoS Lekhi's visit to the South American countries from April 28-May 5, MEA informed about the bilateral interactions, agreements and the evens attended by the MoS. During her visit to Panama from April 28-May 1, MoS Lekhi met Erika Mouynes, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama and held bilateral discussions during which Janaina Tewaney, a Minister of Government of Panama was also present. An agreement on Gainful Employment for dependents of officials of diplomatic mission/post was signed between India and Panama. The two sides also agreed to explore greater cooperation through the India-SICA (Central American Integration System) framework and in the multilateral fora, the statement said. MoS Lekhi also visited the Panama Canal along with Minister for Canal Administration, Aristides Royo. She also visited Colon Free Trade Zone, the largest FTZ in the Americas and was briefed on the FTZ and possible areas for cooperation with India. She met with Panama based Indian entrepreneurs and visited their showrooms in the FTZ. In addition, Lekhi led the curtain-raiser for International Day of Yoga 2022 at the iconic Cinta Costera. The MoS also visited a Hindu temple in Panama, participated in a traditional Garba and planted an Ashoka tree. She also interacted with members of the Indian community, the largest in Latin America numbering 15,000, MEA informed. During the second leg of her visit, MoS Lekhi visited Honduras from May 1-3 and called on the President of Honduras Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento. She also met the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Honduras Antonio Garcia and discussed various bilateral, regional and international issues. Along with Minister of Agriculture Laura Suazo, MoS Lekhi laid the foundation stone for the USD 26.5 million Jamastran Valley Irrigation project, funded by the Government of India through a Line of Credit. The project is estimated to irrigate 3,060 hectares of land and benefit about 1200 farmers. She also addressed more than 300 students, faculties and academicians at the largest private University of Honduras (UNITEC) on "75 years of India's growth story" as part of an "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" event. In the final leg of her visit, Lekhi visited Chile from May 3-5, holding meetings with Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola Noguera. The two countries agreed to speed up their respective internal processes to facilitate the early conclusion of bilateral agreements for cooperation in pharma, space, renewable energy and for the empowerment of persons with disabilities. They also agreed to work closely in the Pacific Alliance and the multilateral fora, given their common values and principles. The MoS also met Chilean Minister for Culture, Arts and Heritage, Julieta Brodsky Hernandez; Speaker of Chilean Chamber of Deputies, Raul Soto; and the President of India-Chile parliamentary friendship group, Ms Ciccardini. In a meeting with Chilean Federation of Industries (SOFOFA), MoS Lekhi discussed the growing bilateral cooperation in trade & investments, opportunities for Chilean companies & advantages of doing business with India. She also interacted with the Indian community in Chile and inaugurated a Khadi and Ayurveda exhibition and planted a tree as part of the India @75 "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" celebrations. She also participated in a curtain-raiser event for International Day of Yoga 2022 in Chile. The recently concluded visit was MoS Lekhi's first to these countries. Earlier she had visited Colombia in September last year. (ANI)
Bangladesh's Meteorological Department on Sunday issued an alert over an intensifying storm in the Bay of Bengal, which is moving northwestwards towards its coastline. "The well-marked Low over Southeast Bay and adjoining South Andaman Sea moved northwestwards, intensified into a Depression, that further intensified into a Cyclonic storm ASANI over Southeast Bay and adjoining area," a Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) bulletin read as reported by Xinhua. The bulletin further said that the storm is likely to intensify further and move in a northwesterly direction. Thundershowers with intense lightning flashes and temporary gusty wind are likely to occur in places in Bangladesh, the bulletin said as per Xinhua. The effect of the building up cyclone is being already felt with squally weather over the North Bay, adjoining the coastal area of Bangladesh and the maritime ports. The fishing boats and trawlers over in the Bay of Bengal have been advised to remain close to the coast and proceed with caution till further notice, the report said, adding that they are also advised not to venture into the deep sea. Bangladeshi State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md Enamur Rahman had earlier told journalists after a meeting on cyclone preparedness in Dhaka that the cyclone may hit parts of Bangladeshi coastlines after hitting northeast India's Odisha and West Bengal states. India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday also said that the cyclonic storm named 'Asani' is expected to further intensify in the next 24 hours. "The deep depression has intensified into a cyclonic storm named 'Asani'. It's moving at 16 kmph in a northwest direction. It is at 970 km in the southeast direction from Vishakapatnam and 1,020 km in the southeast direction from Puri," Senior Scientist, Umashankar Das told ANI. However, the scientist denied the possibility of landfall and said that it will recurve and move parallel to the Odisha coast. Das predicted rainfall by the evening of May 10 and said that a yellow warning has been issued for three districts of Odisha. (ANI)
Condemning Russia's "unprovoked, unjustifiable and illegal military aggression" against Ukraine and the "indiscriminate attacks" against civilians and civilian infrastructure, the G7 countries on Sunday pledged to continue imposing severe and immediate economic costs on President Putin's regime for the "unjustifiable war". The strong statement came after a virtual meeting of the G7 leaders, who were joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The leaders commemorated the end of World War 2 in Europe, which happened on this day in 1945, following the surrender of the German forces to the allied powers. "Seventy-seven years later, President Putin and his regime now chose to invade Ukraine in an unprovoked war of aggression against a sovereign country. His actions bring shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people," the statement read. Accusing Russia of violating the international rules-based order, particularly the UN Charter, the statement called on all "partners to join our (G7's) support for the Ukrainian people and for refugees, and to help Ukraine to rebuild its future." "We reiterate our condemnation of Russia's unprovoked, unjustifiable and illegal military aggression against Ukraine and the indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, which has resulted in terrible humanitarian catastrophe in the heart of Europe," the statement read. "We are appalled by the large-scale loss of human life, assault on human rights, and destruction that Russia's actions have inflicted on Ukraine," the statement added. The statement also highlighted the "unprecedented package of coordinated sanctions" that "has already significantly hindered Russia's war of aggression by limiting access to financial channels and ability to pursue their objectives." "We will continue to impose severe and immediate economic costs on President Putin's regime for this unjustifiable war," the statement said, before announcing the G7's commitment to a list of five measures. "We commit to phase out our dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil. We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies," the statement said. It added that the G7 would work with partner countries to ensure stable and sustainable global energy supplies and affordable prices for consumers as the transition from Russian energy and fossil fuels takes place. Other measures included prohibiting or preventing "the provision of key services on which Russia depends" to isolate Russia's economy, "action against Russian banks connected to the global economy and systemically critical to the Russian financial system" and imposing "sanctions on additional individuals" who support President Putin in his war effort. The G7 countries also pledged to continue their efforts "to fight off the Russian regime's attempts to spread its propaganda." Talking about the economic disruption caused by the war, especially the food crisis, the G7 statement said, "we will address the causes and consequences of the global food crisis through a Global Alliance for Food Security, as our joint initiative to ensure momentum and coordination, and other efforts." The G7 and Ukraine stand united in this difficult time and in their quest to ensure Ukraine's democratic, prosperous future. We remain united in our resolve that President Putin must not win his war against Ukraine, the statement said. Speaking at the conference, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy "underlined the strong resolve of Ukraine to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity," the statement said. "He stated that Ukraine's ultimate aim is to ensure full withdrawal of Russia's military forces and equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine and to secure its ability to protect itself in the future and thanked G7 members for their support," the G7 statement informed. On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, three days after recognising the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as "independent republics". The Russian Ministry of Defense maintains that the operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only. In response, Western nations imposed comprehensive sanctions against Russia. (ANI)
Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is likely to resign this week so that the new cabinet can take over, local media reported. Prime Minister Rajapaksa will brief the local council members of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and then, later on, he will announce his resignation, Colombo Gazette reported. This report came after President Gotbaya Rajapaksa in a special meeting on Friday requested Prime Minister to step down from power as a solution to the ongoing political crisis in the country. Once the Prime Minister resigns, the President is expected to invite all the political parties in Parliament to form an all-party Cabinet, reported Colombo Gazette. Earlier, the opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) confirmed that its leader Sajith Premadasa will not accept the PM's post in an interim government. This comes at a significant juncture as Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa is learned to have responded positively to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's request to quit in the face of the deepening economic crisis. SJB National Organizer Tissa Attsnayake, while speaking with the Sri Lankan media outlet, said, "Premadasa will not accept premiership of an interim government but SJB will give conditional support for an interim government." Meanwhile, on Saturday, SJB also announced that it has decided to support the proposal of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) which stated that the current President must step down and the Executive Presidency must be abolished, as reported by Colombo Gazette. Attorney At-Law Ajith Perera said that the SJB will meet the BASL to further discuss the issue. He further said that the proposals put forward by the BASL are on par with the policy of the SJB. The crisis-hit Sri Lanka on Friday declared a state of emergency after the crippling strike and protest over the external debt for the second time in five weeks. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is struggling with acute food and electricity shortages, forcing the country to seek help from its neighbours. The recession is attributed to foreign exchange shortages caused by a clampdown on tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The country is unable to buy sufficient fuel and gas, while the people are being deprived of basic amenities as well. The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. (ANI)
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday vowed to bring more than 3 million people to Islamabad after May 20 for a protest march, local media reported. Addressing a political gathering in Abbottabad, Imran claimed, "It is my faith that no matter how many containers they will erect, more than 3 million people will reach Islamabad." Imran Khan also said that the present government is afraid of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters' passion. He further said that the PTI supporters would reach Islamabad against the 'imported government', The Express Tribune reported. "This nation will never accept the robbers who came to power through an American conspiracy," Khan further alleged as he tried to recall his conspiracy theory. A day earlier, while addressing the gathering in his hometown Mianwali, Imran Khan announced that he will give a call for the Islamabad march anytime after May 20, reported The Express Tribune. Addressing the Mianwali rally, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman said that the public rally of millions of nationals could not be stopped by anyone including the 'murderer of 18 people' Rana Sanaullah nor PM Shehbaz Sharif, ARY News reported. Khan said that he is beginning Haqeeqi Azad Tehreek (real independence movement) from Mianwali. He also said that the Mianwali people have elected him for the first time and he will never forget them. PTI Chairman said that it is his promise that he will never bow his head in front of any power. He also thanked his political rivals for calling him, Niazi and vowed to continue jihad against the thieves of the nation, reported ARY News. "Yesterday, they [the government] announced to constitute a commission [on lettergate]. The conspiracy was started by the United States (US) and an elected government was toppled by nexus with the Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq," Khan said. (ANI)
A food convoy escorted by a team of army auxiliaries was the target of an armed attack on the Dori-Gorgadji road Saturday morning, during which 10 army auxiliaries and two civilians were killed, said the sources.

No group has claimed responsibility for this attack.

Also on Saturday night, unidentified armed men attacked a prison in northwestern Burkina Faso, the Burkina Information Agency (AIB) reported Sunday.

A group of unidentified armed men burst into the town of Nouna, in the Kossi province of the Boucle du Mouhoun region, around midnight, and fired at the building of the city jail, freeing about 60 prisoners and causing one death as well as extensive material damage, according to the report of the official news agency.

Security in Burkina Faso has worsened since 2015, with terrorist attacks having killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 1 million others in the West African nation. (ANI/Xinhua)
Flour from Punjab has not been coming to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other areas, and dealers could run out of stocks in several regions, local media reported. According to Rambel Gul, the Atta Dealers Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President warned Pakistan that an Atta crisis would hit the country within a few days, reported The Express Tribune. Atta dealers have run out of stocks. Further, the rate of 20 kg flour was hiked by Rs 100 while the rate of 20kg flour bag has gone up to Rs1,400, stated Rambel. He warned that if the Pakistan government failed to resolve this flour issue, Pakistan will soon face an acute Atta crisis. "The government should ensure supply of flour as soon as possible," said Rambel. Wheat production is estimated to fall short by almost three million tonnes this year in Pakistan. The reason for this shortage is reduced area under wheat cultivation, shortage of water and fertilizer, and delay in the announcement of support price. Among other issues are oil price hikes and an earlier-than-usual heatwave. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces are suffering from acute food shortages, according to a report released by the Global Report on Food Crises recently. Pakistan is also estimated to be in the top 10 list of the world's countries facing water scarcity as well. (ANI)
Amidst a devastating economic crisis in Afghanistan, Afghan citizens have complained of an increase in torn currency notes in the markets of Kabul, posing serious hurdles. According to Afghan residents, over 80 per cent of Afghanis are completely worn-out, reported the Tolo news. Moreover, there were hardly any new banknotes available in the market. The frustrated residents complained that they were unaware whether new Afghanis were even printed or not. However, crumbling banknotes were on the hike in transactions. Several Afghan residents have also criticized the way people protect their banknotes, especially the small ones. "No problem would happen if everyone took a wallet for keeping money. The banknotes should be kept in a good way," stated Doos Mohammad, an Afghan resident, as reported by Tolo news. Further, in the opinion of some experts, in order to prevent a lack of viable Afghan banknotes, the Central Bank of Afghanistan must attempt to print new banknotes. "The Central Bank in coordination with Ministry of Foreign Affairs could convince countries ... to print banknotes for Afghanistan," said Ahmad Muneeb Rasa, a political expert. Reportedly, according to a Taliban spokesperson, the needs of Afghanistan have been taken into account by the Afghanistan government. The spokesperson assured that the government would make sure to print new currencies, reported Tolo news. "We will try to print new banknotes. We have no plan to print a lot, but as much is needed," said the Afghan government's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahed. Earlier, Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general spoke on Afghanistan's encounter with a lack of liquidity which might lead to the further downfall of Afghanistan's economic structure, reported the Tolo news. In the meantime, Afghanistan is grappling with a serious humanitarian crisis as according to international assessments, Afghanistan has now the highest number of people in emergency food insecurity in the world, with more than 23 million in need of assistance, and approximately 95 per cent of the population having insufficient food consumption. (ANI)
The Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has initiated an inquiry on Sami Ibrahim, an anchor, in one of Pakistan's news channels for allegedly spreading "anti-state" videos and statements on several social media platforms. The FIA had issued a press release on Sunday accusing the anchor of transmitting fake news about various Pakistani institutions, reported the Dawn newspaper. "He has made imputations which are glaring attempts to incite armed forces personnel to mutiny. He has attempted to create chaos in Pakistan through media while staying abroad," the statement read. According to the FIA, if the inquiry found him to be an offender, a case would be registered against him, reported the Dawn newspaper. Ibrahim would also be arrested and prosecuted in court. Further, as per the press release, since the news anchor is currently abroad, an Interpol red notice would also be issued for him. Ibrahim's name would be listed on the Exit Control List (ECL) as well, which is an ordinance to provide for the control of the exit of certain persons from Pakistan who have been involved in any economic crime involving government funds, mass corruption, or misuse of authority. In addition, an attendance notice has also been issued to Ibrahim where the news anchor is instructed to appear before Islamabad's FIA Cybercrime Reporting Centre on Friday to record his defence. If he fails to attend, a legal procedure under section 17 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) would be held against him presuming Ibrahim has nothing to present in his defence, reported the Dawn newspaper. The notice claimed that Ibrahim had intentionally shared an alleged video on social media in public where "false and frivolous" accusations were made against senior government functionaries. "Furthermore, you have built a narrative with ill intent to cause intimidation and unrest between government officials/personnel of armed forces and the general public," the notice read. Meanwhile, the news anchor has tweeted, confirming that a case has been filed against him, reported the Dawn newspaper. Ibrahim also stated that he had a discussion regarding the subject with his lawyer, who informed the FIA that he was abroad and would return on Saturday. The "draconian" media law amendments passed by the former PM Imran Khan as an ordinance is drawing widespread criticism in Pakistan as it seeks to place fetters on the constitutional rights of citizens, local media reported. The Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) amendment ordinance makes it a criminal act to slander any organisation, institution set up by the government, further increasing the punishment of three years imprisonment for guilty to five years, The News International reported. Calling it an intentional attempt to suppress free expression, Amnesty International has severely criticized the law. Also, Human Rights Watch has asked the government to revoke the law which violates the basic rights of people, including journalists. (ANI)
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday warned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against creating mayhem and bloodshed in its May 20 long march. Aurangzeb on Sunday announced that if the PTI's planned long march to Islamabad leads to bloodshed, then the government will take measures to stop it, reported Geo News. Her comment came in response to former Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed's statement when he expressed his fears that the PTI's planned long march might get "bloody" and demanded the "powerful quarters" to intervene. Meanwhile, Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said Saturday that if former Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad does not withdraw his statement calling the long march bloody, he would not be allowed to leave his house, local media reported. "You told people that this march will be bloody. I am warning you to take your words back or I won't let you step out of your house," he said, as per a media report. The Information Minister said that nothing is bothering Imran Khan more than the fact that Shehbaz Sharif has become the country's new Prime Minister, reported Geo News. "An incompetent, thief and corrupt Prime Minister was removed from power through a no-confidence motion," said Aurangzeb, adding that his allies left him because he failed to fulfil his promises. She further said that Imran Khan, through his "independence march", will not be able to distract the attention of the masses from the Farah Gogi corruption scandal, reported Geo News. Addressing Khan's alleged US-backed conspiracy which, according to him, led to his ouster from the government, Aurangzeb asked, "What kind of atomic bomb were you making that the United States felt threatened by you and sought to remove you from power?" "There was no conspiracy. Imran Khan is not sad about his ouster but he cannot tolerate Shehbaz Sharif replacing him," she said, adding that Shehbaz did not get a single vote from a "turncoat" to become the premier. She said that despite being in power for almost four years, Imran Khan is still hurling accusations against his opponents. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday vowed to bring more than 3 million people to Islamabad after May 20 for a protest march, local media reported. Addressing a political gathering in Abbottabad, Imran claimed, "It is my faith that no matter how many containers they will erect, more than 3 million people will reach Islamabad." (ANI)
Nepal is turning out to be a gateway for Chinese criminals and the Himalayan nation has raised concern over the increasing involvement of Chinese nationals in illegal activities. On April 22, a joint team from the Department of Immigration and Nepal Police raided a house in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, and arrested 22 Chinese nationals, reported The Annapurna Express (ApEx). Strangely, at the time this news was largely ignored by Nepal's major news outlets and details about the incident remain obscure to this day. ApEx learned that authorities had been tipped about suspicious activities in the house and the suspects had been caught with 35 laptops, 675 mobile phones, and 760 SIM cards issued by Nepal Telecom and NCell. The Chinese nationals are suspected to be part of a syndicate involved in cross-border online betting. However, neither the immigration agency nor the police have the right technology and manpower to confirm their suspicion, reported ApEx. With no firm ground to charge the suspects, all 22 were released a day later on the condition of helping the authorities with the investigation. The immigration department has confiscated their passports to prevent them from leaving the country. Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, Director-General at the Department of Immigration, said that investigation is being pursued with the assistance of the police. "The suspects had entered Nepal on business visas. We also found that one of them had overstayed his visa," said Bhattarai adding, "We are still trying to find out the nature of their activities here in Nepal." The laptops and mobile phones seized from the Chinese nationals have been sent to the Central Police Forensic Science Laboratory. The digital forensic report of these devices will be crucial in the investigation. The increasing involvement of Chinese nationals in illegal activities has become a serious cause for concern for the authorities in Nepal. This was evident when the authorities arrested 122 Chinese nationals, also with similar equipment, in December 2019 for their alleged involvement in criminal activities. Among other things, they are suspected of running Ponzi schemes online and scamming foreign nationals with lures of easy loans. The immigration department is responsible for investigating crimes perpetrated by foreigners. But the department has been unable to fulfil this responsibility due to a manpower crunch. Even the police seem to lack expertise in effectively investigating foreigners' suspicious illegal activities. And when it comes to crimes committed through the misuse of technology, they are woefully incompetent, reported ApEx. (ANI)
Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid said that the gathering will be attended by Islamic scholars, tribal elders and political figures, however, he didn't provide details on the date of the meeting, reported Tolo News.

"We are trying to hold a gathering among the Afghans. The tribal elders, Islamic clerics and influential figures will take part in it. But it is yet to be determined when it will be held. Inshallah, the discussion will cover political, social and security matters," said Mujahid.

Meanwhile, a senior member of the Taliban, Anas Haqqani, said he hoped the gathering would conclude with a positive outcome, reported Tolo News.

"This is the intention of the Islamic Emirate. There is a hope this meeting will (represent the whole nation).," he said.

The political analysts gave various opinions regarding the meeting.

"The gathering could be beneficial when it is widely formed. The political figures, academics, women and youths must be included in the gathering," said Sayed Jawad Husseini, a political analyst.

"This (meeting) is to attract the attention of the people inside the country to prevent the possible collapse of the system," said Barna Salehi, a political analyst.

Earlier, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting head of the Taliban's Interior Ministry, who is on the UN sanctions list as well as an FBI wanted terrorist has called for the resolution of disputes with a Pashtun tribe through negotiation.

Many tribal elders gathered to reconcile a prolonged and bitter quarrel between the Haqqani family and Sori Khail tribe after more than 60 years of hostility, Tolo News reported.

This comes after the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi, recently held several meetings with tribal elders, Islamic clerics and political analysts. (ANI)
The economic relief was announced by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on May 8.

"Canada lifts all duties on imports from Ukraine for one year. The economic relief was announced by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a meeting with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv on May 8," tweeted The Kyiv Independent.

Trudeau also announced an additional USD 50 million in military assistance for Ukraine and imposed additional sanctions on Russian individuals and entities for providing indirect or direct support to Russia's military.

He said, "Today, I'm announcing more military assistance, drone cameras, satellite imagery, small arms, ammunition and other support, including funding for demining operations."

"And we're bringing forward new sanctions on 40 Russian individuals and five entities, oligarchs, and close associates of the regime in the defense sector, all of them complicit in Putin's war," in a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trudeau visited the town of Irpin outside Kyiv, the focal point of fierce battles between Ukrainian and Russian troops before the Russians withdrew late in March.

Trudeau also said that Canada will reopen its embassy and provide USD 25 million to the UN's World Food Program. (ANI)
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday warned Imran Khan of legal action for attempting to instigate a civil war in the country. Shehbaz on Sunday termed Imran Khan's Abbottabad speech "a conspiracy against Pakistan," reported Geo News. "The 220 million people of Pakistan, the Constitution, and the national institutions are not slaves to one person's ego. Imran Niazi wants to enslave the masses, but we will not allow him to become the Hitler of Pakistan," read the statement of Shehbaz Sharif. "Imran Niazi lied a lot, but now he has to face the truth," said Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif. Shehbaz said those concocting a narrative against national institutions were the real Mir Jafars and Mir Sadiqs. He equated Khan with Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq of today who wants to make Pakistan like Libya and Iraq, reported Geo News. Mir Sadiq was a minister of Tipu Sultan of Mysore. In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1798-99, he betrayed Tipu Sultan during the siege of Srirangapatnam, paving the way for a British victory. Mir Jafar served as the commander of the Bengal army under Siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal and betrayed him during the Battle of Plassey, paving way for British rule in India. Shehbaz said that Imran Khan was "biting the same hand that fed him". Referring to Imran Khan's speech during a rally in Abbottabad, Shehbaz said that the state of Pakistan, the Constitution, and national institutions were challenged today, therefore, legal action will be taken against the PTI chairman, reported Geo News. Shehbaz further added that Imran Khan is not conspiring in politics, but he is hatching a conspiracy against Pakistan. "Pakistan cannot be sacrificed on the basis of the ego, arrogance, and lies of one person. First, Imran Niazi conspired to drown Pakistan's economy and now he is trying to trigger a civil war," the statement said. "The government will crush Imran Niazi's conspiracy to cause a civil war in the country". Earlier, in a rally at Abbottabad, Khan turned his guns toward PM Shehbaz Sharif, claiming that he was a "beggar, servant, and a thief," reported Geo News. "The lies that Sharif family have told, I have not seen anyone spread such lies ever before," claimed Imran Khan. He added that when the imported government came to power, the prices of all goods increased, reported Geo News. Khan also requested the media to go to shops and ask about the prices of ghee like they used to do when he was in power. The former PM said that the value of the US dollar against the Pakistani rupee increases when stolen money is sent abroad, adding that ever since the new government assumed power, the rupee's value has been decreasing, reported Geo News. (ANI)
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Officials in the Bahamas say three U.S. tourists have died at a resort there after falling ill. And another has been airlifted to a hospital for treatment.

Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper issued a statement Friday saying that police are investigating and the cause of death was unknown, though foul play is not suspected.

Their identities havent been made public.

Health Minister Michael Darville said Saturday that some hotel guests went to a clinic Thursday with nausea and vomiting, were treated and left. Three were later found dead. A fourth was flown to a hospital. He said initial investigations indicate it was an isolated incident.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A carjacking ends after a group of juveniles crash into an Orlando police patrol car, police said.

Police said the incident started Saturday around midnight when four juveniles carjacked someone in Ocoee.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

The cars tag license plate was later spotted near West Washington Street and North Tampa Avenue.

Soon after the tag was spotted, the juveniles crashed into an Orlando patrol car on the southwest corner of Orange Blossom Trail and Amelia Street.

Read: Country music legend Mickey Gilley dead at 86

The officer sitting in his car was not hurt in the crash, police said.

Two of the juveniles were taken to the hospital with unspecified injuries.

Read: DeSantis signs $1.2 billion tax relief package to help Florida families save on essential items

According to police, one of the juveniles had a gun on them.

Read: WWE Hall of Famer Sunny arrested after deadly crash in Ormond Beach, police say

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Rich Strike surged to a stunning victory in the 148th Kentucky Derby (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Huge outsider Rich Strike won the 148th Kentucky Derby in Louisville to complete one of the biggest shocks in the history of the iconic American horse race.

Former President Donald Trump was in attendance at Churchill Downs and saw the Sonny Leon-ridden, Eric Reed-trained longshot - who had pre-Derby odds of 80-1 - storm to victory by outpacing the like of favourites Epicenter and Zandon.

Rich Strike only entered the field on Friday after Ethereal Road was withdrawn but came from well-back in the 20-horse field with a charge down the stretch to pass the leaders and win the one-and-a-quarter-mile race in 2:02.61.

Both trainer and jockey were entering their first Kentucky Derby but the colt came surging up the rail to stun the racing world.

Trump attended Churchill Downs for his $75,000-per-person fundraiser, although his entrance was shielded from the general public and the press.

Known as The Run for the Roses, due to the rose garland draped over the winner or The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sport, the Kentucky Derby is the climax of a two-week long festival and is the first leg of American horse racings Triple Crown - followed by the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.

(Getty Images)

Spectators had crammed in to the first full Kentucky Derby since the coronavirus pandemic began, standing shoulder-to-shoulder in lines to place their bets and buy mint juleps - the drink most associated with event.

For two years, the pandemic upended the typical extravagance of Derby Day. The 2020 running was delayed until Labour Day weekend and held without spectators. Last years race strictly limited the number of tickets sold but the 2022 renewal was expected to surpass 150,000 spectators, its pre-pandemic numbers.

With reporting from AP
Sandro Tonal, bottom left, scores AC Milans equaliser in their 3-1 win at Verona (Paola Garbuio/AP) (AP)

AC Milan climbed back to the top of Serie A after coming from behind to win 3-1 at Verona.

Sandro Tonalis double helped Milan extend their unbeaten league run to 14 matches and leapfrog city rivals Inter into pole position with two games to play.

Davide Faraoni headed Verona into the lead and Tonali, who had an earlier effort ruled out by VAR, equalised in first-half stoppage time.

Tonali struck again early in the second period and Alessandro Florenzi sealed all three points with a late third goal for Milan, who are two points clear at the top.

Atalanta remain in pursuit of a top-six finish after winning 3-1 at relegation fighters Spezia.

Luis Muriel fired Atalanta into a first-half lead and although Daniele Verde equalised for Spezia,Berat Djimsitis second-half header and Mario Pasalics late effort kept the visitors level on points with sixth-placed Roma.

Bottom club Venezias faint hopes of pulling off a great escape were boosted as Dennis Johnsens stoppage-time goal clinched a 4-3 home win against Bologna.

The derby is ours!  pic.twitter.com/9HndUO8mjg  Atletico de Madrid (@atletienglish) May 8, 2022

Relegation rivals Salernitana and Cagliari drew 1-1 in Salerno and are now five and four points clear of Venezia respectively.

LaLiga champions Real Madrids five-game winning league run was halted in a 1-0 derby defeat at Atletico.

Real wrapped up their 35th Spanish title last month, but were unable to follow up their stunning midweek Champions League win against Manchester City with another victory.

Atleticos Yannick Carrasco struck the only goal from the penalty spot in the 40th minute after Jesus Vallejo had fouled Marcos Llorente.

Sevilla stayed on course for a Champions League berth after a thrilling finish in a 1-1 draw at Villarreal.

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Tottenham loanee Giovani Lo Celso gave Europa League-chasing Villarreal an 86th-minute lead, but Jules Koundes equaliser in the fifth minute of added time kept Sevilla in third place.

Getafe edged five points clear of the bottom three after a goalless home draw against Rayo Vallecano and Osasuna drew 1-1 at Espanyol.

In Germany, Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich were held to a 2-2 draw at home by relegation battlers Stuttgart.

We'll give it a good home #MiaSanMeister pic.twitter.com/X7TtgfQRv4  FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) May 8, 2022

Bayern, presented with the Bundesliga winners trophy in their final home game after sealing a 10th straight domestic title last month, led 2-1 at the break after Tiago Tomas early opener for the visitors was cancelled out by Serge Gnabry and Thomas Muller.

Stuttgart levelled through Sasa Kalajdzic and after Bayerns Kingsley Coman was shown a straight red card in stoppage time for his foul on Konstantinos Mavropanos, the visitors held on for a vital point.

Leipzig are on course for a top-four finish after a comfortable 4-0 home win against Augsburg left them two points ahead of fifth-placed Freiburg with one game remaining.

Eintracht Frankfurt drew 1-1 at home against fellow mid-table side Borussia Monchengladbach.

Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain let slip a two-goal lead as they were held 2-2 at home by Troyes.

Marquinhos and Neymars penalty put PSG 2-0 ahead inside 25 minutes, but Troyes hit back through Ike Ugbo before Florian Tardieus second-half penalty secured the visitors a crucial point in their bid to stave off relegation.

Second-placed Marseille tightened their grip on a Champions League place with a 3-0 win at lowly Lorient.

Lens kept alive their hopes of a top-six finish with a 2-1 win at Reims, but Lyons Europa League aspirations were dealt a blow as they lost 3-2 at Metz.

Bottom club Bordeauxs relegation was confirmed after a 4-1 defeat at Angers, while Clermont climbed out of the relegation zone by beating Montpellier 2-1.
Milwaukee police tape off the McDonald's on 49th and Hampton, following reports of multiple people shot and one confirmed death.

Authorities say at least three people were shot, and one teen died, near North 49th Street and West Hampton Avenue.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office said Saturday afternoon it had responded to the scene for a homicide. It later "tentatively" said the victim was a 16-year-old boy.

An "unknown male" and a 14-year-old sustained life-threatening injuries as well. They were transported to a hospital and remain in critical condition, Milwaukee police said.

Milwaukee police are investigating the incident. Police said several people exchanged gunfire during an argument, subsequently striking each other around 3:15 p.m.

Milwaukee police taped off the entirety of the McDonald's restaurant property at the corner following the shooting.

It is unclear if the shooting happened inside the restaurant. Milwaukee police did not immediately respond to questions.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at (414) 935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-Tips or P3 Tips App

Contact Drake Bentley at (414) 391-5647 or DBentley1@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DrakeBentleyMJS.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Three people hurt, one teen dead, in north side Milwaukee shooting
Rep. Karen Bass among her supporters and volunteers at the opening of her mayoral campaign headquarters in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Standing outside the Los Angeles Sentinel offices last week, Black faith leaders from South L.A. and U.S. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) took turns proclaiming their support for Rep. Karen Bass in her run for mayor.

The faith community will mobilize around her. We will come full force in pushing souls to the polls, the Rev. K.W. Tulloss said before quickly correcting himself and adding, to some laughter, Souls to the mailbox. We understand whats at stake.

This revision may have spoiled the poetry of Tulloss appeal, but it hammered home a point that Bass and other candidates will be making this week: Voting is already upon us.

Ballots are now in the mail to every registered voter and can soon be submitted at drop boxes across the city or sent back by mail.

The election ends June 7, Bass said. So our work begins now to communicate with voters and to make sure that voters turn those ballots in. You don't even have to go out to vote anymore. You can vote from home.

It remains to be seen, of course, how many voters will participate, and whom they will support. But with a month to go, the race looks far different than it appeared at the beginning of 2022.

At that time, many saw the race as Bass to lose. Now, she and a slew of other candidates have to contend with billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who has poured $25 million  four times more than all his competitors combined  into a self-funded pursuit of a position hes flirted with for years.

Recent polling from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and The Times shows Bass and Caruso statistically tied with others far behind; notably, nearly four in 10 likely voters said they were undecided. Unless one candidate wins more than 50% of the primary vote, the top two finishers will square off in November's general election.

This mayoral race is unprecedented in several respects: Money has flowed like never before. The new mail-in ballot system, instituted during the pandemic, could drastically increase turnout. This will also be the first mayoral primary in more than a century held in an even year to coincide with state and national elections, which could also boost turnout.

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Whether anyone can challenge the frontrunners is unclear. A late surge is the hope for candidates such as City Council members Joe Buscaino and Kevin de Leon, City Atty. Mike Feuer and activist upstart Gina Viola, who all are polling in single digits.

Nearly all of the candidates are Democrats and this primary is ostensibly nonpartisan, but the attacks on Caruso have taken a decidedly partisan turn and will likely ratchet up as the race enters its final few weeks.

One campaign consultant pointed to 2005, when internal polling showed state Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) in single digits eight weeks before the election. A week from election day, after Hertzberg aired ads, Times polling showed him in second and he just missed the runoff, coming in third behind James Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa with nearly 22% of the vote.

But Caruso has been virtually alone on the airwaves in English, Spanish and Korean since entering the race in February, blanketing television, radio and social media with a simple message: Im running for mayor, because I love L.A. Starting Day 1, were going to get it cleaned up.  And were going to do it together.

That pitch has been supercharged by the roughly $18 million that he likely will have spent by mid-May. It went all but unrebutted until late April, when Feuer and Buscaino put their own ads on TV.

Trying to offset Caruso's bulging coffers, Feuer, Buscaino, Bass and De Leon have been a traveling band of sorts, going together from one in-person forum or Zoom town hall to the next reeling off stats and well-practiced lines about what theyll do to fix the citys ills.

Caruso has avoided these events  focusing more on private sessions with business and community leaders along with the omnipresent advertisements. His overall messaging has been disciplined, focusing almost exclusively on crime and homelessness. At times, he has spoken in hyperbolic terms about crime and how unsafe the city appears to be, but his rhetoric has resonated with voters.

What Rick is doing in a savvy way is tapping into a lot of the concerns and fears that people have about public safety in Los Angeles right now, said Jeremy Oberstein, a political consultant who until earlier this year served as Controller Ron Galperins chief of staff.

I was having conversations with folks over the weekend in the western part of the [San Fernando] Valley and there's a lot of concern about public safety. There's a lot of concern about, going to parks and going to malls and even walking home or walking into your house from your car.

In the only two televised debates featuring Caruso, his rivals have attacked his wealth, his work as a developer, and the fact that he used to be a Republican.

Rick Caruso waves at the start of last week's mayoral debate at Cal State Los Angeles. (Ringo Chiu/For The Times)

Still, homelessness and crime continue to tower over any other issues. The two front-runners present starkly different ways of addressing them.

Caruso, a former Police Commission president who regularly touts that work in ads, says he wants to hire 1,500 new officers to police the streets. Bass, who first came to prominence starting a community nonprofit in South L.A. and criticizing police misconduct, wants to move 250 LAPD officers out of desk jobs and into patrols, while ensuring that the department returns to its authorized strength of 9,700 officers. (It had 9,375 sworn personnel as of late April.) She also has said she wants the department to hire more detectives and investigators, noting that the LAPD solved just over half of the citys murders in 2020.

On homelessness, Caruso has castigated the bureaucratic system and elected leaders who he says have done little to address the crisis. He emphasizes his management experience and a desire to quickly add 30,000 housing units, many of them shelter beds.

Bass, too, wants to expand the number of beds for homeless people  by 15,000  and like Caruso recognizes the need for laws to govern where people can and cannot pitch a tent, though she's expressed some discomfort with the city's current approach. She promotes her work helping foster children, arguing that she would be able to leverage her experience and connections at the state and federal levels to bring more aid to the city.

Buscaino has pushed a pro-enforcement agenda to get homeless people off the streets along with adding more beds. Feuer says adding roughly 3,000 new beds per year in his first term to provide shelter for everyone is realistic.

De Leon has pushed for the city to build 25,000 units of interim and permanent housing by 2025. He has also been on a well-publicized quest to clear encampments in his district and get people into various forms of shelter and housing.

But these ambitious promises don't necessarily jibe with the fact that most homeless people do not want to live in group shelters, according to Rand Corp. research published last week.

As the race has heated up, overcoming Caruso and Bass' advantages has been a slog for the other eight hopefuls on the ballot.

The other candidates have really struggled to distinguish themselves, said Sara Sadhwani, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College. They each have their own impressive resumes, and accomplishments behind them. But campaigns are about communicating with people that don't already know you, and that's the challenge that they have in front of them.

Over the next month, candidates will need to get their names out through a mix of advertising, events and canvassing. Bass recently opened a campaign headquarters and is having volunteers make calls for her and knock on doors. De Leon and Feuer have traveled around the city to meet voters.

Caruso poured an additional $2.5 million into his campaign last week, and his broadcast and social media blitz shows no signs of slowing. The other candidates all benefited from the citys generous public finance campaign matching scheme.

The result is that Bass has nearly $3 million, which she must spend before primary day or else give the money back to donors. The airwaves will also likely be filled with messages going after her as well. An independent expenditure committee funded to the tune of $2 million by the LAPD's rank-and-file officers union is slated to spend most of that money on ads attacking Bass.

Caruso will also be in the crosshairs. A separate independent expenditure committee supporting Bass has raised just under $1 million, and released its first ad last week attacking his views on abortion and ties to Republicans.

Caruso became a Democrat this year but left the Republican party about a decade ago. Last week, he said he was pro-choice, and that he profoundly disagreed with the draft decision overturning Roe vs. Wade. Everyone running, including Bass, issued statements affirming their support for abortion rights and lambasted the draft ruling.

All the candidates have stressed that they have the vision and the skills to bring the city together and right its wrongs. It will soon be up to the voters to decide.

"L.A. is at a crossroads," Bass said last week at the event with the faith leaders. "Which way are we going to go?"

Times staff writer Julia Wick contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Former President Barack Obama honored his wife, Michelle Obama, with a sweet family photo on Mother's Day. (Photo: Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Former President Barack Obama is taking a moment to celebrate his wife, Michelle Obama, on Mother's Day.

In a sweet family photo that features the couple smiling alongside their two daughters, Sasha and Malia, Obama shared a touching message honoring the mother of his children. Dressed casually in a button-down shirt and khakis, Obama had his arms around his daughters as he stood alongside them in the peaceful outdoor setting.

"Happy Mother's Day! I hope you all let the moms and mother-figures in your life know how much they mean to you. @MichelleObama, thank you for being a wonderful mother and role model to our daughters and to so many others around the world," he wrote.

On her own Instagram page, the former first lady celebrated her own mother, Marian Shields Robinson, who has also served as a guiding light for her grandchildren.

"Happy #MothersDay!" Obama captioned the throwback photo, which featured daughters Sasha and Malia alongside their mom and grandmother. "I'm so thankful for the love, guidance and care that my mom has instilled in me. Ive shared so much of her wisdom with my own daughters over the years."

Both Obama daughters are well on their way to adulthood, living in Los Angeles to pursue their dreams.

Sasha Obama, 20, was recently spotted walking through West Hollywood with her rumored boyfriend, Clifton Powell Jr. According to the Daily Mail, Sasha recently transferred to the University of Southern California from the University of Michigan. Meanwhile, her older sister Malia Obama, 23, is working as a staff writer on a Donald Glover Amazon Prime project. She graduated from Harvard University in 2021.

Both young women have pursued activism, participating in Black Lives Matter protests. Last year, Obama explained that his children are "so much wiser, more sophisticated and gifted than I was at their age," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper. While he often worries about his daughters' physical safety ("that's just the nature of fatherhood," he explained) he's very proud of their choices in regards to their social and political action.

"In terms of them having a good sense of what's right and wrong and their part and role to play in making the country better, I dont worry about that," he said.
Ive been on this earth since the late 1930s, and weve had a war somewhere just about the whole time. And it seems like we could have avoided most of them.

Maybe not World War II, which for us started when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in our then colony of Hawaii. Japan of the 30s and 40s was an expansionist, aggressive nation, but we had forced them to join the rest of the world when we occupied Tokyo harbor in 1853. Then we took the Philippines in 1898, at the urging of Navy undersecretary Theodore Roosevelt, isolating Japan from vital resources. Ironically, T.R.s cousin, Franklin, was President when Japan joined with Germany and Italy to challenge the Western powers.

All that attacking and colonizing for resources and power, mostly to benefit the wealthy benefactors of the Gilded Age, was called Imperialism. Yes, we were a part of it.

Today we call it international trade, but weapons are still a big part of it. Most of us recall the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria  which is still going on. Then there were and are the wars were not visibly in  though often supplying weapons or other support  such as Libya, east Africa, and Yemen.

Ukraine is getting most of the headlines today. Most Americans, of all political persuasion, are angry at Russias Putin for what looks, without studying the background, like naked, brutal aggression against a smaller neighbor. And most of us are not paying much attention to the ongoing wars in Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere. Part of the problem is the lack of quality news coverage by our corporate electronic media. But in Ukraine, as in most wars, there are two or more sides to the dispute. Russia claims, not without cause or evidence, that Western nations, headed by us, have continued to push our military systems and armaments into countries right on Russias borders  like the 30,000 NATO forces conducting military exercises in Norway, near Russias northern border, before the Ukraine invasion.

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To avoid wars, FDR and his administration created the United Nations, where disputes could be discussed and hopefully settled. Sadly, except for the Korean conflict, which President Truman took to the UN, most of the big powers  including us  have ignored dialogue and chose to fight instead.

Its time for a change. Since 1945, several nations have had nuclear weapons and the ability to destroy whole cities with a single bombas we did to Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Now we have climate change and the dramatic effect thats having on world food production, clean water availability, and housing. Population itself is becoming a problem. There are twice as many people on earth as there was when I was born. Between the endless wars and the rising waters, millions of people are on the move. Population shifts, ethnocentrism, and poverty have frightened and angered people in all parts of the globe, including at our Southern border.

Republicans talk about a right to life, but what kind of life, with starvation, limited health care, wars, and climate disasters? Democrats have been afraid to oppose the military industrial complex for fear of being labeled soft. Not to mention the loss of spending on the military in their Congressional districts. Well, take a chance, and push for peace. Its been noted that the money we spent on Middle Eastern wars alone could have sent every one of our young people of that time to college, tuition free! Shifting money from wars to education would be a good issue for any party.

That great warrior, Napoleon--son of immigrantsreportedly said, History is written by the winners. But if we have a nuclear war, there wont be any winners. As to our real problems, like poverty, inequality, healthcare, pandemics, and climate crises--we cant solve them by shooting or bombing each other. Democrats and Republicans alike should push for peace in Ukraine, not a wider war or an illusory victory.

Jack Burgess is a retired teacher of American & Global Studies, and a member of Veterans For Peace.

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Burgess: We need peace now!
KYIV (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced new weapons and equipment for Ukraine on Sunday after an unannounced visit to Kyiv, the capital.

Trudeau, addressing a news conference after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, also said Canada was imposing new sanctions on Russian individuals and entities in connection with Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

"Today, I'm announcing more military assistance, drone cameras, satellite imagery, small arms, ammunition and other support, including funding for demining operations," Trudeau said.

"And we're bringing forward new sanctions on 40 Russian individuals and five entities, oligarchs and close associates of the regime in the defence sector, all of them complicit in Putin's war," in a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trudeau visited the town of Irpin outside Kyiv, the focal point of fierce battles between Ukrainian and Russian troops before the Russians withdrew late in March.

He said Canada was reopening its embassy in the Ukrainian capital.

Canada was also providing $25 million to the U.N.'s World Food Programme as part of efforts to uphold food security and would remove trade tariffs on all Ukrainian imports to Canada for next year.

(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Ron Popeski and Leslie Adler)
SCITUATE  After nearly 40 years, Bob Warner said he feels the time has come to move on from the Mill Wharf Restaurant on Scituate Harbor.

This was a family decision, he said. I reached the benchmark of turning 70 last year, and realized that there are things I want to do while Im still healthy.

Originally from Worcester, Warner and his siblings  older brother, Steve; younger brother, Rich; and sister, Ann Marie  discovered Scituate after Steve opened a nursing home on the Driftway in the 1970s.

Bob Warner stands on the second-floor patio of the Mill Wharf, which offers stunning views of Scituate Harbor.

The family eventually got away from the nursing home business when Steve bought the Welch Company Lumber Yard, the area where the Mill Wharf now stands, in 1981. The property also included a hardware store, a gift shop, a marina and a movie theater.

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We decided to make multiple changes to the property, including the condos, retail, the restaurant, and the expansion and development of the marina," Bob Warner said.

The restaurant opened Aug.1, 1984.

It was perfect for this location, Warner said.

The Mill Wharf Restaurant on Scituate Harbor was recently sold by Bob Warner to the father-son team of Doug Traina and Dan Groom-Traina.

A graduate of the business school at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Warner worked at several restaurants on Cape Cod and in the Amherst area before going to work at The Mill Wharf when it opened. He has been there ever since, and Rich handles all the accounting for the restaurant.

Were hands on, Bob Warner said. People see us, and they know us.

Scituate harbor mainstay

Keeping every aspect of the business local is important, Warner has said. The restaurant makes every effort to offer farm to table items, buys locally as often as possible and has always hired locally.

He takes pride in his staff, which can reach up to over 100 employees during high season.

I have probably half a dozen employees who have been here longer than 25 years, he said. Thats family.

Warner became a local himself, and lives just across the town line in Marshfield with his wife, Caroline, a Scituate girl he met through the restaurant. Caroline owns and operates the Welch Company Gift shop across the parking lot from the restaurant.

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A spectacular view

Locals and visitors alike come to The Mill Wharf to enjoy the atmosphere, the menu and, without question, the spectacular view.

I think this harbor is the prettiest on the East Coast, Warner said. Of course, I may be biased. There arent many places where you can go from Boston to the Cape where you can still sit outside and eat overlooking the water. On a sunny day, you can see clear across the harbor to the lighthouse. People come here for the first time and are just amazed by the view.

A map of Scituate is etched into one of the tables at the Mill Wharf.

Passing the baton

The family wasnt pursuing a buyer for the restaurant, Warner said.

It kind of just came to us. Weve had people come to us over the years, but nothing ever materialized until this recent buyer," he said.

The new owners, father-son team Doug Traina and Dan Groom-Traina from Florida, are experienced in the marina and restaurant business, Warner said.

Bob Warner stands with Dan Groom-Traina, the new owner of the Mill Wharf Restaurant, on Wednesday, April 27, 2022.

Their main restaurant in Naples is called The Dock. Its a little smaller than The Mill Wharf, but busier volume wise," Warner said. "They also have two restaurants at their marinas in Georgia. As a company, they started in the marina business and sort of backed into the restaurant business.

The Mill Wharf will be the familys fifth waterfront restaurant.

Its a good fit, Warner said. One thing I really like about this company is that when they bought the restaurant in Naples they kept the name, the menu and the employees.

Warner will remain involved with The Mill Wharf during the transition. The other Warner family businesses in the area will keep him busy, he said, and in town.

Bob Warner will finally have some time to do some sailing and golfing in Scituate after selling the Mill Wharf Restaurant.

And while he knows its time to move on, Warner said it wont be easy to walk away.

Scituate is a great town, and I really like the people here. This can be a hard business, but it can also be incredibly rewarding," he said. "I always looked forward to coming to work. I would like to thank the thousands of employees and customers who have made The Mill Wharf what it is today.

Follow Ruth Thompson on Twitter @scituateruth

This article originally appeared on wickedlocal.com: Famous Scituate restaurant The Mill Wharf to change ownership
The Daily Beast

Lauderdale CountyCasey White, the dangerous murder inmate who bolted from an Alabama prison with his jailer, has told detectives that the lovebirds spent most of their time on the run holed up in a cheap Indiana motel and plotting where to go next.Casey White, 38, and Lauderdale County assistant director of corrections Vicky White, 56, were captured on Monday night after a dramatic police chase in Evansville, Indiana, just a five-hour drive from the Florence prison they absconded from 11 days ea
It has been obvious since his presidential campaign that President Joe Biden is not a supporter of charter schools. The reason has never been clear to me. Does he oppose the movement for philosophical reasons, or does he believe it is the most politically advantageous path to travel? No matter what his reasons are, his administration is pursuing a path to act on his disdain for charter schools. On March 11, his Department of Education put forth a new set of rules that, if adopted, will cripple and maybe even eventually help kill the chartering effort.

The department claims the rules will improve charter schools and hold them accountable. But, in fact, it is proposing onerous regulations as a way to remove the ability of charter schools to sustain what was the very bargain the movement was founded upon. Specifically, the idea of freedom in exchange for accountability. These new proposed rules are supposedly bringing about accountability, but what they will truly do is stifle the freedom charter schools need to be successful. This is not just a veiled effort against the charter movement, I believe it is an intentional strategy to deny access of low-income and working-class Black families to an educational option that has been a positive lifeline for their children. It is clear that Biden has chosen to side with the organized special interests of the traditional public school system rather than those families. He has chosen to be a protector of the traditional system and not the families whom he sometimes gives lip service to supporting.

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Since the first charter school law was passed in Minnesota in 1991, charters have been a welcome opportunity for families who historically have been poorly served by the traditional public school system. By proposing these new rules, the administration has bought into the argument that by protecting the traditional public school system, he is protecting public education. The fact is the traditional system is not public education; it is one delivery system for public education. Biden and his administration are conveniently ignoring the fact that charter schools are public entities and that they are an important element in the delivery systems aimed at achieving the goal of educating the public.

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Related: Open Letter to Joe Biden: The Votes of Black and Brown Charter School Parents Matter. Ignore Us at Your Own Peril

Let me be very clear that my objection to what is being done here is not meant to be an attack on the Biden administration writ large. I happen to agree with many actions that have been taken by the administration on other fronts. But this misguided effort is an assault on the right of self-determination for low-income and working-class Black and brown families and communities in two ways: It attacks the rights of families who intentionally choose these schools for their children; and it attacks Brown and black people who govern and lead some of these schools.

Let me cite some of the specific concerns I have:

First, the proposed rule to demand that charter schools partner with a local district is obviously aimed at ending their independence and forcing them under the control of the traditional public school system. Charters should be free to determine whether partnering with a school district is in the best interests of the students and families they serve. Historically, charter schools have thrived when they are independent of their local district  particularly where, as is the case in so many places, the local districts have been hostile to the charter school efforts in their locale. This rule would put an end to that freedom.

Related: Watch: A Conversation about Charter Schools, the Biden Administration & the Uncertain Future of Parental Choice

Second, the proposed diversity requirement, under which charter schools would need to have the same socio-economic and racial makeup as the local district, is a serious problem. What happens if a charter school is located in a district that is predominantly white, but the children who are falling through the cracks are Black and brown kids from low-income and working-class families? This rule would prevent a charter school from serving those students.

The Biden administration is attempting to reverse the pro-chartering stance of the Clinton and Obama administrations, to return to the days when teachers unions interests were placed ahead of the interests of the families that supposedly this administration cares about. It is crucial that the Education Department continue to support policies on a variety of fronts that will aid the families who have chosen charter schools as the best educational option for their children. I urge the administration to back down on this assault.

Dr. Howard Fuller is a distinguished professor emeritus at Marquette University and former superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools.

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Over a 48-hour period last weekend, three shootings erupted within a mile of one another in Chicagos downtown area, leaving two people dead. During that same time, some 17 other people were shot around the city, most of them in neighborhoods where a higher level of violence is more commonly experienced.

Yet it was the shootings downtown, one outside a major theater that canceled its evening performance, that captured most of the attention from the media and city leaders, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who had to address the violence Monday at an unrelated news conference and who surely will face more scrutiny as the mayoral race heats up.

Police leaders also had to answer for the spate of violence, quickly announcing theyd be deploying more resources downtown.

Experts said the outsize attention to downtown happens for a variety of reasons.

Its the economic engine of the city, generating millions in tax revenue and tourism dollars. And the additional violence downtown strains resources in a police department that is struggling to address decades of consistently higher rates of violence in Chicagos neighborhoods.

Downtown is also the civic heartbeat of the city, a place where Chicagoans from Rogers Park to Roseland come together for concerts, to hit the beach, spread out on a lawn for a picnic, gaze into the mirrored Bean or splash in the fountain at Millennium Park.

Chicagoans feel like they own the Loop, said Bill Savage, who has taught Chicago literature and culture for 30 years at Northwestern University. If the center of our city experiences this kind of violence, it hits everybody in a way. If its happening in the Loop, it is about you.

Statistics show violence dip

So far this year, gun violence  both homicides and nonfatal shootings  is declining, welcome news in a city battered by a 60% increase in shootings over a two-year period in 2020 and 2021.

But the recent headlines about downtown trouble have served as yet another reminder of how entrenched the gun violence problem is here, and how it is touching all parts of the city including Chicagos glittering center.

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The number of shootings around the downtown area has in fact increased in recent years, and as of last week, 19 people had been shot combined in the Near North and Loop communities, compared with eight last year.

The citywide violence has already led to pledges from mayoral candidates to remove Chicago police Superintendent David Brown if they are elected, with those Lightfoot opponents citing a lack of strategy to address the violence.

Brown was hired amid a historic pandemic that shut down programming and services citywide. It was also a time when trust in policing plummeted across America in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Criminologists will be studying the lasting impacts of those events, but some said there is a sense that the stress of a pandemic combined with the increased scrutiny on police could have played a role in the spiking gun violence.

Still, Brown and the Chicago Police Department have faced repeated criticism from aldermen, a level of concern that is only amplified when gunfire rings out downtown.

And it is not shootings alone that worry some leaders and the business community. There have long been concerns about clashes and disturbances among the large groups of young people who gather downtown on weekends.

Chicago police did not provide specific details about the response downtown. The mayors office referred the Tribune to Lightfoots Monday news conference, in which she said downtown would be getting more resources and deflected questions about her potential reelection campaign.

Lightfoot spoke about the difficult task of dealing with years of unaddressed violence in certain Chicago neighborhoods.

They have lived with the lack of investment. They have lived the lack of focus and attention on violence for way too long, Lightfoot said.

She also returned to a familiar theme: the need for those who engage in violence to face serious consequences.

Meanwhile, in Streeterville, residents were on edge in the wake of the incidents downtown, said Deborah Gershbein, president of the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents.

Gershbein said the level of gun violence in the entire city is unacceptable and while she understands long-term approaches are needed, her neighbors are scared to walk at night.

I have lived in this neighborhood for 32 years. It has never been like this. I used to walk everywhere, Gershbein said. How do you give people a sense of safety?

Both experts and community organizers told the Tribune that shared fears about a central gathering space like the Loop suffering from gun violence presents an opportunity for shared solutions as well.

Chicago criminologist David Stovall said there is an alienation in communities that have been systemically carved out of resources and opportunity and that is playing a role in the surge in gun violence. Everyone affected needs to support thoughtful solutions.

Lincoln Park has never had this problem en masse. Or Streeterville, Stovall, a professor of Black studies as well as criminology, law and justice at UIC, said.  I dont want to downplay the violence because it is real. The (solutions) unfortunately, or fortunately, arent short-term.  You cant criminalize your way out of it.

Savage, of Northwestern, also said there is an opportunity for new momentum.

The key is if we perceive the Loop as the heart of our city, we are still connected to whatever other part we live in, Savage said. But to connect ourselves to the parts we dont live in? This is the imaginary leap that is so hard. Can people from Jefferson Park who work downtown imagine what it would be like to live in Garfield Park or Ashburn or Pullman?

A violent weekend

The downtown shootings last weekend started at 1 a.m. Saturday in the 300 block of North State Street.

Two women from the North Lawndale neighborhood were shot by a man during an argument on the street. One of the women, 26, later died.

A day later, Sunday morning, a dispute inside the Sonesta hotel on East Walton Place left an 18-year-old man dead from multiple gunshot wounds. And some 10 hours later, in the 100 block of North Wabash, two men were shot in an alley behind the Nederlander Theatre after a nearby conflict involving a robbery and drug deal escalated.

The broad daylight shooting led to the theaters shutdown of operations that night, including the cancellation of a performance of Moulin Rouge.

So far, there have been no charges filed in any of the cases.

One of the two injured in the Sunday shooting was a 27-year-old man, who was walking home from the gym with his wife, he told a Tribune reporter in a phone interview.

He heard a pop and then felt pain in his hand, said the man, who asked not to be identified.

People scattered, and the couple got behind a car and heard a second shot, he said.

I put two and two together pretty quickly  the pop plus the pain plus the bleeding, he said.  Its a weird series of emotions to put together. Its not something that Ive ever experienced before, so it was kind of like registering the fact that thats actually what happened.

Despite the shooting being about a 20-minute walk from his home, he said he is not afraid to be downtown, noting what the statistics bear out: His community remains relatively safe. He only plans to avoid Wabash in the future.

Its one of those things where if youre in a big city, its a statistical chance that this will happen, he said. It was a thing that I think was always in my head as a possibility.  But again, this statistical chance of it happening is a relatively rare event. I think downtown is still a very safe area. I still feel safe walking around it.

Different in the neighborhoods

Despite the attention downtown incidents receive, gun violence in neighborhoods is a daily experience that is harder for residents in some areas to escape.

Through May 3, the rate of shooting victimizations per 10,000 residents in the Loop and Near North communities was 1.8 and 1.3, according to the citys data portal. In the citys historically less safe neighborhoods, the rate is as high as 21 in West Garfield Park, for example, and 11.2 in Greater Grand Crossing.

Chondra Wrightworks in the Greater Grand Crossing area with young people who are exposed to violence, and meets regularly with police from her local district to try to prevent the kind of violence that is now being felt in other parts of the city.

She also heads downtown to walk regularly, following a path from Rush Street to the Cloud Gate sculpture. So shootings in the heart of Chicago have rattled her as well.

Wright agrees that the violence happening there reflects what has been happening in the neighborhoods. And she said thats why solutions need to go beyond a weekend deployment strategy. It is about a citywide effort and vision, she said.

Im a Chicagoan through and through, Wright said. Downtown is an escape. It is that space where people migrate to for that peace, that freedom, that enjoyment. What would Chicago be like if we could have that same spirit or energy in any part of Chicago?
The Coca-Cola store in Covent Garden, London. Abby Wallace/Insider.

Coca-Cola opened a pop-up shop in London's Covent Garden, its first in Europe.

The store sells a range of Coca-Cola branded merchandise, including clothing and collectible items.

A bar is situated at the rear of the store, serving mocktails and drinks topped with sugar bubbles.

Coca-Cola recently opened a pop-up store in central London. It's the firm's first apparel store in Europe, according to store employees.

The Coca-Cola store in Covent Garden, London. Abby Wallace/Insider.

The store is home to a range of Coca-Cola branded merchandise, including clothing, collectibles, shoes, and a bar selling variations on the famous soda.

Inside the Coca-Cola store in Covent Garden, London. Abby Wallace/Insider.

The store has several items of London-related merchandise, a nod to the store's location in the busy shopping and marketplace area of Covent Garden.

Inside the Coca-Cola store in Covent Garden, London. Abby Wallace/Insider.

The shop also features a range of other Coca-Cola branded items, including hoodies, sweatpants, and caps.

The clothing racks inside the Coca-Cola London store. Abby Wallace/Insider.

This pair of Coca-Cola themed trainers costs 195 ($241), one store worker told Insider ...

The Coca-Cola branded trainers in the store. Abby Wallace/Insider.

...while this Coca-Cola embossed varsity jacket has a price tag of 98 ($121).

The store featured Coca-Cola branded varsity jackets. Abby Wallace/Insider.

The pop-up shop is also selling a limited edition "Intergalactic" clothing range. The space-themed range also extends to Coca-Cola drinks and was inspired by the soda's first journey into space.

The intergalactic range inside the store. Abby Wallace/Insider.

Coca-Cola was the first soda to be consumed in space. Astronauts on the Space Shuttle Challenger took a "space can" along with them on a 1985 mission, according to the Coca-Cola website.

The clothing rails inside the Coca-Cola store in Covent Garden, London. Abby Wallace/Insider.

Clothing items from Coca-Cola's collaboration with jeans brand, Lee, also feature in the store. According to one worker, Lee made the original uniforms for Coca-Cola's bottlers. The pin-striped jacket is a replica of that uniform, they added.

The store had Lee-branded jackets. Abby Wallace/Insider.

The store also boasts floor-to-ceiling shelves stacked with Coca-Cola collectible bottles ...

The store had collectible bottles. Abby Wallace/Insider.

... as well as glasses in the shape of Coke bottles and tin cans.

Glass collectibles in Coca-Cola's London store. Abby Wallace/Insider.

There is also a station where you can customize your own can of coke.

The Coca-Cola store in London has a station where you can customize your own can. Abby Wallace/Insider.

The best part of the store is the "beverage bar," located at the back of the outlet. It made the store feel less like a pop-up and more like a permanent store.

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The store had a bar inside. Abby Wallace/Insider.

The bar served a menu of Coca-Cola based beverages ...

The bar served a range of Coca-Cola branded drinks. Abby Wallace/Insider.

...including limited-edition mocktails themed around a particular event. This month, the "Winner's Circle" drink was inspired by the FA Cup, an annual soccer competition currently taking place in England.

The menu behind the bar in the Coca-Cola London store. Abby Wallace/Insider.

The bar also offered trimmings to the tapped drinks, including a citrus-flavored "Bubble Blaster" which burst into vapor over my drink.

A Coca-Cola drink with the "Bubble Blaster" added on top. Abby Wallace/Insider.

The store is a temporary installation and is set to remain open until September.

The Coca-Cola London store had branded caps and wallets. Abby Wallace/Insider.

While this is the first Coca-Cola store in Europe, the retail giant also has stores in Orlando, Las Vegas, and the home of Coca-Cola's headquarters, Atlanta.

A framed picture of the neon Coca-Cola sign previously erected in Piccadilly Circus, London. Abby Wallace/Insider.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Kevin Wagner

(Editor's note: A version of this column first appeared in June 2021. It has been updated to reflect this week's news.)

Q. What does it mean if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade?

A. The United States Supreme Court is deciding a case concerning a Mississippi law which prohibits abortion after 15 weeks. The case will allow the Court to reconsider some of the significant holdings in the landmark decision Roe v. Wade (1973). In a significant breach of protocol, a complete draft of a proposed majority opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked. This proposed opinion would overturn Roe. Justice Alito wrote, Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences.

When the Supreme Court determines that a law is inconsistent with the requirements of the U.S. Constitution, it will use the power of judicial review to strike down that law. In Roe, the Court considered whether laws prohibiting abortion were in violation of the Constitution. In that 1973 case, a 21-year-old woman sued to strike down a Texas law that prevented her from obtaining an abortion. The case was ultimately decided in her favor, 7-2, by the Supreme Court.

The Court found that the U.S. Constitution includes a right to privacy, which encompasses the right of women to make their own decisions on whether to end a pregnancy. Justice Harry Blackmun, writing for the majority, wrote, This right of privacy . . . founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, . . . is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.

The Court in Roe conceded that the right to privacy is not explicit in the Constitution. But it noted that individual privacy has been part of the interpretations of multiple provisions in the Constitution, and that specifically includes decisions related to marriage, familial relations and contraception. In the leaked opinion, Justice Alito sharply disagrees and writes, [t]here was no support in American law for a constitutional right to obtain an abortion. He also noted abortion rights are not deeply rooted in history or tradition.

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In many ways, Roe v. Wade has become one of the central pillars for much of the jurisprudence on a range of privacy rights. These include the right to refuse medical treatment, to use contraception, to marry or have personal relationships with whom one chooses. In the draft opinion reversing Roe, Justice Alito anticipates this concern and states that the new opinion is limited to abortion, which he writes is substantively different as it involves unborn life. However, the logic he uses to challenge abortion rights raises concerns among legal scholars that other rights derived from individual privacy  which can be claimed to lack strong enough historical or cultural roots  could also be at risk.

A draft opinion is not a final opinion (a good reason they are not made public), so it could change. However, should the Supreme Court reverse Roe v. Wade, many states will, or already have, enacted legislation limiting or even prohibiting abortion. There are as many as 23 states with trigger laws, or preexisting laws, like Michigan, which will ban abortion if Roe is reversed. There are also states like New York, which protect abortion rights in state law. The rules may be quite different depending on where you live.

Kevin Wagner is a noted constitutional scholar and political science professor at Florida Atlantic University. The answers provided do not necessarily represent the views of the university. If you have a question about how American government and politics work, email him at kwagne15@fau.edu or reach him on Twitter @kevinwagnerphd.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: With Roe likely overturned, state laws set to take precedence.
Donald Trump laughs while attending the 2022 Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Ky (Getty Images)

Former president Donald Trump made an appearance at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, delighting fans in the red state.

Mr Trump was seen in videos at the event with Kimberly Guilfoyle, partner of his eldest son Don Jr. It wasnt immediately clear if Mr Trump Jr or any other family members were at the Derby as well.

Saturdays Derby was held at the Churchill Downs track in Louisville, where longshot entrant Rich Strike won the most famous of the Triple Crown races. It was attended by the states Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, as well as Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.

Mr Trumps visit to Kentucky this weekend served more than one purpose as he works to cement his control of the GOP.

His super PAC was hosting a $75,000-per-person fundraiser at the event, according to The New York Times, on the home turf of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, one of his top rivals in the GOP. Mr McConnell was not in attendance at the event.

Kentucky is solid Trump territory with Mr Trump winning the state by almost 30 points over Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Saturdays Derby was held at the Churchill Downs track in Louisville, where longshot entrant Rich Strike won the most famous of the Triple Crown races.

The former president has long taken credit for Mr McConnells 2020 victory over Amy McGrath, a well-funded Democratic opponent who nevertheless lost every county in the state to the Minority Leader in 2020.

Mr Trump also reportedly referred to Mr McConnell as a dumb son of a b**** at a private gathering for Republican donors last year.

Mr McConnell is expected to retain control of the Senate GOP next year if his party wins control of the chamber in the November midterms. His fortune is quite the opposite of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy who is expected to face a challenge for the Speakers gavel should the GOP control the House in January. Mr McCarthy has made efforts, including in regular conversations with Mr Trump at Mar-a-Lago and over the phone, to remain on the former presidents good side even as he faces a steady drip-drip of leaks regarding comments he made about Mr Trump in the days and hours immediately following the January 6 attack.

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Mr Trumps efforts at the Derby this weekend are part of a campaign to maintain a vast war chest that was outpacing cash-on-hand totals of both the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic National Committee (DNC) combined, at the end of 2021.

A rousing ovation for Donald Trump @ChurchillDowns following My Old Kentucky Home ahead of the @KentuckyDerby pic.twitter.com/kQ83zVm4Pn  Ed DeRosa (@EJXD2) May 7, 2022

While he has shown no sign of stopping his fundraising juggernaut, Mr Trump has been slow to spend the money he has raised. He has yet to declare a 2024 bid for the White House, with all signs pointing to a potential announcement after the November midterms.

Most GOP candidates who have so far received his endorsement, have been awarded little in terms of monetary support. The notable exception to this rule is the Georgia primary, where Mr Trump has poured half a million into the effort to unseat Gov Brian Kemp for his refusal to help the former president overturn the 2020 election.
First Lady Jill Biden meets with Ukrainian refugees Victorie Kutocha and her daughter, Yulie, 7, in Kosice, Slovakia, on Sunday. (Susan Walsh / Pool Photo)

As air raid sirens wailed repeatedly Sunday in Kyiv and in cities and towns across Ukraine, First Lady Jill Biden made a foray into the embattled country, meeting her Ukrainian counterpart near the Slovakian border.

The day also saw another high-profile Western visit from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who traveled to a suburban town outside Kyiv where evidence has emerged of gruesome atrocities committed by Russian troops during a monthlong occupation.

And U.S. diplomats returned to Kyiv, the capital, for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, with the U.S. Embassy tweeting a photo of acting Ambassador Kristina Kvien's arrival.

Meanwhile, rescuers in an eastern Ukrainian village dug through the rubble of a bombarded school turned shelter where up to 60 people were missing and feared dead, according to Ukrainian officials. If confirmed, the death toll would be the worst known in a single strike since Russian missiles last month slammed into a train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk.

As fighting raged in Ukraine's east, tensions rose on the eve of a major Russian holiday celebrating the then-Soviet Unions role in defeating Nazi Germany 77 years ago in World War II. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to use Mondays Victory Day commemorations to somehow glorify, or at least rebrand, his armys 10-week-old invasion of Ukraine.

In a preview of his holiday messaging, Putin on Sunday described Russias war in Ukraine as meant to achieve Ukrainians liberation of their native land from Nazi filth.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put a very different stamp on the memorial occasion, observed Sunday in Ukraine  a Soviet republic before it became independent more than 30 years ago  as the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation. The United States and most of Europe mark May 8 as V-E Day.

In a starkly dramatic video shot in the badly damaged Kyiv satellite town of Borodianka, occupied by Russia during Moscows failed attempt early in the war to capture Kyiv, Zelensky likened his countrys fierce resistance against the invasion to the World War II struggle against fascism.

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Never again? he asked, with ruined buildings as a backdrop. Try telling Ukraine that.

Separately, the Ukrainian leader said in his overnight video address that the brutality of Russias war against its smaller neighbor should remind every state and every nation that it is impossible to defeat evil once and for all.

Amid continuing Western efforts to get Putin to break off his assault, leaders of the Group of Seven nations, including President Biden, held a video consultation with Zelensky on Sunday.

"We reiterate our condemnation of Russias unprovoked, unjustifiable and illegal military aggression against Ukraine and the indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, which has resulted in terrible humanitarian catastrophe in the heart of Europe," the leaders wrote in a statement following the hourlong session. "We are appalled by the large-scale loss of human life, assault on human rights, and destruction that Russias actions have inflicted on Ukraine."

In addition to announcing further sanctions, the G-7 said it was committed to phasing out the use of Russian oil and gas, or banning them outright, but did not give a timetable for doing so. The U.S. has already banned Russian energy imports, but Europe is considerably more dependent.

The sanctions include steps against three major state-controlled Russian media organizations and more Russian elites being targeted by visa restrictions.

The call, intended as a show of Western solidarity, came hours after Jill Biden's trip to Ukraine, which was disclosed after she had departed the country.

In a rare war-zone visit by a sitting first lady, Biden spent about two hours inside Ukraine, holding a Mothers Day meeting with Olena Zelenska, Zelensky's wife, at a school in the town of Uzhhorod, a short drive from the Slovakian border.

Biden, whose trip came amid a four-day visit to front-line countries in eastern Europe, said she wanted to make the visit on Mothers Day to underscore that this war has been brutal, and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

Zelenska, appearing publicly for the first time since the Russians invaded her nation, thanked Biden for her courageous act at a time when military actions are taking place every day, where air sirens are happening every day.

Trudeau presided over a flag-hoisting at the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv and met with Ukrainian officials. His visit to the outlying town of Irpin was documented by its mayor, Oleksandr Markushyn, who wrote on Telegram that the Canadian leader, the latest in a string of visiting dignitaries, was shown the horror that the Russian occupiers had done to our city.

In the south of Ukraine, in the bomb-flattened port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said efforts were turning Sunday to extracting defenders of a sprawling steel plant that is the final Ukrainian redoubt in the strategic city.

The last of the civilians trapped there  women, children and the elderly  were brought to safety on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said, after spending hungry and frightened weeks seeking safety in the steel plants warren of underground bunkers and tunnels.

The United Nations' humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine announced Sunday that more than 170 people had been evacuated from Mariupol after 10 weeks of shelling and brought to Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeastern Ukraine. More than 600 people have now been evacuated from the Mariupol area, according to coordinator Osnat Lubrani.

We are also working to evacuate our military, Zelensky said in his overnight address. We do not lose hope, we do not stop  every day we are looking for a diplomatic option that could work out.

In an online appeal from inside the plant Sunday, a Ukrainian commander, Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, said the defenders would continue to fight as long as we are alive. The Ukrainian forces have repeatedly refused to surrender, saying they expected to be tortured and killed by Russian forces if they did.

Russia, which has been trying since the start of the war to capture Mariupol, is thought to attach not only practical but symbolic importance to finally subduing the city in time for Mondays Victory Day celebrations.

Putin declared victory in the battle of Mariupol on April 21, but full control of the city will give Moscow the ability to create a land bridge between territory where it holds sway and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.

Municipal officials have said up to 20,000 Mariupol residents have died in the course of the war, and satellite imagery has pinpointed the presence of mass graves on the ruined citys outskirts.

In Ukraines eastern battle zone, Ukrainian officials described a horrific toll on noncombatants caught in intensifying Russian bombardment. Moscow's forces have been using barrages of artillery, often hitting civilian areas, to try to break through Ukrainian lines.

In the village of Bilohorivka, in Luhansk province, about 90 people were sheltering at a school when it was bombed and burst into flames Saturday, Ukrainian officials said. Regional Gov. Serhiy Haidai said about 30 people had been rescued, with two confirmed dead and seven others injured, leaving dozens unaccounted for in the incinerated wreckage.

Sixty people were likely to have died under the rubble, he wrote Sunday on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraines Foreign Ministry called the shelling of the school a war crime. Noting that the attack took place hours before the start of Ukrainian commemorations of the defeat of Nazi Germany, the ministry said Russian forces were constantly repeating the tragedy of World War II.

In a separate episode in the village of Shypilovo, about 11 people were thought to have been inside a home that was hit by shelling, Haidai said, citing preliminary information. His province, Luhansk, is one of two making up the Donbas region, the industrial heartland that Russia is trying to capture.

Adding to the misery of life in the battle zone, a Russian airstrike in Luhansk damaged electrical infrastructure, cutting off power to the Ukrainian-held part of the province. Many civilians have fled, at the governments urging, but tens of thousands of residents remain in the area.

Western military analysts have painted Russias much-vaunted offensive in Ukraines east as beset by problems. An assessment Sunday by British military intelligence cited difficulties in command and control, as well as faltering Russian performance on the front line, a 300-mile arc stretching from Ukraines southeast to northeast.

Following actor and humanitarian Angelina Jolies trip to western Ukraine last week, Sunday saw another celebrity visit to the country. Bono, the lead singer of the Irish rock band U2, and its guitarist the Edge staged a surprise performance at a Kyiv subway station where residents had sheltered from bombardment earlier in the war. In addition to some of their signature songs, they invited a soldier to join them in performing Ben E. King's "Stand By Me." On Twitter, the group said Zelensky had invited them to visit the capital.

King reported from Kyiv and Subramanian from Washington.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb destroyed a school sheltering about 90 people in the basement as Moscows invading forces kept up their barrage of cities, towns and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine.

The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturdays bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said.

Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

Since failing to capture Ukraines capital, Russia has focused its offensive in the Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014 and occupy some territory. The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition due to the Ukrainian militarys unexpectedly effective defense.

To demonstrate success, Moscow was aiming to complete its conquest of the besieged port city of Mariupol in time for Victory Day celebrations on Monday. All the remaining women, children and older civilians who had been sheltering with Ukrainian fighters in a sprawling steel mill that is the citys last defense holdout were evacuated Saturday.

The troops still inside have refused to surrender and requested international help to get them out, too. Capturing Mariupol would give Moscow a land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, annexed from Ukraine during a 2014 invasion.

Satellite photos shot Friday by Planet Labs PBC showed vast devastation at the Azovstal steel mill. Buildings had gaping holes in the roofs, including one under which hundreds of fighters were likely hiding.

After rescuers evacuated the last civilians Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that the focus would turn to extracting the wounded and medics: Of course, if everyone fulfills the agreements. Of course, if there are no lies.

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Elsewhere on the coast, air raid sirens sounded several times early Sunday in the major Black sea port of Odesa, which Russia struck with six cruise missiles on Saturday.

The Odesa city council said four of the missiles hit a furniture company, with the shock waves and debris badly damaging high-rise apartment buildings. The other two missiles hit the Odesa airport, where a previous Russian attack destroyed the runway.

In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days and has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the countrys second-largest city, Kharkiv. Ukraines military said retreating Russian forces destroyed three bridges on a road northeast of the city to try to slow the Ukrainian advance.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, when Russia celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

In neighboring Moldova, Russian and separatists troops were on full alert, the Ukrainian military warned. The region has increasingly become a focus of worries that the conflict could expand beyond Ukraines borders.

Pro-Russian forces broke off the Transnistria section of Moldova in 1992, and Russian troops have been stationed there since, ostensibly as peacekeepers.

Those forces are on full combat readiness, Ukraine said, without giving details on how it came to the assessment.

Moscow has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the sea and create a corridor to Transnistria. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Ukraine targeting Russian-held Snake Island in a bid to impede Russias efforts to control the Black Sea.

A satellite image taken Sunday morning by Planet Labs PBC showed smoke rising from two sites on the island. On the islands southern edge, a fire smoked next to debris. That corresponded to a video released by the Ukrainian military showing its strike on a Russian helicopter that had flown to the island.

A Planet Labs image from Saturday showed most of the islands buildings, as well as what appeared to be a Serna-class landing craft against the islands northern beach. had been destroyed by Ukrainian drone attacks.

The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine. Western military analysts said a counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces was progressing around Kharkiv, the countrys second-largest city. The Ukrainian military said it retook control of five villages and part of a sixth near the northeastern city.

However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from Luhansk provinces embattled city of Popasna, Haidai, the regional governor, said Sunday.

In a video interview posted on his Telegram channel, Haidai said that Kyivs troops had moved to stronger positions, which they had prepared ahead of time.

All free settlements in the Luhansk region are hot spots, Haidai added. Right now, there are shooting battles in (the villages) of Bilohorivka, Voivodivka and towards Popasna.

Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that work would also continue Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

It remains unclear what will happen to the estimated 2,000 fighters at the Azovstal plant, both those still in combat and the hundreds believed to be wounded. The Ukrainian government has been reaching out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for them. surrender.

Zelenskyy said officials were trying to find a way to evacuate them. He acknowledged the difficulty, but said: We are not losing hope, we are not stopping. Every day we are looking for some diplomatic option that might work.




It would be easy to look at the $7.5 million settlement announced last week by Keith Cooper as a measure of justice  finally  for the man wrongfully convicted of an armed robbery in Elkhart.

But it came only after injustice that continued after he was released from prison.

Cooper will receive $7.5 million in a settlement agreement with the city of Elkhart. That's the largest paid to a plaintiff in a wrongful conviction lawsuit in Indiana, and marks the end of a shameful legal saga.

More: Wrongfully convicted Keith Cooper wins record $7.5 million in settlement from Elkhart

Last week, Cooper, now a Chicago resident, referred to the "long uphill battle" he'd fought. "I've been waiting 14 years for this day and now it's here."

Cooper's wait included a nearly decade-long quest for a gubernatorial pardon. Despite a unanimous recommendation from the Indiana Parole Board and the former deputy prosecutor who helped send him to prison, then-Gov. Mike Pence refused to act. Instead, Pence's general counsel advised Cooper to first exhaust all of his legal options before requesting a pardon. Given the years that had been taken from him by a broken system, it is unthinkable that he was asked to sit tight and wait for that same system to get things right.

He finally received a pardon in 2017 from Gov. Eric Holcomb that expunged his record and made him the first Indiana man to receive a gubernatorial pardon on actual innocence.

Last year, waiting for the legal system to give him compensation for years lost, Cooper expressed fear that he would be dead by the time his lawsuit was resolved. His story serves as a reminder that the trauma doesn't end when the innocent are freed from prison. It also provides a stark example of a system  and of the people within that system  that all too often refuses to acknowledge the devastation from the wrongs it perpetuates.

The settlement money won't erase that trauma or give him back time lost, but Cooper said "it helps build a better tomorrow for me and my family."

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The city released a statement apologizing for its handling of Cooper's case, and noted that the Elkhart Police Department had set on a "path of accountability in the hopes that this kind of case will never happen again."

City officials can put action behind that long overdue apology by heeding the call, made by an attorney representing Cooper, to bring in a special prosecutor to review every case investigated by the officers named in Cooper's lawsuit. That would be a step toward the accountability that has been missing throughout Keith Cooper's ordeal.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Wrongfully convicted Keith Cooper waited a long time for 'justice.'
Margarita was sure, up to the last moment, that she would be killed running for the buses waiting to save civilians like her from months of terror under Russian bombardment in the holdout Azovstal steel works.

"I never thought I would see sunlight again," the 23-year-old Ukrainian told AFP on condition her full name not be published.

"I was thinking if a bomb hits, please let it kill me instantly. I don't want to be handicapped. I was afraid I could end up bleeding to death," she added.

A dramatic humanitarian effort is carrying to safety the last of the hundreds of civilians who were stranded in bunkers under the site, where Ukrainian fighters are making a last stand against Russians seeking full control of the key port city Mariupol.

But to escape they have had to pass through Russian "filtration" sites where several evacuees told AFP they were questioned, strip-searched, fingerprinted, had their phones scrutinised and documents checked -- and checked again.

It was particularly risky for Margarita who said her father and husband are both members of the far-right Azov regiment that is central to the Azovstal battle against Russian troops, who consider the fighters their arch-enemies.

Figuring a degree of honesty would boost her chances of getting to safety and that the Russians would have a reasonable idea of who her husband was already, she did not dispute his affiliation when interrogators asked.

- 'Treated like criminals' -

Margarita said the Russian troops' animosity toward Azov fighters surfaced quickly when she asked they return her passport in the final steps of the humanitarian convoy that would finally reach the safety of the government-held city of Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday.

"They told me 'Why? You need it? We will send you the passport in a body bag with the corpse of your husband'," she added. "They told me that they will send us photos of my husband killed and eviscerated."

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Several women evacuated from Azovstal said they were strip-searched in tents by female Russians and checked for tattoos or scars, had their mugshots taken and were subjected to questioning that ranged from their mothers' maiden names to political leanings.

"They asked us if we wanted to go to Russia or to stay in (eastern Ukraine's self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic) or stay and rebuild the city of Mariupol," said Azovstal evacuee Natalia, who spoke on condition that her full name not be published.

"But how can I rebuild it, how can I return there if the city of Mariupol doesn't exist anymore?" she said of the settlement now devastated by heavy bombardment.

Another Azovstal evacuee, Elyna Tsybulchenko, said the convoy was brought to a village east of Mariupol, Bezimenne, for "filtration".

"They took us one by one. They took our fingerprints, took our photos 'Turn left', 'Turn right', 'Look here' -- like we were some kind of criminals," the 54-year-old former Azovstal worker added.

At the same time, worried family and friends of the evacuees waited for news at a shopping centre car park in Zaporizhzhia that was the convoy's final stop, but the wait would stretch for days as the process unfolded.

"The Russians kept asking us questions, but there were armoured vehicles standing there with machine guns... What could we say? We only said that we wanted to go to Ukraine, that it is our country," said Natalia, 63.

"They had my old mobile phone and did something to it, I assume it may be tapped now," she added.

- Held for hours -

During her interrogation at the filtration site, Margarita said the Russians asked her for details about where the Azovstal bunkers were located, saying they wanted to "let the people out".

"They figured out very soon that among the women we had a lot of wives of men fighting in the Azov or military, so they started to interrogate us for information," Margarita said.

She ended up telling the interrogators that she had separated from her husband, thinking that putting some distance between them would help keep her safe.

While checking her phone though, interrogators uncovered messages between the two of them from March 1, including one in which Margarita told her husband she loved him.

"They held me for four hours," she told AFP at the emergency housing she was staying at days after the evacuation to Zaporizhzhia.

Then after a seemingly interminable wait, the convoy of white city buses came into view of the reception centre, where it was greeted by a crush of dozens of journalists, scores of humanitarian workers and the loved ones who had waited so long for news.

Evacuee Anna Zaitseva was among the people stepping off the buses into the crowd and she cried as she was met with hugs and kisses.

"We are so thankful for everyone who helped us. There was a moment we lost hope," said Zaitseva, holding her six-month-old baby in her arms. "We thought everyone forgot about us."

jm/jbr/ah
A former security chief who oversaw the crackdown on Hong Kong's democracy movement was anointed the business hub's new leader on Sunday by a small committee of Beijing loyalists.

John Lee, 64, was the only candidate in a Beijing-backed one-horse race to succeed outgoing leader Carrie Lam.

His elevation places a security official in the top job for the first time after a tumultuous few years for a city battered by political unrest and debilitating pandemic controls.

Despite the city's mini-constitution promising universal suffrage, Hong Kong has never been a democracy, the source of years of public frustration and protests since the 1997 handover to China.

Its leader is instead chosen by an "election committee" currently comprised of 1,461 people -- roughly 0.02 percent of the city's population.

After a brief secret ballot on Sunday, 1,416 members voted for Lee while eight voted against according to officials. The rest did not cast ballots.

"I declare that the only candidate Mr John Lee Ka-chiu is returned in the above mentioned election, congratulations," returning officer Justice Keith Yeung Kar-hung, announced.

- Heavy police presence -

Protests have been largely outlawed in Hong Kong, with authorities using an anti-coronavirus ban on public gatherings of more than four people as well as a new national security law.

Police ringed the exhibition centre with security, and 6,000 to 7,000 officers had been placed on standby, according to local media.

The League of Social Democrats -- one of the only remaining pro-democracy groups -- held a three-person protest before polls opened, chanting "Power to the people, universal suffrage now".

"This is what John Lee's new chapter looks like, a shrinking of our civil liberties," said protester Vanessa Chan as dozens of police officers looked on.

"We know this action will have no effect, but we don't want Hong Kong to be completely silent," she added.

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Under President Xi Jinping, China is remoulding Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image after huge and sometimes violent democracy protests three years ago.

Beijing deployed a sweeping security law to stamp out dissent and rolled out a new "patriots only" political system for Hong Kong to guarantee anyone standing for office is considered suitably loyal.

- A troubled city -

While the democracy movement has been crushed, much of the population still resents Beijing's rule and chafes at the city's entrenched inequality.

Hong Kong also faces economic difficulties thanks to two years of strict pandemic curbs that have damaged its business hub reputation and left residents cut off as rivals re-open.

Under the slogan "Starting a new chapter for Hong Kong together", Lee has vowed to bring in "result-oriented" governance, forge unity and reboot the city's economy.

A 44-page manifesto he released last week stuck to broad goals and offered few concrete policies or targets.

Lee has said he will unveil more details when he makes his first policy address.

Hong Kong's chief executives find themselves caught between the democratic aspirations of the city's residents and the authoritarian demands of Beijing's leaders.

Outgoing leader Carrie Lam is on track to leave office with record-low approval ratings.

According to a survey in March by the Public Opinion Research Institute, about 24 percent of the public has confidence in Lee, compared with 12 percent for Lam.

Waiting in a line outside a restaurant on Sunday, 25-year-old resident Alex Tam said he and his friends were paying little attention to proceedings.

"It's just an empty gesture," he told AFP. "If he didn't listen to the protesters, I don't see how he would listen to young people now, especially those who criticise the government."

Retired businessman Yeung wing-shun was more positive saying he hoped Lee will guide Hong Kong with a "firm hand", adding that he believed the new leader could bring different sectors together.

Lee will take office on July 1, the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China from Britain.

China agreed that Hong Kong could maintain certain freedoms and autonomy for 50 years after retaking control from Britain under a "One Country, Two Systems" formula.

Beijing and Lee say that formula is still intact.

Critics, including many Western powers, say it has been shredded.

Lee is one of 11 senior Hong Kong and Beijing officials sanctioned by the United States because of the political crackdown.

su/jta/oho
A former security chief who oversaw the crackdown on Hong Kong's democracy movement is set to be anointed the business hub's new leader on Sunday by a small committee of Beijing loyalists.

John Lee, 64, was the only candidate in a Beijing-backed one-horse race to succeed outgoing leader Carrie Lam.

His elevation will place a security official in the top job for the first time after a tumultuous few years for a city battered by political unrest and debilitating pandemic controls.

Hong Kong has never been a democracy, the source of years of public frustration and protests.

Its leader is instead chosen by an "election committee" currently comprised of 1,463 people -- roughly 0.02 percent of the city's population.

That committee, made up of political and business elites vetted for their loyalty, will cast ballots on Sunday morning.

Lee needs to secure a simple majority, but with no rivals, his ascension is virtually guaranteed.

Local media reported that police have placed 6,000 to 7,000 officers on standby to ensure the selection goes ahead without a hitch.

Under President Xi Jinping China is remoulding Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image after huge and sometimes violent democracy protests three years ago.

Beijing deployed a sweeping security law to stamp out dissent and rolled out a new "patriots only" political system for Hong Kong to guarantee anyone standing for office is considered suitably loyal.

Insiders say Lee's unwavering commitment to that campaign won China's confidence at a time when other Hong Kong elites were seen as insufficiently loyal or competent.

"He is a man who has stood the test," former security minister Lai Tung-kwok recently told AFP.

Lee, who spent 35 years in Hong Kong's police force before joining the government, inherits a troubled city.

While the democracy movement has been crushed by the security law, much of the population still resents Beijing's rule and chafes at the city's entrenched inequality.

Story continues

Hong Kong also faces economic difficulties thanks to two years of strict pandemic curbs that have left it isolated from the rest of the world as rivals re-open.

Under the slogan "Starting a new chapter for Hong Kong together", Lee has vowed to bring in "result-oriented" governance, forge unity and reboot the city's economy.

A 44-page manifesto he released last week stuck to broad goals and offered few concrete policies or targets.

Lee has said he will unveil more details when he makes his first policy address.

He will take office on July 1, the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China from Britain.

China agreed that Hong Kong could maintain certain freedoms and autonomy for 50 years after its handover under a "One Country, Two Systems" formula.

Beijing and Lee say that formula is still intact.

Critics, including many Western powers, say it has been shredded.

Lee is one of 11 senior Hong Kong and Beijing officials sanctioned by the United States because of the political crackdown.

su/jta/axn/cwl
The shelling of Azovstal. May 5, 2022

This possibility could be a third country extraction, Zhdanov explained.

Read also: Zelensky says influential states involved in rescuing Ukrainian soldiers from Azovstal

The extraction means that by agreement of two opposing parties, i.e. Ukraine and Russia, a third country takes away the servicemen, in this case our defenders of the Azovstal steelworks," he said.



"The third country not only takes them away, but guarantees that they will not enter our country until the end of the war. That is, they will stay on the territory of a third country and will not engage in armed struggle."



At the same time, Zhdanov added that in order to carry out the extraction, the agreement of all three parties involved in this operation is required."That is, Russia must agree to this, Ukraine, as well as a third country which will commit itself to the extraction of our servicemen."

Read also: Escape from hell: Women of Mariupol tell their stories of living under occupation and escaping the siege

All women, children and elderly civilians were evacuated from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol over the course of May 1 to May 7. During the evacuation, the Russians killed three Ukrainian soldiers who were helping citizens evacuated from the plant.

At the same time, Russia has refused to provide a withdrawal corridor for the defenders of Mariupol, who continue to defend the besieged Azovstal plant.

They have repeatedly asked for the extraction procedure to be applied to them.

Read also: How Russia is blasting Mariupol into the past

On May 8, the defenders of Mariupol gave a press conference from the besieged Azovstal plant saying that they had deliberately entered a pocket in Mariupol, and did everything possible and impossible to attract overwhelming forces of Russian troops in the city.

According to the Ukrainian defenders, the Russian invaders have killed 25,000 people in Mariupol during the 74 days of the war.
By Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has imposed several rafts of sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine in February, targeting its central bank, major lenders, oligarchs and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Here are some ways in which the United States could further increase sanctions on Russia.

ENERGY

The European Union's executive on Wednesday proposed the toughest package of sanctions yet against Moscow for its war in Ukraine, including a planned embargo on Russian oil.

Diplomats said talks were complex but many expressed confidence all 27 EU governments could agree before next week.

Edward Fishman, who worked on Russia sanctions at the State Department during President Barack Obama's administration, said now that the EU is moving toward an oil embargo, it opens up possibilities on what Washington and its allies can do next.

"I think the next step is going to be the United States working with the EU and the rest of the G7 to globalize that campaign against Russia's oil sales," Fishman said.

Some measures the West could impose to restrict Russia from receiving payment for oil could include requiring all payments for Russian oil to go into escrow accounts outside of Russia and setting a price cap on what can be paid for Russian oil, backed up by the threat of secondary sanctions, Fishman said.

Another option would be for the EU to impose import taxes on Russian oil, Fishman said.

Brian O'Toole, a former Treasury Department official now with the Atlantic Council think tank, said the United States could also ban the provision of insurance for Russian oil cargoes and threaten secondary sanctions on any foreign person who conducts a significant transaction with a Russian cargo vessel.

He said such a move would "greatly complicate Russia's ability to ship oil elsewhere."

The United States could also further tighten energy-related sanctions by adding major companies such as oil giant Rosneft or gas producer Gazprom to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.

Story continues

TIGHTENED SANCTIONS ON BANKS, STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES

Experts have said the United States can also expand its punitive measures on Russian banks and state-owned enterprises.

The United States has imposed sanctions on major Russian banks, including Sberbank, the country's largest lender.

Washington could further target Gazprombank and others, O'Toole said, wielding Washington's most powerful sanctioning tool and adding them to the SDN list.

Such a move would effectively kick them out of the U.S. banking system, ban their trade with Americans and freeze their American assets.

"Apart from Gazprombank, there's nothing left of strategic significance in the banking world in Russia. So, frankly, if they did Gazprombank separately, I think the step after that would just be a complete financial embargo," O'Toole said.

FINANCIAL EMBARGO

A total financial embargo on Russia would likely be implemented through the issuance of a new executive order that would bar Americans from exporting to or importing from Russia goods, services or technologies, said O'Toole.

"Then Russia becomes Iran," he said.

SECONDARY SANCTIONS

The United States could also enforce secondary sanctions against designated Russian entities and individuals, which would threaten anyone in the world performing transactions with Russia, Fishman said.

FURTHER SWIFT RESTRICTIONS

In early March, the EU named seven banks it would bar from SWIFT, the world's main international payments network, including Russia's second-largest bank VTB. However, lenders handling energy payments were spared.

The United States and its allies could further tighten those restrictions and block access of more or all Russian banks to SWIFT.

The EU's latest round of sanctions proposes cutting Sberbank off from SWIFT.

OLIGARCHS

The United States could impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs who have not yet been targeted, perhaps by bringing its measures in line with the EU and United Kingdom, which have targeted several Russian oligarchs not so far designated by Washington.

They include billionaire Roman Abramovich and tycoon Mikhail Fridman.

In his State of the Union address in March, Biden said the United States would work to seize the yachts, luxury apartments and private jets of wealthy Russians with ties to Putin.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Additional reporting by David Lawder, Andrea Shalal, Doina Chiacu, Alexandra Alper and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Mary Milliken, Jonathan Oatis and Daniel Wallis)
First lady Jill Biden receives flowers from Olena Zelenskyy, spouse of Ukrainian's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, outside of School 6, a public school that has taken in displaced students in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2022. AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool

Jill Biden unexpectedly crossed into Ukraine on Sunday.

She held a Mother's Day meeting with Ukraine's first lady.

She's one of the highest profile US officials to visit the active war zone.

First Lady Jill Biden made an unexpected visit into Ukraine on Sunday, several outlets reported.

Biden's visit to an active war zone was a rare visit from a spouse of a sitting US president, The Washington Post reported.

The Associated Press reported that Biden crossed over into the western Ukrainian town of Uzhhorod from Slovakia. She held a surprise Mother's Day meeting with Olena Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wife.

"I wanted to come on Mother's Day," Biden told Zelenskyy. "I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine."

The Washington Post reported that Zelenskky thanked Biden for her courage in coming into a war zone. Biden is the highest profile US official to enter Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion.

"We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day -- even today," Zelenskyy told Biden.

Biden has been on a trip to eastern Europe since Friday. Her visit in Ukraine comes ahead of Russia's 'Victory Day' on May 9, an annual event celebrating the Soviet Union defeating Nazi Germany in 1945 during World War II.

It's anticipated that Russian President Vladimir Putin will announce some sort of victory in Ukraine on Monday, and the Post reported that there's growing concern the attacks on Ukraine will increase, especially in eastern Ukraine.

The AP reported that Biden's trip is limited to western Ukraine.

Biden and Zelenskyy met at a school that was turned into a transitional home for Ukrainians fleeing the war in other parts of the country. The pair met with a group of kids who were making bears from tissue-paper to give as gifts for Mother's Day, the AP reported.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Applause, smiles and humor filled Courtroom 1 at the Marion County Judicial Center on Friday as family, friends, well-wishers, law enforcement officials, politicians, judges and lawyers gathered to celebrate County Judge Lori Cotton's investiture.

Administrative and Circuit Judge Bob Hodges sat in the judge's chair and presided over the ceremony, which had been delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seated in front of Hodges were more than a dozen current and retired judges from Marion, Lake, Citrus and Hernando counties -- four of the five jurisdictions that make up the 5th Judicial Circuit - wearing their black robes on opposite sides of each other.

Selected for the bench: DeSantis appoints Lori Cotton, a longtime prosecutor, as Marion County judge

Increased: Bail increased for driver accused of leaving scene of deadly crash in NE Marion County

Moving up: Belleview police chief promotes Christina Esquivel to sergeant: Good news in Ocala/Marion

Retirees remember Cotton

Cotton's 8-year-old niece, Madigan Deriso, opened the event with the Pledge of Allegiance. Republican State Sen. Dennis Baxley of Ocala followed Madigan with the invocation.

Retired State Attorney Brad King and retired Circuit Judge Willard Pope poked fun at themselves, each other, those in the audience, popular trends, pop culture and past court rulings in their speeches.

King, in his remarks, said he "always enjoyed being around her," making reference to Cotton. He recalled meeting Cotton many years ago when she worked at the State Attorney's Office as an intern while attending law school and later as an assistant state attorney.

Looking at her resume, King said Cotton was well-rounded and he was impressed that she had good grades, while at the same time, was a marching band conductor.

"She has passion," King said.

At the SAO, King said Cotton prosecuted sex crimes and also worked in the targeted crime unit that focused on career criminals. King called his former colleague "a really smart lawyer," who loved "learning and teaching."

Story continues

County Judge Lori Cotton speaks Friday afternoon at her investiture at the Marion County Judicial Center.

Pope remembers meeting Cotton in 2007 when she, Jennifer Bass  now a circuit judge and one of the judges in attendance  and Janine Nixon were on his felony docket. Pope said the trio was quite a team.

"She was always prepared, organized and thorough," the retired judge said of Cotton.

He added that although Cotton was tough, she was "always fair with her adversaries." Pope said he has no doubt that Cotton will be "an excellent judge."

The black robe

County Judge Charles Helm of Citrus County presented Cotton with her name plate and commission, and Bass swore in Cotton, whose family stood beside her.

Assistant State Attorney and President of the Marion County Bar Association, Wynn Vickers, gave Cotton her black robe.

County Judge Charles Helm of Citrus County gives County Judge Lori Cotton her name plate and commission at Cotton's investiture on Friday afternoon at the Marion County Judicial Center.

When it was her time to speak, Cotton credited her parents for instilling the importance of education in her. She said she would not be where she is today without them.

Cotton said she remembers the times when she would get nervous anytime she appeared in court. She said after a year, and numerous trials later, she felt at ease.

Circuit Judge Jennifer Bass swears in Judge Lori Cotton on Friday afternoon at the Marion County Judicial Center.

Cotton singled out those who helped her along the way, including Judges John Futch and Pope.

She thanked King and retired Chief Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway for listening and advising her. She said both men were her surrogate fathers as her dad died while she was in law school.

County Judge Jim McCune was a mentor to her, Cotton said, and she thanked Bass for calling and checking on her.

Nearly a year into the position, Cotton said that despite feeling the weight of being a judge, "this is the best job in the world."

County Judge Lori Cotton puts on her robe given to her by Assistant State Attorney and President of the Marion County Bar Association Wynn Vickers, at Cotton's investiture on Friday at the Marion County Judicial Center.

In May 2021, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Cotton, who was an assistant state attorney, to the bench when County Judge Sarah Ritterhoff Williams announced her retirement last year.

Pastor Anne Fuquay of First United Methodist Church, who gave the benediction, said Cotton has inspired them with her personal faith.

"You do truly love what you do," she said.

 Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: 5th Judicial Circuit celebrates Judge Lori Cotton's investiture
A workers quenches his thirst next to power lines as a heatwave continues to lashes the capital, in New Delhi (AP)

Naresh Ahirwar doesnt stop working when the midday sun beats down on his construction site on the outskirts of Delhi, amid the sustained heatwave conditions that have afflicted northern India for well over a month. The 56-year-old feeks like he is going to faint with each heavy load he carries in and out of the half-erected building  yet resting out the afternoon is not an option, even as the mercury soars above 40C.

Earlier I used to carry everything without any problem, now it feels like every step is a struggle and I am going to die here, says the 56-year-old. But people like me working on daily wages dont have an option [to stop].

Near the construction site, a shopkeeper who sells earthenware pots shuts down his shop during the afternoon and takes shelter from the scorching sun under the tarpaulin sheet that otherwise serves as his stores roof, even if it means he will not make enough money to get by.

My products are made for the summer season, explains Sunil Kumar. I cant sit at home for the whole summer, but it is getting impossible to stay through the afternoons.

No one in Delhi is a stranger to this kind of heat, but temperatures that were once reserved for the two peak summer months now stretch on for much longer. This April was by far the hottest since records began, and a heatwave was declared in northern Indian as early as mid-March. There was a momentary respite for some areas with brief rains at the start of May, but forecasters say the mercury is set to rise again to 45C later this week.

If it was just about a few weeks in May and June we could be prepared to stay at home, but how do we shut our shops entirely if the heat begins in March and stays on for most of the year? asks Kumar, a 36-year-old father of four.

A delivery agent with a popular food chain says he dips a cloth in cold water and wears it on his head like a turban when he is driving during the hottest hours, in order to get through the day.

Story continues

That gives some respite, but the cloth gets dry within minutes, says 21-year-old Varun. We have some financial problems at home, because of which I had to pick up this job. I cant quit it even though many delivery boys like me have fallen sick in this season.

A woman uses her bag to protect herself from the sun in New Delhi on Wednesday. (REUTERS)

The heatwave affects Indias poorest the most, but no section of society is completely immune to its impacts. In the densely populated high-rise societies of Noida, a satellite city of Delhi, residents switched on their air conditioners much earlier this year and parents are demanding schools be shut or changed to a different schedule because many children have complained of weakness.

Summers have been getting worse for several years now, our electricity bills have skyrocketed because the house feels unlivable most of the day. But nobody complained, you get used to It. Its like being a frog in a slowly boiling pot, says Vivek Arora, a resident of Greater Noida whose children have been home all week due to heat stress. But this year feels extraordinarily different.

Hundreds of millions of people have been affected by the extraordinary heat seen this year in India and neighbouring Pakistan  where some places have seen temperatures as high as 52C. Scientists have been warning that this level of heat has cascading effects, not just on human health, but also on ecosystems, agriculture, water, energy supplies and even key sectors of the economy.

The country is already suffering from an acute energy shortage as demand for electricity increases, landfills have caught fire amid the high temperatures, wheat crops have been destroyed leading to a shortage and prices of lemons  a popular remedy for the heat  have skyrocketed with rising demand.

Delhi fire officials take a break while dousing a fire at the Bhalswa landfill in New Delhi on Wednesday. (AP)

Government action so far has been limited to advising people to stay inside during afternoons where possible, and a high-level meeting by prime minister Narendra Modi urging states to come up with plans of their own to combat the heatwave.

But scientists say the footprint of climate change is clear to see in these sorts of extreme weather events, and while the heatwave situation has been unprecedented this year, it is only going to be repeated and get worse as the planet warms.

A study by Imperial College London found that climate change has made heatwaves like this years much more likely. Before human activities increased global temperatures, we would have seen the heat that hit India earlier this month around once in 50 years, says Dr Mariam Zachariah, Research Associate at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College.

But now it is a much more common event  we can expect such high temperatures about once in every four years. And until net emissions are halted, it will continue to become even more common.

In the coming year, more frequent and long-lasting heatwave events are projected to affect the Indian sub-continent as a result of the warming of the tropical Indian Ocean and the increasing frequency of extreme El Nino events, according to an analysis by the Delhi-based communications initiative Climate Trends.

The impacts of this heatwave have already extended beyond the dusty plains of northern India to ravage the Himalayan region, with forest fires reported in the hilly state of Uttarakhand. But such events will also come to affect verdant southern India, which is currently not influenced by heatwaves, by the end of the 21st century, according to Climate Trends.

Climate scientists say it is essential to work on both mitigation through reducing carbon emissions, and at the same to develop adaptation strategies to provide relief to people already suffering from global warming. If governments are not careful, rushing to solve one side of the equation can risk making things worse in the long term such as Indias current scramble to acquire more coal to meet its spiking electricity demand during the heatwave.

Experts admit its a tough balance to strike. While taking mitigation measures is a must to limit future warming, the extreme, frequent, and long-lasting spells of heatwaves are no more a future risk. It is already here and is unavoidable, says Dr Abhiyant Tiwari, an assistant professor and programme manager at the Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management.

Our heat action plans must ensure adaptation measures like public cooling areas, ensuring uninterrupted electricity, access to safe drinking water, and changing the work hours of labourers for the most vulnerable ones at the bottom of the pyramid, especially during extreme heat days.

Rickshaw pullers sleep as they wait for the few customers venturing out in Delhi (PA)

While India is set to face some of the worst impacts of climate change, so far only one city, Mumbai, has come up with a net-zero plan aimed at decreasing the citys emissions and increasing its adaptability. Climate change rarely finds a mention in Indias political discussions even though the country faces year-round challenges, from extreme heat to monsoon flooding.

During extreme winters, there are at least shelter homes for the poor and the homeless, no matter how poor their conditions are there is roof to cover your head for most people. But during the extreme heat, which we now know is going to stay on for longer, there is no arrangement for daily wage labourers or homeless [people] to find respite, says Sunil Kumar Aledia of the Centre for Holistic Development, an NGO.

The impact of heat stress on health is also highly undercounted in India, with the country only tracking heatstroke deaths where they are medically certified as having been caused by direct exposure to the sun. As a result, while more than 2,500 were reported dead during a really intense heatwave spell in 2015, only a handful of such deaths are reported in other years. Doctors say prolonged periods of warm nights can prove deadly as they limit the bodys ability to recover from daytime heat  but such fatalities would be unlikely to be counted as heatstroke-related.

Failure to adapt working practices to extreme heat also has a major impact on the economy. A study by Duke University found that India lost 259 billion hours of labour annually between 2001 and 2020 because of the impacts of humid heat.

Activists say the government needs to carry out a fresh vulnerability assessment and work towards combatting heatwaves at a disaster level.

In countries like Saudi Arabia where temperatures of 50C and above have been witnessed, the government policies aim at providing relief to the masses, including changing work timings to ensure no one has to toll in the afternoons, says Lubaina Rangwala, programme head at WRI India. The Indian government needs to draft new policies like that.

The question of how to adapt to a warming planet is no longer hypothetical when it comes to India  meteorologists say that erratic and unpredictable weather patterns are here now. Prior to the first heatwave declaration of the year on 11 March, northern India had seen an unusually cold winter season, something which itself brings risks to pubic health and infrastructure in a country not used to such lows.

Experts point to several different reasons for this years erratic weather, including the disruption of the cooling Western Disturbance  a phenomenon associated with rainfall in India  a heatwave in the Arctic and the La Nina phenomenon. But the underlying cause in all these situations can ultimately be attributed to climate change, they say.

There is no doubt that extreme heat events are increasing in India, says Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of meteorology and climate change at Skymet Weather Services, a private forecaster. Global warming has a primary role in this, although there are several other factors at play as well.

The concern now is that India will continue to break heat records into the summer months, further extending the strain on its energy infrastructure and populace.

Not only are these heat extremes in India and Pakistan record-setting by far for the month of April, but theyre also setting the stage for further and even more extreme heat waves into May and June, which are already typically hotter months, says Dr Zachary Zobel, a climate scientist who studies the intersection of climate change and extreme heat and precipitation.

These patterns are expected to continue, and likely worsen, in the coming years, Zobel adds. Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, the planet will continue to warm for at least another decade.
KYIV/FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The president of the German parliament Baerbel Bas met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Sunday to commemorate victims of World War Two, discuss arms and Ukraine's ambition to be considered for European Union (EU) membership.

In a video of a meeting with Bas, Zelenskiy said securing the Bundestag's approval of heavy arms deliveries to help Ukraine fend off Russian attacks was one his country's "top priorities."

He also asked Bas and the Bundestag to support Ukraine in its bid for European Union membership, which Kyiv's allies have said they want soon. However, candidature would have to be agreed unanimously and accession usually takes years of complex negotiations.

Zelenskiy earlier gave an emotional address for Victory Day, when Europe remembers the formal surrender of Germany to the Allies in World War Two, saying that "evil has returned" to Ukraine, but it wouldn't be able to escape responsibility.

Bas told German newspaper Rheinische Post that she had assured Zelenskiy of Germany's solidarity and ongoing support in Ukraine's fight for its existence.

The two also agreed that peace should not be dictated by Russia, Bas was cited as saying in a story abstract released ahead of publication by the paper on Monday.

"We agreed that there must not be a dictated peace but only one brokered through a fair peace agreement," she said.

Regarding Ukraine's EU membership bid, "the Bundestag will speed all necessary procedures," she said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to take part in a G7 virtual discussion later on Sunday on the war in Ukraine that will be attended by Zelenskiy.

Germany has agreed to supply Kyiv with heavy weapons, including self-propelled howitzers, in a reversal of a longtime policy not to send heavy weapons to war zones due to the country's Nazi past.

Moscow calls its actions since Feb. 24 a "special military operation" to disarm Ukraine and rid it of what it calls "Nazis" and anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West.

In Russia, Victory Day on May 9 is one of the country's most important national events - a remembrance of the enormous sacrifices made by the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; additional reporting by Vera Eckert, Editing by Edmund Blair, Elaine Hardcastle and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Smoke rises Saturday from the Azovstal steel complex amid shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine. (Alexei Alexandrov / Associated Press)

The U.S., European Union and Group of 7 leaders on Sunday unveiled a fresh round of sanctions targeting Russia's industrial sector, state-controlled media and Russian and Belarusian finance executives from major banks including Russia's Gazprombank.

The G-7 countries  including Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy  also vowed to phase out or ban the import of Russian oil, a move that European leaders have so far resisted but that was proposed by the European Union last week. The U.S. has already banned the import of Russian oil, gas and coal as a result of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine that began in late February.

The announcement came as President Biden held virtual talks with G-7 leaders along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the eve of Russia's Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.

In a statement following the call, which lasted roughly an hour, G-7 leaders said they assured Zelensky of "our full solidarity and support," pledging additional assistance since the beginning of the war of more than $24 billion for 2022.

"In the coming weeks, we will step up our collective short-term financial support to help Ukraine close financing gaps and deliver basic services to its people, while also developing options  working with the Ukrainian authorities and international financial institutions  to support long-term recovery and reconstruction," the statement read.

The latest sanctions also prohibit Western professional service groups, including international management consulting and accounting firms such as Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC, from doing business with any individual in the Russian Federation. U.S. officials believe some of these groups have been asked to help Russian companies reformulate their business strategies to evade sanctions or conceal their wealth, a senior administration official told reporters on condition of anonymity in order to discuss details of the announcement. The ban, however, does not extend to legal services.

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"We picked goods, we picked services, we've picked technologies that we and the Europeans and the G-7, and our partners in Asia, were the dominant suppliers of and we don't think Russia has many options other than to try to produce these goods and services domestically, which I think will be a very tall task," the official said.

In an effort to blunt Russian Vladimir Putin's war propaganda at home, the Biden administration is leveling sanctions against the country's three biggest television stations, blocking Channel One Russia, Russia-1 and NTV Broadcasting Company from receiving U.S. advertising dollars, broadcast technology, video cameras, microphones and other equipment.

The administration is also extending export controls on wood products, industrial engines, bulldozers, boilers and other equipment in tandem with European controls on chemicals to limit Russia's access to components needed to restock military capabilities.

Promtekhnologiya, which produces rifles and weapons used in Ukraine's invasion, seven shipping companies and one marine towing company were also hit with sanctions. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will also halt general licenses for exports of source material, special material, byproduct material and deuterium to Russia.

The U.S. is adding about 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials as well as eight executives from Sberbank, Russia's largest financial institution, and 27 executives from Gazprombank, which plays a key role in facilitating payments for Russian oil and gas exports to Europe, and Moscow Industrial Bank and its 10 subsidiaries.

The official emphasized the sanctions extend only to Gazprombank's top executives and do not represent a full block on the Russian energy giant. The administration has been cautious about shutting down Gazprombank's operations while Europe is still importing gas from Russia, the official added.

The announcement comes two days after Biden unveiled an additional $150-million weapons package including 25,000 155-millimeter artillery rounds, counter-artillery radars and electronic jamming equipment. The president has urged Congress to approve $33 billion in aid for Ukraine amid Russia's ongoing assault, as the remaining $250 million in the presidential drawdown authority dwindles.

The funding request, more than double the $13.6 billion that lawmakers approved last month, signals a significant ramp-up of the administration's long-term commitment to supporting Ukraine.

The G-7 leaders said they remained united in their resolve to deny Putin a victory in Ukraine. "We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community," the G-7 statement read.





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Gunmen killed at least 48 people in attacks on three villages in northwest Nigeria's Zamfara state, a local official and residents said Sunday.

Northwest and central Nigeria have been terrorised for years by criminal gangs who raid and loot villages, steal cattle and carry out mass abductions of residents for ransom.

"A total of 48 people were killed by the bandits in the three villages (Damri, Sabon Garin and Kalahe) attacked Friday afternoon," said Aminu Suleiman, administrative head of Bakura district where the villages are.

Dozens of gunmen on motorcycles entered the three villages in coordinated attacks, shooting people as they tried to flee, Suleiman said.

The worst hit was Damri, where the gunmen killed 32 people, Suleiman told AFP, including patients at a hospital.

"They burnt a police patrol vehicle, killing two security personnel."

Troops deployed in the area engaged the attackers in a gun battle, forcing them to withdraw, Suleiman added.

Abubakar Maigoro, a Damri resident, said the gunmen went on a shooting spree before looting livestock and food supplies.

"We buried 48 people killed in the attacks," Maigoro said.

Nigerian police did not respond to requests for comment.

The criminals have recently stepped up their assaults despite military operations against their hideouts.

The so-called bandits maintain camps in a vast forest, straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states.

In the past two months, they have attacked a train between the capital Abuja and Kaduna city and kidnapped dozens of passengers, massacred more than 100 villagers and killed a dozen members of vigilante groups.

In early January, gunmen killed more than 200 people in Zamfara state.

According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), bandits killed 2,600 civilians in 2021, an increase of 250 percent from 2020.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former army commander, has been under intense pressure to end bandit violence before he leaves office next year at the end of his two terms in power.

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Buhari called on security forces to "do all that can be done to bring an immediate end to the horrific killings".

"The rural folk in Zamfara and elsewhere must be allowed to have peace," he said in a statement Sunday.

The violence has forced thousands to flee to neighbouring Niger, with over 11,000 seeking refuge in November, according to the United Nations.

Officials in Zamfara say more than 700,000 people have been displaced by gangs, prompting the officials to open eight camps to accommodate them.

abu/aml/raz/cdw
Hi all, it was a roller coaster of a week in the world of fintech as I published two separate articles on startup layoffs and a nine-figure funding round in the span of a few hours. It was also a week filled with lots of activity on FinTwit, or Financial Twitter, as its more formally known  thanks to more than just a little back and forth involving Stripe and Plaid. So, grab your popcorn and sit down for a few as I attempt to break it down for you. Want this in your inbox every Sunday morning? Sign up here!

I joked earlier this week that when I started covering fintech, I expected it to be a fairly dry and low-key beat. Now I laugh at my naivete.

Perhaps the biggest news this week in the fintech world was Stripes launch of its new Financial Connections product, which TCs Ingrid Lunden covered here. The product launch in and of itself was newsworthy, yes. But what elevated it in the world of newsworthiness was that it sparked some controversy, as it is pretty much exactly what Plaid, a one-time partner of Stripes, does. And thats that it gives Stripes customers a way to connect directly to their customers bank accounts, to access financial data to speed up or run certain kinds of transactions. Again, which is what Plaid does.

In a since-deleted tweet, Plaid CEO and co-founder Zach Perret replied to a tweet from Stripe PM Jay Shah, essentially questioning the methods in which Stripe may have gathered information on building the product. Shah responded to that tweet with one of his own in defense of his and his companys actions.

Hours later, Perret acknowledged on Twitter that he had deleted his tweet, noting: Deleted tweet. Misunderstanding or different styles perhaps. Presuming positive intent.

Meanwhile, internally at Stripe, the executives addressed the brouhaha with an internal memo. Specifically, Patrick Collison said his enthusiasm over Stripes new product was tempered by Perrets accusations. Apparently he was wounded that Plaid might be a tad bit upset that Stripe had revealed this competing product, even after the two companies had previously worked together on integrations.

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Hmmm.

He ends his internal note with an admission that Stripe should certainly be open to the possibility that it could have handled things better. Great that he admitted this but also, its very hard to believe that these execs had no idea that the move would result in the tension that it did. Patrick even goes on to say that maybe Stripe should have given Plaid a heads up so that they could privately express any concerns that they had. He added that while Stripe was not necessarily obligated to do so, it probably could have avoided the public debate that ensued if it had just told Plaid sooner.

Meanwhile, Patrick's brother and co-founder, John, tweeted that it was gracious of Perret to delete his original tweet. He added: We understand that his perspective on the whole thing may still differ. Either way, we still do lots with Plaid. Theyre a great company and we look forward to finding more ways to work together.

I reached out to both companies to get their respective takes and both declined to be interviewed. True that we may never know what truly went down in this particular instance. But what I do know is that the controversy set off a whole other conversation, including claims that this was not the first time Stripe had been accused of less-than-scrupulous behavior. These included (unproven) allegations that the company had previously feigned interest in buying other companies or hiring people in an attempt to milk them for information. It also resurfaced talk of when Stripe reportedly pressured investor Sequoia to back off from an investment that smelled like competition.

Im not here to make any judgment calls as this story might still be playing out, and we don't know yet what's true. That said, my humble opinion is that no matter how big or rich you are, or how small or not rich you are, it is not worth it to act unethically. Id rather be not as rich and know I did right by the people I had dealings with than rich and have my integrity repeatedly questioned. But thats just me.

If you want to hear the Equity teams take on the subject, listen here.

In other news

On the topic of fintech drama, Bolt recently made headlines for a number of reasons that I outlined last week, including a lawsuit filed by a major customer and reports that it is seeing a slowdown in revenue and customer growth. Well, this past week, the company came out with an indirect response to the latter in the form of a blog post written by its CEO Maju Kuruvilla. You can read all about it here.

I wrote a story about how Truist, the sixth-largest bank in the U.S. with $488 billion in assets, acquired a 12-person startup called Long Game in an effort to attract more GenZ and millennial customers. Led by Lindsay Holden, the startup had raised more than $20 million in funding and had built a gamified finance mobile app that aims to help people save, learn and engage with their finances. The buy is further evidence that fintechs and banks can work together. Also proof that many financial institutions realize the value of acquiring technology rather than building it out themselves. In other words, incumbents in some cases need fintechs even as they compete with them.

Image Credits: Long Game CEO and co-founder Lindsay Holden

As mentioned above, there were also layoffs in the world of fintech as MainStreet  a startup that helps other startups uncover tax credits  let go of about 30% of its staff. We dont really know why, or exactly how many people were impacted but its not great news for a company that was valued at $500 million in January of 2021 and especially not good news for the affected employees. The company did not return a request for comment about the layoffs but in a tweet, CEO Doug Ludlow acknowledged an incredibly rough market. He also hinted that this may be just the beginning, saying there is a very strong chance that todays incredibly rough market is only going to get worse, and potentially remain so for months, if not years.

Speaking of layoffs, Robinhood recently laid off about 9% of its staff, and its clearly not done trying to boost its cash flow. Anita Ramaswamy wrote about how the trading platform rolled out a feature that will allow its users to lend out their stocks in hopes of earning passive, recurring income from borrowers. The company already makes money by lending out shares to customers who buy them on margin, and this new stock lending program is expected to bring in one-to-two times the revenue of the existing margin lending offering, its CFO Jason Warnick said on the companys earnings call last week.

On a more positive note, Tage Kene-Okafor wrote about how Rali_cap, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in fintech in emerging markets, launched a $30 million fund. Last month, the firm, formerly known as Rally Cap Ventures, reached its first close of $20 million (its initial target) before increasing the fund size, signaling a strong LP appetite.

The two-year-old VC fund invests in B2B and API-first fintechs across Africa, Latin America and South Asia at pre-seed and seed stages. It expects to achieve a second close by the end of June

Early-stage technology investment firm Picus launched a Venture Partner Network and tapped Gerry Giacoman Colyer, co-founder and CEO of Mexican corporate spend management startup Clara, as its first partner. Colyer, according to Picus, will support founders in the Latin American tech ecosystem to accelerate their growth journeys and will serve as an expert in fintech-related topics to founders globally.

Fintech-as-a-service startup Rapyd launched Virtual Accounts, a product aimed at giving businesses a way to expand globally while supporting local payments. In its words, This new offering allows organizations anywhere in the world to securely and reliably accept local bank transfers across over 40 countries in more than 25 currencies, including the US, UK, EU, and APAC regions.

Fundings

The BNPL crackdown hasnt crushed Walnut and its latest $110M financing - the startup raised $10 million in equity and $100 million in debt financing, as told by Natasha Mascarenhas, who I am SO pleased to share, will be covering more fintech as it relates to inclusion and access!

Case in point, she also wrote this nicely done piece on Lines $7 million equity and $25 million debt raise: Inclusive fintech is hard to do right, so Line has a different direction

Fundid injects first funding into providing capital, credit for small businesses - Christine Hall

Chilean fintech Xepelin wants LatAm businesses to get paid, as it raises a $111 million Series B - Christine Hall

Google-backed neobank Open becomes Indias 100th unicorn with new funding - Manish Singh

Concerto snags $21.2 million to bring co-branded credit cards to more brands - Kyle Wiggers

Zenda gets $9.4M to streamline school fee payment and management - Annie Njanja

Kevin raises $65 million as it charges ahead on account-to-account payments over point-of-sale terminals - Ingrid Lunden

Masa gets $3.5 million pre-seed to build its decentralized credit protocol - Tage Kene-Okafor

Canadas Neo Financial closes on a $145 million Series C as it surpasses 1M customers and achieves unicorn status

Tactic wants to reinvent accounting software for the web3 age - Founders Fund and Ramp co-led the startups $2.6 million seed raise

Point closes on $115 million to give homeowners a way to cash out on equity in their homes - Andreessen Horowitz GP Alex Rampell co-founded the company, and is now an investor in it

Another company in that same space, HomePace recently raised $7 million for its own home equity product

Realto, operator of an automated, web-based marketplace for the secondary trading of illiquid real estate and alternative securities, raised $4.5 million in a round led by Firebrand Ventures.

Dallas-based Backflip raises $8 million seed for local real estate investment financing

Allocate, which says it is developing an approach to venture capital fund investing that provides a way for investors of any size to participate, raised $15.3 million in Series A funding. Christine Hall covered the companys $5 million seed raise last July.

That was a lot of fundings considering we're supposed to be experiencing a market correction! Maybe they closed a while back and are just now being announced. Either way, that's it for this week. Thanks for reading, and if you're a mom like me, I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day!
CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamic State on Sunday claimed responsibility for a deadly attack that killed an officer and 10 Egyptian soldiers in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, the group said on its Telegram channel.

Saturday's attack was one of the deadliest in recent years in northern Sinai, where Egypt's security forces have been battling Islamist militants with links to Islamic State.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
The Jacksonville Sheriffs Office reported a deadly shooting that occurred early Sunday morning on 3600 Rendale Dr. N.

STORY: 11-year-old autistic boy drowns on Dunn Avenue

At approximately 1 a.m., officers were dispatched after receiving a call about shots being fired. While officers were still on their way to the scene, the call was upgraded to a person shot.

Upon arrival, officers located a man between 20 to 25 years old suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department was called but ultimately pronounced the victim dead at the scene.

JSO on the scene.

STORY: DeSantis signs tax holidays, gas-tax break

Preliminary investigation is still underway, but JSO detectives say the victim was possibly in a shoot-out with two individuals in a white car.

Video surveillance in the area captured a white car driving past the victim as he was walking down the street. In the video, a passenger exits the car and starts shooting at the victim, who returned fire in response. The driver of the car also shot at the victim as he was driving away.

At this time, JSO is still trying to identify the victim, and his relationship with the suspects is still unknown.

Action News Jax will continue to follow the story and update you as events unfold.

STAY UPDATED: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories
I toured the exhibit earlier this week. I found some remarkable full-color posters (many never before exhibited) advertising the wares of the clutch of Chicago theaters that had risen before the Chicago Fire  the exhibit is especially rich on the attractions to be found inside Col. J.H. Wood's Museum, which opened in 1862 on the north side of Randolph Street, just west of Clark Street, and served as a reminder that, in early Chicago, the line between a theatrical emporium and a freak show was as thin as the one you can currently see displayed in the Porchlight Music Theatre's revival of "Side Show," a musical about conjoined twins. That's the kind of attraction that early Chicagoans may well have found inside Colonel Wood's distinctive palace of varieties, which billed itself as a "family resort," albeit the kind of joint that advertised the chance to see the "World's Largest Woman," weighing in at more than 900 pounds.
Reuters

CHICAGO (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday blamed Russia's war on Ukraine for the latest spike in global food prices and visited a family farm in Illinois where he pledged to support the nation's farmers as they seek to fill the supply shortage. Biden said U.S. farmers have helped pull Americans through the COVID-19 pandemic and now the Ukraine crisis. "You are the backbone of freedom," he said, following a tour of an 800-acre (320-hectare) family farm in Kankakee owned by Jeff and Gina O'Connor.
First lady Jill Biden traveled into war-torn Ukraine Sunday, where she met with her Ukrainian counterpart in a Mothers Day show of solidarity for women fleeing Russias invasion.

After crossing the Slovakian border, Biden traveled to the western city of Uzhhorod where she met Olena Zelenska, Ukraines first lady at a school.

I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop, and this war has been brutal, and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine, Biden said.

Zelenska, who has not been seen in public since the invasion began, thanked Biden for what she called a courageous act.

We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war, where the military actions are taking place every day, where the air raid sirens are happening every day  even today, she said, speaking through a translator.

We all feel your support, she added. We all feel the leadership of the U.S president. But we would like to note that Mothers Day is a very symbolic day for us. Because we also feel your love and support during such an important day.

Bidens unannounced travel into the country is highly unusual for a presidential spouse, and makes her the latest prominent official from her husbands administration to visit Ukraine.

In a late night video Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia will likely ramp up its attacks over the weekend, leading into Monday  the nations Victory Day.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has projected his desire to use the celebrations to declare the defeat of Ukraine.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.

Related:
UZHHOROD, Ukraine (AP)  Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting with first lady Olena Zelenska to show U.S. support for the embattled nation as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

She became the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during the war, while Zalenskas public appearance was her first since since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

Biden spent about two hours in Ukraine, traveling by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian border village where she had toured a border processing facility.

Zelenska thanked Biden for her courageous act and said, We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day -- even today.

The first ladies met at a school being used to temporarily house Ukrainian migrants. Zalenska arrived first and waited in her black SUV until Biden arrived in similar fashion. The women stepped out of their vehicles and embraced, with Biden  who wore a wrist corsage for Mother's Day  handing over a bouquet of flowers before they entered the school.

The women came together in a small classroom, sitting on either side of a wooden table and greeting each other in front of reporters before they met in private. Zelenska and her two children have been staying at an undisclosed location for their safety.

The visit allowed Biden to conduct the kind of personal diplomacy that her husband would like to do himself.

President Joe Biden said when he visited Poland in March that he was disappointed he could not cross the border and go into Ukraine to see conditions firsthand but that he was not allowed, likely due to security reasons. The White House said as recently as last week that the president would love to visit but there were no plans for him to do so at this time.

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The meeting came about after Jill Biden expressed interest in visiting the region, including the school where she and Zalenska met, and settled on the idea of spending Mother's Day with Ukrainian moms, said Michael LaRosa, the first lady's spokesperson.

He said the Ukrainian government informed the United States that Zalenska would like to meet, if possible, and that a meeting was finalized in recent days. The first ladies also had recently exchanged correspondence, according to U.S. officials who declined to provide further details because they were not authorized to discuss those private communications.

After meeting privately for about a half hour, the first ladies joined a group of children who live at the school in making tissue-paper bears to give as Mother's Day gifts.

LaRosa described their conversation as more of a personal mother-to-mother exchange and said Biden was interested in how Zalenska was coping through that lens.

He said Zalenska told Biden that she was able to hold her children's hands every night even though she could not be with her husband.

The Bidens spoke by telephone afterward, he said.

Bidens visit followed recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, and a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Her visit was to western Ukraine; Russia is concentrating its military power in eastern Ukraine, and she was not in harms way. On the same day as Biden's visit, a Russian bomb flattened a school in eastern Ukraine that had been sheltering about 90 people in its basement, with dozens feared dead. Also Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine to meet with the president and "reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people, according to his office.

Earlier, in the Slovakian border village of Vysne Nemecke, Biden toured its border processing facility, surveying operations set up by the United Nations and relief organizations to assist Ukrainians seeking refuge. Biden attended a religious service in a tent set up as a chapel, where a priest intoned, We pray for the people of Ukraine.

And before that, at a school in Kosice, Biden offered support to Ukrainian mothers in Slovakia. She assured them that the hearts of the American people are behind them.

At a bus station in the city that is now a 24-hour refugee processing center, Biden found herself in an extended conversation with a Ukrainian woman who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children because she cannot understand it herself.

I cannot explain because I dont know myself and Im a teacher, Victorie Kutocha, who had her arms around her 7-year-old daughter, Yulie, told Biden.

At one point, Kutocha asked, Why? seeming to seek an explanation for Russias decision to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Its so hard to understand, the first lady replied.

Biden also dropped in at a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students. Slovakian and Ukrainian moms were brought together at the school for a Mothers Day event while their children made crafts to give them as gifts.

She went from table to table meeting the mothers and kids, telling some of the women that she wanted to come and say the hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine.

I just wanted to come and show you our support, she said before departing for Vysne Nemecke.

Biden is on a four-day visit to Eastern Europe to highlight U.S. support for Ukrainian refugees and for allied countries such as Romania and Slovakia that are providing a safe haven for them.

She spent Friday and Saturday in Romania, visiting with U.S. troops and meeting with Ukrainian refugee mothers and children.

With her trip, the American first lady followed the path of prior sitting first ladies who also traveled to war or conflict zones.

Eleanor Roosevelt visited servicemen abroad during World War II to help boost troop morale. Pat Nixon joined President Richard Nixon on his 1969 trip to South Vietnam, becoming the first first lady to visit a combat zone, according to the National First Ladies Library. She flew 18 miles from Saigon in an open helicopter, accompanied by U.S. Secret Service agents.

Hillary Clinton visited a combat zone, stopping in Bosnia in 1996. Laura Bush visited Afghanistan twice, in 2005 and 2008, during the U.S.-led war there. Melania Trump accompanied President Donald Trump to Iraq in December 2018.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that the name of Ukraine's first lady is Olena Zelenska, not Olena Zelenskyy.
The importance of fact-checking

A letter writer in the May 1 issue of the paper said, "What geniuses in the textbook publishing industry saw fit to include critical race in a mathematics text which should be specifically focusing on numbers, not on a social statement. It would be interesting if The Record would publish excerpts from some of these textbooks."

From that passage, I conclude that the writer accepted someone's accusation about critical race theory being included in math textbooks without any evidence. If he HAD seen evidence of CRT somewhere, why would he ask for The Record to publish excerpts?

I guess some people simply accept the blather of their state's authoritarian leaders without question.

Joe Gawel, Saint Augustine

Birds arent real

60 Minutes recently presented a story on a new conspiracy that birds have been replaced by spying drones. It sounds absurd, but consider this: In the 70s, I published a paper describing the potential of soliton collisions (nonlinear waves in plasmas) being a trigger for micro fusion.

Los Alamos Labs (our nuclear design lab) was very interested in the work. It is conceivable that one could power a drone, disguised as a black vulture, with such a device. After all, how often have you seen vultures actually catching and eating something.

These bird impostures would be sending data to the NSA using 5G networks. Perhaps this is why digital TV broadcasts fail to sync after 7 p.m.

Perhaps our newly formed election police could use these so-called birds to detect voter fraud. The science is as sound as the case for voter fraud.

Charlie Judice, St Augustine

Overturning Roe v. Wade is a major mistake

I can feel the pendulum swinging back toward the left again.

A compromised Supreme Court has admitted it will soon choose to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Cold water has now been thrown across a disgusted, weary, apathetic nation.

This is a major mistake, and the nation will respond with appropriate outrage.

Story continues

There is such a thing as going too far.

Yes, the nation has had enough, and every woman in the land will be standing in line to vote for a woman's right to not only choose but to be free of the State demanding she give birth to her own father's child.

Cheers, morons, who cannot read a room or a nation.

Samuel McIlrath, St. Augustine

A plea from the travel agency industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every business in the country in one way or another. But few sectors have been as hard hit, or face a longer road to recovery, than the travel agency industry. And still, government restrictions, such as inbound testing rules, are further delaying our industry's recovery and creating roadblocks for travelers.

The CDC's inbound testing order is the single biggest barrier to the full recovery of the international travel system on which my business is largely based. This rule, in place since January 2021, requires proof of a negative COVID-19 test for all air passengers arriving from a foreign country, regardless of vaccination status.

Why is this setting back my business? Simply put, travelers' fears and risks range from uncertainty about the availability of testing overseas to the financial and psychological burdens associated with being prevented from returning home due to a positive (or false-positive) result.

If the government is unable to provide increased funding to hard-hit businesses like my travel agency, at the very least, exempting vaccinated travelers from this rule would help my business begin to recover from the devastation of COVID-19.

My message to elected officials in Congress, on behalf of the more than 160,000 people who work in the travel agency industry is simple: When it comes to travel planning, we need consistency and certainty. The solution is within our reach: Exempt fully vaccinated U.S. travelers from the inbound testing requirement.

Helen Skipper, St. Augustine

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Letters to the editor: Overturning Roe v. Wade a major mistake
UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations chief says he is appalled at the reported attack on a school in the Ukrainian town of Bilohorivka, where many people were apparently seeking shelter from fighting.

A U.N. spokesman said Sunday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be spared under international law.

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric says: This war must end, and peace must be established in line with the Charter of the United Nations and international law. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners in Ukraine will continue supporting those whose lives have been shattered by war.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

 Dozens of Ukrainians feared dead after Russian strike on school

 Patriotism, unease mix in Russia ahead of big Victory Day celebrations

 G-7 leaders call Ukraine's president, vow to ban or cut back on Russian oil imports

 Jill Biden makes surprise Mother's Day visit to Ukraine, meets first lady there

 Ukrainian volunteers work to craft body armor, camouflage nets for soldiers

Follow all AP stories on Russias war on Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  More than 170 people have been evacuated from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after weeks of shelling and fighting as Russia attempts to take over the port city.

Thats according to a Sunday statement by Osnat Lubrani, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine.

The evacuees have been taken to Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeastern Ukraine. Lubrani says more than 600 people have now been evacuated from the Mariupol area.

The most recent evacuation was the latest effort to rescue people from tunnels beneath the Azovstal steel mine, where Ukrainian fighters are trying to hold off Russian attackers.

The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have been coordinating the evacuations.

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KYIV, Ukraine  U2 frontman Bono performed in a Kyiv subway station that serves as a bomb shelter on Sunday, showing his support for Ukrainians trying to fend off the Russian invasion.

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The Irish singer has tweeted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited us to perform in Kyiv as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and so thats what weve come to do.

Bono, alongside guitarist the Edge, sang the Ben E. King song Stand By Me in the Khreschatyk metro station. He was joined by another singer in Ukrainian military fatigues.

He also visited Bucha, a town outside Kyiv where hundreds of bodies were found after Russian troops withdrew last month. The town is considered a possible war crimes site.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys surrender in 1945.

Cutting out Russian oil supplies will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement.

We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies, they added.

Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.

We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community, they said.

U.S. President Joe Bidens call with the G-7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.

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ROME  Italian Premier Mario Draghi told fellow G-7 leaders during a meeting via video call that a sixth package of sanctions must go forward against Russia.

His office shared details of the call in a Sunday evening statement. Draghis office says he told other world leaders at the same time, we must make every effort to help reach as soon as possible a cease-fire and to give new thrust to peace negotiations.

He also pressed for continued commitment by the G-7 grouping to help poor countries at risk of a food crisis. Exports of grain from Ukraine and Russia cover much of the needs of other nations, especially in Africa. The war is threatening Ukraines grain production, and the fighting in and around Black Sea ports makes food shipments impossible.

The premiers office says the G-7 leaders reiterated their committment to diversify energy sources to reduce dependent on Russian supplies. Italy, heavily dependent on Russian natural gas when the war began, has since secured several agreements for alternative gas supplies from other countries. But Hungarys objections last week to proposed sanctions on Russian oil have complicated European Union efforts.

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WASHINGTON  The United States has announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

The penalties include cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian and more restrictions on Russias industrial sector. Those additional restrictions included cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

The U.S. also says the Group of Seven leading industrialized powers have committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil. The U.S. announced its own ban on Russian oil and energy products in March but the U.S. had few Russian energy imports compared to Europe.

The new round of sanctions will hit three of Russias most popular television stations  Channel One Russia, Russia-1 and NTV -- which the U.S. says have been forefront of spreading misinformation about Russia invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. says it has imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials and issued a new visa restriction policy that applies to Russian military officials and authorities suspected of human rights abuses or corruption.

The U.S. also sanctioned 27 executives from Gazprombank, a bank that facilitates sales by Russias energy giant Gazprom.

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KYIV, Ukraine  The Ukrainian army said Sunday that Moscow was focusing its main efforts that day on destroying airfield infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine, in order to prevent Ukrainian air forces from operating effectively.

At least five explosions were heard in the key Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa on Sunday, according to reports in local news media. Odesa, Ukraines third-largest city and a cultural center of deep significance to both Ukrainians and Russians, has so far been largely spared in the ten-week-old war.

Multiple photos and videos appeared to show trails and clouds of smoke in the sky above the city. Local media also reported that at least one missile had been shot down. As of Sunday afternoon, there have been no reports of casualties, although one newspaper claimed that civilian infrastructure had been damaged.

According to a Facebook post Sunday on the profile of Ukraines General Chiefs of Staff, Russia also ramped up operational and tactical aviation activity in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.

The Kharkiv regional administration says three people were killed in shelling of the town of Bogodukhiv, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

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IRPIN, Ukraine  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made a surprise visit to Ukraine amid Russias war on the country.

Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne and Irpin Mayor Olexander Markushyn announced Trudeaus visit to Irpin, which had been damaged by Russias attempt to take Kyiv at the start of the war. Markushyn posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeau is the latest Western leader to come to Ukraine to offer their support to the country. Later in the day he raised his countrys flag at Canadian Embassy in Kyiv.

His office later confirmed the visit, saying in a statement the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraine and Canada will return to work on expanding the Free Trade Area Agreement between them, with a view to finalize it within weeks, the Ukrainian economy ministry announced Sunday following an online meeting between top trade officials.

The meeting between Ukraines first deputy minister for the economy, Yulia Sviridenko, and Canadas international trade minister, Mary Ng, coincided with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to Kyiv on Sunday afternoon.

Ukraine's Economy Ministry said Sviridenko expressed hope for Canadas support in overcoming the food crisis sparked by the blocking of Ukrainian seaports. Sviridenko also said that the abolition of Canadian duties on Ukrainian goods  a step previously taken by the E.U. and the U.K.  would be an important move towards boosting the Ukrainian economy.

This will help exporters increase the volume of produce leaving the country, and thereby strengthen the Ukrainian economy and the defense of our state, the ministry statement quoted her as saying.

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UZHHOROD, Ukraine  U.S. first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting with the nations first lady, Olena Zelenska, as Russia presses its punishing war in the eastern regions.

Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old conflict with Russia.

Her visit follows recent stops in the war-torn country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, as well as a joint trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

The first lady traveled by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod from a Slovakian village that borders Ukraine.

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WASHINGTON  A U.S. official says the top American diplomat in Ukraine has temporarily returned to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the capital  an announcement tied to V-E Day.

The official says the return of the acting ambassador, Kristina Kvien, fulfills a pledge that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made to Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during the Americans recent visit to Kyiv with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The official says the return of select U.S. diplomats to the embassy is a testament to Ukraines success, Moscows failure, and our effective and enduring partnership with the government and people of a sovereign, democratic, and free Ukraine.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the developments before an official announcement.

Its not clear when the U.S. embassy will fully reopen. Video showed a convoy of American vehicles drive into the embassy on Sunday afternoon.

 AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington.

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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school sheltering about 90 people in its basement, while Ukrainian troops refused to surrender at a besieged steel plant that Moscows invading forces sped to seize before Russias Victory Day holiday.

The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturdays bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said.

Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

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KYIV, Ukraine  The Norwegian parliament speaker joined the slew of top Western officials meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and other leaders in Kyiv on Sunday.

According to a statement by the Ukrainian presidential press service, Zelenskyy thanked Masud Gharakhani, president of the Norwegian Storting, for Norways transfers of defensive weapons to Ukraine, as well as its financial support and humanitarian aid.

Speaking in Kyiv on VE Day, Gharakhani said:

Today, my country celebrates the day when we managed to regain our democracy and independence after the Second World War. Unfortunately, your country is again facing aggression and violence.

Gharakhani also joined his Ukrainian counterpart, Ruslan Stefanchuk, in laying flowers at the Kyiv memorials to those who died in World War II and the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war.

In addition, he met with Ukraines premier Denys Shmygal, who later said on Twitter that the two had discussed defense, energy support to Ukraine and that the Norwegian proposed the joint creation of rehabilitation centers for veterans in Ukraine.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraines foreign minister says he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Dmytro Kuleba made the comment Sunday on Twitter.

He added: New stiff U.S. sanctions on Russia are coming. Discussed ways to unblock Ukraines food exports and ensure global food security.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the German parliament speaker during her visit to Kyiv on Sunday, discussing further defense assistance as well as sanctions against Russia, Zelenskyy

According to the statement, Zelenskyy told Barbel Bas, the President of the Bundestag, that Ukraine expects strong and confident leadership from Germany when it comes to helping Kyiv beat Russian aggression.

He noted the recent adoption by the Bundestag of a resolution calling on the German government to expand and accelerate the provision of heavy weapons to Ukraine. He also expressed confidence in Berlins official support for granting Ukraine E.U. candidate status.

We really appreciate that on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation itself, and in what for us is such a trying time of war, the President of the German Bundestag Barbel Bas came to support Ukraine, said a post published Sunday afternoon on Zelenskyys Telegram channel.

The Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for those who died in World War II, marked on May 8 and 9, is an annual international day of remembrance designated by a 2004 U.N. resolution.

In an interview with the German newspaper Rheinische Post, Bas called her meeting with Zelenskyy very good and friendly, adding that she had come to Ukraine because she felt it was important to me to personally express Germanys solidarity with Ukraine to him.

She added that Germany will do everything in its power to support Ukraine, including backing its efforts to join the European Union and providing aid to help with rebuilding.

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MARIUPOL, Ukraine  To demonstrate success in time for Russia's key Victory Day holiday on Monday, the Russian military worked Sunday to complete its takeover of the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which has been under relentless assault since the start of the war.

The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making a last stand is the only part of the city not under Russian control.

All the remaining women, children and older civilians who were sheltering with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. The Ukrainian troops rejected deadlines given by the Russians who said the defenders could leave with their lives if they laid down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, a Ukrainian National Guard battalion holding the steel mill, told an online news conference Sunday that the site was targeted overnight by three fighter jet sorties, artillery and tanks.

We are under constant shelling, he said, adding that Russian infantry tried to storm the plant -- a claim Russian officials denied in recent days - and to lay landmines. Palamar said there was a multitude of casualties at the plant.

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant.

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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  Sparks fly as a circular saw slices into metal, while welders nearby work feverishly to the sound of blaring heavy metal. Upstairs, sewing machines clatter as women mark patterns on cloth being shaped into bulletproof vests.

An old industrial complex in the southeastern Ukrainian riverside city of Zaporizhzhia has become a hive of activity for volunteers producing everything from body armor and anti-tank obstacles to camouflage nets, portable heating stoves and rifle slings for Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russias invasion. One section specializes in vehicles, armor-plating some, converting others into ambulances. Another organizes food and medical deliveries.

With front lines all across Ukraine, some sections of the operation, such as the stitching of bulletproof vests, are working around the clock in shifts to meet demand. Crowdfunding has brought in enough money to buy steel from Sweden, Finland and Belgium, which is lighter than local steel, organizers say, a crucial quality for body armor.

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KYIV, Ukraine  After rescuers evacuated the last civilians from the besieged steel mill in Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that work would continue Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the fighters remaining in the plants underground tunnels and bunkers.

The Ukrainian leader was expected to hold online talks Sunday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from other Group of Seven countries. The meeting is partly meant to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys 1945 surrender.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Explosions echoed again Sunday across the major Black Sea port of Odesa, which Russia struck with six cruise missiles on Saturday, while rocket fire damaged some 250 apartments, according to the city council.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, the May 9 holiday when Russia celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a video address Sunday marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russias invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism.

The black-and-white video, published on social media, showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, one of the Kyiv suburbs pummeled before Russian troops withdrew from the capital region weeks ago.

Every year, on May 8, along with the whole civilized world, we pay our respects to everyone who defended the planet against Nazism during World War II, Zelenskyy said, adding that prior generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow to never allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.
May 7While wages in Kansas are trending up over the last year, the economic pressure of inflation is more than offsetting any gains workers see from the increase. And according to Great Bend Chamber of Commerce President Megan Barfield, it all adds up to a potentially bleak picture for local small businesses and consumers.

According the Kansas Department of Labor's monthly labor report for March, released at the end of April, overall wages have increased by 6.6% over the past year. However, KDOL Economist Nathan Kessler said with the pressure of persistent high inflation rates, real hourly earnings actually declined 1.8% over that timeframe.

Essentially, this means the cost of goods and services are rising at a faster pace than wage increases, leading to an overall lessening of the purchasing power of the dollar. While some larger businesses can easily absorb this, it puts many smaller businesses in a fiscal bind.

Barfield acknowledged much of the wage increases in the area were needed to help improve the standard of living for many of the area's poorest residents. Even with area workers are making more, though, they are also paying a great deal more for basic necessities such as gas and groceries, so workers are not getting ahead.

The same cost of goods that has consumers feeling the pinch also adds an extra layer of economic challenges for small businesses, she said. The increased cost of goods, combined with the increased labor costs that come with higher wages, often leaves smaller businesses facing difficult decisions.

One fear for small businesses, she said, is that the costs will increase to the point where they will no longer be able to compete price-wise with larger chain stores.

"The business has to make the decision as to how much (of the added cost) do they just absorb, and how much do they pass on to their consumer? I feel it's a cycle," Barfield said.

While consumers and small businesses alike are feeling the pinch, Barfield feels the economy has not seen the full ramifications of the cycle yet. "I feel like the cap is going to come off and (the economy's) going to bust at some point."

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With a seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of 2.5%, still holding at historic lows, another challenge local businesses continue to face is a lack of able bodies to fill open several open positions.

One of the trends she sees happening is because wages have gone up, fewer people are working multiple jobs to make ends meet, instead working a single job and opting for more family time. This leaves positions open with few or no workers to fill them.

Again, Barfield said, this forces businesses to figure out "how to do more with less," because the labor shortage is not a problem she sees lessening anytime soon.

Because of the shortage, many businesses have opted to adjust their operating hours. For smaller businesses, this often means they are not able to be open during peak shopping times on evenings or weekends, making it more difficult to compete with larger businesses.

However, she said, local businesses are working collaboratively on creative solutions to these potentially long-term issues.

"During our Workforce Summit (last month), we were talking with businesses about having to get creative and think outside the box, and really look at their efficiencies," Barfield said.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Weapons maker Lockheed Martin Corp plans to nearly double production of Javelin missiles, the antitank weapon that has helped Ukraine fight Russia's invasion, Chief Executive Officer James Taiclet said in an interview on Sunday.

The aim is to boost output to 4,000 per year from 2,100 per year currently, Taiclet said in an interview with CBS News. The increase will take as long as a couple of years, he said.

U.S. President Joe Biden last week visited a Lockheed facility in Alabama that manufactures the weapons, which are made jointly by Lockheed and Raytheon Technologies, in an effort to press Congress to approve his proposed $33 billion assistance package for Ukraine.

The United States has rushed $3.4 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, including Javelins as well as howitzers, anti-aircraft Stinger systems, ammunition and body armor.

"We can start turning up the heat now and ramping up production immediately," Taiclet said, noting the firm is anticipating increased demand for "superior systems in large enough numbers".

"We're planning for the long run and not just in the Javelin," he said, noting he expects to see increased demand beyond the Ukraine war due to threats from Russia and China.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
OLENA ROSHCHINA - SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2022, 08:03

On the night of 7-8 May, Russian troops opened fire on Shipilovo in Luhansk Region, with 11 people caught under the rubble of a two-storey house, according to a preliminary report.

Source: Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration

Quote from Haidai: "The Russians opened fire on Shipilovo at night. A two-storey house there has been destroyed. According to preliminary reports, 11 people were found under the rubble.

Four houses were damaged in Rubizhne, nine in Sievierodonetsk, and two more in Lysychansk. One injured person has been evacuated".

Details: At 16:37 on 7 May, a Russian airstrike in Bilohorivka sparked fires in a school building and a cultural centre. It took almost four hours to extinguish the fire, two bodies were found beneath the rubble, and 60 more people remain under the ruins. Thirty people have been freed from under the rubble, seven of whom were injured.

Also on Saturday afternoon, Russian troops shelled Pryvillia with Grad and Uragan MLRSs [Multiple Launch Rocket Systems]. An 11-year-old and a 14-year-old boy were killed, their 69-year-old grandmother and the 12- and 8-year-old sisters of the victims were seriously injured and hospitalised.

"As it turned out, the grandmother and her grandchildren left the shelter for a few minutes and it was at that time that the enemy struck the town," Haidai said.

Quote from Haidai: "As for the situation on the front: the unit of the invading troops is continuing its offensive in the Popasna and Sievierodonetsk areas.

In the Luhansk and Donetsk regions over the past day, 9 enemy attacks were repelled, and 19 tanks, 20 units of armoured combat vehicles, 4 special armoured vehicles, 6 vehicles and 1 unit of special engineering equipment were destroyed.

Air defence units shot down 1 enemy Mi-28N attack helicopter and 6 Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles."
Damaged books are strewn across the office of Wisconsin Family Action director Julaine Appling Sunday morning in Madison.

MADISON - Madison police are investigating arson after a fire broke out early Sunday in the offices of a prominent anti-abortion group and a threat was spray painted on the group's building.

The incident took place a week after a leaked draft of U.S. Supreme Court decision showing a majority of justices plan to vote to overturn the court's landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. If that happens an 1849 law banning most abortions would go into effect in Wisconsin.

Update: No suspects yet in the arson of the Madison headquarters of anti-abortion group Wisconsin Family Action

"If abortions aren't safe then you aren't either" was scrawled in black paint across the outside wall of Wisconsin Family Action's offices in Madison  a threat that was found by police while responding to a call early Sunday reporting flames inside the building on the capital city's north side.

"To be honest with you, I knew immediately what had happened," Wisconsin Family Action President Julaine Appling said in an interview, referring to her initial conversation with police officers.

Appling said police notified her about 7:45 a.m. while she was at church in Watertown, about 42 miles away. The first call to police reporting flames in Appling's office arrived at around 6 a.m.

"A molotov cocktail, which did not ignite, was thrown inside the building. It also appears a separate fire was started in response," investigators wrote Sunday in a report on the incident.

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes in a statement said the department is investigating the fire as arson.

A threat is spray painted on the building wall near Wisconsin Family Action's offices in Madison.

"You know, you can disagree with me. And I don't mind being disagreed with. But to threaten the safety of my team because we have a different opinion on an issue  an important issue, I'll grant you that. That doesn't give you credence to threaten my life, and then turn around and damage property," Appling said.

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"If somebody had been in that office, I don't think anybody would have been killed, but you would have been hurt just from the flying glass."

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in a statement condemned the violence against the group.

"We reject violence against any person for disagreeing with anothers view. Violence is not the way forward. Hurting others is never the answer," Evers said in a statement. "We will work against overturning Roe and attacks on reproductive rights by leading with empathy and compassion."

A window to Wisconsin Family Action director Julaine Appling's office is boarded up Sunday morning.

Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson tweeted, "This attack is abhorrent and should be condemned by all."

In a statement, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the city "believes strongly in the right to free speech, but it must be exercised nonviolently by all sides in this increasingly contentious debate."

Barnes said local police investigators have notified federal authorities about the incident.

"Our department has and continues to support people being able to speak freely and openly about their beliefs. But we feel that any acts of violence, including the destruction of property, do not aid in any cause."

Appling said she hasn't yet assessed the level of damage to the offices or whether the organization will move to a space with fewer windows.

Wisconsin Family Action has for years pushed Wisconsin and federal lawmakers to outlaw abortions. The leaked Supreme Court opinion has heightened the emotions of supporters and opponents of abortion access over the already intensely controversial issue that has spurred violence in the past.

In 2016, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Appleton closed after it had been firebombed four years earlier and following a deadly attack of a clinic in Colorado.

"I don't live in fear. And I'm not constantly looking over my shoulder. I've had death threats at my house and over other issues. This one, this one surprised me," Appling said.

More: Following Supreme Court opinion leak, activists protest, call for abortion rights

More: Ron Johnson predicts Wisconsin's near-total ban on abortions wouldn't last long if Roe v. Wade is overturned

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Madison police investigating arson, threat at Wisconsin Family Action
Toxicity in the workplace takes both literal and figurative form in Rasheeda Speaking, a dark comedy by late Chicago playwright Joel Drake Johnson, now playing at Shattered Globe Theatre. AmBer D. Montgomery directs a compelling cast in a revival of the 2014 play, which features witty dialogue, a suspenseful plot and a frank discussion of race, privilege and power in professional settings.

For white audience members like me, Rasheeda Speaking encourages listening to the perspectives of others and reflecting on ones own complicity in harmful systems. I would imagine that for Black Americans who have faced discrimination in the workplace, this play offers validation of their lived experiences. If this all sounds a bit heavy, rest assured that the play sends up plenty of laughs amid the serious subject matter.

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Rasheeda Speaking centers on Jaclyn Spaulding (Deanna Reed-Foster), a middle-aged Black woman who returns to her administrative job at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after taking five days off to recover from an illness that her doctor attributes to harmful chemicals emitted by the office equipment and nearby laboratory. In an apt, if on-the-nose metaphor, she finds that these fumes are not the only toxins surrounding her at work; the poison of racism also pervades this pristine environment.

With Jaclyn absent in the opening scene, her boss  the arrogant Dr. David Williams (Drew Schad)  confides in his favorite employee, Ileen Van Meter (Daria Harper), that he is looking for reasons to fire Jaclyn. Or rather, reasons that will withstand the scrutiny of the human resources department. Candidly admitting his personal motivations, he complains that his only Black employee is too angry, rude and resentful.

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Deanna Reed-Foster, Daria Harper and Drew Schad in Shattered Globe Theatres revival of "Rasheeda Speaking." (Michael Brosilow / HANDOUT)

Dr. Williams pressures Ileen, whom he has recently promoted to office manager, to spy on Jaclyn and provide incriminating material for his reports to HR. Although she initially defends Jaclyn, Ileen reluctantly agrees to his request out of a sense of duty to an authority figure and genuine affection for her longtime employer.

Johnson here establishes an important theme of the play: the tendency of white people who would not consider themselves racist to have looser tongues when there are no Black people around, feeling free to express microaggressions or outright racist views without fear of someone playing the race card. As a white playwright, Johnson explores this duplicitous dynamic with unflinching honesty, exposing its destructive effects on both Black and white people.

When Jaclyn returns to the office after her sick days, she quickly realizes that something is wrong, as the usually friendly Ileen begins to dig herself into an ever-deepening hole of lies to cover up her deal with Dr. Williams. Reed-Foster and Harper are well-matched in these roles. Reed-Fosters Jaclyn is funny, confident and charismatic, but also conveys deep vulnerability and pain in the face of the racism she encounters both in and out of the workplace. Especially memorable is her 11th-hour monologue that reveals the meaning behind the plays title.

Harpers Ileen at first seems a warm, nurturing figure  just the type of person one would want to be greeted by in a doctors office. However, she spirals into guilt, fear and paranoia as the conspiracy against Jaclyn intensifies. While both women lie and manipulate in the ensuing power struggle, Ileen clearly is on the side of the aggressor  Dr. Williams  while Jaclyn acts in her own defense.

Deanna Reed-Foster and Daria Harper in Shattered Globe Theatres revival of "Rasheeda Speaking." (Michael Brosilow / HANDOUT)

White discomfort is another recurring theme of the show. Jaclyn perceives that Dr. Williams feels uncomfortable socializing with Black people and complains to Ileen that their employer looks right through her. Its no empty observation, either; Dr. Williams implies as much when he tells Ileen that Jaclyn simply doesnt fit in at the office.

Rose Saunders (Barbara Roeder Harris), a fourth character and elderly patient of Dr. Williams, gives voice to such discomfort after she has a tense encounter with Jaclyn at the reception desk. Repeating her sons view that Jaclyns culture can go a little crazy at times as their way of getting revenge for slavery, Rose declares that she doesnt understand why such anger is warranted, since slavery was such a long time ago. Its the same rhetoric heard today from those trying to curtail the discussion of slavery or race in public school classrooms: it was so long ago, why should we make (white) students feel discomfort about it now?

Despite the protestations of the Rose Saunderses of this country, the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow are still with us today  an uncomfortable truth, to be sure, but one that will not go away if we ignore it. While theater is no silver-bullet cure for racism, works like Rasheeda Speaking play a valuable role in helping audience members to step into someone elses shoes for a couple of hours, a powerful tool for inspiring important conversations once the lights go down.

Review: Rasheeda Speaking

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When: Through June 4

Where: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Tickets: $45 at 773-975-8150 and www.sgtheatre.org
Dr. Mehmet Oz. AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File

PA Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz voted in a 2018 Turkish election, ABC News reported.

Mike Pompeo, former Trump Secretary of State, endorsed Oz's opponent.

Pompeo said the office should be held by a "patriotic American conservative."

Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State under President Donald Trump, questioned Dr. Mehmet Oz's ties to the country of Turkey on Friday.

ABC reported on Wednesday that Oz voted in a 2018 Turkish election, despite denying he was ever politically active in the country.

Oz, who is backed by former President Donald Trump, is running in a high-profile Pennsylvania Senate Republican primary against David McCormick, who is endorsed by Pompeo. The primary is set for May 17.

"Maybe it's all innocent, maybe it's all straight up," Pompeo said during a press briefing on Friday, The Hill reported. "but we and the people of Pennsylvania and the Americans who he will be representing as one of the 100 members of the United States Senate voting on important national security matters need to understand the scope and depth of his relationship with the Turkish government."

Although nothing unlawful has taken place because Oz is a dual citizen of both Turkey and the US, Pompeo said it's a matter of who is "best suited" to hold office in Pennsylvania, a state previously represented by a "patriotic American conservative."

Oz campaign communications director Brittany Yanick told Insider the comments were "pathetic and xenophobic."

"Dr. Oz has already said when elected to the Senate he would renounce his citizenship," Yanick said. "There is no security issue whatsoever, and David McCormick knows that Dr. Oz has maintained his dual citizenship to make it easier to help care for his mother who has Alzheimer's and lives there."

On Friday, Trump stumped in Pennsylvania with Oz, who was met with boos and jeers every time his video montage played on screens. The controversial TV doctor faces scrutiny for not being from Pennsylvania, for using his in-laws' address to vote in the state last year, and for promoting unfounded medical cures.

Read the original article on Business Insider
More human remains have been found at Lake Mead less than a week after authorities discovered the remains of a man in a barrel amid a drought that has dropped the reservoir's water level to historic lows.

A witness saw human skeletal remains in the Callville Bay area of Lake Mead around 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, the National Park Service said. The Clark County Medical Examiner has not yet identified the cause of death.

Authorities said the investigation is ongoing.

Police warned last week that more bodies could turn up in the country's largest reservoir  located on the border of Arizona and Nevada  after human remains were found in a barrel last Sunday. National Park Service rangers found the barrel with skeletal remains in an area near Hemenway Harbor on May 1 after boaters spotted it.

Video: Titanic ship sinking sees 110th anniversary as ship remains deteriorate

LAS VEGAS AUTHORITIES: Man found in barrel in Lake Mead amid drought was shot; more bodies likely to turn up

'EACH ERUPTION HAS ITS OWN FINGERPRINT': Oldest remains of modern humans are much older than thought, researchers say

The man was found shot and had likely been killed sometime between the mid-1970s and early 1980s based on the type of shoes the victim was found wearing, said homicide Lt. Ray Spencer, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The bodies have become uncovered as Lake Mead's water level dropped to 1,055 feet, the lowest since 1937, a year after Hoover Dam created the reservoir.

Lake Mead and Lake Powell are the largest human-made reservoirs in the United States, diverting water from the Colorado River to 40 million people in seven states, tribal nations, and Mexico.

Both lakes were full in 2000, but they now are roughly 30% full.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lake Mead discovery: Human skeletal remains found amid record drought
By Rupam Jain

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Sitting in an office lined with books overlooking a giant prayer hall, Mohammed Ashfaq Kazi, the main preacher at the largest mosque in Mumbai, checked a decibel meter attached to the loudspeakers before he gave the call to worship.

"The volume of our azaan (call to prayer) has become a political issue, but I don't want it to take a communal turn," said Kazi, one of the most influential Islamic scholars in the sprawling metropolis on India's western coast.

As he spoke he pointed to loudspeakers attached to the minarets of the ornate, sand-coloured Juma Masjid in Mumbai's old trading quarters.

Kazi and three other senior clerics from Maharashtra where Mumbai is located said more than 900 mosques in the west of the state had agreed to turn the volume down on calls to prayer following complaints from a local Hindu politician.

Raj Thackeray, leader of a regional Hindu party, demanded in April that mosques and others places of worship kept within allowed noise limits. If they did not, he said his followers would chant Hindu prayers outside mosques in protest.

Thackeray, whose party has just one seat in the state's 288-member assembly, said he was merely insisting that court rulings on noise levels be enforced.

"If religion is a private matter then why are Muslims allowed to use loudspeakers all 365 days (of the year)?" Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai, India's financial hub and capital of Maharashtra.

"My dear Hindu brothers, sisters and mothers come together; be one in bringing down these loudspeakers," he said.

Leaders of India's 200 million Muslims see the move, which coincided with the holy festival of Eid, as another attempt by hardline Hindus to undermine their rights to free worship and religious expression, with the tacit agreement of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In recent weeks, a senior BJP leader began pushing for swapping marriage and inheritance laws based on religion with a uniform civil code, taking aim at rules that allow Muslim men, for example, to have four wives.

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The BJP did not respond to a request for comment on Thackeray's initiative. It denies targeting minorities, and says it wants progressive change that benefits all Indians.

POLICE STEP IN

At the Juma Masjid, Kazi said he complied with Thackeray's demands in order to reduce the risk of violence between Muslims and Hindus.

Bloody clashes have erupted sporadically across India since independence, most recently in 2020 when dozens of people, mostly Muslims, were killed in Delhi following protests against a citizenship law that Muslims said discriminated against them.

While hardline Hindu leaders were seeking to undermine Islam, Kazi said, "we (Muslims) have to maintain calm and serenity."

The state took Thackeray's initiative seriously.

Senior police officials met religious leaders including Kazi earlier this month to ensure microphones were turned down, as they feared clashes in Maharashtra, home to more than 10 million Muslims and 70 million Hindus.

On Saturday, police filed a criminal case against two men in Mumbai for using loudspeakers to recite the early morning azaan and warned workers of Thackeray's party from gathering around mosques.

"Under no circumstances will we allow anyone to create communal tension in the state and the court's order must be respected," said V.N. Patil, a senior Mumbai police official.

A senior official for Thackeray's party said the initiative was not designed to single out Muslims but aimed to reduce "noise pollution" created by all places of worship.

"Our party does not appease the minority community," said Kirtikumar Shinde, adding that police had issued warnings to 20,000 party workers this month.

The issue of calls to prayer extends beyond Maharashtra. BJP politicians in three states asked local police to remove or limit the use of loudspeakers in places of worship.

The deputy chief minister of country's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, said over 60,000 unauthorised loudspeakers had been removed from mosques and temples.

(This story refiles to correct fourth bullet point)

(Editing by Mike Collett-White and Raissa Kasolowsky)
The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) said its member airlines will stop domestic flights from Monday. REUTERS

Several Nigerian airlines want to ground domestic flights from Monday due to high jet fuel costs.

On Friday, the Airline Operators of Nigeria issued a statement, which was seen by BBC News.

An umbrella body representing the airlines said the cost of jet fuel has soared nearly fourfold this year.



Nigeria's biggest airlines are threatening to stop domestic flights from Monday as a result of the rise in jet fuel prices, according to the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON).



In a statement issued on Friday, the AON, which represents nine of the country's domestic carriers, said that the cost of imported jet fuel had increased nearly fourfold as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The statement was seen by BBC News and Reuters, and widely circulated on social media.

As a result, airline operating costs had risen from about 40% to nearly 95%, and operators had already subsidized their services to passengers over the past four months, the AON said.



"No airline in the world can absorb this kind of sudden shock from such an astronomical rise over a short period," the AON's president, Dr. Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, said in its statement.



Russia's invasion of Ukraine created a disruption in the global distribution of crude oil. This, combined with high demand for travel, has caused the cost of airline tickets to soar.

AON said that its airline members had previously engaged with the Nigerian government, its state-owned oil company, and fuel marketers in an effort to bring down the cost of jet fuel. It said the cost can not be passed on to passengers as it was "unsustainable" for airlines who can "no longer absorb the pressure," per the statement.

One signatory to the statement, Azman Air, confirmed on Twitter that it plans to suspend domestic flights from Monday until further notice. Similarly, United Nigeria Airlines appeared to make a statement by posting a screenshot of the news to its own Twitter account.

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However, at least one airline is not on board with this plan. Ibom Air, which flies to seven cities in Nigeria, is listed as a signatory on the statement. But it said on Saturday it will not halt its domestic flights from Monday as such a move would affect revenues and impact its commitments to suppliers and financiers, per a Reuters report.

Nigeria's competition watchdog  the Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC)  urged the AON to reconsider its plans, saying in a statement posted on Saturday on its Twitter account that they could create a "magnitude of difficulties" for passengers.



It also appeared to warn airlines not to sell tickets for flights it does not plan to go ahead with.



"The Commission is concerned with rising consumer feedback that airlines have continued to sell tickets beyond the date announced for proposed service shutdown," FCCPC chief executive said in the statement.



"It will be egregious exploitation of consumers and a violation of law to purport to sell a service that the service provider knows it will not, or does not intend to provide or deliver," it added.

The AON and FCCPC did not immediately respond to Insider's request for further comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Sixth grade students at Northridge Middle School do work last week in the Introduction to Technology class taught by Laura Roberts.

ALEXANDRIA  The largest development in state history figures to impact all school districts in Licking County, particularly the far-ranging and mostly-rural Northridge Local Schools.

"It (Intel Corporation's $20 billion computer chip manufacturing operation) will be 14 miles from the school building, but only three miles from Alexandria," said superintendent Scott Schmidt, whose district encompasses 137 square miles. "That's the size of the area covered by Columbus City Schools, and ranks in the top 10-15 in the state," he said.

The district has a relatively small population spread over a large area. That doesn't mean Northridge is waiting around to see what happens. It is monitoring growth through sewer and water infrastructure, zoning changes and building permits.

"It's an opportunity, but public utilities are expensive." Schmidt said. "The county commissioners are doing a water and sewer infrastructure study, a feasibility study, and it will take 10 months. We have to be aware, and know the possibilities. Sewer and water infrastructure are critical to growth and expansion."

It was pointed out that even with the Honda plant, Marysville did not see instantaneous growth, due to lack of water and sewer. A lot of the Central Ohio growth has occurred in Delaware County, because they had more water and sewer capabilities.

Future Intel jobs

Intel will be located in Jersey Township in western Licking County, on over 3,000 acres just south of Johnstown to be annexed into New Albany. They plan to start construction later this year, with production scheduled to begin in 2025. It expects to hire 3,000 employees, and the project is expected to create 7,000 construction jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs. It is possible this stage is just the first part of a $100 billion investment by the company.

"How do we best position Northridge students to get those jobs?" said assistant superintendent Dr. Kristine Michael. "We have to look at our curriculum, create STEM opportunities and work with C-TEC. We already have a great middle school technology pathway. It's a learn how-to program, and they're partnered with Amazon Future Engineers and STEM."

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Northridge has some good things going for it. The district just spent its first year in a new pre-k through fifth grade elementary school. Money is still being raised for a new stadium complex that will feature a turf field, track, bleachers and multi-purpose building.

The middle school (the former high school) is 47 years old, but upgraded water and sewer lines. The high school was built in 1996. "We have room for some growth," Schmidt said. "We could welcome 200 new students right now in K-12."

The district's most recent live births to kindergarten ratio does not project significant growth over the next 10 years. "But that was before Intel," Schmidt said. "We've had initial discussions about hiring a consultant, and we anticipate bringing one on board, for growth projections and strategic planning."

Schools team up

One good thing to grow out of the COVID pandemic was cooperation and planning between Licking County superintendents, Michael said. It will be much needed again with the Intel project. Northridge borders upon several districts, including New Albany, Johnstown, Southwest Licking, Licking Heights, Granville, North Fork, Centerburg, Mount Vernon and Big Walnut.

"Intel has talked about aiding the schools, and if there are charitable dollars available, we don't want to have to compete for them. Our county is not that big, and we need to work together," Michael said.

"It's a great opportunity for the region," Schmidt said. "The superintendents of Licking County need to collaborate and partner as a group."

Schmidt and Michael were able to attend a meeting, where the superintendent of Chandler, Arizona schools related his experiences with Intel. "Educational Service Centers do a great job of connecting superintendents, through Grow Licking County and Columbus First," Michael said.

Reliable information

Intel will locate its factories in an area bordered by Green Chapel Road to the north, Mink Street to the east, Clover Valley Road to the west and approximately midway between Miller Road and Jug Street to the south. New Albany plans to annex a large part of Jersey Township, eventually having almost all the land bordered by Clover Valley, Mink, Jug and the Franklin County line.

Northridge is closely watching developments on a possible merger between Alexandria and St. Albans Township, which expects to see pressure for development. Although at a recent meeting, local experts explained to a standing-room crowd that zoning overlay districts and joint economic development districts could prevent annexation, without the merger.

The school district traverses seven Licking County townships, along with ones in Knox and Delaware counties. Thus far, county residents and townships have expressed concerns about roadways, funding, property taxes, expanding schools and having to build new fire stations.

Schmidt and Michael have some advice: use reliable sources when researching information.

"We have a lot of parents getting information from an Intel group on Facebook," Schmidt said. "It's speculation, versus possibility, versus actuality, which are three different things." They recommend the New Albany: Silicon Heartland website and the Intel in Ohio website. Also, contact former local state representative Scott Ryan, who works for the Ohio Department of Development, as a governor's liaison for the Intel project.

"We need to be very aware, and diligent," Schmidt said of Intel. "It's not going to happen overnight, but we need to be prepared."

dweidig@gannett.com

740-704-7973

Twitter: @noz75

Instagram: @dfweidig

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Northridge School District begins planning for Intel 'opportunity'
Police in New York City released new photos showing thieves wanted for stealing more than 400 bulletproof vests donated months ago to help the Ukrainian war effort after Russian forces invaded.

The six suspects  some seen smiling and carrying large garbage bags in surveillance images  allegedly broke into the headquarters for the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and the Ukrainian National Womens League of America located in the East Village section of Manhattan on March 15.

The group forced open the door around 2 p.m. and removed approximately 400 bulletproof vests donated from various law enforcement agencies and stored at the organizations offices.

JUDGE RIPS NY DEMOCRATS' LAST-DITCH ATTEMPT TO SAVE UNCONSTITUTIONAL REDISTRICTING MAPS: HAIL MARY PASS

The individuals loaded the vests into three different vehicles that fled into Brooklyn, police said. The New York Police Department also released a photo of one of those vehicles, a white van, on Friday.

Long Islands Suffolk County Sheriffs Office donated some 450 used, decommissioned vests to the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America intended for Ukrainian medics and humanitarian workers, but it was not clear if the vests donated from that agency were among those stolen, WNBC reported.

"It is despicable that someone would break into a building to steal supplies and materials intended to aid those affected by this humanitarian crisis," Vicki DiStefano, a spokeswoman for Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr., told the outlet.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted through the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
New York City police are on "high alert" to respond to expected pro-abortion protests outside Catholic churches in the city, the NYPD said Sunday.

Protests are expected in the city after a draft majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade leaked from the Supreme Court last week. Protesters gathered outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in Manhattan on Saturday morning, as well as other churches, according to News 12.

No crimes have so far been reported in connection with the rallies, however.

SUPREME COURT SET TO OVERTURN ROE V. WADE, LEAKED DRAFT OPINION SHOWS: REPORT

The NYPD ramp-up mirrors that of police in Washington, D.C. where the city activated protest response units for several days. Protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court building for several days following the leak.

One protest group is also attempting to organize protests outside the homes of six Supreme Court justices.

The activists are organizing under the moniker "Ruth Sent Us" and have published the supposed home addresses of Justices Amy Coney Barrett, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch.

"Our 6-3 extremist Supreme Court routinely issues rulings that hurt women, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights," the group's website reads. "We must rise up to force accountability using a diversity of tactics."

Fox News is told there has been a strong police presence at the justices' homes following the leak. The group says they will visit the homes on May 11.
Roberta Madden

Albert Einstein believed that everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Heres a simple idea  and an old one: American women and men deserve equal rights under the Constitution. In 1776, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John, who was participating in the Constitutional Convention: Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation. But John ignored Abigails plea and left women out of the U.S Constitution.

Amending the Constitution is pretty simple: Two-thirds of both houses of Congress propose an amendment, then three-fourths of the state legislatures need to ratify it. Thats it. No mention of a deadline. In fact, the 27th Amendment (dealing with congressional pay raises) proposed by Congress in 1789 specified no deadline. Over 200 years later, the state legislatures finally ratified it  a period considered sufficiently contemporaneous.

The Equal Rights Amendment has its own long, complex history. Introduced in 1923, passed by Congress in 1972, it then went to the states for ratification. However, some wily legislators had attached a seven-year deadline (later amended to 10 years). The time limit, passed by a joint resolution, appears only in the preamble, not in the ERA itself. Deadlines didnt appear in amendments until the 20th century, beginning with Prohibition, and then they were included only sporadically.

Nevertheless, the ERA deadline became an issue, decades after the 1982 deadline, when the last three of the needed 38 states ratified the amendment in 2017, 2018, and 2020.

Women today face a significant gender pay gap, pregnancy discrimination, violence against women, loss of reproductive rights, discrimination in sports, and much more. Only a constitutional amendment can protect women and men from laws that discriminate on the basis of gender. Only a constitutional amendment can prevent legislators, the executive branch, or the courts from changing, diluting, or ignoring laws that are supposed to protect women from sex discrimination.

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The U.S. House has twice passed bills to eliminate the time limit and to credit the three recent ratifications toward the required three-fourths. In the upper chamber, S.J.Res.1 garnered bipartisan support to lift the deadline, but the resolution is gathering dust in the Senate cloakroom. ERA advocates are now urging Senator Schumer to bring it to a floor vote.

President Biden has expressed his continuing strong support for the ERA and has declared that the only action needed now must come from Congress. The National Archivist refused to certify the ERA after ratification by the 38th state because of an order from the prior administration which prohibited his doing so. The Archivist has now retired, and a congressional battle may ensue when his replacement is nominated.

Meanwhile, the Attorneys General of ratified Nevada and Illinois filed a lawsuit, arguing that under Article V, a time limit in a congressional resolution cannot stand in the way of an amendment that has now been ratified by three-quarters of the states. Their suit languishes in an appeals court.

Section 3 of the ERA specifies that this amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification. The idea was that the states would have two years to bring their laws into accordance with the ERA.

The last of the required 38 ratifications occurred on January 15, 2020. Two years later, a resolution was introduced in the House recognizing that the ERA has now met all legal requirements to be recognized as the 28th Amendment. The resolution has 133 cosponsors and continues to gain support.

Meanwhile, the prominent law firm Winston and Strawn is combing through laws on the books in North Carolina, Nevada, and other states, uncovering numerous laws that codify sex discrimination. State legislators must get busy bringing those laws into accord with the 28th Amendment, which should now legally be considered part of the Constitution.

The ERA-NC Alliance continues working for ratification. Even though the ERA is actually the 28th Amendment, its important for North Carolinas legislature to sign on. Its an embarrassment to our state that North Carolina did not ratify the 20th (suffrage) Amendment until 1971. This summer, well conduct our biennial candidate survey to determine the ERA position of every legislative and congressional candidate in the general election.

Yes, its complicated. Now, in the final stretch, we are striving for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.

Roberta Madden has worked nationally for the ERA for more than 50 years. She co-founded the ERA-NC Alliance and now serves on its board of directors.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Opinion: Equal Rights Amendment simple but not easy
A man is wanted in Phoenix after a woman was discovered strangled to death aboard a city bus on Friday morning, authorities said.

Joshua Bagley, 26, was named a suspect in the death of 41-year-old Diane Craig, Phoenix police said.

TEXAS WOMAN ADMITS TO FATALLY SHOOTIN GHUSBAND WHO CONFESSED LOVE FOR ANOTHER WOMAN

Officers found Craig around 8 a.m. after responding to the intersection of 27th Avenue and Baseline Road for a report of an unresponsive person, FOX10 Phoenix reported, citing police.

The victim, identified as Craig, showed signs of strangulation, police said.

"Ms. Craig was taken to a local hospital where she died from her injuries," a police statement read, in part.

Police released images of Bagley, who remains on the loose, in the hope that the public can help locate him.

Authorities asked anyone with information about Bagley to contact the Phoenix Police Department.
Associated Press

A Connecticut state trooper who is a native of Poland got quite the surprise while responding to an SUV with a flat tire Wednesday  a passenger in the vehicle happened to be former Polish President Lech Walesa. State police said Trooper Lukasz Lipert arrived to the call in Tolland and was greeted by Walesa, who had spoken in Hartford on Tuesday as part of his U.S. tour advocating for aid for refugees who have fled Ukraine during the war with Russia. Lipert, 35, who came to the U.S. when he was 18, told The Hartford Courant that he spoke with Walesa in Polish about their homeland and the anti-communist movement Walesa helped lead.
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school sheltering about 90 people in its basement, while Ukrainian troops refused to surrender at a besieged steel plant that Moscows invading forces sped to seize before Russias Victory Day holiday.

The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturdays bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said.

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Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said.

The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition due to the Ukrainian militarys unexpectedly effective defense. Since failing to capture Ukraines capital, Kyiv, Moscows forces have attacked cities, towns and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine but not gained much ground, according to Western military analysts.

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To demonstrate success in time for Victory Day on Monday, the Russian military worked to complete its takeover of Mariupol, which has been under relentless assault since the start of the war. The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters made a last stand is the only part of the city not under Russian control.

This image provided by the Irpin Mayor's Office shows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walking with mayor Oleksandr Markushyn, right, in Irpin, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2022. Trudeau made a surprise visit to Irpin on Sunday. The city was severely damaged during Russias attempt to take Kyiv at the start of the war. (AP)

All the remaining women, children and older civilians who were sheltering with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. The Ukrainian troops rejected deadlines given by the Russians who said the defenders could leave with their lives if they laid down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, a Ukrainian National Guard battalion holding the steel mill, told an online news conference Sunday that the site was targeted overnight by three fighter jet sorties, artillery and tanks.

We are under constant shelling, he said, adding that Russian infantry tried to storm the plant -- a claim Russian officials denied in recent days - and to lay landmines.

Palamar said there was a multitude of casualties at the plant.

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant, but he declined at the same news conference to reveal how many abled-body fighters also remained in the plant.

He described the situation as dire because they didnt have life-saving equipment in their tunnels. He also said fighters had to dig out people by hand when some bunkers collapsed under the Russian shelling.

The truth is, we are unique because no one expected we would last so long, Samoilenko said. Surrender for us is unacceptable because we cannot grant such a gift to the enemy.

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After rescuers evacuated the last civilians, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was trying to secure humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the fighters remaining in the plants underground tunnels and bunkers.

The Ukrainian leader was expected to hold online talks Sunday with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from other Group of Seven countries. The meeting is partly meant to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys 1945 surrender.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Irpin Sunday, which had been damaged by Russias attempt to take Kyiv at the start of the war, according to Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne and Irpin Mayor Olexander Markushyn.

Markushyn posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Canadian officials said the prime minister would meet with Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

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Zelenskyy also met Sunday with the German parliament speaker, Barbel Bas, in Kyiv to discuss further defense assistance as well as sanctions against Russia, according to Zelenskyys press office.

Trudeau is the latest Western leader to visit Ukraine to offer their support to the war-ravaged country. The prime ministers of the U.K., Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia traveled there earlier, as did the U.N.s secretary-general.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden also made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine Sunday for a surprise Mothers Day meeting with Zelenskyys wife, first lady Olena Zelenska. They visited a village school as Russia pressed its punishing war in the eastern regions.

Elsewhere, on Ukraines coast, explosions echoed again Sunday across the major Black Sea port of Odesa, which Russia struck with six cruise missiles on Saturday, while rocket fire damaged some 250 apartments, according to the city council.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, the May 9 holiday when Russia celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

Zelenskyy released a video address Sunday marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russias invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism.

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The black-and-white video, published on social media, showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, one of the Kyiv suburbs pummeled before Russian troops withdrew from the capital region weeks ago.

Every year, on May 8, along with the whole civilized world, we pay our respects to everyone who defended the planet against Nazism during World War II, Zelenskyy said, adding that prior generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of the words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow to never allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holoucaust.

We knew the price our ancestors have paid for this wisdom. We knew how important it was to protect it and pass it on to our descendants.  But we hadnt any notion that our generation will witness the abuse of these words, he said.

In neighboring Moldova, Russian and separatists troops were on full alert, the Ukrainian military warned. The region has increasingly become a focus of worries that the conflict could expand beyond Ukraines borders.

Pro-Russian forces broke off the Transnistria section of Moldova in 1992, and around 1,500 Russian troops have been stationed there since, ostensibly as peacekeepers. Those forces are on full combat readiness, Ukraine said, without giving details on how it came to the assessment.

Vadim Krasnoselsky, the president of the unrecognized territory, denied those claims, saying it does not pose a threat to neighboring states, observes neutrality and remains committed to the principle of resolving all issues at the negotiating table.

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Moscow has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the Black Sea and to create a corridor to Transnistria. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.

In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days and has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Ukraine targeting Russian-held Snake Island in a bid to impede Russias efforts to control the sea.

A satellite image taken Sunday morning by Planet Labs PBC showed smoke rising from two sites on the island. On the islands southern edge, a fire smoked next to debris. That corresponded to a video released by the Ukrainian military showing a strike on a Russian helicopter that had flown to the island.

The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian counteroffensive near Kharkiv, a city in the northeast that is the countrys second-largest, is making significant progress and will likely advance to the Russian border in the coming days or weeks, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

The Washington-based think tank added that the Ukrainian counteroffensive demonstrates promising Ukrainian capabilities.

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However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from Luhansk provinces embattled city of Popasna, Haidai, the regional governor, said Sunday. In a video interview posted on his Telegram channel, Haidai said that Kyivs troops had moved to stronger positions, which they had prepared ahead of time.

Rodion Miroshnik, a representative of the pro-Kremlin, separatist Luhansk Peoples Republic, said its forces and Russian troops had captured most of Popasna after two months of fierce fighting.

The Russia-backed rebels have established a breakaway region in Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk, which together make up Ukraines industrial heartland known as the Donbas. Russia has targeted areas still under Ukrainian control.

One million residents in Luhansk, including those in separatist-held territory, were left without running water Sunday after Russian shelling damaged a local water utility, the regions Ukrainian governor wrote on social media.

To the west in Dnipropetrovsk province, the governor said a 12-year-old boy was killed by a cluster munition that he found after a Russian attack. An international treaty bans the use of those kind of explosives, but neither Russia nor Ukraine have signed the agreement.

The regional governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, said the boy was the sixth local child killed by cluster munitions.

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This war is treacherous, he wrote on social media. It is near, even when it is invisible.

Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.
Police shot and killed a man who was throwing Molotov cocktails at officers and setting cars on fire Saturday afternoon outside a Raleigh, North Carolina police station.

The incident began at around 1:20 p.m. when an officer observed a man lighting vehicles on fire, Police Chief Estella Patterson said at a news conference, according to FOX 8.

HOUSTON POLICE BODYCAM SHOWS DEADLY CONFRONTATION WITH ARMED SUSPECT TIED TO ORGANIZED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

The officer then called for backup and three other officers arrived at the parking lot. The officers instructed the man to stop, but he continued to throw the Molotov cocktails, even tossing one near an officer.

"Multiple officers then discharged their weapons, and the individual was struck multiple times," Patterson said.

Police then proceeded to move the man away from burning vehicles and attempted to save his life. The man was transported to a local hospital but died.

RETIRED LAS VEGAS OFFICER WHO RESPONDED TO HARVEST FESTIVAL SHOOTING REVEALS WHAT'S ALWAYS IN HIS BAG

Body cameras and cameras outside the police station were active, according to Patterson, who said she planned to petition a judge to have the body camera footage released.

Patterson explained that she did not know how many shots were fired or how many had hit the man.

The police chief said the incident is under investigation and a report would be released in the coming days.

MINNESOTA POLICE BODY CAM SHOWS DAUNTE WRIGHT'S MOM IN TENSE EXCHANGE WITH COPS: I WILL SUE YOU

The FBI was notified of the shooting, Patterson said, adding that the investigations findings will be sent to the Wake County district attorney.

The road where the shooting occurred remained closed for several hours after the event unfolded as the investigation took place.
Vladimir Putin. Contributor/Getty Images

History shows that it's difficult to hold war criminals accountable. Will Vladimir Putin and his army ever face justice? Here's everything you need to know:

What constitutes a war crime?

War crimes are serious violations of the international laws of war against either combatants or civilians  and there's no question Russia has committed them in Ukraine. The Russian military has launched missiles at apartment buildings, bombed a maternity hospital and children's shelter in Mariupol, and slaughtered hundreds of civilians in Bucha and other towns and cities they've occupied, leading President Biden to say Putin is "a war criminal" who "should be held accountable." Biden later escalated his condemnation, saying he believes Russia is committing "genocide"  the attempt to systematically destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic or racial group or a national identity. But war crimes prosecutors have never pursued a target quite as big as Vladimir Putin. It's the first time in decades a major power has flagrantly broken humanitarian laws "on a massive scale," said Oona Hathaway, director of the Center for Global Legal Challenges at Yale Law School. "The international legal order is really under stress."

How were war-crimes laws established?

Early international treaties such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 established some laws of war, but "there really was no settled conception of what a war crime was," said Michael Bryant, author of A World History of War Crimes. After World War II, the landmark Nuremberg trials set lasting precedents by prosecuting Nazi leaders for crimes against humanity. "This is really where the modern definition of war crimes comes into being," Bryant said. The Geneva Conventions, ratified in 1949, established humanitarian war standards that hoped to relegate the mass carnage of World War II to the past. These new laws of war forbade not only the atrocities of Nazi Germany but also the deliberate targeting of civilians, such as the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the mass bombing of cities by both Allied and Axis forces that killed millions of civilians. In ensuing decades, deadly conflicts in Cambodia, Vietnam, Chile, Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and elsewhere took millions of lives and heightened cries for enforcement. In the late 1990s, international courts began prosecuting heads of state for atrocities committed during war.

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Has that system worked?

To a limited degree. Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was tried for war crimes at a U.N. tribunal in The Hague, but he died of a heart attack less than two months before the verdict was due. The Rome Statute, which took effect in 2002, established the International Criminal Court, a tribunal tasked with prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide when domestic courts will not hold political or military leaders accountable. But the ICC can only prosecute leaders when it gets its hands on them, and it has mostly gone after African despots who have been overthrown and turned over by their home countries. Russia, Ukraine, and the United States are not signatories to the Rome Statute.

What crimes is Russia guilty of?

Ukrainian courts have charged 10 captured Russian servicemen for holding civilians hostage during the occupation of Bucha. It's investigating more than 8,000 additional crimes with the help of the U.S. and other countries. But genocide would be hard to prove without clear-cut evidence of intent, said Leila Sadat, a war crimes expert at Washington University in St. Louis. When prosecutors investigated the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia, they pored through documents and cell-phone intercepts for evidence there was a conscious plan to exterminate Bosnian Muslim men and boys. "Circumstantial evidence" isn't sufficient, Sadat said. "You have to go into the mind of the perpetrator." In this case, they may have to prove that Putin wants not just a political takeover of Ukraine but the erasure of people who consider themselves Ukrainians.

So will Putin go on trial?

Not without a coup in Russia. If other countries indict Putin and his generals as war criminals, it will be largely symbolic unless they venture onto unfriendly foreign soil. And despite the near-universal condemnation of Putin in the West, the world's major powers don't want to set a standard that could make them accountable to international courts themselves. When the ICC tried to investigate U.S. personnel for possible war crimes in Afghanistan, which is an ICC member, the U.S. resisted and even sanctioned ICC members; the court has now effectively abandoned that investigation. "Certain large powers were worried: Is it going to turn on us?" said Philippe Sands, a leading international lawyer. The ICC is conducting a preliminary investigation of potential Russian war crimes and crimes against humanity, but it has never prosecuted a non-signatory for the crime of aggression, or the waging of an illegal war. "You're going to end up in seven years' time with trials of mid-level folk," Sands said. The political and military leaders calling the shots from Moscow, he said, are "never going to go to justice."

Using rape as a weapon

On March 13, a Russian soldier broke into a shelter in a school's basement and ordered a 31-year-old woman to a second-floor classroom, where he forced her to give him oral sex and raped her repeatedly. "He held the gun near my temple or put it into my face," the survivor told Human Rights Watch, twice shooting at the ceiling "to give me more motivation." Such horrifying stories are frequent during warfare, as soldiers violate women's bodies as a sign of conquest. Rape was classified as a war crime and a crime against humanity in 2008, partly because of the "rape camps" of the Bosnian War, where between 20,000 and 60,000 women were sexually assaulted. In Rwanda, ethnic Hutus impregnated Tutsi women in an attempt to erase the Tutsi ethnicity. Most wartime sexual violence goes unpunished. In Ukraine, investigators are rapidly gathering evidence with an eye toward bringing perpetrators to justice. "It's like in 1942: Where do you start investigating the Holocaust?" said Patricia Viseur Sellers, the former legal adviser for gender at the Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals. "You start where you can."

This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.

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Britain is preparing to unilaterally override the post-Brexit border arrangement to avoid the Northern Ireland crisis dragging on and on, government sources have claimed, as Sinn Fein won the largest share of seats in Stormont for the first time on Saturday night.

Liz Truss has concluded that negotiations with the EU have almost run out of road, after Maros Sefcovic, the EUs Brexit negotiator, told her that Brussels will never back down on its refusal to overhaul the Northern Ireland Protocol, according to government sources.

A source close to the Foreign Secretary described the remark as alarming after she repeatedly called for member states to redraw Mr Sefcovics mandate in order to allow for a breakthrough in the talks.

Ministers are concerned about disruption being caused to businesses by customs checks on British goods sent to Northern Ireland, and the Democratic Unionist Party has indicated that it will refuse to form an executive with Sinn Fein until the problems are resolved.

Sinn Fein won 27 of the 90 Stormont seats, putting it ahead of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) which fell by two seats to 25.

It is the first time a party seeking a united Ireland will have topped the poll in the elections for the Northern Ireland executive, with a unionist party until now the largest in government since the province was formed in 1921.

Writing in The Telegraph, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, piled pressure on Ms Truss and Boris Johnson to act, saying: Every unionist candidate standing in the election stood in opposition to the Protocol and attracted some 360,000 votes. Forty per cent of all votes cast were explicitly for parties who opposed the Protocol.

Given that the political institutions in Northern Ireland operate on the basis of cross-community consensus, the lack of any unionist support for the Protocol means that it is unworkable as it does not command sufficient consensus.

He added: The electorate has spoken. The view of unionism is clear. Now is the moment for the Government to act. No more words. Its time for action.

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The Irish Sea border must go and the Protocol must be replaced by arrangements that restore Northern Irelands place within the United Kingdom internal market.

Sir Jeffrey set out seven tests for any plan to override the Protocol, including that any new arrangement must avoid a border in the Irish Sea.

Liz Truss - Victoria Jones/PA Wire

Government sources indicated that ministers were drawing up proposals for such a move, despite the Conservatives denying reports that a bill setting out a replacement arrangement would be included in next weeks Queens Speech.

In a telephone call with Ms Truss on April 28, Mr Sefcovic is said to have made clear... that the EU did not have, and in his view would never have, a mandate to renegotiate the Protocol or to go beyond their existing proposals, according to a government source.

A source close to Ms Truss said: The admission made by Sefcovic on the call is alarming. Lizs first, second and third priority in all this is protecting peace made and stability in Northern Ireland. Clearly, the situation is getting increasingly urgent, and the feeling is we cant let this crisis drag on and on.

It feels like we have run out of road with negotiations unless something significant happens in terms of the EU changing its position.

Mr Sefcovic is understood to insist that unilateral action by the UK would not solve the problems on the island of Ireland, and that the threat of such a move will not help to strengthen Ms Trusss hand in the negotiations.

Maros Sefcovic - Julien Warnand/Pool via Reuters

Theresa Villiers, the former Northern Ireland Secretary, said: We must deal with the Protocol. It must be radically changed or replaced. We cant continue as we are. The people who really need to listen and wake up as a result of this election result are the EU and the Commission.

If negotiation isnt going to do the business, we need unilateral legislation. We need to be getting on with it even if we dont implement it straight away.

A Foreign Office source said: Its incredibly disheartening that despite the political and economic damage the Protocol is causing in Northern Ireland, the Commission continues to adopt such a rigid and hard-line negotiating position.

The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement is being undermined and the situation is now very serious. Both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have always been clear that action will be taken if solutions cant be found.

The Assembly elections are now over and we need to see the EU move significantly. Our focus has been, and will continue to be, preserving peace and stability in Northern Ireland.

On Saturday, Sinn Fein called for an immediate resumption of the power-sharing executive.

Mary Lou McDonald, the partys president, urged unionists not to be afraid, saying the future is bright for all of us.

Ms McDonald said there was a collective responsibility to get the government up and running quickly.

She added: This is not a time for theatrics, this is not a time for playing games, this is the time for grown-up sensible partnership politics, thats what people want.

The idea, at a time of a cost-of-living crisis, that people would stand on the sidelines and allow people to struggle, and struggle badly for us is unthinkable, so we would appeal to everybody to take stock.

A spokesman for the US government said political leaders should "take the necessary steps" to re-establish a power-sharing executive.

Ned Price, from the US Department of State, said: "We call on Northern Ireland's political leaders to take the necessary steps to re-establish a power-sharing executive, which is one of the core institutions established by the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

"Critical and immediate challenges concerning the economy, health, and education are best addressed through the collective efforts of a devolved government chosen by, and accountable to, its people.

"The United States enjoys a deep and long-standing relationship with Northern Ireland, grounded in ties of kinship, culture, commerce, and shared values.

"We remain deeply committed to preserving the peace dividend of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and will always strive to protect these gains for all communities.

"We look forward to continuing our work with democratic partners in Northern Ireland, and with the governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland, to support peace, prosperity, and stability across the region."
Olena Roshchina  Sunday, 8 May 2022, 09:21

Russian troops are deploying artillery and aircraft to attack the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions; Luhansk Region has also seen missile strikes. Mykolaiv Region and the city of Mykolaiv in particular have also been struck by Russian missiles.

Source: Information from Ukraines Regions as of 08:00 on Sunday, 8 May

Detail: Kharkiv Region: Several attacks on the outskirts of the city of Kharkiv; no casualties according to preliminary information.

A Russian shell hit a 2-storey house in the town of Barvinkove, Izium District in the Kharkiv Region, killing a woman, whose body was later retrieved from under the rubble.

Fighting on the Izium front continues.

Luhansk Region: Missile and air strikes on Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna, and neighbouring towns and villages.

At least 62 people were killed in an air strike on Bilohorivka.

2 teenage boys were killed in Pryvillia; their sisters and grandmother were severely injured.

Russian troops opened fire on Shypilove on the night of 7-8 May, destroying a 2-storey house and trapping 11 people under its rubble, according to preliminary information. So far no civilians have been reported dead.

Donetsk Region: Air strikes and artillery shelling of Avdiivka,Sviatohirsk, Siversk, Lyman, Druzhkivka, Kostiantynivka, Marinka, and Toretsk and Ocheretyn municipal territorial communities [hromadas] continued.

4 people were killed and 9 injured over the course of Saturday, 7 May.

1 civilian was injured in Siversk on the morning of 8 May.

A gas pipeline was damaged during the shelling of Toretsk municipal territorial community. The occupation forces continue targeting industrial facilities, such as the coke and phenol plant in Avdiivka.

The evacuation of civilians from Mariupol continues.

Kherson Region: The situation remains difficult as explosions and shelling continue all across the region. Circumstances in the municipal territorial communities neighbouring with Snihurivka, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk Region, as well as in all villages of the former Velyka Oleksandrivka, Bilozerka, and Novovorontsovka Districts are critical, but stable.

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Russian occupation forces continue to seize the buildings from which local governments operate: they have captured Darivka Village Council and Tokariv Village District government buildings. Government officials were banned from their workplaces. Beryslav City Council workers have also left the City Council building.

According to the Kherson Regional Military Administration, which was forced to leave the region: "During a visit by Pushylin and Turchak to the occupied area, the collaborators stated that Russia was there to stay and that they wanted the Kherson Region to become part of the Russian Federation. The occupiers are not supported by the regions residents."

Mykolaiv Region: Mykolaiv Region and its administrative capital, Mykolaiv, were shelled on the afternoon of 7 May.

Russian troops carried out a missile strike on an infrastructure facility in Voznesensk District of the Mykolayiv Region.

The town of Bereznehuvate was attacked by missiles during the day and in the evening of 7 May; no casualties, according to preliminary information.

Russian troops also shelled a residential neighbourhood of Mykolaiv, causing fires which were later extinguished by the relevant municipal services.

Another Russian missile attack caused a fire in the Halytsynivka forest; the fire was promptly extinguished.

During the night of 7-8 May, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Mykolayiv was hit by Russian missiles.

5 people were wounded and 1 killed in Russian attacks on the Mykolayiv Region on 7 May. Information about casualties is being confirmed.

The night was relatively calm in Volyn, Zakarpattia, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, and Chernihiv Regions.



From Ukrainska Pravda: It was reported this night that explosions were heard in Odesa. A spokesman for the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Bratchuk, later said that units from "Pivden" (South) Air Command had detected and destroyed two X-type cruise missiles fired by a Russian fighter jet from the Black Sea towards the Odesa region during the night.
TipRanks

Markets have well and truly changed direction from last years bullish trends. The downward shift has brought us a major selloff, and declines of 27% and more in the tech-heavy NASDAQ index. For investors, its a situation that requires a close watch on the markets, and clear eye for the opportunities that will pop out as conditions change. Its also a situation in which investors can use expert advice. Jim Cramer, the well-known host of CNBCs Mad Money program, tells investors that when the
Hawala is an informal payment system used by individuals who wish to make undocumented transactions. Getty Images

The use of the informal Hawala payment system by oligarchs could be seen as a desperate move.

Experts have told Insider that using Hawala does not necessarily suggest illicit transactions.

But oligarchs know of this system  based on trust  as this is how Putin operates, one expert says.

Russian oligarchs have managed to get around financial sanctions by moving money through the informal payment system known as Hawala.

It is a move that could be seen as desperate, experts have told Insider.

In the months leading up to Vladimir Putin ordering its military troops to invade Ukraine, the president's inner circle  oligarchs and silovarchs  appear to have anticipated the sanctions and moved funds through trusts or shell companies.

Shane Riedel, a financial crime expert and CEO of Elucidate, which analyses patterns in money movement, told Insider that sanctioned individuals using Hawala or a similar payment system can be considered a desperate move. Riedel said: "If somebody is the ultimate beneficial owner of an account, and they are sanctioned then that account  or asset  is sanctioned."

Therefore, any attempt to move money out of a sanctioned account  sanctions evasion  is considered a criminal offense, per Riedel's comments. Moreover, facilitating sanctions evasion is also a criminal offense and the US Department of the Treasury recently targeted some facilitators.

David Claridge, CEO of security intelligence firm Dragonfly, specified that moving money through Hawala cannot be done in huge sums but rather up to tens of thousand dollars. Claridge believes that if oligarchs were to use the underground payment system, it would involve hundreds of thousands of smaller transactions rather than a big one.

When using Hawala, "one person is basically operating on the basis of trust," Claridge said. He added: "That type of arrangement could very well be used by oligarchs," who already operate on the same basis as Vladimir Putin's business empire is "entirely based on trust as he does not own anything."

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Is Hawala being used mainly to evade sanctions?

Someone using Hawala does not necessarily mean they are making illegal transactions. Riedel said: "There are people who use Hawala for totally legitimate purposes  it is a lot cheaper."

"You can't make assumptions that there is necessarily something illicit going on if you see hawaladars," he said, referring to Hawala dealers. Riedel added that because there is an element of legitimacy, it would be much harder to determine sanctioned individuals who have used the informal payment system.

KleptoCapture, a taskforce brought together by the US Department of Justice amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, targets sanctioned individuals and is dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures. One of its mission is to combat unlawful efforts to undermine restrictions, including the prosecution of those who try to "evade know-your-customer and anti-money laundering measures."

Insider reported in early April that US investigators found evidence of Russian oligarchs attempting to evade sanctions by moving "for example, moveable property in the forms of yachts, airplanes ... into jurisdictions where, I think, people have the perception that it would be more difficult to investigate and more difficult to freeze," Andrew Adams, the head of the taskforce, told Reuters.

However, despite Russian tycoons' attempt to hide their assets, they still face an "all-time high" level of international cooperation. "Especially in the current context, and the current climate ... the level of shared sense of purpose I think is at an all-time high," Adams added.

Claridge said that the attitude of the authorities in the West, in a post-9/11 world, is that "Hawala banking, or other forms of money transfers should be regulated." The implication being that "they should be treated as official businesses, which would be subject to sanctions  same as everybody else," he added.

Read the original article on Business Insider
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Saudi Arabias octogenarian monarch underwent a colonoscopy on Sunday, state-run media reported, just weeks after he had the battery of his pacemaker changed.

The report in the official Saudi Press Agency first said only that King Salman, 86, was admitted to King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the Saudi port city of Jiddah for medical tests, without elaborating.

Later in the day, state-run media reported that he had a colonoscopy, and nothing abnormal was found. Doctors instructed King Salman to stay in the hospital for some time to rest, state-run media reported, without specifying how long.

The monarchs health is closely watched because he holds absolute power in the kingdom.

King Salman ascended to the throne in 2015 and has appointed his 36-year-old son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as his successor. However, he has also already empowered Prince Mohammed to lead day-to-day affairs.

Since his elevation to power, Prince Mohammed has upended the kingdom with dizzying social reforms, sidelined royal rivals and cracked down on perceived opponents, sparking controversy.

Earlier this year, state media reported that King Salman was hospitalized in Riyadh to have the battery of his heart pacemaker replaced. In 2020, he had surgery to remove his gallbladder after a stint in the hospital that revived speculation about the state of his health.
A security guard fired at a gunman who had shot and wounded two men outside Mi Bar Cantina recently, Crime Stoppers of El Paso said this week.

Police detectives continue seeking information in the unsolved shooting in the far East Side. The case is Crime Stoppers' Crime of the Week.

The violence occurred at about 1:15 a.m. April 30 outside the bar at the Plaza las Misiones retail strip at 1441 N. Zaragoza Road near Pellicano Drive.

Jose Portillo and Carlos Moreno, both 24, were with two other people when they got into an argument with an unidentified man inside Mi Bar Cantina, Crime Stoppers said.

The man asked the pair to step outside and then shot them both in the parking lot, police and Crime Stoppers said.

Violent crime: El Paso man arrested, accused in vicious beating outside East Side bars

The shooter ran after he was shot at by an armed security guard and was last seen running toward El Portal del Ciro's restaurant in the same retail plaza, authorities said. A description of the shooter has not been disclosed.

The two men wounded in the shooting were taken to Del Sol Medical Center, where police said they are expected to recover from their wounds.

Anyone with any information on the shooting may anonymously call Crime Stoppers at 915-566-8477(TIPS) or leave a tip online at www.cselpaso.org.

Homicides: Two teens arrested on murder charges in fatal shooting at car gathering

More: El Paso man pleads guilty to killing ex-girlfriend in West Side apartment

More: El Paso police arrest 2nd suspect in violent assault at Union Draft House Sunland

Daniel Borunda may be reached at 915-546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Security guard fires at shooter who shot 2 men outside El Paso bar
Reuters Videos

STORY: Casey White was reportedly heavily armed when he was arrested on Monday following an 11-day manhunt. According to police, he told authorities that he had planned to engage in a shootout with law enforcement.The thirty-eight year-old was broken out of prison by a former corrections officer, Vicky White, last month.The search ended with a crash in Indiana, according to Sheriff Dave Wedding of Vanderburgh County, Indiana.Authorities say Vicky suffered an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, before she was taken to a hospital and later died.Casey and Vicky are not related.
People walk in the Loop on May 2, 2022, the day after a 27-year-old man and 55-year-old man were shot near a theater. According to police, six men were engaged in a drug deal inside a downtown taco restaurant when one of the men robbed three others. All six fled the business and one of the victims fired shots, striking the two bystanders. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Over a 48-hour period last weekend, three shootings erupted within a mile of one another in Chicagos downtown area, leaving two people dead. During that same time, some 17 other people were shot around the city, most of them in neighborhoods where a higher level of violence is more commonly experienced.

Yet it was the shootings downtown, one outside a major theater that canceled its evening performance, that captured most of the attention from the media and city leaders, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who had to address the violence Monday at an unrelated news conference and who surely will face more scrutiny as the mayoral race heats up.

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Police leaders also had to answer for the spate of violence, quickly announcing theyd be deploying more resources downtown.

Experts said the outsize attention to downtown happens for a variety of reasons.

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Its the economic engine of the city, generating millions in tax revenue and tourism dollars. And the additional violence downtown strains resources in a police department that is struggling to address decades of consistently higher rates of violence in Chicagos neighborhoods.

[ Already jittery downtown Chicago again jolted by violence over the weekend; Mayor Lightfoot not happy ]

Downtown is also the civic heartbeat of the city, a place where Chicagoans from Rogers Park to Roseland come together for concerts, to hit the beach, spread out on a lawn for a picnic, gaze into the mirrored Bean or splash in the fountain at Millennium Park.

Chicagoans feel like they own the Loop, said Bill Savage, who has taught Chicago literature and culture for 30 years at Northwestern University. If the center of our city experiences this kind of violence, it hits everybody in a way. If its happening in the Loop, it is about you.

An officer puts up police tape at the scene following a shooting near the 800 block of North Sedgwick in the Near North neighborhood on April 24, 2022. The numerous bullet holes could be seen in a vehicle but no one was injured. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Statistics show violence dip

So far this year, gun violence  both homicides and nonfatal shootings  is declining, welcome news in a city battered by a 60% increase in shootings over a two-year period in 2020 and 2021.

But the recent headlines about downtown trouble have served as yet another reminder of how entrenched the gun violence problem is here, and how it is touching all parts of the city including Chicagos glittering center.

The number of shootings around the downtown area has in fact increased in recent years, and as of last week, 19 people had been shot combined in the Near North and Loop communities, compared with eight last year.

The citywide violence has already led to pledges from mayoral candidates to remove Chicago police Superintendent David Brown if they are elected, with those Lightfoot opponents citing a lack of strategy to address the violence.

Brown was hired amid a historic pandemic that shut down programming and services citywide. It was also a time when trust in policing plummeted across America in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Criminologists will be studying the lasting impacts of those events, but some said there is a sense that the stress of a pandemic combined with the increased scrutiny on police could have played a role in the spiking gun violence.

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Still, Brown and the Chicago Police Department have faced repeated criticism from aldermen, a level of concern that is only amplified when gunfire rings out downtown.

And it is not shootings alone that worry some leaders and the business community. There have long been concerns about clashes and disturbances among the large groups of young people who gather downtown on weekends.

Chicago police did not provide specific details about the response downtown. The mayors office referred the Tribune to Lightfoots Monday news conference, in which she said downtown would be getting more resources and deflected questions about her potential reelection campaign.

Lightfoot spoke about the difficult task of dealing with years of unaddressed violence in certain Chicago neighborhoods.

They have lived with the lack of investment. They have lived the lack of focus and attention on violence for way too long, Lightfoot said.

She also returned to a familiar theme: the need for those who engage in violence to face serious consequences.

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Meanwhile, in Streeterville, residents were on edge in the wake of the incidents downtown, said Deborah Gershbein, president of the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents.

Gershbein said the level of gun violence in the entire city is unacceptable and while she understands long-term approaches are needed, her neighbors are scared to walk at night.

I have lived in this neighborhood for 32 years. It has never been like this. I used to walk everywhere, Gershbein said. How do you give people a sense of safety?

Both experts and community organizers told the Tribune that shared fears about a central gathering space like the Loop suffering from gun violence presents an opportunity for shared solutions as well.

Chicago criminologist David Stovall said there is an alienation in communities that have been systemically carved out of resources and opportunity and that is playing a role in the surge in gun violence. Everyone affected needs to support thoughtful solutions.

Lincoln Park has never had this problem en masse. Or Streeterville, Stovall, a professor of Black studies as well as criminology, law and justice at UIC, said.  I dont want to downplay the violence because it is real. The (solutions) unfortunately, or fortunately, arent short-term.  You cant criminalize your way out of it.

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Savage, of Northwestern, also said there is an opportunity for new momentum.

The key is if we perceive the Loop as the heart of our city, we are still connected to whatever other part we live in, Savage said. But to connect ourselves to the parts we dont live in? This is the imaginary leap that is so hard. Can people from Jefferson Park who work downtown imagine what it would be like to live in Garfield Park or Ashburn or Pullman?

A violent weekend

The downtown shootings last weekend started at 1 a.m. Saturday in the 300 block of North State Street.

Two women from the North Lawndale neighborhood were shot by a man during an argument on the street. One of the women, 26, later died.

A day later, Sunday morning, a dispute inside the Sonesta hotel on East Walton Place left an 18-year-old man dead from multiple gunshot wounds. And some 10 hours later, in the 100 block of North Wabash, two men were shot in an alley behind the Nederlander Theatre after a nearby conflict involving a robbery and drug deal escalated.

The broad daylight shooting led to the theaters shutdown of operations that night, including the cancellation of a performance of Moulin Rouge.

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So far, there have been no charges filed in any of the cases.

One of the two injured in the Sunday shooting was a 27-year-old man, who was walking home from the gym with his wife, he told a Tribune reporter in a phone interview.

He heard a pop and then felt pain in his hand, said the man, who asked not to be identified.

People scattered, and the couple got behind a car and heard a second shot, he said.

I put two and two together pretty quickly  the pop plus the pain plus the bleeding, he said.  Its a weird series of emotions to put together. Its not something that Ive ever experienced before, so it was kind of like registering the fact that thats actually what happened.

A Chicago police vehicle activates its lights near the Nederlander Theatre in the Loop the day after a 27-year-old man and 55-year-old man were shot in the area. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Despite the shooting being about a 20-minute walk from his home, he said he is not afraid to be downtown, noting what the statistics bear out: His community remains relatively safe. He only plans to avoid Wabash in the future.

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Its one of those things where if youre in a big city, its a statistical chance that this will happen, he said. It was a thing that I think was always in my head as a possibility.  But again, this statistical chance of it happening is a relatively rare event. I think downtown is still a very safe area. I still feel safe walking around it.

Different in the neighborhoods

Despite the attention downtown incidents receive, gun violence in neighborhoods is a daily experience that is harder for residents in some areas to escape.

Through May 3, the rate of shooting victimizations per 10,000 residents in the Loop and Near North communities was 1.8 and 1.3, according to the citys data portal. In the citys historically less safe neighborhoods, the rate is as high as 21 in West Garfield Park, for example, and 11.2 in Greater Grand Crossing.

Chondra Wright works in the Greater Grand Crossing area with young people who are exposed to violence, and meets regularly with police from her local district to try to prevent the kind of violence that is now being felt in other parts of the city.

Officers work the scene where a 38-year-old man was shot while driving in the 100 block of West Chicago Avenue in the Near North neighborhood on May 5, 2022. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

She also heads downtown to walk regularly, following a path from Rush Street to the Cloud Gate sculpture. So shootings in the heart of Chicago have rattled her as well.

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Wright agrees that the violence happening there reflects what has been happening in the neighborhoods. And she said thats why solutions need to go beyond a weekend deployment strategy. It is about a citywide effort and vision, she said.

Im a Chicagoan through and through, Wright said. Downtown is an escape. It is that space where people migrate to for that peace, that freedom, that enjoyment. What would Chicago be like if we could have that same spirit or energy in any part of Chicago?
Statistically speaking, long term investing is a profitable endeavour. But along the way some stocks are going to perform badly. Zooming in on an example, the Humm Group Limited (ASX:HUM) share price dropped 61% in the last half decade. That's an unpleasant experience for long term holders.

Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

Check out our latest analysis for Humm Group

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Over five years Humm Group's earnings per share dropped significantly, falling to a loss, with the share price also lower. This was, in part, due to extraordinary items impacting earnings. At present it's hard to make valid comparisons between EPS and the share price. However, we can say we'd expect to see a falling share price in this scenario.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Humm Group's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of Humm Group, it has a TSR of -54% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

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A Different Perspective

Investors in Humm Group had a tough year, with a total loss of 15% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 6.5%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 9% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Humm Group you should be aware of.

Humm Group is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on AU exchanges.

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.
Dani Morin smiles at the camera, stroking her baby bump. In this TikTok video from June 2020, she tells the viewer shes about to teach them how to get pregnant, DIY edition. No partner or doctor necessary.

She runs through the steps: Get some fertility supplements, make sure your finances can handle new expenses like daycare, and order vials of sperm (they arrive in a cryo tank, so be sure to use a glove when you pull out the sample). Then its time to inseminate yourself. Morin offers tips, like using a fertility-boosting lubricant to help things along.

Treat that syringe just like a tampon, she suggests.

More than 10 million views later, its clear that Morins video has struck a nerve. She now has more than 500,000 followers on TikTok, where she frequently posts about her journey as a single mother by choice  or a woman who chooses to become pregnant via sperm donation, without the involvement of a partner.

As the topic of reproductive rights continues to dominate the cultural conversation, more women are becoming single mothers by choice, or SMBCs, a decision that is subject to its own judgments, preconceived notions, and complications. Thats why many are sharing information on their own terms.

In recent years, SMBCs have formed small but rich and tight-knit online communities like the 4,000-member-strong Single Mother by Choice subreddit, where they help one another navigate the complexities of this path. Topics include how to find a sperm donor, what to say to your friends and family, whether to do insemination through a fertility clinic or the DIY method, and how to prepare your finances for a child. Some, like Morin, share their stories online in hopes of helping other single women who long for a child but are tired of waiting for the right partner to start a family. They told me they feel telling their stories is necessary because there are few resources available for hopeful SMBCs.

Morin, who is 34 and works full time in sales and marketing, told me she has coached other women through their self-inseminations after meeting them through her TikTok account. (While medical professionals tend to recommend having an insemination performed in an office setting for efficacy and hygiene purposes, doing it at home is not uncommon.)

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Its so rewarding when they send me that picture in the hospital with their baby, she said, adding that she does a lot of vetting before she decides to actually walk someone through the process, to ensure they are ready and have thought about the decision.

Morin has always enjoyed creating videos, but she never seriously thought about becoming an influencer or content creator before her DIY baby video went viral. Now she aims to use her platform for a greater purpose.

I have to feel like Im doing something for the greater good of the community, she said.

Before deciding to have her son Rhett on her own, Morin was what she called a single mom by circumstance to her first son, Deacon (his father was not involved). In 2016, Deacon, then 18 months old, died at his daycare facility in Fontana, California.

Eventually, Morin reached a point where she felt ready to pursue motherhood again. She had dated around  at one point, she said she was going on a dozen or more dates a week  but realized that she was mainly trying to find someone to have a child with rather than looking for a relationship. So, she figured, why not do it on her own?

I just was like, Im gonna settle for one of these guys. And like, [that] is not what I want, you know? she told me.

At first, she wasnt quite sure where to start. She reached out to a fertility clinic but was worried about the high cost. Then she learned about DIY at-home insemination. She taught herself the basics via Facebook groups and YouTube videos that teach people how to turkey baste, and gave it a shot.

Ended up working on the first try, she said. I was shocked. I was so grateful.

Ended up working on the first try, she said. I was shocked. I was so grateful.

Once her video went viral, Morin decided to try her hand at creating more content. In videos, she talks about some of her other passions, like child consumer safety, and being a mom to Rhett, who was born in July 2020. She shares her favorite baby products, tips for breastfeeding, and mom humor, like any parenting content creator. She seeks to show that SMBCs are just like every other mom because she thinks that its a path more women are embracing.

Sociologist Rosanna Hertz studied SMBCs in her 2008 book, Single by Chance, Mothers by Choice. Hertz estimated at the time that SMBCs in the US numbered about 2.7 million, calling it a growing segment of the population. Up-to-date statistics on how many women are choosing to become SMBCs are hard to come by because, as Jane Mattes, the founder and director of the Single Mothers by Choice support group, told me, there is no category in the US census that counts how many mothers are parenting solo. However, she said, her group has seen steady, consistent growth over the 40 years it has existed.

Becoming a single mom by choice is becoming more and more common, Morin says in one video. Women are a little more successful these days, and a lot of women are waiting until later in life to start a family. And for most women, time is not on their side I didnt really feel like waiting any longer to meet the missing ingredient in my kitchen.

Screenshots from @danimorin13's TikTok TikTok via @danimorin13

After a lot of bad dates and several years of being single, Bethany, a 33-year-old living in Tennessee, who declined to provide her last name in order to protect the privacy of her children, finally googled, Can you have a baby on your own? She hoped to read about other women who had done so.

I could not find anybody, Bethany told me. I mean, there were, like, maybe two or three booksbut there was no one talking about it.

Bethany had always wanted to be a young mother so that her parents could play a big part in her childrens lives before they grew elderly. In her 20s, she worked hard in the male-dominated nuclear energy industry, and over time grew she jaded about the way she heard some of her colleagues discuss their wives and girlfriends. She kept looking for a partner who would treat her with respect, but continued to be disappointed.

When she tried online dating, she was horrified at how quickly the messages became sexual. That's not at all how I am, she said. Im very conservative with my views on wanting to wait until I got married for anything [sexual], and it was just not at all what I was looking for, she said.

As she neared 30, Bethany began to seriously consider starting a family on her own. Her parents were supportive. The years of devotion to her career had paid off: She owned her own home and had a healthy savings account. She began to feel more as if she could make the kind of life she wanted to happen for herself.

I knew that I wanted to be a mom and I wanted to bring a child into the world and be a mother to a child, she said.

I knew that I wanted to be a mom and I wanted to bring a child into the world and be a mother to a child, she said.

Bethany found a sperm donor and a fertility clinic, and in June 2019 she welcomed her son, Watson. After becoming a SMBC at a younger age than most she had heard about, she yearned to connect with others but struggled to find them. One Facebook group for SMBCs even declined to let her join because she was under the age of 35.

So Bethany decided to become the resource that she had needed. She started a YouTube channel and Instagram page, both called the Littlest Blueberry, where she documents her journey to becoming a mom to Watson and her second child via the same sperm donor, daughter Collette, born in 2021.

I want to help women if theyre thinking about this, [to] know that its a viable option for them, she said.

Nicole, a 38-year-old teacher who is expecting her first child in December 2022, also craved more information about the process. Nicole, who has remained anonymous online and asked to be identified by her first name for privacy reasons, told me that becoming an SMBC was the hardest decision I have ever made.

I was able to find plenty of general news articles about women who had chosen this path, but I wanted more, she said. I wanted to read about the daily life of a SMBC, and all of the steps taken in the journey.

Nicole decided to start a blog, Once Upon a Bebe, and an accompanying Instagram, with the goal of normalizing choosing the crib before the ring. Both Nicole and Bethany said they have been amazed by how many women messaged them and commented on their posts. It seemed to Bethany that there were many SMBCs and people who hoped to take that path, all hungry for more information and to connect with one another.

Its not even just American women who are contacting me. Ive talked to women from Brazil and women from Canada and England, Australia, all over the world, who are going on these journeys, she said.

Nicole said the support and commiseration from fellow SMBCs has only made her more confident in her decision.

Being able to share your life experiences with other women like you allows you to feel seen and understood, she said. While my family and friends are supportive of my path to motherhood, I dont think anyone truly understands what it feels like to not have a partner, yet want to be a mother so badly and know that your time is limited. Fellow SMBCs share that feeling, and we can connect as a community in a very special way because of it.

Scrolling the hashtag #SingleMomByChoice on TikTok shows women from all over the country who proudly declare themselves SMBCs and answer questions about their path to parenthood.

One of the top conversation topics on the SMBC internet is how to deal with judgment, whether silent or overt, from friends, family, or the community at large. Many say they feel empowered rather than ashamed and discuss how confident they felt once they made the decision to have a child on their own, knowing they could support them both financially and emotionally. Others discuss their friends who have had children with men and find themselves burdened with a partner who doesnt pull their weight when it comes to childcare.

In one video, tagged #LGBTMom and #SingleMomByChoice, a woman frowns. Text on the screen reads, When they assume you in a relationship with a man because you pregnant.

Then the text changes. Nope still GAY and SINGLE if you were wondering, it says.

Screenshots from @kandace_koated's TikTok @kandace_koated, via TikTok

The user, Kandace, who is 30 and lives in Houston, told me that she used a known donor, a good friend, to get pregnant with her son, who is due in July. She also has an 8-year-old daughter whose father is in her life but lives out of state. Kandace had already been making videos on TikTok, and when people began to ask about her pregnancy, she started posting about her experience. After facing some scrutiny from her own friends and family for her decision, she felt like it was important to do so.

I feel like if it speaks to others who can relate, then that helps them to speak out and build a community of support, she said. Its important because social media is the way to getting any kind of information out there to the public eye, and what better way to tell my story than to do it in my own way with my own personality attached to it?

However, many people openly criticize SMBCs for choosing to go it alone. Morin often fields comments from people telling her that her son is going to end up in jail because he doesnt have a father, or accusing her of having him for malicious reasons.

For Bethany, the criticism got so bad that she recently made her YouTube and Instagram accounts private. She said people would leave cruel comments, especially on YouTube, saying they hoped she would give her kids up for adoption, or that they were neglected and destined to become criminals because they come from a single-parent household. This kind of stigma against single mothers, much of which is directed at women of color, seems to still exist despite the fact that, according to a 2019 Pew Research study, 23% of children in the US live with a single parent, the highest rate in the world; 80% of these 11 million single-parent families are headed by a single mother, according to 2021 data from the US Census Bureau.

It was really very, very difficult for me because I want to be the perfect parent, I want to be the best mom I can be. And I also want to help people, she said.

Bethany has struggled with her competing feelings of being crushed by strangers judgments but wanting to be a voice for the community.

Do I keep up this thing that's mentally affecting me to help other people? she has asked herself.

Ultimately, Bethany believes her advocacy is worth it and hopes to return to YouTube. Shes working on a book about her SMBC experience and hopes to dispel these kinds of misconceptions.

Theres this idea that its a community full of jaded women who couldnt find somebodyor you know, theyre these totally radical independent women. And thats not it at all. Its women who have leaned into their desire to become mothers outside of meeting a partner, and I think thats really incredibly beautiful, actually, she said.

Morin said she wants everyone to see that families come in all different forms.

Sometimes theres two moms, sometimes theres two dads, sometimes theres one mom, sometimes theres a donor dad, she said. You never know; just be open to peoples stories. 
KATERYNA TISHCHENKO  SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2022, 18:54

The Russian forces fired rockets at the Shostka District of the Sumy region, and the Jewish cemetery in Glukhov was damaged.

Source : Head of the Sumy Regional Administration (OVA) Dmytro Zhyvytskyi on Telegram, Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko on Facebook

Zhyvyskyi Quote: "There was a rocket attack on the territory of the Shostka region."

Details: Later, Minister of Culture Alexander Tkachenko reported that a Russian rocket had struck the Jewish cemetery in Hlukhiv.

Tkachenko Quote: "On the territory of the Jewish cemetery in Hlukhiv, Jews are buried - victims of the pogrom of 1918. The mass grave is at the same time the grave of the tzaddiks Menachem-Nohim-David Heselov and Israel-Dov-Ber Nokhimov Shumiatskykh. This is not only a historical monument, it is a special symbol for the whole Jewish people.

The fact that the graves of the main tzaddiks have survived is proof that all the higher powers are on our side."
May 7BEAUMONT  Grapeland Sandie Cadarian Wiley signed his national letter of intent Friday to play football at Lamar University in Beaumont.

The wait is finally over to see where Grapeland's star running back was going to land. After months of sorting through various college offers, Wiley selected Lamar University as his future home on the collegiate level.

"This whole process has been quite challenging," Wiley said. "To finally find a home is a great feeling."

The road wasn't easy for Grapeland's senior running back that capped off his high school career with his highest rushing total yet. After rushing for 1,300 yards his junior year, he put up 1,879 yards and 25 rushing touchdowns (both career highs). He earned All-District first-team honors and was a member of the All-Area "Elite Team."

"It was a point I felt like none of this was going to happen like I thought it was," Wiley said. "We got later in the process and things finally started to pick up. But I know at times you're going to face adversity. I have the heart and pride to overcome all of it."

Wiley's recruitment process was altered a bit due to the fact he works during the summer. That time is usually where most college recruits are given the chance to experience the camp circuits these colleges coaches like them to do so they can offer them early.

However, Lamar was persistent on doing whatever it took to have Wiley be apart of their program.

"They loved him right there on the spot," Grapeland head football coach Jordan Woods said. "We trust that staff. They were thorough and honest with us. He's going to flourish at the next level and most colleges were in agreeance that Lamar got a steal."

With a 6'10" wingspan, Lamar envisions Wiley as a contributor at either safety or cornerback. Though Wiley is known for his prowess at running back, defensive back isn't foreign territory for him as he finished his high school career with 229 tackles, five interceptions and nine fumble recoveries.

Outside of his dynamic athletic ability, what stood out during the signing ceremony was the number of speakers that commented on his character. It's something that Wiley takes pride in just as much as his play on the field.

"He's one of the best kids you can ever be around," Woods said. "Not only does he make the right choices, but he influences other to do so. He'll see someone on social media doing something they shouldn't be doing and message them about it. He's that type of leader."
A teenage girl who was shot in the head in the lobby of a Brooklyn apartment building has died of her injuries, police said Saturday.

Adriana Graham, 18, is the second teen since 2020 to be fatally shot at the Harding Arms Apartments in Crown Heights.

Police got a 911 call reporting an assault in progress inside the building on Sterling Place near Rochester Ave. at about 2:45 a.m. Wednesday.

There, they found Graham bleeding in the lobby, shot in the head.

Medics took her to Kings County Hospital in critical condition. She died Friday. Her death has been ruled a homicide.

Graham lived in Far Rockaway, Queens. Its not clear what brought her to Crown Heights.

Police have made no arrests in her killing.

Her death comes almost two years after the May 12, 2020 killing of 16-year-old Tyquan Howard, who was shot in the abdomen outside the apartment building. Investigators believed at the time that Howard was shot in retaliation for taking part in a vicious group stomping of a 15-year-old girl two months prior.
Tesla has sued a former employee who it is accusing of stealing trade secrets related to its supercomputer project, Bloomberg reported on Friday. According to a filing in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, thermal engineer Alexander Yatskov quit on May 2 after having joined the company only a few months earlier, in January. According to Tesla, Yatskov admitted to transferring confidential information to his personal devices and later handing over a "dummy" laptop after company officials confronted him on suspicion of theft.

In addition to breaching a non-disclosure agreement intended to protect trade secrets, Bloomberg reports that Tesla is also accusing Yatskov of misrepresenting his experience and skills on his resume. Bloomberg also says that Yatskov declined to comment.

This is a case about illicit retention of trade secrets by an employee who, in his short time at Tesla, already demonstrated a track record of lying and then lying again by providing a dummy device to try and cover his tracks, Tesla wrote in the filing, reports Bloomberg.

CEO Elon Musk has been teasing Tesla's supercomputer project, called "Dojo," since at least 2019. Last summer, the company finally explained the project in more detail, laying out a goal of using AI to analyze massive amounts of vehicle data, ideally resulting in a safer, more refined autonomous driving experience. The computer, which offers 1.8 exaflops of performance and 10 petabytes of NVME storage running at 1.6 terabytes per second, trains itself using video from eight cameras inside Tesla vehicles running at 36 frames per second.

Tesla claimed last year that although this approach generates a tremendous amount of data, it is still more scalable than building high-definition maps around the world. At the time, Tesla indicated that the system was most successful in sparsely populated areas where cars could mostly drive uninterrupted. Even so, the company also touted some early successes in denser areas, including Dojo's ability to learn new types of traffic warnings, pedestrian collision detection and pedal misapplications (accidentally hitting the gas instead of the brakes).
There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But while the successes are well known, investors should not ignore the very many unprofitable companies that simply burn through all their cash and collapse.

So should Keypath Education International (ASX:KED) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. Let's start with an examination of the business' cash, relative to its cash burn.

Check out our latest analysis for Keypath Education International

When Might Keypath Education International Run Out Of Money?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. When Keypath Education International last reported its balance sheet in December 2021, it had zero debt and cash worth US$72m. In the last year, its cash burn was US$11m. That means it had a cash runway of about 6.6 years as of December 2021. Notably, however, analysts think that Keypath Education International will break even (at a free cash flow level) before then. In that case, it may never reach the end of its cash runway. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Well Is Keypath Education International Growing?

One thing for shareholders to keep front in mind is that Keypath Education International increased its cash burn by 939% in the last twelve months. While that certainly gives us pause for thought, we take a lot of comfort in the strong annual revenue growth of 56%. In light of the data above, we're fairly sanguine about the business growth trajectory. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.

How Hard Would It Be For Keypath Education International To Raise More Cash For Growth?

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While Keypath Education International seems to be in a decent position, we reckon it is still worth thinking about how easily it could raise more cash, if that proved desirable. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. One of the main advantages held by publicly listed companies is that they can sell shares to investors to raise cash and fund growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations.

Keypath Education International has a market capitalisation of US$243m and burnt through US$11m last year, which is 4.5% of the company's market value. Given that is a rather small percentage, it would probably be really easy for the company to fund another year's growth by issuing some new shares to investors, or even by taking out a loan.

Is Keypath Education International's Cash Burn A Worry?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Keypath Education International's cash burn. In particular, we think its revenue growth stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. While we must concede that its increasing cash burn is a bit worrying, the other factors mentioned in this article provide great comfort when it comes to the cash burn. One real positive is that analysts are forecasting that the company will reach breakeven. After taking into account the various metrics mentioned in this report, we're pretty comfortable with how the company is spending its cash, as it seems on track to meet its needs over the medium term. An in-depth examination of risks revealed 1 warning sign for Keypath Education International that readers should think about before committing capital to this stock.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

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.
The security fence surrounding the Supreme Court is all you need to see to understand the gravity of what unfolded in Washington this past week. While the court may have decided a presidential election in the last quarter-century, and ruled on who could legally marry whom, the draft opinion leaked Monday night, suggesting Roe v. Wade could soon be overturned, elicited an emotional intensity reaching even deeper and more broadly across the country.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said, "The Republicans have been working towards this day for decades."

University of California, Davis Law professor Mary Ziegler said, "If you asked most Americans to name a Supreme Court decision, the vast majority will name Roe v. Wade. It's the only Supreme Court decision that's dominated Supreme Court confirmation hearings and presidential elections for decades."

Correspondent Jim Axelrod asked, "What is the legal reasoning underpinning the overturning of Roe v. Wade?"

"The legal reasoning comes down to the idea that the court says that there are only a limited subset of rights that are recognized in our Constitution, and those are ones that have been deeply rooted in our nation's tradition and history," said Ziegler.

Advocates report seeing "huge increase in demand" for abortion pills since leaked Supreme Court draft opinion ("CBS Mornings")Which states would restrict or protect abortion rights if Roe v. Wade is struck down?Hillary Clinton on what happens if Roe v. Wade is overturned: "You have no idea who they will come for next" ("CBS Evening News")

Protests outside the Supreme Court following the leak of a draft opinion that would overturn the 1973 decision in Row v. Wade, and open up abortion to be made illegal in states across the country. / Credit: AP/Mariam Zuhaib

Which explains that intensity for so many wondering, if one long-established protection is overturned, what's next?

Ziegler said, "We don't know if this court is gonna stop with reversing Roe. We know that there are at least some justices on the court who would like to reverse a whole variety of other decisions, on issues from criminalizing same-sex sex to banning same-sex marriage."

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Axelrod asked, "Somebody who says to you, 'Relax, this isn't a slippery slope,' what do you say to them?"

"Well, I say it's unpredictable," she replied. "And I say that if you had spoken to many Americans five years ago and said Roe v. Wade would be overturned in Amy Coney Barrett's first abortion decision on the Supreme Court, they would have said, 'Well, that's ridiculous, right? That's politically unnecessary and risky for a court [whose] reputation has already been damaged.' And yet, here we are."

Thomas and Alito take aim at 2015 gay marriage rulingLanguage of Alito's draft opinion raises concerns over other rights

Jeffrey Rosen, president of the non-partisan National Constitution Center, said, "Everyone saw coming the possibility that the court might overturn Roe by a 5-4 vote. I certainly didn't see coming that the decision was gonna leak!"

Rosen won't take a side on what the draft says, but he's withering in his criticism of how we found out: "The court's internal deliberations are its most sacrosanct product, and it's impossible for a court to function if early drafts leak," he said.

For Rosen, the leak  and who did it  is no sideshow distraction from the main issues; it's a grave threat to how the court works, in private, so justices have room to recast, rework, and revise their opinions.

Rosen said, "There have been many motives that have been bandied around [for the leak], but one is that after five justices voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, Chief Justice Roberts is now trying to convince some of them to change their mind and to join him in a more moderate opinion. The leaker is trying to make it harder for any swing justices to peel off and change their minds."

Roberts calls leak of draft Supreme Court opinion in abortion case a "betrayal"Senator Elizabeth Warren says leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on abortion "has opened a door to a whole lot of ugliness" ("CBS Mornings")

Wanting to end the court's highly-partisan era often traces back to hearings for conservative Judge Robert Bork, nominated for the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan. On July 1, 1987, Sen. Edward Kennedy, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke in opposition to Bork's nomination, saying, "Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back alley abortions."

Rosen said Roberts' mission has been to broker opinions that reflect consensus, favoring 8-1 decisions so much more than 5-4. "Chief Justice Roberts said, 'We've gotta be narrow. We have to be modest. We have to be incremental, or we're gonna run the risk of a tremendous threat to our legitimacy,'" he said.

But that's the opposite of where we find ourselves this Sunday morning, with the court quite possibly close to an expansive sweeping decision that will overturn a protection that's been in place for half a century  one Americans feel strongly about.

Majority supports keeping Roe v. Wade in place: CBS News poll

"The court has historically not been that untethered from what people tend to think," said Professor Ziegler, "especially when the court is inserting itself into virtually every major issue of the day, from guns, to affirmative action, to abortion, to the rights of LGBT people, to voting rights, to the regulation of climate change. I mean, the court is literally in every conversation we're having, and it's operating in ways we haven't seen in the recent past."

But as Americans have repeatedly learned the last few years, the recent past is no longer the best guide to how we'll function in the future.

Said Ziegler, "This will be something that professors of constitutional law, and indeed professors of any kind of law, will be talking about, probably for more than 100 years from this conversation."

See also:

A frontline in the fight over abortionLeaked Supreme Court Roe draft opinion sets stage for 2022 midterms

For more info:

Mary Ziegler, Harvard Law SchoolJeffrey Rosen, National Constitution Center

Story produced by Alan Golds and Mark Hudspeth. Editor: Carol Ross.

The new comedy "POTUS": All the president's women

The Lincoln Memorial at 100

Remembering the losingest racehorse
By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian near the barrier with the West Bank and another was killed after infiltrating a Jewish settlement inside the occupied territory with a knife on Sunday, the Israeli army said, stoking worries a wider conflict may loom.

The incidents, along with the stabbing of a policeman in Jerusalem, came hours after Israeli forces caught two Palestinians who were suspected of sneaking into Israel and killing three people in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish town of Elad on Israel's Independence Day last Thursday.

Israel's army said the shooting of the Palestinian near the West Bank barrier on Sunday occurred after "soldiers spotted a suspect who attempted to illegally cross the security fence" in the area of the town of Tulkarm.

"The soldiers operated to stop the suspect in accordance with standard operating procedures, using live fire," according to an army spokesperson.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the man was killed.

Hours later, the army said a civilian shot a knife-wielding Palestinian who had broken into the Tekoa settlement in the West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry said a 17-year-old Palestinian was killed at the scene.

Also on Sunday, Israeli police said a Palestinian stabbed one of their officers outside Jerusalem's Old City and was shot. Both were being treated for their wounds.

The killing of three people in Elad on Thursday had led to a three-day manhunt by Israeli forces for two axe-wielding assailants who had run through the town, some 15 km (nine miles) north of Tel Aviv.

The two men were captured on Sunday in a forest near Elad, the Israeli army said. They have been identified by Israel as residents of a village near the Palestinian city of Jenin in the West Bank.

Photos of the two, who appeared to be unhurt, and of Israeli security men with guns pointed at their hiding place, were carried by Israeli news websites after they were taken into custody.

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Since March, Palestinians and members of Israel's Arab minority have killed 18 people, including three police officers and a security guard, in attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have mostly targeted civilians.

Israel has carried out arrest raids in Palestinian towns and villages which have often sparked clashes and brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or armed civilians since the beginning of the year to at least 42.

The casualties include armed members of militant groups, lone assailants and bystanders.

Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, praised the Elad assault. It said the attack was a response to Israeli actions at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.

Over the past month, Palestinians and Israeli police have repeatedly clashed at the sensitive complex.

Palestinians and Jordan, the custodian of the site that is the third holiest in Islam, accuse Israel of not doing enough to enforce a long-standing ban on non-Muslim prayer there, which Israel denies.

The compound is Judaisms holiest site and the vestige of two ancient Jewish temples.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War. Palestinians seek these territories for a future state.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ari RabinovitchEditing by Elaine Hardcastle, Susan Fenton and Leslie Adler)
A Hammond man could get time served after admitting he forced a blind woman with a mental disability into prostitution.

Stefon Collins, 25, pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution, a level 5 felony, according to a plea agreement filed May 2.

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A judge would need to accept it, but the plea calls for one year in Lake County Jail, which boils down to an agreed time served sentence. His sentencing hearing is set for May 23.

Authorities accused him of using the dating app Tagged to lure a woman into prostitution, according to a criminal affidavit.

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A police officer who interviewed the victim on May 20, 2021, wrote that she is blind and appears to have some sort of mental disability, a court document said.

The woman told police after she moved in with Collins a year earlier, he made an account on the dating app Tagged where he would charge $50 each for men to have sex with her, the affidavit states. He told her to go with men because he wanted her to make friends, it said.

She repeatedly told men no, the probable cause affidavit states. One man tried to have sex with her even after she rebuffed his advances. Collins raped her because he wouldnt take no for an answer, according to charges.

The woman said she saw as many as five men per day, charges allege. She overheard Collins haggle with a man who offered $40 for her when he wanted $50, it states.

Men who paid Collins took the woman to Hammond, Gary and Calumet City, Illinois, for sex, she told police. Some kept her overnight and forced her to have sex multiple times.

He was originally charged with promotion of human sexual trafficking and promoting prostitution.
By Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. top diplomat to Ukraine Kristina Kvien and her team arrived in Kyiv on Sunday, officials said, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised on a visit last month to reopen the U.S. embassy in the Ukrainian capital soon.

The move is the latest step toward the resumption of a full U.S. presence in Kyiv after diplomats began returning to the western city of Lviv last month, having left the country ahead of Russia's Feb. 24 invasion out of security concerns.

The trip, timed to commemorate Victory in Europe Day on Sunday, was a temporary visit and does not signal the reopening of the embassy, a senior State Department official said. Russia celebrates the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany on its Victory Day on Monday.

Blinken spoke to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday and informed Kuleba that a small group led by Charge d'Affaires Kvien "traveled to Kyiv to conduct diplomatic engagement in advance of the planned resumption of Embassy Kyiv operations," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

The group was accompanied by State Department security, Price said.

Videos posted on social media on Sunday showed a motorcade rolling into the embassy compound.

The team is the first delegation from the Biden administration to visit Ukraine's capital since the invasion, aside from Blinken's visit alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Blinken and Austin did not visit the embassy.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden separately made an unannounced trip to Ukraine on Sunday, crossing into a border town from Slovakia and meeting Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska.

Blinken has instructed officials to work toward getting diplomats back in Kyiv as soon as possible "consistent with the safety and security imperatives," the senior State Department official said.

"The secretary relayed to his senior team and to Foreign Minister Kuleba that our return to Kyiv is a testament to Ukraine's success, Moscow's failure, and our effective and enduring partnership with the government and people of a sovereign, democratic, and free Ukraine," the official said.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Lisa Shumaker)
By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) - The United States on Sunday unveiled sanctions against three Russian television stations, banned Americans from providing accounting and consulting services to Russians, and sanctioned executives from Gazprombank to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

The new sanctions are the latest effort by the United States to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin after his country's assault on Ukraine and came as President Joe Biden met virtually with G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss the war.

The measures leveled against Gazprombank executives were the first involving the giant Russian gas exporter as the United States and its allies have avoided taking steps that might lead to disruptions of gas to Europe, Russia's main customer.

"This is not a full block. We're not freezing the assets of Gazprombank or prohibiting any transactions with Gazprombank," a senior Biden administration official told reporters. "What we're signaling is that Gazprombank is not a safe haven, and so we're sanctioning some of their top business executives ... to create a chilling effect."

Eight executives from Sberbank, which holds one-third of Russia's banking assets, were added to the sanctions list. Moscow Industrial Bank and its 10 subsidiaries were also added.

The new export control restrictions were aimed at directly degrading Putin's war effort, including controls on industrial engines, bulldozers, wood products, motors, and fans. The European Union is moving in tandem with additional controls on chemicals that feed directly into the Russian military effort, the official said.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a special operation that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbor's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists. Ukraine and its allies say Russia launched an unprovoked war.

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Limited Liability Company Promtekhnologiya, a weapons maker, was sanctioned, along with seven shipping companies and a marine towing company. The White House also said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would suspend licenses for exports of special nuclear material to Russia.

The sanctioned television stations are directly or indirectly state-controlled, the White House said, and included Joint Stock Company Channel One Russia, Television Station Russia-1, and Joint Stock Company NTV Broadcasting Company.

Americans will be prohibited from providing accounting, trust and corporate formation, and management consulting services to Russians, though providing legal services is still permissible.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Washington  A group of American diplomats returned to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv for the first time in nearly three months on Sunday, traveling to the Ukrainian capital one day before Russia's Victory Day commemorations, when the country marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

"Just arrived in Kyiv! Delighted to be back on Victory in Europe Day. Slava Ukraini! We #standwithUkraine," Kristina Kvien, the U.S. charges d'affair, wrote on the embassy's Twitter account. The U.S. and the West celebrate the end of World War II in Europe on May 8, while Russia and many former Soviet republics recognize May 9 as the end of the war.

The U.S. diplomats' return to the embassy was meant to underscore Russian President Vladimir Putin's failure to capture the Ukrainian capital early in the conflict, which has now transformed into a grinding war of attrition in the country's south and east. State Department sources said the embassy hopes to fully resume operations at the embassy in Kyiv and raise the American flag there in the coming weeks.

The move is part of the U.S. effort to counteract Russian propaganda surrounding the conflict, which the U.S. expects to see from the Kremlin on May 9, one U.S. official told CBS News.

"The Russians will do everything they can to use the date in terms of their propaganda effort," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters last Monday. "I am quite confident you'll be hearing more from the United States, from our partners, including our NATO partners, in the lead-up to May 9 as well."

The United States Embassy to Ukraine stands closed on April 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. / Credit: Getty Images

Putin falsely claims that the invasion of Ukraine  what he has called an ongoing "special military operation"  is an effort to remove Nazis from power there.

The Biden administration withdrew American diplomats from Kyiv on February 12 in order to avoid the risk of potential fatalities that would threaten to draw the U.S. directly into the conflict.

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U.S. diplomats were evacuated first to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, closer to the border with NATO ally Poland, ahead of Russia's invasion on February 24, and then taken out of the country as the war intensified. Embassy staff began making day trips back to Lviv early last week in order to be able to work with Ukrainian counterparts from there. Russian forces pulled back from Kyiv and the surrounding region at the beginning of April.

President Biden joined a call with the leaders of the Group of 7 countries on Sunday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participating. The U.S. announced new sanctions targeting Russia for its invasion, and the G-7 nations committed to "phase out our dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil," the countries said in a joint statement after the call.

Camilla Schick contributed to this report.

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The EU has proposed implementing a gradual ban on Russian oil. The plan includes cutting out crude within six months. Massimo Vernicesole/Getty Images

Ukraine's finance minister has called for an immediate full energy embargo against Russia.

Serhiy Marchenko told the BBC it would make it harder for Russia to finance its military needs.

The US banned oil imports in April, while the EU proposed a ban on Wednesday.

Ukraine's finance minister is calling for a full and immediate energy embargo to make it harder for Russia to finance its military needs.

Serhiy Marchenko spoke to BBC News about the embargo on Saturday.

President Joe Biden announced in early March that the US would ban Russian energy imports. Meanwhile, the EU has proposed a ban on Russian oil imports, including cutting out crude within six months, as part of the sweeping sanctions taken to put pressure on the Kremlin over the war in Ukraine.

Russia has halted its gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, which was dubbed "an instrument of blackmail," by the European Commission's chief.

Marchenko said in the interview: "Huge oil and gas prices help Russia to receive additional amounts to make their budget run with a surplus. In comparison, we are running [the country] with a very huge deficit in our budget."

"I believe that a full embargo can make Russia suffer more than it is right now," he added.

The US imports about 3% of Russian oil, while the EU imports about 40%  a third of the bloc's supplies.

On Wednesday, EU's President Ursula von der Leyen admitted it was "not easy to establish unity" among the 27 members but added that she was "confident" that an oil embargo could be agreed.

Von der Leyen said: "Let us be clear: it will not be easy. Some member states are strongly dependent on Russian oil. But we simply have to work on it. We now propose a ban on Russian oil. This will be a complete import ban on all Russian oil, seaborne and pipeline, crude and refined."

Marchenko told BBC News that the war meant his country was collecting less in taxes "because more than 20% of our businesses are fully closed. It means that we can't manage to fulfill our necessary duty as a government without international support, or without just printing money."

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Russia has taken control of most of Ukraine's port cities and without the country's harbors available, the country cannot rely on its exports  Ukraine, before the war, was one of the world's top producers of crops like sunflower, corn, and wheat.

Marchenko added that the principal issue for the country now is "how to unblock the seaports of Ukraine."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Residential building in Borodyanka, Kyiv region, destroyed by Russian air strike, May 2, 2022

Read also: How Russia is blasting Mariupol into the past

This targeted mobilization would function similar to martial mobilization, with selected citizens being obliged to begin a term of service for the Ukrainian state. In addition, the Cabinet of Ministers plans include:

 the elimination of the effects of hostilities in settlements and territories affected by means of destruction;

 measures to restore critical life support infrastructure;

 identification of settlements and areas where humanitarian mine clearance is required, marking of dangerous areas, mine clearance of territories;

 attracting international assistance to eliminate the effects of hostilities.

Read also: Ukraine's economy to shrink by 45% because of war, World Bank says. All finger in the air stuff in reality

Taras Melnychuk, a representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Ukrainian parliament, also said that the government had provided for the possibility of attracting workers and volunteers without a relevant professional education to provide social services during a state of emergency or martial law.

He added that the Cabinet had also determined the conditions for awarding compensation to people who provide social services on a non-professional and professional basis in the event of a state of emergency or martial law.

Read also: Russian invaders damaged or destroyed 30% of Ukraine's infrastructure

Previously, targeted mobilization could only be carried out to response to emergencies. On March 15, the Ukrainian parliament passed bill No. 7144, which provides for the possibility of calling for a targeted mobilization in the recovery period, after the end of hostilities, to eliminate their effects.

On April 21, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree establishing the National Council for the recovery of Ukraine from the effects of war.

Read also: Rebuilding Ukraines wealth

Ukraine announced a partial mobilization after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion on Feb. 24. Those who have experience in military service, or have received some level of military training in peacetime, are now being called up.

A full-scale draft, conscripting the majority of able-bodied citizens for national defense, has not been called.
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sunday he discussed with the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken how to unblock Ukraine's food exports and ensure global food security.

Ukraine, one of the world's major grain and oilseeds, used to export most of its cereals through its Black Sea ports, which have been blocked by Russia since the start of Moscow's invasion on Feb. 24.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Writing by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Edmund Blair)
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian fighters at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the southeastern port of Mariupol, who are the last holdout against Russian forces in the city, vowed on Sunday to continue their stand as long as they are alive.

"We will continue to fight as long as we are alive to repel the Russian occupiers," Captain Sviatoslav Palamar, a deputy commander of Ukraine's Azov Regiment, told an online news conference.

"We don't have much time, we are coming under intense shelling," he said, pleading with the international community to help to evacuate wounded soldiers from the plant.

Illia Samoilenko, a fighter with the Azov Regiment who also took part in the virtual conference, said they still had weapons, munitions and water, and were prepared to fight as long as they must.

"We can die at any moment... Our message is don't waste our efforts," Samoilenko said, calling on the Ukrainian government to rely more on continuing fighting against Russian forces than hopes that Moscow can be pacified by negotiations.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a late night address on Saturday that more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the Azovstal plant. He said authorities would now focus on evacuating the wounded and medics, and helping residents elsewhere in Mariupol and surrounding settlements to safety.

Palamar said he could not confirm that all civilians had been evacuated from the plant as Ukrainian fighters are not able to check and clear all the bombed areas.

(Reporting by Natalia ZinetsWriting by Nerijus AdomaitisEditing by Frances Kerry)
The Russian warship "Moskva" ("Moscow"), a Slava class guided missile cruiser, off the Black Sea shore in 2014. Darko Vojinovic/Associated Press

Ukrainian military officials said they sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea.

The ship was a craft designed to transport and deploy troops onto the shore.

The strike was executed with Turkish drones Ukraine has relied on during the war, officials said.

The Ukraine military on Saturday said it sank another Russian warship in the Black Sea near Snake Island after it was struck by a drone attack.

"Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 destroyed another Russian ship," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Twitter, referring to the Turkish drone Ukraine has relied on to strike Russian ships and equipment.

The tweet included a video that apparently showed the moment the ship was struck.

Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 7, 2022

"The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island - at the bottom of the sea," the tweet continued.

May 9 is known as Victory Day in Russia and commemorates the formal surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Ukrainian officials said the Russian ship was a Serna-class craft, used to transport troops and allow them to disembark on a shore.

It was unclear when the ship was sunk.

The announcement came days after The New York Times reported US intelligence helped Ukraine strike Russia's flagship, the Moskva.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said on Sunday that it is unconscionable for the Taliban to order women in Afghanistan to cover their faces.

During an appearance on CNNs State of the Union, moderator Jake Tapper asked Thomas-Greenfield about the new order by the Afghan government that requires women to cover their faces in public, a return to hard-line restrictions that were in place by the Taliban prior to the U.S.-led invasion.

The order also punishes the father or closest male relative to a woman caught exposing her face.

Doesnt this underlying even further the problem of the U.S. withdrawal without a competent government in place? Tapper asked Thomas-Greenfield.

You know, it shows again what the Taliban are capable of, Thomas-Greenfield told Tapper. We said from day one, we will judge them by their actions, not their words. And these actions, on Mothers Day, I think sends a very chilling message across the world.

We have done everything possible to support Afghan women and will continue to call out the Taliban for their actions, both the United States but also in my role in the Security Council, as president of the Security Council, Thomas-Greenfield added.

Thomas-Greenfield called the Talibans latest move unconscionable.

What they did today is unconscionable. And I am sure that we can expect more from them, Thomas-Greenfield said. And it just redoubles our commitment to supporting Afghan women moving forward.

The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August following the U.S. militarys final withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The government said the ideal face covering for women would be a blue burqa, the same garment many Afghan women wore during the Talibans tenure prior to 2001.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Upper Makefield mother accused of shooting her two children was in a long custody court battle in Missouri, after accusing her first husband of intentionally keeping her oldest son away from her for years after their divorce.

The revelation that Trinh Nguyen was previously involved in a child custody fight comes as court documents filed in Bucks County recently by her most recent ex-husband has expressed similar concerns that she would flee with their child.

Nguyen is incarcerated in Bucks County without bail accused of shooting her sons, Nelson, 9, and Jeffery, JT, 13, in the head while they slept on Monday morning, a crime that has stunned the quiet, upscale community where they lived on Timber Ridge Road.

UPDATE:Brothers who were shot in Upper Makefield home have died, CR District announces

Jeffrey "JT" Tini, 13, and his brother, Nelson Tini, 9, were shot in their home Monday, May 2, 2022. Their mother, Trinh Nguyen has been charged.

Crime scene tape surrounds an Upper Makefield home where two brothers, 9 and 13 years old, were shot Monday morning. Their mother, 38-year-old Trinh Nguyen, was arrested and charged in the shooting, according to Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub.

The boys conditions remain unchanged since Monday. They remain on life support and are not expected to survive. Authorities said the family plans to donate their organs.

District Attorney Matt Weintraub has not release a motive in the shooting. Court record confirmed Nguyen was scheduled to be evicted from her Upper Makefield home on May 3, and she was in a custody dispute involving her youngest child.

Earlier this year, Edward Tini filed a petition in Bucks County court to prevent his ex-wife from taking Nelson to her native Vietnam, alleging that she was a classic flight risk. A court hearing on the matter was pending when the shooting occurred.

The couple previously agreed to the overseas vacation every other year for five weeks during the summer starting this year, according to the terms of their divorce settlement.

In court documents, Nguyen said that her ex-husband had not given her permission to get a passport for their son.

Tini feared that Nguyen would refuse to return to the U.S. He cited a 2015 incident before they were married where he said that Nguyen took their then-3-year-old son to Texas and threatened not to return, according to documents filed in Bucks County Court.

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The incident resulted in a court order that awarded the couple shared custody of the boy.

"Father thinks Mother  presents as a classic parent kidnapper, according to a custody conference officer report.

The custody officer noted in his report that Nguyen was insulted at Tinis allegations and denied any intentions of moving to Vietnam.

Attorneys who represented Nguyen and Tini in the divorce declined comment earlier this week. Nguyen was representing herself in the custody matters, and the attorney representing Tini declined comment.

Classmates comfort each during the candle vigil held at The Crossing in Upper Makefield, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, as they gather to remember the lives of Jeffrey and Nelson Tini, who were shot in their home Monday. Police have charged their mother.

More:Ex feared mom accused of Upper Makefield shooting was 'classic parent kidnapper'; fought her trip out of US

The third son and Trinh Nguyen's fight for contact

Tinis fears about his ex-wife taking their child mirror those that Nguyen expressed during a near three -year custody battle in Missouri with her first husband, Scott Dinh, over their oldest child, who is also the biological brother of Jeffrey.

This news organization is identifying the oldest son by his initials MND because he is 17. As of 2018 he was living in Portland, Oregon with his father, according to court documents.

Attempts to reach Dinh were unsuccessful. Phone numbers associated with his name were disconnected and emails were returned as undeliverable.

The Missouri court records show that as part of their final divorce settlement in 2009, a New Jersey judge awarded Dinh primary physical custody of MND. Nguyen was awarded primary physical custody of Jeffery, who was born in 2008.

The New Jersey order granted both Nguyen and her ex-husband liberal and reasonable visitation rights to the sons, but in 2015 and 2016 Nguyen claimed Dinh attempted to keep her away from their oldest child, denied her visitation and cut off communications with her, according to court records in Missouri.

Nguyen said, in court filings, she had no contact with her son for two years because his father had moved without notifying her to Michigan, Saigon, Vietnam and Oregon before settling in Missouri in 2014.

The same day Dinh registered the New Jersey judgment with the county court system Nguyen filed a motion to change it, records show. In December 2015, a Missouri judge modified the original order awarding joint legal custody of MND to both parents and Dinh got sole physical custody of the child, records show.

The next year MND visited his mother at the Upper Makefield home where she lived with Jeffery, Nelson, and her new husband during his summer vacation. During the visit her son told Nguyen his father planned to move again, though he did know where, according to court documents.

In late August, after he returned to Missouri, Nguyen claimed her son told her during a phone call that he and his father had moved to Oregon, though he didnt say where in the state, court documents said. She called the Cape Girardeau School District and confirmed that her son had been withdrawn.

Court documents allege Dinh repeatedly failed to provide the court and his ex-wife at least 60-days written notice before the proposed relocation as required in the 2015 modified custody order. He also failed to provide a forwarding address, phone number or dates when he moved or why or a proposed revised schedule of visitation or custody, another violation. Nguyen also claimed her ex cut off communication with her son after he told her about the move.

In later court testimony, Dinh would claim that Nguyen could easily track where their son was living because she provided him with a cellphone and computer tablet.

A judge found his point moot. though, because Dinh still had a legal responsibility to provide a current address "at all times." But he also found Nguyen's testimony that she didn't know where her son was living or how to locate him "not credible."

Trinh Nguyen awarded custody of oldest son, father cut off

In September 2016, Nguyen filed a motion in Missouri to prevent the relocation, alleging the move was not in good faith and was done for the purpose of denying her visitation, according to court documents.

Dinh did not attend a December 2016 hearing on the request and Nguyen claimed that she had no address to have him send notice of it, so notice was published in a newspaper.

After hearing Nguyens testimony the Cape Girardeau Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lewis modified the 2015 custody order preventing the relocation and awarded Nguyen sole legal and physical custody of MND. The judge also denied Dinh visitation with his son because the evidence established that he would surely keep (MND) from the mother if he had an opportunity to do so, the order said.

The 2016 order noted that Nguyen would be able to provide a better home environment for her oldest son as her home is more stable, which will better allow for adjustment to home, school and community.

Shortly after the new order was entered, Nguyen located MND in Oregon and took him back to Pennsylvania with her for the Christmas holidays, the order said.

But the reunion did not go well, according to Diane C. Howard, a family law attorney in Cape Girardeau Missouri, who represented Nguyen in the custody case. After the holidays, Nguyen agreed to let her son return to his father in Oregon

Sometime in January 2017, a few weeks after the judgment giving Nguyen sole physical and legal custody was entered, Dinh found out about it, hired a lawyer and filed a motion to have it thrown out. Four months later, the couple agreed to set aside the 2016 order and return to the previous one with shared custody and physical custody for Dinh.

Father cuts off visits with mother, she takes him to court again

After the order was rescinded, though, Dinh refused to let their son visit Nguyen, though it was ordered in the 2015 judgment, according to court documents.

In 2018, the couple returned to a Missouri courtroom after Nguyen filed another petition to prevent her ex-husband from relocating with their son in the future.

This time, while Judge Lewis found that Dinh repeatedly violated the original custody order by cutting off communication with their son and refusing visitation  actions the judge said justified granting Nguyen the physical and legal custody she sought  it was not in her son's best interests.

Father has proven that he prefers to deny the mother a meaningful relationship with (MND), Lewis said. The mother asserts that the court should now deny the father a meaningful relationship with (MND) in retribution for the fathers past behavior and to avoid the father denying the mother custody in the future.

Lewis noted that MND was nearly 14 and he had adjusted to his life with his father in Portland and that Dinh assured the court he had no plans to move again.

(He) would likely experience substantial disruption if he is ordered to leave those friends and family behind, Lewis added, adding. While (MND) needs to re-establish his relationship with his mother, and her family, that change should not be abrupt and total, if the father will cooperate in these changes.

In his order, Lewis awarded the couple joint legal and joint physical custody of their son, but let the boy continue living with his father. Nguyen was awarded custody every Christmas and spring break vacation and the entire summer vacation. The judge also continued the 60-day minimum relocation notice requirement.

The last modified order remains in effect, according to Howard, Nguyens former attorney, but she had no other information and she has not spoken to Nguyen since she was sent the 2018 judgement.

Howard found it shocking that her former client is now accused of shooting her two younger children. It is completely out of character with the mother she knew.

"She was always very quiet, soft spoken, and pleasant to be around. Even when dealing with the very stressful situation with her son," Howard said. "She is very tiny, so her demure personality seemed to match her stature. She worked hard for two years to locate (MND) and reestablish her relationship with (him), which makes this situation so puzzling."

More:Family legal battle over $11k in unpaid rent preceded Upper Makefield shooting, documents show

More:'Just unthinkable': Classmates, families remember Upper Makefield brothers at vigil

More:Slain Newtown Township dentist remembered as 'always full of cheer, stories and laughs'

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Trinh Nguyen had previous three year custody battle over third son
Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam on Sunday extended congratulations to John Lee on his election as the HKSAR's six-term chief executive designate.

Lam said in a statement that she will submit a report of the election results to the Central People's Government.

Lam added that she and the current-term HKSAR government will ensure a seamless transition with Lee, and render all the support needed for the assumption of office by the new term of government on July 1.

Lee, former chief secretary for administration of the HKSAR government, won a total of 1,416 votes, surpassing the threshold of 750 votes to win the chief executive election of the HKSAR on Sunday.
President-elect Joe Biden has nominated veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield to become the US Ambassador to the United Nations in his administration. Mark Makela/Getty Images

US Ambassador to the UN calls the Taliban's new decree "unconscionable."

The order requires Afghan women to cover their faces in public.

"It sends a very chilling message across the world, "Linda Thomas-Greenfield told CNN Sunday.

US Ambassador to the United Nations called the Taliban's new order that requires Afghan women to cover their faces in public "unconscionable" during an interview on CNN Sunday.

The militant group passed the decree over the weekend. It emphasized that if it is not followed, the closest male relative to the woman will be sent to prison or terminated from their government jobs, as Insider previously reported.

On "State of the Union," host Jake asked Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield if the move underlines " the problem of the U.S. withdrawal without a competent government in place?"

"We said from day one, we will judge them by their actions, not their words. And these actions, on Mother's Day, I think, sends a very chilling message across the world," Thomas- Greenfield responded.

The Taliban took over Afghanistan last August following US' withdrawal from the country. Since then, the group has issued rules that strip Afghan women of their rights, despite their claims of being more moderate than their previous reign in the 1990s. Recently the group has restricted women from boarding a flight without a male chaperone, per the Independent.

"We have done everything possible to support Afghan women and will continue to call out the Taliban for their actions both the United States and in my role in the Security Council, as president of the Security Council," the ambassador continued. "What they did today is unconscionable. And I am sure that we can expect more from them. And it just redoubles our commitment to supporting Afghan women moving forward.

Read the original article on Business Insider
LUSAKA (Reuters) - Vedanta Resources has offered to step up investment in Zambia's Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and implement several social responsibility programmes if it resumes control of the local firm, a company letter sent to the government showed.

Zambia's previous government put KCM into the hands of liquidator Milingo Lungu in May 2019, triggering an ongoing legal dispute with Vedanta Resources, KCM's parent company.

The government accused Vedanta of failing to honour licence conditions, including promised investment. Vedanta has repeatedly denied KCM broke the terms of its licence.

In a leaked letter addressed to Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe, the authenticity of which was confirmed by a local company executive, Vedanta chief executive Sunil Duggal said the company is committed to investing an additional $1 billion towards capital mine development and other infrastructure to boost KCM's output.

"The above commitments by Vedanta will be included in a Framework Agreement to be entered into between KCM, Vedanta, ZCCM-IH and (the government)," the letter dated May 5 reads.

ZCCM-IH is the government's mining investment company.

Duggal said the protracted dispute between Vedanta and the government was not benefiting any of KCM's stakeholders and it was necessary to quickly reach a mutually beneficial solution.

Kabuswe and Presidential spokesman Anthony Bwalya could not immediately be contacted for comment.

Vedanta was committed to paying KCM suppliers, specifically small suppliers owed up to $220 million at the point the Provisional Liquidator was appointed, Duggal said in the letter.

The company also committed to increase salaries by 20% across the board.

"The agreement will be auditable on a bi-annual basis by an independent firm to verify all parties' compliance with their commitments under the Framework Agreement," the letter, which is copied to President Hakainde Hichilema, reads.

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Vedanta Zambia Corporate Communications Director Masuzyo Ndhlovu said the letter was sent in reaction to comments by the mines minister regarding the conditions under which KCM could be returned to Vedanta.

"Our group CEO gave an outline of the conditions for Vedanta's return to KCM Plc. The content is authentic and was addressed to the minister," Ndhlovu told Reuters.

(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
MADISON, Wis.  Wisconsin police are investigating possible arson after a fire broke out early Sunday in the offices of a prominent anti-abortion group and a threat was spray-painted on the group's building.

Wisconsin Family Action President Julaine Appling said police notified her at about 7:45 a.m. while she was at church in Watertown, Wisconsin, about 48 miles west of Milwaukee. Police received reports of flames in Appling's office around 6 a.m.

"A molotov cocktail, which did not ignite, was thrown inside the building. It also appears a separate fire was started in response," investigators wrote Sunday in a report on the incident.

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes in a statement said the department is investigating the fire as arson.

Wisconsin Family Action has for years pushed Wisconsin and federal lawmakers to outlaw abortions. The incident took place a week after a leaked draft of U.S. Supreme Court decision suggested the court is considering a decision that would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.

'EXTREMISTS ARE FEELING EMBOLDENED': Abortion clinics are secured like fortresses. Advocates fear Roe ruling could spur new attacks.

If that happens, an 1849 law banning most abortions would go into effect in Wisconsin.

According to Guttmacher Institute, 22 states, including Wisconsin, have bans or could ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned with "trigger laws."

"If abortions aren't safe then you aren't either" was scrawled in black paint across the outside wall of Wisconsin Family Action's offices in Madison  a threat that was found by police while responding to a call early Sunday reporting flames inside the building on the capital city's north side.

"To be honest with you, I knew immediately what had happened," Appling said, referring to her initial conversation with police officers.

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A threat is spray painted on the building wall near Wisconsin Family Action's offices in Madison.

"You know, you can disagree with me. And I don't mind being disagreed with. But to threaten the safety of my team because we have a different opinion on an issue  an important issue, I'll grant you that. That doesn't give you credence to threaten my life, and then turn around and damage property," Appling said.

"If somebody had been in that office, I don't think anybody would have been killed, but you would have been hurt just from the flying glass."

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers in a statement condemned the violence against the group.

"We reject violence against any person for disagreeing with anothers view. Violence is not the way forward. Hurting others is never the answer," Evers said in a statement. "We will work against overturning Roe and attacks on reproductive rights by leading with empathy and compassion."

ROE V. WADE OPINION LEAK FALLOUT: McConnell calls US abortion ban 'possible,' says he won't change filibuster to pass it

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson tweeted, "This attack is abhorrent and should be condemned by all."

In a statement, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the city "believes strongly in the right to free speech, but it must be exercised nonviolently by all sides in this increasingly contentious debate."

Barnes said local police investigators have notified federal authorities about the incident.

"Our department has and continues to support people being able to speak freely and openly about their beliefs. But we feel that any acts of violence, including the destruction of property, do not aid in any cause," the police chief said.

Appling said she hasn't yet assessed the level of damage to the offices or whether the organization will move to a space with fewer windows.

In 2016, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Appleton, Wisconsin, closed after it had been firebombed four years earlier and following a deadly attack at a clinic in Colorado.

"I don't live in fear. And I'm not constantly looking over my shoulder. I've had death threats at my house and over other issues. This one, this one surprised me," Appling said.

Statistics collected by the National Abortion Federation show recent rises in clinic trespassing and obstruction, death threats, and mail and internet harassment. Recently, federal officials have warned clinics and local law enforcement of the potential for violence at clinics and at protests.

Follow Molly Beck on Twitter at @MollyBeck.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin anti-abortion office fire investigated as arson by police
Update: Ruby Taverner has been found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Oakland County Sheriffs Office told news outlets on Monday, May 9. Authorities were searching near the apartment complex where the shooting took place and located Taverners body in a wooded area, WJBK reported.

Original story is below:

Police are searching for a Michigan woman accused of gunning down her boyfriend and her brother, news outlets report.

Ruby Taverner, 22, shot the men to death inside an Independence Township apartment early in the morning Sunday, May 8, the Oakland County Sheriffs Office told TV station WDIV.

Deputies responded to a call around 3:20 a.m., found both victims inside, but no sign of Taverner, the station reported.

Her 25-year-old brother, Bishop Taverner, was in the living room. Deputies located the boyfriend, 26-year-old Ray Muscat, in a bedroom, the Associated Press reported.

Ruby Taverner has three registered handguns, and police consider her to be armed and dangerous, according to the AP.

Ruby Taverners phone and vehicle were still at the scene, leading investigators to believe she left on foot, The Detroit News reported.

Taverner is roughly 5 feet, 2 inches tall, weighing 115 pounds, and has purple hair, police told the outlet. Anyone who sees her should not attempt to approach, but are encouraged to call 911.

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In this Jan. 6, 2021 file photo, supporters of President Donald Trump, including Aaron Mostofsky, right, who is identified in his arrest warrant, walk down the stairs outside the Senate Chamber in the U.S. Capitol, in Washington. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

The son of a New York judge has been sentenced to 8 months of prison for his role in the January 6 riot.

Aaron Mostofsky, 35, was pictured storming the Capitol dressed as a caveman.

The judge said he'd lessened Mostofsky's sentence because of his charitable work and selflessness.

A New York judge's son who stormed the Capitol while dressed as a caveman has been given a prison sentence of eight months for his role in the January 6 riot.

Aaron Mostofsky, 35, who was pictured invading the Capitol adorned in fur pelts, a police vest, and carrying a shield, was arrested after investigators identified him in multiple media appearances from the insurrection.

While sentencing him on Friday, US District Judge James Boasberg said that Mostofsky was "literally on the front lines" of the attack, CNN reported.

"What you and others did on that day imposed an indelible stain on how our nation is perceived, both at home and abroad, and that can't be undone", the judge said.

However, the judge said that he was "struck by the details" in over 30 letters describing Mostofsky's charitable work and selflessness.

"Those do lessen the time I'm going to give you," the judge said.

Along with eight months of prison time, Mostofsky was ordered to pay $2,000 restitution for damage done during the attack and was given 200 hours of community service and a year of supervised release.

Mostofsky, the son of Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Steven Mostofsky, pleaded guilty in February to civil disorder, theft of government property, and entering and remaining in a restricted building.

While in court on Friday, Mostofsky described the riot as a "war scene" and said he "did not intend to harm any police officers," according to CNN.

He asked the judge to "have mercy" during his sentencing.

His attorney Nicholas Smith said during the hearing that Mostofsky was attending the rally as a "zelig," which he described as a character who appears in key moments of history, CNN said.

Story continues

Smith said that it was a "silly concept" and that Mostofsky "wears costumes at all kinds of events."

Mostofsky was identified after he did a video interview with The New York Post from inside the Capitol building in which he claimed the election was stolen, according to charging documents.

"I don't think 75 million people voted for Trump," he told The Post, according to prosecutors. "I think it was close to 85 million."

The New York Post and Gothamist identified Mostofsky in pictures from the Capitol siege, where he can be seen in fur pelts and with a police shield. Mike Theiler/Reuters

Mostofsky was pictured inside the Capitol with a Capitol Police riot shield and wearing a Capitol Police officer's bulletproof vest.

He told the New York Post that he found the items on the floor and took them, according to court records. The federal government values the bulletproof vest at $1,905 and the shield at $256.65.

More than 760 people have been arrested in connection with the Capitol riot and more than 270 have pleaded guilty.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Americans wondering whether a nearby dam could be dangerous can look up the condition and hazard ratings of tens of thousands of dams nationwide using an online database run by the federal government.

But they wont find the condition of Hoover Dam, which impounds one of the nations largest reservoirs on the border of Nevada and Arizona. Nor is there any condition listed for Californias Oroville Dam, the countrys tallest, which underwent a $1 billion makeover after its spillway failed. Locally, the Smith Mountain Dam that creates the popular recreation and power generation lake situated in Bedford, Franklin and Pittsylvania county is not listed.

Details about the conditions of these and other prominent dams are kept secret from the public, listed as not available in the National Inventory of Dams.

The lack of publicly available data about potentially hazardous dams has raised concern among some experts.

These structures impact people, and this is what were obviously most worried about. So it is important to share this information, said Del Shannon, a Colorado-based engineer who has assessed hundreds of dams and is president of the U.S. Society on Dams.

For much of the past couple of decades, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers declined to reveal the conditions of dams in the National Inventory of Dams  which it maintains  citing security concerns stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

But in a move toward greater transparency, the Corps launched an updated website late last year that includes hazard ratings and condition assessments for more than one-quarter of the roughly 92,000 structures  2,760 are in Virginia, and 205 of those are located in Lynchburg and the surrounding counties.

Yet the status of many dams remains a mystery. Thats because some federal agencies failed to update their data. The Corps also allowed federal agencies and states to restrict the release of information about the dams they oversee, and some continue to do so citing terrorism concerns.

The Associated Press used information obtained by public records requests to states to supplement data in the National Inventory of Dams, tallying more than 2,200 high-hazard dams that are in poor or unsatisfactory condition in 48 states and Puerto Rico. But the conditions remain unknown for more than 4,600 high-hazard dams that could cause a loss of life if they fail. In Virginia, 74 high-hazard dams are not rated, while another 1,810 are not rated and the level of hazard is not determined. In Lynchburg and surrounding counties, five high-hazard dams are not rated in the database.

Dam conditions typically are categorized as satisfactory, fair, poor or unsatisfactory. Unsatisfactory means the dam has safety needs that require immediate action; a poor-condition dam has safety issue that could realistically cause a failure; fair condition means there are no safety issue under normal operations but the dam could fail in extreme weather events.

Lynchburgs College Lake dam is listed in fair condition, but an extreme weather event in 2018 caused downstream residents to evacuate their homes when a storm dropped several inches of rain on the city in less than an hour. The storm, coupled with recent rains, caused the lake to rise, topping the dam and covering Lakeside Drive. Another storm two years later raised similar concerns but didnt result in evacuations.

Presently, a new Lakeside Drive is being constructed and the circa-1934 dam eventually will be removed.

In the Corps database, nearly two-thirds of the 18 federal entities that own or oversee dams provided no condition assessments. That includes the largest federal regulator of dams, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees more than 1,750 dams in 42 states. A FERC spokeswoman said the agency is overhauling its assessment process and intends to have conditions available this summer.

The Corps also declined to include condition assessments for the roughly 740 dams it owns, which include some of the largest in the nation. Instead, the agency posted its own risk assessments, ranging from very low to very high.

Garrison Dam, which constrains the Missouri River in North Dakota to form one of the nations largest reservoirs, is described in the database as safe but high risk. The Corps says the dams failure could trigger a cascading failure of downstream dams resulting in swift, deep, and life-threatening flooding in numerous communities.

No other entity uses the Corps risk-rating system, making it hard to compare the Corps dams to others. The Corps said it uses the risk categories to make repairs in the most effective manner within a constrained budget.

The risk assessment information that were sharing is actually better information to help people be prepared for a potential issue at a dam, said Rebecca Ragon, the Corps National Inventory of Dams manager.

The APs review also found some federal departments lack consistent policies for releasing dam data. The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  both part of the U.S. Department of Interior  disclosed hazard and condition details for their dams.

But the departments Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees 430 dams in the West, denied the APs public records request for dam conditions, citing a legal exemption for information compiled for law enforcement purposes. The bureau said in an email that disclosing dam conditions would compromise the protection of our facilities and allow targeted attacks of critical infrastructure.

Data from other states is also limited or missing.

Alabama has agency to regulate dams, so there are no condition or hazard ratings for its roughly 2,200 dams.

Illinois doesnt assign condition ratings, because lumping dams into categories is terribly subjective and doesnt have enough value to justify the resources that it takes to do it, said state dam safety engineer Paul Mauer Jr. However, the state works with dam owners to make needed repairs.

New Jersey and Texas provided AP a total number of poor or unsatisfactory high-hazard dams but did not identify them by name. New Jersey has not released dam conditions but plans to do so by the end of May under a recent policy change. Texas declined to release hazard classifications, citing a state law that keeps confidential the technical details of critical infrastructure thats vulnerable to terrorism.

The National Inventory of Dams contains neither the hazard classification nor a condition for the Rockwall-Forney Dam, which impounds Lake Ray Hubbard to supply water to more than 1 million people in the Dallas area.

A 2021 inspection document provided to the AP by Dallas shows the dam is classified as high hazard and has several issues, including a fractured floodgate and a large void in the rocks lining the left side. A more in-depth inspection report isnt complete.

Though an overall condition assessment is not available, none of these things are of immediate concern, said Sally U. Mills-Wright, assistant director for water production at Dallas Water Utilities.

Without access to information, its hard for the public to verify that.

Because dam failures carry big consequences, the public should be made aware of a dams hazard rating and what lies in its downstream flood zone, said Travis Attanasio, a former dam inspector who is president-elect of the Texas section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

You may not necessarily be in flood plain, but if a dam were to break, you could still be facing a lot of water, he said.
National Covid death rates are, inevitably, political. How could they not be when they are viewed as evidence for good or bad government on matters of life or death?

How did the UK fare compared with, say, Germany? Should both countries have been more like Sweden? However, when new data arrives, far from settling arguments over which pandemic mitigation strategies worked best, it tends to further inflame disagreements or harden pre-existing positions.

So it is with the much-anticipated report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Covid-associated deaths, released last week. The WHO estimates that around 15 million additional people died because of the pandemic in 2020-2021, about 2.7 times higher than officially recorded deaths.

While staggering, the estimated excess deaths didnt really come as a surprise to those who have been closely following the situation. If anything, this estimate is lower than many may have anticipated. Indeed, two previous modelling efforts, by the Economist and the University of Washington, suggested around 18 million excess deaths.

That more people died in the pandemic than have been officially registered as Covid deaths should be largely uncontroversial. Many countries simply did not have the diagnostic infrastructure in place to identify every Covid death. The pandemic  and, to an extent, our response to it  has also been devastating to social and healthcare around the world.

Some countries became synonymous in the public imagination with particular pandemic mitigation strategies. Sweden has been criticised by some for the lack of stringency of its measures and hailed by others as a shining example of how to protect the rights of its citizens while navigating a health crisis.

A few countries kept excess deaths close to, or even below zero, including Australia, Iceland, Japan, Luxembourg, Mongolia and New Zealand. Being rich and geographically isolated helps.

The stringency of mitigation measures does not seem to be a particularly strong predictor of excess deaths. While countries that achieved low excess deaths tended to have fairly tight measures in place, the worst performer by some margin is Peru, despite enforcing the harshest, longest lockdown. This proved ineffective at reducing viral transmission and probably contributed negatively to the excess death toll. ...continue reading
The Japanese government will promote inbound tourism to a major cultural complex in Hokkaido dedicated to the indigenous Ainu people, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Sunday.

Matsuno, who also heads the government's Ainu policy promotion headquarters, visited the Upopoy complex in the town of Shiraoi on the northern main island, his first trip since assuming the post of top government spokesman in October. He also held talks with Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki and local people preserving Ainu culture.

Upopoy, situated on a site of approximately 100,000 square meters adjacent to Lake Poroto, comprises the National Ainu Museum, the National Ainu Park and a memorial site, among other facilities. Upopoy means "singing in a large group" in the Ainu language.

The park in Upopoy has a hall for Ainu dance and musical performances, workshops for Ainu cuisine and instruments, a studio for craft demonstrations and a traditional Ainu village.

The memorial site has buildings for the performance of memorial services and keeping the remains of displaced Ainu people, along with a monument. In the past, Ainu remains and related burial items were excavated, collected and stored at universities all over Japan.
Tissue Culture Plant exports encouraged: Center pushes for increased exports of tissue culture plant around the world

New Delhi, Sun, 08 May 2022 NI Wire

Tissue Culture Plant exports encouraged: Center pushes for increased exports of tissue culture plant around the world

In order to boost exports of tissue culture plants, Centre, through the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), conducted a webinar on Export Promotion of Tissue Culture Plants such as Foliage, Live Plants, Cut Flowers, and Planting Material with Department of Biotechnology (DBT) accredited tissue culture laboratories spread across India.

The top ten countries importing tissue culture plants from India are the Netherlands, USA, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, Kenya, Senegal, Ethiopia and Nepal. In 2020-2021, Indias exports of tissue culture plants stood at US$17.17 million, with the Netherlands accounting for around 50% of the shipments.

APEDA officials informed participants about the latest demand trends for tissue culture plants in these countries and how the apex export promotion body could help Indian exporters/ tissue culture laboratories in accessing these markets. As this was the first interaction programme with these laboratories, APEDA explained about its function, mandate and other financial assistance extended to export oriented plant tissue culture laboratories to improve efficiency, quality of plants, and how the latter could meet the phyto-sanitary norms of the importing countries and enhance their competence in the international market. In order to expand the range of tissue culture plants grown in India, APEDA has asked the exporters to provide a list of germplasms for particular plants/crops which can be imported from producing countries.

The exporters, in turn, also suggested that APEDA organize an international exhibition in India to showcase the various kinds of flora such as tissue cultured plants, forest plants, potted plants, ornamental and landscaping planting material available in India. They have also suggested that APEDA take the lead in sending a trade delegation abroad to identify new markets for tissue culture plants from India and finalize deals with importers.

Tissue culture plant laboratories highlighted the issues and challenges faced by them in tissue cultured planting material production and its exports. Exporters drew the attention of APEDA officials to issues such as increasing power costs, low efficiency levels of the skilled workforce in the laboratories, contamination issues in the laboratories, cost of transportation of micro-propagated planting material, lack of harmonization in the HS code of Indian planting material with other nations and objections raised by the forest and quarantine departments which were posing challenges in the export of live planting material.

The tissue culture experts suggested that APEDA take up these issues with the concerned departments. APEDA has assured round-the-clock service to tissue culture plant laboratories so as to address all hardships faced by them.

APEDA is running a Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) to help laboratories upgrade themselves so as to produce export quality tissue culture planting material. It also facilitates exports of tissue culture planting material to diversified countries through market development, market analysis and promotion and exhibition of tissue culture plants at international exhibitions and by participating in buyer-seller meets at different international forums.

India is bestowed with knowledge, biotech experts with vast tissue culture experience as well as with a low-cost labour force to help produce export-oriented quality planting material. All these factors make India a potential global supplier of an extended and diversified range of quality flora to the international market and, in turn, earn foreign exchange.

Source: PIB Delhi

Ads: Do you want to get information on the export of Tissue culture plants? Check more details at Plant Tissue Culture Company.
Construction is rising on 15 Beekman Street, Pace Universitys new 27-story expansion in the Financial District. Designed by Manish Chadha of Ismael Leyva Architects and developed by SL Green Realty, the 338-foot-tall tower will yield 213,084 square feet with classrooms, dorm rooms, a dining facility, a library, and a learning center. New Line Structures & Development is the general contractor for the property, which is alternately addressed as 126-132 Nassau Street and is located at the corner of Beekman and Nassau Streets.

Progress has been extremely rapid since our last update less than a month ago, when construction was still below grade. Work quickly reached street level and the reinforced concrete superstructure now stands three stories high, with a mechanical hoist attached to the western elevation facing Nassau Street and wooden formwork assembled in preparation for the next levels.

A red construction crane now towers above the northern side of the buildings footprint, while the sidewalks around 15 Beekman Street remain temporarily blocked off.

The structure will feature a five-story podium followed by a setback before rising uniformly to a flat parapet. Given the repetitive nature of the floor plates and the pace thus far, its possible the superstructure could top out by the fall.

15 Beekman Street is slated for completion in the summer of 2023, as noted on the on-site board.

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When Jailey Simpson wants to talk to her mother, she doesnt have to wait until the end of the day to call her on the phone. She can just walk down the hallway at work and knock on her door.

A recent Creighton University School of Law graduate, Jailey works in Council Bluffs at Simpson Legal Group, a family law practice founded in 2017 by her mother, Shannon Simpson.

As a child in Arizona, Shannon knew that she wanted to be a lawyer, though she doesnt necessarily know why. She didnt know any lawyers. No one in her family was a lawyer. In fact, Shannon was the first in her family to attend college.

I have no idea where it came from, but from a very young age I wanted to be an attorney, she said.

After receiving her bachelors degree from Northern Arizona University in 1994, Shannon had to decide where she wanted to study law.

I actually researched where I wanted to go to school and where I wanted to live, she said. And so I only applied to schools in the Midwest. I applied to 10 schools in the Midwest and I got accepted to all of them and had a choice, so that was nice.

After receiving her JD, Shannon went to work for Council Bluffs law firm Telpner Peterson, where she had clerked as a law student.

The summer of my first year of law school, I got a job as a law clerk at Telpner Peterson law firm, and they offered me a job when I graduated, Shannon said. And I was there for 20 years.

She was the first woman to be hired as an attorney at the firm, and, after five years, the first woman to become a partner.

It took a little while for some of the firms clients to get onboard with having a woman represent them.

When I first started practicing, I was often mistook as a secretary coming with an attorney or the court reporter, Shannon said. I can tell you several times that transpired and I had to say, No, actually, Im gonna try this case, and Im not too shy, so that never deterred me.

When Shannon chose Omaha and Creighton University School of Law, she had no way of knowing that she was starting a family legacy.

The eldest of three girls, Jailey attended Iowa State University thinking she was going to be a therapist. She graduated in 2018 with a degree in psychology and a minor in child and family development, and she was going to be a family counselor.

During school breaks, she would help out at her mothers office at Telpner Peterson, filing documents, and while she was there she couldnt help but learn about the family law her mother practiced.

The more I was talking to her or listening, you know, all my life, I had just listened to her on the phone, Jailey said. She works non-stop, so on the weekends youd hear conversations, and one thing that she said that stuck out to me was, What I do is 80% counseling and holding peoples hands and walking them through a really difficult time, its just being there for people and helping them through one of their darkest times. And I thought, thats very similar to what I want to be for someone. So I thought maybe this is a route I should explore. And thats when I decided I wanted to take the LSAT.

Jaileys decision came as a surprise to her parents, but Shannon and her husband Scott quickly got behind their eldest daughters decision.

Were very driven, but we also are so family oriented that, you know, our girls come first above anything else, Shannon said. And I think weve successfully been able to navigate our marriage, but even more so navigate raising these three girls who know nothing, I dont think, but their family support and their parents support.

Supporting her daughters was so important to Shannon that she often started working at 3 a.m. so that she could attend their extracurricular activities in the afternoon.

I just never wanted to be absent, Shannon said. I felt like I had taken on a role as both a professional and as a mother, and I didnt want to feel like those were competing against one another.

Growing up in a house with a mother whos a lawyer, albeit a busy one, Jailey quickly realized that getting away with typical teenage shenanigans was not going to be particularly easy. In fact, after being cross examined a few times, she basically stopped trying.

It served us really well, taught us to be honest, Jailey said. And what you have to lie about and sneak around about you probably shouldnt be doing anyway, right?

Jailey also credits her mothers questioning with helping her learn how to formulate better arguments, a skill that has been useful in her work as a lawyer, but maybe also around the house, too.

My poor husband, because I think that now, especially after having (Shannon) as my mom and I think me going to law school, you pick holes in peoples statements and their arguments, and you make them go back and say, wait, that doesnt make sense with that, Jailey said. LIke my dad says, yeah, youre not gonna win, so you might as well just agree, I guess.

Jailey and her husband, Ben Chapin, were married in December, and Jailey was quick to point out that she would eventually be changing her last name. You know, probably.

I always tease him and say Jailey Simpson got the law degree, not Jailey Chapin, she said.

The middle Simpson daughter, Natalie, is finishing her senior year at Treynor High School. She wants to go into neuroscience, with an eye toward becoming a physicians assistant; the youngest, Delaney, is a junior at Treynor, and she has shown interest in following her mother and big sisters footsteps into law.

Were trying to convince her to go to law school, Shannon said. We might have her pretty close to there. She likes the idea of working with us so maybe shell go that direction, but shes not decided yet.

Drawing a line between their working relationship and familial relationship was a little difficult at first, the mother-daughter lawyers said, but theyve been working at it.

I think its kind of a unique dynamic when youre a mother training your child in a professional environment, Shannon said. A lot of times we have to say, okay, Ive got my mother hat on right now, but Ive got my, you know, what hat are you wearing at the moment? And I think weve done a fairly good job of being able to say what role were in at that point in time.

Jainey also thinks she and her mother have gotten better at managing the mother-daughter relationship at the office.

Just on Friday, shes sitting in my office and explaining something to me and then she said, and now Im talking to you as your mom, and I really appreciate that. I think thats great, as cheesy as it might sound to a fly on the wall, its actually very helpful for us to maintain those boundaries and I think that its helpful for everyone in our office as well.

The line between boss and employee still blurs from time to time, but when youre working with your family, how can it not?

I kind of love being able to see my mom every day and I think its pretty great that my dad is able to come into the office when he has free time, too, Jailey said. Its kind of fun when both of my parents are sitting in my office, and were having lunch or a cup of coffee. Thats special, you know? Thats not something that everyone has the privilege of doing.

When Shannon started a family, she didnt exactly plan on any of her daughters to follow in her footsteps, but shes more than happy to welcome them to the firm.

Its interesting, Shannon said. When I first started practicing there werent very many women in Council Bluffs who were practicing attorneys and so I thought, you know what, now well have our own firm.

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Rare diseases impact the lives of our family members, friends and neighbors. And despite their nomenclature, these illnesses arent nearly as scarce as many people believe. About 1 in 10 Iowans live with a rare disease, and for them, new medical advancements are crucial to their continued wellbeing. They depend upon the research and development of new medicines and breakthrough treatments to ease their ailments and improve their quality of life. That is where Americas biopharmaceutical companies come in.

Drug companies promote R&D to effectively meet patients health care requirements. As a result, the industry provides Americans with the tools, resources, and clinical trials that the seriously ill need to live life to the fullest. Those opportunities are vital and worth safeguardingand thats precisely why we need the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA).

For nearly 30 years, PDUFA has played a crucial role in ensuring the availability of safe and effective medicines. The purpose of this program is to speed up the FDAs drug review process. Since Congress passed the first iteration of PDUFA in 1992, the average approval time for new medicines fell from more than two years to just ten months.

Today, the sixth iteration of this program continues to enhance the FDAs drug review process. It strengthens innovation in patient-focused drug development, prioritizes breakthrough therapies, and more. By granting pharmaceutical companies greater regulatory predictability, PDUFA encourages industry investment in R&D.

Under PDUFA, new research helps meet urgent patient needs and strengthens the FDAs ability to review and approve new medicines faster. The success of this program speaks for itselfOver the last five years, about 75% of novel drugs were approved in the U.S. before any other country, thanks, in part, to PDUFA. As we approach the programs upcoming expiration in September, Congress must reauthorize PDUFA VII to keep pace with the evolution of new drugs.

This is important  American lives depend upon the efficient approval of new medicines. An investment in R&D is an investment in the quality of life for the estimated 30 million Americans living with a rare disease. We cant let them down.

As the president and CEO of the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce, I have been involved with policy and politics in some capacity for over 15 years and have a passion for public service. I understand that the government is responsible for making sure medicines are safe and effective while also protecting innovation and patient outcomes. PDUFA does just that.

This program is critical to enhancing the drug review process and supporting future biopharmaceutical innovation that benefits patients. This program has supplied timely access to more than 1,700 new drugs and biologics, including treatments for cancer, cardiovascular, neurological, infectious, and other rare diseases. PDUFA VII supports the next wave of advanced biological therapies and serves Iowa patients by providing suitable, science-based decisions.

As a result of PDUFA, the United States now leads the world in the introduction of new medicines, and the FDA human drug review program is the global gold standard for regulatory review and approval. The next iteration of PDUFA is necessary to continue protecting patients, advancing their interests, and saving lives.

It is up to Congress to guarantee more treatments and medicines for patients suffering from rare diseases. They can do that by renewing PDUFA by September.

Drew Kamp is president and CEO of the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce.
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Moroccos crucial role in managing migratory flows to Spain and Europe was highlighted at the meeting of the Permanent Joint Moroccan-Spanish Migration Group, convened Friday in Rabat and in comments by officials and experts following this meeting.

The commentators also underlined that Morocco, which bears the brunt of illegal migration, takes a comprehensive and effective approach to fight the phenomenon.

In this connection, Spanish Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Perez Ruiz, said Spains and Moroccos commitment to continue strengthening bilateral cooperation on migration is an example to follow.

We are neighboring countries and strategic partners, and our daily work together has been an example, especially in the area of migration flows control and fighting human trafficking networks, Rafael Perez was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Spanish Ministry of Interior following the Rabat meeting.

We firmly believe that the best option to address this challenge is bilateral cooperation with the countries of origin and with those who share the same challenge, he added.

Perez Ruiz highlighted the collaboration mechanisms that have proved their operational effectiveness in recent years, namely the joint sea, land and air patrols by the Guardia Civil and the Gendarmerie Royale, the exchange of information and police collaboration to dismantle human trafficking networks, and the establishment of police cooperation centers in Tangier and Algeciras.

For his part, the Spanish Secretary of State for Migration, Jesus Perea Cortijo, stressed the need to continue supporting regular migration programs as a strategic objective for Spain and the European Union.

The Spanish official highlighted the importance of training and integration in this area as well as the need to improve access routes for Moroccan students wishing to pursue their university studies in Spain.

As for Spains Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs, Angeles Moreno Bau, she voiced her satisfaction with the resumption of the permanent bilateral dialogue on migration.

The meeting held in Rabat is the first tangible implementation of the joint declaration adopted during the visit of the President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, to Morocco on April 7, she said, adding that the meeting debated means of monitoring irregular migratory flows, safeguarding the interests of Moroccan minors in Spain, regulating regular migration.

The meeting also discussed facilitating visa formalities, she said, noting the quantitative and qualitative efforts made by Spanish consular services in Morocco to simplify and speed up visas procedures.

In a related development, head of the Center for Hispanic-Moroccan Studies, Miguel Angel Puyol, highlighted Moroccos role in the fight against illegal immigration, saying that the North African country is taking a comprehensive and humanistic approach for the benefit of Spain and Europe.

Moroccos role in managing migratory flows is very important. Morocco, which also bears the brunt of illegal migration, takes a comprehensive and effective approach, Puyol said following the meeting of the Permanent Joint Moroccan-Spanish Migration Group.

The conclusions of this meeting, which confirmed the resolve of both countries to move forward in their relationship, will give a new impetus to a necessary and beneficial cooperation for Spain and the whole of Europe, Puyol explained.

Besides Spain, the European Union is also called upon to support and assist Morocco in dealing with this global phenomenon with multinational dimensions, the expert added, arguing that joint action is fundamental to curb the maneuvers of the illegal migration mafias.

The president of the Center for Hispanic-Moroccan Studies commended the resumption of the Marhaba operation, scheduled for this summer after two years of interruption due to the COVID-19 health crisis.

This is a large-scale operation that has an important human component linking two friendly and neighboring peoples, he stated.

Spanish expert in Maghreb affairs, Javier Fernandez Arribas, on his part underscored that permanent collaboration between Spain and Morocco in migration flows management is essential and indispensable.

Urging the European Union to provide more support to both countries to address a global problem, he said the EU must play its role as an essential partner when it comes to providing the technical, human and financial resources needed to deal with a phenomenon that involves human beings () who face the consequences of conflicts, poverty, drought, or repression.

The agreements reached at the Rabat meeting are of great importance with respect to strengthening mechanisms for coordination and exchange of information, police cooperation centers, liaison officers, and joint patrols, Arribas noted.

Relations between Spain and Morocco are strategic and encompass all sectors of common interest, especially cooperation in security, the fight against terrorism, and cooperation in the management of illegal migration, the expert added.

According to figures disclosed during the Permanent Moroccan-Spanish Group on Migration convened Friday in Rabat under the chairmanship of Director of Migration and Border Surveillance at the Ministry of Interior, Khalid Zerouali, and Spanish Secretary of State for Migration, Jesus Perea Cortijo, Moroccan authorities have thwarted during 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 thousands of illegal migration attempts, including 14,746 in the first three months of the current year alone. Likewise, some 256 human and migrant trafficking criminal networks have been dismantled during this period, including 52 during the first quarter of 2022.
The Moroccan southern city of Dakhla has become over a twenty- year span a hotspot for kitesurfing, writes French magazine Paris Match, explaining the current trend by the citys geographical position -30 kilometers north of the Tropic of Cancer, like Havana or Hawaii- which offers a pleasant climate all year round.

In the southernmost part of Morocco, wedged between the Atlantic and the Sahara, the small peninsula offers an ideal setting to indulge in this trendy sport, the magazine states in a reporting under the title Morocco: Discover Dakhla, the Mecca of kitesurfing.

This enclave, isolated from the rest of Morocco by the surrounding desert, lulled by winds that glide between the dunes and spin over a shallow sea and offering a mild temperature, has proven to be the perfect spot for kitesurfing.

In twenty years, kitesurfing has gained popularity among celebrities such as Jose Garcia, Barack Obama, John Kerry, Brad Pitt, Prince William, and Richard Branson, the biggest promoter of this sport among the jet-set who came in 2021 to try out the site of Dakhla.

The number of tourists in the city has now increased fourfold from 25,000 in 2010, the magazine states, adding that Dakhla is now aiming to attract 200,000 tourists with the end of the pandemic and the reopening of the Moroccan borders.

Dakhla is a spot of the future, and some people have understood this, observes the French weekly magazine.
UPDATED, May 9, 2022, 9:30 am: Updated to reflect that Public Service Commission District 5 is a Republican primary.

***

After coping with COVID-19 and its impacts through both of 2020s regular elections, Lincoln County election workers should find on-the-ground conditions fully back to normal during Tuesdays 2022 primary.

Registered voters who didnt request early ballots will cast in-person votes at one of 12 locations in North Platte or nine others outside the county seats city limits.

Live voting will open at 8 a.m. CT and 7 a.m. MT across Nebraska, with the polls closing in both time zones 12 hours later.

Meanwhile, the countys tally of returned early ballots is guaranteed to shrink Tuesday after the pandemic drove 2020 voters to eschew live polling places in record numbers.

County Clerk Becky Rossell said 2,833 of the countys current 23,760 registered voters asked for early primary ballots to be sent. A total of 1,988 early ballots had been returned as of Thursday.

Her office received 1,452 completed early ballots in the May 2018 primary and 2,825 for that years general election. Both set countywide records for an off-year election with no race for U.S. president.

With COVID raging in 2020, 7,980 primary voters cast early ballots  82.4% of all ballots cast that May. A record 8,362 followed suit that November.

Rossell, who doubles as her countys election commissioner, agreed with Secretary of State Bob Evnens statewide prediction of a 35% voter turnout when polls close Tuesday.

As always, I hope I am wrong and that the percentage is much higher, she said.

The unprecedented early-voting numbers in 2020, coupled with that years presidential vote, drove turnouts of 41% in the countys primary and 71.5% in the general election.

Lincoln Countys total voter registrations fell by 2.1% compared with the 2020 general election but were 0.6% higher than the 23,616 registered for the 2020 primary.

Evnen said Nebraskas long-dominant Republican registration edge has surged before Tuesdays vote, apparently from Democrats switching parties  at least temporarily  to vote in the red-hot race for the GOP nomination for governor.

A similar trend may be in play in Lincoln County, where Republicans gained only 33 total registrations over November 2020 but the number of officially Democratic voters fell by just over 500.

Registered voters in the county now total 14,518 Republicans, 4,521 Democrats and 4,341 independents.

Lincoln County has 335 registered Libertarian voters and 45 affiliated with the Legal Marijuana NOW party, according to official figures from Evnens office. The latter wasnt yet officially recognized in Nebraska in 2020.

Rossell once more urged registered voters unsure of their in-person polling place to use the Nebraska Voter Information Lookup webpage (votercheck.necvr.ne.gov/voterview) and enter their name and address there.

Voters in North Plattes Precinct 4 will cast ballots at Best Western Plus instead of Holiday Inn Express, which Rossell said was no longer available for election use.

Voters in west-side Precincts 8 and 9 still will vote at Messiah Lutheran Church, but in different rooms than before. All should use the churchs north door and follow the signs to their appropriate precinct, Rossell said.

As typically happens in primaries, some races that will appear on Novembers ballot will be absent Tuesday because not enough candidates filed to force primary voters to eliminate one or more of them.

Four North Platte City Council races will be settled in November, but none will be on Tuesdays ballot. Neither will North Plattes Ward 2 school board race or any school board contest in Sutherland, Hershey, Maxwell, Brady or Wallace.

Redistricting after the 2020 census also may have changed the lineup of offices on some voters primary ballots. The state Voter Information Lookup site lists current election districts for a voters address.

Rossell said voters should ask a poll worker at their election site  before casting their ballot  if they have questions about why certain races are or are not listed.

Once the ballot is cast, there is nothing the poll workers or the County Clerks Office can do for this election, she said.

Voters who failed to update their addresses before primary registrations closed may cast provisional ballots. Such ballots will be set aside before theyre counted so the voters current addresses can be verified.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Police stand behind the new security fence at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Less than a week after a draft majority opinion was leaked indicating that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon overturn Roe v. Wade and end the constitutional right to an abortion, the pending decision appears to have been confirmed by yet another leak. The Washington Post reported Sunday that as of last week, the five-member majority to strike Roe remains intact, according to three conservatives close to the court.

The Posts story is focused on the waning influence of Chief Justice John Roberts, who reportedly favors effectively gutting Roe instead of overturning it outright, and is apparently still attempting to sway one of the five justices in the majority to his side. Robertss position was also leaked to CNN, just hours after Justice Samuel Alitos draft majority opinion came out. Roberts later said in a statement that the draft opinion does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case  but that doesnt mean the same decision hasnt been made.

The new leak is also notable because it clearly and openly came from conservatives, following days of performative outrage on the right claiming the draft opinion had been leaked by a liberal, and that the leak itself was the most important story  rather than the consequences of the monumental ruling.

Furthermore, while Robertss stance (upholding Mississippis abortion ban at 15 weeks) may seem more moderate than that of his conservative colleagues, as Intelligencers Irin Carmon has repeatedly emphasized, allowing the 15-week ban would effectively overturn Roe anyway. In other words, even if Roberts is able to win a convert to his side, the end result would be the same.
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to reporters after touring a mobile ultrasound unit on May 5 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Pence made his second trip to the state in less than a week to headline a fundraiser for a

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to reporters after touring a mobile ultrasound unit on May 5 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Pence made his second trip to the state in less than a week to headline a fundraiser for a "crisis" pregnancy center in early-voting South Carolina as he continues to mull a possible 2024 presidential bid. (Photo: AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

SPARTANBURG, S.C.  In theory, Nate Leupp should be exactly the sort of political influencer Mike Pence can count on as he plots out a 2024 presidential run.

The Greenville director of a Christian music store has been a mainstay in the evangelical wing of the GOP in upstate South Carolina for 16 of his 42 years. He has admired Pence for decades. He watched as his bloc of similarly minded Republicans leading the Greenville County chapter was ousted for not being sufficiently loyal to Donald Trump.

And yet, should the 2024 South Carolina primary come down to a choice between the former president who tried to overthrow democracy to remain in power or the former vice president who saved it by refusing to go along, Leupp said he will probably go with Trump.

For all the negatives of President Trump, Id take him again, he said.

So as Pence returned to South Carolina last week in his continuing pre-presidential campaign, such was the looming challenge: Figure out a path in the critical early-voting state without relying on two significant segments of eligible primary voters.

His problem is: What part of the Republican Party does he see as his base? wondered Winthrop University political science professor Scott Huffmon.

Fervent Trump supporters remain outraged that Pence did not use his authority on Jan. 6, 2021, to keep Trump in power, Huffmon said, while Never Trumpers will not forgive him for kowtowing to Trump for four years.

This is an important tour for him to try to find a Mike Pence base in South Carolina after hes potentially alienated both the pro-Trump and the never-Trump wings of the party, Huffmon said.

Story continues

One Pence adviser said the onetime congressman from and governor of Indianas analysis of the potential race is the same now as it was not long after he and Trump left office 16 months ago  that views will change over time, and Trumps dominance in the party, particularly as rivals start openly criticizing him, will wane.

Whats more, Pence has a natural constituency in South Carolina, the adviser said on condition of anonymity, citing the packed gala Pence headlined Thursday night for the Carolina Pregnancy Center in Spartanburg.

When they sell out 2,000 tickets with Pences name on it within a couple of weeks, that says something, he said.

A subdued victory lap over Roe v. Wade

Last weeks leak of a majority Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the 1973 decision recognizing a constitutional right to abortion gave Pence the opportunity to highlight his bona fides on that issue over the past decades.

At a National Day of Prayer appearance at a Baptist church in Rock Hill, Pence told the 250 or so congregants they should especially pray that the five justices listed in the majority opinion leaked this week will have the courage of their convictions to right a historic wrong. Dozens of them stood in line following his remarks to greet him and thank him.

To reporters afterward, he was careful to avoid entirely the question of whether a Republican congressional majority should, if it comes next year, pass a national ban on abortion, insisting that legislation on such critical issues as the sanctity of life should instead be decided exclusively by state legislatures.

A few hours later, Pence appeared at the annual spring fundraiser for a crisis pregnancy center that counsels woman against seeking abortions and encourages them to either raise the baby or put it up for adoption. There, while inaccurately claiming that his audiences views represented the majority of the nation, Pence cast it more as a religious issue than a political one.

Pence, long a foe of Roe v. Wade, tours Carolina Pregnancy Center's mobile ultrasound unit in Spartanburg on Thursday.

Pence, long a foe of Roe v. Wade, tours Carolina Pregnancy Center's mobile ultrasound unit in Spartanburg on Thursday. "Crisis" centers like these are meant to steer people away from seeking abortions. (Photo: AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

He described his own entry into the evangelical fold as a college student attending a revival meeting in Kentucky in 1978, and his subsequent decision to become active in the abortion debate because of his reading of the Bible.

I knew in that moment that His cause must be my cause, he said, and reminded his audience that if Roe was, in fact, reversed, that meant abortion opponents had to turn their attention to statehouses. And though I do not know if I will be here to see it, I believe with all my heart that the day will come when the right to life is the law of the land in every state in America.

Alexia Newman, the director of the pregnancy center and a member of the state Republican Party, said primary voters know that Pence is genuine about his convictions and is not just saying what they want to hear.

His record has followed him, she said. He articulates the things that are dear to us South Carolinians.

The Jan. 6 legacy

Of course, articulating things dear to evangelical Christians was a big part of Texas Sen. Ted Cruzs 2016 strategy to win South Carolina and then use that to roll to victories in Southern states on Super Tuesday.

The plan failed, with Trump comfortably winning South Carolina with 33% of the vote, and Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio essentially tying for second 10 points behind  that, despite Trumps record as a recent registered Democrat, proponent of abortion rights and tabloid figure with a checkered personal history with women.

The Pence adviser said he was surprised by Trumps South Carolina win in 2016, but later came to understand that many voters didnt care that Trump was a combative jerk so long as he would be a combative jerk on their behalf. Weve tried the nice guy approach with George W. Bush and we got John Roberts, he said, referring to the Supreme Court chief justice whom many conservatives believe has betrayed their cause. We tried the nice guy approach with [2012 GOP nominee] Mitt Romney and look where that got us.

Further complicating matters for Pence in South Carolina is the segment of Trump supporters who not only have no problem with his repeated lies about the election that ended up inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but who also believe Pence turned his back on Trump and the country by not doing what Trump had demanded.

Jeff Davis is the chairman of what calls itself the new Greenville GOP, a group that was essentially excommunicated from the state party after it took over the local chapter. (This weekend it hosted longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone and election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell.) Davis said that while Pence has the support of some far-right evangelical Christians and establishment Republicans, Pence failed to do all he could to keep Trump in the White House.

Mike Pence betrayed the people, he said. I dont think he has much of a chance at all here in the state of South Carolina.

Vice President Pence helped set the policy in the Trump administration in a very fundamental way. What he needs to do is to tell that story.South Carolina state Sen. Josh Kimbrell (R)

Its not clear how large a slice of Republicans these Never Pencers represent, and where they might go should Trump wind up not running.

A far bigger problem for Pence is Republicans like Leupp, who once ran the Greenville County GOP before it was seized by Davis faction. Leupp said he was an admirer of Pence going to back to the early 2000s. I love Mike Pence, he said. I wanted Mike Pence to run before anybody knew Mike Pence.

In fact, the one action Trump took in 2016 that finally made Leupp a supporter was choosing Pence as his running mate. Thats when he won me over.

And after four years of watching Trump appoint conservative judges and enact conservative policies, Leupp said, he has become convinced that Trump, despite everything, would be the best for conservatives, even better than Pence.

Leupp added that hes confident hes not alone. If Donald Trump runs to be the partys nominee, Donald Trump will win the state of South Carolina, he said.

Ironically, many of the traditional conservative goals that were accomplished under Trump happened not because he was personally driving them, but because his general lack of interest and short attention span allowed Pence and others to fill the vacuum.

Many of the regulatory rollbacks across executive branch agencies happened because Pences office was able to place officials into senior and midlevel positions, using his contacts in the business community and the Koch brothers Americans for Prosperity activist network.

More than 200 conservative federal judges, including three Supreme Court justices, were appointed thanks to the efforts of Leonard Leos Federalist Society and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, with Trump doing little more than signing the paperwork.

And the 2017 tax cuts that Republicans almost universally loved were primarily the work of then-House Speaker Paul Ryan, pushing a decadeslong priority of the party.

Josh Kimbrell, a South Carolina state senator and sponsor of three of Pences five trips to the state, said this history is already known to many primary voters, and it is incumbent on Pence to make sure it is known to all of them.

Vice President Pence helped set the policy in the Trump administration in a very fundamental way, Kimbrell said. What he needs to do is to tell that story. You need to say: Heres what I did. Not just what we did, heres what I did. Because I think a lot of people know, but more people need to know.

Huffmon remains skeptical that strategy would work, particularly with Trump loudly and repeatedly taking all the credit.

Its what the base believes, Huffmon said, adding that the likely overturning of Roe v. Wade thanks to the three justices Trump named to the high court will provide him even more fodder. Donald Trump will be able to claim credit for those appointees.

Also on HuffPost

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Late last month Moscow stopped gas exports to two unfriendly countries that refused to be bullied into paying with rubles: Bulgaria and Poland.

The Balkans are now looking for alternative suppliers. High on the shortlist is Azerbaijan. But can the Caucasus nation deliver, and when?

Bulgaria says it does not expect shortages. Before Russia invaded Ukraine and sent Europes energy markets into a tizzy, Sofia had signed a deal to import 1 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year of Azerbaijani gas through the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), a network of pipelines crossing Turkey, and also via Greece through an existing pipeline as well as a second new connection due to be completed later this year.

Serbia too is expecting Azerbaijani gas to help replace Russian imports, but it will have to wait. Those deliveries will arrive through Bulgaria via an EU-funded connection agreed upon in 2018; construction finally began earlier this year and it is slated to be finished by October 2023. Gas demand in both countries is relatively low: between 3-3.5 bcm/year in Bulgaria and around 2.7 bcm/year in Serbia. But currently, Azerbaijan can only deliver a maximum of 10 bcm/year to the Balkans through the SGC, which is already operating at capacity. Most of the volume of the SGC, which continues through Greece to Albania and across the Adriatic, is earmarked for Italy and Central Europe, which will also be looking for new supplies if Moscow acts on its threats to close the taps.



The Southern Gas Corridor consists of three sequential pipelines. (Wikimedia Commons)

Some of this budding demand could be met by liquefied natural gas (LNG) delivered by ship, but clearly not everyone will be able to get all the gas they need.

Related: Chinas Biggest Refiner Has No Plans To Scoop Up Cheap Russian Oil



One short-term option for boosting Azerbaijans exports is under consideration, though the potential increase is small: SGC-shareholder BP told Eurasianet that studies are underway on how to "optimize" the SGC pipeline system to add 1 bcm/year of capacity.

For Azerbaijan to begin to meet the sudden demand, it will require the various consortia that own Azerbaijan's Caspian fields, as well as the three pipelines that together form the SGC, to make the billions in investments needed to both boost production and increase pipeline capacity.

According to Azerbaijan's state oil and gas company SOCAR  a shareholder in all Azerbaijan's production fields and the SGC  a decision on doubling the export capacity of the westernmost section of the SGC to 20 bcm/year is expected this year.

It is unclear where the extra gas will come from.

BP has long cautioned that expanded production at its Shah Deniz field, which currently produces all of Azerbaijans gas for exports, would not fill new SGC capacity.

More significant according to BP are untapped reserves around the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oil field, which BP operates and which produces the bulk of Azerbaijan's oil exports. Under the existing production agreement with Baku, any gas from the field is either pumped back in to boost oil production or handed over to SOCAR free of charge, to supply Azerbaijani consumers.

Developing ACG's gas potential would require major investment by the consortium which owns the field, which would in turn require the production agreement to be changed.

Even in a best-case scenario, it would take several years to begin producing  and thus be of little use in the current Russia-inspired gas crisis.

A cheaper option

There is one other option that industry analysts are watching, one that does not require any new infrastructure.

Azerbaijan last December concluded a gas swap agreement with Turkmenistan. Under this plan, the Central Asian nation has begun sending up to 2 bcm/year of gas to northeast Iran. Iran sends an equivalent quantity from its northwest to Azerbaijan, enabling Baku to meet its own growing domestic demand.

That swap deal could be expanded to as much as 6 bcm/year and the extra gas transited to Turkey and on to Europe, said John Roberts, an energy analyst at the Atlantic Council.

"Turkey's existing gas transit network has around 4-5 bcm/year of spare capacity, which could be used to transit extra gas to Europe, Roberts explained.

While not a huge volume, that could meet demand in some Balkan states. Most importantly, it is technically simple and potentially quick.

In addition to excess capacity, Turkey's gas grid also boasts two separate export pipelines  one to Bulgaria and a larger capacity line to Greece. Unlike the Southern Gas Corridor lines, which are operating at full capacity and would have to be expanded, these two have room to spare.

The line to Bulgaria could only be used in summer when Turkish gas demand is low, explained Arif Akturk, the former head of gas purchasing at BOTA?, Turkeys state-owned pipeline operator. But the line to Greece has plenty of spare capacity and could be used year-round, Akturk said, adding that the gas could then flow from Greece on to the Balkans.

By Eurasianet.org

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WENDE KOTOUC AND MEGAN McMURRY JOIN THE SALVATION ARMY OF OMAHA'S ADVISORY BOARD Wende Kotouc Megan McMurry The Salvation Army of Omaha recently appointed Wende Kotouc and Megan McMurry to its advisory board, which supports the work of The Salvation Army in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro by providing mission-based leadership and strategic guidance. Wende Kotouc is Executive Co-Chairman/CEO of American National Bank. Over the past 22 years she has served in a variety of areas within and outside of the bank, primarily focusing on talent management, communications, community relations, client services and community banking. Kotouc has also worked as Executive Vice President of Operations/Employee and Customer Care for Willow Creek Association -- a global, non-profit Christian organization in Chicago -- and in various leadership roles for McDonald's Corporation in Chicago. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. Kotouc has a long history of community engagement and leadership, including current service on the Creighton University board of directors, as well as past involvement on the boards of Christ Community Church, Omaha Conservatory of Music, Creighton Preparatory School, West Hills Church, the College of St. Mary and others. She has also been involved with numerous community organizations, including the Carver Legacy Center, United Way of the Midlands, Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska, and the Imagine Omaha/City Transformation Roundtable. Megan McMurry is Senior Vice President and Relationship Manager with Bridges Trust, where she is responsible for some of the firm's most complex relationships, in addition to providing leadership to the financial planning team and serving as a contributing member of the investment management team. She also serves on the executive committee, contributing to Bridges' most important long-term strategic projects and initiatives. Prior to her role at Bridges Trust, McMurry was employed as a financial advisor and wealth planning analyst at UBS Financial Services. She also spent nine years as a manager and CPA at Dana F. Cole & Company. McMurry earned a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of New Orleans and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Concordia University. She is involved with the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women, the American Institute of Certified Public Accounting, the Omaha Estate Planning Council, the Omaha Venture Group and Basset and Beagle Rescue of the Heartland.
Crystal Sainato doesnt always go home when her shift is over, especially if she has a chance to spread a little cheer.

People arent there because theyre happy and feeling good, she said. I try to bring some sort of happiness to their darkest moments.

For a lot of patients, its joking around to make them laugh  or even just crack a smile. One time it was a shave. Another time it was a massage  anything to make them feel better, she said.

For one patient in the ICU, it was lunch.

We were talking about our favorite foods and he really liked fried catfish, Sainato said. I found a place that had it on the menu and brought him lunch. He couldnt believe I did that, but I didnt think it was a big deal. I told him, You wanted it. I brought it.

Sometimes the ask isnt quite as simple. One patient was very upset calling out to God, he told her, because he wanted Sainato to kill him. The only thing she could do to calm him down was to sit with him and hold his hand.

It was very heart-wrenching, she said, but she had vowed years before to never let a patient die alone. At the time, she was working at a skilled nursing facility and had a patient in hospice. The experience really made an impact on her, much like the one that convinced her to go into nursing in the first place.

After high school, Sainato served in the Nebraska Army National Guard, and was eventually deployed to Kuwait and Iraq. After a nine-month reprieve, she volunteered to go back to Iraq to do convoy security. She was trained by a health care specialist named Tricia Jameson, who was later killed in combat.

She was the seed, Sainato said.

For the past nine months, Sainato has worked nights at the Omaha VA Medical Center helping the other nurses with everything from routine patient care to administering medications.

She undoubtedly spreads a little cheer as well.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  A post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in Oregon, a state with a national reputation for progressive social justice.

An acute shortage of public defenders means at any given time at least several hundred low-income criminal defendants dont have legal representation, sometimes in serious felony cases that could put them away for years.

Judges have dismissed nearly four dozen cases in in the Portland area alone  including a domestic violence case with allegations of strangulation  and have threatened to hold the state in contempt.

Were overwhelmed. The pandemic is exposing all the problems that we have, said Carl Macpherson, executive director of Metropolitan Public Defender, a large Portland nonprofit public defender firm. It just became abundantly clear that we are broken.

Public defenders warned the system was on the brink of collapse before the pandemic and some staged a walkout in 2019. But lawmakers didnt act and then COVID-19 shut down the courts. Now, the system is buckling before our eyes, said Kelly Simon, legal director for the Oregon American Civil Liberties Union.

The crisis in Oregon, while extreme, reflects a nationwide reckoning on indigent defense, as courts seek to absorb a pandemic backlog of criminal cases with public defender systems that have long been underfunded and understaffed. From New England to New Mexico to Wisconsin, states are struggling to keep public defender services running.

Maine this month earmarked nearly $1 million to hire that states first five public defenders, with a focus on rural counties, after relying entirely on contracts with private attorneys until now.

In New Mexico, a recent report found the state was short 600 full-time public defenders. In New Hampshire, where an estimated 800 defendants were without attorneys, state lawmakers in March approved more than $2 million to raise public defenders salaries. And in Wisconsin, where starting pay for public defenders is $27 an hour, theres a shortage of 60 attorney positions statewide.

This is Americas dirty little secret: Thousands of people in courtrooms all across the country go to jail every single day without having talked to a lawyer, said Jon Mosher, deputy director of the nonprofit Sixth Amendment Center.

An American Bar Association report released in January found Oregon has 31% of the public defenders it needs. Every existing attorney would have to work more than 26 hours each week day to cover the caseload, the authors found.

Its horrifying. I dont want to mince words about this. I am not going to make excuses for this, said state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, who co-chairs the state Legislatures Ways and Means committee. That being said, we cant manufacture attorneys out of thin air.

For victims, the situation is devastating and its hurting the most vulnerable.

Cassie Trahan, co-founder and executive director of an Oregon nonprofit that works with teen and young adult victims of sex trafficking, said trust in the judicial system is fading, especially in minority and immigrant communities. Victims no longer want to come forward when they see cases being dismissed or ending in weak plea bargains to relieve pressure on the courts.

One such victim in a pending trafficking case lives in constant fear that its going to be dismissed, Trahan said.

Prosecutors can get an indictment from a grand jury when cases are dismissed for lack of a public defender and police will re-arrest the alleged perpetrator  but thats small consolation to victims.

In her mind, its like, Now Ive outed myself, now Ive talked against him and whats going to happen if he gets off? Trahan said of the victim. Thats what were seeing more of, especially in communities of color and groups that dont trust the judicial system anyway.

The Legislature recently approved $12.8 million in one-time funding for the four hardest-hit counties, as well as a suite of legislative reforms. New contracts coming this summer will institute lower attorney case caps. And lawmakers are withholding $100 million from the agencys budget until shows good faith on numerous reforms, including restructuring, financial audits and performance metrics.

A working group of all three government branches will convene this month to begin tackling a comprehensive and structural modernization of the system.

Autumn Shreve, government relations manager for the state Office of Public Defense Services, said the pandemic finally forced the hand of state lawmakers who havent taken a close look at public defenders in nearly 20 years.

Its been a rag tag group of people trying to cover the caseloads year-to-year and because of that theres been a lot of past papering over of problems, she said.

Meanwhile, the situation in the states courtrooms is dire.

Often those going without attorneys are charged with heinous crimes that come with hefty prison sentences if convicted, making it even harder to find public defenders qualified to handle such complex cases. And those who handle misdemeanors are often young attorneys carrying 100 cases or more at a time.

You cant keep everything in your head when you have that many clients at the same time. Even things like, you know, Whats your current plea offer? I cant remember that for 100 people. Or I cant remember, What exactly does the police report say? said Drew Flood, a public defender at Metropolitan Public Defender.

This is the scariest thing they have going on in their life, he said.

Other public defender services, including private investigators and legal advisors, have also reached a breaking point.

Renardo Mitchell, who is jailed on attempted murder charges, chose to represent himself after he said he didnt hear from his public defender for five months. The legal advisor assigned by the court to help him hire expert witnesses and file motions died suddenly in February and hes been without legal counsel since then.

Two years after his arrest, he still hasnt seen all the discovery in his case, said Mitchell, 37. His public private investigator  Mitchells only connection to his proceedings  recently had to petition the court to get more paid hours developing evidence for his defense.

Were all innocent until proven guilty. Nothing has been proven yet  I havent been found guilty, said Mitchell, who faces more than 22 years in prison if convicted. Even if I did those things that they allege, I still have a right to due process of law. 

The chief prosecutor in Portland has become an outspoken advocate of public defender reform for that very reason.

The most important thing is everybody has a right to an attorney, its a constitutional right, said Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schmidt.

Its an ecosystem, like a coral reef. If you take away one aspect of this system, then all the other aspects fall apart."

Associated Press writers David Sharp in Portland, Maine; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire contributed to this report.

Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Oregons public defender system has shown cracks for years, but a post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in a state with a national reputation for progressive social justice.

An acute shortage of public defenders means that at any given time at least several hundred low-income criminal defendants don't have legal representation, sometimes in serious felony cases that could put them away for years. Judges have dismissed nearly four dozen cases in the Portland area alone  among them a domestic violence case with allegations of strangulation as well as other major felonies  and have threatened to hold the state public defenders office in contempt of court for failing to provide attorneys.

Oregon sends out a weekly list of unrepresented defendants to private attorneys begging for help. Some of the accused have been jailed without a lawyer for months on charges of rape, sodomy, child sexual abuse or attempted murder, records show. Meanwhile, court proceedings for those not in custody are repeatedly pushed back, leaving defendants in limbo and the courts spinning their wheels.

Were overwhelmed. The pandemic is exposing all the problems that we have, the under-resourcing and the underfunding, and it just hit a breaking point," said Carl Macpherson, executive director of Metropolitan Public Defender, a large nonprofit public defender firm in Portland that temporarily stopped taking new cases when its attorneys couldn't keep up.

It just became abundantly clear that we are broken. You cannot do your job when you have 130 open felony cases per attorney, Macpherson said.

Public defenders warned that the system was on the brink of collapse before the pandemic. In 2019, some attorneys even picketed outside the state Capitol for higher pay and reduced caseloads. But lawmakers didnt act and months later, COVID-19 shut down the courts. There were no felony or misdemeanor jury trials in April 2020 and access to the court system was greatly curtailed for months. There were, however, limited in-person proceedings and remote services were provided.

Now, the system is buckling before our eyes, said Kelly Simon, legal director for the Oregon American Civil Liberties Union, which is closely watching the situation and hasn't ruled out litigation.

Macpherson estimates there are now about 500 defendants going without public defenders statewide and thats likely a significant undercount, because many are initially arraigned and then have their case deferred up to 60 days with plans to appoint permanent counsel later.

If you do not have a lawyer, then your constitutional rights are being violated from the very beginning, he said. But if there's no attorney to appoint, what do you expect them to do?"

The crisis in Oregon, while extreme, reflects a nationwide reckoning on indigent defense, as courts seek to absorb a pandemic backlog of criminal cases with public defender systems that have long been underfunded and understaffed. From New England to New Mexico to Wisconsin, states are struggling to keep public defender services running amid an onslaught of cases and attorney departures.

After a lawsuit from the ACLU, lawmakers in Maine this month earmarked nearly $1 million to hire that state's first five public defenders, with a focus on rural counties where the system is overwhelmed. Maine until now has relied entirely on contracts with private attorneys, and many remote areas don't have enough qualified lawyers for the work.

In New Mexico, a recent report found the state was short 600 full-time public defenders. State lawmakers in New Hampshire approved more than $2 million in March to raise public defenders' salaries in a state where about 800 defendants were without attorneys. Three dozen public defenders resigned in the 2021 fiscal year due to low pay and high caseloads, the state Judicial Council said.

And in Wisconsin, where starting pay for public defenders is $27 an hour, there's a shortage of 60 attorney positions statewide while one-third of the private attorneys who contract out for cases have quit the system, according to authorities there.

This is America's dirty little secret: Thousands of people in courtrooms all across the country go to jail every single day without having talked to a lawyer, said Jon Mosher, deputy director of the Sixth Amendment Center, which studies state public defender systems, including Oregon's, and advocates for reforms.

We see it all over the place. It happens in upstate New York, it happens in Mississippi. Its everywhere.

In Oregon, a report by the American Bar Association released in January found the state has 31% of the public defenders it needs. Every existing attorney would have to work more than 26 hours a day during the work week to cover the caseload, the authors said.

The situation is more complicated than in other states because Oregon's public defender system is the only one in the nation that relies entirely on contractors, Mosher said. Cases are doled out to either large nonprofit defense firms, smaller cooperating groups of private defense attorneys that contract for cases or independent attorneys who can take cases at will.

Now, some of those large nonprofit firms are periodically refusing to take new cases because of the overload. Private attorneys  they normally serve as a relief valve where there are conflicts of interest  are increasingly also rejecting new clients because of the workload, poor pay rates and late payments from the state.

For victims, the situation is devastating and its hurting the most vulnerable the hardest.

Cassie Trahan, co-founder and executive director of an Oregon nonprofit that works with teen and young adult victims of sex trafficking, said trust in the judicial system is fading amid minority and immigrant communities and the young people with whom she works. Victims no longer want to come forward when they see cases being dismissed or ending in weak plea bargains to reduce pressure on the courts.

One such young woman who is a victim in a pending trafficking case lives in constant fear that its going to be dismissed, Trahan said.

Prosecutors can get an indictment from a grand jury when cases are dismissed for lack of a public defender and police will re-arrest the alleged perpetrator, but thats small consolation to victims.

In her mind, its like, Now Ive outed myself, now Ive talked against him and whats going to happen if he gets off? Trahan said of the victim. Thats what were seeing more of, especially in communities of color and groups that dont trust the judicial system anyway.

Other victims' advocates say that even when cases aren't dismissed, they are taking much longer because hearings are constantly pushed back and trials delayed. Victims can't move on because you need to keep your testimony fresh ... and there's so much emotional preparedness that comes with that, said Jessica Mindlin, director of the Oregon office of the Victim Rights Law Center, which provides free legal help to rape and sexual assault survivors.

Amid the crisis, the state Legislature passed $12.8 million in one-time funding for the state to hire 36 new public defenders in the four hardest-hit counties, as well as a suite of legislation to reform the state's public defender agency. New contracts to be finalized in July will institute lower attorney case caps and lawmakers are withholding $100 million from the agency's budget until it shows good faith on numerous reforms, including a restructuring, financial audits and performance metrics.

A working group of all three branches of state government will convene this month to begin tackling deeper reforms.

Its horrifying. I dont I dont want to mince words about this. I am not going to make excuses for this. Its awful. I think its unconstitutional and I think its incredibly problematic, said state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, who co-chairs the state Legislatures Ways and Means committee. That being said, we cant manufacture attorneys out of thin air.

Autumn Shreve, government relations manager for the state's Office of Public Defense Services, said the pandemic finally forced the hand of state lawmakers who havent taken a close look at public defenders in nearly 20 years.

Its been a rag-tag group of people trying to cover the caseloads year to year and because of that theres been a lot of past papering over of problems, of just keeping the ship floating and not really being thoughtful about how the money is being spent, she said.

Were working really hard, she said. We very much appreciate the attention and the help that all the branches of government want to provide, because we havent always gotten that.

Meanwhile, the situation in the state's courtrooms and jails is dire. Often those going without attorneys are charged with heinous crimes that come with hefty prison sentences if convicted, making it even harder to find public defenders qualified to handle such complex cases in an overtaxed system.

And those who handle misdemeanor charges are often young attorneys carrying 100 cases or more at a time  and they also spend hours helping clients access mental health or drug treatment services and keeping their family informed.

You can't keep everything in your head when you have that many clients at the same time. Even things like, you know, Whats your current plea offer?' I can't remember that for 100 people. Or I can't remember, What exactly does the police report say? said Drew Flood, a public defender with just eight months on the job at Metropolitan Public Defender.

"This is the scariest thing they have going on in their life, he said. It's hard when those people, you can tell, don't think you're giving their case the time and attention it deserves  and I feel that way too, sometimes.

Other public defender services funded by the state, including private investigators and legal advisers, have also reached a breaking point.

Renardo Mitchell, who is jailed on attempted murder charges, said he chose to represent himself after he didn't hear from his public defender for five months. But his state-provided legal adviser  an attorney assigned by the court to help self-representing defendants hire expert witnesses and file motions  died unexpectedly in February and he's been without legal counsel since then.

Two years after his arrest, he still hasn't seen all the discovery in his case, said Mitchell, 37.

We're all innocent until proven guilty. Nothing has been proven yet  I haven't been found guilty, said Mitchell, who faces more than 22 years in prison if convicted on all charges. Even if I did those things that they allege, I still have a right to due process of law. Period.

In a surprising twist, the chief prosecutor in Portland has become an outspoken advocate of public defender reform for that very reason.

Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schmidt recently penned an editorial in The Oregonian/OregonLive saying a lack of public defenders is hurting public safety, taxing an already overworked police force and re-traumatizing victims.

The most important thing is everybody has a right to an attorney, its a constitutional right. There's a reason why we dont want to win every single case that we bring. That's what protects everybody, that protects me and that protects you because the government unchecked has a lot of power, Schmidt told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Its an ecosystem, like a coral reef. If you take away one aspect of this system, then all the other aspects fall apart, Schmidt said. I cant do my job without everyone else doing theirs.

Associated Press writers David Sharp in Portland, Maine; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.

Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus

This story was first published on May 8, 2022. It was updated on May 10, 2022 to make clear that while there were no felony or misdemeanor jury trials in April 2020 and access to the court system was greatly curtailed for months, there were limited in-person proceedings and remote services were provided.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
 Flash

Kami Rita Sherpa, a well-known Nepali mountain guide, broke his own record on Saturday by climbing the world's tallest Mt. Qomolangma for the 26th time.

"As a leader of the rope fixing team, Kami reached the top of Mt. Qomolangma at 06:55 p.m. on Saturday," Bhisma Raj Bhattarai, a section officer at Nepal's Department of Tourism, told Xinhua.

"It is his 26th summit of the world's tallest peak," he added.

Seven Summit Treks, a Nepali travel agency which organized the expedition, confirmed the summit of Mt. Qomolangma by 11 Sherpa members of the rope fixing team led by Kami, noting on its Facebook account that they became the first climbers during the spring season to conquer the world's highest mountain from the Nepali side.

Kami, 52, scaled the 8848.86-meter-high Mt. Qomolangma in May 1994 for the first time and achieved the feat of climbing the mountain twice in a single season in 2019 within less than a week as he reached the top for the 23rd and 24th times.

On May 7 last year, he again climbed the peak which straddles Nepal and China, breaking his own record, a world record as well.

According to Seven Summit Treks, besides climbing Mt. Qomolangma 26 times between 1994 and 2022, Kami has climbed K2 (8,611m), the world's second highest peak inside Pakistan, and the world's fourth tallest Mt. Lhotse (8,516m) one time each, the eighth tallest Mt. Manaslu (8,163m) thrice and the sixth tallest Mt. Cho Oyu (8,201m) eight times.

"He holds the record for most climbs over 8,000 meters," the agency said.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australias prime minister on Sunday refused to say how his government might respond if China attempted to establish a military base less than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) off the Australian coast on the Solomon Islands.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that a Chinese naval base on the impoverished South Pacific island nation would be a red line for both Australia and the United States. His language was reminiscent to President Barack Obamas declaration in 2012 that the use of chemical weapons by Syrian forces would be crossing a red line requiring American military intervention.

Morrison was questioned by a journalist during an election campaign debate about a recent security pact between China and the Solomon Islands.

Asked what he meant by red line, he replied: It means that was something that Australia believes would be completely against our national interest.

We also believe it will be against the Solomon Islands national interest and we share that view in a similar language with the United States, Morrison added.

Morrison declined to say whether Australia would attempt to blockade any attempt to build a Chinese base. I think it would be very unwise for any government to speculate around these issues, he said.

What is necessary in international environments such as this is to be very clear about what the various partners positions are. That is United States position and certainly our position and I believe it is a broader position of the Pacific islanders family as well, he said.

The United States has said it would take unspecified action against the Solomons should the agreement with China pose a threat to U.S. or allied interests.

The Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told Parliament last week that opponents of the security pact had threatened his country with invasion.

On the threat of invasion, Morrison said last week, none of thats true.

Sogavare has maintained that there would be no Chinese base in his country and China has denied seeking a military foothold in the islands.

A draft of the pact, which was leaked online, said Chinese warships could stop in the Solomon Islands for logistical replenishment and China could send police and armed forces there to assist in maintaining social order. The Solomon Islands and China have not released the final version of the agreement.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese, who will become prime minister if his center-left Labor Party defeats the ruling conservative coalition in May 21 elections, accused Morrison of a massive foreign policy failure in allowing the China-Solomons deal to be sealed.

Albanese has promised closer engagement between Australia and its South Pacific island neighbors if Labor wins.

Australia has a bilateral security pact with the Solomon Islands and had sent a peacekeeping force to the capital, Honiara, in November after civil unrest.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
On a cold, snowy Christmas Eve in 1944, fighting the Germans in the Ardennes forest, Alex Fosco saved the lives of several of his fellow soldiers.

The 19-year-old soldier was feeding ammunition into a heavy mortar gun  blasting away at enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge  when the gun misfired. Suddenly a live shell threatened the lives of his mortar crew.

I picked it up and defused it, Fosco, of Omaha, said in a 2021 interview with Fra Noi, a Chicago-based magazine for Italian-Americans. I did exactly what I was supposed to do to keep the mortar from exploding.

At the same moment, his squad leader was badly wounded by heavy German fire. Fosco at first feared his action had somehow caused the severe injury, but he grabbed his first-aid kit to help.

I patched him up the best I could, Fosco said.

Fosco survived his units bloody slog through northern Europe until Germany surrendered six months later. Last year, the French government recognized him with its highest award for military or civilian service, the Legion dHonneur  translated, the Legion of Honor  during a ceremony at American Legion Post No. 1 in Omaha.

He died May 1, at 96. Foscos family honored his memory Thursday during a funeral service at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church.

Fosco was born Sept. 19, 1925, and grew up in Chicago, the oldest of five children in an Italian-American immigrant family. He took an interest in theater as a youth, once playing a pirate in the musical The Pirates of Penzance.

He quit school at age 16 to take a job as a receiving clerk on the loading dock at a local manufacturing plant.

He needed to help the family, said Carl Fosco of Omaha, his son.

Foscos draft notice arrived shortly after his 18th birthday, and he was inducted into the Army in January 1944.

Our country needed us, he told Fra Noi. My mom was sad, but they understood I needed to help.

Fosco volunteered for training as a heavy mortar operator and was assigned to the 75th Infantry Divisions 1st Battalion, 290th Infantry Regiment.

The unit landed at Normandy in November 1944 and was quickly on the front lines in Belgium when the Germans launched the massive Ardennes offensive just before Christmas.

Foscos mortar unit fought in several major battles that exacted a heavy toll. He quickly earned promotions from private to staff sergeant and acted as squad and section leader, supervising 10 men and two 81 mm guns. He earned three Bronze battle stars before the European war ended in May 1945.

For the rest of his life, Fosco would remember with compassion the children he met on occupation duty in the weeks after Germany surrendered.

They looked hungry, he said. I couldnt eat. I gave my food to the kids.

Fosco was granted leave in August to go home to Chicago to marry his sweetheart, Caroline Carol Marchegianni. He expected to begin training for the impending invasion of Japan immediately after.

Then, on the very day of their wedding, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

Within a week, the war was over.

Fosco served out the rest of his Army enlistment in Texas. After his discharge in April 1946, he went to work for Cinch Manufacturing, the same firm he worked for before he was drafted.

He stayed there 49 more years, while he and Carol raised two children, Carl and Joyce.

In 2005, Alex and Carol Fosco moved to Omaha  following their son, who relocated for work. Carol died in 2011.

Now they are buried together at Resurrection Cemetery. In addition to his two children, he is survived by six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and three of his four sisters.

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Patriotism, unease mix as Russia marks Victory Day in WWII

Red Soviet flags and orange-and-black striped military ribbons are on display in Russian cities and towns. Neighborhoods are staging holiday concerts. Flowers are being laid by veterans' groups at monuments to the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is known in the country.

At first glance, preparations for Monday's celebration of Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, seem to be the same as ever.

But the mood this year is very different, because Russian troops are fighting and dying again.

And this battle, now in its 11th week, is going on in neighboring Ukraine, against what the government has falsely called a campaign against Nazis.

The pride and patriotism usually associated with Russia's most important holiday, marked by a huge parade of soldiers and military hardware through Red Square, is mixing with apprehension and unease over what this year's Victory Day may bring.

More than 60 feared dead in bombing of Ukrainian school

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  More than 60 people were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school being used as a shelter, Ukrainian officials said, while Moscow's forces pressed their attack on defenders inside Mariupol's steel plant in an apparent race to capture the city ahead of Russia's Victory Day holiday.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was appalled by the reported school bombing Saturday in the eastern village of Bilohorivka and called it another reminder that it is civilians that pay the highest price in war.

Authorities said about 90 people were sheltering in the basement. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, but "most likely all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk province, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said. Luhansk is part of the Donbas, the industrial heartland in the east that Russia's forces are working to capture.

As Moscow prepared to celebrate the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany with a Victory Day military parade on Monday, a lineup of Western leaders and celebrities made surprise visits to Ukraine in a show of support.

Court leak is catnip for those who love a juicy DC whodunit

WASHINGTON (AP)  Washington loves a whodunit. And the latest one comes with the stunning plot twist of a leak from the famously buttoned-up Supreme Court.

The publication this past week of a draft opinion that said Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion in the United States, was wrong from the start and should be overruled, has set off sleuthing from every corner of the capital.

Who could possibly be behind such a glaring breach of trust? Why did that person choose to leak the draft? Why did that person choose a reporter from Politico? Who will investigate the matter? Will there be consequences? What will the court's ultimate opinion say?

Washington, by nature, abhors a vacuum. So the two months before the court actually issues a final ruling will be filled with guesses, surmise, false starts  and maybe even the truth about who is behind the leak.

Its an intrigue in the tradition of Watergates Deep Throat  one of Washington's best-kept secrets for more than three decades; of Iran-Contra, with classified documents spirited out in a secretary's undergarments; of Primary Colors, a roman a clef about a certain Southern governor.

"Everything shook": Last civilians leave Ukraine steel mill

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  Pale and drawn, the last civilians sheltering in bunkers beneath a sprawling steel mill in the decimated Ukrainian port city of Mariupol arrived late Sunday night in Zaporizhzhia, the first major Ukrainian city beyond the frontlines.

The shattered survivors spoke of constant shelling, dwindling food, ubiquitous mold  and using hand sanitizer for cooking fuel.

Ten buses slowly pulled into Zaporizhzhias deserted streets under darkness, carrying 174 evacuees from the Mariupol area. They included more than 30 of the 51 civilians evacuated in the last day from the Azovstal steel mill, where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters are making what appears to be their last stand. Both Ukrainian and Russian officials have said these civilians are the last non-combatants from the industrial complex.

It was terrible in the bunkers," said 69-year-old Lyubov Andropova, who had been in Azovstal since March 10. "Water would run down from the ceilings. There was mold everywhere. We were worried for the children, for their lungs.

The shelling was constant, and there was fear that our bunker would collapse, she said. Everything shook, we didnt go out.

Strong, swirling winds complicate New Mexico wildfire fight

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP)  Fast winds fanned the flames of wildfires burning across northeast New Mexico on Sunday, grounding firefighting aircraft and complicating work for firefighters as they sought to protect more communities from danger.

Its been a challenging day. The winds have picked up; they havent let up, fire spokesperson Todd Abel said Sunday evening.

The rural areas largest town  Las Vegas, New Mexico, population 13,000  sits on the eastern edge of the fire area and appeared safe for now thanks to fire lines dug with bulldozers and other preparations over the past week. But the northern and southern edges of the blaze were still proving tricky for firefighters to contain, particularly given winds as fast as 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour), Abel said.

The fire's perimeter stretched more than 60 miles (96 kilometers) from Las Vegas, New Mexico, on the southeast flank to near Holbrook about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of the Colorado line. The National Interagency Fire Center said early Sunday that more than 20,000 structures remained threatened by the fire, which has destroyed about 300 residences over the last two weeks. The fire center said full containment wasnt anticipated until the end of July.

The ferocious winds were expected to continue with little break Sunday night and at least into Monday. Strong, gusty winds are in many ways firefighters worst nightmare, especially in conditions so hot and dry as the crews in the Southwest have been battling since early April.

Havana hotel death toll at 31 as dogs search for survivors

HAVANA (AP)  The death toll of a powerful explosion at a luxury hotel in Cuba's capital increased to 31 Sunday evening as search crews with dogs hunted through the rubble of the iconic, 19th century building looking for people still missing.

The Hotel Saratoga, a five-star 96-room hotel in Old Havana, was preparing to reopen after being closed for two years when an apparent gas leak ignited, blowing the outer walls into the busy, midmorning streets just a block from the countrys Capitol building on Friday.

Several nearby structures also were damaged, including the historic Marti Theater and the Calvary Baptist Church, headquarters for the denomination in western Cuba. The church said on its Facebook page that the building suffered significant structural damage, with several collapsed or cracked walls and columns (and) the ceiling partially collapsed, though no church workers were hurt.

In releasing the names of those who were killed, the Health Ministry said the dead included four minors, a pregnant woman and a Spanish tourist, whose companion was seriously injured.

The ministry also said 54 people were injured, with 24 hospitalized. It previously reported 85 injured, but that tally turned out to include those killed by the explosion.

Dictator's son a front-runner as Filipinos elect next leader

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Filipinos were voting for a new president Monday, with the son of an ousted dictator and a champion of reforms and human rights as top contenders in a tenuous moment in a deeply divided Asian democracy.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the strongman ousted in a 1986 army-backed People Power uprising, has led pre-election surveys with a seemingly insurmountable lead. But his closest challenger, Vice President Leni Robredo, has tapped into shock and outrage over the prospect of another Marcos recapturing the seat of power and harnessed an army of campaign volunteers to underpin her candidacy.

Eight other candidates, including former boxing star Manny Pacquiao, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and former national police chief Sen. Panfilo Lacson have lagged far behind in voter-preference surveys.

Long lines of voters turned up early across most of the country without any major incident. But in southern Maguindanao province, a security hotspot, unidentified men fired at least three grenades Sunday night in the vicinity of the Datu Unsay town hall compound, wounding nine villagers who traveled there in advance from far-flung villages to be able to vote Monday. Two other grenades exploded shortly after in nearby Shariff Aguak town but caused no injuries, police said.

The winner will take office on June 30 for a single, six-year term as leader of a Southeast Asian nation hit hard by two years of COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns.

Pandemic pushes Oregons public defender system to the brink

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Oregons public defender system has shown cracks for years, but a post-pandemic glut of delayed cases has exposed shocking constitutional landmines impacting defendants and crime victims alike in a state with a national reputation for progressive social justice.

An acute shortage of public defenders means that at any given time at least several hundred low-income criminal defendants don't have legal representation, sometimes in serious felony cases that could put them away for years. Judges have dismissed nearly four dozen cases in the Portland area alone  among them a domestic violence case with allegations of strangulation as well as other major felonies  and have threatened to hold the state public defenders office in contempt of court for failing to provide attorneys.

Oregon sends out a weekly list of unrepresented defendants to private attorneys begging for help. Some of the accused have been jailed without a lawyer for months on charges of rape, sodomy, child sexual abuse or attempted murder, records show. Meanwhile, court proceedings for those not in custody are repeatedly pushed back, leaving defendants in limbo and the courts spinning their wheels.

Were overwhelmed. The pandemic is exposing all the problems that we have, the under-resourcing and the underfunding, and it just hit a breaking point," said Carl Macpherson, executive director of Metropolitan Public Defender, a large nonprofit public defender firm in Portland that temporarily stopped taking new cases when its attorneys couldn't keep up.

It just became abundantly clear that we are broken. You cannot do your job when you have 130 open felony cases per attorney, Macpherson said.

How climate scientists keep hope alive as damage worsens

In the course of a single year, University of Maine climate scientist Jacquelyn Gill lost both her mother and her stepfather. She struggled with infertility, then during research in the Arctic, she developed embolisms in both lungs, was transferred to an intensive care unit in Siberia and nearly died. She was airlifted back home and later had a hysterectomy. Then the pandemic hit.

Her trials and her perseverance, she said, seemed to make her a magnet for emails and direct messages on Twitter asking me how to be hopeful, asking me, like, what keeps me going?

Gill said she has accepted the idea that she is everybodys climate midwife and coaches them to hope through action.

Hope and optimism often blossom in the experts toiling in the gloomy fields of global warming,COVID-19 and Alzheimers disease.

How climate scientists like Gill or emergency room doctors during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic cope with their depressing day-to-day work, yet remain hopeful, can offer help to ordinary people dealing with a world going off the rails, psychologists said.

EXPLAINER: How 81-1 shot Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby

This doesnt happen. Horses at odds of nearly 81-1 dont win the Kentucky Derby. Jockeys who have never won any big stakes race of any kind dont win the Kentucky Derby. Owners with fewer than 10 career wins dont win the Kentucky Derby.

Rich Strike and his connections disagree with those sentiments.

One of the biggest upsets in racing history happened Saturday in the Kentucky Derby, when Rich Strike shocked the establishment by running past everyone and winning the first leg of this years Triple Crown series.

Those who bet $2 to win on Rich Strike got $163.60 in return. Not bad for about two minutes of work. For jockey Sonny Leon, trainer Eric Reed and owner Rick Dawson, the result was life-changing. Leon was racing Friday at a little-known track in Cincinnati called Belterra Park. Reeds biggest win before Saturday was with a filly called Satans Quick Chick in a Grade 2 race nearly 12 years ago. Dawson, a half-hour or so after the Derby, rhetorically asked a question to anyone within earshot.

What planet is this? Dawson said.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Patriotism, unease mix as Russia marks Victory Day in WWII

The Russian holiday of Victory Day brings out patriotic displays of flags, military parades and marches by veterans' groups celebrating the country's triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945. At first glance, the preparations for Mondays celebration seem to be the same as ever. But the mood this year is very different, because Russian troops are fighting and dying in a war in neighboring Ukraine. The pride and patriotism usually associated with Russias most important holiday is mixing with apprehension and unease over what this years Victory Day may bring. Some Russians fear that President Vladimir Putin will use it to implement a broad mobilization of troops to bolster Russias forces, although the Kremlin denies it.

More than 60 feared dead in bombing of Ukrainian school

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  Dozens of Ukrainians are feared dead after a Russian bomb destroyed a school sheltering about 90 people in eastern Ukraine. The governor of Luhansk province said Sunday that 30 people were rescued from the rubble of the school in the village of Bilohorivka but the rest probably didn't survive. Elsewhere, more explosions rocked the Black Sea port of Odesa. Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers making a last stand at a steel mill in the besieged city of Mariupol said they wouldn't surrender following the evacuation of civilians from the sprawling site. As the largest European conflict since World War II churned on, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. first lady Jill Biden made surprise visits to Ukraine.

Court leak is catnip for those who love a juicy DC whodunit

WASHINGTON (AP)  Theres nothing official Washington loves better than a juicy whodunit. And the mystery over who leaked the Supreme Courts draft opinion in a landmark abortion case offers the added subplot of tantalizing questions about why the leaker did it. Its an intrigue in the tradition of Watergates Deep Throat or the Trump-era whistleblower Anonymous. The hunt for the high court leaker is afoot. Chief Justice John Roberts has ordered an investigation into what he called an egregious breach of trust. And amateur sleuths have been eagerly trading theories on social media. One way or another, big secrets in Washington have a way of eventually coming out.

"Everything shook": Last civilians leave Ukraine steel mill

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  Pale and drawn, the last civilians sheltering in the bunkers beneath the sprawling steel mill in the decimated Ukrainian port city of Mariupol arrived late Sunday night in Zaporizhzhia, the first major Ukrainian city beyond the frontline. The seaside steel mill, where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters are making what appears to be their last stand, is the only part of the city not under Russian control. Thanks to its warren of tunnels and bunkers deep underground, many civilians had chosen it as the safest place to take cover from the relentless shelling of Mariupol, a formerly thriving port city that has been largely reduced to rubble.

EXPLAINER: What comes next with John Lee leading Hong Kong?

HONG KONG (AP)  A Hong Kong committee stacked with mostly pro-Beijing members has almost unanimously voted for John Lee to become the city's next leader. On July 1, the anniversary of Hong Kongs 1997 handover from Britain to China, Lee will take control of the semi-autonomous territory. Outgoing leader Carrie Lam leaves after five tumultuous years that spanned pro-democracy protests in 2019, a subsequent crackdown that snuffed out virtually all dissent, and the coronavirus pandemic. Lee was a career police officer and the city's security chief. His choice signals China's central government in Beijing is looking for someone reliable to ensure that its authority in Hong Kong is never questioned again.

Strong, swirling winds complicate New Mexico wildfire fight

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP)  Fast winds are complicating the fight against fires burning across northeast New Mexico. Wind gusts were as fast as 50 miles per hour on Sunday. That forced some firefighting aircraft to be grounded, taking away a key tool for battling the blazes. The area's largest rural town is Las Vegas, New Mexico, and it appears safe for now thanks to fire lines and other preparations. But the northern and southern ends of the fire are proving trickier to contain with the fast winds. The National Interagency Fire Center says more than 20,000 structures remain threatened.

Havana hotel death toll at 31 as dogs search for survivors

HAVANA (AP)  The death toll of a powerful explosion at a luxury hotel in Cubas capital has increased to 31 as search crews with dogs hunt through the rubble of the iconic, 19th century building looking for people still missing. The five-star Hotel Saratoga in Old Havana was preparing to reopen after being closed for two years when an apparent gas leak caused a massive explosion on Friday. The blast damaged nearby structures, including the historic Marti Theater and the Calvary Baptist Church. It's the headquarters for the denomination in western Cuba. Municipal authorities say burials for victims have begun, but some people are still waiting for news of missing friends and relatives.

Dictator's son a front-runner as Filipinos elect next leader

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Filipinos are voting for a new president with the son of an ousted dictator and a champion of human rights as the top contenders. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the strongman ousted in a 1986 People Power uprising, has led pre-election surveys. But his closest challenger, Vice President Leni Robredo, has tapped into shock and outrage over the prospect of another Marcos holding the top office. The winner of Monday's election will take office on June 30 for a single, six-year term and stands to inherit immense problems, including deep poverty and the legacy of a brutal anti-drugs crackdown led by outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte. His daughter, Sara Duterte, has topped surveys for the vice presidential race.

How climate scientists keep hope alive as damage worsens

Many climate scientists share a sense of optimism with professionals in other tough jobs like emergency room doctors and researchers who study Alzheimers Disease even as they chronicle a world losing its protective balance with the sun. Psychologists say how those experts cope may help us in a world that seems to be going off the rails. Climate scientists who have been through a lot both personally and professionally say the key is often action. Don't wallow, they say. Do something.

EXPLAINER: How 81-1 shot Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby

This doesnt happen. Horses at odds of nearly 81-1 dont win the Kentucky Derby. Jockeys who have never won any big stakes race of any kind dont win the Kentucky Derby. Owners with fewer than 10 career wins dont win the Kentucky Derby. Rich Strike and his connections disagree with those sentiments. One of the biggest upsets in racing history happened Saturday in the Kentucky Derby, when Rich Strike shocked the establishment by running past everyone and winning the first leg of this years Triple Crown series.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  More than 60 people were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb flattened a school being used as a shelter, Ukrainian officials said, while Moscow's forces pressed their attack on defenders inside Mariupol's steel plant in an apparent race to capture the city ahead of Russia's Victory Day holiday.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was appalled by the reported school bombing Saturday in the eastern village of Bilohorivka and called it another reminder that it is civilians that pay the highest price in war.

Authorities said about 90 people were sheltering in the basement. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, but "most likely all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead, Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk province, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, he said. Luhansk is part of the Donbas, the industrial heartland in the east that Russia's forces are working to capture.

As Moscow prepared to celebrate the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany with a Victory Day military parade on Monday, a lineup of Western leaders and celebrities made surprise visits to Ukraine in a show of support.

U.S. first lady Jill Biden met with her Ukrainian counterpart. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised his countrys flag at its embassy in Kyiv. And U2's Bono, alongside bandmate The Edge, performed in a Kyiv subway station that had been used as a bomb shelter, singing the 1960s song Stand by Me.

The acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Kristina Kvien, posted a picture of herself at the American Embassy, and described plans for the eventual U.S. return to the Ukrainian capital after Moscow's forces abandoned their effort to storm Kyiv weeks ago and began focusing on the capture of the Donbas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others warned in recent days that Russian attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, and some cities declared curfews or cautioned people against gathering in public. Russian President Vladimir Putin may want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square.

They have nothing to celebrate tomorrow, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN. They have not succeeded in defeating the Ukrainians. They have not succeeded in dividing the world or dividing NATO. And they have only succeeded in isolating themselves internationally and becoming a pariah state around the globe.

Russian forces struggled to complete their takeover of Mariupol, which has been largely reduced to rubble. The sprawling seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making what appeared to be their last stand was the only part of the city not under Russian control.

The last of the women, children and older civilians who were taking shelter with the fighters in the Azovstal plant were evacuated Saturday. Buses carrying over 170 evacuees from the steelworks and other parts of Mariupol arrived in the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, U.N. officials said.

The Ukrainian defenders in the steel mill have rejected deadlines set by the Russians for laying down their arms.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment, a unit holding the steel mill, said the site was targeted overnight by warplanes, artillery and tanks.

We are under constant shelling, he said online, adding that Russian ground troops tried to storm the plant  a claim Russian officials denied in recent days  and lay mines. Palamar reported a multitude of casualties."

Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another member of the Azov Regiment, said there were a couple of hundred wounded soldiers at the plant but declined to reveal how many able-bodied fighters remained. He said fighters didn't have lifesaving equipment and had to dig by hand to free people from bunkers that had collapsed under the shelling.

Surrender for us is unacceptable because we cannot grant such a gift to the enemy," Samoilenko said.

The Ukrainian government has reached out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for the defenders.

On the economic front, leaders from the Group of Seven industrial democracies pledged to ban or phase out imports of Russian oil. The G-7 consists of the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.

The United States also announced new sanctions against Russia, cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest TV stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services, and cutting off Russia's industrial sector from wood products, industrial engines, boilers and bulldozers.

Trudeau met with Zelenskyy and made a surprise visit to Irpin, which was damaged in Russias attempt to take Kyiv. The Ukrainian president also met with the German parliament speaker, Barbel Bas, in Kyiv to discuss further defense assistance.

Jill Biden visited western Ukraine for a surprise Mothers Day meeting with Zelenskyy's wife, Olena Zelenska.

Zelenskyy released a video address marking the day of the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago, drawing parallels between Russias invasion of Ukraine and the evils of Nazism. The black-and-white footage showed Zelenskyy standing in front of a ruined apartment block in Borodyanka, a Kyiv suburb.

Zelenskyy said that generations of Ukrainians understood the significance of the words Never again, a phrase often used as a vow not to allow a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Elsewhere, on Ukraines coast, explosions echoed again across the major Black Sea port of Odesa. At least five blasts were heard, according to local media.

The Ukrainian military said Moscow was focusing its main efforts on destroying airfield infrastructure in eastern and southern Ukraine.

In a sign of the dogged resistance that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military struck Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days. A satellite image by Planet Labs showed smoke rising from two sites on the island.

But Moscow's forces showed no sign of backing down in the south. Satellite photos show Russia has put armored vehicles and missile systems at a small base in the Crimean Peninsula.

The most intense combat in recent days has taken place in eastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeast near Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, is making significant progress, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank.

However, the Ukrainian army withdrew from the embattled eastern city of Popasna, regional authorities said.

Rodion Miroshnik, a representative of the pro-Kremlin, separatist Luhansk Peoples Republic, said its forces and Russian troops had captured most of Popasna after two months of fierce fighting.

The Kharkiv regional administration said three people were killed in shelling of the town of Bogodukhiv, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Kharkiv city.

South of Kharkiv, in Dnipropetrovsk province, the governor said a 12-year-old boy was killed by a cluster munition that he found after a Russian attack. An international treaty bans the use of such explosives, but neither Russia nor Ukraine has signed the agreement.

This war is treacherous, the governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, wrote on social media. It is near, even when it is invisible.

Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: 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.
Nebraskas Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday will not only answer the basic question of who stands a good chance of leading the state: Itll provide a window into the mindset of the states Republican primary voters, including to what extent theyre influenced by former President Donald Trump.

Itll also test the sway of, by some accounts, an unprecedented barrage of negativity  and whether the Republican Party, flush with thousands of voters who switched their party registration, can coalesce in the wake of a divisive primary.

At least one prominent Republican, Gov. Pete Ricketts, expressed some reluctance regarding that last question, depending on the outcome.

By most accounts, the race is down to three candidates: Conklin Co. CEO Charles W. Herbster, hog producer and University of Nebraska regent Jim Pillen and State Sen. Brett Lindstrom.

Former Sen. Theresa Thibodeau, who entered the race months after the others, has consistently come fourth in polling, with enough of a share to affect the outcome but not enough to be considered a front-runner. She also trails in fundraising, with a significant gap separating her from the other three.

Especially in a national context, eyes are on Herbster, who has long touted his ties and loyalty to Trump and echoes his rhetoric. The former presidents endorsement gave his largely self-funded campaign an early boost and ultimately came to define it.

The biggest issue thats in play right now  in my opinion, probably going to decide the race next Tuesday  is the Trump endorsement, former Gov. Dave Heineman said, noting that Trump has particularly strong support outside the Omaha-Lincoln corridor.

The former president has sought to exert his influence in the party by selectively endorsing scores of candidates across the country.

In the Indiana and Ohio primaries last week, all 22 Trump-endorsed candidates won, according to Politico, including in Ohios contentious Republican primary for U.S. Senate. In that race, four leading candidates vied for the endorsement. Trump backed Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance, and he emerged victorious.

In the wake of those allegations, Trump visited Nebraska for a rally with Herbster. Thursday, Trump returned virtually for a brief, dial-in tele-rally where he vouched for Herbster and said hes innocent.

Multiple women accused the former president of sexual assault, but that did not prevent Trump from carrying Nebraska in 2016 and winning all but one of the states five electoral votes in 2020.

With your vote for Charles in the primary, you can give a stinging rebuke to the RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) and sellouts and losers who are so poorly representing your state, Trump said Thursday.

The impact of Trumps endorsement in this race, especially amid serious allegations, isnt certain. But several observers of Nebraska politics told The World-Herald its a key reason, if not the sole reason, that Herbster has stayed competitive.

Primary voters, in particular, pay attention to what President Trump has to say, Heineman said. And, when he endorses a candidate, its a big plus. Is it enough? Hey, well know on Tuesday night.

Kevin Smith, chair of University of Nebraska-Lincolns political science department, sees a larger narrative.

The way that I see this is: This is a tale of different wings of the Republican party kind of duking it out in the primary, he said.

While Herbsters loyalties are to Trump, Pillen is backed by Ricketts, the highest-profile Republican in Nebraska and a dominant force in the state party, as well as the Nebraska Farm Bureau. People may consider him a business and establishment candidate, though Pillen rejects that label.

Lindstrom has presented himself as a traditional conservative with experience, whos not beholden to either of those camps. His biggest endorsement is from Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert.

If Im Charles Herbster, I worry that the floor of Trump supporters is also my ceiling, that I havent attracted any new voters, political consultant Perre Neilan said. Jim Pillen is slow and steady wins the race, and Brett has found his narrow path of those looking for a younger, fresh face as an alternative to the far right.

All three candidates have been the target of negative advertising, which has flooded the race at a volume that observers said is unprecedented in modern times. Many of the ads have come from third-party groups, including one that received nearly $1.3 million from Ricketts in March and April.

That political action committee, Conservative Nebraska, focused on Herbster at first, then shifted focus to target Lindstrom with claims that hes not a true conservative. Last week, it came out with two new anti-Herbster ads.

The impact of the negative ads is another unknown  and thats especially true of Lindstrom, said Philip Young, a political consultant and former executive director of the state GOP. Lindstrom has been a frequent target in recent weeks, but vowed early on to run a positive campaign.

Former U.S. Rep. John Cavanaugh, a Democrat, said he had never seen candidates repeatedly accuse their competitors of illegal activity as they have this cycle. He mentioned an ad from the Herbster campaign that targeted critical race theory in the context of Pillens time as regent, which had no factual basis.

I just find the whole process of the Republican primary advertising to be horrific, Cavanaugh said. Its certainly unprecedented.

Heineman said voters are frustrated by all the negativity and suggested it may result in lower voter turnout (Secretary of State Bob Evnens rough prediction is 35% voter turnout, which would nearly match the state record of 35.1% for a gubernatorial primary). Heineman commended Lindstrom for running a positive campaign.

The campaigns have been more about why you shouldnt vote for the other guy, instead of Why should you vote for me?  he said. I think thats unfortunate.

Ryan Horn, president of Bullhorn Communications and a Republican media strategist, pointed to one ad in particular, which he believes to be a national first: Herbsters ad aimed at discrediting Slamas allegations.

Nebraska created a first in a governors race in 1986, when, for the first time in American history, both candidates from both major parties for governor of the state were women, Horn said. This is a much less glorious milestone.

Yet another dynamic that has more recently come to the fore: a wave of new Republican voters.

State data show the Republican Party gained nearly 8,500 registered voters between January and Mondays registration deadline, while the Democratic Party lost about 8,100 and there were about 2,800 fewer nonpartisan voters.

Anecdotally, it appears that many of those who switched parties plan to vote for Lindstrom. And, even considering that some of the perceived shift is actually attributable to deaths, moves and new voters, they could make up a meaningful sum.

A percentage point or two could be the difference between winning and losing, Smith said. The last time there was an open race for governor, in 2014, Ricketts won by a margin of about 2,350.

Eight thousand votes is a huge number, Neilan said. If those all go to one candidate, it could make up more than 10% of their total vote.

Horn said yet another major factor could be turnout, considering the relative growth in Nebraskas cities and large towns versus rural Nebraska.

The 2020 Census showed that Douglas, Sarpy and Lancaster Counties alone grew by 136,381 people and now account for 56% of Nebraskas total population, while many rural areas of the state lost population.

One thing seems certain: The outcome of this bitterly contested and often negative race stands to make a lasting impact on Nebraska politics. Will a fractured party unite behind the winning candidate this time?

Theres a lot of mudslinging thats been going on and, you know, cleaning yourself off after the primary can be a significant challenge, Smith said.

Ricketts, who has said that Herbster would be a terrible governor and that Lindstrom isnt a true conservative, suggested in a statement that hed support whoever wins  but he offered a vague, Herbster-specific caveat.

I have consistently supported the winner of Republican primaries and believe unity behind our candidates and principles is great for our state, Ricketts said in a statement. However, I would not be able to support Charles W. Herbster unless he is able to resolve these allegations of sexual misconduct by eight women.

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Laying wreaths at memorial plaques dedicated to the three Chinese journalists killed in the NATO bombing of the former Chinese embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, representatives of Serbia and China on Saturday commemorated the Chinese martyrs in Belgrade and condemned NATO's "barbaric act."



Among the officials present at the commemoration were Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin, Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, and Tian Yishu, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Serbia.

"Chinese citizens that laid their lives here, didn't even need to be here, but they chose to do so, in order to share the most difficult and saddest moments with us," Vulin said.

"Serbia will never stop asking for responsibility for crimes conducted by NATO during their aggression," Vulin said. "Those (Western powers) which now ask from us to align with their policies should remember their statements from 1999."

He noted that Serbia and China "have a friendship made of steel, forged in the most difficult of times."

Tian said that "China-Serbia friendship of steel is now playing a vital role in the peace and economic recovery of this region."

"We wish to continue comprehensive cooperation with all peace-loving countries, both in fields of economic cooperation and security," he said.

Svetozar Parezanin, a retired colonel of the Serbian Army who came here with a local citizen association, held a banner with photographs of the three killed journalists -- Shao Yunhuan of Xinhua News Agency, and Xu Xinghu and his wife Zhu Ying of the Guangming Daily newspaper.

"We remember that day very well, and we will never forget it. We come here every year to show our feeling of respect towards brotherly Chinese people," Parezanin said.
The Lee Weather Team continues to share stories on all things weather and meteorology, and the timing on this latest episode couldn't come at a better time.

In this episode, the team  Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia  talks about covering and forecasting tornadoes as well as personal experiences living through extreme weather events.

And don't forget to check back Monday for the latest episode, which looks at how people react to tornado and severe weather warnings.

Sublette talks with Kim Klockow-McClain, a research scientist and societal applications coordinator with the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies at the University of Oklahoma and the National Severe Storms Laboratory.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Bloomington-Normal

Galleries, museums

Some cultural institutions are open or making plans to reopen under current COVID restrictions. Check with each facility for indoor, online or outdoor programing. Open facilities have face covering, distancing and other guidelines in effect; see websites or call for details.

Angel Ambrose Fine Art Studio; 101 W. Monroe St. Suite 201, Bloomington; Open First Fridays 5-8 p.m. and by appointment; 309-825-4655; angelambrose.com.

David Davis Mansion; 1000 Monroe Drive, Bloomington; open for tours, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat.; groups of 10 or less; $10 per person; $100 minimum; daviddavismansion.org; 309-828-1084.

Eaton Studio Gallery; 411 N. Center St., Bloomington; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays; 5-8 p.m. First Fridays, or by appointment or ring bell; eatonstudiogallery.com; 309-828-1575.

Illinois Art Station; 101 E. Vernon Ave., Normal; Gallery open Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; illinoisartstation.org; 309-386-1019.

Inside Out: Accessible Art Gallery & Cooperative; 200 W. Monroe St., Bloomington; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; Saturday 8 a.m.-2 p.m.; by appointment Sunday-Tuesday; and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. First Friday; insideoutartcoop.org; 309-838-2160.

Jan Brandt Gallery; Normandy Village, 1100 Beach St., Building 8, Normal; by appointment; janbrandtgallery.com; 309-287-4700.

Joann Goetzinger Studio and Gallery; 313 N. Main St. Suite A, Bloomington; open first Fridays 5-8 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m.-4 p.m., also by appointment; masks and social distancing required; 309-826-1193.

Main Gallery; 404 N. Main St., Bloomington; 12-5 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays; 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturdays; By chance or appointment at 309-590-6779.

McLean County Arts Center; 601 N. East St., Bloomington; open; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday, 12-4 p.m. Saturday; masks and social distancing required; mcac.org; 309-829-0011.

McLean County Museum of History; 200 N. Main St., Bloomington; 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sundays, until further notice; reservations at education@mchistory.org or 309-827-0428; mchistory.org; 309-827-0428.

Merwin and Wakeley Galleries; Illinois Wesleyan University; Bloomington; open; 12-4 p.m., Monday through Friday; 7-9 p.m., Tuesday evening; 1-4 p.m., Saturday through Sunday; iwu.edu/art/galleries; 309-556-3391.

Prairie Aviation Museum; 2929 E. Empire St., Bloomington; opens April 2; hours 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; prairieaviationmuseum.org; 309-663-7632.

University Galleries of Illinois State University, Normal; open; 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Sunday; 309-438-5487; galleries.illinoisstate.edu/about/visit/.

Central Illinois

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, 212 N. Sixth St., Springfield; advance reservation required; adults $15, seniors $12, under 5 free; presidentlincoln.illinois.gov; 217-558-8844.

Art Center at Greater Livingston County Arts Council; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; noon-4 p.m. Sunday; 209 W. Madison St., Pontiac; pcartcenter.com; 815-419-2472.

Contemporary Art Center of Peoria; Riverfront Arts Center, 305 S.W. Water St., Peoria; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; peoriacac.org; 309-674-6822.

Dickson Mounds Museum; 10956 N. Dickson Mounds Road, Lewistown; open, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; free; illinoisstatemuseum.org; 309-547-3721.

Illinois State Museum; 502 S. Spring St., Springfield; open, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; Monday-Friday, free; illinoisstatemuseum.org; 217-782-7386.

Lincoln Heritage Museum; Lincoln Center at Lincoln College, 300 Keokuk St., Lincoln; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 1-4 p.m. Saturday, closed Sundays, Mondays and on Lincoln College breaks; $4-7; museum.lincolncollege.edu; 217-735-7399.

Peoria Art Guild; 203 Harrison St., Peoria; open; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday or by appointment; peoriaartguild.org; 309-637-2787.

Peoria Riverfront Museum; downtown riverfront Peoria; open 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday and Friday; 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday; and closed Sunday; adults $11, seniors, students $10, ages 3-17 $9; peoriariverfrontmuseum.org; 309-686-7000.

Simpkins Military History Museum; 605 E. Cole St., Heyworth; Open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 1-5 p.m.; Free admission (donations accepted); Private tours, call first; 309-319-3413; Open House, 1-5 p.m., March 19, marking 63 years of collecting military items.

Time Gallery; 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday; 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Saturday; Closed Sunday; Clock Tower Place Building, 201 Clock Tower Drive, East Peoria; 309-467-2331.

U of I Krannert Art Museum; 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign; open; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; Thursdays until 8 p.m. when classes are in session; closed Sunday and Monday; kam.illinois.edu; 217-333-1861.

Exhibits

"Community: African American Experience During Migration"; through Spring 2022; Owens Gallery; "Uncovered: The Ken Burns Collection"; Galleries 1 & 2; through June 5; "Design & Duplication: Treasures of the Peoria Riverfront Museum Collection; Gallery 2, through Fall 2022; "Archibald Motley's Bronzeville at Night"; through March 2023; "Modern Masters: Modern Masters from the Heintzman Collection"; through Sept. 11"; Peoria Riverfront Museum.

"Sacred/Supernatural: Religion, Myth and Magic in European Prints, 1450-1900"; through May 15; "To Know The Fire: Pueblo Women Potters and The Shaping of History"; through Sept. 3; "Latina Community 'Voces'"; through July 9; U of I Krannert Art Museum.

"Marlene Gregor"; Armstrong Gallery; through May 13; McLean County Arts Center.

"2022 Honoring the Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans"; through Nov. 12; Simpkins Military History Museum.

"Edgewise"; second floor gallery; through Sept. 3; Illinois State Museum.

"Shahrbanoo Hamzeh"; Brandt Gallery; through May 27; McLean County Arts Center.

"Mike Baur and John Boylan"; through June 17; Gallery 3R; "Jill King: New Horizons"; through June 17; Preston Jackson Gallery; Contemporary Art Center of Peoria.

"Collapse Rome On Your Own"; May 12-June 3; Kyle Riley; Lincoln Arts Institute.
NORMAL  Illinois State University commencement activities kicked into high gear Saturday morning by honoring graduates in the College of Education, Interdisciplinary Studies and University Studies at Redbird Arena in Normal.

It was one of four ceremonies set on Saturday, followed that afternoon by the colleges of Applied Science and Technology, Business and Arts and Sciences. Graduates with the Mennonite College of Nursing and the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts were honored Friday.

Speakers at the morning commencement ceremony included Academic Affairs Vice President and Provost Aondover Tarhule, Education Dean James Wolfinger, graduate Julia Murray, and ISU President Terri Goss Kinzy.

In her address, the university president told graduates to revel in the moment, because youve certainly earned it.

However, she continued, they cant just rest on their laurels, as theres much more work to be done. She added those labors will keep them busy, engaged and fulfilled for the rest of their lives, if done right.

Kinzy also noted the students endured troubling and painful chapters in U.S. history, from the pandemic to issues of inequality and injustice, plus global conflicts, political polarization and an erosion of civility in politics and society.

She said these students may never have given a second thought to what was considered a normal college experience, adding we all took it for granted. But through it all, she said they overcame fearful times and tough challenges, and learned a great deal about themselves.

Kinzy said they proved they can learn, adapt and grow from challenges.

You, like us all, learned that the simple act of being together, like we are today, is a gift, said Kinzy.

After her address, she presented a posthumous Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters to acknowledge the life and work of ISU 1953 alumnus Andrew Purnell. Kinzy said he helped form ISUs first NAACP chapter, whose members tested public accommodations for African Americans in Bloomington.

In 1984, Purnell set up the ISU Black Colleagues Association, which has a membership of almost 300 and has raised over $280,000 in student scholarships. He was scheduled to receive his Honorary Doctorate in February 2020 at ISUs Founding Celebration, but couldnt attend because of health issues.

Purnell died in March 2020. His three children were present Saturday to receive their late fathers honors.

Scholarly reflections

Murray, graduating with a bachelor's degree in special education, learning and behavior, was the recipient of the George Manus Scholarship, and described Saturdays gathering as beautiful.

She said her resilient peers persevered through over two years of COVID, tragic loss of life and sacrifices to complete their program.

As a community of educators, we did this, Murray said.

She then invoked the words of Maya Angelou: People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

She asked the audience to recall memories of their own instructors, and how they made lasting impressions on them.

At the end of the day, our students will remember how we touched their lives, Murray said.

Proud parents

Jim Voce of Johnsburg was one proud father of a College of Education graduate. He told The Pantagraph after the ceremony that his daughter was the first in his family to get a diploma, but they have two more kids on the same path.

His other daughter, Kara, was at the ceremony, too. The ISU junior majoring in business said its sad that her sister is leaving campus, and shell miss having family just a short walk away.

Kim Menczywor was also proud of her daughter, Sam, along with father Russ Menczywor. The dad said he was excitedly looking forward to her future.

Sam Menczywor told The Pantagraph it was a great day and she was taking in all the emotions. The big challenge she overcame was student teaching near her home in Mt. Prospect, and being away from friends on the ISU campus.

She plans to teach special education students in seventh grade, and said shes prepared for finally running her very own classroom.

Kevin Williams, of Chicago, was there to celebrate his graduating sister, Amari Cole. Williams, who studies at Northern Illinois University, said the moment made him feel determined to get his own degree done.

Mother Renata Cole said she was especially proud of her daughter.

Quincys Kevin Broemmer witnessed his youngest daughter, Katie, graduate on Saturday. He said Katie aced all of her classes the whole four years she was here.

He also noted his nephew is a Redbird alumnus, and went into accounting. Broemmer said that nephew is now CEO of a company in Quincy.

Katie Broemmer said she did student teaching with ISUs Professional Development Schools program at Benjamin Elementary School, with the McLean County Unit 5 school district.

Her cap was decorated with cutouts of book characters she had read to her students.

Broemmer said her experience in the PDS program was the best.

I loved it.

Contact Brendan Denison at (309) 820-3238. Follow Brendan Denison on Twitter: @BrendanDenison

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The sad demise of an American institution  a reprise 101 years later of a famous Bloomington woman few, until now, have ever heard of  and life in a busy B-N parking lot pothole.

A trilogy for ones Mothers Day fare:

Once a pillar of accuracy 

A phone book  families used to wait for it. Youd hope maybe you could get two, one for the upstairs phone, too. It easily was the most used book in a home.

One other thing: Its accuracy was impeccable.

To spot an actual error in a phone book was like finding a four-leaf clover in January.

Back in its day, the phone book being so accurate, folks like news reporters used the phone book to double-check the spelling of a persons name or address.

Sadly, though, evidence inside 2022 editions of the B-N areas The Real Yellow Pages isnt looking quite the same.

In this years edition, youll find listings for businesses that are closed (Caffe Italia, TGI Fridays, BraiZe, Swingers, a Pizza Hut on East Empire that closed in 2008).

Millennium Pain Center is listed under Attorneys.

The only listed movie theater in B-N is Festival of Trees.

The only B-N restaurant with carry-out foods is Ryburn Place, a rehabbed 1950s gas station thats now a tourism center and gift shop in Normal  with no food.

There are no listings whatsoever for any of the Steak n Shakes, even if they were born here.

The only Specialty Shop in B-N is Star Uniforms of Illinois.

Along East Oakland in Bloomington is Ryan Pharmacy. It hasnt been open for years.

A sad demise of a formerly great American institution.

Sigh.

Theyre everywhere!

Those Canadian geese, they havent flown any farther south, and again this springtime are nesting everywhere in B-N instead  reportedly, near the entryway at Carle BroMenn Medical Center, atop a Country Financial building, in a parking space at the Shoppes at College Hills, casually sitting atop eggs in a trash bin outside DeGarmo Hall at Illinois State University 

Perhaps the most unusual site/sight, captured via phone camera by Bloomingtons Marcelle Ploense: One goose has been nesting in a pothole as traffic buzzes all about in Bloomingtons Lakewood Plaza, near the ever-busy Hy-Vee grocery store.

Or as Marcelle so nicely puts it, I guess potholes are good for something.

One for the history books  and current recipes

In an average day, week and year, a newspaper will get loads of random calls, requests, reports and queries.

Here was one the other day, taken by The Pantagraph newsrooms Olivia Jacobs:

Do you have the recipe for banana pudding with vanilla wafers published in The Pantagraph?

Possibly. Do you know when it was printed?

Yes  1921.

There was a pause.

A 101-year-old banana pudding recipe printed back when Warren Harding was president, World War I had just ended and bananas had barely met America, not to mention ever met the bottom of a Pyrex dish laced with vanilla cookies?

Heres the weirdest part:

Its not only true, its apparently historic.

According to Southern Living magazine (www.southernliving.com/culture/history-of-banana-pudding-south), a Bloomington woman, Mrs. Laura Kerley, in 1921 created the first banana pudding recipe that layered in vanilla wafers and sent (the recipe) to the Pantagraph in Bloomington, Ill., where it then first appeared worldwide.

And, sure enough!

In a tiny, one-graph blurb headlined Banana pudding, buried on an inside page of an Aug. 13, 1921, edition (Pantagraph reporter Connor Wood found the recipe via an archival website) was Mrs. Kerleys contribution to banana pudding lovers, the world and our waistlines today.

In her recipe, Mrs. Kerley  she listed her address as R.F.D. #1, Bloomington (remember when rural areas were RFDs?)  suggested letting the pudding stand for half a day before eating.

Incredibly, her recipe has been allowed to let stand now more than a century.

By the 1940s, says Southern Living, Nabisco picked up Mrs. Kerleys rural Bloomington concoction and published its official Nilla Wafer Banana Pudding recipe on the box. And thats where it remains to this very day.

Interestingly, Google is loaded with references to Mrs. Kerley and her dessert delight, but her name never appeared again in this newspaper, according to searches. Theres no word either whatever happened to Mrs. Kerley, other than, thanks to research by B-N area genealogist Roger Hughes, she was married to John, a laborer/farmer, had children, passed in 1967 at age 67 and rests eternally in a Tennessee cemetery near Knoxville, assumedly not between two Nilla wafers.

OK, sorry. We might have accidentally added that last part. Lovingly, of course.

Happy Mothers Day.

Bill Flick is at bflick@pantagraph.com.

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100 years ago

May 8, 1922: The Illinois China Co. plant in Lincoln burned down Saturday night. It was owned by local investors and its loss puts about 100 employees out of work. Its believed the fire originated in one of the kilns. The plant had moved to Lincoln from Roodhouse three years ago.

75 years ago

May 8, 1947: Two Bloomington police officers passed the 20-year milestone with BPD. Capt. Roe Wirick and Detective Sgt. Dan Theis both joined up on May 6, 1927. Now both are coming up on retirement eligibility, but they have reportedly indicated they want to stay with the force.

50 years ago

May 8, 1972: Gasoline prices shot up ten percent in the Twin Cities this past week. Thats a four-cent jump at most area filling stations. Motorists are paying 40.9 cents for regular and 44.9 for premium. A survey of stations in Champaign-Urbana, Decatur and Peoria shows similar results.

25 years ago

May 8, 1997: Sheriff Steve Brienen said he wont run again when his term is up in 18 months. Now is the time for the next generation to take over, Brienen said. Its time for me to move on. When his time is up, Brienen will have served five terms as sheriff of McLean County.

Compiled by Jack Keefe; jkeefe@coldwellhomes.com.
Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye (AMO), who is the immediate past Speaker of Ghanas Parliament, is a distinguished scholar, an academic, a diplomat and a politician. Prof. Oquaye who is also a Reverend Minister was recently honoured by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) by naming its Centre for Constitutional Affairs after him.



In academia, he achieved the singular distinction of winning within four years the coveted International Rockefeller Senior Scholar Award and the Senior Fulbright Scholar Award in 1993 and 1997 respectively.



He is a barrister of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, and a senior member of the Ghana Bar. Prof. Oquaye also served Ghana as a two-time MP and Minister of State among others.



He presided over a productive Parliament, which among others, passed a Private Members Bill in Ghana for the first time in the countrys history. He is a senior religious Minister of the Baptist Church, Dzorwulu.



The Daily Graphics Political Editor, Albert K. Salia (AKS), caught up with him after a morning workout to have an in-depth interview with him. We bring you excerpts of the interview.



AKS: Right Honourable, what occupies you after your Speakership?



AMO: Research. Im always on one research business or the other. I dont have to make noise about it but Im interested in research. After this interview. Ill take you to my library and then you can see. It is important you see it.



AKS: When did you get actively involved in party politics?



AMO: You know, Ive been actively involved in party politics as a matter of principle for long because in 1992 I was the founding chairman of the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency for NPP. At the same time, I was the NPP Secretary for Greater Accra, and the late Peter Ala Adjetey was my chairman. The man later on I came to succeed as speaker. Very interesting, he was my chairman; very hardworking and honourable man.



AKS: What is your view on ministers being nominated from Parliament?



AMO: I want a complete dichotomy. A complete separation, in that, no minister will also be an MP and its nothing strange to us. We had it in 1979 under President Hilla Limann and we have it in America. We have it in Nigeria and in other places. It allows better performance of MPs and ensures accountability and responsibility can be more insured because you dont appoint him or her.



AKS: But you could have pushed this while you were speaker.



AMO: I could have also done that but the table was also quite full, except that I spoke about them on various occasions and as for the dichotomy, I can assure you that we had meetings upon that as well, in that,I know very well that the Right Honourable Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin supports that viewpoint and hes very experienced and a good parliamentarian. The Honourable Majority and the Honourable Minority leaders support it. We have the same view that to strengthen parliament, we would need to have a dichotomy. Let the ministers do their work and let the members of parliament also do their work and then check them.



AKS: Now, that leads to the issue of the current hung parliament. Looking at it, what do you make of it and also what can be done to ensure harmony more or less in such situations in our parliament?





AMO: It is a very difficult situation. But we should remember, in America, Presidents work with the majority coming from the other party. It has happened several times. The president is a Democrat, majority in the House are Republicans. It happens. The majority must accommodate the minority. There must be more lobbying. The minority too should know that the majority has a programme or the government has the programme. So, you can make your point but dont be inhibitive. We dont want inhibitive opposition whether it is made up of NPP or NDC. I like to choose my words carefully because of the nature of our divisive politics. You must not be inhibitive and you must know that you are not ruling. If they say their policy is good and if you make all your points and they insist on going that way, its not something to really go on fighting about because the people will judge someday. Ultimately, the people will judge. We have told you that we dont support policy A. We have told you that this your policy A is not good but if you insist, we are not going to inhibit you, otherwise it may look as if it is good but we dont want you to succeed. This is how the American man has worked. So, you will know clearly that, when this bill was being passed, Democratic Party was against it. The Republicans insisted. Today, look at how it has worried us. So, these Republicans, we want them out. That is politics. So, you make your point strongly to a certain point but you are not inhibitive and Im not saying inhibitive in regard to any political party. We should all, when we are in opposition work towards not being inhibitive. If that is what they want, we have made our point. Fine. We live to see. That is politics and that is democracy.



AKS: Lets go to the issue of party financing. You have indicated that the country needs to review the issue of party financing. From your perspective, how do you suggest this to be done?





AMO: Yes. If you take the Hansard today, you will see that the Majority Leader during my time, the Minority Leader and a number of members of parliament had made very rich contributions about moneyocracy. They are all not happy about it. Within internal party democracy processes, theres moneyocracy. And also when it comes to the elections, that is, interparty and intraparty, both have become a matter of moneyocracy and they are decrying it.



AKS: Still on this, will you suggest or recommend the state funding of political parties and in what way?



AMO: Yes. You know that in Ghana we have already done some work on state funding. It has been discussed by various think tanks and also by the state itself. Some recommendations have been made but we have not implemented them.



AKS: What about the abuse of incumbency?



AMO: Every party in opposition in this country during the Fourth Republic has accused the party in government of abuse of incumbency. Should we leave it like that or look at what abuse of incumbency implies? We must then observe and identify the implications, and that they are worked at and stop them. Let me give you an example I learnt in India. At one time when I was there, the Deputy Prime Minister during political campaign time went to a particular part of India to do official business and some campaign in a government helicopter. At a certain time of the day, when it was 6pm and he had to fly back, he was warned that he could not use the helicopter again. Because official time was past as there was a rule which banned him from using the state machinery for his political campaign and he obliged. It means that there are certain rules which exist and we can also research, analyse and bring them to our country so that we dont have some flying in planes and others going by road or trotro all in the campaign.



AKS: How does the state address the surge in political parties?



AMO: That is parasitic, that is the appropriate word in literature, parasitic political parties will not be allowed. So you just form a party so that the state would start paying you and maybe your relatives that you have put in the office. It wont work that way. And incidentally, these things are not novel.



AKS: So what about the independent candidates?



AMO: If you are an independent candidate, you cannot become an independent candidate by your choice alone. If it is by your choice alone then of course you have to pay. But if a number of Ghanaians believe in you, that this man is independent and that hes got the capacity to rule, theyll pay and thats the thing. The whole purpose of deposit for elections is to avoid you coming to joke with the process and I would like that Ghanaians must appreciate that.



AKS: On the issue of constitutional reforms, theres been proposals for the Electoral Commission (EC) to be looked at in terms of the appointment of the commissioners and key functionaries to avoid the situation that people tag the commissioners. What is your view on it?



AMO: It is very important because it is part of the credibility and acceptability of the process.



AKS: Will you then suggest that we have a second look at it?



AMO: We seriously have to look at it. You know, in some countries, the Electoral Commission, we have members of the main political parties nominating. Theres an NPP man or woman. NPP has got two slots, NDC has got two slots. They are all members of the Commission. That alone is a big force. In some places, parliament appoints the commission. In some places, they have provisions for retired judges for a four-year term, accepted by both sides of the house.



AKS: Are you suggesting that we also look at a tenure for the EC Commissioners?



AMO: Yes, the tenure can be determined, four years. Im just giving you some of the best practices. Out of some of the other areas, we can also think of something for us. I dont have the answer but I know that there are other possibilities. We can agree for example that, if it is a four-year term or a six-year term and that the person must be a retired judge of the Appeal Court or Supreme Court. You will find that, if you make a man like, at the time that Justice Brobbey retired, Justice Date-Bah, the two lady Justices who had just retired, you know, they have integrity. All these ladies and gentlemen that Ive just mentioned, you will find that they are going to be the chairperson only and therefore supervise. Under their watch, they will make sure that everything is okay.



AKS: Will this resolve the problem of some political parties accusing the EC of

bias or partisanship?



AMO: From 1992, when we wrote the stolen verdict of which I was a principal writer and we were not happy with what happened, nobody has ever shown full happiness. So we must examine this and know that it is important to have a system that I will call detached. I like some of those words, detached from the government and that goes to other powers of appointment of the president. So, this presidential appointee business, we have to rethink it. And without regard or reference to any particular president.



AKS: Can you please give a typical example of something that you influenced for it to be implemented politically?



AMO: When I was going to be speaker for example, I had spoken a lot about private members bill. I found it very unbecoming that MPs could not themselves introduce bills in Parliament. I said to myself that even the British who brought us those ideas had moved away from it and theres vigorous private members bills in Britain and so on and so forth. When I was second deputy speaker, I took steps to research on this when I went to Britain on holiday. Although at the time I could not push it through, I caused a whole conference to be held and brought experts to speak on it.



AKS: What was the outcome of the conference?



AMO: We built a consensus and when finally we were going to have that motion on it, it was moved by the Majority Leader and seconded by the Minority Leader so it was a matter of the style of the Speaker and his position and the strategy adopted for everyone to understand. In fact, we even had a media day on it so that members of the media would understand and also propagate it.



AKS: So indirectly, you initiated it through research and then when the opportunity came for instance, the private members bill, you pushed it through. So based on your recommendations at your lecture, what happens to the Professor Fiadjoe Constitutional Reform Commissions report?



AMO: It is a very useful report because a lot of work was done on it. Knowledge is a continuum. Experience continues to rehearse itself. And thats when experience becomes very important. The work we are going to do at the centre and what other well-meaning people will also add to it should be by way of a typical constitutional commission, neutral of both sides. NDC is there, NPP is there, CPP is there, experts are there and then we can put these things together and see whether there are areas that we want to reform.



AKS: Are you suggesting the 1992 Constitution is not a good document or served us well?



AMO: Its a very good document. It has after all served us well all this time from 1993 and after all, it was also borrowed from the 1969 constitution, 1979 constitution about matters again relating to human rights which was incorporated. That alone is a big heritage to be kept for us. So we cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater at all. Its a good document, largely speaking. We can tighten the screws and make it work better for us.



AKS: Talking about your proposals for instance, what the centre is going to do and the need to bring in experts or people from all the political divide to come together to form more or less a constitutional reform commission as you are suggesting. What if the government of the day decides that it wouldnt go by your recommendations and the rests? So, what do you suggest to deal with this?



AMO: When it comes to the constitution, its beyond the government. It is not like one of those commission of inquiry and that is why when President John Evans Atta Mills issued a white paper on the Fiadjoe commission report, he really did it a lot of harm. A constitutional Commission is a different ball game and we must appreciate that. Ill look at it in terms of what happened for example, with regard to the Transition law we have in Ghana. Transition Act. It was actually a work done at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). I was one of the consultants on it with Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi on the other side. NDC man, me NPP man and we did an academic work. It was accepted by both sides and then the bill that we had drafted, etc. and we got other experts in drafting to help in the process was accepted by both sides and it became the transition act.



AKS: Thank you Right Honourable.



AMO: I am also grateful for the opportunity for this interview.





Source: graphiconline.com









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" " On a rainy day, graduates of the Morehouse College Class of 2013 cheered the commencement speech given by President Barack Obama, one of the 10 on our list.  JASON REED/Reuters/Corbis

"I have a dream."

"Four score and seven years ago."

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Some speeches are so memorable we can quote them at will. But few of them are commencement speeches. How many of us can recall the commencement speech at our college graduation?

What if a commencement speech was not something to be endured, but to be treasured? And what if, instead of the same tired sentiments to "go forward and seize the day," the 20-minute address dispensed a glimpse of humanity's higher self?

Thankfully, some of those exist. But it's not all rainbows and butterflies. Many memorable speeches have a touch of the macabre that foreshadow the underbelly of adulthood.

After reading dozens of transcripts and viewing hours of footage, we've distilled 10 famous commencement speeches to their essence. Some speeches are memorable because of their time in history or because millions watched it online. Some were later published as books. At least one became a hit song. Here they are, in chronological order.
" " A woman dressed in southern Civil War-era attire watches a Confederate re-enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg on its 150th anniversary in Gettysburg, Pa. in 2013. John Moore/Getty Images

Mother's Day, one of the largest holidays in the world, has become an unstoppable idea. Whether it's a set of earrings or a dozen roses, few can imagine allowing a Mother's Day to come and go without giving Mom a gift.

In 2022, 84 percent of Americans planned to celebrate Mother's Day, spending more than $245 per gift, on average. This figure, which has grown without fail for decades, doesn't even count handmade perks like breakfast in bed. The top three gift categories were greeting cards, flowers and special outings [source: National Retail Federation].

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How did the second Sunday of May become a milestone to mark the contributions of mothers in the first place? In the beginning, it wasn't all sweetness and light. In fact, it was far from a feel-good holiday designed to celebrate women and how they care for their families.

Mother's Day was built on radical ideals. It was an international movement meant to change the world, one that began through the collective efforts of influential women who sought to free the world from injustice and warfare.

The modern concept of Mother's Day grew out of a seed planted in 1858, when Ann Reeves Jarvis began organizing Mothers' Day Work Clubs to rail against the disease-causing environment of West Appalachia's poorest workers. She believed too many of the workers' children were dying from illnesses brought on by filthy conditions, so under the advice of her physician brother, Jarvis taught mothers how to boil water for drinking and keep food from spoiling. The practical nature of her Mothers' Day Work Clubs served as a model for nearby towns, and by 1860 the idea had spread across West Virginia [source: The Library of Congress].

Just as Jarvis' concept was gaining traction, her attention was drawn to another challenge. The American Civil War, which would play out from 1861 to 1865, was erupting right in her front yard.
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Iran's foreign minister said on Friday the "wrong maximum pressure policy" of the United States is to blame for the status quo on the revival of a 2015 nuclear pact.

Making the remarks in a phone conversation with Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian slammed the approval of a recent non-binding motion in the U.S. Senate that seeks to bar the administration of President Joe Biden from possibly removing the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' terrorist designation, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry's website.

The Iranian top diplomat said Iran and the U.S. continue to exchange messages indirectly through the European Union over the revival of the nuclear deal.

Amir-Abdollahian stressed that the U.S. must make a "realistic" and "brave" decision to compensate for its "wrong" approach in the past to reach a lasting, strong and fair deal.

Describing Iran's initiatives in the Vienna talks as important, Guterres hoped the negotiations would continue until a "favorable" agreement was reached.

Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the U.S.-led sanctions. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA in retaliation.

Since April 2021, eight rounds of talks have been held in the Austrian capital of Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties, including China, Britain, France, Russia and Germany, to revive the pact. The U.S. has been indirectly involved in the negotiations as it has quit the deal.

Iran insists on obtaining guarantees that the succeeding U.S. administrations would not drop the deal again and calls for lifting the sanctions in a verifiable manner.
This undated image released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows a mother and calf vaquita surfacing in the waters off San Felipe, Mexico.

Vaquita porpoises are on the edge of extinction, with just 10 left in their sole habitat within Mexico's Gulf of California.

However, a new study published Thursday in the journal Science offers some hope: the world's rarest marine mammals aren't doomed by a lack of genetic diversity, and can recover if illegal "gillnet" fishing ceases immediately.

"We're trying to push back on this idea that there's no hope, that nothing we do could save them at this point. It's just not an accurate assumption," lead author Jacqueline Robinson of the University of California San Francisco told AFP.

Porpoises are closely related to dolphins, and share many things in common including great intelligence.

The vaquita, whose name means "little cow" in Spanish, measures four to five feet (about 1.5 meters) in length, making it the smallest of all cetaceans.

Shy and elusive, they are known for distinctive dark circles around their eyes, and relatively large dorsal fins, which are thought to help them dissipate heat in their warm habitat.

Vaquita numbers were decimated in the 20th century as a result of being accidentally trapped and drowning in gillnets: long walls of nets hanging in open water that are used to catch fish and shrimp.

Fishermen sought in particular the totoaba, a large fish about the size of the vaquita, whose swim-bladder is prized in traditional Chinese medicine.

The totoaba itself is endangered and its fishing is illegal, but the ban isn't always respected.

The vaquita's historical abundance was unknown, but by the time of the first survey, in 1997, only around 570 remained.

There were fears that harmful mutations among the surviving vaquitas could seal the species' fate due to inevitable inbreeding.

To find out whether that was the case, the researchers analyzed the genomes of 20 vaquitas that lived between 1985 and 2017, and discovered that over the past 250,000 years their population had never exceeded a few thousand.

They also learned that their genetic diversity had always been low, relative to other cetacean species such as dolphins, orcas, and other whales.

This handout pictured taken on October 18, 2017, and released by the Mexican Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) shows scientists with a six-month-old vaquita calf.

Benefits to low genetic diversity

"Generally, we would think of low genetic diversity as being a bad thing. But in this case, it is somewhat advantageous for the vaquitas for their possibility of future recovery," said Robinson.

Inbreeding increases the chances offspring will inherit two copies of harmful mutations, leading to genetic disorders.

But it turned out that the frequency of these mutations are very low in vaquitas to begin with, because the population has always been small.

"So those mutations were historically weeded out much more effectively, than in a larger population, where those mutations could persist and remain hidden from natural selection," explained Robinson.

There are other species that appear more resistant to so-called "inbreeding depression," including mountain gorillas and narwhals, for similar reasons.

The team then carried out simulations to forecast the species' future.

Encouragingly, there is only a six percent chance of vaquitas' extinction if gillnet fishing is eliminated.

But if such fishing is only reduced, then the extinction risk rises drastically.

Even with an 80 percent reduction in fishing, the porpoises have a 62 percent chance of disappearing.

"While we now know that the species' ability to recover is not limited by their genetics, vaquitas have very little time left," said co-author Christopher Kyriazis of the University of California, Los Angeles, in a statement.

"If we lose them, it would be the result of our human choices, not inherent genetic factors."

Explore further Only 10 vaquita porpoises survive, but species may not be doomed

More information: Jacqueline A. Robinson et al, The critically endangered vaquita is not doomed to extinction by inbreeding depression, Science (2022). www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm1742 Journal information: Science Jacqueline A. Robinson et al, The critically endangered vaquita is not doomed to extinction by inbreeding depression,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abm1742

 2022 AFP
HUDSON FALLS  Firefighters from several communities responded to a fire at 32 LaBarge St. on Saturday evening.

Washington County Fire Coordinator Glenn Bristol said the call came in just before 7 p.m. It took crews about 90 minutes to get the blaze under control. No one was home at the time and there were no injuries.

The Northeastern New York Chapter of the American Red Cross said it was providing aid to two adults and three children impacted by the fire.

The house appeared to be heavily damaged. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Among the responding fire departments were Hudson Falls, Fort Edward, Bay Ridge, Kingsbury, South Queensbury, South Glens Falls, Queensbury Central, West Glens Falls, West Fort Ann and Argyle. Firefighters were still on the scene as of midnight.

Parts of LaBarge and Feeder streets were shut down while crews worked on the fire.

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As board chair of Glens Falls Hospital, I believe deeply in our mission, and a recent health care experience showed me firsthand how committed the staff at Glens Falls Hospital is to delivering on that mission.

In my nearly two decades of service to Glens Falls Hospital through various board roles, and most recently as board chair, I have seen our community hospital grow substantially without ever losing sight of what matters most: providing exceptional, patient-centered care to the people of our region. It has been an honor to serve my community through the hospital and a true privilege to be a part of an organization with such strong commitment to caring for their community.

Recently, I found myself in a new, unfamiliar role in relation to the hospital: the role of a vulnerable and anxious patient.

I am proud to be affiliated with a hospital that provides exceptional care to patients in some of their most vulnerable moments, I just never expected to be one of those patients. I have thankfully been in good health for most of my life and have never had to undergo surgery of any kind, until recently. When I wasnt feeling well, and my doctor informed me the pain I was experiencing was caused by gallbladder stones that required outpatient surgery, I suddenly felt vulnerable and uncertain.

Having served on both the Foundation and Hospital Board of Governors, I am well informed about our hospitals services, but experiencing them firsthand was an entirely different experience. At that moment, I was a patient, in need of care and friendly reassurance that everything was going to be OK.

Within a matter of days, I was back in the hospital for a surgical consultation, and my surgery was scheduled. Over the next several days the Glens Falls Hospital team was there for me every step of the way, going above and beyond to demonstrate their commitment to every patient, no matter who they are or where they come from. Of course, no one knew my relationship with the hospital throughout my experience. To them, I was just another patient in need of care.

What resonated most with me about my experience was the professionalism and genuine compassion of every single person I met. From the receptionist at the front desk and the nurse administering my pre-surgery COVID test, to the surgeon himself, to the teams in pre-op and post-op, each person I interacted with did what they could to put me at ease and keep me informed about what to expect next. I felt valued and comfortable, despite my nerves about it being my first time in surgery.

Thanks to the Glens Falls team, the procedure was a success, and I have made a full recovery. As a patient, I feel incredibly lucky to have access to such a dedicated team of providers close to home, and as board chair I feel proud to be part of an organization where every person works to provide exceptional care and compassion to everyone who walks through our doors.

George Ferone is chairman of the Board of Governors at Glens Falls Hospital.

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Drivers can expect roadwork in Absecon and Egg Harbor Township to affect their commutes this week.

In Absecon, a paving detour Tuesday will affect traffic on Mill Road between California Avenue and Westcoat Road from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Businesses on Pleasant Avenue and residents of Holly Avenue will have access to the work zone in the northbound direction from California Avenue only, Atlantic County officials said in a news release. No southbound traffic from Westcoat will be permitted to enter the work zone.

The following day, another detour on Mill Road, this time between Ohio Avenue and Westcoat Road, will take effect from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Local traffic will be permitted between California Avenue and Westcoat Road in both directions. Local traffic between Ohio Avenue and Westcoat must use the Ohio Avenue entrance into the work zone.

Westcoat Road will be accessible northbound from California Avenue only. Eastbound traffic from Westcoat onto Mill Road will be prohibited, officials said.

In Egg Harbor Township, detours are planned for the following roads:

Mill Road: Until further notice, the eastbound lane between Fire and Old Zion roads will be closed with a detour in place 24 hours a day.

Zion Road: On Monday and Friday, a one-lane, alternating traffic pattern will be in effect between Bargaintown and Old Zion roads from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. From Tuesday through Thursday, Zion Road will be closed to all traffic from 2 to 10 p.m.

Steelmanville Road: A one-lane, alternating traffic pattern will be in effect between Ocean Heights Avenue and Blackman Road from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Ocean Heights Avenue: A one-lane, alternating traffic pattern will be in effect between Steelmanville and Blackman roads from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

All work is weather permitting. Plan travel time accordingly or seek an alternate route.

For more traffic advisories, visit aclink.org.

Contact Eric Conklin: 609-272-7261 econklin@pressofac.com Twitter @ACPressConklin

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The recent leak of a Supreme Court draft majority opinion that indicates the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision may be overturned has stirred up anger and action in South Jersey among those concerned about the future of womens reproductive and abortion rights in the United States.

Talks of weakening or overturning Roe v. Wade have been occurring almost since the decision giving women the right to abortion was first rendered. But the document leaked Tuesday suggests the court could be ready to undo nearly 50 years of abortion rights.

Theyre forcing women to have children, said Naomi Hall, of Atlantic City, who believes if the Supreme Court does reverse the decision, women will turn to old-fashioned methods to perform at-home abortions, which could cause harm to not only pregnant women but to unborn children.

Theyre only going to kill people, and itll cost the states more money, said Hall, 64, who added she believes the number of children placed for adoption, foster care or other juvenile-based programs will also rise. The area is already bad now. It could be much worse if we cant provide for our children.

Walking with Hall through Tanger Outlets The Walk on Wednesday was Fred Davis, who shared Halls view.

Im a man, but I dont think that we should be telling women what to do with their bodies, he said.

Davis said at the very least, women who are impregnated due to rape or incest should have a choice.

The worry for abortion rights supporters like Atlantic County Commissioner Caren Fitzpatrick, a Democrat, is that the end of legal abortions will put womens lives at risk.

Overturning Roe vs. Wade wont stop abortion. It will stop safe abortion, said Fitzpatrick. It will put womens lives at risk  working, middle-class women  because those who can afford it will be able to travel to states where they can get the health care they need.

New Jersey has laws protecting womens reproductive rights, including the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law in January. The act codifies a womans right to an abortion under the states laws. It also guarantees access to contraception and other reproductive health care in regards to pregnancy.

Even so, abortion rights supporters are worried that could change.

We are fortunate that New Jersey has codified abortion rights, but who knows what will happen if Republican legislators post anti-abortion bills and somehow get them passed, said Fitzpatrick.

Abortion rights groups worry that at least 26 states will limit or exterminate abortion rights if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Fitzpatrick said there was a great energy rising from supporters of abortion and reproductive rights wanting their voices heard during a rally Thursday night outside the Mays Landing office of U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd.

Fitzpatrick organized the rally with help from Victoria Dudling, debate/forum and election observer coordinator for the Atlantic County League of Women Voters.

About 75 people attended, including some from the South Jersey Democratic Womens Forum, Atlantic County Democrats, Cape May Indivisible, Atlantic County Our Revolution and other organizations. Atlantic City Councilman Kaleem Shabazz and Democratic 2nd Congressional District candidates Carolyn Rush and Tim Alexander also attended.

It seems fitting to use that location, where as a Democrat, Jeff Van Drew wholeheartedly supported Roe v. Wade, vowed to defend it and had a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood, said Fitzpatrick as to why they chose the congressional office as the site of the rally. Now, as a Republican, he supports overturning the law.

Van Drew declined through a spokesperson to speak about his position on Roe v. Wade. The congressman was unaware of the rally, a representative said Friday.

Van Drew has expressed anger about the leak of the Supreme Court document and said the courts decision could change.

Protesters said what they see as the congressmans avoidance of the issue has them fearing his unconfirmed stance may jeopardize the states abortion laws.

Van Drews views on abortion have shifted in recent years to pro-life, anti-abortion, according to information on the Voters Self Defense System website.

Its kind of frightening. It would be a big setback for womens rights, said French tourist Mona Renoux, 25, who was visiting Atlantic City this week.

Renoux, who was drinking coffee at the Starbucks at The Walk Wednesday afternoon, said in France, abortion was legalized in 1975, just two years after Roe v. Wade.

Abortion is legal in France up to 14 weeks, although officials still debate whether that should be lowered to 12 weeks, Renoux said.

Renoux said theres no going back when it comes to making abortions illegal in an already legal system, and that she couldnt even imagine how women in the United States are feeling right now.

I feel so bad, and I hope it wont happen, but what can a French woman like myself do about it? Renoux said.

Domenica Gomez, 22, said she disagrees with any decision that would end abortion rights.

The woman has a right to choose. Its her body, said Gomez, who added women will find ways to have abortions illegally. Its better do it legal and safe.

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that the court not overturn Roe.

Abortion is health care, private and will continue, legal or not, said Fitzpatrick. The difference is, will women again die because a minority of well-placed individuals have decided they think they know better than the woman who will suffer the consequences of their decisions?

Contact Selena Vazquez: 609-272-7225 svazquez@pressofac.com

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New Mexico faces a long and potentially devastating wildfire season, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Saturday, as Southwestern wildfires cause destruction and force people from their homes.

Hundreds of structures were lost in a growing number of wind-driven blazes across drought-stricken New Mexico, Lujan Grisham said Saturday.

Over 20 active wildfires were burning in at least 16 of the state's 33 counties, in the wake of winds that gusted up to 90 mph (145 kph) on Friday, Lujan said during a briefing streamed online. So half the state has a fire issue."

With so many fires burning in April, well before the normal May or June start of the wildfire season, our risk season is incredibly and dangerously early," Lujan Grisham said.

Wildfire has become a year-round threat in the West given changing conditions that include earlier snowmelt and rain coming later in the fall, scientist have said. The problems have been exacerbated by decades of fire suppression and poor management along with a more than 20-year megadrought that studies link to human-caused climate change.

New Mexico as of Saturday had the most major wildfires burning of any state, though neighboring Arizona also had large fires that included one that burned 30 homes near Flagstaff on Tuesday.

Winds and temperatures in New Mexico diminished Saturday but remained strong enough to still fan fires, and dozens of evacuation orders remained in place.

Over 200 structures have burned, Lujan Grisham said, not providing specifics on locations or the numbers of homes included in that count.

With fires still burning and charred areas too dangerous to enter, it's not safe for you or us to have a complete assessment to date," she said, indicating that the number of lost structures would rise.

She appealed to residents to refrain from using fireworks or burning trash and to evacuate when fire warnings are issued. You need to leave. The risks are too great," she said.

The largest blazes were concentrated in northern New Mexico, where two major fires merged and numerous villages were threatened by advancing flames as residents heeded calls to leave.

Maggie Mulligan said Friday her dogs could sense the panic while she and her husband packed them up, agonized over having to leave horses behind and fled a fast-moving wildfire barreling toward their home.

We dont know whats next, she said. We dont know if we can go back to the horses.

Mulligan and her husband, Bill Gombas, 67, were among the anxious residents who hurriedly evacuated their homes Friday ahead of ominous wildfires fueled by tinder-dry conditions and ferocious winds.

The merged fires burned some structures but no figures were available, said fire information officer Mike Johnson. They were able to save some structures and we know we lost other structures that we werent able to defend.

Wind-blown clouds of dust and plumes of smoke obscured the skies near the fires, said Jesus Romero, assistant county manager for San Miguel County. All the ugliness that spring in New Mexico brings  that's what they're dealing in."

An estimated 500 homes in San Miguel were in rural areas of Mora and San Miguel counties covered by evacuation orders or warning notices, Romero said.

Elsewhere in the region, the fire danger in the Denver area on Friday was the highest it had been in over a decade, according to the National Weather Service, because of unseasonable temperatures in the 80s combined with strong winds and very dry conditions.

Lena Atencio and her husband, whose family has lived in the nearby Rociada area for five generations, got out Friday as winds kicked up. She said most people were taking the threat seriously.

As a community, as a whole, everybody is just pulling together to support each other and just take care of the things we need to now. And then at that point, its in Gods hands, she said as the wind howled miles away in the community of Las Vegas, New Mexico, where evacuees were gathering.

Areas ordered Saturday to evacuate because of another large fire still growing in northern New Mexico included Philmont Scout Ranch. Meanwhile, the nearby town of Cimarron remained on notice for possible evacuation, according to Colfax County officials.

The scout ranch, owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America, attracts thousands of summer visitors, but officials said no scouts were on the property and staff were previously evacuated because of poor air quality.

The Flagstaff-area fire also burned numerous other buildings when the flames blew through rural neighborhoods Tuesday.

A shift in wind had crews working Saturday to keep the fire from moving up mountain slopes or toward homes in rural neighborhoods near areas that burned Tuesday, fire information officer Dick Fleishman said. It has got us a little concerned."

Davenport reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, and Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this report. Attanasio reported from Las Vegas, New Mexico, and 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. Follow Attanasio on Twitter.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP)  For the past 17 years, Tolerance Week has engaged area eighth-grade students with the horrors of the Holocaust.

By this fall, students and their families may be able to learn about the Holocaust throughout the year, and in a more interactive way.

In October of last year, Tolerance Week organizers, in partnership with the Sioux City Railroad Museum, purchased a replica railroad boxcar, similar to the ones used to transport victims of the Holocaust during World War II.

It will be part of a continuous exhibit entitled Holocaust Rails: Desperate Passage, according to Tolerance Week board member Kelli Erickson.

The railcar was moved into its bay earlier this week, Erickson said last week at the museum, 3400 Sioux River Road. When work is completed this fall, the railcar will vibrate electronically, giving visitors a sense of what prisoners felt in transport.

The exhibit will be coming during what Tolerance Week board member Lou Ann Lindblade described as a transitional time for the organization.

The Holocaust is part of the curriculum for many Siouxland middle schools and weve been able to provide an entire week on activities every spring, she told the Sioux City Journal.

That included special guests and film presentations at the Orpheum Theatre, 528 Pierce St.

Concerns over COVID-19 forced organizers to cancel the event in 2020. Events were held virtually last year.

Lindblade said this years activities were originally slated to go on as planned from May 2 - 6.

Unfortunately, German-born author and Terezin Concentration Camp survivor Inge Auerbacher, who was slated to speak, canceled her engagement due to persistent back and leg pain.

Inge made a trip back to Germany earlier this year, Lindblade said. It was her first major trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trip aggravated Inges back and leg pain. So, she decided not to travel at this time.

Instead, Sioux Citys Tolerance Week events will be kept to a minimum this year.

Eighth grade students from Sioux City Community Schools, Siouxland Christian School, Hinton Middle School, Sgt. Bluff-Luton Middle School, St. Augustine, Holy Cross and Vermillion (S.D.) Middle School planned to travel to the Orpheum to view Nickys Family, a 2011 documentary detailing Nicholas Winton, who helped to organize the rescue of 669 children just before the outbreak of World War II.

In addition, an invitation-only banquet for entrants of the Tolerance Week essay contest and the Ella Holtzen Memorial Art Contest (named after the 2016 art contest winner who died in 2020 car accident) will be held.

The theme for the essay and art contests is, how we can live a more tolerant life, improving our part of the world, according to a Tolerance Week social media post.

There wont be any other events this year, Lindblade said, and none will be open to the general public.

However, the opening of the Holocaust Rails exhibit at the Sioux City Railroad Museum, later in 2022, will completely change the course of Tolerance Week.

Were looking forward to field trips, not just from Siouxland schools, Erickson explained. Were hoping that schools from as far away as Sioux Falls and Omaha will see the exhibit.

Since the exhibit is open year-round, families will also be able to learn about the Holocaust.

Tolerance Week shouldnt be limited to one week out of the year, Erickson said. Instead, we can remember the Holocaust throughout the years.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Sioux City Journal.

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Elon Musk has now bought control of Twitter. If Musk means what he says about free speech, the Biden administration will have lost a crucially important ally/henchman in its efforts to shut down any speech (political, medical and religious) that it disingenuously labels, disinformation.

There is a lawsuit afoot. Former President Trump has sued Twitter, alleging that he, and others, have been banished from Twitter. Trump alleges that Twitter is willfully participating in joint activity with federal actors.

Whether you like Donald Trump, or hate him, you had better pray to God that he wins. If he loses, your First Amendment right of free speech will be reduced to your right to say what the government permits you to say. The First Amendment will be reduced to ink on worthless paper.

To see the path on which Bidens administration is taking us, consider this.

Host Mika Brzezinski interviewing Surgeon General Vivek Murphy on MSNBC, asked: "What do you think are the best ways to push back on misinformation about COVID that continue to be aggressively pushed, whether it be on Joe Rogan's podcast or all over Facebook?"

Had I been Murphy, I would have said, "We need to utilize the same media platforms, and carefully address what we believe to be misinformation, and explain to the American people why what we call misinformation is truly misinformation."

For any American who cares at all about our First Amendment "right of free speech," the remedy for real "misinformation" is "counter-speech;" not prior restraint, censorship, gagging.

Murphy knows that. Nevertheless, he reached for the traditional remedies of the Hitler/Stalin-types: prior restraint, censorship, gagging. Murphy wants Facebook, and Twitter, to do the government's dirty work for him. Look at Murphy's answer: This not just about what the government can do. This is about companies ... recognizing that the only way we get past misinformation is if we are careful about what we say and use the power that we have to limit the spread of misinformation."

In a free country who gets to decide whether information is disinformation? The government? Giant social media platforms doing the governments bidding?

Or do the citizens of a free country have the right to hear all sides of the issue, and then have the right to make their own decision as to which information is accurate?

Has anybody anywhere barred Murphy from appearing on CNN, FOX, NBC, Facebook, or Twitter to provide what he believes to be "accurate counter- information?" To rebut Rogans alleged "misinformation?"

Is the surgeon general, the sole arbiter of what is "accurate information?"

So, how does a "company like Facebook use the power it has "to limit the spread of so-called misinformation? Ask Donald Trump.

The gist of Trumps lawsuit alleges: Twitter has increasingly engaged in impermissible censorship resulting from threatened legislative action, a misguided reliance upon Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C.  230, and willful participation in joint activity with federal actors.

Mr. Trump's suit is a class-action suit. It seeks to vindicate not only his rights, but the rights of others similarly situated.

President Biden and his henchmen, the likes of Vivik Murphy, know damn well that no branch of the U.S. government, has any right to impose prior restraint or censorship on the political or medical speech of any American, without first demonstrating to a court that a "clear and present danger exists, which cannot be averted except by use of a prior restraint.

If the U.S. government, with experts like Dr. Fauci, can't win a Covid argument against the Joe Rogans of the world, then heaven help us in conflicts with China and Russia.

If, given Elon Musk, the Biden administration can no longer count on Twitter, et al, to do its bidding to shut down claimed disinformation, watch for the government try to do its own dirty work using the likes of Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas, and his Department of Homeland Security, with its new Disinformation Governance Board, run by its fruit-cake tzar, Nina Jancowicz.

In January of 1933 Adolph Hitler became the German Chancellor. On October 4, 1933, he decreed a new Reich Press Law. William L. Shirer describes its operation: "Section 14 of the Press Law ordered editors to 'keep out of the newspapers anything, which in any manner, is misleading to the public.'"

John Donald O'Shea, of Moline, is a retired circuit judge and a regular columnist.

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Iowa

City leaders in Davenport last week took initial steps toward developing what one city councilman described as the "single most valuable piece of land in our city" and its greatest asset.

That was Kyle Gripp, talking about a planned riverfront park. Long discussed, the site is earmarked with $6 million in federal COVID-19 funding dedicated to construction.

That price tag has raised a few eyebrows at City Hall. On Wednesday some council members balked at spending such a hefty sum on a park, let alone a park that could be inaccessible because of trains and flooding. Canadian Pacific and Kansas Southern are undergoing a proposed merger that could triple the number of trains daily through downtown Davenport, essentially cutting off the riverfront.

We, too, have expressed concerns, particularly with using COVID money at a time when the city has other pressing needs. But we remain convinced the project is a good idea.

Other water-side communities have figured out ways to transform their riverfronts into show-stopping developments; Davenport has not. This park would be a major step toward creating the kind of quality-of-life amenity that attracts people and business to the Quad-Cities.

Davenport has contracted with a consulting firm called Sasaki, whose past projects include a 32-acre park in Cincinnati along the Ohio River. Officials have yet to determine what the Davenport park would look like, but they've said it must not be limited to children's playground equipment and that it accommodate all Quad-Citians and visitors. Mostly, though, city officials have said their No. 1 priority is creating a space with a "wow factor."

Negotiations with the railroad will prove pivotal over the next few weeks. If Davenport officials can't gain assurances the area will be accessible over railroad tracks, the project will suffer a major setback and deserve reconsideration. In the meantime, it's exciting to think of what may come. Quad-Citians deserve a world-class riverfront. Now is the time to pursue it.

Illinois

It's about time.

After years of mismanagement at City Hall that drove out some of the city's top directors, Moline has now filled openings in its high-level leadership positions, some of which have been vacant for years.

Last week, it announced the hiring of David Dryer as director of engineering. He most recently has worked as county engineer in Jackson County, Iowa.

Ryan Hvitlk is the new community and economic development director. His most recent post was in Hutchinson, Kan.

And Michael Doi is the new director of public works. He was most recently in Collinsville, Ill.

While all these positions are important, especially key, city council members have said, is the economic development director, who'll be tasked with redeveloping land near the old I-74 bridge. Ideas for the site include a public amphitheater, ice rinks, a skatepark and outdoor fire pits with seating. We'd also like Hvitlk to think outside downtown and about retail centers like SouthPark Mall.

The previous Acri administration blamed this newspaper for bad press that diluted its candidate pool. That was hogwash then and is now. Public employees want to work in communities that support them. We're pleased to see that happening now.

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 Flash

A bombshell leak from the Supreme Court -- a draft majority opinion suggesting an overturn of a landmark decision that guarantees abortion rights -- is shaking the United States, as heated debates over the issue, which has long been contentious, are polarizing the nation.

Supporters of abortion rights have taken to the streets to express anguish and anger in widespread demonstrations, while individuals and groups against the practice have also been vocal about their views, with rancorous battles taking shape between Democrats and Republicans.

The fight over abortion rights has laid bare the deep-seated divide in the United States, poised to add fuel to its political polarization and have far-reaching consequences.

"UNPRECEDENTED" LEAK

The Supreme Court has voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion in the United States, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by Politico, which published the internal document on Monday night.

The draft opinion "is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of" Roe v. Wade and a subsequent 1992 decision -- Planned Parenthood v. Casey -- that largely maintained the right, Politico wrote in the scoop.

"Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," Alito argued in the draft labeled as the "Opinion of the Court." "We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled ... It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives."

The Supreme Court confirmed the authenticity of the draft on Tuesday but underlined that "it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case." Justices circulate draft opinions internally as a routine and essential part of the Supreme Court's confidential deliberative work.

Jonathan Peters, a media law professor at the University of Georgia, tweeted that the U.S. Supreme Court -- the highest court in the federal judiciary -- "has kept its secrets and has kept confidential its internal processes and deliberations," adding that "leaking a full draft majority opinion does seem to be unprecedented" though leaking in general is not unprecedented "but still very rare."

Chief Justice John Roberts denounced the leak, saying that he had directed the court's marshal to launch an investigation. "To the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the Court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed," Roberts said in a statement. "The work of the Court will not be affected in any way."

The leak came as the Supreme Court was considering Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, an appeal case that involves a Mississippi law banning all abortions over 15 weeks gestational age except in certain circumstances. A ruling is expected by the end of the court's term in late June or early July.

The justices could change their votes in the days or weeks leading up to the decision's release. But Neal Katyal, former acting U.S. solicitor general, pointed out that "the tentative vote seems strong" and Roberts, considered the court's swing vote, is "irrelevant" if five other conservatives, including Alito "hold with their tentative votes."

MAJOR SHOCKWAVES

Alito's 67-page draft opinion, accompanied by a 31-page appendix containing various state statutes criminalizing abortion, would effectively eliminate abortion protections at the federal level and hand authority over abortion access to the states if such a ruling was ultimately handed down, sending shockwaves through Washington, D.C. to the rest of the nation.

Tall metal barriers have been erected outside the Supreme Court Building, also known as "The Marble Palace," after consecutive days of demonstrations staged in front of the property. D.C. police also activated its civil disturbance units, which include officers specially trained for crowd management and unrest.

Dozens of pro-choice activists stood against the fence on Friday afternoon, holding posters and chanting slogans amid rain showers, with no presence of anti-abortion advocates.

Protesters have also massed in many other major cities, including New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. A coalition of progressive and reproductive rights groups is planning nationwide protests next week.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) issued a citywide tactical alert after a group of protesters took over the streets of downtown on Tuesday night, injuring one officer. According to LAPD Chief Michel Moore, the crowd began throwing rocks and bottles when officers attempted to disperse them.

Democrats on Capitol Hill are seeking to codify abortion rights protections. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Thursday that the chamber "is going to vote on legislation to codify a woman's right to seek abortion into federal law."

Such effort is likely to fall short in a evenly-divided Senate, given its 60-vote requirement for advancing a bill. A similar measure was blocked by the chamber at the end of February, with one Democrat joining Republicans in voting against it.

Reactions from Republicans to the stunning revelation focused on criticizing it as damaging to the Supreme Court as an institution. "This lawless action should be investigated and punished to the fullest extent possible," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell demanded during a floor speech earlier this week.

While abortion restrictions and bans have been introduced or enacted in multiple states run by Republicans, Democratic governors and attorneys general have sought to defend access to abortion at least in their states.

GREATER CONSEQUENCES

The Guttmacher Institute, a U.S.-based organization that supports abortion rights, estimated that 26 states are either certain or likely to ban abortion if the Supreme Court overturns or dismantles Roe. Legislators in 13 states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, have already prepared for that possibility with "trigger laws" on the books.

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 57 percent of Americans oppose a ban on abortions after 15 weeks; 58 percent say abortion should be legal in all or most cases; and 54 percent say the Supreme Court should uphold Roe, compared with 28 percent who say the ruling should be overturned.

In a statement, U.S. President Joe Biden called for the election of "more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority," saying that he believes "a woman's right to choose is fundamental."

Analysts predicted abortion would become a key topic in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections in November. In addition, the draft's language has sparked concern that the Supreme Court could reconsider and even reverse other established rights in the nation.

Members of the international community also warned against the threats to abortion rights for women in the United States and everywhere.

A spokesperson for United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted that the UN chief "has long believed that sexual and reproductive health and rights are the foundation for lives of choice, empowerment, and equality for the world's women and girls."

"The tragedy about this whole leakage from the Supreme Court, unfortunately, now may make the Supreme Court overly political as one of the last institutions that were seen as sacrosanct," Harlan Ullman, senior advisor at the Atlantic Council, lamented Thursday during a panel discussion hosted by the Brookings Institution.

"So I'm really concerned that the image of this is going to have far greater consequences than whether or not Roe v. Wade is changed or kept," Ullman continued. "And this is just another sign of these divisions that are present in America."
David Ames appreciates a good airport  not just those offering unobstructed, well-maintained runways, but also welcoming, accessible facilities that cater to todays pilots and their passengers.

Hanover County Municipal Airport has always had good bones, he said, good enough to sway him to house his single-engine Cirrus SR22 there. Still, for all of its positive attributes, the airport missed the mark when it came to playing host, its aging, often crowded terminal building a blight on an otherwise solid airport.

But not anymore.

Hanovers airport upped its aviation swagger last month when airport and county officials unveiled a $2.4 million terminal building featuring all of the bells and whistles and comfortable spaces needed by pilots, their crews and passengers, even airport staff.

The new terminal is on the eastern side of the airport, which is located off Sliding Hill Road just minutes from Interstate 95 in the Hanover Airpark, a sprawling industrial and commercial area home to more than 300 businesses.

The new terminal is across the runway from the existing terminal that was built in 1971 when the airport opened.

Hanover is a general aviation reliever airport that serves recreational and corporate aviation traffic  that is, everything from small single-engine planes to midsize corporate jets. Today, roughly 100 planes are based there  including Ames plane  with nearly 50 more on a waiting list.

The new terminal sits next to another newer space, a 15,000-square-foot hangar that airport officials cant wait to fill with planes that need a home. Theyre hoping if they build it, others will come.

******

As you walk into the new terminal, youll see large windows affording plenty of natural light but also expansive views of the runway on one side, the parking lot on the other. The central room is spacious with lots of seating. Flanking that space on one end is a modern kitchen with a refrigerator and sink, hot beverage cart and workspaces. Next to that is a large conference room.

On the other side of the terminal are offices and storage space for airport staff. Theres also a private pilots lounge with couches, comfortable reclining chairs and a large television, plus a shower room and two small private rooms for those who need added privacy.

The pilots lounge faces the parking lot  a request by pilots over the years, said Hanover Airport Advisory Committee Chair Jackie Dankos, particularly those flying corporate jets. The reason: The pilots wanted to be able to see the parking lot so when their corporate passengers arrived, they knew it and could have the plane ready quickly.

Dankos walked the contemporary building last week, recalling that when he first got involved in airport operations decades ago, a new terminal wasnt even on the radar. A pilot since the 1970s, he joined the airport committee in the 90s and, in subsequent years, took over as chairman.

Largely a citizen-run committee, the primary function is to oversee airport operations, including maintaining the business relationship with Heart of Virginia Aviation, or HOVA, a full-service fixed based operator hired to handle such airport services as hangar rentals, fuel and maintenance needs for pilots, a flight school, charter flights and more.

But during the 90s, the airports immediate needs werent spacious new buildings, Dankos said. Rather, they were maintenance  specifically runway and taxiway rehabilitation projects that had been delayed but still needed to bring those elements up to current airport standards.

To pay for those projects, Dankos said he had to learn about airport funding, specifically how to secure grants.

Hanovers airport is owned by the county, but projects and maintenance are largely funded by state and federal grants from the Virginia Department of Aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The countys share of funding is smaller and thats on purpose, Dankos said. The airport is meant to be as self-sustaining as possible, funded primarily by rent paid for hangar space.

The new terminal, in fact, was built with more than $2 million in state grant money. The remaining $354,000 came from the county.

The idea for a new terminal took shape as part of a futuristic vision within the countys airport master plan approved in 2002 by the Board of Supervisors and the FAA.

Ashland District Supervisor Faye Prichard, the one elected representative of the airport committee, said the new terminal allows Hanover airport  and by proxy, the county  to reap economic development benefits. Today, Hanovers airport employs 111 people and generates roughly $11 million annually for the county.

Prichard said the new terminal as well as new hangar space could bring in more money both from new pilots using the airport and its amenities, but also businesses looking for airport accessibility that choose to locate nearby or elsewhere in the county.

She emphasized, however, that she and her airport committee colleagues and fellow county officials will never invite large commercial jets, for example, or make decisions that negatively impact the surrounding communitys quality of life.

The kind of increases in business that we can do [at the airport] will be imperceptible to people who live around it, she said. In the long run, what it does is allow us to be competitive with our neighbors.

The terminal itself recognizes the changing world of airports, she said, from its modern architectural style to purposeful design plans that, for example, incorporate spaces for male and female pilots. Pilots will feel its useful to them.

HOVA President Tommy Grimes said feedback thus far from the aviation community has been overwhelmingly positive. For the first time in the 17 years since they have been working at the Hanover airport, he joked, he and his staff have dedicated office space inside the new terminal.

Grimes also said pilots, especially, appreciate the dedicated lounge space. He said the old terminal, which is still used and often by young flight school students, could be very loud.

Thats the opposite of what these guys want, Grimes said about mature, experienced pilots. They want to get away from the noise and the chaos and its been almost impossible to do that over there.

The new terminal, he said, is a breath of fresh air.

Dankos and Grimes said the airports proximity to a major interstate, as well as downtown Richmond and Henrico County, is appealing to both pilots and those who use the airport for corporate travel.

Its good for the areas economy, Grimes said.

Ames, the Hanover resident, explained that he started flying 12 years ago for fun, then began flying to business meetings to avoid highway gridlock, and now also flies as a volunteer transporting medically-needy patients and wounded veterans seeking treatment.

Its a vast improvement, a much-needed improvement [and] really brings the Hanover airport into the 21st century, Ames said last week. He admitted there were times when the old terminal  a much smaller building  wasnt suitable as a waiting area for his transport patients and their families because with only a few people, it quickly became a traffic jam.

Now, he said, I really look forward to being able to direct them over to the terminal.
There was a moment when she and her husband, Matt, were hunkered down behind a boulder  holding hands and saying I love you as a storm of volcanic ash, rock and acids engulfed them, turning a bright sunny afternoon to night  that Lauren Urey was almost certain they werent going to make it safely off the South Pacific island.

I felt like I was going to get buried alive, she recalled. I thought there was no way we were going to survive this.

Though others visiting New Zealands White Island perished when the islands volcano erupted on Dec. 9, 2019, the Ureys did indeed survive, though they suffered horrific burns, a nightmarish rescue and months  and now years  of surgeries, treatments and scars.

In trying to regain their old lives, the Ureys have returned to their jobs and moved into a new home in Chesterfield County, and on Saturday they celebrated another major milestone on the long road back: Lauren, 35, graduated from Old Dominion University with a degree in medical laboratory science.

A big day, Lauren said.

Its Laurens second bachelors degree; she graduated from Radford University with a degree in marketing in 2010. However, locating a job with long-term prospects proved difficult in a shaky economy, so she shifted gears and looked toward the medical field for a career. She pursued an associates degree in medical laboratory technology from Reynolds Community College, which helped her land a job in the field.

After taking a semester off, she enrolled in ODUs online medical laboratory science degree completion program, which she began in the fall of 2019.

In October that year, she and Matt married (We met on Match.com, she says. Were one of those success stories.) and planned a honeymoon to Australia and New Zealand. She received permission from her professors to take her final exams early, and she and Matt left on the day after Thanksgiving.

They started their trip in Australia and then went on a Royal Caribbean cruise, making several stops in New Zealand. On Dec. 9, they took a shore excursion to New Zealands White Island, about 30 miles from New Zealands North Island in the Bay of Plenty, for an up-close look at an active volcano.

According to The New York Times, an online promotion for the tour invited tourists to get close to the drama. Gas masks help you get near roaring steam vents, bubbling pits of mud, hot volcanic streams and the amazing lake of steaming acid.

There was no mention, however, Matt Urey recalled, that the New Zealand agency that monitors geological activity in the country had reported increased activity at the volcano for several weeks and had raised the warning level to 2 on a scale of 0-5. Two is moderate to heightened volcanic unrest, while 3, 4 and 5 are levels of eruptions.

They didnt tell us the volcano was already at level two, he said. That was never communicated to us. I didnt find out until after I woke up [from a medically induced coma]. We definitely would not have gone on that island had we known.

Lauren agreed, saying, Were definitely not adventurous people. Were not the type to go skydiving or anything like that. Were a very, very boring couple.

They thought the trip to the island would be a cool, fairly leisurely thing, she said, recalling a brochure that recommended against people in wheelchairs making the trip.

It didnt sound like it was going to be that adventurous, she said.

******

The Ureys have filed suit against Royal Caribbean. A trial is scheduled for Oct. 24, according to one of the couples attorneys from a Miami law firm.

The Ureys said their contingent of visitors was divided into two groups. They were in the first group that hiked to the edge of the crater for a look. They headed down as the second group approached the crater. A few minutes later, as the Ureys were part-way down the hillside, the volcano erupted. One of the other tourists said, Hey, everyone, look! A mushroom cloud of black ash began to rise from the crater. A tour guide yelled, Everyone, run!

Recalled Lauren, I just had a sinking feeling in my stomach.

They found a boulder that provided a minimal amount of shelter. Rocks pelted them, and black smoke and ash were coming out of everywhere, she said. I was holding my husbands hand and screaming and telling him how much I loved him. It felt like forever, she said, but they later learned the eruption lasted for only about two minutes.

Trapped in a black fog and badly burned already, they struggled to make their way back to the water. Lauren fell multiple times; at least on one occasion, her right hand went into thick, blisteringly hot ash, severely burning her palm. Shes undergone numerous hand surgeries, the most recent of which was last week.

They made it to an inflatable dinghy, which returned them to the larger tour boat and a painful, 90-minute trip to the mainland, their scorched skin exposed to the sun and saltwater. Lauren, who drifted in and out of consciousness on the ride, was the first passenger off the boat since she was in the most critical condition.

She was taken to the burn unit at a hospital in Auckland. Matt was taken to a hospital in Christchurch, more than 600 miles away. Lauren was burned over 23% of her body, Matt over 53% of his. Physicians put both in medically induced comas, her for almost three weeks and him for 12 days. They wouldnt see each other again until February, back in Richmond, at VCU Medical Center.

As badly as they were hurt, in many respects, they were fortunate. Most of those in the second tour group had just arrived at the rim of the crater when it erupted. In all, 22 people were killed that day, including 20 visitors and two tour guides.

******

The journey back to the life the Ureys knew has been long and, at times, agonizingly slow. Besides therapy and other treatment, Lauren has undergone more than two dozen surgeries, averaging one a month, mostly at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. She hopes to be done with the surgeries by the end of the year.

They both bear scars from the experience. Lauren struggles with post-traumatic stress and depression; Matt, 38, formerly an avid runner, can no longer run because he suffers from heat intolerance: his body is unable to cool down properly because his grafted skin doesnt sweat.

Summers are pretty rough for me, he said.

However, in some ways, their progress has been remarkable.

Both long ago returned to their jobs: Lauren as a medical laboratory technician for Bon Secours Richmond Health System, Matt as a mechanical engineer at DuPont where he works, ironically, with flame-resistant fiber.

Returning to hospital work during COVID-19 was risky for Lauren as she developed a lung infection because of the eruption, and COVID samples came through the lab where she worked on a daily basis.

It was very stressful, she said. But we were short-staffed, and honestly I enjoy what I do. I like helping people, and I like staying busy.

She took only a semester off from ODU before resuming her studies. For her perseverance, she was awarded one of the inaugural scholarships funded by the Commonwealth Transfusion Foundation, which emphasized that, aside from traditional students, they also wanted to support medical laboratory technicians pursuing their bachelors degrees.

Ureys graduation also means a promotion at her job to clinical laboratory scientist, she said.

She is looking forward to putting her surgeries in the rear-view mirror, so she and Matt can start a family. Shes determined not to let what happened on White Island dictate the rest of her life.

I want to prove to everybody ... that just because something horrible happens to you, it doesnt mean your whole life has to change, she said. It doesnt have to be the end of the world. It didnt stop me. It didnt stop my husband.

It was horrible what happened, but we were not going to let this ruin what we had. Were determined not to let this be the end of the world for us.
After a nearly three-year pause on evictions for nonpayment, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority says it will resume eviction proceedings in a phased approach when a state rent relief program comes to an end this month.

The looming threat of evictions has some local officials and housing activists worried as 1,600 RRHA households are behind on rent.

Mayor Levar Stoney, the housing authority and some officials say theres been an extensive outreach effort to inform residents about the rent relief program and a May 15 deadline to apply.

But there are some local leaders and city residents who say the authoritys outreach campaign has been inadequate, and that many people could become homeless in the coming weeks without further intervention.

Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch said shes fearful that many families could lose their homes after a back-to-back loss of housing safety nets.

As the rent relief deadline looms, the city and local homeless service providers last month shut down the citys season inclement weather shelter system and a non-congregate shelter program that also had been funded by federal aid throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

With all these evictions coming down the pike, even if its just 30 or 40 of them, that could still be a couple hundred people that will lose housing, she said in an interview this month. Where are they going to go? Out on the street? Its mind-boggling to me that fire alarms arent sounding about this.

RRHA stopped evicting residents for nonpayment in late 2019. When the pandemic began, state officials temporarily closed courts and established protections to keep renters housed. Federal safeguards also forbade evictions from public housing. Many of those safeguards have since expired.

Angela Fountain, an RRHA spokeswoman, said the housing authority launched its Come Current campaign about six months ago to get residents to pay their past-due rent.

The campaign included advertisements in local media and on public transit, including one ad that read paying rent sets the right example  get back on track!

Other ads included information about relief, including an option for those who dont qualify for relief to enter a repayment plan and avoid legal action.

Fountain said RRHA will soon start eviction proceedings against households with the highest outstanding balances first.

RRHA is only planning to resume lease enforcement due to nonpayment as a last resort  in cases where residents have not taken advantage of numerous opportunities for rent relief and/or refuse to sign up for a repayment agreement or are no longer eligible for either, she said.

65 tenants owe at least $5K

Data provided by the authority shows that 956 households, as of April 10, have $500 or more in arrears. Sixty-five households owe at least $5,000.

The housing authority on Wednesday announced the final push for its outreach campaign, saying that it will meet with residents at each of its communities property management offices over the next two weeks to help residents finalize or start applications for rent relief.

The Department of Housing and Community Development, which administers the state rent relief program, announced last month that it would close out the program on May 15 because it is running out of the $1 billion the state has received since June 2020 to assist households that are in arrears.

Virginia, as of March 31, has distributed more than $713 million over 140,000 payments to approximately 105,000 households. Most of the money was granted to tenants and landlords in the private rental market, with only $8.3 million awarded to the states 26 public housing authorities, according to data provided by DHCD.

Richmonds housing authority, the largest in the state with approximately 4,000 households, has received $3 million as of last month.

Even so, many tenants have say they have struggled to keep up with paying rent as COVID-19 continues to pose risks to public health. Residents say they struggle to find work or are unable to do so because of disabilities. Others note the high cost of child care or losing child support or federal benefits that were helping cover their rental costs.

Willena Moore, who has lived in Gilpin Court since 2015, said RRHAs fresh outreach push seems like a last-minute effort thats typical of the organization, underscoring the distrust and skepticism some residents hold against the authority.

A lot of people are trying to get their rent paid, she said. You hear people complain that RRHA is dragging their feet.

A few activists and volunteers who have been trying to help sign residents up said there also have been hurdles with RRHA, as staff have asked residents for information the authority should already have on file. In some instances, they said, staff asked residents to meet multiple times before they could submit an application.

Lynch said she was recently disturbed to learn that RRHA had declined assistance from DHCD when it offered to let the authority resubmit 1,000 pending applications through a more streamlined process.

Fountain said RRHA officials appreciated the offer, but felt it would have complicated matters with so many applications already in process.

We simply did not have the manpower to start over, Fountain said. Also not knowing how long we would have access to these funds, we thought it was critical to move forward to get as many families enrolled as possible even if this meant additional work on the back end.

Some officials and housing activists feel that the authority and the mayors administration have not done enough beyond those efforts.

At a City Council meeting last month, Thad Williamson, a University of Richmond professor and former senior policy adviser in Stoneys cabinet, said failure to intervene and prevent mass evictions could damage trust among public agencies, housing residents and the broader community.

He noted the mayors so-called Equity Agenda, which the council formally adopted last June, cites meeting the housing needs of families, eviction prevention and the creation of 10,000 new affordable housing units over the next 10 years as priorities for the city.

An outcome in which nearly 1,000 households dont get the assistance they are entitled to is unacceptable, from every point of view, Williamson said. To be blunt, if we cant make sure our residents are obtaining and benefiting from free resources provided by the federal government, its hard to see how we can do anything more ambitious.

While Fountain highlighted how council members such as Cynthia Newbille, Ellen Robertson and Ann-Frances Lambert have been involved in outreach efforts, a few people who also have volunteered say more could be done.

We feel like theres no time to waste here anymore, and unfortunately, a lot of time has been wasted, said Brian Bills, a city resident who had visited several public housing communities with Williamson and other community and activist groups to help inform residents of the rent relief program.

What I think has been most disappointing is that I havent seen the rest of the city speaking up for these tenants, he added. Where is the mayor? Where is the City Council? I honestly cant tell you that Ive seen them lift a finger to help RRHA tenants. And thats been a real disappointment.

Stoney, when asked about evictions and concerns about the end of the rent relief program, shared few details about how the city plans to help. He also questioned whether some residents are failing to take responsibility.

RRHA have, I think, gone above and beyond, he said, noting its outreach efforts in recent weeks. My grandmother would say ... you can bring a horse to water, but you cant make it drink. And right now we have some folks who are either evading or avoiding speaking with RRHA officials.

No communication

While RRHA says its been trying to reach residents to notify them that they are behind on rent and can apply for relief, other residents said Thursday that the authority could have done more to share information about the state program far ahead of the upcoming deadline.

Walking through Gilpin Court with his 2-year-old on Thursday, as RRHA staff was meeting with residents there to help with the rent relief applications, Leon Trapp, 36, said he and his fiancee had no problems applying for relief earlier this year, but that the housing authority has not confirmed whether they have been approved.

The paperwork is easy. It was just ... we didnt know if we got it or not, he said. Theres been no communication. ... We havent gotten any letters saying were subject to eviction, so thats why I figure we got it.

Moore said shes noticed the recent letters and emails going out, but worries that some residents could be blamed for their own misfortune if they are unable to get the aid and lose their home.

Moore said she and her husband have started working through a backup plan for them and their four children if they need to move, though it makes her think: What will happen to the other families that live in public housing? What about their kids?
Michele Borgarelli of Blacksburg won both the theme and open categories in the Radford Photo Clubs April challenge. The theme was night photography. Borgarelli explained that his photo Turin by night is a view of downtown Turin, Italy: The photo was taken after dusk and shows the Alps in the background. The tall building is named Mole Antonelliana and was originally a synagogue. It is now the National Museum of the Cinema. The image was taken using a tripod and long exposure.

The winning photo in the open category is The power of the ocean, taken at Queens Bath on Kauai Island, Hawaii. That day there were very powerful waves crashing on the coast, making the area hazardous, Borgarelli said. I was there early for observing the pattern of the waves before starting to take photographs, to minimize all risks.

Borgarellis photos will be among those on display at Long Way Brewing during May, which is National Photography Month. Sale of photos will benefit Lamplighters, which supports Radford Public Librarys programs. (See related story.)

The next meeting of the Radford Photo Club will be Thursday, May 19, at 6 p.m. at Radford Public Library. Charles Lynch of Radford will discuss black and white photography. Or come at 5:15 p.m. to receive feedback and get answers to questions about night photography from Adi Ben-Senior of Radford. The May photo challenge is Kindness.

For more information about the photo club, search for Radford Photo Club on Facebook or email trulovesusan@gmail.com.

- Submitted by Susan Trulove
Glencoe Mansion, Museum & Gallery recently received three grants, totaling more than $9,000, from Virginia state agencies.

A $3,520 grant from Virginia Humanities will assist the local nonprofit in purchasing a new printer, but most important, says Executive Director Scott Gardner, it will allow us to develop a new exhibit that attempts to shed light on the history of slavery in Appalachia and enslaved individuals lives.

As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, its important to show our history and how our nation still reckons with its past and the ensuing legacy of years of oppression, Gardner added.

The story of Glencoe and its owners, Confederate Gen. Gabriel Wharton and his wife, Nannie Radford, provides a rich study of slavery in the western section of Virginia and brings to life the role of African Americans both as enslaved peoples and later as freedmen, Gardner said. The development of this exhibit has been assisted by our access to primary sources of more than 500 letters written between the couple during the American Civil War, he noted. The exhibit will open in late summer or early fall.

A second grant of $2,500 from the Virginia Commission for the Arts has provided funds to expand hours temporarily for two part-time employees, who assist in social media development and management of the gift shop and art gallery. In addition, Gardner noted that these funds will help Glencoe expand its advertising at Virginias Welcome Centers as well as its presence on social media platforms. The grant was made possible as part of the American Rescue Plan appropriation through the National Endowment for the Arts.

The third grant of $3,000 comes from the Virginia Department of Forestry to purchase plantings to help with reforestation and water conservation efforts at the Mary Draper Ingles Cultural Heritage Park as well as the adjoining Glencoe grounds. Located on 1.3 acres overlooking the New River, the park is home to an 8-foot-tall bronze statue of colonial pioneer Ingles, who survived capture by Native Americans in 1755 during the French and Indian War and walked hundreds of miles from the Ohio region back to the New River Valley. The property also includes a train observatory, which was completed in 2019 as a joint project with students and faculty from Virginia Techs School of Architecture + Design.

Gardner says the plantings will not only contribute to an improved environment but also will provide educational opportunities for families and make the property more inviting for picnics and walks along pathways. Were especially indebted to the Radford City Public Works Department and several groups of volunteers, including the Scouts BSA, for their help in making this project possible.

The park is open dawn to dusk, seven days a week.

- Submitted by Scott Gardner
Think making hip hop music isnt a gateway to broader knowledge? A group of Virginia Tech students and staffers would disagree.

Dakotah Leif Hamilton is part of the universitys program, Digging in the Crates: Hip Hop Studies at Virginia Tech. In its six years on campus, the program, VTDITC for short, has grown beyond a shared space on campus and moved into its own studio, while hosting more than 200 media workshops across Southwest Virginia, program representatives say.

The workshops help show high school students and others the tie-ins between beat-making and broader learning.

Were teaching them how to record on pro tools, Hamilton, of the VTDITC staff, said. Breaking down rhythm, thats mathematics. Theres science behind all of it, so thats why its very important for us to push hip hop music. Its our philosophy. Thats how we kick our truth.

Theyve been kicking it a lot lately. VTDITC moved into its True School Studios this year. Previously, the program hosted studio hours on the second floor of the universitys Newman Library, but its growth since 2016 called for a dedicated space for the program to house equipment and create music.

True School Studios is across from Squires Student Center and a one-block walk from Virginia Techs downtown area, an accessible spot for anyone interested in trying their hand at hip hop. The studio is free and open to all.

From there, you can learn about recording or sit in on VTDITCs monthly seminar series, the longest running at Virginia Tech. Past seminars include Hip Hop & Mental Health, Intro to DJing & Fair Use and Soul Sessions: Rebel Voices.

The programs media literacy workshops are mobile. On two days in late March, the group did eight of them.

With the workshops, thats us driving into Christiansburg and other areas around the New River Valley and bringing in some of this amazing music equipment to kids that probably wouldnt have an opportunity to ever see a beat machine before, said Jasmine Weiss, VTDITCs community engagement program specialist.   Or theyve seen it on social media but never had the opportunity to touch it.

Staff members Weiss, and Hamilton, student DeRay Manning and others from VTDITC look to inspire area youths to pursue STEM  aka science, technology, engineering and math  through hip hop. They work to bridge sciences to creativity, to show kids that their dreams are accessible.

Providing this equipment and explaining the STEM involved in it will hopefully help them think of themselves as someone that can do science, said Craig Arthur, lead technical director of community engagement for university libraries. When we think of who a scientist is, a lot of times these kids probably dont think of someone that looks like themselves. Particularly when we go into these youth centers where the kids are African American, they can see a Tech student that looks like them, doing things that already interest them, and also sharing the resources with them to do it. Thats powerful.

Arthur, who is a DJ, is also a VT employee. Otherwise, eight students lead the way from diverse academic perspectives.

Whats really amazing is that the students are all from different majors, Weiss said. We have business information technology majors, we have engineering majors, we have philosophy majors. Were from all different backgrounds. To be able to come together and put our heads together for this main purpose and passion of hip hop is just such an amazing thing.
Maestro David Stewart Wiley and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra celebrated their 25th anniversary together Saturday evening at the Berglund Performing Arts Theatre.

The grand finale masterworks concert featured two towering masterpieces and included various short pieces, amid proclamations and resolutions.

Wiley exemplifies the citizen artist. His 425-plus concerts as conductor, pianist, composer, and collaborator should be seen within the larger context of his contributions to the city and region. RSOs board president, Nancy Oliver Gray, and Roanoke Mayor Sherman Lea opened the celebration with honors for Wiley, with Lea proclaiming Saturday to be David Stewart Wiley Day.

Two videos followed, featuring elected officials: First, Del. Chris Head read a resolution that Del. Sam Rasoul and Sen. John Edwards co-sponsored; in the second, Gov. Glenn Youngkin extended congratulations and appreciation.

The scheduled season had Arthur Benjamins entertaining Jamaican Rumba listed as opener, but the program began instead with one of Wileys original works, Celebration Overture. A brief summer fireworks piece composed in 2012 for his other orchestra, the Long Island Philharmonic, its baroque-inspired fanfares and harmonies paid tribute to similar incidental music by Handel circa 1717.

As RSOs concertmaster Akemi Takayama and guest cellist Zuill Bailey joined Wiley on stage for the evenings first masterwork, Wiley announced an unprogrammed piece by local composer Jerome Margolis, a frequent collaborator with the orchestra. Ukraine Lives, arranged for violin, cello and piano for this concert, offered a lilting, elegant rumination on the war in Eastern Europe. The reserved, plaintive score served as poignant prelude to the first course, Brahmss 1887 Concerto for Violin and Cello.

The Brahms  the first concerto of its kind  ranks as one of the more challenging scores in the string repertoire, both technically and musically. In rendering large orchestral ideas for solo violin and cello, Brahms seemed to place almost superhuman demands on the duo.

Takayama and Bailey, at every stage of the work, matched the passion and sweep of Wileys orchestra. The commingling of their tone and temperament fused perfectly with the orchestras big-boned sound. In this opening movement, the tension between solo virtuosity and orchestral dominance manifests an oscillation between light and darkness, a common trope in Brahms. Takayamas and Baileys commanding duo embodied the metaphors imaginative space with nimble shifts between urgent drive and radiant tenderness. A memorable performance!

The second-movement andante, one of Brahms most alluring pieces, acquired a con moto in Wileys tempo. This emphasized flowering sweetness over nostalgic yearning and offered insight into the music. In the final movement, where wildly contrasting subsidiary themes mark a central danse macabre, the dynamic tug and pull between soloists and orchestra built to a magnificent finish.

Takayama returned to the stage as concertmaster in Dvoraks New World Symphony. Her fine stand partner, Daniel Sender, served as concertmaster during the first half. Before the music, Wiley recognized the retirements of two long-serving and greatly admired RSO members, James Glazebrook, its former concertmaster, and Wallace Easter, its principal horn.

Wileys rendering of the Dvorak offered a masterfully nuanced interpretation. Dvoraks work dips into Wagner throughout the score. The RSO winds  kudos to Stephen Key on English horn  and brass (gorgeous choirs) were supported by the splendidly lush and brilliant string section.

The symphony encored with Brahmss Hungarian Dance No. 5. Whipping up schmaltz without losing focus, Wiley indulged in characteristically extroverted showmanship. The music effectively banned all lingering wistfulness from either the concerto or the symphony. An apt close to this celebration of the Star Citys maestro.
 Flash

The secretary-general of the Malagasy Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Fanja Raharinomena, has thanked China for its commitment to supporting African countries in developing their agricultural sector.



Raharinomena described China as "a pioneer in hybrid rice research in the world" and thanked "the Chinese government for its commitment to supporting African countries and particularly, Madagascar, in the development of agriculture."

During a visit Friday to the demonstration fields of hybrid rice varieties funded by the Chinese government in Mahitsy, a town northwest of the Malagasy capital, Antananarivo, she said the development of the rice sector is a "pillar of food self-sufficiency in Madagascar."

"Hybrid rice gives a yield of up to 11 tons per hectare, whereas conventional rice produces only five tons per hectare, with the use of improved practices and techniques under the right conditions," Raharinomena told Xinhua.

"It can contribute to a rapid increase in the level of rice production," she said.

Raharinomena admitted that technical and financial challenges hamper large-scale production of hybrid rice in Madagascar.

Madagascar enjoys a humid tropical climate, with abundant sunshine and water resources -- the right conditions for rice cultivation, but inadequate infrastructure, obsolete agricultural technologies, and lack of investment have prevented the country from producing enough rice to meet local demand, having to import hundreds of thousands of tons every year.

In May 2019, China's National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center opened an office in Madagascar, and one of its main tasks was to breed various hybrid rice varieties based on the island state's diverse ecological environment, and to enhance food security on the African continent.

In partnership with the Chinese national center, the Indian Ocean Trading Company (STOI) has been popularizing hybrid rice in Madagascar since 2017 by giving inputs to farmers.

Tovonanahary Rabetsitonta, CEO of STOI, told Xinhua that Malagasy farmers earn a profit margin of five times more by growing hybrid rice than cultivating conventional varieties, though "not all hybrid rice seed varieties are suitable for Madagascar."

Thanks to cooperation with the Chinese center, he said, the best adapted varieties of hybrid rice have been identified for different regions in the country, with a yield of 10 tons to 12 tons per hectare, Rabetsitonta said.
CHRISTIANSBURG  Amelia Martin said having a 15-year-old teenager and another 5-year-old really puts into perspective how quickly children grow up.

It makes it even more obvious how fast that time goes, said Martin, a special education teacher at Auburn High School.

And she said it can be easy for a parent to miss some of those years when theyre often working too much.

Thats one of the chief reasons for Martins husband deciding to leave his most recent job, she said.

Unfortunately, it also means a loss for the community and the dining scene at large.

The Martins closed Amelias Pizzeria & Restaurant last week, bringing a more than 16-year run to an end and shutting down a town institution that had been a favorite of many families and groups.

The restaurants closing was announced on its Facebook page this past week, where the post addressed how the responsibility to the eatery had taken its toll on owner William Martin  whos better and affectionately known to many others as Buddy.

The last two years have been both physically and emotionally hard on Buddy, which has affected all aspects of his life, reads the online post. Buddy has dreamed of the day where he can be there for his children in the evenings and weekends, and that day is finally here. He has missed countless ball games, track meets, dive meets, gymnastic meets  dance recitals and many first milestones.

In addition to the 15-year-old and 5-year-old girls, the Martins have 12- and 10-year-old boys.

For example, Martin described her 12-year-old, Will, as a phenomenal diver. But she said he became discouraged about continuing the sport due to what he felt was a lack of parental presence at the meets.

He felt nobody was ever there for him, Martin said.

Martin also spoke about her 15-year-old daughter, Adison, who is currently learning how to drive.

Hes missed so much of her growing up, it weighs on him, Martin said of her husband. He just wants to have that time with his kids.

Located at 1130 Cambria St. NE, Amelias opened in late 2005 and about a month before the Martins married in December of that year. Martin recalled her husband coming up with the idea of naming the restaurant after her, and jokingly said that it was a clever way to impress her.

The family didnt initially think of running a restaurant, but decided to after the person that was originally supposed to operate the establishment left the project. Since the building had been prepared to be a restaurant and due to Buddys previous experience working in dining, they agreed to take over.

It just kind of fell in our laps, to be honest with you, Martin said.

Martin said other more economic challenges played some role in the recent closing decision. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Buddy Martin had been in the restaurant practically every day and all day, she said.

Amelias ran into challenges other dining establishments have had to grapple with since the pandemic started.

Martin said there were increases in the prices of items for the restaurant, which she added couldnt buy in bulk like chains and other bigger places. She said that challenge led to shrinking profit margins.

Its hard to get things at the prices we were getting them before, she said. In order to continue to make money, to not go under, we were going to have to continue to raise our prices, which we didnt really want to do to our customers.

Then, there was the issue of finding a sufficient number of employees, another challenge that many restaurants have had to deal with during the pandemic.

Martin recalled having to once close the restaurant a while ago due to the marriage of one employee and the wishes of other staff wanting to be there for that worker.

When COVID-19 hit, the restaurant went back to how it was when it started, Martin said. And that ultimately affected Buddys time with the family, she said.

Its mostly about our family, she said.

Amelias wasnt short of patrons this past week who turned out for final shows of support for the beloved restaurant.

Anytime you see a long, established, successful business close down, it hurts, said Christiansburg Mayor Mike Barber, who recalled eating there several times a month and serving on a board that would have meetings there at night. I kind of understand Buddys feelings on it. My impression is hes just burned out. Its a big sacrifice.

Barber said theres fare there hell definitely miss, including the buffet that shut down during the pandemic and other items such as the salads and lasagna.

That Philly cheesesteak was quite a favorite of mine, he said.

Others fondly remember the buffet and salad bar.

We liked the bar when they had that because they have a variety, said Paulette Lambert, a longtime Christiansburg resident who ordered a pizza with her husband Wednesday. We missed [the salad bar] a whole lot, but you adapt. And the pizzas good anyway.

Best pizza in town?

Probably so, Lambert said.

Lawrence Womack, who owns the Hot Diggity Dogs food truck, said he would usually eat at Amelias two or three times a week. He praised the food and the staff.

It is one of my favorite restaurants, he said.

Womack named the chicken parmesan and bacon cheeseburger among his favorites. But like many others, he enjoyed the cheesesteaks, which he called excellent and wonderful.

Sitting near Womack during a recent lunch hour this past week were several local police officers.

Law enforcement is one group Amelias had become a favorite lunch spot for over the years.

Kevin Tucker, an officer with the Christiansburg Police Department, was there Wednesday with several colleagues. He said he and his peers have been regulars at Amelias simply because it was always police-friendly.

Theyve always been accepting, having us here, he said. I always felt welcomed by the staff, the manager.

In addition to town police, Tucker said he has regularly seen Montgomery County Sheriffs deputies, state troopers and even Virginia Tech police at the restaurant.

Tucker said he was kind of shocked to learn about the closing.

I think they caught us all by surprise. This place has been a staple of the community for years, he said. Its sad to see it shut down, but we understand.

As for the future of the building itself, Martin said shes not sure what it holds as her family doesnt own the property. Barber said hes also not sure about what future plans are in place for the property.

In the recent Facebook announcement, the business made sure to voice gratitude for the years of community support.

Please keep our family and Buddy in your prayers as we work to transition into the next chapter of our life. We are both excited and nervous about the next step, but we know that choosing our family at this moment is what we need, the post reads. So long and thank you again from the bottoms of our hearts for being there through the years with our family.

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Few people noticed, but a big anniversary recently passed for an important community institution. March 22 marked 50 years since the Local Office on Aging opened its doors in Roanoke, way back in 1972.

The taxpayer-funded agency has been serving seniors over five decades since in a variety of ways. A fundraiser for one of those is coming up. Its an annual luncheon supporting Meals on Wheels, one of the LOAs most important missions.

Five days per week, week in and week out, LOA volunteers personally deliver nutritious prepared meals to more than 500 seniors in the Roanoke Valley and Alleghany Highlands who are unable to leave their homes.

That nutrition, which costs a few dollars per meal, helps keep seniors out of hospitals and nursing homes, for which care could otherwise cost taxpayers thousands of dollars per week.

And thats one good reason for you to support Lets Give Lunch. All proceeds will help pay for that Meals on Wheels nutrition  and for pet food, too, for elderly clients who have a feline or canine companion.

It happens June 17, a Friday, at North Roanoke Baptist Church, 6402 Peters Creek Road. Tickets are $20.

That gets you a drive-thru box lunch you can pick up at the church between 10:30 and 12:30 p.m. that day. Buyers of five or more lunches can have them delivered in the Roanoke Valley. Although the main entree is a ham and turkey sandwich, vegetarian options are available.

Lets Give Lunch dates to 1991 and is the LOAs singular annual fundraiser. Its other big annual collection effort is for shelf-stable food, Soup for Seniors. All Meals on Wheels clients get winter grocery bags of nonperishable canned and boxed grocery items, in case winter weather interferes with Meals on Wheels deliveries.

The LOA launched the luncheon in 1991, using a grant from Seagrams Corp. that required LOA to raise a matching amount. The agency did that via Lunch on the Lawn, a big outdoor get-together outside the LOAs former offices on Campbell Avenue.

Tickets were $10 and supporters ate their lunches at tables underneath a huge circus-style tent, said Ron Boyd, president of LOA. Roughly 600 tickets were sold the first year, raising $6,000 for Meals on Wheels.

By 2002, organizers had a less-than-favorable nickname for the mid-June lunch, Sweat in the Grass. Thats because of Junes typically hot and steamy weather in these parts. That year the LOA moved the fundraiser indoors to the Kazim Shriners Temple and renamed the event Lets Do Lunch.

The cost of tickets stayed at $10 until 2006, when the LOA bumped them to $12.50.

Somewhere along the line, the LOA developed a prize raffle in conjunction with the lunch. Thats still happening, with goods and services donated by local businesses. (This year, 45 different businesses have contributed prizes.)

By 2019, the luncheon sold 3,028 tickets and raised more than $94,000. It stayed stayed at the Kazim Temple until 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic came along.

If you recall, mass get-togethers were banned by then-Gov. Ralph Northam early in 2020, well before COVID vaccines were available. That year, the agency dropped the food and held the fundraiser online. It raised $65,000.

In 2021, the LOA brought the food back, as a drive-thru at North Roanoke Baptist Church, or delivery only. And thats when the LOA renamed it Lets Give Lunch. It brought in $53,000.

We dont anticipate going back to eat-in anytime soon due to the additional cost and staff/volunteer intensity needed to operate that piece, Boyd told me.

Boyd said this years goal is $75,000. For the 2022 raffle component, 45 different businesses have contributed prizes.

Among them are a bunch of $25 gift certificates to venerable area restaurants, such as the Luigis Gourmet Italian on Brambleton Avenue in Roanoke, Cuccis in Covington and Pennys Diner in Low Moor.

Also up for grabs are a P. Buckley Moss print with framing donated by Jordans Custom Framing (value $576) and a one-year membership to Safeside Tactical, an indoor firearms range in Roanoke ($660).

You can also vie for an ax-chucking soiree for five people, donated by an outfit called Blue Ridge Axe Throwing ($100). Or, one hours worth of jumping for four, at the Launching Pad Trampoline Park & Family Fun Center which is in Salem ($68).

Contact metro columnist Dan Casey at 981-3423 or dan.casey@roanoke.com . Follow him on Twitter:@dancaseysblog

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CHRISTIANSBURG  Montgomery County schools will receive just under $600,000 through the state for purchase of two electric school buses, according to an announcement from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality this past week.

The funding, $597,492, is part of more than $14 million being provided to public schools throughout the state to replace old diesel school buses with all-electric buses. The awards are made through the Clean School Bus Program and complement more than $10 million awarded last August to replace 72 diesel school buses in 17 districts with electric and propane buses, the recent announcement said.

The Clean School Bus Program funds will be used to offset the difference between the cost of new diesel and electric school buses, including charging infrastructure, according to Virginia DEQ. Funds will come from the states nearly $94 million allocated in the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust, which supports initiatives to reduce air pollution.

Replacing older diesel school buses will directly benefit thousands of students and their health by reducing their exposure to air pollution, said DEQ Air and Renewable Energy Director Mike Dowd. These new buses will also prevent the release of 62 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides and will save school districts more than a million gallons of diesel fuel.

The vehicles will contribute to Montgomery County Public Schools gradual effort to change its school bus fleet.

Last year, the district announced that it had been approved for a grant for its first electric bus.

That grant, MCPS officials said last year, came from the Appalachian Power Company. District officials said at the time the vehicle came at a $300,000 cost, with the division covering a third of the amount and the electricity provider covering the rest.

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Over the renewed nationwide topic of abortion, two Republican state delegates running against each other are moving to stake their own ground.

A few hours after Del. Marie March, R-Floyd, said on Facebook she plans to carry a Life at Conception Bill in the Virginia General Assembly next year, Del. Wren Williams, R-Patrick, issued a statement calling for March to withdraw from their shared race for House District 47, citing a Facebook post March made in 2019.

Marie March is Pro-Choice. There is no other way to interpret her comments, Williams said, in response to the Feb. 2019 post March made on what he referenced as a personal Facebook account. A Pro-Choice Liberal does not fit the Pro-Life conservative values of this district.

Both of the first-term delegates co-sponsored an anti-abortion bill during the 2022 lawmaking session.

Williams, after a recent leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, was one of the first state legislators to defend the potential change.

In an email, March said Williams should drop out for the District 47 House race for what she said is a dishonest political stunt.

Mr. Williams is using the lives of unborn babies as political fodder to derail my attempts to lead pro-life legislation, March said. His negative smear is an attempt to drag me down with him into the Swamp where he is comfortable.

In the 2019 Facebook post called into question by Williams, March said there is much polarization around deciding to terminate a pregnancy, and called for more respect as a solution to divisive politics.

Everyone loves babies and would never want to terminate their pregnancy, the post said. However, many of my friends dont want Big brother deciding what they can do with their bodies and I GET IT!

The 2019 Facebook post said government should be unbiased and neutral, uninvolved in financial support or illegality of abortions. Williams said the post makes Marchs position clear, but March this week said Williams is being deceitful.

I am 100% pro-life and will continue to lead the efforts to push forward and pass my legislation to protect life at conception across Virginia, March said. I will continue to spend my efforts working for positive, meaningful accomplishments for our district and for all Virginians.

Abortion is a renewed topic of interest across the nation, after the draft opinion leaked from the U.S. Supreme Court.

The spat between March and Williams comes ahead of an anticipated Republican primary election for House District 47, covering Carroll, Floyd and Patrick counties, plus western Henry County and Galax. That election is currently expected for 2023.

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VIRGINIA BEACH  Gov. Glenn Youngkin urged graduates Saturday at Regent University, a Christian school in Virginia Beach, to reintroduce the concept of grace in public discourse.

We are not called to comfort, Youngkin said in delivering the keynote speech at the schools commencement. We are not even called to conformity. Sometimes we are called to speak up to say unpopular things, to invite ridicule and scorn.

Speaking broadly of higher education today, the Republican governor said he thinks there is too much groupthink, too much conformity to modern doctrine, too much intolerance to alternative views.

So all of you graduating today have this amazing opportunity to reintroduce the concept of grace  grace in the public discourse, Youngkin said, that even if we disagree, we can hear one another, see each other where we are, even if we so deeply, deeply disagree.

Youngkin spoke five days after Politico broke the news of a draft opinion by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that indicates the court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion. He did not mention abortion in his speech Saturday.

Youngkin, a wealthy former private equity executive, told graduates that as they chart their lives there is a difference between living a successful life and living a significant life.

He said society places a great deal of emphasis on finding happiness, but said happiness is fleeting and finding purpose is what brings satisfaction.

So heres what I believe, Youngkin said, Seek your purpose and you will find happiness. Seek happiness and you will find neither.

On Saturday, Regent  founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, a 1988 GOP presidential hopeful  also named Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears as its alumna of the year. Earle-Sears, the first woman to serve as Virginias lieutenant governor, holds a masters in organizational leadership from Regent.

The university conveyed degrees to a record 2,559 graduates from 49 states and 19 countries.

Maintaining ties to Virginia schools that have deep roots in evangelical circles is key to any GOP politician who might have national ambitions. Youngkin also spoke March 25 at the convocation at Liberty University, founded by the late Jerry Falwell Sr.
In May 1945, Lt. Alfred E. Isaac of the United States Army Air Forces wrote to his parents in Cincinnati about the greatest mission he had ever flown. But his flight did not involve a single bomb or weapons. It was a mission to air drop food into the Netherlands, where millions of civilians were starving under Nazi German occupation during World War II.

Part of Lt. Isaacs letter was printed in the Cincinnati Post newspaper. He described what he saw after dropping the food from his plane: Thousands of Dutch people were dying from starvation each day ... people jammed roads, bridges, dikes, and roof tops, waving table cloths, handkerchiefs and any old rag they could find ... it made a lump in our throats to see the appreciation on the faces of those people.

It may be the great mission the U.S. has ever flown, for millions were saved from death by hunger in the Netherlands. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower negotiated with the nearly defeated Germans to start the humanitarian mission. Reports had reached the Allies of the incredible suffering in the Netherlands because of food shortages. Action had to be taken even though the war had not ended.

Britains Royal Air Force got the mission started and U.S. planes came next dropping tons of food into Dutch cities and towns. Reports of each days food drops were cabled by Eisenhower to the Netherlands government in exile in London. At last their people could be saved.

Eisenhower had also stockpiled large amounts of food into the already liberated section of the Netherlands, where my father actually finished out the war with the Army engineers.

That food was moved by truck into the occupied part of the Netherlands after the air drops had gotten underway.

Imagine the relief of the Dutch citizens to see food arriving after a hunger winter where they were desperately searching for anything to eat.

Just days later the war in Europe came to an end as Nazi Germany was defeated. By V-E Day on May 8, 1945, large amounts of food had been delivered into the Netherlands, where only weeks before there had been practically none.

This heroic mission can inspire us as today as once again war and hunger have descended upon Europe. In the Ukraine the Russian invasion has killed thousands of civilians and caused a humanitarian crisis.

Ukrainian civilians in Mariupol and other cities are being starved to death by Russian sieges. We must find ways to get food and humanitarian aid to these victims, and to evacuate them.

Each of us can take action by supporting humanitarian relief agencies who are in the war zone trying to help civilians. You can donate to the World Food Program, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, UNICEF, International Red Cross, Norwegian Refugee Council, Edesia and other charities. You can buy a CARE Package for a refugee family fleeing Russias brutal assault in Ukraine

Since the war and the resulting high food prices has escalated hunger worldwide, relief agencies need even more funding. We cannot forget those who are suffering even if they are thousands of miles away.

There are numerous hunger relief missions that lack funding. The World Food Program had to reduce rations for 8 million hungry people in Yemen because of low funding. In Afghanistan funding is needed to feed close to 23 million people.

Like the Allies at the end of World War II in Europe, lets do everything we can to feed those suffering from conflict and hunger.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the United Nations World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writings have been published by the New York Times, Chicago Sun Times, Newsweek and History News Network. Find his work at https://williamlambers.com/ .
The last month has produced a series of eye-rolling media reports about the actions of regressive Virginia Military Institute alumni who have done real damage to the schools reputation and the value of the diploma.

For those who have been concentrating on their careers and cadetships rather than following the turmoil consuming a certain corner of the alumni base, heres a brief recap: One alum has sued the school claiming, among other things, that its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training is based on critical race theory (or CRT) in violation of the governors executive order ban. This is his second VMI-related lawsuit in less than 18 months. The first case was summarily dismissed. (For one reference see the Washington Post, April 16, VMI alumni push to reverse diversity reforms, invoking critical race theory.)

Another has drafted an open petition to Attorney General Jason Miyares pleading for a full investigation of CRT at VMI  a comedic irony given the resentment voiced by many of these same alumni of the last investigation.

Most recently, another group of alumni, which included the two aforementioned, attempted to install their own slate of directors of the VMI Alumni Association in the name of transparency by (again, with no apparent sense of irony) showing up unannounced to a board meeting in a hostile takeover attempt  as described by one witness, VMIs very own insurrection. (Bacons Rebellion, April 12, Dissident alumni open a new front in the higher-ed culture wars.)

The apparent unifying theme of these stunts is to demonstrate  through the court system, direct intervention of the state, and parliamentary force, respectively, but notably not by winning the hearts and minds of the VMI family  that by implementing DEI programs, VMI is on a woke road to nowhere. But this group of disgruntled alumni is not only wrong about the nature of VMIs DEI program, as Superintendent Cedric T. Wins has exhaustively explained, they are also dangerously out of touch with modern higher education, the military and the private sector.

Until it was implemented by the current administration, VMI was the only four-year public college in Virginia without a formal DEI program, an outlier status to which many of these alumni would gleefully see VMI return.

In the military, both Republican and Democratic leaders have reinforced DoDs commitment to diversity and inclusion programs. This stands to reason given that more than 40% of the active military is composed of racial minorities, with ever increasing numbers of women and LGBTQ individuals entering the force.

In the private sector, diversity literally pays dividends. A widely reported McKinsey study found that companies with more diverse leadership teams are 33% more likely to be profitable than those with less diverse leadership teams. Its no wonder why the Fortune 500 has so enthusiastically embraced DEI.

Even if one were to believe such programs were total bunk, the vast majority of graduating cadets are about to find themselves in the military and private sector, both of which have fully grasped the benefits of DEI.

Walking into these new environments without any background or understanding of these concepts sets future graduates up for failure  a failure that would also amount to educational malpractice on the part of VMI.

But should our community have any further doubts about the value of DEI training to our careers, you can read about the consequences of the absence of DEI skills in the Navy Times. (April 19, How an executive officers misconduct  and a commander who failed to correct him  got them both fired.)

To the Corps: VMI rightly continues to bill itself as a premier training ground for military and civilian leaders. The administration is therefore indisputably on the right track when it seeks to better prepare you for the realities and challenges that you will face in those arenas.

Though it might not seem like it now, you are the beneficiaries of the changes implemented by this administration. And unlike the older alumni described above, you have a dog in the fight: its your career, its your cadetship, and its the value of your diploma that matters most.

Dont let the personal and political grievances of these regressive alumni, many at the end of their careers or retired and trying to recreate their past, derail your VMI generation from its rightful place among Americas future leaders. Rah Virginia Mil

Signatories: George D. Hasseltine 97; Shah Rahman 97; Timothy Perez 86; Chris Manno 77; Dave Milligram 10; William M. Carr, Jr. 88; Christina Stalnaker 09 ; Joel Christenson 99; Jacklyn D. Morton 09; Hank Foresman 76; Matthew W. Graham 10; Matthew W. Henning 90; Nicholas Harrelson 09; Michael Morgan 93; Kent Vaughan Latimer 88; Matthew Atkinson 80; Andre Johnson 96; John A. Aydlette, 90

Purdy, a technology attorney from Arlington, is a distinguished graduate of the Virginia Military Institute class of 1999 and a former U.S. Navy Reserve intelligence officer. Fountain is an attorney and distinguished graduate of the VMI class of 1978, former editor-in-chief of The Cadet student newspaper and retired Army lieutenant colonel. He has practiced law in 25 countries and on the professional staffs of the White House and U.S. Senate. Lazenby is a member of the VMI class of 1974 and the author of Michael Jordan: The Life. The authors first attempted to have this opinion printed in The Cadet before publishing in The Roanoke Times.
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Julian Mendoza is a fellow with the CalMatters College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. This story and other higher education coverage are supported by the College Futures Foundation.
MCLEOD HEALTH

McLeod Registered Nurse Courtney Hatchell chose a career in nursing so she could impact peoples lives  whether they are patients or family members. It is such a rewarding profession and it allows me to change the lives of people every day I am at work.

Hatchell said her parents inspired her decision to become a nurse. They have always been very supportive of me and wanted the best from me.

Hatchell graduated from Francis Marion University in December 2020 with a bachelor of science degree in nursing. She is pursuing a masters of science degree in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Francis Marion University.

A registered nurse for a little over a year, Hatchell recently celebrated her three-year anniversary at McLeod Regional Medical Center. Prior to becoming a nurse, she was a nurse extern on the oncology unit. After graduating from FMU, Hatchell began working in the Medical Intensive Care Unit.

Hatchell was nominated for the Morning News Outstanding Nurse and recognized as one of the extraordinary nurses in our area who goes above and beyond to deliver compassionate care. She was chosen to be featured for National Nurses Week.

The person nominating Hatchell wrote: Courtney is one of the most hardworking, caring and compassionate nurses you could ever ask for. She is a very caring person and will always go above and beyond to take care of anyone. She is currently in the oncology unit at McLeod and attending Francis Marion University to become a Nurse Practitioner. Being a Nurse and helping her patients is not just a occupation to Courtney, it is her passion.

As a nurse just beginning her career, Hatchell found herself caring for critically ill patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was truly one of the hardest things I have ever done. The patients were extremely sick, and it was difficult when a patient did not survive. Being a new nurse, it was hard seeing the impact the virus was having on so many people. However, I am grateful for the experience because I learned so much, she said.

Caring for COVID patients also presented emotional challenges since they were unable to have visitors, said Hatchell.

Some ways I helped patients during this time was by spending what extra time I could with them. We also had an iPad the patients could use to talk with their family. Seeing the smile and laughter on their face lifted my spirits and theirs.

Hatchell transferred back to the oncology unit this January.

I enjoy coming to work and making my cancer patients smile. They are going through a difficult time, and I try to brighten their day. Also, my co-workers are amazing, and Eddie Hobbs is a great director.
Dalondo Moultrie is the assistant managing editor of the Seguin Gazette. You can e-mail him at dalondo.moultrie@seguingazette.com .
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SIOUX CENTER, Iowa -- A pair of houses being built in a development on the north side of Sioux Center are intended to help address a shortage of affordable housing in the growing Sioux County city.

Farmers Co-Op Society, headquartered in Sioux Center, announced a project with the How-To Building Center (which itself is part of the co-op) and the Sioux Center Land Development Corporation this spring to build a pair of entry-level homes.

Construction has begun on the two homes -- single-story, three-bedroom, two-bathroom residences with about 1,400 square feet of living space each, plus a basement and two-stall attached garage. Eric Cleveringa, service manager with How-To, the general contractor, said the houses should be finished by the early fall.

Once they come on the market, tbe houses could cost around $300,000 or slightly more, most of which covers the cost of building materials, the lots and the labor.

"We're not looking to make a lot of money on these houses," Cleveringa said. "It's hard to even say what affordable is in this current market."

Dennis Dokter, Sioux Center's economic development director, said the need for more housing is acute. Once upon a time, he said, there would have typically been about around 70 or 80 houses listed for sale in the Sioux Center area. Today, there's only a fraction of that number listed.

A search of real-estate listings in Sioux Center showed perhaps half a dozen houses for sale at present. Rental listings are also few and far between.

"The sheer number of houses on the market is minimal right now, and I think you see that in all markets," Dokter said.

Housing prices have risen to extraordinary levels across much of the U.S., and housing availability has been quite low. In January of this year, more than half of the homes sold in the country went for more than their list price as buyers bid against one another for homes. The median price of a house in the United States is now $375,300, up 15 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Several large employers in Sioux Center -- among them Farmers Co-Op, How-To, Pella Windows, Interstates, Sioux Center Health and Dordt University -- have drawn new residents to the city of more than 8,000 people. U.S. Census data shows that Sioux Center has posted marked population increases in every decade of its existence, most recently, an increase of about 16.8 percent, or more than 1,000 new residents, between 2010 and 2020.

"The community is just growing. Growing pretty quickly," said Jen Sawyer, director of marketing and communications with Farmers Co-Op Society. "It's not just Sioux Center. It would be all the surrounding areas. It's hard to find a home here. People are looking, and it's just challenging."

The co-op's project, Sawyer said, has been in the works for a little more than a year.

Employers looking for new hires have begun to run up against the limited availability of housing in Sioux Center, a situation familiar to cities in metro Sioux City.

"There's just not a whole lot out there for potential housing," Cleveringa said.

The city of Sioux Center, Dokter said, is awaiting the results of a housing needs assessment. The report, he added, should serve to reassure developers that the demand is there for any speculative houses or apartment complexes they might choose to build. "It's documented here, that there's a need, and if you build, people will come."

Two houses, Sawyer said, is "a small, small bucket," but it is a starting point. Depending on how everything goes with the first two homes, the project could expand into surrounding communities.

"We see the opportunity in other communities, we just hope that we can find good partners," she said.

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Ladies and gentlemen, your next big action hero: Tom Holland.

In Uncharted, an adventure film based on the old PlayStation game, he flies through the air at the back end of a cargo plane, cavorts around an auction house light sculpture and romances a woman who just might be a villain.

Like dozens of films before it, Uncharted goes where many others have been. Eager to find Magellans gold, Hollands Nate Drake teams up with Mark Wahlbergs Sully to figure out the clues planted in an ancient map  one he remembers when he and his missing brother were kids.

To earn money to fund the trip  presumably  Drake picks pockets and unlatches diamond bracelets while tossing cocktail shakers like Tom Cruise. Hes quite charming and incredibly adept at stunts. That bodes well when the two head to Barcelona where (surprise, surprise), someone else (Antonio Banderas) is searching for the gold, too. He has a henchwoman who isnt afraid to kiss and kill, so the two adventurers have to watch their steps. Meanwhile, Sully has a friend, Chloe (Sophia Ali) who has similar skills and a piece of memorabilia that could prove helpful.

Its all connect-the-dots storytelling but Uncharted does have moments of concern that National Treasure, The DaVinci Code and other, similar films didnt boast. Director Ruben Fleischer loses Wahlberg at one point and, frankly, hes not missed. Holland handles the puzzle with ease and has the ability to look surprised just when we know he shouldnt.

Fleischer sends the team all across the map until clues, planted by Drakes brother, point them and their detractors in the right direction. (Why? We dont know.)

Then, Uncharted becomes an homage to Pirates of the Caribbean, complete with gold bars, rickety ships and a sword fight that would make Johnny Depp weep.

In many ways, the film serves as Hollands audition reel for dozens of others (Indiana Jones included). He comes through at every turn and even manages to romance the stone, so to speak.

He and Ali have some fun scenes in a tunnel and become prey in one of Banderas planes. There, they dodge bullets, moving cars and that villain (nicely played by Tati Gabrielle, who looks like she could take many of Cynthia Erivos cast-offs), who isnt afraid to slit anyones throat.

While a post-credits scene suggests theres more to this map than we thought possible, there is enough of a seed here to grow into an acceptable franchise.

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The idea, the city said cheerily, was to "foster diversity," "create an environment in the City where everyone feels included," and promote harmony "among Boston's many communities." What could possibly go wrong? In today's prickly America, enough to require the Supreme Court to referee the dispute.

It so did on Monday, giving the city a tutorial about the obvious: Public forums are open to the public. Boston did, however, bring unity: The court spoke unanimously, through an opinion by retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who is heading home to an edified Boston.

There, at City Hall, from time to time -- 284 times in 12 years, before a problem occurred -- the city allowed various groups to fly their flags from where the city's usually flies. The flags of China and Cuba have flown there. The 285th request was from a group wishing to celebrate Christians' contributions to Boston, by flying what the group's leader calls a "Christian flag."

Calling it this probably made a city official skittish. The mere fact that the flag includes a cross would not have alarmed the employee of a city whose flag includes Latin words that translate as "God be with us as he was with our fathers." And the Bunker Hill flag, which contains the St. George's cross, is quite similar to the "Christian flag," but not so described. The categorization of the flag as "Christian" caused the Boston official to flinch from the possibility of becoming entangled with the migraine-inducing nuances of establishment clause jurisprudence. So, one word on the application was the reason the city censored the flag.

One can sympathize with him. The constitutional injunction that there shall be no laws "respecting an establishment of religion" has produced much hairsplitting, as when the court in the 1970s held that public funds could be used to provide books for parochial schools, but not maps. A bemused Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y, wondered: What about atlases, which are books of maps?

The Christian flag people say that the city has described this one pole as one of the city's "public forums" for "all applicants." But the city says: Not so, the forum is only the ground around the pole. A federal appeals court sided with the city, saying that whatever is run up the city's pole constitutes government speech, and governments can say what they like as long as they avoid endorsing religion. Nine justices disagreed, saying that the city created a public forum open to all.

The three-pronged test of whether a government involvement with religion avoids violating the establishment clause is: The involvement must have a "secular legislative purpose," its "primary effect" must not advance or inhibit religion, and it must not foster "excessive government entanglement with religion." Breyer easily concluded that brief flag-raising ceremonies -- unlike, say, government supervision of messages on license plates that government requires drivers to purchase, or the placement of permanent monuments in public parks -- are not government speech. They are constitutionally protected private speech by participants in the ceremonies, hence do not implicate the establishment clause.

In a trenchant concurrence, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch, provides a properly restrictive definition of "government speech," one that, were it adopted by the court, would prevent government from expansively claiming to be speaking when it really is not. This would prevent government, as in this case, from subjecting private speakers to viewpoint discrimination. This is Alito's definition: "Government speech occurs if -- but only if -- a government purposefully expresses a message of its own through persons authorized to speak on its behalf."

In another concurrence, Gorsuch argues for abandoning the three-prong test of establishment. Its complex cleverness has, he says, produced "chaos" by not being "humble" enough to adhere to the establishment clause's original meaning. Look above at the phrases in quotation marks in the three-pronged test. Now, Gorsuch's criticism:

"It's hard not to wonder whether some simply prefer the policy outcomes [the test] can be manipulated to produce." That is, the test's elastic terms are amenable to stretching enough to frequently find "establishment" of religion. Gorsuch quotes the eminent legal scholar Michael W. McConnell: "No one at the time of the founding is recorded as arguing that the use of religious symbols in public contexts was a form of religious establishment."

It is axiomatic that hard cases often make bad law. Boston's flag case was easy, but beneath the surface unanimity, within the concurrences, there bubbled a ferment of disagreement that might be a harbinger of better law resulting from renewed respect for the original meaning of "establishment."

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SIOUX CITY -- The youngest in a family of 12 children and the only sibling born in the United States, Crystal Luna knew she had to make the most out of every opportunity presented to her.

Not only was Luna's family depending on her, but she also wanted to live out her own version of the American dream.

On April 28, the 18-year-old soon-to-be North High School graduate received a $40,000 scholarship from the Kind World Foundation. It's the highest monetary post-secondary award the local nonprofit group annually presents.

"Receiving this scholarship means so much to me," Luna explained. "It says all of my hard work was worthwhile."

Since 2009, the Kind World Foundation, founded by former Gateway executive Norm Waitt Jr., has awarded more than $3 million to hundreds of high school seniors from eight metro high schools: Sioux City East, North, West and Bishop Heelan; South Sioux City; Dakota Valley; Sergeant Bluff - Luton; and Elk Point-Jefferson.

Luna plans to use her scholarship to study Spanish and International Business at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City. After that, she wants to go to law school, specializing in immigration law.

"Crystal had to mature at a very early age, had personally gone through so much, and still wants to help other people," Kind World Foundation scholarship and education program chairman Marcia Waitt explained. "Our program was created specifically for deserving students like Crystal."

Luna acquired a strong work ethic from her mom Yolanda Nava who, herself, had to leave school after the fifth grade.

"My mom worked on her family's farm in Mexico before coming to America," Luna said. "My parents divorced when I was five years old, and life became even more difficult."

Indeed, Luna spent many years living in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with her 11 siblings.

"Most of us kids slept on the floor," she remembered. "I felt like a princess the year that I got a new Care Bear blanket."

Still, Luna's mom worked 16 hours a day to ensure her family had a roof over their heads and food on the table.

"When mom went to work, my older sister took care of me," Luna said. "Plus I became self-sufficient on my own."

This was often difficult for Luna, who felt insecure due to her accent.

"Half of my family spoke only Spanish while the other half spoke both Spanish and English," she said. "It was awkward."

Soon, the pressure got to Luna.

"I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression when I was 12," she said. "My family didn't understand mental illness, so I oversaw taking my medication and found transportation to therapy on my own."

In fact, the only place Luna felt comfortable was at school.

"I loved school because I loved learning," she said.

It was also a place where Luna would receive positive reinforcement for her studying.

"At school, I was the girl who was always smiling, with her nose stuck in a book," Luna said.

Yet she knew very few people understood the difficulties of a first generation student.

"Neither my mom nor my dad spoke English," Luna said. "They didn't know anything about college savings accounts or building credit. When you don't speak the language, everything seems daunting and out of reach."

That was why she became involved with Briar Cliff University's TRIO Student Support Services, a U.S. Department of Education-funded program which serves and advocates on behalf of first generation students who were often underrepresented in higher education.

"TRIO allowed me to think about college years before I could attend," she said. "It made me want to plan for the future."

However, sometimes life can throw you for a loop. That happened, last year, when Luna's dad died unexpectedly.

"Losing a parent is horrible," she said. "Something like that can discourage you from schoolwork or everyday life. But I wouldn't let that happen to me."

Instead, Luna concentrated on her work with the North High School student council and the National Honors Society, while becoming a 4.0 honor student.

"When you're born to immigrant parents, you often have to work harder to get ahead," she said. "You want to become a role model."

Luna still gets emotional more than a week after she was selected for the Kind World Foundation scholarship.

"It was so moving and so encouraging for me," she said.

Cheering her on every step of the way was Luna's mom Yolanda Nava.

"My mom was so happy and that made me happy," Luna said.

Reflecting for a moment, Luna recalled feeling bad because of her own accent.

"Now, I am so proud of my accent as it signifies my challenges in learning a new language," she explained. "Everything that I've gone through has made me stronger and has made me the person I am today."

As she looks towards the future, Luna has advice for first generation students like herself.

"Work hard, study hard, get involved with your community and never stop learning," she said with a smile. "That way, you can create your own American dream."

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SIOUX CITY  Andrew Donawa said he resigned after just six months as director of Woodbury County Emergency Services due to a hostile work environment he attributes to current and former staff, including his predecessor Gary Brown.

County leaders say they are investigating Donawa's claims internally.

Donawa claims Brown followed him in his county-issued vehicle, offered unwanted input and created a rift between himself and the department staff.

Brown denies the claims.

I have never followed Mr. Donawas vehicle, Brown told the Journal. As far as causing a rift between Mr. Donawa and his staff, I did not do so.

In his resignation letter dated April 11, Donawa attributed his departure to "current and former employees have created a hostile work environment."

In a statement, Supervisor Matthew Ung said: "As to the letters contents regarding current employees, we are investigating internally and unfortunately cant discuss personnel issues."

After Donawa resigned, Brown approached the supervisors, offering to fill in as the director at no cost to the county until a new director is hired.

Woodbury County and emergency services staff need and deserve a qualified individual to lead the department, Brown told the board.

The board instead appointed Bob Welte as the interim director while county leaders evaluate the department and conduct a search for a new director.

Welte, a former director of Siouxland Paramedics, worked part-time for the Woodbury County Emergency Services.

He is an extremely qualified paramedic, he focuses more on the mission than the personalities, and his collected demeanor is a welcome influence, Ung said.

Donawa, whose last day with the county was April 29, had recommended Welte for the interim job.

Dispute over qualifications

Donawa, who was hired as director in November 2021 at an annual salary starting at $70,000, said he believes Brown was unhappy he was selected for the position over another member of his staff.

Brown, who retired in July 2021 after 41 years with the county, described Donawa as unqualified for the position.

He lacked the pertinent credentials and years of experience to effectively perform in the capacity as the department head of an EMS Fire and Rescue Department, Brown told the Journal. Of all the candidates that applied for this position, some of which were employees of the department with multiple years of experience and had the necessary credentials to lead the department forward, it appears from Mr. Donawas resume, he was the least qualified.

As a county taxpayer, Brown said he has the right to question and bring concerns to the attention of elected officials.

At the time of the hiring, Supervisor Rocky De Witt said Donawa was selected over the other candidates who were interviewed because of his leadership and his previous involvement with emergency services.

Donawa points out he has 10 years of experience in emergency management and services and has responded to disasters around the country.

Before taking the Woodbury County job, Donawa served as director of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency in Burt County, Nebraska for just over a year. At the time, Donawa told the Oakland Independent that he was leaving because "there is no support from the (county) board and they don't want to educate themselves on what emergency management is.

Donawa said he wasn't sure he would get the Woodbury County director's position after pointing out flaws in the current department.

After starting the job, Donawa said he took time to understand how the department functioned, before looking at how to make changes.

I think Woodbury County has great potential, especially the emergency services division, he said.

Conversations between former, current director?

Before his hiring, Donawa said he reached out to Brown to ask about the department. He said Brown criticized the county leadership and claimed the county eventually would need to hire him to train the new director.

He didnt have too many positive things to say about the county or the position, Donawa recalled. He was very vague.

Brown said he has never spoken to Donawa in person or by phone. After Donawa was hired, Brown said he stopped by his office a few times to welcome him, but he was not there.

On Nov. 2, Donawa claims he received a Facebook message from Brown, in which Brown asked that the Emergency Services Department hire him as a consultant for a minimum of 20 hours a week, at a rate of $175 an hour. Donawa said he forwarded the proposal to courthouse leaders.

Brown said he doesn't recall reaching out to Donawa by Facebook, but confirmed he offered to serve as a consultant because the county supervisors waited for months to hire a replacement after he retired.

I felt it was a reasonable offer for me to offer my assistance, Brown said.

After his first encounter with Brown, Donawa said his job turned into an uphill battle.

Complaints regarding Donawa's actions

The first change Donawa said he noticed was that department staff started to be more standoffish and avoided speaking to him. Other staff also started complaining to the county Human Resources Department about him. At one point, the department was receiving daily complaints, he said.

From what I understand he was only in the office a few minutes a week, which prompted several of the staff to call the Human Resources office and inform Woodbury County officials of their concerns regarding Mr. Donawa, Brown told the Journal.

Throughout his tenure in Woodbury County, Donawa commuted to work in a county vehicle from his home in Decatur, Nebraska. The Burt County seat is about a 40-minute drive from Woodbury County's Emergency Services headquarters in Climbing Hill.

On Dec. 15, Donawa left work early to go home to Burt County with its response to forecast severe weather. The rare December storm system also moved into Woodbury County that night.

Before the severe weather hit, Donawa said he and other courthouse leadership staff were sent home. Donawa said he checked in with his staff and the Emergency Management Department to see if he was needed the rest of the day.

"I called multiple times to check-in, this was before the storms had even hit," Donawa said. "There's no point in me staying on the clock if I'm not needed."

When he got home, Burt County asked for his assistance due to their emergency sirens not functioning correctly.

After helping out Burt County officials, Donawa said he received the call to come help Woodbury Countys Emergency Management Department. Once he returned to Woodbury County, Donawa said he worked until 3 a.m. the next morning.

The storms produced high winds and multiple tornadoes, which damaged some homes and businesses in the county and downed a power line near Lawton that temporarily blocked traffic on U.S. Highway 20.

Brown questioned Donawa's decision to assist Burt County in the first place, let alone leave the county where he headed a department while it was in the midst of severe weather.

In my 41 years with the county, Woodbury County never had a mutual aid agreement with Burt County, Nebraska, Brown said. Without that approved mutual aid agreement, it introduces significant liability to the Woodbury County taxpayers.

Donawa claims the county is investigating how Brown knew about his whereabouts on the night of Dec. 15. Brown said it was common knowledge that Donawa left work early to go home to Burt County.

'Double-dipping' accusation

While in his hometown for Christmas, attending a police officers funeral, Donawa said he received a call from the Woodbury County Human Resources director. After stepping out to answer the phone, Donawa learned the department had received a complaint that he was double-dipping from his old job.

Emails were being sent from Burt County Emergency Management with Donawas signature line. Donawa said the staff must have forgotten to remove his signature line, as there was not a replacement director at the time.

I was like This is insane,  he said. I stepped out because I thought it was an emergency, and it was more drama.

That complaint, he said, caused him to start searching for a new job.

Donawa said he brought concerns about the actions of current and former staff members to the board of supervisors, and he said the Human Resources Department tried to make changes to help.

Andrew has given his best effort under challenging circumstances and done his best to take the high road, Ung said in the statement.

Donawa said he is sad about leaving, having seen the potential for the Emergency Services Department, but said Welte is a great asset for the county and a good choice for the transition.

Going forward, county board chair Keith Radig said Tuesday there are continued conversations about restructuring the Emergency Services Department and the director's position.

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Ukraine evacuates civilians from steel plant under siege

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Saturday and bombarded a besieged steel mill in Mariupol, hoping to complete their conquest of the port in time for Victory Day celebrations. Officials announced that the last women, children and older adults had been evacuated from the mill, but Ukrainian fighters remained trapped.

In a sign of the unexpectedly effective defense that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military flattened Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days and has become a symbol of resistance.

Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv, even as it remained a key target of Russian shelling.

The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition that has killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed large swaths of some cities. Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Russias holiday on Monday celebrating Nazi Germanys defeat 77 years ago, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged people to heed air raid warnings.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Zelenskyy and his people embody the spirit of those who prevailed during the Second World War. He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to twist history to attempt to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine.

Supreme Court leak shakes trust in one more American pillar

WASHINGTON (AP)  Is there a new American motto: In nothing we trust?

By lots of measures, most in the U.S. lack much confidence in large institutions and have for years. Congress? Two big thumbs down. The presidency? Ehh. Americans are also distrustful of big business, unions, public schools and organized religion. Indeed, they hold abysmal views of the functioning of democracy itself.

The Supreme Court has been something of an exception. The one branch of government not dependent on public opinion has traditionally enjoyed higher public esteem than the branches elected by the people. Its above-the-fray reputation, cultivated with exquisite care, once served it well.

Now the justices face a reckoning over the audacious leak of an early draft opinion that strikes down the constitutional right to abortion, an episode that has deepened suspicions that the high court, for all its decorum, is populated by politicians in robes.

Republican members of Congress are suggesting a sinister left-wing plot to derail the outcome of the final decision. Liberals are alleging machinations from the right to lock the justices into their preliminary vote. For all that speculation, neither side knows who leaked the draft to Politico and why.

80-1 shot Rich Strike races to huge upset in Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  Anyone anticipating a return to normalcy in the Kentucky Derby got a dose of crazy Saturday when an 80-1 shot came charging up the rail to win at Churchill Downs.

With favorite Epicenter and Zandon engaged in a duel at the front, Rich Strike stole the show with the second-biggest upset in the Derby's 148-year history.

The chestnut colt beat 4-1 favorite Epicenter by three-quarters of a length. Zandon finished another three-quarters of a length back in third.

I about fell down in the paddock when he hit the wire, winning trainer Eric Reed said. I about passed out.

Rich Strike paid $163.60 Only Donerail in 1913 had a higher payout of $184.90.

What GOP-nominated justices said about Roe to Senate panel

WASHINGTON (AP)  In one form or another, every Supreme Court nominee is asked during Senate hearings about his or her views of the Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling that has stood for a half century.

Now, a draft opinion obtained by Politico suggests that a majority of the court is prepared to strike down the landmark 1973 decision, leaving it to the states to determine a woman's ability to get an abortion.

A look at how the Republican-nominated justices, now a 6-3 majority, responded when asked by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for their views on the case:

AMY CONEY BARRETT, 2020:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, then the top Democrat on the committee, asked Barrett: So the question comes, what happens? Will this justice support a law that has substantial precedent now? Would you commit yourself on whether you would or would not?"

Sinn Fein hails 'new era' as it wins Northern Ireland vote

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP)  The Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, which seeks unification with Ireland, hailed a new era Saturday for Northern Ireland as it captured the largest number of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time in a historic win.

With almost all votes counted from Thursday's local U.K. election, Sinn Fein secured 27 of the Assemblys 90 seats. The Democratic Unionist Party, which has dominated Northern Irelands legislature for two decades, captured 24 seats. The victory means Sinn Fein is entitled to the post of first minister in Belfast  a first for an Irish nationalist party since Northern Ireland was founded as a Protestant-majority state in 1921.

The centrist Alliance Party, which doesnt identify as either nationalist or unionist, also saw a huge surge in support and was set to become the other big winner in the vote, claiming 17 seats.

The victory is a major milestone for Sinn Fein, which has long been linked to the Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group that used bombs and bullets to try to take Northern Ireland out of U.K. rule during decades of violence involving Irish republican militants, Protestant Loyalist paramilitaries and the U.K. army and police.

Today ushers in a new era, Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle ONeill said shortly before the final results were announced. Irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds, my commitment is to make politics work."

Hong Kong kicks off leadership polls with sole candidate

HONG KONG (AP)  A Hong Kong election committee is voting Sunday for the citys only leadership candidate, John Lee, who is widely expected to win and become Hong Kongs next chief executive.

The committee, comprised of nearly 1,500 largely pro-Beijing members, is voting in a secret ballot that will last 2 1/2 hours. Lee needs more than 750 votes to win the election.

As the only candidate in the polls, Lee is expected to win easily, especially since he has Beijings endorsement and last month obtained 786 nominations from members of the Election Committee in support of his candidacy.

The election on Sunday follows major changes to Hong Kongs electoral laws last year to ensure that only patriots loyal to Beijing can hold office. The legislature was also reorganized to all but eliminate opposition voices.

The elaborate arrangements surrounding the pre-determined outcome speak to Beijings desire for a veneer of democracy. Though they will vote in a secret ballot, Hong Kongs electors have all been carefully vetted.

Mickey Gilley, who helped inspire 'Urban Cowboy,' dies at 86

NEW YORK (AP)  Country star Mickey Gilley, whose namesake Texas honky-tonk inspired the 1980 film Urban Cowboy and a nationwide wave of Western-themed nightspots, has died. He was 86.

Gilley died Saturday in Branson, Missouri, where he helped run the Mickey Gilley Grand Shanghai Theatre. He had been performing as recently as last month, but was in failing health over the past week.

He passed peacefully with his family and close friends by his side, according a statement from Mickey Gilley Associates.

Gilley  cousin of rock n roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis  opened Gilleys, the worlds largest honky tonk, in Pasadena, Texas, in the early 1970s. By mid-decade, he was a successful club owner and had enjoyed his first commercial success with Room Full of Roses." He began turning out country hits regularly, including Window Up Above, She's Pulling Me Back Again" and the honky-tonk anthem Dont the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time.

Overall, he had 39 Top 10 country hits and 17 No. 1 songs. He received six Academy of Country Music Awards, and also worked on occasion as an actor, with appearances on Murder She Wrote, The Fall Guy, Fantasy Island and The Dukes of Hazzard.

Desperate search for survivors in Cuba hotel blast; 27 dead

HAVANA (AP)  Relatives of the missing in Cubas capital desperately searched Saturday for victims of an explosion at one of Havana's most luxurious hotels that killed at least 27 people. They checked the morgue, hospitals and if unsuccessful, they returned to the partially collapsed Hotel Saratoga, where rescuers used dogs to hunt for survivors.

A natural gas leak was the apparent cause of Fridays blast at the 96-room hotel. The 19th-century structure in the Old Havana neighborhood did not have any guests at the time because it was undergoing renovations ahead of a planned Tuesday reopening after being closed for two years during the pandemic.

On Saturday evening, Dr. Julio Guerra Izquierdo, chief of hospital services at the Ministry of Health, raised the death toll to 27 with 81 people injured. The dead included four children and a pregnant woman. Spain's President Pedro Sanchez said via Twitter that a Spanish tourist was among the dead and that another Spaniard was seriously injured.

Cuban authorities confirmed the tourists death and said her partner was injured. They were not staying at the hotel. Tourism Minister Dalila Gonzalez said a Cuban-American tourist was also injured.

Representatives of Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA, which owns the hotel, said during a news conference Saturday that 51 workers had been inside the hotel at the time, as well as two people working on renovations. Of those, 11 were killed, 13 remained missing and six were hospitalized.

For Parkland survivor, a long road to recovery from trauma

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP)  More than a year after she witnessed a gunman kill three fellow students and injure five others in her Parkland classroom, Eden Hebron came home from lunch to find a strange white car parked in her driveway.

Since the shooting, surprise visitors were rare. Eden had struggled to cope in the aftermath, and her family tried to protect her. Now, nearly 20 months after the Valentines Day massacre where 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a therapist had arrived to send Eden to a mental health facility on the other side of the country.

The intervention was her familys latest and most drastic attempt to help their daughter. Eden, then 16, screamed and tried to reason with her parents. Her life was in Parkland  her school, her friends. She learned shed be leaving in just a couple of hours; shed have little contact with the world outside the California facility. She pulled out her cellphone to tell friends as quickly as she could, and a few were able to stop by for tearful goodbyes.

I was freaking out. I was more scared than anything else, she said. I was like, Whats going to happen?

Edens troubles after Feb. 14, 2018, and her long journey in recovery are not unique  students who survived the deadliest high school shooting in the U.S. have grappled with trauma for years. Even for the students who became vocal activists for changes in gun legislation, mental health issues have surfaced  delivering blows not only for them in their coming-of-age years but also for their families. Experts say thats expected for survivors of mass shootings, especially those who are children or young adults.

Judge rejects Trump lawsuit challenging ban from Twitter

LOS ANGELES (AP)  A San Francisco judge tossed out former President Donald Trumps lawsuit challenging his permanent ban from Twitter.

U.S. District Judge James Donato said Friday that Trump failed to show Twitter violated his First Amendment right to free speech. Free speech rights dont apply to private companies and Trump failed to show Twitter was working as a state actor on behalf of Democrats, the judge wrote.

The amended complaint merely offers a grab-bag of allegations to the effect that some Democratic members of Congress wanted Mr. Trump, and the views he espoused, to be banned from Twitter because such content and views were contrary to those legislators preferred points of view, Donato wrote. But the comments of a handful of elected officials are a far cry from a rule of decision for which the State is responsible. Legislators are perfectly free to express opinions without being deemed the official voice of the State.

Trump sued Twitter, Facebook and Googles YouTube in July 2021, claiming they illegally censored him.

The platforms suspended Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, in which his followers violently stormed the Capitol building in an attempt to block Congress from certifying Joe Bidens presidential win. The companies cited concerns he would incite further violence.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Ukraine evacuates civilians from steel plant under siege

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  The war in Ukraine has wracked the countrys southern coast as Russian forces fire cruise missiles at the city of Odesa and bombard a steel mill in the port of Mariupol where Ukrainian civilians and fighters had sought safety. Officials announced Saturday that the last women, children and older adults have been evacuated from the plant, but the fighters remain trapped. Russia hopes to complete its conquest of Mariupol in time for Victory Day celebrations on Monday. However, Ukraines military has flattened Russian positions on a Black Sea island that has become a symbol of resistance. And Western military analysts say a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city.

Supreme Court leak shakes trust in one more American pillar

WASHINGTON (AP)  It's been clear in recent years that people in the United States don't have much faith in their institutions. Polling shows that public opinion of Congress is dismal. Views of the presidency aren't great. Even the question of whether American democracy is working gets a worrying answer. The Supreme Court has been an exception. It's traditionally enjoyed higher public esteem than the other branches of government. But that standing has diminished as the court has come to be seen as more political. Now, the leak of the justices' tentative vote to strike down the constitutional right to abortion has deepened suspicions that the high court is becoming politicized.

Hong Kong kicks off leadership polls with sole candidate

HONG KONG (AP)  A Hong Kong election committee is voting for the citys only leadership candidate, John Lee, who is expected to win and become Hong Kongs next chief executive. The committee, comprised of nearly 1,500 largely pro-Beijing members, is voting in a secret ballot for 2 1/2 hours on Sunday morning. Lee needs more than 750 votes to win the election. As the only candidate in the polls, Lee is expected to win easily, especially since he has Beijings endorsement. If elected, Lee will replace current leader Carrie Lam on July 1.

S Korea's next leader faces escalating N Korean nuke threat

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Yoon Suk Yeol takes office as South Korea's president Tuesday amid heightened animosities over North Korea's nuclear program. During his election campaign, the conservative Yoon said he would teach North Korean leader Kim Jong Un some manners and sternly cope with his provocative missile tests with a strengthened alliance with the United States. But he now faces an increasingly belligerent Kim, who openly threatens to use his atomic bombs against his rivals and is reportedly preparing for his first nuclear test explosion since 2017. If that happens, tensions on the Korean Peninsula would plunge to fresh lows and leave Yoon with few options to deal with Kim just as he begins his presidency.

80-1 shot Rich Strike races to huge upset in Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  Rich Strike came charging up the rail to overtake the leaders in the closing strides for a stunning 80-1 upset in the Kentucky Derby. Jockey Sonny Leon guided Rich Strike from well back in the 20-horse field to beat 4-1 favorite Epicenter by three-quarters of a length. Zandon was another three-quarters of a length back in third on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Rich Strike wasnt even in the Derby field until Friday when Ethereal Road was scratched, making room for the colt trained by Eric Reed. Both Leon and Reed were in their first Derby.

What GOP-nominated justices said about Roe to Senate panel

WASHINGTON (AP)  In one form or another, every Supreme Court nominee is asked during Senate hearings about his or her views of the landmark abortion rights ruling that has stood for a half century. Now, a draft opinion obtained by Politico suggests that a majority of the court is prepared to strike down the Roe v. Wade decision from 1973, leaving it to the states to determine a womans ability to get an abortion. Republican-nominated justices now hold a 6-3 majority, and they gave varying answers to senators when asked for their views on the abortion case.

Sinn Fein hails 'new era' as it wins Northern Ireland vote

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP)  The Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein has won the largest number of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time. With almost all votes counted from Thursday's election, Sinn Fein has secured 27 of the assemblys 90 seats. The Democratic Unionist Party has 24. The historic win means Sinn Fein is entitled to the post of first minister in Belfast. It's a first for a nationalist party since Northern Ireland was founded as a Protestant-majority state in 1921. Sinn Fein seeks a united Ireland and has long been linked to the Irish Republican Army. But the party kept unification out of the spotlight this year during a campaign that was dominated by the skyrocketing cost of living.

For Parkland survivor, a long road to recovery from trauma

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP)  Eden Hebron witnessed a gunman kill a close friend and two other students on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. More than a year later, the trauma still weighed heavily on Eden and other students. Eden's parents eventually sent her to a mental health facility in California. There, she had little contact with the outside world. She went through therapy and treatment alongside a handful of other teens. She moved back to Florida and now studies in New Jersey. Her long journey in recovery isn't unique _ others who've survived shootings grappled with trauma for years. Eden shares her story to help others and says she feels for those who don't have the same resources.

Desperate search for survivors in Cuba hotel blast; 27 dead

HAVANA (AP)  Relatives of the missing in Cubas capital are desperately searching for victims of an explosion at one of Havana's most luxurious hotels that killed at least 27 people. They checked the morgue and hospitals, and if unsuccessful, they returned to the partially collapsed Hotel Saratoga. A natural gas leak was the apparent cause of Fridays blast at the 96-room hotel. The 19th-century structure in the citys Old Havana neighborhood did not have any guests at the time because it was undergoing renovations ahead of a planned Tuesday reopening. Dr. Julio Guerra Izquierdo, chief of hospital services at the Ministry of Health, says 81 people were injured.

Mickey Gilley, who helped inspire 'Urban Cowboy,' dies at 86

NEW YORK (AP)  Country star Mickey Gilley has died. He was 86. He was known for such hits as Window Up Above" and for the Texas honky-tonk he owned that inspired the hit film Urban Cowboy." Based on an Esquire magazine article about two regulars at Gilley's, the film starred John Travolta and Debra Winger and inspired a nationwide wave of Western-themed clubs. Gilley also had some famous relatives, including cousins Jerry Lee Lewis, the rock n' roll pioneer; and evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Gilley's other hits include City Lights" and Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time."

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  During his election campaign, South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol had tough words for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying he would teach his rival some manners and sternly deal with his provocative missile tests with a strengthened alliance with the United States.

But as he takes office Tuesday for a single five-year term, the conservative Yoon must now confront an increasingly belligerent Kim, who openly threatens to use atomic bombs and is reportedly preparing for his first nuclear test explosion since 2017, part of an effort to build warheads that specifically target South Korea.

North Korea has a history of trying to rattle new governments in Seoul and Washington to gain leverage in future negotiations. But if Kim orders a nuclear test, Yoon would be left with very limited options to deal with Kim at the start of his presidency.

There's skepticism among experts over whether Yoon, despite his rhetoric, can accomplish something meaningfully different from outgoing President Moon Jae-in while North Korea continues to reject talks and focuses instead on expanding its nuclear and missile programs despite limited resources and economic difficulties.

North Korea has the initiative. Regardless of whether conservatives or liberals are in power in South Korea, North Korea is pressing ahead with (missile tests) under its own weapons development timetable before it tries to tip the balance later, said Park Won Gon, a professor at Seouls Ewha Womans University. North Korea will now continue its provocations, but there are no ways to stop it.

Moon championed engaging North Korea and once shuttled between Pyongyang and Washington to arrange the now-stalled nuclear diplomacy. Even after North Korea urged Moon not to meddle in its dealings with Washington and insulted him, Moon still worked to improve relations and shied away from hitting back at the North.

Yoon has described Moons appeasement policy as subservient and accused him of undermining South Koreas seven-decade military alliance with the United States. To neutralize North Koreas nuclear threats, Yoon said he would seek a stronger U.S. security commitment and enhance South Koreas own missile strike capabilities, though he remains open to dialogue with the North.

During a rally before the March 9 election, as he slammed Moon for failing to strongly criticize Kims repeated missile tests, Yoon said that if elected, I would teach (Kim) some manners and make him come to his senses completely.

Yoon has faced criticism that some of his policies are unrealistic and largely rehash past policies that failed to persuade North Korea to denuclearize.

For example, Yoon said he would push for economic cooperation projects linked to progress in denuclearization steps by the North. Two past South Korean conservative presidents offered similar proposals from 2008 to 2017, but North Korea rejected the overtures.

Yoon said he would seek to establish a trilateral dialogue channel among Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington, but experts see little chance North Korea, which destroyed an unoccupied South Korean-built liaison office on its territory in 2020, will accept that idea now.

The U.S.-South Korea alliance could flourish, but North Koreas nuclear weapons and missile program will further advance and that could elevate tensions on the Korean Peninsula to maximum levels. Its hard to expect any meaningful progress in inter-Korean relations, said Yang Moo Jin, a professor at Seouls University of North Korean Studies.

Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea, said a policy of linking incentives to denuclearization has reached its limits and will eventually never appeal to North Korea because Pyongyang is highly unlikely to abandon a nuclear program that has reached such strength.

During his confirmation hearing last Monday, Yoons nominee for foreign minister, Park Jin, told lawmakers that North Korea appears to have no intentions of denuclearizing voluntarily." He said the best option to stop North Korean provocation would be using a combination of pressure and dialogue to convince Pyongyang to opt for a path toward denuclearization.

After test-launching a dozen missiles potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, South Korea or Japan this year, Kim recently said his nuclear weapons wont be confined to their primary mission of deterring war if his countrys interests are threatened. Park, the professor, called Kims comments dangerous because they suggest North Korea could use its nukes even in an accidental border clash or if it misjudges Seouls military moves.

Recent satellite photos show North Korea is restoring a previously closed nuclear testing facility in possible preparation for its seventh atomic explosion. Experts say that test is related to North Koreas push to manufacture warheads small enough to be mounted on tactical short-range missiles targeting South Korea, citing some of the Norths recent tests of such weapons. Nam said a nuclear test would make it extremely difficult for the Yoon government to try to resume talks with North Korea.

Kim seems to be trying to use his weapon tests to force the West to accept his country as a nuclear power so he can try to negotiate sanctions relief and security concessions from a position of strength. Experts say Kim is able to push forward his weapons programs because the U.N. Security Council cannot impose new sanctions while its veto-wielding members are divided. The U.S. is involved in confrontations with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and with China over their strategic rivalry.

Yoons possible overdependence on the U.S. alliance may cause Seoul to further lose voice in international efforts to defuse the North Korean nuclear issue while giving Pyongyang less reason to engage in serious talks with Seoul, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam Universitys Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. He said Seoul would need to create wiggle room for nuclear diplomacy and lure Pyongyang to talks with a flexible carrots-and-sticks approach.

How to boost the South Korea-U.S. alliance to better deal with North Korean nuclear advancement will likely top the agenda when Yoon meets President Joe Biden in Seoul on May 21.

Yoon has promised to seek a tougher U.S. extended deterrence, a reference to Washingtons ability to use military and nuclear forces to deter attacks on its allies. But some experts question whether such a security commitment can effectively protect South Korea from aggression from North Korea because the decision to use U.S. nuclear weapons lies with the U.S. president.

Historically, its true the extended deterrence has never been enforced. In some sense, its like a gentlemens agreement, Park, the professor, said. Even if we succeed in institutionalizing that to the maximum level, that still doesnt guarantee an automatic U.S. involvement in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Proudly representing District 17 in the Nebraska Legislature, I have had the opportunity to really get to know the people I represent and what their values are. I have talked to countless people in Dakota, Thurston, Wayne and Dixon counties. Everyday I fight hard to represent my people and work for their best interests.

In my 6 years as state senator, I have learned what skills and values a person needs to wield in order to work with the Unicameral and fight for the best interest of Nebraskans on a day-to-day basis. We need to elect leaders who understand the importance of all Nebraskans, especially in rural areas.

With this gubernatorial election coming up, we need to elect someone with agricultural experience. I believe that there is no other candidate better for the job than Jim Pillen. Jim has built his family agribusiness from the ground up and now employs over a thousand Nebraskans. He is a leader both for his local community in Columbus and the state.

Jim Pillen is a good man who treats people with respect and also understands how to work with people to accomplish things as Governor. Jim is a conservative, a fighter, and hell represent our Nebraska values as our next governor.

I strongly encourage you to join me in voting for Jim Pillen on May 10th. -- Joni Albrecht, state senator District 17, Thurston, Neb.

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George Will presents an interesting idea in his May 1 column in the Journal, titled, "Bar senators from the presidency." His point that in order to prevent the current grandstanding by presidential hopefuls, the members of the legislature should not be "eligible to be president."

Among the 17 presidents he lists who were previous senators, there are those who were influential in shaping significant legislation and policies that benefited not only the United States, but the world. It would be unfortunate if the knowledge and skills that these legislators learn while serving in their positions would be lost.

Instead of barring them from legislative service, it might be better to restrict their running for president until they were out of office for a significant amount of time, say five or six years. -- J. I. Landoe, Spencer, Iowa

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Jill Biden will spend Sunday in eastern Slovakia, meeting Ukrainian refugees and volunteers.

U.S. First Lady Jill Biden started her trip to Slovakia on May 7, 2022. (Source: TASR)

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In good spirits, wearing a dark blue floral dress and carrying a bouquet of flowers, U.S. First Lady Jill Biden began her visit to Slovakia on Saturday afternoon, following a similar trip to Romania.

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The First Lady flew into Bratislava airport and was welcomed by Slovakias Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok. Her visit is a sign of appreciation of the assistance Slovakia has provided Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees, the minister tweeted afterwards.

On Saturday, Biden paid tribute to murdered journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova by laying flowers at the memorial to the couple in the centre of Bratislava. She also met with U.S. embassy staff.

Biden in eastern Slovakia

Biden will travel to eastern Slovakia on Sunday where she will visit a refugee centre in Kosice and meet with local officials Kosice mayor Jaroslav Polacek and Kosice Region head Rastislav Trnka, the TASR newswire wrote.

She will then go to a primary school on Tomasikova Street in the city to celebrate Mothers Day, which falls on May 8, with Ukrainian mothers and children who fled their country following Russias invasion. The school opened two classes for children from Ukraine at the start of this week.

Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok gives flowers to Jill Biden on May 7, 2022. (Source: TASR)

The First Lady will end her visit to eastern Slovakia in the border town of Vysne Nemecke, one of three crossings with Ukraine, where she will meet Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Interior Minister Roman Mikulec. Biden will meet volunteers, non-profit organisations, and members of security forces who have been helping Ukrainian refugees and securing the Slovak border.

Since the invasion started on February 24, more than 400,000 refugees have crossed the Slovak-Ukrainian border. Of them, more than 74,000 have applied for temporary protection status.

On Monday, May 9, Biden also plans to meet with other members of the government and President Zuzana Caputova before returning to the United States.

Third U.S. First Lady in Slovakia

Biden is the third U.S. First Lady to visit Slovakia.

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Read also: Biden makes surprise trip to Ukraine during Slovak visit Read more

Hillary Clinton visited the country in 1996 and 1999 to meet with pro-democracy organisations. On her first trip, she met with the then authoritarian Slovak prime minister Vladimir Meciar as well. Several years later, Clinton mentioned the meeting with him in her book, Living History, in which she claims that she was appalled at his bullying attitude and barely controlled rage. In 1999, she praised Slovakia, which had ousted Meciar, for its move toward democracy.

Laura Bush followed in her footsteps during the Bush-Putin summit held in the Slovak capital in February 2005 . Her first stop was the University Library in Bratislava where she opened the InfoUSA centre.

Bidens five-day trip, which she began on May 6 in Romania, is her second visit to another country as first lady without her husband. Last year, she attended the Olympics in Japan.

In Romania, the First Lady served meals to U.S. troops at a local air base, recorded a virtual bedtime story for an American boy whose mother is serving in Romania, and met with US embassy staff in Bucharest. She also paid a visit to a local school that has taken in Ukrainian refugee pupils.

President Joe Biden visited Ukrainian refugees in Poland during his trip in March.
Live harness racing returned to the Sarnia area on Saturday (May 7) with the 2022 season opener at Hiawatha Horse Park.

A total of 10 dashes were contested on a sunny Saturday afternoon, with fans pumping more than $42,000 through the betting windows.

On the racetrack, pacer Little Manny shipped west for some class relief after competing at Woodbine Mohawk Park since the end of January. Tyler Borth guided the five-year-old son of Articulator to victory in wire-to-wire fashion, stopping the clock in 1:55 for owner / trainer Dr. Trevin Shine of Rines Creek, N.S.

The most impressive equine performance of the afternoon came two races later courtesy nine-year-old trotter Darkangeldesbois F. Making his first start of 2022, the French-bred trotter overpowered his conditioned foes with 10-length score in 1:58.2 for driver Loic Gueriel, trainer Denis Gueriel and owner Haras De L Estrie Inc. of Dunham, Que.

On the driving side, Dan Clements made his return to the racebike following a near six-year retirement. Clements made three appearances in the sulky and picked up three cheques with a second, fourth and fifth.

Live racing continues at Hiawatha Horse Park on Saturdays through to Sept. 24.

For the results from the Sarnia's Saturday card, click the following link: Saturday Results - Hiawatha Horse Park.
With its draft decision to overturn reproductive choice for women, the U.S. Supreme Court has plunged feet first into Americas culture wars, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia said Wednesday.

He is right to worry that, now engaged in restricting human rights, the justices will sink deeply into letting politicians dictate more personal behavior of Americans in inappropriate ways. If the court overturns Roe v. Wade, will access to contraception be next? the states senior senator wondered on a media call.

The answer can be found in the effort of abortion opponents to ban sales of emergency contraception, the so-called Plan B or morning after pill that women can use to stop pregnancies in the first few days after unprotected sex. The pills generally keep fertilized eggs from binding to the uterine wall, keeping a woman from getting pregnant.

The FDA established the right of women to have access to this birth control without a prescription in 2013.

The life-begins-at-conception crowd considers that tantamount to abortion. A measure of the power of what law professor Sherry Colb calls the forced-pregnancy-and-birth movement comes in an update from the Guttmacher Institute, which studies sexual health. As of May 1, Guttmacher reported that nine states already restrict access to emergency contraception. Texas does not include emergency contraception as part of its states family planning program. Arkansas and North Carolina do not include emergency contraception in their contraceptive coverage mandates. Arizona, Illinois and Mississippi allow pharmacies to refuse to stock emergency contraception. Six states give individual pharmacists the right to refuse to sell it as a matter of religion.

Warner has good reason to worry that overturning Roe v. Wade will trigger a dramatic rollback of American rights. So does everybody else.

Warner said a 13-year-old rape victim and her parents and doctors might not be allowed to choose how to deal with her violation except to have the baby.

The tone and tenor of Justice Samuel Alitos draft court decision could extend beyond reproductive rights to other personal behavior, allowing states to control gay rights and other major cultural issues.

Ill stick by my characterization that this is feet first into the culture wars, Warner said in response to a question by The Daily Progress. And I think it is an indication that womens health care may only be the first of what could be a line of attack against contraception, against gay rights against marriage equality. It got its got me gravely worried.

Warner, a Democrat, believes that many Virginians, regardless of political affiliation, dont want the Supreme Court heading in that direction.

Virginias Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin doesnt seem to mind. He said he would be happy to have control of womens reproductive rights vested in the states.

States rights facilitated Virginias most egregious violations of people. These include legal segregation, sodomy laws used to persecute and prosecute homosexuals, and a ban on interracial marriage that required Supreme Court intervention to undo. States rights allowed slavery. It was the Souths excuse for seceding from the Union, starting the Civil War. States rights has a lousy record when it comes to human rights in the United States.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has always been viewed as kind of beyond politics, Warner said. Now, he pointed out, the notion of America always moving forward is grossly under assault in this decision should it stand.

When would-be Supreme Court justices say they will abide by settled law and precedent to get lifetime appointments, then pursue political and cultural agendas, there is a single answer.

The only place where people who are upset can work to ensure that a womans right to choose is protected is to change the composition of the Congress and make sure that the composition of the legislature in Virginia protects those rights, Warner said.

The senator did not mince words about how that happens.

Get out and vote for people willing to enshrine human rights in law.

Charlottesville Daily Progress
Local second grade students learned agriculture can be fun during the AgSplosion event at the Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center on Thursday, May 5.

Students from Morrill, Mitchell, Westmoor, Lincoln, Northfield and Minatare elementary schools split into nine groups to make their way around nine different activity stations to learn about where their food comes from  particularly that which is produced in their home state of Nebraska.

Its an ag festival  so we cover all the different parts of agriculture that you see in the Panhandle (and) actually the state of Nebraska, Nathan Rice, Scotts Bluff County Extension educator, said.

Students had 20 minutes in each session to learn about a certain ag sector in Nebraska and then take part in a fun hands-on activity.

We have all these different stations, and therell be a hands-on activity where they learn what actually happens in agriculture, the technology that goes into it, the careers that are associated with it, and just teach them where their food comes from, Rice said.

Students completed a corn planting relay as they learned about ag technology and were sprayed with water as they pretended to be a growing cornstalk. For Westmoor second graders Sarayne Wylie, Jaedynn Wooden and Mariah Rodriguez making their own butter was their favorite part.

You can make butter out of a kind of milk, Wylie said, when asked about one new thing she learned at AgSplosion.

Wooden said of the butter, We didnt think it would actually work or taste good.

We thought it would taste bad, Rodriguez said.

Turned out, the butter was delicious and fun to make as students took turns passing the jars to each other to shake up while they listened to an extension educator talk about dairy products. Other session topics included potatoes, wheat, swine, ag tech, animals, corn, beef and beans.

The AgSplosion event is held five times in five different locations across the Panhandle through the University of Nebraska Extension Office to allow for nearly all western Nebraska second grade students to have a chance to participate and learn about agriculture in a fun environment. Rice said he enjoyed bringing the program to Scottsbluff, in particular, as there are fewer farmer and rancher families in the Scottsbluff/Gering schools than in many of the other rural communities theyve been in.

Theres a lot of these kids that dont know much about it, so its really neat to get Scotts Bluff and Gering here, Rice said. Just a comparison  Mitchell raising their hand, half those kids were farmers and ranchers, and Northfield, there was one kid that had a family that was a rancher or farmer.

Rice said the important thing is helping the students to truly understand about the important role agriculture plays in Nebraska through both hands-on activities and educational discussions.

Its quality learning. There is a lot of education that goes into it, and so its not just hands-on; they actually have to learn something in the process, too, he said. Overall, I think they really enjoy it.
TORRINGTON  Eastern Wyoming College has announced that Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Keith Kautz, has been selected as the commencement speaker at the 73rd annual event to be held on Friday, May 13, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the EWC Fine Arts Center Auditorium.

Kautz was appointed to his position on Aug. 4, 2015, by Gov. Matthew H. Mead, and was retained in office in the general election in November 2016. Kautz served as a district judge in Wyomings Eighth Judicial District, which encompasses Goshen, Platte, Converse and Niobrara counties from January 1993 to August 2015. Before taking the bench, Kautz practiced law in Sheridan and Torrington. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1975 and from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1978.

While on the bench, Kautz served on numerous boards and commissions including the Wyoming Board of Judicial Policy and Administration, Wyoming Civil and Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions committees and the Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics. He is a commissioner on the Uniform Law Commission and is the chair of Wyomings Continuing Judicial Education Committee and Criminal Division of Wyomings Permanent Rules Advisory Committee.

Justice Kautz has been married for 47 years to his wife, Karen and has three children and five grandchildren.

Graduates earning Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Associate Degree in Nursing will participate in the 10 a.m. ceremony. Those graduates earning an Associate of Applied Science or Certificate will participate in the 2 p.m. ceremony.

Kelly Strampe, associate professor of English and arts, humanities, social and behavioral sciences department head, will serve as the master of ceremony for both ceremonies.

Richard Patterson, interim president, will provide a welcome and introduce special guests. Student Senate President, Jonathan Pieper, will address the graduates on behalf of the students.

Kautz will speak followed by EWC Foundation President Todd Peterson presenting the 2022 Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Albert C. Conger Distinguished Service Award.

Roger Humphrey, vice president for academic services, will present the candidates for graduation. Following will be the presentation of degrees and certificates by Robert Baumgartner, chair of the board of trustees.

The EWC Commencement Ceremony will be available by webcast. Please visit the colleges website at ewc.wy.edu or social media pages for the link.

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Weve all felt sad before. Its a normal reaction to the stressors of daily life. But, if your sadness lasts more than a couple of weeks, it could be depression.

Depression is more than just a passing mood or feeling blue  its a serious and common medical condition.

Depression is much different and more severe than normal sadness. It completely impairs ones ability to function, said Suja Raju, psychiatrist at Iredell Psychiatry.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), this medical condition affects nearly 21 million Americans. And while depression can affect any person at any stage of their lives, it is almost twice as common in women. About 1 in 8 women will develop it during their lifetime.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and National Womens Health Week begins today. During this week, raising awareness of depression in women and encouraging these women to seek help is essential.

While its not completely clear why depression is more common in women, factors such as biological differences, certain medical conditions, social issues, and work and family demands may play a part.

Women go through different stages in their life where you see depression being pretty common, whether thats teenage girls, postpartum women, or elderly women, said Raju.

Throughout these different stages, from menstrual cycles, to childbirth, to menopause  women experience hormonal fluctuations and physical changes, both of which can contribute to depression.

In fact, according to NIMH, certain types of depression are unique to women. These include premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which is a more severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), prenatal and postpartum depression, and perimenopausal depression, which occurs during the transition into menopause.

Of these types, you have probably heard the most about postpartum depression. According to the American Psychological Association, up to 1 in 7 women experience postpartum depression following their babys birth.

There are postpartum blues that may happen soon after having a baby and last for a couple of weeks. However, when this persists beyond a month and manifests with symptoms of depression, we would call that postpartum depression. It often impairs a mothers ability to take care of themselves as well as their baby, said Raju.

Is it depression?

With depression, symptoms occur nearly every day and last more than two weeks.

Depression is characterized by having low mood, lack of interest, and lack of motivation, said Raju.

Other symptoms of depression include:

Fatigue

Changes in weight or appetite

Sleeping problems

Feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, or excessive guilt

Decreased ability to think or concentrate

Repeated thoughts of death or suicide

Aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems without a clear physical cause

Frequent crying

If you notice any of these symptoms, do not hesitate to make an appointment with your provider for an evaluation. Unfortunately, according to Mental Health American, less than half of women with depression seek help for their illness.

Is depression treatable?

Despite the belief that someone can just be happier, depression is a medical condition that tends to stay around until properly treated.

Fortunately, by seeking help, even severe depression, can be treated. If a woman is experiencing depression, their provider may refer them to a mental health specialist. The mental health specialist may treat them with medication, psychotherapy or talk therapy, or a combination of both.

There are several types of antidepressant medications, and since depression affects everyone differently, someone may need to try more than one to see what works best for them.

Psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy (medication) is the way to go. Combining the two is proven to be beneficial in treating mood disorders such as depression, said Raju.

In addition to talk therapy and medication, Raju recommends healthy activities to reduce symptoms, such as exercising.

Exercising a couple of days a week helps get your endorphins going. Even getting outside and taking a walk helps, she said.

How can I help?

If you notice the symptoms of depression in a friend or family member, its important to provide support and encourage them to seek help.

Providing support and just being there for them is crucial. Give them a call and ask how their day was. Just do as much as you can to be there for them, said Raju.

According to NIMH, you can help your friend or loved one by inviting them out for walks or outings and reminding them that with time and treatment, the depression will lift.

Whichever stage of life youre in, whether thats as a mom, a wife, or a student, you want to function to your best ability and be happy. Getting the help you need is going to help you get there, said Raju.

Raju practices at Iredell Psychiatry and is accepting new patients. If you would like to learn more or schedule an appointment with Dr. Raju, call 704-380-3620.
America, besides being the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, must also be the Home of the Weird Holiday. You already knew that our word, holiday, came from the words Holy Day and originally meant a day that was somehow sanctified by the church, perhaps commemorating some saint or religious event.

Holy days such as St. Patricks Day and Saint Valentines Day come to mind, although today they seem to be more secular (worldly) occasions now than religious (heavenly-oriented) ones.

My desktop calendar for April shows not only the religious holidays of Ramadan, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Passover and Easter, but also Earth Day and Administrative Professionals Day.

Far be it for me to protest against celebrating or recognizing Earth Day. Earth is, in case you were not aware of it, my favorite planet. According to what my mother and my birth certificate state, this was where I was born, although my wife sometimes questions this.

And dont go and get administrative professionals mad at me. I realize the power they hold: the ability to delete from or add ones name to lists, to lose or find your file, to put your letter in with the outgoing mail or into the shredder or into the circular file cabinet that has a plastic bag liner.

If you want to find some really strange national holidays, go to Google and type in Weird Holidays. I did, and I found some really eccentric ones.

Like what, you might ask.

Like last Jan. 7, which was Old Rock Day. This had nothing to do with Bill Haley and the Comets, or Carl Perkins and his blue suede shoes, but is, and I quote, The unofficial holiday [which] encourages people to acknowledge, celebrate and learn more about old rocks and fossils. Gosh, we really needed that holiday.

Then along came Jan. 31, which was National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day. How could I have missed that? This was soon followed by Feb. 16, the National Do a Grouch a Favor Day. That one slipped by uncelebrated also.

The merry month of May, of course, holds several very real and legitimate, important holidays. For instance, May 3 was National Teachers Day. The teachers, Lord bless them, are already thinking of fleeing to the beach with only several weeks to go until summer vacation.

May 3 is also Lumpy Rug Day. I found this on Google, which admits that this observance is something of a mystery: no one seems to know how it began. Dont get me wrong, I appreciate a good rug as much as the next fellow, but do rugs rate a holiday? I think not.

Continuing on, May 4, just passed, was Star Wars Day. Rather than marking Chewbaccas or Luke Skywalkers birthday, it is a clever pun on the phrase, May the Force (Fourth) be with you. Get it?

On the fifth of the month, there was Cinco de Mayo. However, for reasons unknown to me, it was not followed by Seis de Mustard, another of my favorite condiments. May 8 is Mothers Day. Better mark it on your calendar right away!

So far, I have not mentioned some holidays celebrated overseas, like Anastenaria, said to be celebrated in parts of Bulgaria and northern Greece. Celebrants observe this holiday May 21 to May 23. It involves fire-walking. It also involves music, dancing, and animal sacrifice. I wonder if the ASPCA knows about this.

More to my taste is the Festival of La Tomatina held in the eastern Spanish town of Bunol on the last Wednesday in August. This festival is basically a battle involving the throwing of big, ripe tomatoes at people. The event dates back to 1945. Look it up for yourself. Prudent participants sometimes wear goggles for eye protection.

Even if you caught a tomato to the face, it would still be better than what might happen to you during that more famous Festival of San Fermin, celebrated in the northern Spanish town of Pamplona.

This quasi-religious festival was written about by the author, Ernest Hemingway. This is the one where people race through the narrow streets of the town, pursed by bulls. Big bulls with horns.

Saint Fermin, a Christian martyr, was supposedly killed because of his faith. His death was caused by his being tied to a bull and being dragged to death in 257 AD.

The holiday lasts a week, and begins at noon on July 6. The running of the bulls part begins at 8 a.m. on July 7. I think if I were to participate, I would begin heavily drinking sangria, a wine punch, around daybreak on July 1, if not earlier.

I vote that we Americans stick to relatively benign holidays, such as Administrative Professionals Day, in which administrative professionals may be chased around the water coolers by people brandishing water pistols.

But if your tastes run to the really strange, consider donning some tights and a ruffled shirt and joining in celebrating Talk Like Shakespeare Day. In case it slipped your mind, this event is celebrated on April 23, which is the same date thats traditionally observed as Shakespeares date of birth. Sounds like something invented by folks who majored in English in college.

Talk Like Shakespeare Day is not to be confused with that other quasi-holiday involving odd speech, Talk Like a Pirate Day, which every seadog knows is celebrated on Sept. 19. This should give you time to find or make your eyepatch and find a parrot willing to perch on your shoulder. You can also practice saying a convincing RRRRRR! with a guttural twang. Right, Matey?

I could go on with such real, though dubious holidays such as Houseplant Appreciation Day, Extraterrestrial Abductions Day, and National Sea Monkey Day, but Ill let you look these up for yourself.

Come to think of it, together, we could start a National Bizarre Holidays Appreciation Day. It is an idea whose time has come.

O.C. Stonestreet is the author of Tales From Old Iredell County, They Called Iredell County Home and Once Upon a Time  in Mooresville, NC.
Maria Gilbert of Longview has instructed people on how to deliver babies, give CPR and escape a flooded vehicle, all without being considered a first responder.

Her title is set to change thanks to a new state law which will classify 911 dispatchers as first responders in Washington and create a statewide training and certification for the job.

Cowlitz 911 Center hires John Diamond as executive director John Diamond will be the next executive director of the Cowlitz County 911 Center.

The law creates a bureaucratic switch, where 911 dispatchers at government-run centers will no longer be considered administrative support, opening up the possibility of better state benefit plans and earlier retirement, similar to police and fire personnel.

Training

Gilbert said she has been a dispatcher for almost 16 years, and a volunteer firefighter for 23 years. However, at her paid job, where she also helps save lives, the state doesnt identify her as a first responder, even though she is often the first voice for help someone hears.

Katy Myers, the president of a state dispatcher organization, said the title change is a more accurate definition of the job.

They arent just answering the telephone and pushing a few buttons, Myers said. The true work of these professionals is in the public safety realm.

Cowlitz 911 dispatchers answer an average of 210 emergency calls a day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Workers dispatch law enforcement, fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel to emergencies, and also empathize with callers and guide them on how to handle life-or-death situations before the boots on the ground arrive.

Myers said the duties require consistent, regular training, which the law aims to create.

The law requires the states 911 Coordination Office to form a certification board to establish a statewide training and certification process, similar to how law enforcement officers are required to regularly train at academies for a certain number of hours.

Cowlitz 911 Director John Diamond said there are no required trainings for dispatchers at the state or national level today. He said the training could help minimize onboarding times if dispatchers relocate to other state 911 centers.

The law, which goes into effect June 9, has been a longtime effort for the organization Myers heads called the Washington State Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials and National Emergency Number Association. The bill passed during the first legislative session in which it was introduced, she said.

Benefits

Myers said additional training and better benefits could combat the industry turnover fueled by the high-stress job, and also help recruit new hires.

Turnover is common in the field. Of the six dispatchers hired in July, Cowlitz 911 staff said two remain.

The law could lower the minimum age of retirement, Diamond said.

Most employees who work for the state at places like police stations, schools and city buildings are enrolled in the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems. The type of retirement plan they receive is based on how the state classifies their job.

Cowlitz 911 dispatchers are not in the same state-run retirement plans as law enforcement or fire personnel, so their retirement schedules differ.

One state-run retirement plan requires Cowlitz 911 employees to retire at age 65 to receive full benefits, while a plan for law enforcement officers and firefighters allows retirement with full benefits at age 53.

Cowlitz 911 Supervisor Jerry Jensen said the high-stress job takes a toll on workers, who often process the aftermath of calls outside work.

Theres no way to unhear the things you hear, he said. Theres no way to forget.

He is a proponent of earlier retirement.

This isnt a job someone should have for 30 years, he said. After time, its a lot to ask of them.

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People mourn soldier Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Ali, who is killed in clashes with terrorists in Sinai, during his funeral at the village of Syracus in the city of Khanka, Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt, on May 8, 2022. (Photo by Sayed Hassan/Xinhua)

CAIRO, May 7 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 Egyptian troops were killed and five others wounded on Saturday in clashes with terrorists in western Sinai, the Egyptian army said in a statement.

The clashes took place as the Egyptian troops foiled an attack by a group of terrorists on a water pumping station in western Sinai, Egyptian military spokesman Gharib Abdel-Hafez said in the statement.

The 11 troops who died in the clashes included 10 soldiers and an officer, while the armed forces are currently chasing the terrorists besieged in an isolated area, according to the spokesman.

Although the exact location was not specified in the statement, state-run Al-Ahram news website reported that the clashes took place at the checkpoint of "the East Canal Water Lifting Station."

Egypt has been combating terrorism in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula over the past decade and the country managed to greatly limit terrorist activities in the peninsula.

The terrorists in Sinai are mostly loyal to the Islamic State group. 

People carry the coffin of soldier Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Ali, who is killed in clashes with terrorists in Sinai, during his funeral at the village of Syracus in the city of Khanka, Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt, on May 8, 2022. (Photo by Sayed Hassan/Xinhua)

People carry the coffin of soldier Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Ali, who is killed in clashes with terrorists in Sinai, during his funeral at the village of Syracus in the city of Khanka, Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt, on May 8, 2022. (Photo by Sayed Hassan/Xinhua)
The fight by some environmental groups to remove Snake River dams has new life after a petition to elected officials garnered 1,000 signatures.

Columbia Riverkeepers letters and petitions to President Joe Biden and Democratic Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley have focused on a hotly debated proposal: getting rid of the four Lower Snake River dams. This encompasses the Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams.

The petition specifically asked federal leaders to have a plan for removal by the end of 2022, according to a news release from Riverkeeper. The removal, and solutions to replace the dams, has seen past support from Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and U.S. Republican Rep. Mike Simpson from Idaho.

The Riverkeepers petition, which started to circulate at the beginning of this year, read: Pacific Northwest Salmon and Southern Resident Orcas are facing extinction, and we are calling on you to act with the urgency this moment demands. We are counting on your leadership to save these iconic species from extinction.

Environmental groups and some tribal leaders have called for the removal of the dams for years before this petition, saying the dams have overheated the rivers and now threaten the survival of salmon habitats.

Advocates for the dams, like the Northwest River Partners, say many ports, wheat-growers and farmers still rely on them for irrigation and transportation.

Dam removal remains a long-debated and complicated issue, with elected officials dedicating multiple studies to determine the implications and environmental impacts of the dams.

In October 2021, Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said in a news release they were teaming up to fund research determining the feasibility of removing the dams. The study promised to examine hydropower effects, salmon restoration and the possibility of replacing the current dams with carbon-free hydroelectric ones. Recommendations from this study are expected to come no later than July 31.

The debate has even reached Washington, D.C. In a March 28 news release, the White House Council on Environmental Quality said they were creating an interagency group along the Columbia River Basin comprised of tribal leaders, stakeholders, environmental groups and local governments to analyze the dams and whether it was possible to find a long-term solution.

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Garena Free Fire redeem codes for May 8, 2022: Players can get in-game items for free by redeeming codes released today. They can also grab Immortal Ragers Incubator, here is how.

Garena Free Fire redeem codes for May 8, 2022: Garena Free Fire players can get the Immortal Ragers Incubator from May 7 to 9 as Incubator Discount is here. Garena Free Fire MAX players can also grab the offer. "This incubator won't be here for long...  The Immortal Ragers Incubator is leaving soon! Don't miss out!," Garena Free Fire North America tweeted. Other than this players can also know that FF Manager and Pick 'N Win are coming in-game soon. Gamers will be able to use tokens to claim exciting rewards from the exchange store. "We've got some fun activities coming up for FFWS 2022!  FF Manager and Pick 'N Win are coming in-game soon, don't miss out!," Garena Free Fire North America said in another tweet.

Free Fire players can also claim in-game items for free and that too daily. For claiming in-game items like costumes, skins, weapons, among others redeem codes are being released daily. The latest set of redeem codes for May 8, 2022 is out and players need to visit Free Fire official redemption website at https://reward.ff.garena.com/en to redeem the codes before they expire.

This incubator won't be here for long... 



The Immortal Ragers Incubator is leaving soon! Don't miss out! pic.twitter.com/EPblgieqFM  Garena Free Fire North America (@FreeFire_NA) May 7, 2022

We've got some fun activities coming up for FFWS 2022! 



FF Manager and Pick 'N Win are coming in-game soon, don't miss out! pic.twitter.com/Wvq98MeErI  Garena Free Fire North America (@FreeFire_NA) May 7, 2022

Players can check the codes and process to claim the freebies below:

Garena Free Fire Redeem codes for May 8, 2022:

FH6J I8W7 63TG

45BH NJ8K YIH2

U7GY FT8D GF3B

H4J5 K6OY UH8K

FG5H I48R 7F6T

GB4N 56LU OJ98

FDYS TQF1 2I3RF

87U6 5XRZ ESDF

ERB6 K7UO 9B8V

76DT EG4B 5N6M

7ULO 9H87 65SR

F7K8 LPI0 J987

FD6S 54AQ EDF2

GH3U 4RTG 765C

XR8S FG2E HJR5

F7DF 23VB 4N56

YOH8 765S 4AQE

FGH2 J3EO F987

65TR FVB4 N56K

7YUJ ON8B 7V6C

5SEQ DWF3 V4BN

5TMY KHIB 8V7D

F6O7 UH3O BI1J

GT8Y KU8L IOJ9

H8G7 F6D5 SR4E

FD2F VG1H 2J34
Elon Musks $44 billion buyout of Twitter Inc. was challenged in a lawsuit by a Florida pension fund that argues the deal cant close before 2025 because Musk was an interested shareholder in the social-networking platform.

Elon Musks $44 billion buyout of Twitter Inc. was challenged in a lawsuit by a Florida pension fund that argues the deal cant close before 2025 because Musk was an interested shareholder in the social-networking platform.

The Orlando Police Pension Fund filed suit in Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday. According to the complaint, Musk had agreements with other major Twitter shareholders -- including founder Jack Dorsey -- to rely on their holdings when offering to take the company private last month. Those arrangements triggered a Delaware law that calls for a three-year delay in closing such deals, the fund claims.

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Musks Twitter acquisition features one of the biggest leveraged buyout deals in history. Hes taking private a 16-year-old social networking platform that has become a hub of public discourse and a flashpoint in the debate over online free speech. Musk disclosed Thursday a group of investors were kicking in more than $7 billion of equity towards the deal. They include Oracle Corp. billionaire Larry Ellison, venture-capital firm Sequoia Capital and cryptocurrency exchange Binance Holdings Ltd.

A representative for Musk didnt immediately return an email seeking comment on the pension funds suit.

Musk, 50, has outlined financing for the deal that includes $13 billion in bank loans secured by the social-media company and $12.5 billion backed by a pledge of some of his $170 billion Tesla Inc. stake. Hes currently the worlds richest individual, with a fortune valued at more than $249 billion.

The pension funds lawyers note Musk owned about 10% of Twitters shares when he made his buyout offer. They also say in the complaint that he had an agreement, arrangement or understanding with other major Twitter investors, such as Dorsey and investment bank Morgan Stanley. Those pacts allowed Musk to rely on their shares and support for the deal, according to the suit.

Under Delaware corporate law, those agreements make Musk an interested shareholder who has to wait three years to close the deal or win the support of investors who control at least 66 2/3% of Twitters outstanding voting stock and were independent from the billionaire, the suit said.

The fund is asking a Delaware judge to find that Musk meets the test for an interested shareholder and is subject to the law, according to the complaint.

The statute cited by the Florida fund was passed by Delaware lawmakers in the 1980s to help address a boom in takeovers and to protect shareholders rights to vote, but it wont pose much of a barrier for Musk, said Charles Elson, the former director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.

Its an extremely high wall to show someone was an interested shareholder, and few have surmounted it over the years, Elson said.

The case is Orlando Police Pension Fund v. Twitter Inc, No. 2022-0396, Delaware Chancery Court.
The organization said in a statement that Facebook's five-day blackout of news content providers had deliberately "overblocked" local governments, health services and other sites.

A whistleblower group is accusing Facebook of deliberately blocking websites for Australian hospitals and emergency services as part of a negotiating tactic last year.

The social network owned by Silicon Valley tech giant Meta was lobbying to weaken a proposed law requiring it to pay news providers in Australia when it blocked all such content from its platform in February 2021.

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But the algorithm also blocked other websites in what the company maintained was an accident, telling AFP on Friday that "any suggestion to the contrary is categorically and obviously false."

"We intended to exempt Australian government pages from restrictions in an effort to minimize the impact of this misguided and harmful legislation," a Meta spokesperson said.

"When we were unable to do so as intended due to a technical error, we apologized and worked to correct it."

However, US-based organization Whistleblower Aid alleged it was actually a Meta ploy in filings with the US Department of Justice and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, first reported in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

The organization said in a statement that Facebook's five-day blackout of news content providers had deliberately "overblocked" local governments, health services and other sites that were providing support for vulnerable people.

The intention was to force the government to weaken the proposed law, the group said.

"This wasn't just an example of a corporate actor behaving recklessly," said Whistleblower Aid chief Libby Liu.

"Facebook intentionally put lives at risk to protect its bottom line."

Shortly after the blackout, Australia passed a law forcing Facebook to negotiate with news content providers, but politicians watered down some of the most onerous proposals.
Mother's Day 2022: Google Doodle is celebrating mom's day with an adorable and heartwarming GIF.

Mother's Day 2022: The entire nation is celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday, May 8. And to make the day more special and wish all the mothers a very happy Mother's Day, Google Doodle today has launched a heartwarming GIF. Google Doodle, with the help of this GIF, is trying to show the special bond between a mother and a child in four slides. In the first slide, the GIF showcases two hands- a mother's hand and the other small or tiny hand of her child wherein the child's hand is holding the little finger of the mother's hand.

The second slide shows a mother educating the child, followed by the third slide where the child is being informed about the importance of conserving water and the fourth slide showing planting trees. Google Doodle also wished mother's day with a red heart. "Happy Mother's Day! ," it said. It can be noted that Google Doodle has a tradition of celebrating important and historic events.

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Today, every child tries to make their mother feel special by planning surprises, by telling them how important they are and also by showcasing their love. It can be known that different countries celebrate Mothers Day on different dates. In India, Mothers Day is observed on the second Sunday of May every year. While in the UK the day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of March commemorating the memory of Mother Church on Christian Mothering Sunday. Greece celebrates the eve on February 2, linking the day with the Eastern Orthodox celebration of the presentation of Jesus Christ at the temple.

It is believed the modern Mothers Day celebrations first began in the US. The day is recorded to have first been observed in 1908 by Anna Jarvis as she wanted the day to be commemorated because her own mother had expressed such a desire. When Jarvis's mother passed away, she held a memorial for her in St Andrews Methodist Church in West Virginia, which is now known as the International Mother's Day Shrine.
Virtual YouTubers like Iizuka, who voices and animates a character called Yume Kotobuki, have transformed a niche Japanese subculture into a thriving industry.

Mayu Iizuka sheds her soft-spoken personality and starts cackling, screaming and waving wildly in a makeshift studio in Tokyo as her avatar appears on a livestream before hundreds of fans.

Virtual YouTubers like Iizuka, who voices and animates a character called Yume Kotobuki, have transformed a niche Japanese subculture into a thriving industry where top accounts can rake in more than a million dollars a year.

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The videos are designed to make fans feel they are interacting directly with their favourite animated idols -- with viewers sometimes paying hundreds of dollars to have a single comment highlighted on a livestream.

"When I'm playing video games on my channel and succeed at something, my fans congratulate me" and pay tips "as a way to show their support and appreciation", Iizuka told AFP.

The 26-year-old uses a laptop, webcam and a motion sensor worn around her neck to appear on screen as Yume, whose facial expressions are controlled by a producer.

With her squeaky voice, short skirt and huge purple eyes, Iizuka's avatar follows a popular model for "VTuber" characters, which often resemble the hyper-feminine heroines of Japanese anime.

Since emerging about five years ago, the VTuber world has grown quickly, with about 16,000 active streamers globally, according to data firm User Local, and growing fanbases on other platforms like TikTok and gaming site Twitch.

Regional governments in Japan have used them for promotion, and "The Batman" stars Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz even gave a recent interview to a top Japanese VTuber.

Super Chat

VTubers generate money in ways similar to traditional livestreamers, including through YouTube's "Super Chat" system, where the more a fan shells out, the more attention is drawn to their comments.

In fact, the world's nine top-earning YouTube accounts for "Super Chat" last year were all VTubers.

All nine are affiliated with one Tokyo-based talent agency, and each earned between $700,000 and $1.7 million from the cash gifts, according to data analysis site Playboard.

Most fans spend only a few hundred yen ($1) per comment, but the most dedicated sometimes splurge 50,000 yen ($400) to post impassioned missives to their virtual idols.

Kazuma Murakami, a 30-year-old car parts inspector, has been known to spend 10,000 yen to get his comments highlighted in red and seen by his favourite VTuber.

"I really want her to notice I'm here again, visiting her channel," Murakami told AFP.

Another VTuber fan, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Kazumi, has adorned his tiny one-room apartment near Tokyo with posters, framed pictures and keyrings featuring his favourite character, Mio Ookami.

The 30-year-old computer engineer spends time after work and on weekends immersing himself in Mio's videos and crafting digital illustrations of the black-haired "wolf girl".

"I dedicate five, or maybe 10 hours to thinking just about her," he said.

"She is like family to me."

That devotion, and the willingness of fans to pay big money, is linked to the way other fan subcultures function in Japan, said Noriyuki Nagamatsu, a digital business specialist at advertising firm D.A. Consortium.

"Super Chat is essentially an extension of a longstanding culture where idol and anime fans try to support their 'oshi', or favourite, by splurging on their merchandise," he told AFP.

"It's also a way of winning attention from their beloved and feeling superior to fellow fans."

Human 'soul'

VTubers usually keep the person behind the character -- often referred to as their "soul" -- out of the picture, and like many fans, Kazumi says his love is directed towards Mio the avatar, not whoever plays her.

But the line between virtual and real can become blurred.

A Japanese court recently ruled in favour of a VTuber actor who argued that online slander against her character amounted to an attack on her.

Virtual YouTubers can "transcend gender, age or physique... but what's important is that there's a real person there who is speaking and reads the comments in real life," said Kazuhito Ozawa, the plaintiff's lawyer.

For Iizuka, a professional voice actress, making the rare decision to reveal her identity after four years of making videos as Yume was nerve-wracking.

"Part of me was afraid that fans of Yume, who has these big, shiny eyes and a perfect belly, might be disappointed to find out what the 'real' person inside looks like," she said.

But "so far the response from fans has been very kind".

And the more outspoken, vivacious personality of Yume's virtual self is even gradually rubbing off on Iizuka, she said.

"I used to baulk at speaking publicly, but Yume is such an experienced livestreamer that my identity as her has been helping me speak more confidently."
Back in February, OPPO launched its latest flagship series in China. Since then, we've had no signs of the OPPO Find X5 or OPPO Find X5 Pro for the global market. But the company has confirmed that the Pro variant will be making its way here soon.

Recently, OPPO Malaysia uploaded a short teaser for the OPPO Find X5 Pro 5G on its Facebook. Its call for fans to "Save the date. 18th May 2022." is a clear sign that the company plans to launch the phone here on that day. However, there were no mentions of the OPPO Find X5. The device might not be available in Malaysia, or OPPO Malaysia is saving it for later.

As a reminder, the OPPO Find X5 Pro is a flagship smartphone powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 5G chipset. It comes with 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of internal storage, and a sizable 5000mAh battery. In addition, it has a 6.7-inch LTPO 2.0 AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and high 1300 nits max brightness. Other features include the 50MP+13MP+50MP triple camera module, 32MP front camera, and an under-display fingerprint sensor.

OPPO is keeping the price under wraps, so stay tuned to TechNave for the launch report and pricing. Also, let us know if you're interested in getting this phone in the comments.
Brazos County residents passed two constitutional amendments and a tax measure for emergency service districts during Saturdays special election.

There were 5,215 votes cast on Election Day and 4.25% of Brazos County registered voters participated, according to Brazos County Elections Administrator Trudy Hancock.

Everything went really smooth, it was a little quieter than our normal elections but it was a really good turnout, she said. The College Station Utilities Meeting and Training Facility is always a big place for voting and they voted the most, over 700 people voted at that location today.

For the State of Texas Proposition 1, which would reduce the amount paid by the elderly and disabled whose school property taxes have been frozen when those school taxes decrease: Brazos County passed the vote with 85.91% in favor and 14.09% against. Statewide, with a little more than half the tally counted at 10 p.m., approximately 87% of voters were in favor.

For the State of Texas Proposition 2, which increases the amount of the residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation for public school purposes from $25,000 to $40,000: Brazos County passed the vote with 87.57% in favor and 12.43% against. Likewise, a vast majority voted in favor (85%) statewide.

Victory for ALL property owners in Texas! Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Saturday night.

Projected savings under Proposition 2, however, arent likely to cut into any given homeowners property tax bill.

Its not that meaningful, Chandra Kring Villanueva, a program director at the left-leaning nonprofit organization Every Texan who focuses on school finance, told the Texas Tribune. What its really doing is slowing the growth of the school tax bill rather than seeing an actual savings for the majority of homeowners.

Residents who live in Brazos County Emergency Service District 3 or District 4 voted in favor of the adoption of a local sales and use tax, at a rate not to exceed 1.5% in the district.

Voters in District 3 voted in favor by 57.08% and against by 42.92%; in District 4 they voted in favor by 71.10% and against by 28.90%.

Jerry Merker, president of the countys Emergency Service District 3 Volunteer Fire Department board, said the districts wont have to collect as much in property taxes to keep up with their expenses with this tax measure in place.

I am thankful to all the voters who did go and vote, however they voted. This will give us the opportunity to continue updating all of our equipment, he said. About 60-70% of our calls are EMS calls. Masks, gloves and several other items we need to fulfill these calls arent cheap.

Merker said District 3 will potentially hire a duty crew to respond during the day since most of their volunteers are at work.

They have a higher response rate over there, and Districts 1 and 2 both have duty crews. Precinct 3 is the only one without a duty crew, he said. We dont have any paid workers. The other three precincts all have a paid fire chief as well.

Early voting for the local primaries runoff election starts May 16 and runs through May 20. Voting will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Election day is Tuesday, May 24.

The last day to receive an application for ballot by mail for the primaries runoff election is by 5 p.m. May 13.

For more election information, visit brazosvotes.org.

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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine  Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Saturday and bombarded a besieged steel mill in Mariupol, hoping to complete their conquest of the port in time for Victory Day celebrations. Officials announced that the last women, children and older adults had been evacuated from the mill, but Ukrainian fighters remained trapped.

In a sign of the unexpectedly effective defense that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraines military flattened Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the wars first days and has become a symbol of resistance. Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the countrys second-largest city, Kharkiv, even as it remained a key target of Russian shelling.

The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition that has killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed large swaths of some cities. Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Russias holiday on Monday celebrating Nazi Germanys defeat 77 years ago, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged people to heed air raid warnings.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Zelenskyy and his people embody the spirit of those who prevailed during the Second World War. He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to twist history in an attempt to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine.

The most intense fighting in recent days has been in eastern Ukraine, where the two sides are entrenched in a fierce battle to capture or reclaim territory. Moscows offensive there has focused on the industrial Donbas region, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014.

Moscow also has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the sea and create a corridor to the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, long home to Russian troops. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.

On Saturday, six Russian cruise missiles fired from aircraft hit the Odesa region, where a curfew is in place until Tuesday morning. Videos posted on social media showed thick black smoke rising over the Black Sea port city as sirens wailed.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Ukraine targeting Russian-held Snake Island in a bid to impede Russias efforts to control the Black Sea. An image taken early Saturday by Planet Labs PBC showed that most of the islands buildings had been destroyed by Ukrainian drone attacks, as well as what appeared to be a Serna-class landing craft against the islands northern beach.

The image corresponds with a Ukrainian military video showing a drone striking the Russian vessel, engulfing it in flames. Snake Island, located some 20 miles off the coast, figured in a memorable incident early in the war when Ukrainian border guards stationed there defied Russian orders to surrender, purportedly using colorful language.

In Mariupol, Ukrainian fighters made a final stand against a complete Russian takeover of the strategically important city, which would give Moscow a land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, annexed from Ukraine during a 2014 invasion.

Satellite photos shot Friday by Planet Labs PBC showed vast devastation at the sprawling Azovstal seaside steel mill, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the city. Buildings had gaping holes in the roofs, including one under which hundreds of fighters were likely hiding.

After rescuers evacuated the last civilians Saturday, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that the focus would turn to extracting the wounded and medics: Of course, if everyone fulfills the agreements. Of course, if there are no lies.

He added that work would continue Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The situation at the plant has drawn the worlds attention, with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross desperately trying to organize evacuations.

In recent days, fighters inside described bringing out small groups of civilians who had been hiding there for weeks. The fighters said via social media that both they and the Russians had used a white flag system to halt fighting in order to get civilians out.

But Russian forces have intensified fire on the mill with mortars, artillery, truck-mounted rocket systems, aerial bombardment and shelling from the sea, making evacuation operations difficult.

Three Ukrainian fighters were reportedly killed and six more wounded during an evacuation attempt Friday. Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, said his troops had waved white flags, and he accused Russian forces of firing an anti-tank weapon at a vehicle.

It remains unclear what will happen to the estimated 2,000 fighters at Azovstal, both those still in combat and the hundreds believed to be wounded. In recent days the Ukrainian government has been reaching out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for them. The fighters have repeatedly vowed not to surrender.

Zelenskyy said officials were trying to find a way to evacuate them. He acknowledged the difficulty, but said, We are not losing hope, we are not stopping. Every day we are looking for some diplomatic option that might work.

Russian forces have probed the plant and even reached into its warren of tunnels, according to Ukrainian officials.

Kharkiv, which was the first Soviet capital in Ukraine and had a prewar population of about 4 million, remained a key target of Russian shelling in the northeast. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Saturday that the Russian military also hit large shipments of weapons from the U.S. and other Western countries with Iskander missiles in the region. His claims couldnt be independently verified.

But Western military analysts said Ukrainian forces were making progress in securing positions around the city. The Ukrainian army said it retook control of five villages in the area and part of a sixth.

A Washington-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said in its most recent assessment that Ukraine may be able to push Russian forces out of artillery range of Kharkiv in the coming days, providing a respite for the city and an opportunity to build the defenders momentum into a successful, broader counteroffensive.

Overnight, a Russian missile destroyed a national museum in the Kharkiv region dedicated to the life and work of 18th-century philosopher and poet Gregory Skovoroda, the local council said. It posted photographs on Facebook showing the building engulfed in flames.

Zelenskyy expressed outrage at the missile attacks on the museum and on Odesa, where almost every street has something memorable, something historical. He said Russian forces have destroyed or damaged about 200 cultural heritage sites.

Every day of this war, the Russian army does something that leaves you speechless, he said. But then the next day it does something that makes you feel this way in a new way.

In the eastern region of Luhansk, Gov. Serhiy Haidai said two boys aged 11 and 14 were killed by Russian shelling in the town of Pryvillia, while two girls aged 8 and 12 and a 69-year-old woman were wounded.
JERUSALEM, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Israel would drop PCR test requirements for arrivals at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, but inbound foreigners still need to test negative before boarding, the Ministry of Health announced on Sunday.

The decision, which will take effect on May 20, was made with the Israel Airports Authority due to a decline in COVID-19 infection numbers, said the ministry.

Testing array would be kept at the airport for prompt reactivation when necessary, it added.

Starting Tuesday, foreign nationals flying to Israel can either choose to take a PCR or antigen test before boarding, according to the ministry.

Israel reported 16,337 active COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the lowest figure since Dec. 25, 2021, when there were 15,459 cases, according to official data.

It also reported 1,773 new cases, bringing the total to 4,091,263, and zero new death.

In early January, Israel allowed the entry of COVID-19 vaccinated and recovered passengers, and then in early March, of all passengers, including the unvaccinated. 
LINCOLN  Nebraska National History Day hosted its 42nd annual state contest on Saturday, April 9.

Two hundred and forty-nine students from across Nebraska representing 37 schools presented research projects on topics related to this years theme, Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, and Consequences.

Awards were given to 54 middle and high school students from 18 schools. The award winners now have the opportunity to compete in the national contest, which will be offered virtually in June. Delegates from Nebraska can apply to have their entries included in showcases sponsored by prestigious institutions including the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the White House Historical Association. This year, the National History Day program will also host virtual field trips open to all students and teachers who are registered for the national contest.

During the awards ceremony, several qualifying entries also received special awards or honorable mentions given by the Nebraska Press Association Foundation, NEBRASKALand Foundation, Nebraska Wesleyan University, the Michael Berg Memorial Award (sponsored by a private individual), and the Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies.

Teachers also received recognition for their work with the program in their schools. Kim Henry from Loup City High School received the Senior Award. She will receive a $500 Patricia Behring Teacher Award through the National History Day program.

A trio of Henrys students, Nicole Chilewski, Aleia Friesen and Allison Lone Elk, won a first-place award for their senior group documentary, Vietnam Soldiers.

Two other Loup City students, Olivia Fitzgerald and Eva Jaixen, earned a first-place award for their senior group website, Iranian Hostage Crisis. The website was named a Schwalb Center for Israel & Jewish Studies award winner.

Also earning a first-place award for Loup City was 1980 Summer Olympics, an entry in the junior group documentary category. Students working on that project were Korbyn Oseka and Brogan Setlik.

Dropping Atomic Bombs, a senior group exhibit, earned a second-place award for Loup City students Austin Landers and Cole Lawson.

Hawaiian Annexation, entered by Thaddeus Harris and Elijah Solis of Loup City, took second place in the junior group documentary category.

Three projects earned NEBRASKALand Foundation honorable mention for Loup City High School.

Junior group website, Standing Bears Trial: Debate for Native American Rights and the Impact of Diplomacy, was created by Taylor Sikes and Aiden Curlo.

Another junior group website, The Debate and Diplomacy of Indian Boarding Schools: Success, Failure and Consequences, was creaated by Trinity Weekley and Jaymeson Gappa.

And Nebraska Womens Suffrage, from Riley Obermiller and Natalie Wardyn, earned the award in senior group website.

Hastings High School students Cara Ansbach and Rebekah Evans earned a second-place award for their senior group documentary, the Picasso Problem. Their teacher is Ann Mays.

Chadron State College, Metropolitan Community College, Hastings College, Northeast Community College, Peru State College, Southeast Community College and the University of Nebraska at Kearney sponsor the seven district contests in February and March each year. The state contest and statewide program are funded in part by Humanities Nebraska, the D.F. Dillon Foundation and Nebraska Wesleyan University.
There will be a big crowd cheering Wargak Tut Sunday.

There will be all of us. In the bleachers it will be obvious  youll see a whole posse of people, Tut said, grinning.

This time, however, it wont be to cheer the Grand Island Central Catholic multi-sport athlete at a game or meet. It will be for a moment even bigger when Tut graduates as part of the GICC Class of 2022 today, where he spent three years at the school as a student, athlete, mentor and leader.

While Tut holds his GICC family close to his heart (everybody here is close and tight), off the court and outside GICCs hallways he has a family with a closeness and a story like no other.

By all indications, Tut is a pillar of his family.

He has six younger siblings under his watch that he shuffles to school in the morning (some go to GIPS campuses) and making sure everything is taken care of.

Thats why Im late for school sometimes, Tut says sheepishly as GICC Principal Jordan Engle laughs at this side.

Tuts parents are divorced. His mother works at JBS and his father is a former engineer who worked technical jobs at businesses like NPPD. He lives in Omaha.

Both of his parents are originally from South Sudan. Tuts father came to the United States at age 15 or 16, Tut guessed, eventually getting his degree in engineering.

Hes a very smart man, Tut said. He was able to come over here, and he came at the right time.

Its little secret the turmoil that has dominated South Sudan for decades, yet  or because of that  Tut seems to think little about what life would be like if his father, mother and his extended family hadnt fled the war-torn African nation.

I dont know  so much could happen to somebody. What could happen? Maybe they would still be alive, maybe living the life? I dont know. There are so many things over there that are corrupted and everything, Tut said. You never know what could happen.

The Beginning

Tuts parents met in South Sudan where marriages are different than in the United States, Tut explained.

I believe the way they met was because their family started talking. Theyre like, Oh, theyd be a perfect match. And then things happen  and I think thats how they met.

Tut's parents later divorced.

While its clear Tut loves both of his parents, he seems to hold a special regard for his father.

He is smarter than me. Hes done a lot for my family.

However, Tut was unsure his father would attend his graduation from GICC. About a year ago, his father suffered a head injury in his apartment.

He fell, and he had a bad brain bleed. So it hasnt been the same ever since. Its kind of like a stroke, but he can still communicate with us.

Tut indicated his fathers head injury is dwarfed by the obstacles he faced in South Sudan.

I dont know how he did it. He had to deal with a lot of things over there, his home country, with the war going on. It was a scary place to be in. Im glad that he was able to be fortunate enough to come over here.

Tuts parents are multi-lingual he said, another testament to their tenacity and ability to adapt. They speak Arabic, English and their tribes languages.

South Sudan is a big country with different cultures. The tribes are different, so they speak their different languages, Tut explained.

We have a couple of students here who (are) Sudanese, but they speak different languages.

Still, no matter what language is spoken, Tut has a connection with all of his classmates  and other GICC students, Engle said.

(His) attitude of mentorship and guidance is something that our younger kids here at Central Catholic have noticed about Wargak. Kids really look up to him, and its easy to see why.

Tut is not only his siblings primary caregiver, an athlete and a student, he is active in other elements of GICC, including Big Little Crusaders, which partners GICC juniors and seniors with sixth graders to help them adjust to a new chapter of their young lives.

Being a Christian has always been a part of Tuts life, too. His family attended a few different churches, but Tut said he felt comfortable at GICC.

Ive always been a Christian, so coming over here the religion part wasnt really a big deal, because I was already involved with the church, he said. Im happy with my decision coming here, and I have enjoyed my three years here. Im going miss a lot of teachers that Ive been building close relationships with, a lot of people that I want to talk to through the next few years. he said. I feel like Im a better person, coming here.

Tuts next step is to attend college in Arizona to study business, though for a while his father had a different plan for Tut. He always wanted me to do engineering, but Im not good at math, Tut said.

In the immediate future, before the move to Arizona, is graduation.

Tut said hes looking forward to it, but is unsure his father will be able to attend. Its kind of hard for him to do things on his own, but hopefully he can come  hopefully.

If not, his father can watch Tuts graduation via livestream  and will have a large family representation in GICCs south gym bleachers standing in for him.

Jessica Votipka is the education reporter at the Grand Island Independent. She can be reached at 308-381-5420.

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A taste of Italy is now found on the south end of Grand Island, rather than the north.

Napolis has left its longtime location near Conestoga Mall and landed at Boarders Inn and Suites.

The move was swift. Napolis finished up at its previous home April 30, and reopened in its new digs on Saturday, in time for Mothers Day.

Since opening in 2011, Napolis has built a following.

We really appreciate our regular customers, says Melody Roe, whos worked at Napolis for 11 years. Another manager, Daysi Stanton, has been at the restaurant five years.

Owner Besim Besi Shala says people like the fresh food and service. People feel comfortable, like family, here,

The Napolis staff takes care of them, he said.

Customers enjoy dipping their dinner rolls into olive oil and seasonings. That bread is baked throughout the day.

Napolis customers appreciate the ability to customize their orders.

Napolis has three main sauces  Alfredo, marinara and Alla Panna. The latter, a white wine cream sauce, goes by a couple of different names. Some call it Alla Panna. Some just call it pink sauce.

Chicken Alfredo is one of the popular entrees. Another one is the pasta combo, which includes samples of lasagna, manicotti, ravioli, cheese tortellini and Italian sausage, topped with marinara and mozzarella.

Many customers like Napolis Special, which consists of chicken and sausage sauteed with roasted bell peppers, ham and black olives in a white cream sauce with a hint of marinara.

Other popular dishes are Damabianaka (made with chicken or veal), lasagna and pizza.

Roe recommends Napolis Toscana soup, made with Canadian bacon, Italian sausage, potatoes and spinach in a cream base.

The restaurant offers lunch specials from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

Napolis Italian Restaurant, originally owned by Florio Ramadoni, opened on Mothers Day in 2011. Shala purchased the eatery from Ramadoni in 2013.

Shala and his wife, Zeki, also own two Napolis restaurants in Lincoln.

Shala came to the U.S. from the Balkans in 2006. I am an Albanian from Kosovo, he says.

Before moving to the U.S., Shala operated two restaurants in Europe.

Arriving in the U.S., he first lived in Dallas. His family also owns a restaurant in Enid, Okla.

Shala moved from its previous Grand Island location because the building needed work, he said. The lease expired April 30.

He hopes the south side of Grand Island needs a good restaurant.

One thing he likes about Napolis new home is the party room, a feature the old restaurant didnt have. The party room, he said, can hold 50 or 60 people.

Including the party room, Napolis can seat 188 people. The old location had a capacity of 110.

Napolis attracts customers from Hastings, Kearney, Broken Bow and other communities.

Some travelers swing into Grand Island for a meal at Napolis. One couple from California stops every time they come through Nebraska. Theyve recommended the place to their friends.

For the last two years, the Shalas have lived in Lincoln, where their son goes to school. Before that, they were Grand Island residents for seven years.

Shala says 99% of Napolis customers like his food.

The restaurant stayed open throughout the pandemic, which was quite a feat.

Like many other businesses, Napolis is having trouble hiring employees.

Even though the Boarders location has housed other restaurants, Shala is confident he can make a go of it. The previous location at 3421 Conestoga Drive, housed several other restaurants before Napolis brought stability.

Shala wants to thank the community for supporting his restaurant.

During the worst of the pandemic, he sent a large amount of food, at no charge, to local doctors and nurses to thank them for their heroic efforts.

Today, in honor of Mothers Day, all moms receive free dessert.

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The nomination: Angela Phelps has been an LPN for over 15 years and has served the elderly for most of that time. Johnna Patrick says of Angela, She not only gives her passion for nursing 100% during the day but it is very common to see her checking on her residents, attending resident birthday parties or bringing a resident a little something special on the weekend or after work hours. She won the Community of Character trait award for caring in 2015.

Patrick states that Angela gives so much to her patients, family members and staff and is always the first one to stop and say How can I help? or What can I do? She is graduating in August from Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College with a much-deserved associate degree in nursing.

The world is a better place because of Angie Phelps. She is also a great advocate and cheerleader for OCtech, Patrick says.

Angela Phelps was hired as a charge nurse at Jolley Acres in 2008 by Deana Houser, who took her under her wing and mentored her into caring greater for the elderly. In 2010, she was promoted to assistant director of nursing, She has been a proud LPN for 20 years and spent the majority of those years working in long-term care. She is currently enrolled in the ADN Transition Program at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College and will graduate on May 10, 2022. Following completion of the program and passing the South Carolina State Boards, she intends to pursue a career in nurse management, long-term care and providing care and compassion to the elderly in the community.

So why did you want to be a nurse? After coming to South Carolina from Texas and working as an activities assistant in a local nursing home for a few years, I decided I wanted to pursue a career in nursing. That's when I realized I wanted to do more to assist individuals who were adjusting to life in a nursing home after becoming unable to care for themselves at home or after being hospitalized. When I saw CNAs and nurses taking care of patients and their families on a regular basis, it was heartwarming to see that they didn't treat it like a "work." The individuals with whom I had the privilege of working ... took pride in their work and treated the patients as if they were family. A Maya Angelou quote that I love: 'Ive learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. That's the most important thing.' When it comes to taking care of my patients and family members, this is a motto I live by every day. As I begin my 20th year in this field, I realize that this is a calling that I would not trade for anything."

Memorable events: Both COVID-19 and Hurricane Matthew came to mind immediately when asked about a work-related memorable incident. Although COVID-19 is still fresh in my mind, receiving patients from Charleston following Hurricane Matthew in 2016 was one of my greatest accomplishments.

"At first, I didn't know how we were going to help these patients that needed shelter. There is no doubt that the patients were afraid, but my coworkers and I were ready to take on the task. The first few days appeared to be quite hectic, as we tried to learn their demands while also attending to our own.

"Prior to the event's conclusion, when it came time for the patients to return to their nursing home, they expressed reluctance. Several of them even sobbed and pleaded with us to stay with us. I can confidently state that this will always be a triumphant story for me, as it was made possible by some awesome coworkers.

"I understood that some people are in it for the money while others are sincerely invested. I must add that every one of my coworkers stood up to the plate and handled the situation admirably during that emergency crisis, from picking up extra shifts to working in areas to which they were not assigned."

What is the most rewarding/challenging part of your job?: "The most rewarding/challenging part of my profession is adapting to emergent situations, which requires effective communication and teamwork. Additionally, the ability to cope with a variety of ethical personalities when it comes to patients, workers and family members."

The future: My outlook on life is improving day by day. I intend to pursue a profession in nursing administration and geriatric mental health. As for the future of the nursing profession as a whole, I hope that we all continue to work together to address emerging health care challenges in both our communities and around the world. Above all, I wish/pray that we all continue to strive to be advocates for the people we care for.

COVID-19: "COVID-19 had a huge impact on both our community and the world, and it was very devastating. I was fortunate to be able to take a year off from management and reconnect with my passion for hands-on care. I spent a few months working on a COVID unit and was able to give even more of myself to those battling COVID-19.

"I think we all thought that COVID was just a phase and would be gone before we knew it. Here we are two years later, and we are still fighting the fight, maybe not as hard but we are. I think COVID-19 will be around for a while, just like the flu. Because I work in the health care field, I'm honored to keep fighting COVID-19 and other issues with all my other health care colleagues."

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Norway native and former 1st Circuit Judge James C. Jimmy Williams Jr. died May 6 at his home in Seneca. He was 78.

Williams served as 1st Circuit judge for more than a decade from 1998 until his retirement. During that time, he presided over cases in 40 of South Carolinas 46 counties, including a number of high-profile ones in the 1st Circuit counties of Orangeburg, Calhoun and Dorchester.

Williams won praise from prosecutors and defense attorneys for his commitment to justice and the rule of law.

First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe said at the 2009 unveiling of a portrait of Williams at Orangeburg County Courthouse that he heard someone say that justice doesn't take place inside the courtroom. He said he thought about it and agreed.

"The mark of a good judge is to make sure that justice comes out of a courtroom," he said. "And that is the legacy of Jimmy Williams."

Prior to being elected by the legislature to serve as a judge, Williams was chief deputy solicitor for the 1st Circuit, a position he held for six years. Earlier Williams was in private legal practice with Marshall, Nicholson and Williams; Nicholson and Williams; and Williams and Houser.

But there is more to Williams story than a lifetime of legal service.

After graduating from Clemson University in 1965, he set about farming in Norway. Some years into working the land, he decided to attend law school at the University of South Carolina.

Williams received his degree in 1979 and began a legal career that earned him praise as a top judge and most recently the states highest honor, the Order of the Palmetto.

After retirement, Williams did not sit still. He moved to Seneca, nearer his beloved Clemson University, and began a business, Palmetto Custom Metal & Woodcraft. The business specializes in ornamental, decorative art and metal signage. It was an endeavor that Williams said was a natural for him in using skills such as welding gained on the farm.

Though Williams called Seneca home in later life, he served his native Norway while living in Orangeburg County. For 23 years, he was either mayor or a council member for the town.

Williams will be remembered with a memorial service in Seneca on Monday before his funeral at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Willow Swamp Baptist Church in Norway. Dukes-Harley Funeral Home of Orangeburg is in charge of arrangements.

A full obituary for Judge Williams can be found on A3 today.

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Refugees from Syria are seen at a temporary settlement in Hatay, Turkey, on Feb. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Feng)

Turkey is making plans for a massive return of Syrians to their homeland as public hostility to their presence in the country is escalating.



However, the Turkish decision of voluntary repatriation remains problematic, as the present security conditions in Syria are not conducive for them to rebuild a life, experts said.



by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is making plans for a massive return of Syrians to their homeland as public hostility to their presence in the country is escalating.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey is building homes and public facilities in parts of Syria held by Turkish-backed forces to support the new plan of encouraging the voluntary returns of 1 million Syrian refugees.

Making the remarks in a video message to a Turkish-sponsored residential construction project in Idlib, a rebel-held province of Syria, Erdogan said some 500,000 Syrians have already returned to "safe regions" in their home country in recent years.

Erdogan's repatriation talks came after he vowed in mid-March not to send Syrians back despite mounting public unease at almost 4 million Syrian refugees taking shelter in the country.

Last week, Turkey banned Syrian refugees it has hosted from traveling back to Syria for Eid al-Fitr, a holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in what seems a first-ever shift from its "open door" refugee policy for Syrians since the outbreak of their country's civil war in 2011.

People walk in a market zone of the Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug. 18, 2021. A majority of shops in this market zone on the European part of Istanbul belong to refugees, mostly Syrians, who flocked to the city with the dream of living better. (Photo by Serkan/Xinhua)

However, the Turkish decision of voluntary repatriation remains problematic, as the present security conditions in Syria are not conducive for them to rebuild a life, experts said.

"There are still clashes in certain parts of north Syria, and it is not favorable for the Syrians to return at this point," Metin Corabatir, an expert on refugee issues, told Xinhua.

As a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, Turkey is bound by the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of anyone to a place where they would be at risk, said Corabatir, head of the Ankara-based Research Center on Asylum and Migration.

Turkey hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees in the world, in addition to several hundred thousand asylum seekers of other nationalities, mainly from neighboring countries.

The sheer number of refugees has become Turkey's headache over the years, while they have been increasingly blamed for many of Turkey's social and economic ills.

Refugees from Syria are seen at a temporary settlement in Hatay, Turkey, on Feb. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Feng)

Turkey is currently in the grip of an economic crisis as consumer prices accelerated to an annual rate of almost 70 percent in April, the highest in over two decades.

"Since the start of Turkey's economic hardships in 2018 there is an intensifying opposition to Syrians, people believe that we are robbing them of their jobs and wealth," Wahid, a 34-year-old Syrian migrant who didn't want his surname to be divulged, told Xinhua.

A study carried out by Turkish-German University Migration and Integration Research Center shows that over 70 percent of Turkish respondents have a "negative perception" of Syrians in general.

A destroyed building is seen at the Al-Qatirji industrial city in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on March 7, 2022. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

But 77.8 percent of Syrian respondents said they were not planning to return to Syria, according to the survey.

Wahid said he has been living and working illegally in Turkey's capital city Ankara for over eight years, and none of his close family are taking steps to return home.

The Syrian said he wanted to return but could not see a safe future for his family there. 
U.S. Navy veteran Kenneth Fleetwood, an art education major at South Carolina State University, recently was awarded a full scholarship to Penland School of Craft in Penland, North Carolina.

Fleetwood will attend the Penland School for a week at the end of May 2022 to explore wheel throwing, in an intensive workshop. During the workshop, students have access to the studio at all hours of the day to provide unlimited time for exploration, learning and research.

My goal is become an art educator and maybe even use art to assist disabled vets in their recovery, Fleetwood said. This scholarship is very exciting to receive and will allow me to enhance my skills as an artist. I have always embraced the arts even in high school I was an art major.

I use art in every aspect of my life including cake decorating, wood working, painting and photography. I am very grateful and hope that these skills will help me to be a blessing to artist of all ages, he said.

In 2019, Penland School of Craft created the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Craft Tour. The first session of that program included 13 students from SC State and Claflin University.

Students were awarded an all-expense paid trip to visit and experience the craft school for three days. From that program, Penland created the HBCU Partners Scholarship for schools that participate in the HBCU Craft Tour. The HBCU Partners Scholarship includes full tuition, room and board, materials and a travel stipend.

Originally from Philadelphia, Fleetwood resides in Holly Hill. He is a father of three and a grandfather of nine. He has custody of his 13-year-old grandson with autism who requires constant guidance and supervision.

Fleetwood is retired from the U.S. Navy and a commercial photography graduate of Trident Technical College in 2020. He started at SC State in fall semester that same year as an art education major.

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Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College is working to find the perfect balance between addressing staff vacancies and finding ways to grow student enrollment.

During an April 19 OCtech Area Commission meeting, OCtech President Dr. Walt Tobin reported 11 vacancies, six of which are temporary grant positions. The remaining five are full-time state-funded, or FTE, positions, three of which are in the student services department.

The temporary grant positions include: Early College adviser; Early College interventionist; biology instructor; CNA/phlebotomy instructor; early childhood instructor and administrator assistant for adult education.

The FTE positions include: criminal justice instructor; nursing instructor; financial aid counselor; administrative assistant for student services, and an admissions counselor and recruiter.

Lots of turnover. I think Ill be frank and say some of it has to do with salary. Some of it has to do with folks who had promotional opportunities, and some of it is a combination of both. Were in a generation now where folks dont commit to many things, much less an employer for any extended period of time, Tobin said.

Area Commissioner David Rickenbaker asked what could be done to help OCtech Vice President of Student Services Dr. Sandra Davis with recruiting and enrollment management.

What can we do to help Dr. Davis be able to retain or hire more employees, or retain the employees that she has so that she does not have all this turnover and can then work on enrollment? That seems to be a correlation to me that I have been thinking about the last six or nine months. It seems that she has a lot of turnover, Rickenbaker said.

We need to figure out a way -- or somebody needs to figure out a way -- to give her the resources that she needs to be able to keep a full staff, he said.

Davis said, Salary levels have just got to increase if we're to be anywhere near being competitive to what's being offered right now in the marketplace for full-time employees. When we're calling to even try and schedule interviews, we want to be transparent. We want to share what that hiring range is and oftentimes we get denied before we can even invite them for an interview just because the hiring range isn't meeting their expectations."

"So it really starts for us with being able to offer a competitive annual salary, she said.

OCtech Vice President of Finance Kim Huff said, "I was hopeful that, with the state in the position that it was in this year with the amount of recurring and nonrecurring funds we thought would be available to state agencies, it might would be an opportunity this year to address some of these (issues), and that has not happened."

Rickenbaker said, "That has not happened. ... Here's the thing. I don't want Dr. Davis catching a bunch of slack because enrollment is down when she can't stay fully staffed because we can't afford to pay people to stay in those positions."

Tobin said, "We know that it's easier for us to keep the ones we have than to try to get new ones. ... So this whole enrollment-management concept is an academic affairs/student services-paired function. I understand what you're saying, but it's not just the new ones coming in. Weve got to keep the ones we got."

The president talked about the colleges efforts to enhance student growth, including everything from a Roadmap to College initiative, which includes campus visits from fifth-graders in Orangeburg and Calhoun counties, to the development of career academies to begin this fall.

A parent meeting has been scheduled to discuss the career academies, said Tobin, who also reported that OCtech deans are visiting public school district counselors for meetings, with another scheduled for May 19.

The president also gave highlights from the state Senate Finance Committee budget report.

The (South Carolina Technical College) system had a request for $30 million to Senate Finance. We were hoping to get $22 million, and we ended up with $7 million. So thats $7 million in new recurring dollars coming into the system to go out to the colleges. Were going to have to have some conversations, Tobin later said.

He reported during the meeting that the House of Representatives budget included $1.7 million for maintenance, renovation and replacement at the college and $8 million for the construction of an advanced manufacturing building. The Senate budget, however, includes $4.7 million for maintenance and repair and a placeholder of a dollar for the building, the president said.

We think that thats good money. The fact that theres a placeholder for it, I think, is a good sign, Tobin said.

The House budget includes $78 million in workforce scholarships and grants, while the Senate budget includes $16 million for it.

Theres still some work to be done to make sure we get ample scholarship funding for students in the system Tobin said.

Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow "Good News with Gleaton" on Twitter at @DionneTandD

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South Carolina State Universitys Dr. Matthew Waritay Guah, professor of business management, was a keynote speaker for the virtual Liaoning University Economics Seminar in China on April 14.

The topic of his speech was Components & Challenges for Supply Chain Management: Impact on Employment.

Liaoning University is among Chinas largest universities.

Guah has been chair and interim MBA director for the Department of Business Administration & Information Systems in SC States College of Business and Information Systems since 2019.

Guah earned a bachelors degree in information technology in business from Salford University in 1996, a masters degree in technology management from the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology in 1998, and his doctorate in management information systems and management controls from the Warwick Business School at Warwick University.

From 2016 to 2019, Guah was SC States acting associate provost for academic affairs. He joined the SC State College of Business in 2014 as department chair.

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At the end of April, we witnessed something ominous in the continued censorship efforts by the progressive left. On April 27, the Department of Homeland Security announced the creation of a Disinformation Governance Board."

This new disinformation board announcement comes shortly after the February threat bulletin by DHS claiming the department plans to work with partners such as big tech companies to fight the proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in US Government institutions. This bulletin warns that pushing alleged false or misleading narratives is associated with terrorism and would be handled accordingly.

The new disinformation board is being led by 33-year-old progressive Nina Jankowicz, who previously pushed the false narrative of the Hunter Biden laptop story being Russian disinformation. Thats among a number of her progressive disinformation positions. The use of DHS law enforcement tools to enforce correct information is something we have previously seen in places like China and Russia, but its now here.

First, its important to understand how the term disinformation is framed by the left to justify suppression by the power of government. The Washington Examiner presciently opined: The conception of disinformation has become a controversial and polarizing matter. Liberals say disinformation, meaning false information spread deliberately and covertly, is a threat to democracy. Conservatives, though, increasingly say that the threat of disinformation is wrongly used as a cover to censor them.

Fear-mongering about white supremacy has been a successful method for the left to justify this breach of American freedom. As Breitbart contributor Zachary Leeman put it: They constantly slam the opposition as white supremacists, misogynists, fascists, etc. Even someone like rapper Ice Cube simply admitting to working with the administration on legislation to help black communities was enough to get him called a racist and labeled a Trump supporter.

Joe Biden has consistently argued the greatest terror threat facing America is white supremacy. The February DHS bulletin about the danger of conservative narratives is predicated on the alleged terror threat of white supremacy. Conservative speech is quickly twisted into dangerous white supremacist ideology with the corresponding demand of censorship to prevent violence.

Sen. Josh Hawley brilliantly summarized the conservative view of the danger of criminalizing conservative speech in his letter to the DHS secretary: "It can only be assumed that the sole purpose of this new Disinformation Governance Board will be to marshal the power of the federal government to censor conservative and dissenting speech."

Rep. Ken Buck also said of the board: Homeland security should focus on securing the homeland and protecting Americans, not on trying to create the embryo of a Ministry of Truth.

Of relevance to this issue, the mainstream media have finally admitted the Hunter Biden laptop scandal was true, after over a year of calling it disinformation (helped along by 50 Obama-connected intelligence leaders calling it Russian disinformation). That story would have been permanently suppressed as disinformation if the board existed previously.

While the Department of Homeland Security is lending authority to the voices of censorship, academia is working with media to further censorship. From Atlantic Magazine about the University of North Carolina (February 2020): 68% of conservative students admitted self-censoring their conservative views due to fear of retribution. Liberal students were over six times more likely than conservative students to agree with shutting down speech students objected to. Liberals were over eight times more likely than conservative students to refuse to be friends with someone across the political aisle. Across the nations universities, particularly in Ivy Leagues, demands to censor conservative speech grows.

Dr. Ryszard Legutko, a Polish University professor who suffered under the crushing censorship of communism during the Cold War has written: The Grand design (progressivism), its supporters say, should be implementation at all cost because it is believed to bring with itself freedom, autonomy, tolerance, pluralism and all other liberal-democratic treasures. Therefore, all barriers that block its coming can and must be broken down, also for the benefit of those who put up these barriers. If abortion means freedom, then we should raise the consciousness of those who think differently; force doctors to support this freedom and silence priests so they do not interfere with it. If same-sex marriage means freedom, we should then compel its opponents to accept it and silence fools who have doubts about it. If political correctness is a necessity of life in liberal-democratic society, then imposing it is, after all, nothing else but a measure of its emancipation for all.

Ironically, according to Dr. Legutko, the anti-communists who had endured persecution of totalitarianism became an enemy of western liberalism. Its been the same in America for those who have supported the conservative agenda to end communism.

As our Lord told us, You will know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free, and yet we know that we find the truth only when freedom reigns and speech is not censored. Its time to demand we remain true to the Constitution, including freedom of speech. Our children deserve nothing less.

Bill Connor, a retired Army Infantry colonel, author and Orangeburg attorney, has deployed multiple times to the Middle East. Connor was the senior U.S. military adviser to Afghan forces in Helmand Province, where he received the Bronze Star. A Citadel graduate with a JD from USC, he is also a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Army War College, earning his of strategic studies. He is the author of the book "Articles from War.

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Anna Jarvis organized the first Mothers Day observances in Grafton, West Virginia, and Philadelphia on May 10, 1908. As the annual celebration became popular around the country, Jarvis became the driving force behind Mothers Day and asked members of Congress to set aside a day to honor mothers. She succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mothers Day.

Over the next century, motherhood underwent a transformation, Consider these facts from the U.S. Census Bureau in the context of 1914 America, a time when women had yet to gain even the right to vote:

35.8% of women ages 15 to 50 who gave birth in 2014 were unmarried. Nearly 10 million single mothers lived with children younger than 18 in 2015, up from 7.7 million in 1985.

About 42.4% of women in 2014 had no children, 17% had one, 22.3% had two, 11.7% had three and only 6.8% had four or more.

61.8% of women 16-50 in 2014 were in the labor force. A recently as the 1950s, less than 20% of mothers with small children worked outside the home.

As much as motherhood has changed and the demands placed on todays women outside the home are great, thankfully there is no wholesale change in the special role of mothers and the near-universal nature of sacrifice they make to be good moms.

And today, Mother's Day, is the time to express gratitude for the role of mothers.

In the words of Dr. Glenn Mollette, a columnist, author and graduate of schools including Georgetown College, and Southern and Lexington seminaries:

"Plan your telephone call to say hello to mom this Sunday. Better yet, if possible, make a visit with a card or even some flowers or maybe some brownies or a special treat. Moms deserve to be treated special.

"... Let her know that you love her and that you give thanks for all she has done for you. Let her know she was a good mother and that you are grateful for everything. Moms need to hear it and youll be glad for everything you do for your mother. ...

"Mothers Day is our opportunity to try to do the right things ... Using words like, 'I care, love, appreciate, thank you' and any that express your hearts desire to be connected are worthwhile expressions. When you do the best you can do, you can at least look back and know that you tried.

"When Mom and our loved ones are no longer with us, then all we have are our memories. If you have any time left to work on your Mothers Day memories, you wont regret it in the years to come."

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COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Foundation for Educational Leadership, South Carolina Association of School Administrators (SCASA) non-profit arm, hosted its fifth annual gala on Friday, April 22, to honor this years South Carolina Educator Hall of Fame inductees and the Distinguished South Carolina Public School Graduates who have excelled nationally and internationally in their respective fields.

The South Carolina Foundation for Educational Leadership Gala: A Million Dreams was held as a celebration of the impact of public education and how it has contributed to the achievements of the six honorees.

Educator Hall of Fame inductees:

 Annie E. Hanberry (posthumous)

A graduate of Booker T. Washington High School (Richland County), Hanberry was a lifelong educator. She was the first African American female principal in the state of South Carolina. Under her leadership, Bethel High School in Richland District 2 was among the first schools in South Carolina to receive accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

 Dr. Stephen W. Hefner

A graduate of Qulin High School (Qulin, Missouri), Hefner served over 46 years in public education, with 36 years in the same district. He was recognized nationally by the American Association of School Administrators with the 2005 Presidents Technology Award and by Magnet Schools of America with the 2018 Superintendent of the Year award.

 Dr. Walter L. Tobin

A graduate of Macedonia High School (Barnwell County), Tobin served over 50 years in public education as a teacher, counselor, principal, superintendent, and interim superintendent. He reorganized South Carolinas adult education programs to employ full-time adult educators for improved services and access for students. Tobin is the former superintendent of Orangeburg County School District 5 and Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5, and the father of Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College President Dr. Walt Tobin.

Distinguished Public School Graduates:

 Chadwick Boseman (posthumous)

A graduate of T.L. Hanna High School (Anderson District 5), Boseman was an award-winning actor and playwright. He is the first African American actor to headline a Marvel Cinematic Universe film. In 2021, he was honored with a posthumous Golden Globe Award for Best ActorMotion Picture Drama and a Screen Actors Guild Award for best actor in a lead role.

 Ainsley Earhardt

A graduate of Spring Valley High School (Richland District 2), Earhardt is the co-host of FOX News Channels FOX & Friends and FOX & Friends After the Show Show. In addition to her success as a news anchor, she is a #1 New York Times bestselling author.

 Dr. Gerald Harmon

A graduate of Newberry High School (Newberry County Schools), Harmon is a family medicine specialist at Tidelands Health and a retired major general from the U.S. Air Force. Before his retirement from the military, he served as chief physician for the National Guard Bureau and assistant surgeon general for the U.S. Air Force. He currently serves as the 176th president of the American Medical Association.

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Palestinian protesters hurl stones at an Israeli security forces' vehicle during a raid on the houses of the two Palestinian suspects in the village of Romana near the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 8, 2022. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli security forces said after a three-day manhunt, the two suspects were captured in a forest near Elad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish city where they killed three men and injured four others on Israel's Independence Day on Thursday. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

JERUSALEM, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Two Palestinians suspected of killing three Israelis in a knife attack have been arrested after a three-day manhunt, Israeli security forces said Sunday.

According to a joint statement by the Israeli military, police and Shin Bet internal security agency, the two were captured in a forest near Elad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish city, where they killed three men and injured four others on Israel's Independence Day on Thursday.

The two are 19-year-old and 20-year-old residents of the Jenin area in the northern occupied West Bank, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported.

The incident came amid heightened tensions over a string of clashes between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli police in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in recent weeks. 

Israeli security forces launch a raid on the houses of the two Palestinian suspects in the village of Romana near the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 8, 2022. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli security forces said after a three-day manhunt, the two suspects were captured in a forest near Elad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish city where they killed three men and injured four others on Israel's Independence Day on Thursday. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

Israeli security forces launch a raid on the houses of the two Palestinian suspects in the village of Romana near the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 8, 2022. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli security forces said after a three-day manhunt, the two suspects were captured in a forest near Elad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish city where they killed three men and injured four others on Israel's Independence Day on Thursday. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

Israeli security forces launch a raid on the houses of the two Palestinian suspects in the village of Romana near the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 8, 2022. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli security forces said after a three-day manhunt, the two suspects were captured in a forest near Elad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish city where they killed three men and injured four others on Israel's Independence Day on Thursday. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

Israeli security forces launch a raid on the houses of the two Palestinian suspects in the village of Romana near the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 8, 2022. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli security forces said after a three-day manhunt, the two suspects were captured in a forest near Elad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish city where they killed three men and injured four others on Israel's Independence Day on Thursday. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

Palestinian protesters hurl stones at an Israeli security forces' vehicle during a raid on the houses of the two Palestinian suspects in the village of Romana near the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 8, 2022. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli security forces said after a three-day manhunt, the two suspects were captured in a forest near Elad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish city where they killed three men and injured four others on Israel's Independence Day on Thursday. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

Members of Israeli security forces are seen during a raid on the houses of two Palestinian suspects in the village of Romana near the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 8, 2022. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli security forces said after a three-day manhunt, the two suspects were captured in a forest near Elad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish city where they killed three men and injured four others on Israel's Independence Day on Thursday. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

A Palestinian protester hurls a stone at an Israeli security forces' vehicle during a raid on the houses of the two suspects in the village of Romana near the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 8, 2022. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli security forces said after a three-day manhunt, the two suspects were captured in a forest near Elad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish city where they killed three men and injured four others on Israel's Independence Day on Thursday. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

A Palestinian protester hurls a stone at an Israeli security forces' vehicle during a raid on the houses of the two suspects in the village of Romana near the West Bank city of Jenin, on May 8, 2022. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli security forces said after a three-day manhunt, the two suspects were captured in a forest near Elad, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish city where they killed three men and injured four others on Israel's Independence Day on Thursday. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)
Wyoming is poised to ban nearly all abortions within its borders, after a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion indicates Roe v. Wade will likely be overturned next month.

But lawmakers and lawyers say that though the state has a trigger ban in place, Wyomings laws are vague when it comes to actually implementing it.

And its still hard to say now how a ban would be enforced, especially since the leaked opinion is not final. An official decision is expected in June.

Experts in state law, prosecution and the Wyoming constitution say there are a few key takeaways from the potential ban:

providing an abortion outside the bans exemptions would be a felony punishable by up to 14 years in prison;

doctors who provide abortions would be at the highest risk for prosecution  though right now, there is only one in the state;

many people seeking abortions in Wyoming use medication available through the mail. Its unclear how that service will be affected if Roe is overturned; and

if Wyomings ban goes into place, a person cannot be prosecuted for going out of the state for an abortion.

State statutes and criminality

The Wyoming Legislature passed a trigger bill earlier this year that will likely pave the way to a near-total ban on abortion in the state within 35 days of Roe v. Wade being officially overturned. That time frame could be shorter, or possibly delayed if a legal challenge to the ban is filed during that window.

The trigger law amends part of the states statute dealing with restrictions on abortion. It allows for a few exceptions to the potential ban, in cases where the mothers life or health is in serious danger or if the pregnancy resulted from sexual assault or incest.

Right now, violating Wyomings abortion restrictions is a felony that can be punished by up to 14 years in prison.

Its going to have a chilling effect on providers, said Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, who sponsored a version of the amendment that added sexual assault and incest exceptions to the ban. They have to make sure theyre willing to get prosecuted.

Rep. Cathy Connolly, D-Laramie, said the threat of prosecution could also discourage doctors, particularly in emergencies, from recommending or performing abortions even if they determine its the best option for the mothers health.

Instead of the number one thought in their mind being, What is the best for this patient?, its going to be, Whats the law, and are we going to be prosecuted? she said.

The bans exceptions will allow providers in Wyoming to continue offering the service, though there is only one doctor actively providing abortions in the state. Organizers of a clinic offering abortions that plans to open in Casper this summer said last week they are moving forward with that process, and will still open to offer other health services if a ban is put in place.

The trigger law doesnt specify how someone seeking an abortion would qualify for an exception to the ban, so legal experts say those decisions will likely have to be made privately with a doctor.

I guess youd have to prove the pregnancy is the product of these things, but nothing says how, said Casper lawyer Ryan Semerad.

Semerad said that the way the law is written, people seeking or even aiding in seeking an abortion could also be found guilty of the felony charge. However, prosecutors are less likely to take those cases, experts said.

Current services

Abortion services are already extremely limited in the state. Most Wyomingites seeking abortions already go to other states, often to Colorado or Montana.

I dont think (the ban) will have a big impact, because its not really available in Wyoming to a huge extent, said Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander. Just like with other kinds of medical care, people have gotten used to going out of state.

The sole doctor providing abortions in the state works in Jackson, and only offers abortions by medication  not surgical, which can be performed later in a pregnancy.

A 2019 law limited prohibits all abortions after viability, the point when a fetus could survive outside the womb. It also requires providers to report data on any abortions they perform to the state. The most recent data available, from 2020, shows 91 abortions were provided in Wyoming that year.

Most abortions in Wyoming are self-managed, using pills that can be ordered through the mail with a doctors referral, which can now be obtained in a telehealth consultation. Those arent counted in the states data.

Chelseas Fund, a Lander-based nonprofit, provides financial assistance to people seeking medication abortions. The group has assisted 73 people so far this year, according to a representative.

Its not clear how those services would be affected if Roe is overturned. Wyomings ban may deter providers like JustThePill.com from sending abortion medication to people in the state, but Case said hes not sure whether it would constitute a crime on their part  if the medication is legal in the providers state, he said, they could be protected.

And, Case said, there are ways around a ban on mailed medication. Pro-abortion rights activists around the country are already volunteering to receive and send abortion pills to those in states that will be affected by trigger bans.

Though theres been talk of states attempting to stop their residents from going to another state to receive an abortion, Case said that wont happen. A state laws jurisdiction over a person ends when they cross the border.

Going out of state, however, requires more time and money than obtaining an abortion at home.

Thats going to negatively impact those with less financial means, said Connolly.

Connolly said she worries that without abortions available in Wyoming, people will turn to more dangerous, self-induced methods to end unwanted pregnancies.

Prosecution

For charges to be brought against a doctor providing abortions, a report would have to be filed with law enforcement, just like for any other crime.

Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen said anyone who suspects or knows an abortion was performed could file a report, even if they arent directly involved in the pregnancy or procedure.

The agency would then have to decide whether to investigate the claims. If they recommend a charge, alleging a violation of the ban, the local district or county prosecuting attorney would then make the call on whether to prosecute the case.

County prosecutors and district attorneys will be very important, Case said. A police officer can charge someone on their own ... and can arrest them in this case, but (prosecutors) ultimately decide whether to pursue those cases.

Yin said the burden would likely fall on a prosecutor to prove that the pregnancy in question was not the result of sexual assault or incest. That process could put a father in danger of facing charges for those crimes, he said, if the abortion is found to be justified.

The threshold to obtain an abortion in Wyoming under the enumerated exceptions is lower than in some states, where exceptions are only granted in medical emergencies or where a police report is required as proof of sexual assault or incest.

These exceptions are a bare minimum in my opinion, Yin said.

Constitutionality

Wyomings constitution includes a rare, explicit mention of health care rights.

Section 38 of that document, amended by a public vote in 2012, says each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions.

That amendment came in response to concerns over Obamacare, intended to give Wyomingites the freedom to opt out of government health care and make their own choices.

Abortion opponents say that abortions are not a form of health care. But Semerad, the Casper lawyer, said that clause could nevertheless form the basis for a legal challenge to the ban.

Are we going to have our own special Wyoming Roe? Semerad said. Were going to have to resolve whether that right to health care fills in for Roe.

A 2016 Wyoming Supreme Court opinion found that a fetus or unborn baby is not a minor, under the states guardianship laws. A 2005 district court ruling in Fremont County said that the states statutory definition of a child does not include an unborn child or fetus. That ruling, however, is only applicable in Fremont Cases and for criminal cases not related to abortion.

Its likely the state will see multiple lawsuits challenging the potential ban soon after its enacted, experts said.

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What does it mean to be a Republican?

Traditionally, a number of political motivations and ideologies could fit under the definition of Republicanism. Broadly speaking, all share a belief that small government is better. Some stress social conservatism, while others opt for a moderate or even libertarian stance on social issues. Some are interventionist on the global stage. Other believe the U.S. is best served by a greater inward focus.

In 1967, when he was still governor of California, Ronald Reagan famously said there was room in the big Republican tent for many views. But increasingly in Wyoming, that appears not to be the case.

The Wyoming Republican Party, which dominates our states politics, has becoming increasingly uncompromising when it comes to the brand of conservatism it espouses. Gone is Reagans big tent approach. In its place is one that demands party members share the same hardline priorities. Deviate from those priorities and you risk exile. Just ask Rep. Liz Cheney or state Sen. Larry Hicks.

Dont take our word for it. Wyoming Republican Party Chairman Frank Eathorne told Fox News as much earlier this year, explaining that in Wyoming, we dont necessarily embrace the idea of big tent. Or consider whats happened to the local parties in Wyomings two most populous counties: Laramie and Natrona.

Both county-level organizations are, broadly speaking, more traditionally conservative than state party leadership. Both have found themselves in clashes with party leaders. And both have lost much of their representation within the party system. The result: The states most populated places have disproportionately less of a say in Republican priorities. And because of that, those priorities tend to be less reflective of views held by the majority of Wyomingites.

This weekend, Laramie County lost most of its delegates over a minor rule violation. (Natrona County had already lost most of its delegates over a dues paying disagreement.) Other counties have also violated party rules, but they werent punished. It appears that counties that clash with state party leadership are more likely to lose delegates. And that lack of representation affects all of us, regardless of party affiliation.

How? The policies that begin inside the Wyoming GOP often become the priorities at the Wyoming Legislature. And so if the Wyoming GOPs stances are more extreme because our states most populous communities are excluded, that results in priorities that doesnt align with those of the majority of Wyomings citizens.

Want proof? Ask yourself: What are the most pressing questions facing Wyomings public school system? Take a minute and write them down before finishing this editorial.

Did you write down Senate File 104, a 9-year-old bill concerning the powers of the state superintendent? What about expenditures of an educational group founded by Attorney General Merrick Garlands son-in-law?

Were guessing very few of you named either of those. And yet those were two of the three issues that the partys central committee focused on earlier this year while selecting applicants for the states highest educational office. They didnt ask how schools should be funded as our economy changes. They didnt ask how to address the growing number of students suffering from mental illness. Nor did they ask about academic performance or curriculum or teaching standards.

The point is the partys priorities were not aligned with those of the majority of Wyomingites. And that likely affected who was chosen to oversee our K-12 education system.

So where do we go from here? How do we get back to politics thats more representative of the views of most Wyomingites? The answer is simple and also difficult: participation.

The people leading Wyomings Republican Party, both at the county and state levels, tend to be the ones who showed up the most, the ones who are committed to getting involved in the political process. Which means if you want a legislature that votes in line with the people it represents, you have to get involved: both by attending meetings and by voting.

Thats the simple part. But its also the most difficult. Because many of us would rather not spend our nights and weekends at a county-level political meeting. Wed rather spend our time on any number of other things. But the reality is this: The system wont change if you dont take the time to help change it. And if the system doesnt change, our political leaders will continue to take up the issues they want addressed, rather than the ones the people do. And as long as that happens, Wyomings problems wont get solved.

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College Boy Jesse (Jesse Stewart) is the new leadeer of the legendary D All Starz soca band.

Jesse, the 2020 International Soca Monarch (Groovy), will fill the void left by his late cousin, soca icon Blaxx (Dexter Stewart) on the legendary Roy Cape-founded bands frontline. Blaxx, a huge supporter of Jesses relatively young career, passed away from Covid-19 on March 28.
A Guayaguayare mother of three was chopped to death at her home during a domestic altercatio
Children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and their families prepare to board a plane at Gonggar Airport in Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 8, 2022. In recent days, medical workers from east China's Jiangsu Province carried out a CHD screening program among children under the age of 18 in Lhasa. The first batch of 23 children with CHD, accompanied by their families, departed from Lhasa to get free surgery in Nanjing of Jiangsu on Sunday. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng)

A staff member of the airport helps children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and their families register information at Gonggar Airport in Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 8, 2022. In recent days, medical workers from east China's Jiangsu Province carried out a CHD screening program among children under the age of 18 in Lhasa. The first batch of 23 children with CHD, accompanied by their families, departed from Lhasa to get free surgery in Nanjing of Jiangsu on Sunday. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng)

Children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and their families wait at Gonggar Airport in Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 8, 2022. In recent days, medical workers from east China's Jiangsu Province carried out a CHD screening program among children under the age of 18 in Lhasa. The first batch of 23 children with CHD, accompanied by their families, departed from Lhasa to get free surgery in Nanjing of Jiangsu on Sunday. (Xinhua/Zhang Rufeng)
Can Stuart Young tell me how to become a citizen, as he seems to be one from the country he 
BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will attend a grand gathering at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League of China.

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will deliver an important speech at the event.

The event will be broadcast live by China Media Group and on xinhuanet.com. It will also be rebroadcast simultaneously on some other major news websites including people.cn, cctv.com and china.com.cn, and news apps. 
Pima Countys election officials are readying to implement the first year of replacing precinct-based polling places with vote centers and electronic poll books ahead of Augusts primary elections.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors approved the locations of 129 vote centers in a 4-1 vote Tuesday, which will replace the polling centers where in-person voters had to cast ballots within the precincts they live in. Now, voters will be able to cast a ballot at any location.

The board approved the move to vote centers in February, making Pima County the last county in Arizona to adopt e-poll books and the 12th county to adopt voting centers.

Through a contract with TENEX, the county elections department is receiving election management software that will replace the paper rosters and series of logs and forms used to manually check in a voter. Now, elections department employees will check voters in on an iPad that will print off a ballot specific to their precinct.

The elections department designated, and the board approved, 129 vote center locations across the county, which are more concentrated in urban areas and largely remain in the same location as historically used polling places in rural areas.

Most of the technology needed to run the vote center model has arrived in the county, including 400 e-poll books and the cradle point devices that provide secure internet service to the iPads.

But the delivery time of an essential tool to carry out the new system is cutting it close to the Aug. 2 primary elections.

The county has yet to receive any ballot-on-demand printers but anticipates receiving them in shipments from the second week of June through the third week of July.

Once a voter checks in, the e-poll book will send a ballot specific to the races the individual qualifies to vote in. According to Constance Hargrove, the countys new elections director who started the position on April 4, there could be around 1,500 different ballot styles.

Unlike precinct voting, where they would have maybe two or three different ballot styles, the vote centers would have to have every single ballot style for every voter in the county, Hargrove explained.

She said the shipping delay is due to supply chain issues, which are affecting a variety of industries globally.

Supervisor Steve Christy, the sole dissenting vote on approving the vote center locations, placed vote center implementation on the boards Tuesday agenda and questioned Hargrove about her departments progress.

What is the most drastic and negative issue that if something in that timeline does not happen, what keeps you up at night? Christy asked.

Hargrove said the ballot on-demand printers are her greatest concern because of the extra time manually issuing paper ballots would take.

While the county does anticipate receipt of the ballot printers in time, it still has contingency plans in place. By June 3, Hargrove said, shell have to make a decision on how many backup paper ballots shell need to order for vote center locations.

Instead of having the printers print the ballots for the voters, the clerks and the judges will actually have to go pull the ballot out of a file cabinet, basically, and issue the ballot to the voter, she said. Kind of back to the old way where we print a bunch of ballots, we have them in the location to issue to the voters. Thats worst-case scenario if we dont get printers.

The elections department anticipates having precinct-specific paper ballots ready in case of printer failure, but in the case of connectivity issues, voters would use provisional ballots.

The vote centers are pretty much  if youre in the urban area  about 3 miles apart; you could drive to another one and actually cast a ballot, that actual location may still be up and running, Hargrove said. If theyre in the location where theyre not connected, then its safer to vote a provisional ballot. That way, it gets looked at after the election, and if you see that this person already voted, it wouldnt count.

Christy asked Hargrove if the preparation for vote centers is a three-legged stool and if just one item would collapse the whole system.

Hargrove assured the supervisor: Absolutely not.

Because we are accustomed to operating in the old way, even though it was a precinct-based system, we can revert back to that even in a vote center setting, she said. It would not be as efficient. And it would not be as easy. But we could definitely revert back to that.

Elections workers will go through training on the new process two weeks before the primaries, and Hargrove said all equipment will be ready by the general election on Nov. 8.

Vote center locations Learn more about the county's vote centers and view their locations at pima.gov/votecenters.

Contact reporter Nicole Ludden at nludden@tucson.com

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Two-thirds of their hometowns residents have fled, their own apartment had its windows blasted out, and an artillery battle is raging nearby.

Still, Viktor and Liudmyla Lytvyn are ready to go home to Kharkiv.

The Ukrainian couple has been in the Tucson area for months now, after war broke out during a visit to their sons family in Oro Valley. Their son Oleksii Lytvyn, 33, and his wife Carly Booth, own the Monarch Ballroom dance studio on West Ina Road.

Liudmyla came from Kharkiv in December to help care for the couples 2-year-old child, her grandchild. Then Viktor followed Feb. 4. War had already been going on in far eastern Ukraine since 2014, when Russia first attacked, but none of the family really believed a new all-out war would happen  until Russia invaded Feb. 24. The Lytvyns were in Oro Valley.

I was shocked, Viktor Lytvyn said through his son, who translated for me when the three of us met at an Oro Valley coffee shop. For a week we didnt sleep. We watched the news all the time.

In the first weeks of war, Russian troops nearly took Kharkiv, a northeastern city close to Russias border that is Ukraines second-biggest. But instead, what happened is wave after wave of shelling and bombing, destroying or damaging many apartment buildings and other structures.

Now, thanks in part to foreign military aid, Ukrainian troops are slowly pushing Russian forces back from the city and out of shelling range, in what the New York Times described from the front line Friday as a grinding artillery war.

Oleksiis 38-year-old brother Pavel has stuck it out there in Kharkiv, along with about a third of the citys 1.5 million residents. But the rest of Pavels family has also left the city, Oleksii said. Still, Viktor and Liudmyla are ready to return to their half-ruined hometown.

Putin twists Ukrainian history

When Russian president Vladimir Putin began threatening Ukraine again this year, he said it was to denazify the country.

The absurd claim made no sense to most people and had little impact outside of Russia, where the Great Patriotic War World War II  is one of the countrys key unifiers. On Monday, May 9, Russia celebrates Victory Day, an important holiday that commemorates the Soviet Unions victory over Nazi Germany.

Ukraines role in that war has been treated different ways by Soviet and Russian authorities over the years, Yale University historian Timothy Snyder has said in interviews and writings. During the war, Soviet Premier Josef Stalin celebrated Ukrainian resistance to German invaders, but afterward he cast suspicion on those countries occupied by the Nazis, where some people had collaborated.

Any resistance to Stalin in Ukraine would have been understandable, though. His policies caused the starvation of millions of Ukrainians in the early 1930s. Still, Ukrainians proudly fought for the USSR.

Viktor Lytvyns grandfather was a highly decorated commander in the Soviet Army during World War II, he said. He was a machine gunner who survived the war, even while two siblings died and a third was put into forced labor for Germany. Lytvyn said he heard the stories often as a child.

Were the ones who fought the Nazis  now were the Nazis, Oleksii Lytvyn said.

Putin has twisted the Soviet World War II heritage to fit his own designs, as historian Snyder told interviewer Chris Hayes in an April podcast. Because the Soviet Union won the war, a heritage now assumed by Russia, theyve retained the right to label any enemies Nazis, Snyder said  even when they themselves are taking genocidal action against a sovereign people.

The idea, Snyder said, is because we were on the right side of the war, we get to say who the Nazis are, even when we are the Nazis.

What denazification means in practice is, I (Putin) get to destroy your state, because a Nazi is just someone who resists me.

Nobody believes us

Kharkiv may be unknown to most Americans but is a historic and significant city in that region. From a strategic position, occupying Kharkiv could have allowed Russia to slice off a much larger, more important portion of eastern Ukraine than it already occupies.

Kharkiv is one of the most beautiful cities in Ukraine for sure, Viktor Lytvyn told me through his son. For 10 years, this city has grown so much. New parks. Everything clean, everything beautiful.

The family is not originally from there, though. They are from a city called Okhtyrka, farther west, which put up strong resistance to the Russian invasion. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy designated Okhtyrka a hero city for its resistance.

This designation serves as another reference point to World War II. Soviet authorities labeled as hero cities such places as Stalingrad (now Volgograd) that resisted the Nazi invasion. Now Ukraine is doing the same for its cities resisting Russia.

The Lytvyns are native Russian speakers, even though they are of ethnic Ukrainian heritage. People living farther west and in villages tend to speak Ukrainian, while people living in the east and the bigger eastern cities tend to speak Russian.

They know people across the border in Russia, too. Speaking with them has proved dismaying, Oleksii and Viktor Lytvyn said.

We have relatives in Russia. We have friends in Russia, Viktor Lytvyn said. When we call our relatives in Russia, we say Whats going on? Come out! Say no to war. Nobody believes us. They didnt believe us.

Theyre saying, Its fake. Its not true. Were not bombing the cities. Were doing super accurate (attacks) with new technologies, he said.

Understandable fears

Ukraines fertile soil has been coveted by foreigners for centuries. Lithuanians, Poles and Russians are among the colonial powers who have taken control.

Now Russia is attempting to deny the independent existence of the Ukrainian country and culture again, by force. Its another colonial war, Snyder argues.

Citings Putins writings, Snyder wrote in a recent New Yorker essay: His vision is of a broken world that must be restored through violence. Russia becomes itself only by annihilating Ukraine.

Given that existential threat, and the slaughter and destruction in places like Bucha, Mariupol and Kharkiv, the only option Ukrainians have seen is to fight for their national life.

They call themselves Slavic brothers, but Ukrainians dont want anything to do with them anymore, Viktor Lytvyn said. Its going to take a hundred years to wash the blood off their hands.

We in the United States, of course, have given essential military help to the Ukrainians, something the Lytvyns gave profound thanks for. So have European countries. Understandably, though, getting involved worries some Americans.

I hear from readers concerned we are waltzing toward nuclear war with Russia. Its an understandable fear, but it appears to me we are in a good position, by helping Ukraine push back their invaders without involving American troops directly. So far, the strategy is working.

And if you think we are taking a risk, imagine the Ukrainians themselves, fighting for their countrys independent existence. And imagine the millions of Ukrainian refugees, as well as stranded people like the Lytvyns, desperate to re-establish themselves in their Ukrainian homes and simply live their lives.

Every time he thinks about Ukraine and the people, he feels bad hes here, Oleksii Lytvyn said of his father. There is still his family, his home, and friends, so he wants to be close to them.

Contact columnist Tim Steller at tsteller@tucson.com or 520-807-7789. On Twitter: @senyorreporter

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A year ago, in discussing an impending, first mandatory cutback in Central Arizona Project deliveries, CAP and state water officials emphasized that they amounted to planned pain, having been in the works under a 2019 drought plan.

While acknowledging the shortage then already expected for 2022 would cause hardship, particularly to Pinal County, Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke said that didnt show that the Drought Contingency Plan requiring them was a failure.

DCP was not meant to eliminate the chance of shortage at all. A shortage does not reflect the failure of DCP. It is a success, said Buschatzke, using a common abbreviation for the drought plan.

Last Friday, the official mood was much more somber at the latest state-CAP briefing on shortages, held at CAPs Phoenix office. Buschatzke and CAP General Manager Ted Cooke made it clear they expect more severe shortages than this years as soon as next year. And bigger cuts would likely come in the years beyond. They talked repeatedly of the need for Arizona cities to start making plans to use less water, led by cuts in outdoor watering.

But Cooke added, We have no need to panic. Theres no imminent threat to water at the tap.

A federal official, Dan Bunk of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, said at the briefing theres a possibility that as soon as 2024, the Lower Basin will suffer its most severe shortage planned by the 2019 drought blueprint  one that would for the first time cut CAP deliveries to Tucson.

A big difference between now and a year ago is that conditions on the river and at its big reservoirs continue deteriorating faster than had been expected by federal forecasters back then. Lake Meads water level has dropped 22 feet to about 1,053 feet since April 2021  nearly 12 feet lower than forecasters predicted a year ago. Lake Powell has fallen 40 feet to about 3,522 feet in the same period, nearly 20 feet lower than predicted a year ago.

Last Tuesday, the Interior Department announced it will hold back 480,000 acre-feet of water  almost five years worth of Tucsons drinking water demands  in Powell this year that it had previously planned to release to Mead. Mead, at the Nevada border, stores water for CAP deliveries.

Conservation essential

That cut wont translate to immediate reductions in water deliveries to Arizona and other Lower Basin users due to an agreement between states and the feds to make the impact operationally neutral. But it has sparked fears in many water users of more serious consequences if its repeated in future years.

Without that cut, Powell could possibly have fallen next year or maybe even in late 2022 to below 3,490 feet, and stayed there all next year if another dry year occurs, bureau hydrologist Bunk told Fridays briefing. Thats the minimum elevation required for the adjoining Glen Canyon Dam to generate electricity for 5 million, mostly rural customers in Arizona and five other Western states.

While not specifying what cuts local governments should do now, Buschatzke and Cook said additional conservation was essential to keep Arizona from following the footsteps of California. In March, that states governor, Gavin Newsom, issued an executive order that will lead to mandatory cuts of up to 20% by many cities statewide this summer. Last month, Southern Californias Metropolitan Water District ordered about 6 million residents there to limit outdoor watering to one day a week. The cuts follow a dramatic reduction in deliveries this year through the State Water Project canal system running from Northern California to the Los Angeles area.

People in the worst hit areas of Southern California will have to live on 50 gallons per person per day, the Arizona officials said. That compares to 119 gallons per person daily that Tucson Water reported to ADWR that its 743,000 customers consumed in 2020.

We dont want to be living on unhealthy allocations in our state. We may be in that place in the future but were going to do everything we can to avoid that outcome, Buschatzke said.

Bunk told the briefing that while winter snowpack conditions in the Upper Basin were about 90% of normal levels in 2021 and 2022, the 2021, spring-summer runoff into Powell was only 32% of average levels. This year, the latest projection, for 59% of average runoff, was announced last week by the federal Colorado Basin River Forecast Center.

We do seem to be getting precipitation, but warmer temperatures, dry soil conditions and increased evapotranspiration seem to be conspiring to some extent against us, Bunk said.

A letter to the seven river basin states last Tuesday from Assistant Interior Secretary Tanya Trujillo announcing the cut in Powells release is consistent with what the states had previously requested, said Buschatzke, adding, Its absolutely necessary for all the reasons already discussed.

In its most recent forecast last month, the bureau predicted Mead will drop below 1,050 feet elevation by the end of 2022. If that prediction holds, Arizona would lose 80,000 acre-feet more of water in shortages on top of the 512,000 that were cut this year.

CAPs Cooke said theres a chance Mead will fall below 1,045 feet by the end of 2022, cutting another 48,000 acre-feet from Arizonas river supplies, although he said thats unlikely. At below 1,045, California would also have to take cuts  its first under the 2019 drought contingency plan.

They also spoke bluntly of the possibility of Mead falling below 1,025 feet in the coming years, a level once considered unthinkable. At that point, Arizona would hit its peak, planned shortage level, called Tier 3, cutting 720,000 acre-feet a year from their CAP supplies.

This is our future

Under Tier 3, Phoenix-area cities and tribes would for the first time lose some of their highest priority supplies, and Tucson, would lose about 14% of its annual CAP share of 144,000 acre-feet a year. Also, once such a shortage is declared, state officials and the Interior Secretarys office will consult about increasing shortage levels to protect Lake Mead, Buschatzke said.

Again, thats part of the uncertainty were facing. The gravity of the immediate situation is serious, Buschatzke said.

He and Cooke noted that in the early years of CAP shortages, water users will get mitigation, either in water stored underground years ago to prepare for such occurrences, or money. Eventually, the extra water and money will go away, they said.

A Tier 3 shortage declaration for 2024, while possible, is less likely than the Lower Basin staying at Tier 2, said Bunk.

At one point during the briefing, a Tohono OOdham tribal representative asked, How are we insuring that future declarations of shortages dont affect water delivery to tribes?

Buschatzke replied: Theres no guarantee of any water supplies. If we cannot resolve issues to move water through the dams, we can get to the point where the highest priority rights are impacted.

Not receiving 480,000 acre-feet is a big step, to avoid the likelihood of the highest priority users getting cut to the bone, he added.

Buschatzke and Cooke also emphasized Arizonas conservation successes. The state has saved 812,000 acre-feet a year through various programs, including the 2019 drought plan, and a more recent plan to save at least 500,000 acre-feet a year over the entire Lower Basin in 2022 and 2023.

Were conserving one fourth of the states total apportionment of Colorado River water, said Buschatzke. This is our future.

To respond to the bad river conditions, under the 1980 ,Management Act, management plans that ADWR issues to set more general conservation requirements for urban areas such as Tucson and Phoenix could be tightened up. A fifth such set of management plans is now pending in various water management areas including Tucson, but Buschatzke said he did not see the need to toughen them now.

The current draft management plans were certainly developed in full knowledge of the challenges facing the Colorado River, he said. Those plans accomplish the statutory goal of decreasing groundwater use. Those plans are robust. They do what is legally required.

Looking further ahead, the director said Arizona and other basin states will be planning in the future to set a long-term target for what they expect total annual river flows  one much less than the roughly 14 million acre-feet a year the Upper and Lower Colorado River Basins now use.

Contact Tony Davis at 520-349-0350 or tdavis@tucson.com. Follow Davis on Twitter@tonydavis987.

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Patriotism, unease mix as Russia marks Victory Day in WWII

The Russian holiday of Victory Day brings out patriotic displays of flags, military parades and marches by veterans' groups celebrating the country's triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945. At first glance, the preparations for Mondays celebration seem to be the same as ever. But the mood this year is very different, because Russian troops are fighting and dying in a war in neighboring Ukraine. The pride and patriotism usually associated with Russias most important holiday is mixing with apprehension and unease over what this years Victory Day may bring. Some Russians fear that President Vladimir Putin will use it to implement a broad mobilization of troops to bolster Russias forces, although the Kremlin denies it.

More than 60 feared dead in bombing of Ukrainian school

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  Dozens of Ukrainians are feared dead after a Russian bomb destroyed a school sheltering about 90 people in eastern Ukraine. The governor of Luhansk province said Sunday that 30 people were rescued from the rubble of the school in the village of Bilohorivka but the rest probably didn't survive. Elsewhere, more explosions rocked the Black Sea port of Odesa. Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers making a last stand at a steel mill in the besieged city of Mariupol said they wouldn't surrender following the evacuation of civilians from the sprawling site. As the largest European conflict since World War II churned on, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. first lady Jill Biden made surprise visits to Ukraine.

Court leak is catnip for those who love a juicy DC whodunit

WASHINGTON (AP)  Theres nothing official Washington loves better than a juicy whodunit. And the mystery over who leaked the Supreme Courts draft opinion in a landmark abortion case offers the added subplot of tantalizing questions about why the leaker did it. Its an intrigue in the tradition of Watergates Deep Throat or the Trump-era whistleblower Anonymous. The hunt for the high court leaker is afoot. Chief Justice John Roberts has ordered an investigation into what he called an egregious breach of trust. And amateur sleuths have been eagerly trading theories on social media. One way or another, big secrets in Washington have a way of eventually coming out.

"Everything shook": Last civilians leave Ukraine steel mill

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  Pale and drawn, the last civilians sheltering in the bunkers beneath the sprawling steel mill in the decimated Ukrainian port city of Mariupol arrived late Sunday night in Zaporizhzhia, the first major Ukrainian city beyond the frontline. The seaside steel mill, where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters are making what appears to be their last stand, is the only part of the city not under Russian control. Thanks to its warren of tunnels and bunkers deep underground, many civilians had chosen it as the safest place to take cover from the relentless shelling of Mariupol, a formerly thriving port city that has been largely reduced to rubble.

EXPLAINER: What comes next with John Lee leading Hong Kong?

HONG KONG (AP)  A Hong Kong committee stacked with mostly pro-Beijing members has almost unanimously voted for John Lee to become the city's next leader. On July 1, the anniversary of Hong Kongs 1997 handover from Britain to China, Lee will take control of the semi-autonomous territory. Outgoing leader Carrie Lam leaves after five tumultuous years that spanned pro-democracy protests in 2019, a subsequent crackdown that snuffed out virtually all dissent, and the coronavirus pandemic. Lee was a career police officer and the city's security chief. His choice signals China's central government in Beijing is looking for someone reliable to ensure that its authority in Hong Kong is never questioned again.

Strong, swirling winds complicate New Mexico wildfire fight

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP)  Fast winds are complicating the fight against fires burning across northeast New Mexico. Wind gusts were as fast as 50 miles per hour on Sunday. That forced some firefighting aircraft to be grounded, taking away a key tool for battling the blazes. The area's largest rural town is Las Vegas, New Mexico, and it appears safe for now thanks to fire lines and other preparations. But the northern and southern ends of the fire are proving trickier to contain with the fast winds. The National Interagency Fire Center says more than 20,000 structures remain threatened.

Havana hotel death toll at 31 as dogs search for survivors

HAVANA (AP)  The death toll of a powerful explosion at a luxury hotel in Cubas capital has increased to 31 as search crews with dogs hunt through the rubble of the iconic, 19th century building looking for people still missing. The five-star Hotel Saratoga in Old Havana was preparing to reopen after being closed for two years when an apparent gas leak caused a massive explosion on Friday. The blast damaged nearby structures, including the historic Marti Theater and the Calvary Baptist Church. It's the headquarters for the denomination in western Cuba. Municipal authorities say burials for victims have begun, but some people are still waiting for news of missing friends and relatives.

Dictator's son a front-runner as Filipinos elect next leader

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Filipinos are voting for a new president with the son of an ousted dictator and a champion of human rights as the top contenders. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the strongman ousted in a 1986 People Power uprising, has led pre-election surveys. But his closest challenger, Vice President Leni Robredo, has tapped into shock and outrage over the prospect of another Marcos holding the top office. The winner of Monday's election will take office on June 30 for a single, six-year term and stands to inherit immense problems, including deep poverty and the legacy of a brutal anti-drugs crackdown led by outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte. His daughter, Sara Duterte, has topped surveys for the vice presidential race.

How climate scientists keep hope alive as damage worsens

Many climate scientists share a sense of optimism with professionals in other tough jobs like emergency room doctors and researchers who study Alzheimers Disease even as they chronicle a world losing its protective balance with the sun. Psychologists say how those experts cope may help us in a world that seems to be going off the rails. Climate scientists who have been through a lot both personally and professionally say the key is often action. Don't wallow, they say. Do something.

EXPLAINER: How 81-1 shot Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby

This doesnt happen. Horses at odds of nearly 81-1 dont win the Kentucky Derby. Jockeys who have never won any big stakes race of any kind dont win the Kentucky Derby. Owners with fewer than 10 career wins dont win the Kentucky Derby. Rich Strike and his connections disagree with those sentiments. One of the biggest upsets in racing history happened Saturday in the Kentucky Derby, when Rich Strike shocked the establishment by running past everyone and winning the first leg of this years Triple Crown series.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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With the first, fat drops of summer rain, the sun-bleached desert exhales a perfumed breath of pure relief.

But where does the intoxicating scent of a monsoon storm actually come from?

Theres a lot more to it than just wet earth and creosote bush.

At least 60 different aromatic plants may contribute to what people think of as the smell of rain in the Sonoran Desert, according to a new paper by a trio of researchers led by renowned ethnobotanist and author Gary Paul Nabhan.

Our analyses suggest that a suite of memorable fragrances are emitted from a diversity of desert plants in the Arizona Uplands just before or during the summer rains, the paper states. These may be likened to an orchestra of fragrances that are inhaled in concert to generate a sensory effect greater than the sum of its parts.

The study represents the most comprehensive effort yet to identify the actual biochemical components of something that seems to stir a strong, sometimes spiritual response in desert dwellers.

Even the scientific word for the earthy smell of rain on dry ground is tinged with reverence: Australian biochemist Richard Grenfell Thomas coined the term petrichor in 1964 by combining the ancient Greek words for stone and the ethereal fluid from the veins of the gods.

Its easier to describe how it makes you feel, said study co-author Tammi Hartung, a Colorado-based herbalist and organic farmer with more than 40 years of experience working with plants. Its a peaceful smell. Its a smell thats invigorating. Its a smell that inspires you to have hope, especially for people who are in agriculture or horticulture in that part of the world.

Feels so good

Nabhan loves the smell so much he jokes about wanting to sprinkle the wet dirt on a sundae and eat it.

Theres this feeling of elation and excitement and restfulness that hits with that storm front and that rain, he said. My whole body just feels so good. Its one of the most powerful feelings I feel all year.

The new paper represents a return to familiar territory for Nabhan, who borrowed a phrase from a Tohono OOdham boy for the title of his first book: The Desert Smells Like Rain.

Forty years later, Nabhan is back to find out why.

I feel so hilariously geeky to be doing this, he said with a laugh.

The researchers started by posing the question to about 50 of the Sonoran Deserts best botanists in Arizona and Mexico. Almost immediately, Nabhan knew they had struck a chord.

Usually people are bored senseless by my emails, but within seconds people were just rolling in with their responses, he said.

The resulting list of 68 aromatic plants includes several desert natives that produce the same compounds  known as volatile oils  used in therapeutic treatments along the Pacific Coast of Asia.

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According to the paper, dozens of scientific studies have documented real health benefits from simply walking along a wooded path and taking in the aromas of certain plants and living soils, a practice known in Japan as forest bathing.

As Hartung put it: People do all kinds of things for their health. Sometimes all we need is to just be outside in nature and breathe that in.

A complex smell

Though more study is needed, the new paper suggests the volatile oils in some local desert plants could at least briefly help improve sleep patterns, stabilize emotional hormones, enhance digestion, heighten mental clarity and reduce depression or anxiety.

In recent years, various groups have organized desert bathing walks at Saguaro National Park and elsewhere.

This is more than wishful thinking, Nabhan said.

As for the plants, Hartung said they depend on volatile oils for sunscreen and to help retain water, repel pests and attract wildlife necessary for pollination or seed dispersal.

Its not for our benefit, its for the plants own survival, she said.

The paper by Nabhan, Hartung and Eric Daugherty appears in the latest edition of Desert Plants, a 43-year-old journal published by the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior.

For a long time, Nabhan said, experts seemed to be split into two camps: those who credited creosote bushes alone for the smell of rain, and others who believed it wafted up from the dirt itself  namely from biological soil crusts formed by highly specialized mosses, lichens and photosynthetic bacteria.

He said creosote and soil are key ingredients to be sure, but the smell we associate with rain is far more complex than that.

Hartung said her favorite notes from a Sonoran storm include the violet scent of desert willow, the sweetness of mesquite and the minty, floral aroma of verbena, which reminds her of something she would drink as tea or toss in a salad.

Summer heat can intensify the smells, before the wind and rain comes along to disperse them like a blast from a can of aerosol.

Nabhan said he worried that studying the phenomenon might take some of the wonder out of it. After all, desert rain is one of lifes simple pleasures, he said. We dont have to analyze it to enjoy it.

Thankfully, Nabhan said, there is no one answer to the question of what makes the desert smell like rain, because no two monsoon events ever smell precisely the same.

The scent varies subtly based on differences in plant communities, elevation, timing, soil composition and past weather. A downpour after extended drought might produce a different aroma than light rain in a wet year.

Its not like weve solved anything. Were just pointing in the direction of more interesting research, Nabhan said. The mystery is not going to go away. Its bigger than all of us.
The Broken Arrow Police Department has issued a Silver Alert for a woman.

Gayle Hall, 65, was last seen at 4900 W. Madison Pl. in Broken Arrow around noon. She was driving her 2005 Silver Lexus ES330 with Oklahoma tag BXW558. Police say she was headed toward Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Hall is described as white, 5 feet tall, weighing 175 lbs. with gray hair and blue eyes.

Police say her friends are concerned for her well-being as she has several medical conditions.

Anyone with any information on her whereabouts is asked to call the Broken Arrow Police Department at 918-259-8400.
PHNOM PENH, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia reported no new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the first time since the third wave of community transmission broke out in February last year, Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said.

"Today, it is the first time since Feb. 20, 2021 that Cambodia has found not even a single new case of COVID-19," he said in a special audio message.

"This is a great success that resulted from our joint efforts in the fight against COVID-19, and I'd like to thank all compatriots for participating in the anti-COVID-19 movement," he added.

However, Cambodia is not COVID-19 free yet, as it still has 29 active cases, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Hun Sen attributed the success in the fight against COVID-19 to the kingdom's high vaccination rates and urged eligible people to go for booster doses, the third or the fourth shots, when their turns come.

"We'd like to thank all foreign friends for providing vaccines to us, enabling us to give them free of charge to our people," he said. "Vaccines have given us an opportunity to reopen our economy and businesses."

The Southeast Asian nation launched a national vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in February 2021, with China being the key vaccine supplier and most of the vaccines used in the kingdom are Sinovac and Sinopharm.

The country has so far vaccinated at least one dose of vaccines to almost 15 million people, or 93.7 percent of its 16 million population, the MoH said, adding that of them, 14.22 million, or 89 percent, have been fully vaccinated with two required shots.

Buoyed by high vaccination coverage, Cambodia has resumed all socioeconomic activities and reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers without quarantine since November last year.

Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said vaccines have protected lives, stabilized health system and helped restore the economy.

"The royal government of Cambodia has made the correct decision to choose China as a strategic supplier of COVID-19 vaccines so that's why Cambodia has enough vaccines for its people," he told Xinhua.

According to the MoH, since the pandemic hit Cambodia in January 2020, the kingdom has recorded a total of 136,262 confirmed cases with 133,177 recoveries and 3,056 deaths. 
Big picture: Former state Rep. Weldon Watson, R-Tulsa, and his wife, Cheryle, last week continued a tradition begun by another Tulsa lawmaker by presenting a large-scale painting of a scene from Oklahoma history to the state Capitol.

The Seminole Oil Boom, by Muskogee-born artist Mike Wimmer, is a tribute to Watsons grandfather, who worked in the Greater Seminole Field during its 1920s heyday, and to his father, who worked in the oil-field supply business for many years. Both are depicted in the scene, which shows two men bringing in a well with many other derricks in the background.

Watson said he was motivated by the late Sen. Charles Ford, the longest-serving Republican in the Oklahoma Legislatures history.

Cheryle and I are proud to say that through this piece of art future visitors to the Capitol, including those busloads of schoolchildren and native sons and daughters whose families were in the 1920s oil booms as well as other visitors, those visitors will have the opportunity to get a visual glimpse of how Oklahoma become a premier oil and gas state, Watson said.

Watson served in the House from 2006-18 and before that covered the Capitol as a reporter and then as a lobbyist for Oklahoma Natural Gas.

Other Supremes: While the U.S. Supreme Court hogged the headlines last week, three justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court flogged state Attorney General John OConnor in an otherwise dry ruling on state bonds.

Justices Douglas Combs, Noma Gurich and Dustin Rowe took OConnor to task for not being more active in what some view as a $760 million ratepayer-funded bailout of OG&E for its fuel costs from the February 2021 cold snap.

Combs, in a concurring opinion joined by Gurich, said he was troubled by OG&Es demand that those protesting the settlement post bond in the amount of the settlement, but that of more grave concern to me, however, is the Attorney Generals abdication of his duties to OG&Es consumers in this action. The Attorney General has a statutory duty as the chief law officer of the state  (t)o represent and protect the collective interests of all utility consumers of this state in rate-related proceedings before the Corporation Commission.

The Legislature, governor and Oklahoma Corporation Commission agreed to issue bonds through the Oklahoma Development Finance Authority to pay more than $2 billion owed by OG&E and other Oklahoma utilities. The bonds are being retired over 25 years or more by ratepayers through surcharges on their monthly bills.

OConnor, said Combs, shirked his duty on more than one count, adding that the utility consumers that the Attorney General should be representing have effectively been left without representation. Their access to counsel lies with the Attorney General. Yet he has failed them.

The lack of meaningful participation at the settlement stage, the failure to file an appeal of the Corporation Commissions financing order, and the decision not to intervene in this proceeding leaves this Court with no input from the utility consumers statutorily appointed counsel and with few options when it comes to reviewing the ODFAs application to approve the bonds.

Rowe, again joined by Gurich, also criticized OConnor, although not at such great length.

Under the dome: At least nine bills that are part of House leaderships medical marijuana agenda have been referred to conference committee with only a few weeks left in the session.

Being sent to conference means the House and Senate have kept the bills alive without agreeing on final language. Sometimes the differences are small; sometimes they are irreconcilable. Its unclear what the situation is here.

House Administrative Rules Committee Chairman Tom Gann, R-Inola, apparently wants to spike the state Department of Educations race and sex discrimination policy adopted in March.

According to the Department of Education, the policy is the same one approved by Gov. Kevin Stitt last summer in the hubbub surrounding accusations that schools were teaching white males to feel guilty and/or responsible for less attractive aspects of Americas past and present.

Ganns specific objection is unclear, but his resolution on Tuesdays committee meeting agenda says the policy is not consistent with legislative intent.

Under the complicated process for final approval of administrative rules, state agencies first adopt rules that then go to House and Senate committees for approval, then to the governor.

Among a tall stack of bills signed by Stitt last week was House Bill 1461, a priority for the Tulsa Regional Chambers OneVoice initiative. The measure sets up a grant program for luring direct flights to state airports.

Also signed was the legislation creating a special office to oversee the spending of federal broadband dollars, with a pledge to bring high speed internet to 95% of Oklahomans within five years.

Stitt managed to take another poke at tribal governments, this time in a veto message for SB 1243, which would have exempted junked cars with tribal or out-of-state tags from an ownership check.

In his veto message, Stitt said this would create a loophole in a consumer protection law, then added, Furthermore, the bill  perhaps inadvertently  legitimizes tribal titles even though  a number of tribally tagged and titled vehicles are currently being operated unlawfully.

The Governors Office did not respond Friday to a request for clarification.

State Superintendent of Schools and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joy Hofmeister praised a new law that dropped a teacher certification requirement of passing the general education of the teacher competency exam. Hofmeister said the test is useless and an impediment to the profession.

The Legislatures three Asian Americans  Reps. Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, Andy Fugate, D-Oklahoma City, and Daniel Pae, R-Lawton  have formed its newest and perhaps smallest caucus: the Legislative Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus.

Just when legislators thought theyd finally gotten the much-maligned Oklahoma Marriage Initiative off the books, Stitt vetoed the sunset legislation. Essentially inactive for years, the artifact of the Frank Keating administration soaked up millions of dollars in an effort to promote marriage as a solution to poverty with no measurable effect.

Tuesday is Hispanic Cultural Day at the Capitol.

Campaigns and elections: The National Rifle Association endorsed U.S. Sen. James Lankford for reelection.

Muskogee pharmacist Chris Schiller may be the first of the 14 Republicans in the 2nd District congressional primary with a television advertising campaign.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Scott Pruitt seems to have kept a fairly low profile since filing three weeks ago but has made the rounds of some conservative radio programs. As on the day he filed, Pruitt embraced rather than shied away from his tumultuous tenure as Environmental Protection Agency director.

Oklahoma City billionaire Harold Hamm reportedly endorsed 2nd District Congressman Markwayne Mullin for the Senate seat now held by Jim Inhofe and which Pruitt and a raft of other candidates are seeking.

The computer technician who unearthed Hunter Bidens laptop is the featured attraction for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jackson Lahmeyers campaign events in Tulsa and Oklahoma City on May 21.

Indian affairs: Quapaw Nation Chairman Joseph Tali Byrd was chosen to represent the Bureau of Indian Affairs Eastern Oklahoma District on the Tribal Nations Leadership Council.

In that position Byrd will act as a liaison with the U.S. Justice Department as it tries to sort out the implications of expanded tribal and federal criminal jurisdiction in the area.

Byrd has a law degree from the University of New Mexico and a masters of jurisprudence in Indian law from the University of Tulsa College of Law.

Bottom lines: Lankford spent Friday working with volunteers in tornado-ravaged Seminole County.  OConnor joined other Republican AGs in attacking the Biden administrations new Disinformation Governance Board as an attack on First Amendment rights, although it isnt clear what the board does or whether its actually infringed on anybodys rights.  The Oklahoma Democratic Party is advertising for an operations director, a data director, a field director and a development director.  The Oklahoma Veterans Cemetery will be dedicated June 4 in Ardmore.

 Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World

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The opioid epidemic continues to plague Oklahoma and the nation, but a partnership between Oklahoma State University and the University of Arizona could yield promising results for solving this crisis.

Researchers with the Tulsa-based OSU National Center for Wellness & Recovery are working with colleagues in Arizona to accelerate development of alternatives to opioids for managing chronic pain and drugs for treating opioid overdoses. If successful, this could be a big step toward cutting off the opioid epidemic at its roots.

Opioids are effective painkillers often prescribed to patients recovering from surgery and otherwise treating chronic pain. The downside is that these drugs are highly addictive, creating an underground market that gives users a powerful high and, too often, debilitating after effects.

Opioid overdoses often cause respiratory distress, sometimes fatal. Whats more, a powerful version of opioids  fentanyl  has become a highly sought-after drug for addicts.

Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more powerful than the more commonly used drug morphine, and drug dealers have been known to mix it with other illicit substances, such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.

In Oklahoma, opioid overdose deaths have been climbing, going up 17% between 2019 and 2020, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Some 762 Oklahomans died from opioid overdoses in 2020.

Nationally, opioid overdose deaths neared 92,000 that year.

Researchers are hoping to combat this by making drugs that treat chronic pain, but do so in a way that prevents addiction and substance abuse in patients.

The OSU center is armed with two components critical to this research. First is some of the $200 million that was part of the states settlement with Purdue Pharma, an opioid manufacturer that Oklahoma sued for its role in fueling the opioid epidemic.

Second is access to substantial research compiled by Purdue on neural mechanisms associated with chronic pain and addiction.

Scientists say access to this information is giving researchers a head start on developing new drugs that can treat pain and help people who suffer from overdoses. The hope is that they can offer drugs that are more potent and longer lasting in terms of treating overdoses than current remedies offer.

As these and other drugs are developed, there is a real chance of tackling a crisis that has stubbornly gripped too many Americans.

Were pleased to see that the settlement Oklahoma negotiated with Purdue may soon bear fruit. Too many people have suffered from opioid addiction, as have their families.

Should this partnership prove successful, we can take pride that a solution to the opioid crisis was found, in part, right here in Tulsa.

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A deadly explosion hit a well-known hotel in downtown Havana on Friday, tearing a gash several floors high in the side of the building, killing at least 22 people and injuring upwards of 70, witnesses and state media said.

Speaking from the scene on Cuban television, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the blast at the historic, high-end Hotel Saratoga appeared to have been caused by a gas leak.

"In no case was it a bomb or an attack," he later told Reuters as he left the capital's Calixto Garcia hospital, where many of the injured were treated. 'It's just a very unfortunate accident."

The blast nonetheless sent a brief wave of panic through the historic old Havana neighborhood, which has gradually begun reopening to tourists after the pandemic battered the Caribbean island's crucial travel sector.

Hundreds of Cubans and tourists alike gathered near the property under a hot sun as police cordoned off the area around the hotel. Many speculated about the cause of the blast as ambulances and rescue workers carried victims from the wreckage.

Rescue teams work at a site after an explosion destroyed the Hotel Saratoga, in Havana, Cuba May 6, 2022. Photo: Reuters

The explosion rattled a nearby school with more than 300 students in attendance, health authorities said. At least 15 children were reported injured as of late Friday evening, the health ministry said, and one child had died.

Cuba's tourism minister, Juan Carlos Garcia, said no foreigners were killed or injured in the blast, according to initial reports.

The hotel, housed in a more than century-old building, had been closed and only workers were inside at time of the explosion, state-run TV said, citing Roberto Enrique Calzadilla, a representative of the military-run company that operates many of the country's hotels.

In a broadcast interview, Calzadilla said the 96-room hotel had been set to re-open in the next few days and that the workers on site were making final preparations.

He also said a gas leak appeared to be the cause.

The covered body of a victim lies on the street after an explosion destroyed the Hotel Saratoga, in Havana, Cuba May 6, 2022. Photo: Reuters

"The workers were ... making repairs and doing all the work to open the property and in the morning they were resupplying the gas and it seems some accident caused an explosion," he said.

The blast shrouded the building and surrounding streets in plumes of black smoke and dust rising from the rubble.

Police and rescue workers moved quickly to cordon off some nearby government buildings, including the historic Capitolio, or capital building.

A photo from the scene showed what appeared to be at least one body with a white cloth over it. A block from the blast, a man carried a woman screaming in pain to a clinic, as onlookers begged for information about loved ones.

The neoclassical style Saratoga Hotel was remodeled by a British company after the fall of the Soviet Union and for many years was considered the place to stay by visiting government officials and celebrities.

Recently, it had lost some of its shine with the opening of new hotels in Havana, but was still a five-star venue.
Nigerian airlines will stop operations from Monday until further notice due to the high cost of jet fuel, the Airline Operators of Nigeria association said on Friday.

Domestic flights have been disrupted since March as some started to cancel internal schedules while others delayed operations, citing scarcity of jet fuel.

Global jet fuel prices have soared after Russia's attack on Ukraine triggered a surge in the crude oil market, hitting airlines and passengers with steep cost increases.

Jet fuel has risen to 700 naira per litre in Nigeria from 190 naira over a short period, the airline association said in a statement, saying that the cost of a one-hour flight has more than doubled to 120,000 naira, which is unsustainable.

Airline passengers in Nigeria pay for fares in naira, which has weakened sharply due to devaluations. Fuel suppliers however are paid in dollars, a scarce currency in Africa's top economy.

The association said the continued rise in the cost of jet fuel has created operational pressures that put into question their financial viability.

"To this end therefore, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) ... inform the general public that member airlines will discontinue operations nationwide with effect from Monday May 9, 2022 until further notice," it said.
Vietnams Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh have sent condolences to their Cuban counterparts over a hotel explosion that occurred in Havana on Friday, killing at least 32 people.

Party chief Trong and State President Phuc extended their corresponding condolences to Miguel Diaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party and President of the Republic of Cuba on Saturday.

PM Chinh and Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue delivered the same to Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and President the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernandez, respectively, the same day.

Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son also sent a message to his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla to condole over the deadly explosion that happened at the well-known 96-room Hotel Saratoga in the Cuban capital of Havana on Friday.

The massive blast has left at least 32 people dead and 19 missing, CNN quoted Red Cross official Gloria Bonnin as telling Cubas state-run Prensa Latina News Agency on Saturday.

According to preliminary data, a pregnant woman and a child were among those who died in the blast, the Cuban Presidential Office said.

The office also announced that 64 people have been hospitalized for injuries, including 14 minors.

Meanwhile, Dr. Julio Guerra Izquierdo, chief of hospital services at the Cuban Ministry of Health, was cited by Tribune as announcing that at least 74 people had been injured in the incident.

The explosion was not a bomb nor an attack, it's a regrettable accident, CNN cited Cuban President President Miguel Diaz-Canel as saying after he visited the explosion site on Friday.

Everything indicates that the explosion was caused by an accident, the Cuban Presidential Office said in a tweet.

A gas leak is deemed as the cause of the explosion, the office said, adding that more details would follow.

The powerful explosion also rattled a nearby school with more than 300 students in attendance, killing one student and injuring 15 others, the Cuban Health Ministry stated.

As shown in initial reports, no foreigners were killed or injured in the blast, Cuban Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia said.

This neo-classical-style hotel was remodeled by a British company after the fall of the Soviet Union and was considered the place to go for visiting government officials and celebrities for many years, according to The Guardian.

The hotel had been closed to tourists but was slated for a post-pandemic reopening in four days time, as stated on its Facebook page.

At the time of the explosion, workers were inside the hotel making final preparations for reopening it, said Roberto Enrique Calzadilla, a representative of the military-run company that operates many of the countrys hotels.

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Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his entourage will visit the U.S. and attend the ASEAN - U.S. Special Summit at the invitation of President Joe Biden from May 11 to 17, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.

The summit will take place from May 12 to 13 in Washington D.C. in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the ASEAN - U.S. diplomatic relations.

The bloc and the U.S. established a dialogue relationship in 1977 and upgraded their ties to a strategic partnership at the third ASEAN - U.S. Summit in November 2015.

In addition to their annual summits since 2013, the two sides held the ASEAN - U.S. Special Summit in the U.S. in 2016 and the ASEAN - U.S. Commemorative Summit on the 40th Anniversary of the ASEAN - U.S. Dialogue Relations in the Philippines in 2017.

Besides attending the coming ASEAN - U.S. Special Summit, PM Chinh will also pay a working visit to the U.S. and have sessions at the United Nations during his trip lasting until May 17.

Since Hanoi and Washington normalized diplomatic ties 27 years ago, the two countries have witnessed amazing progress in bilateral relations on the basis of mutual interests and respect for each others independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political institutions, Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press briefing last month.

Vietnam expects and is willing to work with President Joe Biden's administration to further promote the bilateral ties in a deeper, more effective, and sustainable manner for peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world, she stated.

The relationship between Vietnam and the U.S. has continued to develop positively over the past time, with leaders of the two sides maintaining contact and telephone conversations at all levels.

Vietnam successfully organized meetings between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and President Joe Biden and special envoy John Kerry on the sidelines of the COP26 Conference in the UK in October 2021.

The two countries have great potential for further expanding their cooperation in various fields, including in new spheres such as epidemic response and climate change, U.S. Ambassador Marc E. Knapper said when he met with Vietnams Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in Hanoi on April 25.

The U.S. supports a strong, independent, and prosperous Vietnam and will boost the development of bilateral ties in the spirit of respect for each others political institutions, Knapper said.

Trade between the two countries has grown strongly over the past years, with a total turnover of US$111.56 billion recorded in 2021, up nearly 24 percent from a year earlier, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

The U.S. continued to be Vietnams biggest export market while the Southeast Asian nation became the ninth-largest trading partner of the U.S. last year.

By March 2022, U.S. direct investment in Vietnam had reached $10.3 billion, ranking 11th out of the 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

Many large American enterprises have kept investing in Vietnam, including Intels additional investment of nearly $500 million in Ho Chi Minh City and Apple supplier Foxconns $270 million in northern Bac Giang Province, among others.

On March 29, Vietnams VinFast Group signed an MoU with North Carolina to build a $4 billion electric vehicle and battery factory in the state.

Cooperation in COVID-19 response between Vietnam and the U.S. has been on the right track, particularly in medical equipment and vaccines, sharing disease prevention experience, and protecting citizens.

To date, the U.S. has donated to Vietnam nearly 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including nearly 39 million jabs through the COVAX Facility.

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The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport has turned some originally-bidirectional sections of Dinh Tien Hoang and Nguyen Binh Khiem Streets in District 1 into one-way roads.

The adjustment, which came into force on Saturday, is to make peoples travel more convenient after the inauguration of the Thu Thiem 2 Bridge.

Accordingly, all vehicles must travel on Dinh Tien Hoang Streets section from Le Duan Street to Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in that one direction only. The reverse direction is prohibited.

On Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, the traffic directions change as follows:

- All vehicles have to travel on the section from Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street to Le Duan Street in that one direction. The opposite direction is forbidden.

- Two-wheeled vehicles can travel in both directions on the section from Le Duan Street to Nguyen Huu Canh Street while automobiles have to only go in the direction from Le Duan Street to Nguyen Huu Canh Street.

Traffic police officers and traffic signs will keep vehicle drivers aware of the adjustment before they turn into those road sections, according to the municipal transport department.

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Major markets in Ho Chi Minh City are now bustling and filled with visitors again, indicating a positive sign of recovery following a serious COVID-19 outbreak.

On Saturday evening, the 300-meter-long food area of the Cambodian Market in District 10 was crowded with people, according to the observation of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters.

With various eateries offering many types of street food at fair prices, the place is a popular weekend hangout spot for young residents and one of the must-visit destinations for tourists.

Nguyen Thi Thanh, a 60-year-old overseas Vietnamese, said she came to the market to try the delicious food.

Being on her first trip back to Vietnam after two and a half years, Thanh also spent millions of dong (VND1 million = US$43) on dried seafood to gift her friends and family in the U.S..

Thanh Mai, who has run a diner at the market for decades, said that the number of visitors to the venue has gradually increased after the pandemic subsided.

An overseas Vietnamese buys dried seafood as souvenirs for her friends and family in the U.S.. Photo: Nhat Xuan / Tuoi Tre

Many overseas Vietnamese have been come to the market in the past two weeks, she continued.

Mai added she and her family have decided to work 'extra shifts' to serve the large number of diners on weekends.

At Ben Thanh Market in District 1, many stalls have reopened following a long shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A crowded eatery at the Cambodian Market in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, May 7, 2022. Photo: Nhat Xuan / Tuoi Tre

Thuy, a sweep soup vendor at the venue, said her sales have gone up over the past two weeks, adding that she was able to serve a lot of local customers and overseas Vietnamese during the recent holidays.

Visitors to Ben Thanh Market have increased drastically in the last fortnight, Le Minh Hiep, deputy head of the management board, stated, noting that the market welcomed up to 3,000 people a day during the holiday weekend marking Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers Day (May 1).

More than 700 stalls, accounting for 60 percent of the total number of stalls at the market, have reopened, Hiep elaborated.

Foreign customers browse for products at Ben Thanh Market in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, May 7, 2022. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Instead of opening only during the day, many traders have recently decided to work until 10:00 pm to service tourists, as well as run online shops to boost their sales.

The number of visitors is expected to further soar during the coming tourist season in June and July, he said.

Other markets including Ba Chieu in Binh Thanh District, Hanh Thong Tay in Go Vap District, and Tan Dinh in District 1 have also recovered quite well with many merchants resuming their operations and opening until late at night.

A dessert stall at Ben Thanh Market in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, May 7, 2022. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Customers browse for products at Ba Chieu Market in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, May 7, 2022. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

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Trade unions at all levels in Vietnam have provided members with nearly VND6 trillion (US$261 million) worth of support during the COVID-19 pandemic, chairman of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Nguyen Dinh Khang said at the 18th World Trade Union Congress in Rome, Italy on Saturday.

The 18th World Trade Union Congress, held by the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), saw the attendance of 500 delegates and representatives of trade unions in 133 countries and territories around the world.

During the gathering, the delegates discussed the achieved results, difficulties, and challenges in the operation of the WFTU, while suggesting new plans and activities for the coming time.

The COVID-19 pandemic has directly affected the health, job, and income of workers, exacerbating the difficulties and challenges that trade unions and their members were facing, chairman Khang said at the event.

To minimize the negative impact, trade unions at all levels in Vietnam have provided support packages for workers who died of, were infected with, were quarantined due to, or lost their jobs to COVID-19, the official continued.

The unions also helped improve the health of frontline medical forces and made donations to children of workers who were orphaned by COVID-19.

More than three million union members in the Southeast Asian country received nearly VND6 trillion ($261 million) worth of support during the pandemic, Khang elaborated.

The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor also proposed that the government issue a policy that prioritizes vaccination for workers and provide them with social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance.

Khang extended his gratitude to the international community for their help with vaccines, which were significant for Vietnam to control and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country has been able to minimize damage and losses caused by the pandemic, ensure the people's social welfare, and gradually restore production and socio-economic activities, he added.

Vietnam has documented 10,673,915 COVID-19 cases and 43,055 pathogen-related deaths since the pandemic first hit the country in early 2020.

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KATHMANDU, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Kami Rita Sherpa, a well-known Nepali mountain guide, broke his own record on Saturday by climbing the world's tallest Mt. Qomolangma for the 26th time.

"As a leader of the rope fixing team, Kami reached the top of Mt. Qomolangma at 06:55 p.m. on Saturday," Bhisma Raj Bhattarai, a section officer at Nepal's Department of Tourism, told Xinhua.

"It is his 26th summit of the world's tallest peak," he added.

Seven Summit Treks, a Nepali travel agency which organized the expedition, confirmed the summit of Mt. Qomolangma by 11 Sherpa members of the rope fixing team led by Kami, noting on its Facebook account that they became the first climbers during the spring season to conquer the world's highest mountain from the Nepali side.

Kami, 52, scaled the 8848.86-meter-high Mt. Qomolangma in May 1994 for the first time and achieved the feat of climbing the mountain twice in a single season in 2019 within less than a week as he reached the top for the 23rd and 24th times.

On May 7 last year, he again climbed the peak which straddles Nepal and China, breaking his own record, a world record as well.

According to Seven Summit Treks, besides climbing Mt. Qomolangma 26 times between 1994 and 2022, Kami has climbed K2 (8,611m), the world's second highest peak inside Pakistan, and the world's fourth tallest Mt. Lhotse (8,516m) one time each, the eighth tallest Mt. Manaslu (8,163m) thrice and the sixth tallest Mt. Cho Oyu (8,201m) eight times.

"He holds the record for most climbs over 8,000 meters," the agency said. 
A British YouTube star was detained at a Russian-controlled space centre in Kazakhstan, the head of the Russian space agency said.

Travel blogger Benjamin Rich, who runs the Bald and Bankrupt channel, was held near one of the launch pads at the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Alina Tseliupa, Dmitry Rogozin said.

Mr Rogozin said local authorities were determining "the exact level of participation in illegal activities" by the pair.

He posted photos of Mr Rich's visa and Ms Tseliupa's passport.

Mr Rich specialises in travel to remote and sometimes dangerous parts of the world and has 3.5 million followers.

The blogger said he was later released by authorities and given a fine.

His most recent video was filmed in Syria and posted on 24 April.

In an Instagram post last week, he said: "Syrian suntan and back in a country with Soviet mosaics," but did not specify where he was.

Mr Rich posted on Instagram to reveal he had been released, along with footage of him showing off buildings in the former closed Soviet city.

"I've woken up to a load of messages asking me if I'm OK. Apparently people think I'm in a gulag because of some Twitter post," he said.

"Basically I was questioned by Russian police for a few hours for going to see the Buran rocket without the special permission and given a 60 administrative fine just like hundreds of foreign adventurers before me.

"The police also were nice enough to show me the closed town of Baikonur. Has an awesome mosaic of a Cosmonaut. Currently lying in my hotel room watching TC and eating Doshirak (red of course) Hardly a gulag."

Baikonur is now open to tourists who apply for permission from the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

It sits around 1,100km (680) miles southwest of the capital of Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Colombian on-demand delivery company Rappi is seen on a delivery bag in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Colombian delivery app Rappi, which offers on-demand deliveries of food and other goods across Latin America, said on Monday it has launched a cryptocurrency payment pilot program in Mexico.

Rappi teamed with cryptocurrency platforms Bitpay and Bitso to back the new service, which will let users turn crypto into credits within the app to make purchases, Rappi said.

"It's a first step that will allow us to learn and continue incorporating the crypto world into Rappi," Rappi President Sebastian Mejia said in a statement.

Rappi, which operates in nine countries across Latin America, launched "Pay with Rappi" in Mexico last year to challenge Paypal and regional rival MercadoLibre by offering online payments.

It also provides some financial services in Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Chile, with plans to offer digital banking in Colombia this year.

(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Will Dunham)
John Cobb on Loch Ness. Picture: Getty

HE may have been, as one US newspaper described him, a taciturn 200-pound London fur broker, but John Cobb knew all there was to know about breaking speed records.

Wealthy, and thus able to indulge his love of speed, Cobb, who had been educated at Eton and Cambridge, had become the first man to travel at more than 400mph, a feat he had achieved on one of his runs on the salt-flats of Utah in 1947. To the press he became known as the fastest man alive.

He was also an expert pilot, having served with the RAF for two years during the war before transferring to Air Transport Auxiliary, where he spent two more years, ferrying aircraft from factory to squadron.

Cobb had long been a well-known figure on Brooklands Motor Course, a few miles from his home in Esher, Surrey. He set lap records there with a succession of powerful, innovative cars, before turning his attention to high-speed boats.

The then-current world water speed record was held by an American, Stanley Sayres, with a speed of 178.4 mph. In late August 1952, Cobb, aged 52, came to Loch Ness to try to reclaim the record for Britain. As the Glasgow Herald noted, he had made record-breaking his hobby and spent a considerable sum of money on it  The upholding of British prestige was behind his record-breaking achievements.

Cobbs chosen craft was the Crusader, a silver-and-scarlet, jet-propelled speed boat, powered by the de Havilland Ghost jet engine, as deployed in the Comet airline.

It had arrived in Drumnadrochit after a 580-mile road journey from New Malden, Surrey. Constructed of plywood and high-quality aluminium made in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, by British Aluminium Ltd, the Crusader was flanked by sponsons, or floats, and had been built by Vospers Ltd in seven months.

Provided the wind keeps down, Cobb said at the launch, Loch Ness should be perfect for a speed attempt. I shall go as fast as I can, compatible with safety. He added that it might take some weeks before he was ready for the assault on the record; trials would need to be carried out on the loch for both the behaviour of the boat and for speed. Because of bad weather, he had been restricted to floatation tests at Portsmouth.

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On August 26, accompanied by his wife Margaret, his manager, Captain George Eyston, and other officials, Cobb ventured out on a fishing boat from Temple Pier to survey Loch Ness, but returned after just 15 minutes because of the roughness of the weather. Conditions were little better the following day.

HeraldScotland: John Cobb's funeral procession in Inverness

John Cobb's funeral procession in Inverness

A caravan supplied by a Falkirk company arrived at Drumnadrochit, for the Cobbs to use as their day-time loch-side headquarters. As technicians worked on the Crusader at the pier they were watched by intrigued locals and holidaymakers.

In early September, Cobb did test runs of 100mph and 140mph, but he needed the weather to improve considerably. It is quite bumpy in an ordinary speedboat on the part of the loch where I have been carrying out my trials at present, he said on the ninth. Two days later he said that Crusader would need modifications to enable it to get onto its sponsons.

The latest trial had seen the loch being too smooth for the boat. On one run Cobb could only get going with difficulty  and even then, the Evening Times reported, only after an artificial ripple had been created in front of Crusader by a speed-boat.

Watched by thousands of sightseers,Cobb made his first official attempt on Friday the 19th but strong crosswinds foiled him, even if he did reach an average speed on his two runs of 173 mph  5 mph shy of the record. No, I dont think I did it, he said, forestalling press questions as to whether he broke the record. His press officer said a further run would be made when conditions allowed.

The days came and went until finally, on Monday, September 29, Cobb made his second official attempt. Before leaving Temple Pier he observed that conditions were well-nigh perfect. As before, his attempt would be watched by thousands of people on the shore.

No-one could know what lay ahead.

Cobbs final moments are captured in a British Pathe newsreel. The Crusader ploughs through the waters of Loch Ness. But then, two minutes and five seconds into the footage, the boat suddenly disintegrates in a flurry of foam and wreckage.

Just before reaching the second timekeepers hut at the end of the measured mile,  the Glasgow Herald recorded, the boat developed an alarming bounce, which became rapidly more pronounced.

In a flash it seemed to somersault and in a cloud of smoke and spray it disappeared below the surface of the loch, which at that point is almost 700ft deep. All that remained on the surface were small pieces of debris.

Cobbs wife, the Evening Times added, was rushed from her spot on the measured mile to the pier and the news of her husbands death was broken to her by a friend. She broke down and was driven back to the Drumnadrochit Hotel. She was ushered by staff into a sitting-room.

HeraldScotland: John Cobb's memorial on the side of Loch Ness

John Cobb's memorial on the side of Loch Ness

A small boat lowered from the yacht Maureen, on which the official observer had been standing, set off to retrieve Cobbs body. Other boats also joined in. As his body came to the surface his Mae West lifesaving equipment was quickly detected. Mrs Cobb was taken back to Inverness and in the afternoon, accompanied by friends, left by car for London.

It seemed certain that had Cobb been able to make the two runs he would have regained the water speed record for Britain. The official observer, Lt-Commander Arthur Bray, of the International Marine Timekeepers Association, and vice-president of the Marine Motoring Association, said the Crusaders speed over the measured mile had been 206.8mph  more than 28mph in excess of the record.

We have lost, Bray added, a very gallant Briton who has proved that as a nation we can go out and do things. What he did was to be the first man to travel on water at over 200 miles per hour.

Peter Du Cane, managing director of Vospers Ltd, was standing beside Mrs Cobb when the tragedy happened. He was a very great sportsman, a shaken du Cane told reporters. He must have been travelling at 240mph to average 206.8 mph on the measured mile.

Rescue boats retrieved some of the wreckage, but members of Cobbs staff refrained from advancing any theory about the accident. Rogue waves were blamed by others; Du Cane was quoted as saying: He hit three big waves  that was his trouble.

The hotel manager, Mr G. Nicholson, said: We dont know what happened. One minute the Crusader was there, the next minute it was not. There were just a few pieces floating about. I dont remember hearing anything when it all happened. There was just the spray and then a lot of pieces. Another eyewitness, a woman from the nearby village of Lewiston, said: It was all over in a matter of seconds.

Gar Wood, the US speedboat expert, said that he had experimented with a jet-powered speedboat but had abandoned the idea because of the risks. With a propeller-engined boat, if you leave the water, everything stops, he said. When we tried with an aircraft jet engine, the power was so great that if the boat left the water it kept right on up.

A post-mortem on the Tuesday determined that death had been instantaneous. Cdr Bray told the Glasgow Herald that any suggestion that waves might have caused the accident could be discounted.

I followed the Crusader down the measured mile through binoculars and saw it start to porpoise, he said. There were no waves, though there was a ripple . Whatever cost Mr Cobb his life had nothing to do with Loch Ness.

Cdr Bray said that he and other experts would watch newsreel footage of Cobbs final moments in slow-motion to try to discover what had happened.

Slow-motion footage had been shown the previous night on the BBCs TV Newsreel programme. Contrary to most reports of the accident, noted a Herald writer, who watched the programme, the Crusader did not appear to porpoise before breaking up or to disintegrate without cause.

It seemed that the nose of the craft dipped, for some reason not apparent from the film. The surface of Loch Ness appeared on the film to be smooth, and there was no sign of the three waves that were reported to have been responsible, but the speed of the boat, the movement of the camera and the lighting made it difficult to determine the cause of disaster.

On the Wednesday, a brief funeral service was held in the chapel of the Royal Northern Infirmary in Inverness. Among those present were Reid Railton, the designer of the Crusader, and John MacLeod, MP for Ross and Cromarty. The minister who conducted the service praised Cobbs skill, daring and valour, his courtesy and humbleness of heart.

A cortege made its way through the towns main streets, followed by members of Cobbs staff, headed by Captain Eyston. Many of those who lined the streets wept. A spray of carnations, sent anonymously, bore a simple inscription: To a gallant crusader. Cobbs body was then borne down to his home in Esher, Surrey.

On October 7, a meeting of the Glenurquhart Rural Community Association decided to honour Cobbs memory by erecting a cairn that would overlook the measured mile.

It was unveiled a year after his death by Cobbs sister, Mrs Eileen Holloway. His brother, Gerrard, was also present, as was Peter Du Cane, but Mrs Cobb was not there. Wreaths were placed on the cairn by three local men who had assisted Cobb. The service was attended by some 200 people.

On March 27, 1953 Cobb was posthumously awarded the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct  For services, the citation read, in attempting to break the worlds water speed record, and in research into high speed on water, in the course of which he lost his life.

Similar commendations were awarded to two Glasgow plumbers, for their services when two men were overcome by fumes in the bottom of a tank in H.M.S. Mull of Galloway, and to a Glasgow Corporation machine-man, for his services when an armed man was arrested.

SEVENTY years have passed since Cobbs death, but he is still recalled with affection in the area around Loch Ness. In 2002, on the 50th anniversary of Cobbs death, the secretary of the Glenurquhart Heritage Group, said: John Cobb is well remembered here. He had time for everyone.

There was a great deal of interest in what he was trying to do. It was a different time then. It was only seven years after the war and people had a different attitude to heroism. It was also still a time of austerity. There wasnt much excitement around and people knew of John Cobb because of his car racing.

That July, pieces of aluminium were painstakingly detected by investigators from the Loch Ness Project, led by Adrian Shine. Seventeen years later, the Crusaders largely intact aft section was found by a team from the National Geographic TV series, Drain the Oceans, in collaboration with Norways Kongsberg Maritime and the Loch Ness Project  Shine acted as a consultant. One of the worlds most sophisticated Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, the Munin, was used in the search, its multi-beam sonar yielding a high-resolution 3D image.

There was a time limit on Cobbs effort [in 1952], and thats always a dreadful thing, Shine said this week. The thing about a speed record attempt or many endeavours in life that are technical achievements, is that you have to work up to them slowly. There were two factors that really mitigated against this. The first was the choice of Loch Ness as a venue for speed records. It had promise because it was so long and straight, but the trouble is, its long and straight directly in line with our prevailing south-westerly winds.

And when were not having a south-westerly wind we generally get a north-easterly wind. And so calms are rare. Its in calms, by the way, that the monster-hunters call Nessie weather, and thats because things like boat-wakes are very prominent in those conditions.

This has a fatal connection to John Cobbs death, because its generally agreed that the Crusader hit a succession of waves created by one of his own craft. So Loch Ness was a trap, in many ways, because the calms which were necessary for working up testing, and getting faster and faster, were very few and far between.

The other time pressure was that Cobb was due to become the director of the Falklands Company.

As the autumn was wearing on, Shine adds, things were not getting any better in terms of prospects.

In fact, even on the day itself [September 29], the loch calmed. Everybody got into position but were stood down when a ripple developed. It calmed again and everybody was rushed back into position, and that was the problem. The Maureen, the official observers vessel, should not, it is believed, have come back towards Urquhart Bay at the stand-down time. It is most probable that its the Maureens wake which actually caused the disaster.

The unexpected persistence of boat wakes was what caused the problem. Cobbs team came up with the theory that a reflected boat-wake  a wake that hit the shore and was reflected back into the water was to blame, but experiments by the Loch Ness Project have ruled this out.

So, irrespective of which of John Cobbs vessels caused the wake, it was a wake that was responsible for the disaster, says Shine.

It was a bittersweet moment, he added, when the Crusaders wreckage was found. Because we were using an autonomous vehicle, Munin, we were able to get sufficient resolution on sonar to find Crusader. It was a melancholy moment but it was also a technical challenge that had been met and it is inevitable that we were excited and pleased to find the wreck, which Munin had made distinguishable from the side-walls of the loch.

It was much more intact than we had imagined, the rear part, he added.

But it has subsequently emerged that there was a weak part in the construction at the central portion. What we found confirms what Steve Holter [author of Crusader, a recent book on Cobb] has said, because the vessel broke in half, and the rear half is almost intact.

Up around Loch Ness, Cobb is remembered for his humble, courteous demeanour and for his refusal to stage his trials on Loch Ness on Sundays, because of the noise and disturbance they would cause, disrupting the Sabbath.

I met a chap, a farmer, just a few years ago, who had run out of petrol at the roadside, Adrian Shine says.

John Cobb passed him, stopped, and had his chauffeur go and get petrol that allowed the farmer to get going again.
The 2022 PokerStars European Poker Tour stop presented by Monte-Carlo Casino has come to a thrilling conclusion and it was Brazil's Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu who topped a field of 1,073 entries in the 2022 EPT Monte Carlo 5,300 Main Event. After a short-lived heads-up duel with Morten Hvam, Mesqueu secured the biggest portion of the 5,204,050 prize pool in the second-biggest EPT Main Event in the history of the stop at Le Sporting Monte Carlo.

While players from the South American poker powerhouse nation have made several deep runs in the marquee event of the popular live poker tour and sponsoring site PokerStars features three countrymen on their roster of ambassadors, it was the first EPT Main Event for Brazil. Prior to his victory on the French Riviera, most of his live poker results came from home soil. Mesqueu won the leaderboard of the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) in 2019 and currently sits in second place with a decent shot of a repeat victory.

The top prize of 939,840 represents the far biggest cash of his career and the same also applied for runner-up Hvam. In December 2019, the Dane already came close to glory and finished 13th in the EPT Prague Main Event for 55,690, which he now eclipsed more than ten-fold with a consolation prize of 564,640.

Also featured on the final day were Moldova's Dragos Trofimov, Jaime Cervantes on his first trip to Europe, French bracelet winner Hugo Pingray and German PokerStars qualifier Erkan Soenmez. PokerStars ambassador Ramon Colillas and Yannick Cardot had reached the official eight-handed final table but were eliminated at the end of Day 4 to set the stage for the grand finale.

Final Table Result 2022 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo 5,300 Main Event

Place Winner Country Prize 1 Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu Brazil 939,840 2 Morten Hvam Denmark 564,640 3 Dragos Trofimov Moldova 397,590 4 Jaime Cervantes United States 298,710 5 Hugo Pingray France 228,460 6 Erkan Soenmez Germany 167,050 7 Ramon Colillas Spain 125,420 8 Yannick Cardot France 89,770

Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu wins the 2022 PokerStars Monte Carlo 5,300 Main Event

Until the dinner break, there were only two all-in showdowns both of which featured Marcelo Simoes Mesqueu and Jaime Cervantes. The American first doubled and was then denied another double despite turning set with pocket nines versus ace-king. While all middling stacks traded the chips back and forth, Mesqueu sooner than later assumed control and stormed into a commanding lead thanks to using his growing advantage with relentless aggression. The Brazilian could seemingly not put any foot wrong and amassed an enormous lead over the other five contenders.

As the final six returned to a very cagey setup with the shortest stacks below ten blinds, it was Dragos Trofimov who doubled through runaway chip leader Mesqueu. The Brazilian however made up for it by knocking out Erkan Soenmez shortly after with five-trey getting there to beat the ace-deuce of the PokerStars qualifier from Germany in a preflop contest.

It opened the floodgates for a frantic period in which the tournament went from six to two hopefuls in the span of just half an hour.

Mesqueu also came from behind to crack the ace-king of Pingray with king-nine as he spiked a nine on the turn much to the delight of his Brazilian rail, which went nuts once the river bricked off.

Cervantes was flipping for his tournament life against Hvam with ace-jack versus pocket nines but found no help to bow out in fourth place. He was followed to the rail by Trofimov, who laddered up a few spots but missed a maiden EPT Main Event title for his home country of Moldova.

Brief deal discussions came to no conclusion and Mesqueu never lost his commanding lead despite two double-ups for Hvam when the Dane was getting it in with a severe short stack. Ultimately, Hvam risked it all for a third time with a gutshot in a three-bet pot but the pocket kings of Mesqueu prevailed to let his rail from Brazil commence with a boisterous celebration.

Among those to support their countryman en route to victory was also Lucas Scafini, who came out on top of the biggest France Poker Series 1,100 Main Event in Monte Carlo for a payday of 250,000. With two major victories during the series on the French Riviera, Brazil has once more confirmed that is the up and coming poker nation on the live and online poker circuit.

This concludes the PokerNews live coverage of the 2022 PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo 5,300 Main Event and entire series. The next EPT stop has already confirmed, as the live poker tour will return to one of its most popular locations in Barcelona in August 2022.
David Ungi is one of NCAs most wanted criminals (National Crime Agency/PA)

A fugitive wanted in connection with a 2015 murder of a teenager has been arrested in Spain.

David Ungi, 30, was arrested on Thursday with three other men at a shopping centre in Coin, Malaga, following a joint operation between British and Spanish forces, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Officers also seized a 9mm Ruger firearm and ammunition from a rucksack.

Ungi had been on the NCAs Most Wanted list after the shooting of Vinny Waddington in Liverpool.

Third most wanted fugitive arrested in a week! David Ungi, aged 30, was being sought for his suspected role in the murder of 18-year-old Vinny Waddington in Liverpool in 2015.



Read the full story on our website  https://t.co/y9GYPp3njo pic.twitter.com/mNpmjeMUv4  National Crime Agency (NCA) (@NCA_UK) May 7, 2022

Mr Waddington was shot through a car window and rammed off his motorbike on Banks Road in Garston. Ungi left the UK less than 24 hours later, the NCA said.

Two men were convicted of the 18-year-olds murder in 2016.

Ungi was also wanted in connection with the supply of heroin in the Liverpool area, the agency added.

Extradition proceedings are under way after he appeared at court in Malaga on Friday and was remanded in custody.

He is the third most wanted NCA target arrested in the last week, with Callum Halpin, who is accused of murder, being caught in Portugal on Monday and Alex Male, wanted on drugs charges, being arrested at Lisbon airport on Saturday.

Steve Reynolds, National Crime Agency regional manager in Spain, said: Three of the UKs most wanted fugitives being arrested in a week is a fantastic achievement.

These arrests would not have been possible without close co-operation between police forces in the UK and our law enforcement colleagues in Spain and Portugal.

Story continues

Extradition proceedings are underway after he appeared at court in Malaga on Friday and was remanded in custody (National Crime Agency/PA)

There are still a number of fugitives on our most wanted list and they should know we will never give up and were never far behind them.

Lord Ashcroft, founder and chair of the charity Crimestoppers, said: Having this fugitive caught within days of two others is fantastic news and shows that the public, like us, want to protect our communities. It also proves how our joint Most Wanted campaign with the NCA to highlight those who are on the run is working successfully.

If you know of someone who is on our list, please do the right thing and contact our charity either on the phone or online via our website. Youll stay 100% anonymous. Always.

The joint investigation was carried out by the Spanish authorities, the NCA, Merseyside Police and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of pursuing a bloody reconstruction of Nazism with the invasion of his country.

In a speech marking Germanys defeat in World War Two, he claimed the Russian army was replicating Nazi atrocities during its invasion of his country.

He said in a video address: Darkness has returned to Ukraine and it has become black and white again.

Footage in the video showed the Ukrainian leader in front of destroyed residential buildings.

The president added: Evil has returned, in a different uniform, under different slogans, but for the same purpose.

Vladimir Putin has maintained Russias operation was in part to de-Nazify the country.

He returned to the theme in his own address congratulating former Soviet nations on the 77th anniversary of Nazi Germanys defeat, saying that as in 1945, victory will be ours.

Ukrainian officials fear Russia may step up its attacks ahead of Russias Victory Day commemorations on Monday.

Zelensky appealed to European nations, including the UK, France and the Netherlands, by likening Nazi bombings of their towns and cities to Russian strikes flattening urban areas in Ukraine.

He said in the 15-minute video: Allies remember the Nazi-destroyed Warsaw, and they see what was done to Mariupol.

The British have not forgotten how the Nazis wiped out Coventry how its historic centre, factories and St. Michaels Cathedral were destroyed. They saw missiles hit Kharkiv and saw its historic centre, factories and the Assumption Cathedral destroyed.

They remember how London was bombed for 51 nights in a row, how V-2 rockets hit Belfast, Portsmouth, Liverpool, and they see cruise missiles hit Mykolaiv, Kramatorsk and Chernihiv.

The Dutch remember how Rotterdam was the first city to be destroyed by the Nazis when they dropped 97 tonnes of bombs on it. The French remember Oradour-sur-Glane, where the SS burned 500 women and children alive.

They see what was done in Bucha, Irpin and Borodyanka.

Mr Zelenskys speech comes after a Russian missile hit a school in Bilohorivka. Liz Truss condemned the attack as a possible war crime amdi fears dozens could be dead.
HANOI, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam recorded 2,269 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, down by 1,077 from Saturday, according to its Ministry of Health.

Among the new infections, only one was imported and the rest were domestically transmitted reported in 51 provinces and cities.

The Vietnamese capital Hanoi remained the epidemic hotspot with 338 new cases registered on Sunday, followed by the central Nghe An province with 140 and the northern Tuyen Quang province with 135.

The newly recorded infections brought the total tally to 10,676,184 with 43,056 deaths. Nationwide, as many as 9,320,591 COVID-19 patients, or more than 87 percent of the total infections, have so far recovered.

Nearly 215.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the Southeast Asian country, including roughly 196.5 million shots on people aged 18 and above, according to the ministry.

Vietnam has by far gone through four coronavirus waves of increasing scale, complication and infectivity. As of Sunday, it has registered nearly 10.7 million locally transmitted COVID-19 cases since the start of the current wave in April 2021, said the health ministry. 
BOISE, Idaho  Angela Housley was halfway through her pregnancy when she learned the fetus was developing without parts of its brain and skull and would likely die within hours or days of birth, if it survived that long.

The news came during her 20-week ultrasound.

The technician got a really horrible look on her face, Housley said. And we got the really sad news that our baby was anencephalic.

It was 1992 and abortion was legal in Idaho, though she had to dodge anti-abortion protesters outside the Boise hospital after the procedure. If the same scenario were to happen later this year, she would likely be forced to carry to term.

Thats because Idaho is one of at least 22 states with laws banning abortion at the 15th week or earlier, many of them lacking exceptions for fetal viability, rape or incest, or even the health of the woman. Several of those bans would take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, as a leaked draft of the opinion suggests.

Such exceptions were once regularly included in even the most conservative anti-abortion proposals. But as the battle over abortion access heats up, experts on both sides of the issue say the exceptions were a temporary stepping stone intended to make anti-abortion laws more palatable.

Many of the current abortion bans are designed as trigger laws, automatically going into effect if the high court overturns the nationwide right to abortion. That ruling is expected to be released by late June or early July.

Alabama and Oklahoma have enacted bans with no exceptions. Alabamas 2019 law is blocked in federal court but could be reinstated based on the Supreme Courts ruling. The Republican sponsors envisioned the legislation as a vehicle to challenge Roe in court, and said they could add rape and incest exceptions later if Roe is overturned.

Theyre basically using people  in this particular situation, women  as collateral damage, said Democratic Rep. Chris England, the chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party. In the debate, we tried to talk reasonably to them and say, What happens if you win? This is the law, Youre not going to have the opportunity to change it before people get hurt.

Several other states, including Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, also have bans or trigger laws in place that lack exceptions for rape or incest, according to the Guttmacher Institute and Associated Press reporting.

Idaho and Utah have exceptions for rape or incest, but require the pregnant woman to first file a police report and then prove to the abortion provider the report was made. Only about a third of sexual assaults are reported to police, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

Texas and Idaho allow exceptions for medical emergencies but leave that interpretation up to physicians, making some critics fear doctors will wait to intervene until a woman is near death.

Public support for total abortion bans appears to be low, based on a Pew Research Center survey released Friday and conducted in March. The survey showed just 10% of U.S. adults say abortion should be illegal in all cases. When probed further, just 8% think abortion should be illegal with no exceptions. An additional 27% percent say abortion should be illegal in most cases.

Arkansas has two near-total abortion bans  a trigger law from 2019 and one passed last year that is blocked in federal court. Neither have exceptions for rape or incest, though they do allow abortions to save the womans life. The state also never repealed its pre-1973 total abortion ban with no restrictions.

Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst for the abortion-rights supporting Guttmacher Institute, said that of 86 pending proposals for abortion restrictions this year, only a few  including one each in Idaho, New Jersey and West Virginia  include rape and incest exceptions.

The exceptions were always incredibly limited, she said. You might think these exceptions are helpful. But in fact theyre so restricted, theyre very hard to use.

Troy Newman, president of the national anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, said exceptions to abortion restrictions for rape and incest and to protect a pregnant womans life in the past have been thrown in there to appease some centrists.

Newman said his group, based in Wichita, Kansas, opposes rape and incest exceptions. Their rationale: Dont punish the baby for the crime of the father.

The Ohio Legislature is weighing a trigger law that lacks sexual assault exceptions. During a hearing last month, the bills GOP sponsor, Rep. Jean Schmidt, caused controversy when she called pregnancy resulting from rape an opportunity for the rape victim to make a determination about what shes going to do to help that life be a productive human being.

She was responding to a question from Democratic Rep. Rich Brown, who asked if a 13-year-old impregnated during a rape would be forced to carry to term.

Rape emotionally scars the individual, Schmidt conceded, but if a baby is created, it is a human life.

Democratic Rep. Tavia Galonski countered that pregnancy is often traumatic and dangerous on its own, adding: To then force a survivor of rape to carry a pregnancy to term and go through childbirth is utterly vile and only adds to the trauma they have already suffered.

In South Carolina, supporters of a 2021 abortion ban added exceptions for rape and incest because it was the only way to get the law passed.

New Hampshire has banned abortion after 24 weeks of gestation except for when the womans health is threatened, though the state will soon add an exception for fatal fetal anomalies. The Republican-led legislature has rejected attempts to add rape and incest exceptions.
Beginning square dance lessons

China Spring United Methodist Church, 12301 Yankie Road, will host beginning square dance lessons, starting Monday from 7 to 9 p.m.

No experience is necessary. The first two lessons are free, then cost $3 per person. For more information, call Wendell Moore at 254-836-0093 or 254-715-2749.

Free legal advice clinic

Greater Waco Legal Services will have its First Monday Legal Advice Clinic from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at El Calvario Presbyterian Church, 3100 N. 19th St.

To make an appointment, call 254-733-2828.

Homespun Quilters Guild

The Homespun Quilters Guild will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday at New Road Church of Christ, 3100 S. New Road. Speaker Carol Morrissey will present Art & Nature: A Colorful Collaboration. Visitors are always welcome.

Tornado Remembrance Walk

Waco Walks will host a Tornado Remembrance Walk at 6 p.m. Wednesday starting from the tornado memorial at the corner of Fourth Street and Austin Avenue. Baylor University libraries spokesperson Eric Ames will retrace the path through downtown of the May 11, 1953, tornado that killed 114 people, and share some of the facts, stories and legends associated with the storm.

MCC graduation Tuesday

McLennan Community College will host its Spring Commencement at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Baylor Universitys Ferrell Center. Harrison Keller, commissioner and CEO of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, will provide the keynote speech. For more information, call Highlander Central at 254-299-8622.

Submit printed or typed items to Briefly, P.O. Box 2588, Waco, 76702-2588; or email goingson@wacotrib.com.
LONDON (AP)  The U.K., U.S. and Irish governments have urged rival parties in Northern Ireland to come together to resurrect its power-sharing government after Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein scored a historic victory to become the biggest party in Northern Ireland's Assembly.

Sinn Fein, which seeks union with Ireland, won 27 seats in the 90-seat legislature, beating the Democratic Unionist Party, which secured 25 seats. It's the first time in Northern Ireland's history that an Irish nationalist party has topped the voting.

But it's not clear whether Sinn Fein will lead a new government because of Northern Ireland's delicate power-sharing politics and ongoing tussles over the legacy of Britain's exit from the European Union.

While Sinn Fein's vice-president Michelle ONeill now has the right to the post of first minister, a functioning Northern Ireland Executive  or devolved government  cannot be formed unless the largest unionist party agrees to join in the role of deputy first minister.

In February the DUP's Paul Givan quit as first minister in protest against post-Brexit border arrangements, collapsing the Executive. His party has said it will not return to government unless their demands over the customs arrangements are met.

Leaders in London and Dublin said all parties must now re-establish Northern Ireland's government as soon as possible.

Irish prime minister Micheal Martin said late Saturday that it is now incumbent on all political parties and elected representatives to deliver on their mandate.

Power-sharing and principles of partnership, equality and mutual respect are at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement, through which peace has been secured and progress achieved for almost 25 years," he added. A new power-sharing Executive is vital for progress and prosperity for all in Northern Ireland.

In London, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he will meet with party leaders Monday to discuss how to re-establish a functioning government.

Lewis reiterated his position that the U.K. government would like to reach an agreement with the EU to resolve disputes over post-Brexit rules known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The DUP is strongly opposed to the rules, which have imposed customs and border checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. Unionists say the new checks have created a barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. that undermines their British identity.

Britains Conservative government is trying to get the EU to agree to major changes, but negotiations have reached an impasse.

The U.K. governments position is we want to secure a deal with the EU. Were very clear about that," Lewis told the BBC Sunday. We have worked very hard on that for over a year now across a series of conversations. We made proposals. The EU havent shown any flexibility.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said post-Brexit problems are an obstacle to stability in Northern Ireland, and that the government in London will take whatever measures are necessary to try to resolve it.

Its clear from the dynamic that we now see that we wont get to that position of stability unless and until it is fixed," Raab said.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price also urged Northern Irelands political leaders to take the necessary steps to re-establish a functioning government.

Brexit's legacy adds an extra challenge to Northern Ireland's politics, which operates under a delicate system splitting power between the largest British unionist party and largest Irish nationalist party. The system was created by the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement that ended decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict.

If no power-sharing Executive can be formed within six months, a new election may be triggered.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Awed at the Ukrainians courage?

Disgusted at the behavior of Putin and his troops?

Horrified by the images of random destruction and deaths?

Despairing that this is going to be a long war and aftermath?

Wish you could do something besides charitable donations to help the Ukrainians and to help the Europeans helping the Ukrainians?

We can. Go solar and buy as much energy from alternative sources as possible. That may seem anathema to Texas, but hear me out.

Russia is fueling its army and war with oil and gas money, much of it from Europe, which has become dependent on Russia for much of its fossil fuel energy even as Europe has led the way on adopting alternative forms of energy. To ask Germany and other European countries to cut off pipelines from Russia would be a major hit for their economies, homes and general welfare, unless they can find other reasonably priced sources of fossil fuels.

Thats where Texas comes in. If Texas, and the United States in general, had more oil and gas, we could sell to Europe to help them while they bear the major energy and refugee costs of this war; we should do that to help cut off the Russian spigot.

We could help by going solar- and wind-powered in as many ways as we can, so there is more supply to ship to Europe to replace what they need to wean themselves off Russian oil. For the years ahead, this would not hurt the Texas economy at all. In fact, major investments in alternative energy sources by individuals, businesses, municipalities and more, plus continued sales of oil and gas, would make the economy even more robust. Why arent there solar farms on top of the all the huge warehouses already in Texas with more built all the time?

Besides, it would help us do what we already have to do to face down the perils of the worst enemy we have created, climate change, whose destructive power will continue to grow unless we do thousands of individual and collective things to diminish its power. It would also provide time for oil and gas giants in Texas to transition into major providers of alternative energy if they have the foresight to do so.

So go solar, and wind. Buy that electric vehicle. Spend some money but save in the long run. And while we do so, know we are helping friends and allies who are much more directly impacted by an immoral and brutal war that has no reason for being.

It will take a massive effort to help Ukraine survive by stopping the Russia war machine. A massive response to take away the power of its oil and gas is one possible way to help.

Besides, it is totally in our own self-interest, if we want both our offspring and Ukrainian children to inherit a world that is safe for them to live in and one where democracies can flourish.

Simplistic? Perhaps. But once again a common enemy and threat can bring people together to do great things. Texas is in a unique position to help lead the way.

Former Wacoan Bill Gaventa is a clergyman and educator living in Austin.
MANILA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Police said at least eight persons were hurt in a series of grenade explosions in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines on Sunday night, the eve of the general elections.

Police said four explosions hit Datu Unsay town and another one hit nearby Shariff Aguak town.

No group has claimed responsibility for the explosions. Police are looking into the attacks in the areas tagged as "hot spots."

Local authorities said the attack could be election-related, adding that some of those injured were teachers awaiting the release of vote-counting machines and supporters of local candidates.

John Rex Laudiangco, acting spokesperson of the Commission on Elections, told a news conference that the situation in the area is under control, and that voting would push through as scheduled.

Over 65.7 million Filipinos will vote on Monday to elect a new president, a new vice president, 12 senators, more than 300 members of the House of Representatives, and over 17,000 local officials. 
When I learned of an early draft of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alitos opinion on the future of abortion as a constitutional right surfacing on Politico last week, I balked as a skeptical journalist out of concern for its being a fake. However, when I finally chanced a look at the first 20 or so pages, I quickly recognized Alitos personality in the writing  snarky, intolerant, pugnacious and, whatever else, remarkably straightforward.

In short, genuine to the letter, something Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the following day, even as Roberts stressed the written opinion was a draft, certain to be tweaked and revised by concurring justices. However the opinion is ultimately refined, though, the outcome seems sure in this forceful, uncompromising text: The high courts long-anticipated reassessment of Roe v. Wade that a half-century ago struck down Texas law criminalizing abortion and gleaned from the mighty Fourteenth Amendment a right to privacy that protects a pregnant womans choice of whether to undergo an abortion is about to strip away federal protections.

Thereafter, this right will be left to the states, which history proves have an abysmal record of protecting the rights of certain citizens. And while 78 percent of Texas voters in a recent University of Texas at Austin poll may well believe abortions should be allowed in some form, dont bet the house on that sentiment manifesting itself in the form of actual votes. So far as Texas goes, a 2021 state trigger law starts a 30-day countdown toward banning most abortions once the formal ruling from the Supreme Court is issued, presumably consigning to the trash heap a bizarre anti-abortion law encouraging Texans to sue for cash any neighbors, co-workers or family members they find helping facilitate abortions, exempting those who actually received the abortions.

Even alongside controversial issues such as immigration, health care and gun rights, abortion is unique. In an era that condemns compromise, abortion is the one issue that absolutely demands cooler heads and societal and political compromise and savvy leadership if the life of the unborn is sacred and the rights of the mother are to be respected in ways that men in other matters demand to be respected. Indeed, many men vigorously resisting masking mandates and vaccinations during the pandemic have used the very same rhetoric that women have in resisting governments telling them what they could and could not do regarding their own bodies.

Anti-abortion protesters once regularly likened abortion to slavery, but thats a colossally flawed defense  a former slave could indeed survive free, even though some whites for generations openly doubted the abilities of African Americans in individual subsistence; a former master could survive without a slave, certain hardships notwithstanding. The abortion issue, by contrast, has dealt with the solitary instance when two lives are caught up in one physical body for the better part of a year. So whose rights prevail? Is a legitimate and workable balance of these human rights even possible in an age of extremes? Is it even relevant?

Back in 1974, my wife and I did murder our own child [through abortion] and I suffer almost daily from that, Waco attorney, Army veteran and former McLennan County Republican Party chairman Jon Ker told the Texas House Public Health Committee last year in favor of this state trigger bill while chairing the Abolish Abortion Subcommittee of the State Republican Executive Committee. I do know the effects of what abortion can do, even from a fathers perspective, and that is just something that needs to be  the reprehensible thing of abortion needs to be abolished in our state and in our nation because it hurts everybody. And I would like to say one other thing and then Ill quit: That life inside that mother is not the mothers life. When we say that its a choice or the mothers health, were [suggesting] that that life within that mother is not a separate life, and it is separate and that life under our founding documents needs to be protected.

During the 2021 legislative session, other presumably equally sincere pro-life advocates lambasted the idea of the state of Texas waiting for the Supreme Court of the United States to finally get around to striking down the constitutionality of ones right to an abortion. Some argued Texas should ignore the highest court in the land, ban abortion statewide to save unborn lives and secede from the United States if necessary. And more and more, frustrated pro-life advocates citing biblical verses and touting Christian values have abandoned the long-accepted view that young women seeking abortions are themselves innocent and misguided victims. I see [that] women who have abortions are not seen as criminals, and I wonder why, a Houston woman told the House Public Health Committee shortly before Ker testified. I know its partially because abortion is kind of an anesthetized term, but whats really happening is child sacrifice. These precious human lives are being sacrificed to glorify womens freedom of choice. She cited Isaiah 1:17: Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.

And all this aforementioned diversity of opinion is just on the pro-life side. A Pew Research Center national survey conducted in March and part of a Pew report released Saturday morning found that while Republicans and Democrats have long been on opposite ends of the issue, the 42 percentage-point partisan gap today is considerably larger than it was in the recent past: The change in attitudes has come almost entirely among Democrats: Currently, 80 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, up from 72 percent in 2016 and 63 percent in 2007. Republicans views have shown far less change over time: Currently, 38 percent of Republicans and GOP leaners say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. In many ways, the partisan divisions over whether abortion should generally be legal in the United States tell only part of the story. While most Democrats say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, sizable shares favor restrictions on abortion under certain circumstances. And while most Republicans favor making abortion illegal in all or most cases, majorities favor exceptions in cases of rape or when the life of the woman is at risk.

Rights in the balance

Justice Alito gets this much right at the very outset of his 98-page opinion: Abortion presents a profound moral issue on which Americans hold sharply conflicting views. The basic thrust in his draft opinion insists that not only is the right to a medical abortion mentioned nowhere in the U.S. Constitution but the legal scaffolding supporting it and the rights to contraceptives, racially mixed marriages and gay marriages  the fundamental and cherished right to privacy  is also mentioned nowhere in the Constitution. He stresses that abortion ranks as a special concern to the court in contrast to these other hard-earned rights, given its threat to the life of the unborn.

Yet given the hobbling legitimacy of the Roberts court in survey after survey over embarrassments up to and including the scandal of this leaked draft opinion; calls for ethics reform for the high court after texts by the politically bonkers wife of right-wing Justice Clarence Thomas surfaced proposing a virtual coup detat; and high court nominees who will say anything before the Senate Judiciary Committee to get plum lifetime appointments, who can really believe these politicized justices wont soon come after other rights? Conservative gadfly Ben Shapiro and other emboldened right-wing zealots have already signaled theyre coming after gay marriage next. And the unrepentant tone in the Alito draft practically invites them to mount further combat in Americas increasingly divisive culture wars.

In his February draft, Justice Alito repeatedly dismisses the reasoning of past justices (nearly to the point of insulting them) in his insistence that the right to an abortion is mentioned nowhere in the Constitution. Hes right, of course, but theres also no mention in the Constitution about, say, allotting free speech rights to corporations in the form of unlimited and corrupting cash to political entities, per the Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission ruling of 2010, which Alito supported. And that court decision has enriched already wealthy elites and widened our societal and political divide through corporate titans and noisy billionaires eager to game the constitutional system for their own ends, even as they sometimes play populist puppeteer to the masses.

And regarding that right to privacy upon which some arguments for abortion rights have relied: Given that some of us believe the high court has succumbed to unceasing political pressure, Alito and concurring justices best be wary of the far right who are increasingly alone in granting them legitimacy: Privacy has been cited as a constitutionally relevant right by conservatives in everything from filling out U.S. Census forms (a tea-party gripe in 2010) to gun-ownership registries, which some fear will allow the government to readily confiscate our weaponry when it finally mutates into a dictatorship. McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara specifically mentioned this latter scenario as a concern when I interviewed him a couple of months ago. It was part of his broader concern back in January 2013 when he surprised some constituents by insisting he would refuse to enforce new federal laws restricting access to guns or ammunition, a position many sheriffs took after a December 2012 mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that left 20 children and six staff members dead. The slaughter had prompted calls for new measures against gun violence.

Division and doubt

Alito makes a strongly originalist argument for leaving abortion questions to the states, including the very voters whom he has helped confound through court opinions over the years undermining voting rights and perpetuating gerrymandering abuses. And his rationale in the draft opinion that certain unspecified rights must have at least some grounding in history fails to acknowledge that for the past half-century abortion rights have been consistently accepted and even championed as a relevant if carefully regulated right by a majority of our fellow citizens in survey after survey after survey. And the past half-century going back to the Nixon era and the Vietnam War and womens liberation and social unrest surely counts as history.

Finally, Alito pointedly notes how the abortion legal schemes of past justices not only fail to pass constitutional muster but have enflamed debate and deepened division among Americans. Right again, but one reason past court decisions havent gained acceptance is because those in Alitos political party have repeatedly enflamed segments of society against these rulings, demonstrated in everything from local boycotts of Girl Scout cookie drives to threats of secession. Support for overturning Roe has become a virtual litmus test in the Republican Party  and not only for GOP candidates seeking executive and legislative positions but for supposedly unbiased federal court nominees pressed by Republicans. (And, yes, the same charge can be leveled at Democrats.)

If certain past justices of the Supreme Court of the United States  many of them Republican  are guilty of anything in Roe v. Wade and the Planned Parenthood of Eastern Pennsylvania v. Casey ruling tempering that right in 1992, its in trying to establish a reasonable constitutional framework for a safe medical recourse uniquely important to some women in an era of newfound liberation, even if it didnt constitute an absolute right. But then what right is absolute?

When all is said and done by the current court regarding abortion in weeks to come, many women may realize that the rights of a pregnant woman reluctant for whatever reason to give birth and the rights of an unborn child to one day walk among us were actually pretty well balanced by high courts of the past with some reasonable restrictions by states. At least, they were before a handful of justices on this court, bowing to political expectations inherent in their appointments and confirmations, upset the equilibrium and risked enflaming passions and deepening our divide even more than Justice Alito imagines or cares.

Bill Whitaker retired as Waco Tribune-Herald opinion editor in 2020 after a career of nearly 45 years as a reporter, editor and columnist in Texas journalism.

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This past Tuesday, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court John Roberts confirmed that a leaked draft opinion in a pending case was authentic. That opinion was in what will probably be a case of once-in-a-generation importance: Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, which addresses a new Mississippi law that restricts abortions conducted more than 15 weeks into a pregnancy. The draft opinion, first published by Politico, makes clear there likely is a majority on the high court to overrule Roe v. Wade and its broad protections for those seeking abortion.

The leaked opinion is a bombshell in two ways  first because of its content; second because it was leaked at all. Its hard to address the leak at this point, because no one seems to know the source. And people on either side of this issue might well have reasons to leak it. The content of the draft opinion, though, is ripe for discussion.

Its important to understand what is being overruled. Roe was the middle of three related Supreme Court opinions issued between 1965 and 1992.

The first of these was Griswold v. Connecticut, which addressed a Connecticut law that prohibited anyone from using any drug, medicinal article or instrument for the purpose of preventing conception. The challenge to the law came specifically from married women, and the Supreme Court struck down the law as unconstitutional as it violated a fundamental constitutional right to marital privacy. Justice William O. Douglas opinion for a 7-2 majority broke new ground by creating a privacy right not explicitly contained in the Constitution.

Douglas opinion argued that such a right was nonetheless implied by the Constitutions general interest in privacy, expressed in provisions including the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment. It wasnt the first time that the court had found constitutional protections that werent expressly spelled out in the Constitution; for example, earlier cases had established that there was a right as a parent to control the raising of ones children.

Griswold was existing law at the time Roe v. Wade came along in 1973. In Roe, writing for a 7-2 majority (with five Republican-appointed justices in the majority), Justice Harry Blackmun specifically looked to the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments in finding that a Texas law prohibiting abortions conflicted with a pregnant womans right to privacy. Intriguingly, Roe also had a leaked document  a memo by Justice Douglas discussing the case was published by The Washington Post before the case decision was announced.

Finally, the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey addressed a Pennsylvania law that, among other provisions, required a married woman to notify her husband if she was getting an abortion. Some thought that the Supreme Court would use this case as an opportunity to strike down Roe, but instead a mixed group of opinions (there was no single majority) resulted in Roe surviving with a general prohibition on states placing an undue burden on abortion rights.

For 30 years, Casey had the last word. Then, last Monday, Politico dropped its bomb. The draft opinion, written for a majority of the court (presumably, Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett), rejects Roe without reservation and returns to the states the ability to regulate abortion as they wish. The language of the opinion could give a green light not just to restrictions but prohibitions of abortion under state laws.

The consensus among experts is that the draft opinion probably will predict the general outcome in the Dobbs case. There are two caveats to that conclusion, though.

The first is that an early draft such as this one (from February) will go through dozens if not hundreds of changes before it is finalized in the next few months. The five members of the majority will have differing views within the general framework and will each play a role in shaping the final product.

Second, sometimes things change at the last minute  justices will abruptly jump from one side to another, though this is unusual. One example of this came in an important case in my own field, 2005s United States v. Booker. In Booker, there was a five-justice majority for both striking down the federal sentencing guidelines as a violation of the Sixth Amendments right to a jury and giving defendants the right to have enhancement factors determined by a jury. At the last minute, though, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg switched sides on the remedy, and the resulting opinions directed that the guidelines were no longer mandatory but did not require jury resolution of enhancement factors.

There is some chance, perhaps remote, that a similar thing may happen in Dobbs. Chief Justice Roberts is believed to be in favor of upholding the Mississippi law while retaining aspects of Roe. If that is true, he may be leaning on some in the majority to come over to his side, which would salvage Roe, at least in part.

Those cheering the overturning of Roe shouldnt expect the presumed upcoming ruling in Dobbs will rid America of abortion. It wont. It will return the question to the states, which will take a variety of approaches. My home state of Minnesota will likely continue to allow legal abortion, while the surrounding states of Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas are likely to bar or deeply restrict it. That means that people who can afford it will travel here to Minnesota to get an abortion. Others will manage to get abortion pills in the mail. Some who can do neither may take more desperate measures.

We have a good template to consider when anticipating the changes Dobbs might allow. Texas restricted abortion to those in the earliest stage of pregnancy in March 2021. However, the rate at which people in Texas have gotten abortions has only gone down 10 percent, as those seeking the procedure have gone to other states or obtained abortion pills.

The takeaway from that result  and its an important one  is that law is not very effective at restricting things driven by demand. If I have learned anything in a career as a prosecutor and scholar of criminal law, it is that definitive truth. So long as there is a demand for abortions, people will get abortions; demand finding supply is an iron law of economics. That means that in the wake of the probable outcome in Dobbs, abortions will continue at a slightly lower rate, with the collateral effect of creating dangerous situations for those with the fewest resources.

The final victory in the decadeslong legal fight to overturn Roe might not do much to actually diminish abortion. It will just restructure it. What would be more likely to lower abortion rates dramatically would be continuing and accelerating efforts to lower demand for abortion. That means access to sex education and contraception, support for poor families and expectant mothers, and free health care for those who take a child to term. More generally, it means creating better educational opportunities and job equality for women and girls.

But even if all that is done, there will be demand for abortion, and there will be abortions. The demand I describe is different than the simple economic forces we often associate with such analyses. With abortion, the demand is driven by a million different reasons, individual to a woman or a couple. For many, it is a tragedy that drives them to seek an abortion, and each of those tragedies has its own hue and line. To imagine that a court can alter those truths in a sweeping way gives too much credit to the machines of government and denies the realities of our own frail lives.

Mark Osler is an American legal scholar, Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis and a former federal prosecutor. He taught at Baylor Law School from 2000 through 2010.
Today is Sunday, May 8, the 128th day of 2022. There are 237 days left in the year. This is Mother's Day.

Today's highlight

On May 8, 1996, South Africa took another step from apartheid to democracy by adopting a constitution that guaranteed equal rights for Black people and white people.

On this date

In 1541, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River.

In 1846, the first major battle of the Mexican-American War was fought at Palo Alto, Texas; U.S. forces led by Gen. Zachary Taylor were able to beat back Mexican forces.

In 1915, Regret became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby.

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced on radio that Nazi Germany's forces had surrendered, and that "the flags of freedom fly all over Europe."

In 1973, militant American Indians who had held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered.

In 1978, David R. Berkowitz pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn courtroom to murder, attempted murder and assault in connection with the "Son of Sam" shootings that claimed six lives and terrified New Yorkers. (Berkowitz was sentenced to six consecutive life prison terms.)

In 1984, the Soviet Union announced it would boycott the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

In 1993, the Muslim-led government of Bosnia-Herzegovina and rebel Bosnian Serbs signed an agreement for a nationwide cease-fire.

In 2003, the Senate unanimously endorsed adding to NATO seven former communist nations: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

In 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear accord with Iran and restored harsh sanctions; Trump had been a severe critic of the deal negotiated by the Obama administration in which Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program.

In 2020, the unemployment level surged to 14.7%, a level last seen when the country was in the throes of the Great Depression; the government reported that 20 million Americans had lost their jobs in April amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Ten years ago: Six-term veteran Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar lost a bitter Republican primary challenge, his nearly four-decade career in the Senate ended by tea party-backed state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who was defeated the following November by Democrat Joe Donnelly. North Carolina voters decided overwhelmingly to strengthen their state's gay marriage ban. Children's book author Maurice Sendak, 83, died in Danbury, Connecticut.

Five years ago: A suspect, Aaron Juan Saucedo, was arrested in a string of serial killings that terrified a Phoenix neighborhood, a huge break in a case that involved nine deaths and a dozen separate shootings. (Saucedo has pleaded not guilty; he is still awaiting trial.)

One year ago: Colonial Pipeline, the operator of a major pipeline system that carried fuel across the East Coast, said it had been victimized by a ransomware attack and had halted all pipeline operations to deal with the threat. A car bombing attack in Afghanistan's capital killed more than 90 people, many of them students leaving a girls' school.

 Associated Press

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RAYMOND -- Russ and Deb (McGee) Backes are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary with a card shower.

They were married May 8, 1982, at Immaculate Conception Church in Gilbertville.

He is retired from being a self-employed plasterer. She is a nurse at UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital, where she has been employed for more than 40 years.

They are the parents of three children: Alex of Bettendorf, Nathan of Waterloo, and Tyler of Rota, Spain.

Cards may be sent to the couple at P.O. Box 44, Raymond, IA 50667.

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CEDAR FALLS  The Board of Education on Monday will consider approving a contract with one employee group and amending its previously negotiated agreement with another group.

The board meets at 5:30 p.m. in the Cedar Falls Community Center, 528 Main St.

A tentative two-year agreement has been reached with Cedar Falls Education Support Professionals.

It includes a 7.63% increase in wages and non-insurance benefits the first year and a 2.83% increase the second year. In the first year, base wages and pay for current employees will increase by $1 per hour. It would grow by 40 cents per hour the second year.

A memorandum of understanding with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2749, representing food service workers, would match that increase.

The AFSCME agreement, reached in December, only included a 50-cent hourly wage boost the first year.

Under the new proposal, the increase would be $1. Increases would stay at 40 and 30 cents per hour in the next two years.

Employees represented by the two unions could also receive a one-time $750 retention bonus Sept. 30, 2023.

They have to be already working for Cedar Falls Community Schools on June 30 and accept a letter of assignment for 2023-24. The bonus will be funded with federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief dollars.

Both contracts will take effect July 1.

In other business, the board will consider approving:

A one-year school nursing contract with MercyOne Waterloo for $593,252, a $2,778 increase from the current agreement.

The 2022-23 lease agreement with Central Rivers Area Education Agency for River Hills School. The Cedar Falls district, where the school is located, will pay $614,000 to the agency in quarterly installments.

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WATERLOO  The Waterloo Schools Foundation exceeded its fundraising goal for the 24 hours following the end of Thursdays Sparking Academic Excellence Breakfast and broke the record for donations in the annual campaign.

With a $6,000 commitment from the Locke family, the foundation hoped to raise $9,000 more from breakfast attendees and other community members for a total of $15,000 by 9 a.m. Friday.

Hannah Luce, the foundations executive director, reported that $17,316 was raised in the 24-hour period. That effort was the tail end of a larger fundraising campaign that reached a record amount of $69,116. That exceeded the previous record of $51,470 in 2019.

This is ecstatic for us, said Luce. Its amazing to see how everyone in our community has rallied around our educators over the past few years.

She suggested that the pandemic has helped the public see the value of local educators.

Excluding the Locke family donation, Luce said about half of the money raised after the breakfast was from people who attended the event and filled out a pledge card. The other half came from community members who werent there and made an online payment or dropped off a check at the foundations office.

Thank you to our students and our educators, she said. Their presence (Thursday) just makes our event incredibly unique. Thats what were here for, to keep our students and educators at the foreforont of our why at the Waterloo Schools Foundation.

The foundation was established in the spring of 2010 to benefit the Waterloo Community School District. The breakfast was first held in 2012.

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HOUSTON (AP)  A Houston conservative activist charged with unlawful restraint and aggravated assault had asked a U.S. attorney in Texas to provide federal marshals to help his private investigator seize what were believed to be fraudulent voter ballots from an air conditioner repairman's vehicle.

A transcript of a phone call from Dr. Steven Hotze to then U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick filed in district court in Houston says Hotze told Patrick of plans by private investigator Mark Aguirre to cause the repairmans vehicle to crash and for Aguirre to make a citizen's arrest.

Aguirre has also been charged with the same offenses and both men have said through their attorneys that they did nothing wrong. Patrick, now in private practice, declined comment. Both men are out on bail.

Aguirre had hoped to seize what was believed were thousands of fraudulent voter ballots, but the vehicle carried only tools, prosecutors have said.

Then-President Donald Trump and others falsely claimed there was massive voter fraud in the November 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

He (Aguirre) needs to have a federal marshal with him, Hotze said, according to the transcript of the Oct. 17, 2020 phone call. He doesn't want to get (the) Houston Police Department, he said all the evidence would disappear."

The Texas Attorney General's office was not helping, the transcript said and the county sheriff's office could not be trusted obviously because they're Democrats.

Ryan replied that no federal agents worked for his office.

I can't just send marshals ... the marshals don't work for me, Ryan said, according to the document.

Hotze's attorney, Jared Woodfill, said in a statement to KTRK-TV that Hotze is innocent.

"The Ryan Patrick tape further demonstrates that the indictment of Dr. Hotze was politically motivated and that Dr. Hotze is innocent of any criminal or civil wrongdoing. We look forward to proving Dr. Hotzes innocence, according to the statement.

Aguirre's attorney, Terry Yates, also denied wrongdoing by Aguirre. This is a political prosecution that is utterly baseless in fact or law, Yates said.

Aguirre allegedly slammed his vehicle into the back of the repairmans vehicle two days after the phone call, drew a weapon and ordered the man to the ground and put a knee on his back, according to prosecutors.

Aguirre was paid $266,400 to conduct the investigation by the Houston-based nonprofit Liberty Center for God and Country, whose CEO is Hotze, police have said. The group says on its website that it protects and promote citizens' God-given, unalienable Constitutional rights and liberties."

Hotze, a conservative power broker, unsuccessfully sued to stop the extension of early voting in Texas for this years election. He also sued officials in Harris County to limit in-person and absentee voting, making allegations without evidence that Democrats were engaged in ballot harvesting by gathering votes from individuals who are homeless or elderly.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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DES MOINES (AP)  A dispute is unfolding in Polk County district court over who owns the sofas in Gov. Kim Reynolds house.

A petition filed by the Terrace Hill Society Foundation lays out a conflict it says has grown between it and the Terrace Hill Commission, the state agency responsible for managing Terrace Hill, the official Iowa governors mansion in Des Moines.

The nonprofit organization maintains it owns many of the furnishings and other items in the spectacular Second Empire edifice, long the citys most famous residence. But, according to court filings, the Terrace Hill Commission is denying the group access to maintain and inspect its collection.

A list of the items the foundation claims are part of its collection does not include all furnishings at Terrace Hill, but foundation attorney Jason Casini said it encompasses hundreds of items, including furniture, books, fine china and historical artifacts. Many of those items are irreplaceable, Casini said in an email, and the collection is insured for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

According to the complaint, the foundation, which abbreviates its name THSF, for decades has had access to the property to inspect, maintain and repair or replace items, as needed. It said that in recent years, however, A disagreement has developed between the Commission and THSF regarding ownership and control over the Collection, resulting in the Commission, in effect, seizing control of the Collection and denying THSF  control over it or access to it.

The disagreement over ownership and control of the collection dates back to 2014, Casini said.

The Commission has not explicitly claimed ownership, but it claims that the Collection is not owned by THSF and based on that position has denied THSF access to it, he said.

The petition seeks declaratory judgment, asking the court to pronounce the foundation the proper owner of the items as well as monetary donations for the collections upkeep. It further seeks an injunction from the court granting the foundation access to its collection.

Casini said in a news release that the foundation was reluctant to pursue this legal action and viewed it as a last resort.

Numerous attempts over several years to amicably and informally resolve these pending issues with the Commission have been met with indifference and inaction, he said.

A representative of the commission declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

Reynolds office referred questions about the dispute to the Iowa Attorney Generals Office, where a spokesperson also declined to comment.

Reynolds is the fifth Iowa governor to live at Terrace Hill, which occupies a commanding position atop a towering hill south of Grand Avenue, overlooking the Raccoon River and Waterworks Park as well as the downtown skyline. The first resident governor, Robert Ray, took occupancy in 1976, and Gov. Terry Branstad lived there twice, returning after defeating then-Gov. Chet Culver in 2010.

The home dates from 1869, built by Des Moines first millionaire, Benjamin Franklin Allen, who made his fortune in banking and real estate. He served as a state senator before going bust in a controversial bank failure, and sold the mansion in 1884 to insurance and real estate magnate Frederick Hubbell for a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of dollars he had paid to have it built.

Hubbells descendants lived there until 1957. In 1971 they donated the house, long vacant, to the state, and the Legislature voted to renovate it to serve as the governors mansion. But it didnt initially allocate any funds for the project, so the Terrace Hill Society, later to add foundation to its name, formed the following year to raise the funds and to collect fine furniture, art, carpets, books, silver, china and other items to decorate and equip the vast house, empty since the Hubbells moved out.

One potential source of the current disagreement about who controls the collection: From the beginning, the society was tied closely to the state. Though it was a nonprofit corporation, among it incorporators was then-Iowa Secretary of State George Mills, who headed the states Terrace Hill Planning Commission  forerunner of the Terrace Hill Commission. Also among the founders was the state treasurer, and contributors to the society were directed to send their donations in care of the treasurers office.

Still, coverage over the years indicates the two groups long worked amicably together, and provide no indication of what sparked their rift.

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Ohio Republican U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance recently said, Democrats are evil and Republicans are stupid.

He was channeling Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyoming, who quipped in 2003, We have two political parties in this country  the Stupid Party and the Evil Party. I belong to the Stupid Party.

Simpson blasted Democrats as evil after winning a court decision to uphold the McCain-Feingold campaign financing reform law, then secretly pressing for unlimited soft money from businesses, unions and the rich.

Evil or stupid? Democrats now bemoan the subsequent Citizens United reversal eviscerating campaign reform.

In 2016, Vance remarked, We are, whether we like it or not, the party of lower-income, lower-education white people, and I have been saying for a long time that we need to offer those people SOMETHING.

Iowa is among 19 states offering them a $7.25 minimum wage. Rather than raise it to ease a worker shortage, Republicans reduced jobless benefits by 10 weeks.

Evil or stupid?

Their new 3.9% flat tax disproportionately benefits the wealthy. After two earlier GOP tax cuts, the nonpartisan State Policy Reports ranked Iowa 49th in both State Economic Momentum and personal income growth.

The fix? Allow unsupervised juveniles to work in child care.

Evil or stupid, you decide:

In North Carolina, where Donald Trump, crusader against imaginary election fraud, once urged voting twice (by mail and in-person), former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows registered to vote using a trailer he never called home as his residence.

Oklahoma Republican State Sen. Warren Hamilton decried an exception for ectopic pregnancies in the states anti-abortion law. I wonder how we square that with the idea of justice for all. Ectopic pregnancies are the leading cause of maternal deaths in the first trimester.

Pregnancy resulting from rape is an opportunity, remarked Ohio Republican state Rep. Jean Schmidt.

Rape is a difficult issue, but if a baby is created, it is a human life, she said.  Theres an opportunity for that woman.  That child can grow up and be something magnificent, a wonderful family person, cure cancer, etc.

Or another Adolf Hitler  Tennessee Republican state Sen. Frank Niceleys inspiration for banning highway homeless camps.

(In) 1910, he said, Hitler decided to live on the streets for a while. For two years  he practiced his oratory and body language and how to connect with citizens, and then went on to lead a life that got him in the history books.

Ban all classroom bias, said Indiana Republican state Sen. Scott Baldwin, who wouldnt discredit any of the isms  Marxism, Nazism or fascism. I believe that weve gone too far when we take a position on those isms. ... We need to be impartial.

In January, before his Ukrainian murder rampage, Vladimir Putin, previously known for assassinating and imprisoning foes, fixing elections and plundering his nations wealth, had a higher favorable rating among Republicans than sitting Democratic leaders in the Economists YouGuv Poll.

Stupid? Democrats not using this idiocy to their advantage.

Saul Shapiro is the retired editor of The Courier, living in Cedar Falls.

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 Canadian star of Ukrainian propaganda fled to his homeland

The best sniper in the world, immortal soldier the Canadian shooter Olivier Lavigne-Ortiz, nicknamed Wali, the hero of ukrainian propaganda returned home in May.

And now he is giving interviews that are disappointing for Kyiv.

In a conversation with La Presse, Lavigne-Ortiz admitted that he left Ukraine out of fear for his life and a desire to see his family.

The Canadian mercenary confirms reports of appalling supply and treatment of foreign fighters.

Canadian disappointed in his journey  the fighting in Ukraine is too different from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many volunteers expect it to be safe, but war is the exact opposite, its a terrible disappointment

Wali also talks about the poor training of the Ukrainian army, which significantly reduces its combat potential

The fairy tale about Wali, like other myths in the spirit of the ghost of Kyiv, turned out to be far from reality.

WtR
Who in the Western Empire would have thought that their manipulations of Russia all these years and their degrading of Russia all these years, would lead to a separation of Russia and the West? And that separation will be the destruction of the western way of life

I could see it many years ago, yet I am a westerner in Russia and I have talked about the East and West divide on this website. I had an advantage to have lived both places and see things happening first hand. The USA intentional or not has driven a wedge between the east and west.that wedge will not go away now. What does this mean?

Russia knows, for the first time in its history, that it has a future in the East. It had and has for a very long time tried and lived on that chance that the west would embrace it. Russia has been abused by the west for the last time. The abuse by the west has driven Russia to the stage of de-westernizing (code name De-Nazify) the world.it is that serious

This is solely perchance due to the fact of Mao and Global Maoism, was once solely feasible due to Lenin, and Lenin used to be solely feasible due to the fact of Marx. One party ideology among the strength of that chain of perchance

Reactionaries can also rant and rave all they want: the reality is that the future belongs to China, and China is solely the choice as it is due to the fact of Marxist communism

Some Russians leaning westward may also rant about Lenin and the times past, however contemplate about this: if the Communists in the Nineteen Eighties rather of and had not embraced listening to the western loved and embraced collaborationist Gorbachev? Had instead, held on for a few measly more years, they would have benefited from Chinas monetary development and momentum. Thus, USSR would still be in existence. Also the USA would have not garnered the attitude of of, We are Power!

I like what Clint Eastwood said in a quote of the power corrupts issue

With people in high office, the old  you go into the extreme, which is absolute power and absolute power corrupts.  Clint Eastwood

Yes, hindsight is much better than foresight and I have the advantage to see things from both a western and eastern view point, as I was raised in the west and very involved in that structure of defeat of the USSR. The USSR defeated itself and never had to be. With help from the west of course. Underhanded western leaning Soviet leaders became enamored with dollars and western materialism.

I say in a rhetorical way, McDonalds was the beginning of the end for the Soviet Union!

If the Soviet Union had kept itself together, as it should have easily, there would now be no Nazis in the Ukraine syndrome. The limitless massacres in Yugoslavia would no longer have happened. Poland and most of the different Eastern European nations would no longer now be beneath the manipulate of the excessive evil Neo-con wing. The Baltic states would definitely be in better shape than they have fallen upon now. Iraq would have many more people alive there. Afghanistan would be happy to be left alone. Libya and Qaddafi would still be alive, both are dead. Syria would be stable. Venezuela would be a socialist dream still. Russia would no longer now, be having to strike again against fascism in opposition to NATO/USA/EU Neo-con aggression

I find a revamped form of communism still has much basis in Russia. Not the communism of old, but a new communism that has a heart, that embraces its people better. It is as most in Russia would say socialism was always much stronger than communism and Russia has become much more a democracy than the USA has ever been. But that said, no single form of government works and you must blend what works from all forms of government and create a balance. This is to achieve what is best for humans, not corporations and a select few. there is enough for all

Basically, one has to hope that as a end result of the scrubbing of the Nazi Infection of Ukraine of Western imbalanced evil hateful influence, the Russian communist may come to become a viable power again. Except, this time, via in simple terms the best part of communism, socialism and democracy

Maybe a new name for a new form of government is required?

WtR
On the occasion of the 77th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, Vladimir Putin sent messages of greetings to the leaders and people of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, the Donetsk Peoples Republic, the Lugansk Peoples Republic, as well as the peoples of Georgia and Ukraine.

In his messages, the President specifically noted that on this day we pay tribute and show our respect to the soldiers and home front workers who crushed Nazism at the cost of innumerable sacrifices and hardships.

Today, our common duty is to prevent the revival of Nazism, which brought so much suffering to the people of different countries. It is necessary to preserve and pass on to posterity the truth about the events of the war years, and the common spiritual values and traditions of fraternal friendship, the messages say. Vladimir Putin wished for the younger generations to be worthy of the memory of their fathers and grandfathers.

In his messages to the heads of the Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics, the Russian leader noted that today our military personnel, like their ancestors, are fighting shoulder to shoulder for the liberation of their native land from Nazi filth and expressed confidence that, as in 1945, victory would be ours.

In addition, in a message addressed to the veterans of the Great Patriotic War and citizens of Ukraine, the President emphasised the unacceptability of revenge on the part of the ideological followers of those who were defeated in the Great Patriotic War.

Addressing the leaders and citizens of foreign states, Vladimir Putin conveyed words of sincere gratitude to the veterans of the front and home front, wishing them good health, prosperity and longevity.

@mod_russia_enjoy

WtR
New Mexico Hospitals and Outpatient Healthcare facilities (OPHF) were essentially rejected from the protections of the New Mexico Medical Malpractice Act (MMA) as a result of House Bill 75, sponsored by the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association, passed by the 2021 N.M. Legislature and signed into law by the governor.

The original HB 75s intent was to Clarify and modernize the New Mexico Medical Malpractice Act, raising liability limits and recovery caps and limiting participation by hospitals and outpatient health care facilities. The New Mexico Medical Malpractice Act, as amended by the Senate wording, destroyed any pretext of including hospitals and outpatient health care facilities in HB 75. To wit:

1) Hospitals and OPHFs cap limits were increased from $600,000 to $4 million per occurrence in 2022; to $4.5 million in 2023; to $5.5 million in 2025; and to $6 million in 2026. In addition, the cap limits will increase each year based on the consumer price index. These increased limits in excess of the basic $750,000 for independent health care providers are not covered by the Patient Compensation Fund and will require some form of insurance or self- insurance, up to the maximum of $6 million in 2026, when hospitals and OHFs are eliminated entirely from the protections of the MMA.

2) The Medical Review Commission hears a case before it is filed in court, but this provision will no longer apply to hospitals and OPHFs and their business entities.

3) Hospitals and OPHFs Patient Compensation Fund charges include an annual fee to reduce the deficits of the PCF Fund  as of Dec. 31, 2019, the PCF had estimated deficits of $62.2 million; the HB 75 mandates the PCF to be solvent by Dec. 31, 2026.

4) Ironically, hospitals and OPHFs are no longer eligible to be included in the Medical Malpractice Act coverage under HB 75 as of Dec. 31, 2026, the same date the deficits are to be eliminated.

5) It is estimated 40% to 50% of all practicing physicians are now employed by hospitals as hospitalists or employed by OPHFs. HB 75 mandates hospitalists and other agents of hospitals or OPHFs are subject to the same caps on malpractice damages as hospitals as of calendar year 2025.

Obviously, the Senate version of HB 75 was designed by the Trial Lawyers Association to accomplish the original intent: To eliminate hospitals and OPFs from the New Mexico Medical Malpractice Act.

There are very credible studies as to the reasons why government involvement in limiting Medical Professional Liability damage claims is necessary. To wit:

Zurich Insurance Co. is one of the largest insurers of Medical Professional Liability Insurance in the United States. A recent Zurich study of the monetary awards for medical accidents noted of some 3,400 medical liability claims with ultimate loss values greater than $1 million, these claims represent approximately 4% of total ultimate number of claims, yet in terms of loss dollars, these large losses amount to 60% of dollars paid for developed losses.

A recent PEW Report, Public Medical Malpractice Insurance, stated Only government-sponsored Patient Compensation Funds can alleviate severe losses in medical professional liability and are more efficient than private insurers and essential in providing excess insurance liability coverage to the medical professions. Private insurers are prone to leave the medical professional liability market given severe losses, as did Continental Insurance Company (CNA) early this year, canceling some $75 million in MPL premiums.

HB 75 will cause negative repercussions on hospital costs and services, and possibly fewer hospitals.

The 2023 New Mexico legislative session allows all bills to be introduced, and it is time for hospitals and OPHFs to prepare legislation for hospitals and outpatient healthcare facilities Professional Liability Act to include a separate patient compensation fund. Concerned N.M. citizens should contact their state representatives and senators to resolve the ill effects of HB75 and the need to pass corrective legislation in the 2023 Legislature.
HAVANA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The body of a 26-year-old Spanish woman was found at the site of the explosion that occurred Friday morning at Hotel Saratoga in Havana, the Cuban Ministry of Tourism announced Saturday.

Minister of Tourism Juan Carlos Garcia said that the explosion happened during the unloading of a tanker truck carrying about 10,000 liters of liquefied gas.

A Spanish man was injured in the blast, according to Cuban tourist group Gaviota, which operates the hotel.

Official figures showed that at least 26 people were killed and 80 injured in the explosion. A total of 46 people, including 15 children, are currently receiving treatment in hospital.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday visited the explosion site, where rescue efforts continued as firefighters and emergency workers, equipped with heavy machinery, were removing the rubble and searching for survivors.

According to Cuban state TV, 19 people are still missing.

Located opposite Cuba's National Capitol building, the five-star hotel was preparing to reopen on Tuesday as part of the country's bid to revive tourism. 
It seems like theyre hoping well forget, like forgetting to disenroll after a free trial offer for streaming movies or satellite radio that automatically hits your credit card if you dont call and cancel within 90 days.

One former state lawmaker describes the new rule that will allow independent voters to cast ballots in this years primaries as a baby step toward opening up primary elections.

But in reality, the proposal is a disingenuous effort aimed at packing non-beholden voters into the major parties while lawmakers side-step the issue of opening up the primaries to the nearly quarter of New Mexican voters registered as independents.

State lawmakers in 2020 authorized the change that allows independent voters to show up at the polls in a primary election and cast a ballot. This years primary elections will be the first time the same-day party registration rule is in effect. The old system closed the voter rolls four weeks before Election Day.

But it comes with a catch: independent voters, those who purposely register officially as Declined to State, and those who register with a minor political party such as the New Mexico Working Families Party, will have to register with either the Democratic, Libertarian or Republican party to receive that partys ballot.

And to do that, voters must bring a New Mexico drivers license or ID card issued through the state Motor Vehicle Division or a similar document with a photo verifying their identity and address. Thats ironic for a state Legislature and governor largely opposed to any form of voter ID.

Independents also wont be able to mail in absentee ballots during the primary, unless they have jettisoned their independence and declared a major party affiliation.

Bob Perls, a former state legislator, says the new system is a baby step toward opening up New Mexicos primary elections to the growing number of New Mexicans registering without a party affiliation.

But how does requiring party affiliation to vote not bolster the major political parties?

Twenty-three percent of New Mexicans have chosen to register as independents, the fastest growing voting bloc. The number of registered independents in New Mexico has grown by 26% since 2014, far outpacing the 5% growth in voter registrations overall.

That says something: A large number of New Mexicans dont want to be officially affiliated with any of the major political parties. They prefer being independent. Yet, the new system not only requires them to affiliate with a major party, it automatically keeps them registered with that major party in perpetuity.

DTS voters, who tend to be younger and people of color, will have to remember to re-register as an independent after the primary if they want to keep their independent status. Thats just wrong.

There are currently 302,000 registered independents in New Mexico out of a total of about 1.3 million registered voters overall.

The number of independents has shot up dramatically since 1990, when independents made up only 8% of the states registered voters, according to Brian Sanderoff, a political analyst and president of Research & Polling Inc. Those numbers show more and more voters are disappointed, even disgusted, with a political system that caters to the extremes, especially in primary races.

The new law may have been intended to help candidates coax unaffiliated voters into primary contests, but anyone with a TV can see daily thats not happening. Current candidates for governor and attorney general are clearly targeting the extremes of their bases, not independents.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver says the change will enfranchise independent voters who show up to vote in primary elections but are turned away because theyre not registered with a major party. But professional insiders like Sanderoff wonder if it really will help.

So do we.

Sanderoff notes not only would independent voters have to be motivated to show up, they would also have to be willing to fill out the paperwork at the polls to change their affiliation  a process election workers say takes five to 10 minutes.

Frankly, I suspect most independents arent even aware of this change, Sanderoff told the Journal.

New Mexico could better serve its citizens by truly opening up the primaries to all voters, regardless of party affiliation. Were not in favor of allowing voters to vote in multiple primaries at one time by crisscrossing, because of the potential for shenanigans like Rush Limbaughs Operation Chaos in 2008, when the talk show host encouraged Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton in Democratic primaries to keep her in the race and divide the Democratic Party.

A semi-closed system, however, in which voters choose only one primary in which to vote provides some protections against raiding the other partys nominating contest.

Our Legislatures baby step is instead a mechanism to dodge open primaries while forcing people to jump through unneeded hoops and align with a major political party just to vote.

Deputy Secretary of State Sharon Pino told the Journal it cost the state $5,751,707.47 to host primary elections in 2020. That cost is projected to be between $5.5 million and $6 million this year. The state, by statute, pays all the costs, from printing the ballots to paying the poll workers.

That means taxpayers pick up the tab.

So taxpayers pay the costs of holding elections, regardless of their voter registration status. They should be allowed to participate, regardless of their voter registration status. And they shouldnt have to jump on a partisan bandwagon to do so.

It really is disingenuous to say the new rule opens up the primaries. We just hope voters remember to cancel those unwanted free-trial registrations.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
The woman suspected of robbing a bank in Grants on Saturday. (Courtesy of the FBI) The woman suspected of robbing a bank in Grants on Saturday. (Courtesy of the FBI) The woman suspected of robbing a bank in Grants on Saturday. (Courtesy of the FBI) Prev 1 of 3 Next

The FBI and the Grants Police Department are looking for a woman theyve dubbed the red shoe robber who held up a bank Saturday late morning.

Frank Fisher, an FBI spokesman, said around 11:30 a.m. the woman entered the Wells Fargo at 201 North 1st Street.

The suspect displayed a handgun and demanded money from a teller, Fisher wrote in a news release. The robber received an undisclosed sum of money and left the bank.

Fisher described the woman as white with brown hair in a long ponytail and with mascara all over her face. She was wearing a blue surgical mask, a dark hoodie, gloves, pants and backpack and red shoes.

The FBI is offering $2,000 for information leading to her arrest and conviction. Fisher warned that the woman is considered armed and dangerous and anyone who spots her should call the FBI immediately.

Tips: Anyone with information about this robbery is asked to contact the FBI at (505) 889-1300.
Participants in the Turquoise Trail Pack Burro Race take off on Main Street in Cerrillos on Saturday to start the competition. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Joe Polonsky and his burro Jake, right, the overall winners in the 6-mile course, trot into town beside second place finishers John Roberts and his burro Louise at the Turquoise Trail Pack Burro Race. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Cerrillos resident Sister Anthony  who beforehand prayed for the teams in the Turquoise Trail Pack Burro Race  celebrates the achievements with John Roberts and his burro Louise, left, and Joe Polonsky and his burro Jake. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Prev 1 of 3 Next

The old mining town of Cerrillos played host to its first Turquoise Trail Pack Burro Race on Saturday.

About 30 participants  people and their burros  from around the Southwest took part in the race that had them hoofing it on Main Street before taking to the hills, following the trails of Cerrillos Hills State Park.

There were two courses: 6-mile and 3-mile routes, with racers in the longer one following Western Pack Burro Association rules. New Mexico Pack Burros on its website says the race is one of 14 pack burro races in California, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico supported by the Western Pack Burro Association.

The sport originated in Colorado as a draw for small town tourism and a way to promote the working heritage of the American burro in mining communities, according to New Mexico Pack Burros.
A Haitian mother and daughter walk behind the border wall as they successfully cross into the United States after crossing the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, into El Paso, Texas, in late April. Many immigrants are arriving in northern Mexican cities before Title 42 is lifted. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Edwenson Marcelus holds his daughter, who has been sick for a week now, while he stays at a shelter in Ciudad Juarez in late April. He and his family have remained in Mexico since a year ago after leaving Haiti to avoid the violence there. With another kid on the way, he and his family hope to get asylum to stay in the United States once Title 42 comes to an end. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal_ Haitian asylum-seekers who have just crossed the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, into El Paso, Texas, in late April turn themselves in to Border Patrol authorities. Many immigrants are arriving at northern Mexican cities before Title 42 is lifted. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) A Haitian mother and daughter walk toward the border wall as they successfully cross into the United States after crossing the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, into El Paso, Texas, in late April. Many immigrants are arriving in northern Mexican cities before Title 42 is lifted. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Haitian asylum-seekers cross the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, into El Paso, Texas, in late April. Many immigrants are arriving at northern Mexican cities before Title 42 is lifted. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Immigrants play and interact in Ciudad Juarez in late April. A lot of immigrants are arriving at Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, anticipating an improvement in their chances of getting asylum. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) Prev 1 of 6 Next

Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

CIUDAD JUAREZ  For Rosa Elida Portillo, its a rare victory in a long journey of rejections.

The Biden administration is poised later this month to end Title 42  the policy allowing U.S. border officials to quickly eject from this country any migrating person due to the pandemic. And while the plan to end Title 42 is encountering fierce legal challenges, migrants are optimistic the administration will prevail and that there will be one less barrier for them.

Portillo, a 37-year-old woman from Honduras, stood in a crowded room with other migrants at the Esperanza Para Todos migrant shelter in the Puerto Anapra neighborhood of Ciuidad Juarez. She said she was glad to hear Title 42 is expected to end, and recounted her expulsion from El Paso under that policy nearly a year ago.

They didnt want to listen to what I had to say, she said about U.S. Border Patrol agents she encountered. They said because of that article (Title 42) I could not enter. They didnt want to know anything about my case  no questions, no conversation, nothing. They made me come back, and I got so sick, so sick with grief. I didnt know what to do or where to go. America does not want us. But the luck of God is coming.

So far this fiscal year, more than a million people have been prohibited from entering the United States through the southern border using one of three immigration levers.

Sometimes they are stopped by Migrant Protection Protocols, which require asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico while awaiting immigration hearings; other times it is a U.S. Border Patrol agent invoking Title 8, which is the standard expulsion mechanism of the U.S. immigration system.

But since March 2020, it has most likely been through Title 42 public health policy, which is used as a way of curbing the spread of COVID-19.

In its announcement last month about ending Title 42, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated: After considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19  the CDC director has determined that an Order suspending the right to introduce migrants into the United States is no longer necessary.

The last day of Title 42 is expected to be May 23.

The announcement of the lifting of Title 42 pleased many on the left who had long argued that it denied rights afforded by U.S. law to allow people from other countries to petition for asylum in the United States. But Republicans  and some centrist Democrats  have said they are concerned about a spike in the already unprecedented number of people trying to enter the United States through the southern border.

If Title 42 is lifted, a surge of illegal immigration will hit our border, dwarfing what is happening today, which has reached crisis numbers already, said U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell, a New Mexico Republican, in a letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shortly after plans to lift Title 42 were made public.

A federal judge in Louisiana also prohibited the Biden administration from pursuing any phasing out of Title 42 before May 23, and 20 states have asked the court to intervene and stop the lifting of that policy.

As migrants are pushed back from entering the United States  whether through Title 42, MPP or Title 8  they end up in Mexican border communities like Juarez, awaiting immigration court hearings or planning their next attempt to enter this country.

But Title 42, with the sweeping discretion it gives front line border agents, is the policy responsible for most expulsions.

Rodrigo Olvera Ledesma, director of the Esperanza Para Todos migrant shelter in Juarez, has seen firsthand the impact of Title 42 on the migration process.

This lady had to return because of Title 42. Her also, from Title 42, and him, too, he said as he scanned a group of people from Mexico and a string of other countries who are now living in his shelter. The public health policy thwarted their attempt to enter the United States.

Since its enactment in March 2020, Title 42 has resulted in 1.81 million expulsions, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports. Out of that total, more than 60%  1.09 million  have been Mexican nationals. Central Americans and Haitians account for most other expulsions, the records show.

In New Mexico, CBP reports show that 195,507 people were removed from the state by the initiative.

Tony Payan, director of Rice Universitys Center for the United States and Mexico, said that while immigration encounters have been very high over the past several years, the uproar over the lifting of Title 42 is unwarranted.

Title 42 is not needed. You have everything in the law required to keep migrants in Mexico, and process them under Title 8 and MPP. You dont need anything else. So I dont understand the manufactured panic about ending Title 42, he said.

Migrant Protection Protocols, a Remain in Mexico program that requires asylum-seekers to await their U.S. immigration hearings in Mexico, from January 2020 to March 2022 were responsible for 443,326 people apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol at the southwest border being sent to Mexico.

Jose Salgado, who migrated to the U.S. border from Nicaragua two months ago, is among MPP expulsions. Currently living in the Casa del Migrante in Juarez, he said he has not seen any Title 42 expulsions at that shelter.

We are here because of MPP, and most of us are from Nicaragua. But there are also Colombians and Venezuelans. Theres hardly anyone from Title 42 here, he said.

Sunland Park sits across the border from the Anapra neighborhood of Juarez and consistently has among the highest migrant encounters of the U.S. Border Patrols El Paso sector, which runs from the tip of Texas up to Albuquerque.

Mayor Javier Perea, now in his third term, said he doesnt expect the lifting of Title 42 to change much of the migration flow through his community.

Even with Title 42, weve seen a continuous influx of migrants into the area. What is generally done is people get stopped, people get caught, and they are sent immediately back across the border. And then they circle back again. So I dont think it is as effective as a lot of people think it is, he said.
It is a curious old photograph, a black-and-white 810, taken professionally, perhaps, for some publication decades ago.

The photo is of a young nurse tending to a patient in a hospital room. She is dressed in a traditional nurses white uniform. A starched nurses cap is affixed atop her tousled, shoulder-length dark hair.

Her smile is gentle, her bespectacled gaze comforting. Her hand rests on the patients outstretched right arm as if she is about to administer an injection or check a blood pressure. A beam of sunlight shines down upon her like an ethereal ray from the heavens.

The young nurse is Angeline Gutierrez, my mother, and this photo has long fascinated me because I know so little about it  and so little about her because she was in my life for so short a time.

Too short a time.

My Aunt Josephine, my mothers older sister and the last living member of their nuclear family, gave me the photo in 2010, but she couldnt tell me much about it then. She is now two weeks from turning 98 and remembers even less about the photo.

Those of us who lost our mothers young, either by death, divorce, adoption or alienation, always have that hole in our hearts that we try to fill with details of the woman who brought us into the world. On Mothers Day, that need becomes acute.

So, I look at that photo and I wonder.

As best as I can figure, the photo was taken some time after my mothers graduation in 1942 or 1943 from St. Vincent Academy, an all-girls Catholic school a block from the house she  and, much later, I  grew up in near Sixth and Lomas NW.

From old Albuquerque Journal news clippings, Ive learned that, after graduation, she joined the Cadet Nurse Corps, a federal program created in 1943 that provided nursing training for women, especially minorities, like my mother, to fill a critical need for nurses whose ranks were stretched thin by World War II.

Her training took place at St. Anthony Nursing School in Denver and received her diploma there on July 11, 1946. She would have been 21.

The article states she planned to continue working in Denver, but, at some point, she returned to Albuquerque to work at the veterans hospital, the likely location where the photo of her and the patient was taken.

She started a family later in life than most women of her era, marrying my father, Don Krueger, in 1956 when she was 31 in what another Journal article called a quiet ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada. By then, she had cut her shoulder-length hair into the boyish pixie style I had always known her to have.

I was born a year later. In quick succession came two sets of twins. Being a mother became her full-time job and she was fierce about it. She drilled us after school with flash cards she made on the back of cut cigarette cartons, entered us in all make of competitions, from piano recitals to essay-writing and talent shows, whether we wanted to or not.

She urged us to read voraciously and write honestly. She wanted us to do good and be good, and expected nothing but the best from and for us.

She was steel, not soft. She was not affectionate in the huggy-kissy way, but in how she was always there when we needed her.

Until she wasnt. She was 45 when she died in 1971, five days shy of Christmas, and after an excruciating and calculatingly secretive battle with cancer that she and my father had gone to great lengths to hide from us children. We were told only that she was sick and had to live next door with our maternal grandparents so they could take care of her. We were told that my fathers red eyes, which he often hid behind sunglasses, even during dinner, were the result of a corneal irritation.

My parents didnt know that I knew the secret all along, having overheard her doctors dire prognosis as he broke it to my father.

I was 13 then, and I learned to think of the secret as more blessing than burden because I knew not to waste what time I had left with her.

I spent our moments after school telling her all about me, believing that the best thing I could do for her was to let her know that she had raised me to be as strong as she was, and that she need not worry because I would be OK without her.

How I wish instead that I had spent that time hearing all about her, what she was like as a girl, a teenager, her hopes and dreams, if she was funny, if she was wild, if I was like her.

I dont know the woman she was. I dont know the young nurse with the gentle smile and the tousled hair. I dont know the friend she might have become once I was old enough to appreciate that. Ive never known if I was OK, really OK, without her.

My mother has been gone 50 years now and remains as mysterious to me as that photo of her. As more years pass, I fear I have forever lost the chance to know who she was.

And, then again, I know the most important thing about her: that she loved me and my siblings in her own way. And that I am very much like her.

If you are fortunate enough to still have your mother in your life, remember her not just on Mothers Day. Call her. Now.

If you are a mother and fortunate enough to still have your children in your life, allow them to know you as a person. Dont be such a mystery.

And if you no longer have your mother, know that she is still there in and around you. She influences who you become, whether she was good at motherhood or there long enough to see you to adulthood. She is there, like a gentle smile, like an ethereal ray from the heavens, in her own way.

UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Reach Joline at 730-2793, jkrueger@abqjournal.com.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Nicole Nagy, a social worker at Chamiza and Ventana Ranch elementary schools, fixated on education news from the Legislature this spring.

When she saw the governor and lawmakers had pulled together minimum salary increases for teachers and level-three counselors, she knew it was a good thing for them, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, she couldnt help but question if social workers like herself, and other licensed educators like level-one and level-two counselors, would be getting the same raises this time around. She said she raised that issue with lawmakers.

You have us getting left behind while theyre moving up, Nagy, a member of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, said. Why are we saying one professions more important, or should be paid more than the other? Were all working with the children to get their goals met.

For teachers and level-three counselors, the 7% raises guaranteed to all public education employees by Senate Bill 1 will be boosted if needed to meet the new minimum salary increases. Those increases average around $10,000.

That amounts to an average of nearly 20% raises for teachers and level-three counselors, Albuquerque Teachers Federation President Ellen Bernstein said.

Which is great, weve been advocating that for a long time, she said. Its good, because that makes us more regionally competitive, at least until everybody else raises their salaries.

But that 20% raise will only be given to those teachers and level-three counselors, Bernstein said, leaving other instructional support providers behind. She said the school personnel being shortchanged include social workers, nurses, many counselors and different therapists. Most hold licenses, she said.

Up until now, Albuquerque Public Schools employees in many of those positions had been on a similar salary schedule as teachers and level-three counselors, Bernstein said. As it currently stands from state laws and funding for the coming year, theyll apparently be lumped in with all other public education employees receiving a 7% raise, she said.

(Thats) the difference between a $9,000 raise for a beginning teacher at 22% and a 7% raise which is only $2,800, Bernstein said. Its not OK to leave a counselor making thousands of dollars less than a teacher.

Under Senate Bill 1, level-three counselors will receive the same minimum salaries as level-three teachers. No other instructional service providers besides level-three counselors were named in the bill as receiving the same raises as teachers.

According to the APS website, career pathway nurses, counselors, social workers, interpreters, speech and language pathologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and orientation and mobility specialists are among the instructional support providers who currently have the same minimum salaries as teachers.

Problem for state

New Mexico Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart acknowledged that instructional support providers role in childrens education are crucial, and that they help address the many needs of students and families.

That said, she noted that pay for teachers and instructional support providers, whom she referred to as ancillary personnel, is ultimately up to individual school districts, adding that unions often negotiate to have ancillary personnel on the same salary schedule as teachers.

Every district has their own pay scale, and every district handles it slightly different than the next, she said. Those districts really are the ones that ought to be ensuring that ancillary personnel is paid adequately.

She also noted that ancillary personnel have different processes, evaluations and requirements for advancing through their certificate levels than those laid out for teachers in state statute.

That snarls the implementation of similar three-tiered salary systems for each employee group, Stewart said.

She added that in some areas, many of them rural, ancillary personnel are even paid more than teachers by contracting across separate districts.

The pressing problem New Mexico schools face, Stewart said, is not having enough good teachers, noting there are currently around 1,000 classrooms statewide without certified, subject-matter teachers and that everybody wants more money.

She noted the decision in the Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit does not talk about having good occupational therapy, or physical therapy, or speech and language.

In that case, a judge found the state wasnt meeting its constitutional obligation to provide a sufficient education to all students, especially those considered at risk like English language learners and those with disabilities.

While its true that districts set their own salary schedules, American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Whitney Holland says forcing them to have to find money to make these raises happen is a burden on school districts. Thats why the union is looking at taking that decision off districts hands as a top priority.

Were internally identifying priorities around this issue, and how we can take pressure off of school districts and off of our locals, Holland said. Whether thats through state statute, whether thats through indexing, like we do principals, theres a variety of options available. Its just what makes it the most equitable and what we can fund long term.

APS budget

Lawmakers did set a pot of money aside  around $10.1 million  for targeted raises to help fill positions that are hard to staff, and some of that money is available for instructional support providers.

Legislative Finance Committee Senior Fiscal Analyst Sunny Liu said the recommendation arose from concerns about districts for such hard-to-staff positions.

It was mostly for instructional staff needs such as your nurses, your counselors, your diagnosticians, other positions that are difficult to attract, maybe you need a special education teacher, or you need a bilingual teacher, he said.

The funds, Liu said, will be distributed based on a formula accounting for districts sizes and changes in their enrollment. A different amount of funding is provided for some students, APS spokeswoman Johanna King said, based on different needs like special education.

In APS, enrollment has been on a downward track. Since around 2016, its dropped by around 1,000 to 2,000 students per year with the exception of 2022, when enrollment dropped by around 5,200 students, according to an LFC evaluation. The district that year had around 72,500 students, and in 2023 is budgeting for around 71,400, APS officials said in a recent budget planning meeting.

Also in 2022, an APS executive budget summary showed, student support staff dropped by 57 full-time employees, to 1,269. Instructional staff number around 8,234. The LFC evaluation noted that APS schools with higher numbers of low-income students are more likely to experience more vacancies.

Bernstein said the discretionary funds wouldnt be enough to address the issue, given that APS would see a tiny little bit of that pot of money.

(Around) $10.1 million for the whole state means that APS is going to see a quarter of that at best, she said. It wont even come close to what we need to negotiate when we go to the collective bargaining table, and make sure that all these licensed people make the same as teachers  This year, its a bigger deal, because the percentage is so much bigger.

According to the budget planning update, APS expects to receive around $2.3 million, around a 23% share, of those funds.

Negotiations

Bernstein said the union lobbied to get the pot of money increased to $20 million through an email campaign by members, to no avail. Now, theyll go to the bargaining table to get what they can to make sure that people arent divided into two classes of pay, she said.

Those negotiations are underway, according to the district.

APS is currently in contract negotiations with ATF, APS spokeswoman Monica Armenta said.

She added that was the extent of information available at the moment when asked how instructional support provider salaries may increase with the states recent round of raises.

During the budget update, Executive Director of Budget Rosalinda Montoya said APS apparently hadnt received the funds needed from the state for the minimum salary increases or the states wage increase for public education staff to $15 per hour.

For teachers and level-three counselors minimum salary increases, the district is expecting around $17.9 million in state funds, but says it will need $27.6 million, meaning it will be missing around $9.7 million.

APS Superintendent Scott Elder said part of the problem was that APS had counselors and other role groups on tiers.

So these people are eligible now to have an increase in their base salary, but that was not funded that way, he said. So thats a lot of the miss on the tiered funding.

The 7% raises for all public education staff was one area they had been adequately funded by the state, APS officials have said, with the district receiving over $41 million, exceeding the costs to the district by around $1.6 million.

The budget update came after a sobering evaluation of the districts finances by the LFC, which found the districts spending and physical infrastructure has grown over the last 10 years while student enrollment and achievement have dropped, particularly since the pandemic.

Nagy acknowledged the districts budget woes. Still, she hopes APS and the union will be able to come to an agreement on how to pay instructional support providers and teachers on the same scale, and that the issue can be addressed on a statewide level.

Lawmakers need to include the essential and related services in the teachers salary increases, because we are working with the students and are in the schools, she said. Everyone back on the equal paying scales, I think, will encourage a more positive attitude going back to school in the fall.
ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS

ROUNDABOUT AND NORRIS STREET

RECONSTRUCTION STREET

FROM ZIA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

TO LLANO ESTACADO BLVD.

CLOVIS, NEW MEXICO

CITY OF CLOVIS BID NO. ITB 22-0404-03

Separate sealed bids for street, sanitary sewer and storm drainage improvements, including construction of paving, and other miscellaneous items of work will be received at the City Hall

by the Purchasing Agent of the City of Clovis, New Mexico until Local Time, 2:00 pm June 09, 2022, at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. Each Bid Proposal shall be submitted in accordance with Section 2, Instructions to Bidders, of the Contract Documents.

There will be a non-mandatory pre-bid conference held on May 27, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. at the City Public Works Complex. The last day to submit written questions will be May 31, 2022. Written responses to all questions received will be e-mailed to all plan holders by June 03, 2022.

Plans and Contract Documents including Instructions to Bidders, Form of Bid Proposal, Form of Bid Bond, Form of Agreement, Form of Performance Bond, Form of Labor and Material

Payment Bonds, Technical Specifications, and other Contract Documents are on file and available for public inspection at the office of Lydick Engineers and Surveyors, Inc., 205 E. 2nd Street, Clovis, New Mexico.

This work will be constructed in accordance with the NMDOT Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction, 2019 Edition as modified herein. Each Bidder shall obtain copies of the above NMDOT Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction by writing or otherwise contacting the District 2 Office of NMDOT, P.O. Box 1451, Roswell New Mexico

88202.

Copies of the Plans, Specifications, and Contract Documents may be obtained upon deposit of Fifty Dollars ($50.00) with Lydick Engineers and Surveyors, Inc., for each set so obtained.

Upon return of the Plans, Specifications, and Contract Documents in good condition no later than ten (10) days following the bid opening one-half the deposit ($25.00) will be returned to all plan holders.

The Contracting Agency reserves the right to issue addenda to the approved plans and specifications during the advertising period as provided in the Contract Documents. A record of all addenda and copies of same will be available to all qualified bidders from the office of the Contracting Agency and Lydick Engineers and Surveyors, Inc.

Each bidder shall submit a certified check or a satisfactory bid bond by the bidder and an acceptable surety, in an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the total amount bid, with each Bid Proposal.

Bids may be held by the Contracting Agency for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days from the date of the opening of bids, for the purpose of reviewing bids and investigating the qualifications of the bidders prior to award of the Contract.

Attention is called to the fact that no less than the minimum salaries and wages set forth in the Contract Documents must be paid on this project. The Contractor must insure that employees and applicants for employment are not discriminated against because of their race, creed, color, sex or national origin.

Bidders on this project must be licensed in New Mexico by the Construction and Industries Division. All bidders will indicate their current New Mexico Contractors License Number and Classification on the outside of the envelope.

After all bids are received, and before award of the contract is effected, the apparent low bidder shall submit a copy of the wallet card, issued by the Construction and Industries Division to the Contracting Agency.

Please be advised, that before bids are opened for each project, Contractors will be given the opportunity to withdraw proposals, which have not been read. Withdrawn proposals will not be allowed to be resubmitted.

The five- percent (5%) Resident Contractor Preference will apply to this project. All bids may be rejected if the lowest responsive bid received exceeds the engineers estimate by more than seven percent (7%).

The Procurement Code, Sections 13-1-28 through 13-1-199 N.M.S.A. 1978 imposes civil and criminal penalties for its violation. In addition, the New Mexico Criminal Statutes imposes felony penalties for illegal bribes, gratuities and kick-backs.

The Prime Contractor is required to have the correct New Mexico license, classification as required to perform the work called for in this particular project.

The City of Clovis reserves the right to reject any and all Proposals and to waive technicalities.

The successful Bidder will be required to obtain a City of Clovis business permit. The permit can be obtained in the Office of the City Clerk for an annual fee of $25.

CITY OF CLOVIS, NEW MEXICO

CONTRACTING AGENCY

By: Bryan Jones

Title: Purchasing Agent, City of Clovis

New Mexico

Journal: May 8,15, 2022
LEGAL NOTICE

Request For Proposals (RFP)

Notice is hereby given that the City of Portales calls for competitive Sealed Proposals for RFP# 2022-05-08 Animal Sheltering and Care Services.

Interested parties may secure a copy of the request for proposals, including all specifications and any updates from:

Carla Weems, Deputy Clerk/Chief Procurement Officer

City of Portales

100 W. 1st Street

Portales, NM 88130

(575) 359-4815

cweems@portalesnm.gov

A pre-proposal conference WILL BE held on Tuesday, May 17th at 10:00 a.m. Local Time .

The Procurement Code, Sections 13 1 28 through 13 1 199 NMSA 1978, imposes civil and misdemeanor criminal penalties for its violation. In addition, the New Mexico criminal statutes impose felony penalties for bribes, gratuities, and kick backs.

Sealed Proposals must be received by the City of Portales, Deputy Clerk/CPO Office, City of Portales City Hall, 100 W. 1st Street, Portales, New Mexico 88130 no later than 2:00 PM Local Time, Thursday, June 2, 2022 .

As per NMSA 1978, Sections 13-1-131 and 13-1-132, the City of Portales reserves the right to cancel this procurement or reject any/all bid proposals if it is in the best interest of the City to do so, and to waive all technical irregularities not involving price, time, or changes in work.

NIGP Commodity Code: 96206

Carla Weems

City of Portales

Deputy Clerk/CPO

Journal: May 8, 2022
REQUEST FOR

PROPOSALS

The New Mexico Educational Retirement Board (NMERB) is soliciting proposals from qualified firms to provide a New Pension Administration System to the NMERB, administrator of the Defined Benefit plan for all public educational employees in New Mexico. This is pursuant to a Request for Proposals (RFP) issued on April 29, 2022.

Copies of the RFP can be obtained by visiting ERBs website, https://www.nmerb.org/requests-for-proposals/

or by submitting a request to:

Megan Mannila

Procurement Manager

New Mexico Educational

Retirement Board

701 Camino de los Marquez

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505

Megan.Mannila@state.nm.us

Proposals must be received by NMERB on or before 3:00 PM MST, June 3, 2022, to be considered for evaluation. All costs and expenses of responding to the RFP are at the firms expense. Responses will become the property of NMERB and are a matter of public record subject to public inspection after a contract has been awarded. NMERB reserves the right to modify any part of the RFP prior to the submission deadline, to accept or reject any and all proposals and to negotiate the terms of any contract that may be a result of this RFP.

Journal: May 8, 15, 2022
LEGAL NOTICE

Notice is hereby given Taos Pueblo, calls for Sealed Proposals for:

RFP #2022-001-MSD

ROADWAY DESIGN &

ENGINEERING

FOR NP705  SPIDER ROCK ROAD EXTENSION

Interested parties may secure a copy of the specifications from:

Municipal Services Division

Taos Pueblo Administration Bldg.

1075 Veterans Hwy

Taos, NM 87571

(575)758-8626 ext.101

Please contact the Municipal Services Division at (575)758-8626 ext. 101 to be included in the spec-holder list in order to receive amendments to this request if applicable.

Sealed Proposals must be received by the Taos Pueblo  Municipal Services Division, at the Taos Pueblo Administration Bldg., 1075 Veterans Highway, Taos, New Mexico, 87571, no later than 5:00 P.M. Local Time  Friday, May 20, 2022 . Taos Pueblo reserves the right to reject any/all Proposals and waive all non-essential formalities.

Journal: May 8, 15, 2022
A Florida megachurch has ended its affiliation with Hillsong Church in the wake of multiple scandals, including most recently the resignation of the denomination's founding pastor, Brian Houston.

Andrew Gard, co-pastor of Grace City Church, in Lakeland, told The Ledger that the scandals had been "devastating" for everyone concerned and that the last straw had been "the news that came out about Pastor Brian".

Houston stepped down in March after investigations into complaints by two women concluded that he had broken the Hillsong Pastor's Code of Conduct.

Gard also voiced his heartache over the firing of Hillsong New York City pastor, Carl Lentz, in 2020 for moral failures and leadership issues.

"It impacted us in that these are people I love. Carl Lentz was and is a friend. So it's devastating, it's heartbreaking," he said.

He added, "We feel bad for everyone that is involved."

Grace City Church was not a Hillsong church but had an association with the denomination that meant its assistance could be sought in certain instances.

"If I had a moral failure, our local church council could have gone to Hillsong to see if this is restorative or does Andrew need to be fired," Gard told The Ledger.

"Or number two if my wife and I were killed in a car accident and they had to find new senior pastors, our council could have worked with Hillsong to help us in that."
LONDON  The U.K., U.S. and Irish governments have urged rival parties in Northern Ireland to come together to resurrect its power-sharing government after Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein scored a historic victory to become the biggest party in Northern Irelands Assembly.

Sinn Fein, which seeks union with Ireland, won 27 seats in the 90-seat legislature, beating the Democratic Unionist Party, which secured 25 seats. Its the first time in Northern Irelands history that an Irish nationalist party has topped the voting.

But its not clear whether Sinn Fein will lead a new government because of Northern Irelands delicate power-sharing politics and ongoing tussles over the legacy of Britains exit from the European Union.

While Sinn Feins vice-president Michelle ONeill now has the right to the post of first minister, a functioning Northern Ireland Executive  or devolved government  cannot be formed unless the largest unionist party agrees to join in the role of deputy first minister.

In February the DUPs Paul Givan quit as first minister in protest against post-Brexit border arrangements, collapsing the Executive. His party has said it will not return to government unless their demands over the customs arrangements are met.

Leaders in London and Dublin said all parties must now re-establish Northern Irelands government as soon as possible.

Irish prime minister Micheal Martin said late Saturday that it is now incumbent on all political parties and elected representatives to deliver on their mandate.

Power-sharing and principles of partnership, equality and mutual respect are at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement, through which peace has been secured and progress achieved for almost 25 years, he added. A new power-sharing Executive is vital for progress and prosperity for all in Northern Ireland.

In London, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he will meet with party leaders Monday to discuss how to re-establish a functioning government.

Lewis reiterated his position that the U.K. government would like to reach an agreement with the EU to resolve disputes over post-Brexit rules known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The DUP is strongly opposed to the rules, which have imposed customs and border checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. Unionists say the new checks have created a barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. that undermines their British identity.

Britains Conservative government is trying to get the EU to agree to major changes, but negotiations have reached an impasse.

The U.K. governments position is we want to secure a deal with the EU. Were very clear about that, Lewis told the BBC Sunday. We have worked very hard on that for over a year now across a series of conversations. We made proposals. The EU havent shown any flexibility.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said post-Brexit problems are an obstacle to stability in Northern Ireland, and that the government in London will take whatever measures are necessary to try to resolve it.

Its clear from the dynamic that we now see that we wont get to that position of stability unless and until it is fixed, Raab said.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price also urged Northern Irelands political leaders to take the necessary steps to re-establish a functioning government.

Brexits legacy adds an extra challenge to Northern Irelands politics, which operates under a delicate system splitting power between the largest British unionist party and largest Irish nationalist party. The system was created by the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement that ended decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict.

If no power-sharing Executive can be formed within six months, a new election may be triggered.
HAVANA  The death toll of a powerful explosion at a luxury hotel in Cubas capital increased to 31 Sunday evening as search crews with dogs hunted through the rubble of the iconic, 19th century building looking for people still missing.

The Hotel Saratoga, a five-star 96-room hotel in Old Havana, was preparing to reopen after being closed for two years when an apparent gas leak ignited, blowing the outer walls into the busy, midmorning streets just a block from the countrys Capitol building on Friday.

Several nearby structures also were damaged, including the historic Marti Theater and the Calvary Baptist Church, headquarters for the denomination in western Cuba. The church said on its Facebook page that the building suffered significant structural damage, with several collapsed or cracked walls and columns (and) the ceiling partially collapsed, though no church workers were hurt.

In releasing the names of those who were killed, the Health Ministry said the dead included four minors, a pregnant woman and a Spanish tourist, whose companion was seriously injured.

The ministry also said 54 people were injured, with 24 hospitalized. It previously reported 85 injured, but that tally turned out to include those killed by the explosion.

Nineteen families had reported people missing as of Saturday evening, but authorities did not say Sunday whether the number had changed.

Authorities said the cause of the explosion at the hotel owned by Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA was still under investigation, but believed it to have been caused by a gas leak. A large crane hoisted a charred gas tanker out of the rubble Saturday.

Burials for victims had begun, municipal authorities said, while some people still waited for news of missing friends and relatives.

We are hoping that something will be known about my cousins mother, Angela Acosta told The Associated Press near the site of the explosion. Her relative, Maria de la Concepcion Alard, lived in an apartment adjacent to the hotel with a black Labrador, which was rescued along with another dog Sunday.

Crews have worked to clean up streets around the hotel and by late Saturday, substantial pedestrian traffic had resumed.

There are mothers who are without their children today, Matha Verde, a manicurist who was walking near the Saratoga, said Sunday, when Mothers Day was celebrated in Cuba. She said she tells women who lost their sons or daughters in the explosion that they have to keep going.

The explosion added to the woes of a crucial tourism industry that had been stifled by the coronavirus pandemic as well as tightened sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump and kept in place the Biden administration. Those limited visits by U.S. tourists to the islands and restricted remittances from Cubans in the U.S. to their families in Cuba.

Tourism had started to revive somewhat early this year, but the war in Ukraine deflated a boom of Russian visitors, who accounted for almost a third of the tourists arriving in Cuba last year.

The Saratoga, which had been closed through the pandemic, was one of the elite lodgings in Havana, often hosting visiting VIPs and celebrities. Its owner is one of the Cuban militarys businesses.

Some attention in Cuba began to shift to an official visit by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who arrived Saturday night at the end of a five-country tour that began in Central America.

Lopez Obrador met Sunday with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who awarded him the Order of Jose Marti for his great achievements for humanity. It is the most important award the country gives to a foreigner.

Diaz-Canels office stated in a tweet that Lopez Obrador said he would insist to U.S. President Joe Biden that Cuba not be excluded from the Summit of the Americas it will host in Los Angeles in June.

Lopez Obrador said the objectives of the trip included signing agreements on trade, health, education and cooperation with the island, while he ratified his foreign policy stance.

We are not in favor of hegemonies, he said. Let no one exclude anyone because we are independent countries, we are sovereign countries, and no one can place themselves above the rights of peoples and nations.

Diaz-Canel visited Mexico during its independence day celebrations last year. Lopez Obrador has recently spoken out against the apparent U.S. government intention of to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the upcoming summit.
JERUSALEM  Two Palestinians, one a teenager, were killed in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, hours after police apprehended two Palestinian men suspected of killing three Israelis last week.

It was the latest episode of violence during weeks of Palestinian attacks in Israel, and Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank that have left at least 18 Israelis and more than 30 Palestinians dead.

The Palestinian man died after he was shot by Israeli troops trying to cross Israels separation barrier near a military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said soldiers spotted a suspect attempting to sneak across the barrier near the West Bank city of Tulkarem and fired at him. It said the man was evacuated to receive medical treatment, but declined commenting on the mans condition. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed his death.

The Israeli military also said an Israeli civilian shot a Palestinian armed with a knife who entered a West Bank settlement south of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 17-year-old Mutassim Atallah was killed in the Tekoa settlement. Searches were under way for a second Palestinian, the army said.

In a separate incident, police said a Palestinian stabbed and wounded a police officer outside Jerusalems Old City, and that officers shot the assailant. Paramedics said the officer was hospitalized in moderate condition. The attackers condition was not immediately clear.

Sundays incidents were the latest in string of violent episodes in recent weeks, including deadly attacks inside Israel, an Israeli military crackdown in the West Bank, and clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at a major holy site in Jerusalem sacred to Jews and Muslims.

The ongoing conflict plays out against the backdrop of Israels occupation, now in its 55th year, of the West Bank and other lands Palestinians seek for a state. Serious peace talks collapsed more than a decade ago, while Israels settlement expansion on occupied lands has continued unabated.

This week, Israel said it is set to advance plans for the construction of 4,000 settler homes in the West Bank. If approved, it would be the biggest advancement of settlement plans since the Biden administration took office.

Sunday began with Israeli police capturing two Palestinians who killed three people in a stabbing attack last week and fled the scene, sparking a massive manhunt and keeping the country on edge.

The two attackers went on a stabbing rampage in the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad on Thursday, Israels independence day, killing three and wounding at least four others before bolting.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told his Cabinet on Sunday that forces captured terrorists awash with incitement who killed with axes and unimaginable cruelty.

He said Israel was entering a new stage in the war on terror, and said Israel was establishing a civilian national guard that would be deployed in emergency situations like the kinds of attacks the country has witnessed in recent weeks.

The Israeli governments main goal is to restore personal security to Israeli citizens, he said.

A joint statement by police, the military and the Shin Bet internal security agency said the men, identified as 19- and 20-year-old Palestinians, were caught near a quarry not far from Elad following a search that began Thursday by special forces and commando units using helicopters and other means.

Images in Israeli media showed masked security forces confronting the men, who appeared to be beneath a green shrub in a rugged patch of land.

As forces scoured the area looking for the men, police called on the public to avoid the area, and urged Israelis to report suspicious vehicles or people to them.

Police said the attackers were from near the city of Jenin in the West Bank. The city and an adjacent refugee camp have reemerged as a militant bastion in the latest wave of violence  the worst Israel has seen in years. Several of the attackers in the recent violence have come from Jenin.

The Israeli military said it began preparations to demolish the homes of the two suspects in the village of Rummanah. Israel says the policy of demolishing homes of Palestinians who kill Israelis serves to deter would-be attackers, while rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment.

At least 18 Israelis have been killed in five attacks since March, including another stabbing rampage in southern Israel, two shootings in the Tel Aviv area, and a shooting last weekend in a West Bank settlement.

Most of the Palestinians who have died in the violence had carried out attacks or were involved in confrontations with Israeli forces in the West Bank. But an unarmed woman and two apparent bystanders were also among those killed and rights groups say Israel often uses excessive force.

The violence has been fueled by tensions at a Jerusalem hilltop compound holy to both Muslims and Jews, where Palestinians have clashed recently with Israeli police.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is the third holiest site in Islam and is built on a hilltop that is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It lies at the emotional heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
LONDON  Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germanys surrender in 1945.

Cutting out Russian oil supplies will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putins economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war, the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement.

We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies, they added.

Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win.

We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community, they said.

U.S. President Joe Bidens call with the G-7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.

Italy Prime Minister Mario Draghis office said in a statement that the G-7 leaders reiterated the commitment to diversify energy sources, reducing. dependence on Russian supplies. Italy, heavily dependent on Russian natural gas when the war began, has since secured several agreements for alternative gas supplies from other countries. Draghi is scheduled to meet with Biden in Washington on Tuesday.

The U.S. also announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. They include cutting off Western advertising from Russias three biggest television stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian, and piling additional restrictions on Russias industrial sector, including cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

The White House announced the new sanctions ahead of the May 9 Victory Day, when Russia traditionally celebrates Nazi Germanys defeat in 1945 with huge military parades.

Putin is expected to talk about what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine and address troops on Red Square on Monday.

The U.S. and European allies were seeking to offer counter-messaging that Putin is further isolating Russia from the rest of the world and doing enormous harm to the Russian economy.

The new round of U.S. sanctions will hit three of Russias most popular television stations in Russia  Channel One Russia, Russia-1, and NTV  that the U.S. has said have been at the forefront of spreading misinformation about Russias prosecution of the invasion.

The Biden administration said the new sanctions prohibiting U.S. accounting and consulting firms from doing business in Russia will help thwart Russian companies and elites from getting help to obscure their wealth and evade an avalanche of sanctions that have already been enacted.

The U.S. also said it imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials and issued a new visa restriction policy that applies to Russian military officials and authorities.

The U.S. sanctioned 27 executives from Gazprombank, a bank that facilitates sales by Russias Gazprom, one of the largest natural gas exporters in the world, with Europe. The sanctions are the first time that the U.S. has hit the bank that plays a critical role Russias considerable gas exports, but the move stops well short of the full blocking sanctions that the U.S. has hit other big Russian banks.

Ahead of the call, U.K. officials said Britain will provide an extra 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support to Ukraine to help the nation defend itself against Russian forces.

The funding, which comes from British government reserves, includes 300 million pounds of military kit promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this week, such as radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment and night vision devices.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Ukraine Sunday, touring the northern town of Irpin, which had been heavily damaged by Russias attempt to take the capital of Kyiv at the start of the war. The mayor on Sunday posted images of Trudeau on social media, saying that the Canadian leader was shocked by the damage he saw at civilian homes.

Trudeaus office later said the prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm Canadas unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.

Jill Biden also made an unannounced visit on Sunday, holding a surprise Mothers Day meeting in western Ukraine with first lady Olena Zelenska. Biden traveled under the cloak of secrecy, becoming the latest high-profile American to enter Ukraine during its 10-week-old war with Russia.

I wanted to come on Mothers Day, the U.S. first lady told Zelenska. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a televised address that Sunday was a May 8th like no other.

He said Germany has worked hard to own up to its actions during World War II, reconciling with both Russia and Ukraine and committing itself to the concept of never again. But Russias barbaric invasion of Ukraine in February has brought war back to Europe, Scholz said, a prospect that once seemed unthinkable.

Freedom and security will prevail  just as freedom and security triumphed over lack of freedom, violence and dictatorship 77 years ago, Scholz said in his address.

German Bundestag President Barbel Bas, the second highest-ranking German official after the president, met Sunday with Zelenskyy in Kyiv and attended a memorial event honoring the anniversary of the end of World War II.

We really appreciate that on the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation itself, and in what for us is such a trying time of war, the President of the German Bundestag Barbel Bas came to support Ukraine, said a post published Sunday on Zelenskyys Telegram channel.

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Madhani reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Emily Schultheis in Berlin contributed to this report.

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Follow all AP stories on the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.